A busy night in Killaloe’s council chambers
There were several police officers from the Killaloe OPP Detachment at last week’s Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards council meeting, but it wasn’t because of a problem. Instead, the officers were treated to cake and beverages, as the council recognized the 100th anniversary of the Ontario Provincial Police.
“KH and R is fortunate to have the detachment in our municipality,” Mayor Janice Visneskie said. “This cake is a small way of saying thank you to the officers for being part of the community and for protecting it. We always feel you’re just a phone call away. We hope you (the OPP) continue to make your home with us.”
She said Sgt. Mark Mackisoc is the officer best-known to council; he sits on the Emergency Planning Committee and has been asked on several occasions to play the bagpipes for various community events. The mayor welcomed him, his family and several other officers to the chambers.
Staff Sergeant Colin Slight spoke on behalf of the officers at the detachment.
“I want to extend my gratitude to your council and community for such a warm welcome,” he said. “We’re grateful for being acknowledged in such a fine way.”
When the council meeting continued, a delegation made up of Brian McCarthy, Jason Shruder and Sean Fitzgerald came forward to address council about a letter received from the municipality. The letter referred to the land across from the McCarthy building at the edge of Brennan’s Creek. For years, this municipal property has been used for parking by McCarthy’s Chevrolet dealership. Now that the dealership has closed, the municipality thought it could be used for green space, so a letter was sent requesting they stop parking there. McCarthy, however, told council there are three businesses operating out of the building – the garage, McCarthy Fuels and a propane business. He said he realized there was a large parking area behind the building but said he hadn’t ruled out the possibility of opening a used car lot or seeking a new franchise. If a decision were made to use the lot for propane, it would have to be fenced in, thus removing parking. There are 11 employees at the businesses, plus the garage needs a place to park customers’ vehicles.
“Without parking, you can’t run a business,” said Shruder, who operates the garage.
“Council does not want to hurt your businesses in any way,” Mayor Visneskie said. “We didn’t know what your intentions were and we’re glad you’ve remained here.”
She suggested Marion and McCarthy work together to reach a compromise. This proposal was accepted and the delegation left the meeting.
Carmen Krogh, who has previously addressed council about the health effects of wind turbines, offered an update on the situation. She said there is a great deal of activity at the federal level of government, and proposals on what health studies should be done have been submitted.
Krogh recently travelled to Vermont and said there were cardiologists in the audience who said they were seeing alarming cardiac problems.
At the end of October, Conservative MPP Bill Murdoch tabled a motion calling for a moratorium on wind farms until more studies were completed on the health effects the wind turbines may cause. That motion was defeated, Krogh said.
People are at the end of their rope, she said and added there is talk of a constitutional challenge, but it would take a long time.
Krogh also talked of the “precautionary principle:” if an action might cause severe harm to the public or the environment, in the absence of scientific proof that there would be no harm, the burden of proof falls on those advocating the action. Krogh said the wind turbine issue has turned this principle upside down.
“You should never have to prove you’re sick,” she said.
Mayor Visneskie noted Krogh wanted the municipality to call for a moratorium on further wind turbine development and told her council had done this some time ago. Krogh explained she wanted to keep the pressure up on the government. Council agreed to her request.
Using the telephone to cast a municipal vote may not be very far into the future. CAO/Clerk Lorna Hudder brought that news back from a seminar she recently attended. Letters are sent out with a special PIN number, and voters use that number to cast their vote over the phone. The system is no more expensive than the mail-in one. Voters could still visit a polling station if they chose. Mayor Visneskie was skeptical.
“I know that day (of electronic voting) is coming, but I’m not sure it will be accepted,” she said. “We want to encourage, not discourage, people to vote.”
Council agreed to have Hudder look into the system in greater detail.
By Heather Kendall
Barry’s Bay This Week
25 November 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
Some possibly related stories:
The copyright of this article is owned by the author or publisher indicated. Its availability here constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law as well as in similar "fair dealing" exceptions of the copyright laws of other nations, as part of National Wind Watch's effort to advance understanding of the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development. For more information, click here.
