September 3, 2013
Ontario

Bluewater council amends wind turbine fee bylaw

Written by Kirk Dickson, Editor | Blackburn News | September 2nd, 2013 | blackburnnews.com

Bluewater council has back-pedalled a little on its bylaw for building permit fees for wind turbines.

Earlier this year council had approved a fee structure that amounted to $434,000 per turbine including fees and security deposits.The municipality’s legal council conceded the bylaw would likely be challenged but felt it would stand up in court.

Mayor Bill Dowson explains Nextera Energy did in fact launch a legal challenge and at a special council meeting last week Bluewater council agreed to remove the security deposits for decommissioning of turbines, health and safety liabilities and legal liabilities to the municipality.

Under the new agreement the energy company is required to negotiate a decommissioning agreement with the municipality and take out an insurance policy to protect the municipality against liability related to health and safety issues, as well as legal responsibility for problems related to the turbines.

The building permit fee is now set at $14,000 per turbine.

Dowson says he believes the new agreement is beneficial to both parties and saves considerable cost to the municipality in legal fees.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/09/03/bluewater-council-amends-wind-turbine-fee-bylaw/