Wind turbine bylaw passes

By Vickie Kee AWARE News Network January 17 2013 

Mayor Millar is absent.

Deputy-Mayor Lawrence chaired the meeting.

Deputy-mayor Lawrence announces that today’s meeting is beeing recorded.

Deputy-Mayor Lawrence wants to put through a new Wind Turbine bylaw to make it more difficult for companies who want to put up turbines in Tiny Township.

The life span of a wind turbine is fifteen years. It is up to the municipality to decommision these old turbines which is expensive.There are fifty to fifty-five truckloads of concrete that makes up the base of each turbine. A few years ago, there was a contract for a wind farm north of Lafontaine but the transfer station at Waubaushene could not handle such a project so it was squashed.

Transmission lines are the responsibility of hydro and Tiny would have no say on where they would go. Lawrence asked Shawn Persaud, Manager of Planning and development, to do some research into building permits for these turbines.

A motion on the Wind Turbine Bylaw is passed 4-0. 

There was a brief discussion by Deputy-Mayor Lawrence concerning the new 2013 policy for Recreation in Tiny. He mentioned that recreation is more affordable in Tiny compared to what Midland has to offer.

Councillor Claire still has concerns about the future of audio recording at in-camera meetings. CAO/Clerk Luker suggests that they may have to make a judgement call and stick to the actual topic instead of straying away from it. Luker also mentioned that the ombudsman recommends that all meetings should be recorded.

The 2013 budget will be presented on January 28, 2013 to council.

Deputy-Mayor Lawrence is worried about the changes coming to heavy garbage pickup. The County of Simcoe is taking it over in 2013. The changeover  might cause some residents to dump their fridges and stoves into the ditches or the bush. Lawrence suggests that the county should be invited to a council meeting to discuss the changes.

Councillor Warren suggests that a motion be brought forward to pay Burnside $200,000 for phases three and four of the Septage Management. He also wants to see the old Septage Committee brought back which includes the same two public members.