July 10, 2013
Ontario

Municipality holds off on third party review of airport impact analysis

By Barb McKay | The Kincardine Independent | 10/07/2013 | www.independent.on.ca

Kincardine council has deferred a decision to hire an independent consultant to review an analysis of the impact from the proposed Armow Wind Project to the municipal airport.

Council made the decision last Wednesday to hold off on potentially hiring a consultant for the review of Charles Cormier’s analysis after Kincardine CAO Murray Clarke received correspondence from NAV CANADA.

The aviation advisory services provider indicated that it would provide comments by the end of last week on Cormier’s assessment of the impact of wind turbines to future plans and development of the Kincardine airport.

Cormier, who had developed the GPS system for the municipal airport just a few years ago, has been working for the Armow Wind Project’s developers, Pattern and Samsung, on a redesign of approaches and takeoff procedures at the airport to accommodate the proposed 99-turbine wind energy development, while mitigating the impact to the airport. After Cormier presented the plan to council in the spring,

councillors and local pilots expressed concern that the new approaches would impact the vitality of the airport.

“I clearly heard from all the pilots that a step down procedure must be avoided at all costs,” said councillor Jacqueline Faubert.

The municipality invited two firms to submit quotes for a third party review of Cormier’s analysis. One, Jet Pro from Edmonton, declined to participate. The second, Air Navigation Data, based in Ottawa, submitted a quote for $95,711. Given the high cost associated with the review, Clarke recommended that council hold off on the review until it hears from NAV CANADA.

Councillor Randy Roppel said when council does hear back it should take action.

“When we hear back from NAV CANADA I hope this council is prepared to take a stand, rather than going around and around,” he said.

In May, council passed a resolution stating that it would not accept any adjustment to the airport instrument approach parameters.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/07/10/municipality-holds-off-on-third-party-review-of-airport-impact-analysis/