Latest / North Shore News / September 25th, 2025

Transcript

September 25th, 2025 · North Shore News

• 0:07
  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
• 0:10
  Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
• 0:14
  on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
• 0:17
  that we've had with people in the local community
• 0:20
  and beyond. A clean energy company looking to
• 0:26
  build an energy storage center in Loyalist promised
• 0:29
  the project would bring 670 direct construction
• 0:32
  jobs and 40 permanent jobs to the area. Hydrostore
• 0:35
  presented their plans for creating the Quinte
• 0:37
  Energy Storage Center to Loyalist Township Council.
• 0:40
  The proposed site is on a portion of an already
• 0:42
  existing industrial aggregate site near the intersection
• 0:45
  of County Road 22 and Townline Road. Staff with
• 0:48
  the company noted that each phase of the project
• 0:50
  will provide over $1 .4 billion in economic benefits
• 0:53
  to Ontario, including the boost in local jobs.
• 0:57
  The company will also be making long -term direct
• 0:59
  contributions to the township and county through
• 1:01
  a community benefits fund. Vice President of
• 1:04
  Business Development with HydroStore, Shahir
• 1:06
  Aziz, explains the project and why they chose
• 1:08
  the area. The Quinty Energy Storage Centre is
• 1:11
  a energy storage project that we have been working
• 1:14
  on for the past couple years in Lennox and Addington
• 1:16
  County. The reason why we are so attracted to
• 1:19
  this location is that we want to be adjacent
• 1:21
  to the Lennox Transformer Station, which is a
• 1:24
  critical transformer station in the province
• 1:26
  of Ontario. It allows for power to transfer east
• 1:29
  towards Ottawa, as well as transferring power
• 1:31
  west towards Toronto. when needed. Aziz speaks
• 1:33
  about the jobs the project looks to bring to
• 1:35
  the area. We are a long -term infrastructure
• 1:38
  project. What that means is that we actually
• 1:41
  need to be constructed on site and on the ground,
• 1:44
  which is really good for boosting local economy
• 1:46
  as well as regional economy. Our project will
• 1:50
  create approximately 670 full -time construction
• 1:53
  jobs, as well as 40 jobs once it's actually operating.
• 1:57
  And what's really exciting about these jobs is
• 1:59
  that these job opportunities once operating are
• 2:02
  not you know jobs that need to come away from.
• 2:06
  take away from any industry, but rather repurposing
• 2:09
  jobs that come out of the fossil fuel generation
• 2:13
  space. We're going to be driving local benefits
• 2:15
  to both the local Indigenous communities as well
• 2:18
  as working with your Township to see what opportunities
• 2:20
  for our project to really work and contribute
• 2:24
  to the community. Aziz highlights the work they've
• 2:26
  been doing in the area. We've been working on
• 2:28
  two sites in this area. With one of the sites
• 2:31
  we'd like to call Quinty East, the location of
• 2:34
  the site, proposed site, is on the northern end
• 2:37
  of an existing quarry located on an industrial
• 2:40
  aggregate site in Loyalist. We have been able
• 2:42
  to screen the site from a desktop environmental
• 2:45
  screening perspective as well as conduct studies
• 2:47
  to understand the interconnection capacity and
• 2:49
  start to move ahead with some of the feasibility
• 2:51
  and development of the site. We have also partnered
• 2:54
  with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinty who are
• 2:56
  our First Nation Indigenous partners for the
• 2:59
  project and are supporting us on our journey
• 3:02
  ahead. Aziz details the technology that HydroStor
• 3:05
  uses. Our technology is one of the lowest cost
• 3:08
  long duration energy storage technologies available
• 3:10
  today and it operates emissions free. What else
• 3:14
  is also really unique about our technology is
• 3:16
  that it has a 50 year plus operating life without
• 3:19
  any degradation. That's really helpful because
• 3:22
  it means that we aren't repeatedly refurbishing
• 3:25
  our storage project and instead it operates like
• 3:28
  any other, you could compare it to a pump storage
• 3:31
  plant which is online for 50, 100 years and doesn't
• 3:33
  require any major replacements. The way our technology
• 3:40
  works is that you take electricity from the grid
• 3:44
  when power is cheap or in excess. You use that
• 3:48
  to compress air underground into an underground
• 3:51
  cavern. During that process, as you are compressing
• 3:54
  air, we actually take heat and we store it into
• 3:57
  a thermal management system that heat is being
• 3:59
  generated when you're compressing air underground.
