MISLEADING TO SAY THE LEAST

Misleading headline reads: Melancthon asked to champion turbine efforts

If my friend asks me to provide a reference to them for a prospective employer, that is asking me for a favour. 

BUT, if my friend says they will give me money to provide a reference to them for a prospective employer, well then that is a bribe.

So what is missing out of this headline, but included in the article, is Melancthon is asked to champion turbine efforts for the next twenty years in exchange for $5 million dollars.

I am somewhat encouraged by the Mayor’s response when he says:

Mayor Bill Hill said he wouldn’t support the document as it stands.

“I think it’s out of line. We’ve never been asked to do that in any other project. I’m not sure why we’d start now,” Hill said. “The project has to live and die on its own merits.”

Further: “$5 million sounds like a great big deal, but it’s over 20 years,” Hill said. “They’re not doing us a big favour.”

Lets hope he stick to his guns takes NO money with any type of condition, but maybe not:

The mayor added he is still hopeful an agreement acceptable to the municipality and Dufferin Wind is possible.

“I don’t know why we can’t. We have in the past,” Hill said. “We’ve done it three times before. If we don’t, I don’t think it’s us.”

And the largess of the company is overwhelming when they include in the contract: Dufferin Wind would provide a deposit of $1 million to ensure construction activities and “up to” $2 million to ensure decommissioning activities.

I will tell you now that it will cost close to a $100,000.00 PER turbine to decommission them in 20 years.  It isn’t like someone will take some torches and a pick up truck and cut them down. I would expect someone is going to have to get a HUGE amount of insurance to even be in this type of “scrap metal business”

Currently municipalities have the authority under the Municipal Act to charge them for decommissioning:

By-laws re special services

326.  (1)  A municipality may by by-law,

(a) identify a special service;

(b) determine which of the costs, including capital costs, debenture charges, charges for depreciation or a reserve fund, of the municipality are related to that special service;

(c) designate the area of the municipality in which the residents and property owners receive or will receive an additional benefit from the special service that is not received or will not be received in other areas of the municipality;

(d) determine the portion and set out the method of determining the portion of the costs determined in clause (b) which represent the additional costs to the municipality of providing the additional benefit in the area designated in clause (c);

(e) determine whether all or a specified portion of the additional costs determined in clause (d) shall be raised under subsection (4)

This way, in 20 years Melancthon will contract out to have the turbines decommissioned and the company who got all the money will actually pay.

Entire article here:

http://www.orangeville.com/news/local/article/1549243--melancthon-asked-to-champion-turbine-efforts