• 4:02
  Once the system is fully charged, the air pushes
• 4:04
  all the water out of the cavern and holds in
• 4:07
  steady state. When you then need to generate
• 4:11
  electricity, you flip a valve, the water pushes
• 4:14
  the air out, The air goes up our well and through
• 4:18
  our turbine generating electricity. One of the
• 4:20
  primary engineers with hydro store Lucas Texan
• 4:23
  explains how the company builds its caverns and
• 4:25
  notes the rock formations in the area. We site
• 4:28
  our caverns specifically to be in very impermeable
• 4:31
  rock formations that are not suitable for hosting
• 4:34
  water. It's one of our siting criteria. The rock
• 4:38
  that is in this area is excellent for that case.
• 4:42
  It has very low hydraulic permeability once you're
• 4:45
  below the karst formation, below that limestone
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  and into the Canadian Shield, which is where
• 4:50
  we would target to build our caverns. Our construction
• 4:54
  shafts, which will travel from the surface down
• 4:57
  to our cavern construction horizon, are cased
• 5:00
  with the steel casing to ensure there's no interaction
• 5:03
  between our A -case process and the groundwater.
• 5:07
  speaks more about how the project will benefit
• 5:08
  the province, country and local economy as well.
• 5:12
  We're also going to be generating approximately
• 5:13
  1 .4 billion in support of Canada's GDP. and
• 5:18
  also once operating about 31 million dollars
• 5:21
  per year in GDP. We've also been started engagement
• 5:24
  with Loyalist's town planning team and who have
• 5:29
  who guided us towards your requirements for community
• 5:32
  engagement and a pathway towards municipal support
• 5:35
  resolution and so we will be engaging following
• 5:37
  Loyalist's requirements and doing our best efforts
• 5:40
  to engage with the community and proceeding ahead
• 5:42
  with that as we as we look to move forward. For
• 5:45
  Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 5:48
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
• 5:51
  News. All sides have backed down and agreed to
• 6:01
  work together after the town of Greater Napanee
• 6:03
  was warned about potential legal action from
• 6:05
  the county. Lennox and Addington originally requested
• 6:08
  that the town cease distributing its encampment
• 6:10
  protocol map that identified public property,
• 6:13
  including county lands. Greater Napanee Council
• 6:15
  confirmed a letter they received September 9th
• 6:18
  from the county states that Lennox and Addington
• 6:20
  does not intend to pursue any further legal remedy
• 6:23
  to the disputes that existed. The letter also
• 6:25
  noted that the county would pass its own bylaw
• 6:27
  regarding the matter at hand. CAO of Greater
• 6:30
  Napanee Matthew Grant explains the timeline of
• 6:33
  events. I'm pleased to say that we're now at
• 6:35
  a place where I kind of wish we had started,
• 6:38
  but we did receive correspondence from the County
• 6:41
  of Lennox and Addington. It is their intention
• 6:43
  to pursue their own bylaw. We did send a letter
• 6:47
  to the County of Lennox and Addington following
• 6:50
  our last meeting. We offer to assist them in
• 6:54
  their bylaw. I'm happy to share that we've already
• 6:57
  made that offer to the chief administrative officer
• 7:00
  of the county, as well as the head administrative
• 7:04
  head of Pellis. And we sent a note to the county
• 7:07
  of Lennox and Addington as they are identified
• 7:11
  by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs as the service
• 7:13
  manager accountable for service delivery. And
• 7:16
  we also sent a note to Pellis and the mayor sent
• 7:20
  one to the Pellis chair. as the operational service
• 7:23
  provider. Grant explains the latest recommendation
• 7:26
  he made to Council, which they approved at their
• 7:28
  meeting. I'm recommending that we offer use of
• 7:30
  our facilities in the community and that Council
• 7:33
  authorize staff to waive any fees that we might
• 7:36
  charge so that when they engage in consultation,
• 7:40
  as we engage in consultation, that they can do
• 7:43
  so with whatever facilities at our disposal that
• 7:46
  they feel will fit their plan. Grant details
• 7:48
  how staff are moving forward. Council and staff
• 7:51
  look forward to putting this unfortunate incident
• 7:53
  behind us. And, you know, I know that, you know,
• 7:59
  staff are very much looking forward to proceeding
• 8:02
  forward with our partners with mutual respect
• 8:05
  and mutual support. With that in mind, we are
• 8:10
  pleased to assist with any upcoming consultations,
• 8:13
  bylaw development or activities with the summits.
• 8:17
  any of the ongoing efforts of the provincially
• 8:20
  funded and mandated organizations responsible
• 8:22
  for housing and homelessness. Mayor Terry Richardson
• 8:24
  notes the importance of working together while
• 8:26
  trying to help unhoused individuals and families.
• 8:29
  We've got to move on from this. We have to work
• 8:32
  together to try and resolve a multifaceted problem
• 8:36
  that exists in every municipality. in this country
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  and probably in this continent. So if we don't,
• 8:43
  we're going to continue to spin our wheels and
• 8:45
  the people that we're supposed to be representing
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  are not going to be represented. For Amherst
• 8:49
  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
• 8:52
  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. The
• 9:03
  Lenox and Addington County OPP Detachment presented
• 9:05
  their annual report, including data about crime,
• 9:08
  traffic enforcement, and community well -being.
• 9:10
  The report noted an increase in violent crimes
• 9:13
  through 2024 and the creation of a crime prevention
• 9:16
  and community support bureau. The report also
• 9:18
  highlights the detachment's initiatives and successes
• 9:21
  from the past year. Inspector David Toville noted
• 9:24
  where the department is at and what they're looking
• 9:26
  forward to in the future. highlights our crime,
• 9:28
  roadway, waterway and trail safety and our community
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  well -being data and highlights successes from
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  the past year. This 2024 report also is a midway
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  report for the Lennington Addington OPP 2023
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  to 2025 action plan and provides updates on our
• 9:45
  current progress. and our action plan commitments.
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  So at the end of 2025, we will be going into
• 9:52
  our next action report. And what's going to be
• 9:54
  exciting about this one is this time with having
• 9:56
  our detachment board in place, we're going to
• 9:58
  be working with the board who represents our
• 10:00
  communities to understand what our priorities
• 10:04
  are in each of the communities. And that will
• 10:05
  form our action plan for our officers moving
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  forward over the next few years. We'll be able
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  to have those little milestone markers throughout
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  that term. to evaluate how we're doing and pivot
• 10:20
  as needed to ensure we're meeting the needs of
• 10:22
  our community. Along with the creation of the
• 10:24
  Crime Prevention and Community Support Bureau,
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  the detachment's response to an increase in violent
• 10:29
  crimes includes more training for officers. Tovel
• 10:32
  explains the training they've implemented. We've
• 10:34
  increased the number of officers trained in major
• 10:36
  case investigations, including human trafficking,
• 10:40
  intimate partner violence investigations, and
• 10:43
  investigative interviewing techniques. In courses
• 10:46
  like the human trafficking investigations, these
• 10:47
  are new courses over the last few years. Again,
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  it's a new concern in policing that we never
• 10:53
  really had to worry about a number of years ago,
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  but it's just the reality of society now. And
• 10:59
  we've learned that human trafficking goes through
• 11:03
  all of our communities and often it's within
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  all of our communities. It's important for our
• 11:07
  officers to... to understand and recognize those
• 11:10
  signs for those types of crimes. Toville details
• 11:12
  the importance of training and notes the amount
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  of new young officers on their front line. During
• 11:17
  the 2023 to 25 action plan period, our detachment,
• 11:22
  the Lenin -Static NOPP, have increased our capacity
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  for investigative excellence in a number of ways.
• 11:28
  Training has been key for us in training our
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  people. Our detachment... Frontline in particular
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  is made up of a lot of new young officers. Probably
• 11:39
  most of our shifts have less than four years
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  policing experience. Probably 80 % of that is
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  less than three years. We have officers who have
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  been on a year and a half coaching new recruits.
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  And that's just the reality of policing across,
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  I think across the country. So it's not unique
• 11:54
  to the OPP. It's just a reality. And with that,
• 11:56
  then comes a high demand for training. And so
• 12:00
  that's a big burden to put on our Ontario Police
• 12:01
  College and our provincial police academy out
• 12:04
  of OPP headquarters. Toville spoke about road
• 12:06
  safety in the area. Our officers remain steadfast
• 12:09
  in their commitment to keeping our roads safe.
• 12:11
  We're pretty proud to say that our impaired driving
• 12:13
  enforcement has increased 20 % over where it
• 12:16
  was in 2023. Our speed enforcement's increased
• 12:19
  32 % over 2023. Our seatbelt enforcement has
• 12:24
  doubled since 2023, and our distracting driving
• 12:27
  enforcement has near tripled since 2023. Fatal
• 12:32
  motor vehicle collisions were reduced, and I'm
• 12:34
  pleased to report that year to date, there have
• 12:37
  been no fatalities. Personal injury collisions
• 12:40
  and property damage collisions have reduced an
• 12:43
  additional 14 % year -to -date right now from
• 12:46
  where they were in 2024 through the efforts of
• 12:48
  our officers. Tobil went on to speak about waterways
• 12:51
  and trails in the area as well. We've engaged
• 12:53
  with community stakeholders and regional traffic
• 12:56
  teams to address a number of specific issues
• 12:58
  on our roads, waterways and trails and during
• 13:02
  this action plan period we've committed to a
• 13:04
  full -time marine program. We've done this for
• 13:07
  a few years now and between May to September
• 13:10
  the OPP has full -time operators on our waterways
• 13:13
  throughout Lennington and Addington. In 2024,
• 13:16
  our operators alone engaged more than 1 ,300
• 13:20
  operators on our waterways promoting recreational
• 13:23
  safety with a focus on preventing unnecessary
• 13:26
  injury or death. Toville noted the amount of
• 13:28
  mental health calls they received over the last
• 13:30
  year. We are down in our mental health calls
• 13:32
  this year. Last year we had 338 calls year to
• 13:34
  date. We're at 300 right now, so we are down
• 13:37
  a bit, but still 300 calls with regards to mental
• 13:41
  health. When we didn't at one time have that
• 13:44
  social services available and it was police responding,
• 13:47
  who weren't trained to deal with providing the
• 13:49
  assistance to these people, that's in place now.
• 13:52
  Toville detailed some of the new technologies
• 13:54
  officers are using. The OPP has invested heavily
• 13:57
  on our frontline mobile digital technology. Over
• 14:01
  the last year, year and a half, all of our cruisers
• 14:04
  now have in -car cameras. They have car cameras
• 14:07
  not only recording the exterior of the car, but
• 14:09
  we also have cameras inside the front seat, back
• 14:13
  seat for when we do have prisoners. All officers
• 14:16
  now have body worn cameras that are... activated
• 14:20
  through self -activation or when we activate
• 14:23
  our emergency lights in the cruisers. Not only
• 14:25
  do our in -car cameras come on, but our body
• 14:27
  -worn cameras also. And all that video evidence
• 14:30
  is captured in the cloud base. Each cruiser has
• 14:33
  mobile workstations. Each officer has now been
• 14:37
  issued a mobile cell phone and the purpose of
• 14:40
  the cell phone is all the video evidence that's
• 14:42
  coming from our in -car camera, body -worn camera,
• 14:46
  and taking audio statements. That's all tethered
• 14:49
  through the mobile phone and our officers do
• 14:51
  a lot of the work in uploading that through that
• 14:53
  device. We've also trained our officers in the
• 14:59
  community The new community safety outreach system
• 15:01
  commonly referred to as a CCTV. So Greater Napanee
• 15:04
  area, through grant funding and working with
• 15:07
  Leningstown and WPP have enhanced their CCTV
• 15:11
  system in the downtown and the main intersection
• 15:15
  areas. It was a couple of years ago when I first
• 15:17
  started as a Dutch commander, there were a few
• 15:19
  cameras in place and they were looking to tear
• 15:21
  down a building. So they called me just to...
• 15:24
  give me a heads up that infrastructure was going
• 15:26
  to be torn down and we were able to stop that
• 15:29
  and actually take advantage of a grant. a substantial
• 15:32
  grant from the Ontario government and the CCTV
• 15:35
  network we now have in the Greater Napanee area.
• 15:38
  It's got AI technology, it's got a capacity for
• 15:41
  automated license plate recognition and those
• 15:45
  sorts of things. We've used it for locating missing
• 15:46
  persons, solving crimes. And we have representatives
• 15:54
  from all of our communities. I'm very, very pleased
• 15:57
  with the relationship that we've established
• 16:00
  within the board already. So great communication
• 16:03
  and a lot of great stuff ahead. Chairman Norey
• 16:08
  and I attended Ontario Association of Police
• 16:11
  Service Board meeting. in London a couple months
• 16:13
  ago together and we're able to talk about a lot
• 16:16
  of policing issues and community safety issues
• 16:19
  that we share and the work that we're looking
• 16:22
  forward to doing in the coming year. So things
• 16:25
  are working really well there. For Amherst Island
• 16:27
  Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm
• 16:30
  Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. According
• 16:41
  to their 2024 annual report, Loyalist Township
• 16:44
  Emergency Services responded to a total of 542
• 16:48
  calls for service in 2024. This included a total
• 16:51
  of 65 fires, resulting in just over $2 million
• 16:54
  of loss. Fire Chief Kent Reedman noted an approximate
• 16:58
  percentage of accident calls that come from the
• 17:00
  401. When I look at the stats from last year,
• 17:06
  it's about around 100 calls. where car accidents
• 17:10
  or motor vehicle collisions, exactly 100 out
• 17:14
  of our calls. So that accounts for about 18 and
• 17:16
  a half percent of our calls are car accidents.
• 17:19
  Out of that, I don't have the specifics on the
• 17:21
  401, which I can get and it's probably a good
• 17:24
  number to actually keep track of, but I would.
• 17:28
  Just a rough guess, we're going to look at probably
• 17:31
  at least 75 % give or take of our calls of our
• 17:34
  motor vehicle collisions would be on the 401.
• 17:36
  So a significant amount. So you're probably looking
• 17:39
  at last year, give or take 75 calls on the 401.
• 17:43
  Councillor Paul Prodrick spoke about the time
• 17:45
  spent on the 401. The chief and I talked last
• 17:48
  night and I was really intrigued by how much
• 17:49
  time is spent on 401 calls because I think people
• 17:52
  need to realize how much of our time is spent
• 17:56
  on the major highway. Reedman provided counsel
• 17:59
  with statistics and general information on a
• 18:02
  variety of operational and division -specific
• 18:04
  aspects of their team in 2024. They welcomed
• 18:07
  Reedman as their new Fire Chief last year, along
• 18:09
  with two Deputy Fire Chiefs. Just under 6 ,500
• 18:13
  hours of training were delivered to staff in
• 18:15
  2024. They counted a total of 29 more service
• 18:18
  calls in 2024 than in 2023, representing a 5
• 18:21
  .35 % increase. The Amherst View station responded
• 18:25
  to the most calls in 2024, being the primary
• 18:28
  response area for 225 calls. Reedman spoke about
• 18:32
  the breakdown of their annual report. It's based
• 18:35
  on just the average of the municipality. We could
• 18:38
  separate the more urban areas out. It does create
• 18:43
  some significant differences within that reporting
• 18:46
  structure. It definitely can be done. It was
• 18:49
  just done as an average over the entire township.
• 18:53
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 18:56
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
• 18:59
  News. Greater Napanee Council decided to defer
• 19:09
  a decision about selling a piece of land with
• 19:12
  a former CN rail line on it. Staff will wait
• 19:14
  to hear from the Town's Ad Hoc Committee on Trails.
• 19:17
  In May of 2023, Council held a meeting regarding
• 19:19
  the land in question and created the Ad Hoc Committee
• 19:22
  on Trails. The trail, previously used by the
• 19:25
  community for recreation, was recently closed
• 19:27
  following an increase in use of private property
• 19:30
  by individuals and motorized vehicles. The public
• 19:33
  portion of the trail ends soon after crossing
• 19:35
  Highway 401 and leaves no other option but for
• 19:37
  users to access non -public land if they wish
• 19:40
  to continue. The town has since blocked access
• 19:42
  over the bridge on advice of the ad hoc committee.
• 19:45
  Working on crossing the 401 is underway, but
• 19:47
  plans cannot be finalized until the MTO finishes
• 19:50
  widening the highway. The town is also waiting
• 19:52
  for clarity from the MTO on exactly how in -town
• 19:55
  trails will be able to cross Highway 401. Mayor
• 19:58
  Terry Richardson explained why they decided to
• 20:00
  defer to the ad hoc committee. We've employed
• 20:03
  an ad hoc committee to do this work. They've
• 20:06
  done a marvelous bunch of work. We have a direction
• 20:09
  to go in. We should bring them back and have
• 20:11
  a conversation with them. because they're the
• 20:13
  ones that did all the work on this. And so maybe
• 20:16
  what we should do is before we change direction,
• 20:18
  because we did have a direction with the resolution,
• 20:21
  before we change direction, maybe we should have
• 20:23
  a chat with them and see what their thoughts
• 20:25
  are. And then, because let's face it, none of
• 20:28
  us had worked on this and we had six very able,
• 20:32
  competent people that worked on this thing. And
• 20:34
  I'll tell you, they came up with some solutions
• 20:36
  that I didn't think were possible. And I just
• 20:38
  don't think it's fair to the ad hoc committee.
• 20:41
  for us to make a decision this evening without
• 20:44
  actually consulting with them. I just think we
• 20:46
  owe it to these six people to come and have a
• 20:49
  chat with us because I got to admit they have
• 20:52
  done an absolutely marvelous bunch of work on
• 20:54
  this thing. The town's CAO Matthew Grant originally
• 20:57
  recommended removing the resolution from the
• 20:59
  town's resolution tracker but staff did not agree.
• 21:02
  Grant explains. Since this report's been published
• 21:05
  a number of a number of council members have
• 21:08
  been kind enough to come forward and let me know
• 21:10
  that the initial report as written really missed
• 21:13
  the mark. And they explain the reasons why and
• 21:18
  I have to agree with them. And what specifically
• 21:19
  members of council said to me was by removing
• 21:24
  this from the resolution tracker. It doesn't
• 21:27
  sufficiently remind us of our obligation to the
• 21:29
  stakeholders that we made. And so for clarity,
• 21:33
  it was a good deed that was not necessarily well
• 21:36
  thought out and council who did not have any
• 21:41
  desire to change what we were doing was kind
• 21:44
  enough to point that out. So it is my intention
• 21:47
  to with some of the background information and
• 21:51
  alternatives to consider to sort of put us back
• 21:56
  on track there. Councillor Michael Schenck explained
• 21:58
  why listening to the ad hoc committee's recommendation
• 22:01
  made the most sense. We all agreed the ad hoc
• 22:03
  committee said we're going to close the railway
• 22:06
  line and the town went ahead and we put up barriers
• 22:08
  but closed no trespassing on the railway bridge
• 22:11
  itself and it's proven in the in how many reports
• 22:14
  that we've seen that saying that that railway
• 22:18
  line ends and doesn't go anywhere it's just going
• 22:22
  across behind somebody's property. I always try
• 22:24
  to put yourself in the other person's position,
• 22:27
  all right, or the other farmer's position, or
• 22:29
  the other thing, what would you feel? Now, we've
• 22:31
  already gone through all these public meetings
• 22:34
  and discussions and everything else, and then
• 22:37
  we're gonna leave it to a new council, and you
• 22:40
  never know who you're gonna get, and they're
• 22:42
  gonna say, oh, by the way, we're gonna make this
• 22:44
  into a walking trail. Now, you've got the county
• 22:47
  arguing about homelessness. You know you're gonna
• 22:51
  leave public property behind a multi -million
• 22:53
  dollar farm and they're not supposed to be upset.
• 22:56
  I would lose my mind. Councillor Angela Hicks
• 22:59
  explained why deferring to the ad hoc committee
• 23:01
  was council's best option. I don't have a crystal
• 23:04
  ball but I do not foresee in 50 years any way
• 23:08
  possible for that rail line and again that's
• 23:10
  already been determined by the ad hoc committee
• 23:12
  and council has accepted their recommendations.
• 23:16
  I don't agree necessarily with putting it up
• 23:19
  for sale right now, but I think it should be.
• 23:23
  We can remove the resolution. I like the resolution
• 23:26
  because it's there and it's a glaring reminder
• 23:28
  to everyone. on this council and future councils
• 23:32
  that it needs to be dealt with, that there is
• 23:34
  a project underway. It's just sitting there,
• 23:37
  it's not doing anything. I don't know what the
• 23:39
  amount of money would be that we would get for
• 23:41
  it, but I think good faith to the ratepayers
• 23:44
  of the town and the ad hoc committee is to just
• 23:47
  leave it, not sell it right now until we've made
• 23:49
  further headway with the MTO on getting over
• 23:53
  or under. the 401. Shank noted potential plans
• 23:57
  he's seen and the importance of the recommendation
• 23:59
  of the ad hoc committee. If the trail was going
• 24:02
  somewhere and it was not in a dead end, you would
• 24:06
  have an argument by leaving it open and not having
• 24:09
  it in a surplus list. Camden Road, when they
• 24:13
  expand the 401, they will be doing redevelopment
• 24:15
  on that bridge in a walking or whatever. A couple
• 24:19
  of designs that I saw was one going north with
• 24:21
  the Old Skidoo Trail. One going possibly over
• 24:24
  the Camden Road, over that bridge there. But
• 24:27
  at no time do I believe MTO will go underground
• 24:30
  right where the railway bridge is at this current
• 24:34
  time. So therefore, we got a dead -end trail,
• 24:38
  and we've had some very intelligent people sitting
• 24:40
  on those committees. And if we say, well, by
• 24:43
  the way, for the last three years that you've
• 24:44
  been doing this committee, and we're, you know
• 24:47
  what, we don't agree with you. and you've already
• 24:49
  given to our public meetings, and you gave our
• 24:52
  presentation, and we didn't question you there,
• 24:54
  and now we're going to go ahead and say, ah,
• 24:56
  we don't want to sell it? When they're saying,
• 24:57
  hey guys, we don't need it, well, I don't want
• 25:01
  to be down that road. CAO Matthew Grant explained
• 25:04
  what future talks with the ad hoc committee could
• 25:06
  look like. I'm confident that they would be very
• 25:09
  receptive to sharing their perspectives that
• 25:12
  they've already given and to hearing that we're
• 25:14
  open to making on the ground progress. on trails
• 25:20
  within the town. I think in some of the conversations
• 25:24
  that I've had is talk is great, but investing
• 25:29
  in some of the trail stuff that we have on the
• 25:31
  ground is even better. Staff confirmed that any
• 25:34
  discussion on the sale of the lands cannot occur
• 25:36
  until it has been deemed surplus by council.
• 25:39
  This procedure would need to be accompanied by
• 25:41
  public consultation. For Amherst Island Radio
• 25:44
  and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted
• 25:46
  Evans. This is North Shore News. Landowners in
• 25:57
  Loyalist Township have already showed interest
• 25:59
  in a proposal brought forth by Westbridge Renewable
• 26:02
  Energy for a large -scale solar farm. The proposed
• 26:05
  project would be located on approximately 800
• 26:07
  acres of private land near Switzerville. With
• 26:10
  a target operation date in May of 2030, the project
• 26:13
  would be capable of supplying energy to 20 ,000
• 26:16
  homes. According to the Township's zoning and
• 26:18
  official plan policies, Loyalist is recognized
• 26:21
  as having some of the highest photovoltaic potential
• 26:23
  in the province. is a Canadian -based developer
• 26:27
  focused on utility -scale solar photovoltaic
• 26:30
  projects. They currently have operations in Canada,
• 26:33
  USA, the UK, and Europe. Director and executive
• 26:36
  chair of Westbridge Renewable Energy, Scott Kelly,
• 26:39
  explains the components of the project and what
• 26:41
  the site would look like. Components would really
• 26:43
  be the solar PV photovoltaic panels in a rural
• 26:49
  environment, quiet, generating solar energy and
• 26:54
  clean electricity. to connect to the grid and
• 26:56
  supply to the local community and industry. In
• 26:59
  terms of what it would look like, typically rows
• 27:02
  of 10 meter solar panels, some very small substations
• 27:06
  and inverters, and gravel access roads and perimeter
• 27:10
  fencing. We try to keep a fairly low, as much
• 27:14
  of a low impact as possible and protect the local
• 27:18
  environment as much as possible. And it's very
• 27:20
  key in our site criteria and our development.
• 27:22
  Kelly speaks about the proposed site south of
• 27:25
  the 401 near Switzerville. This is subject to
• 27:28
  change. We're going through quite a bit of environmental
• 27:32
  and other consultation work, working with the
• 27:35
  local municipalities and trying to refine and
• 27:39
  fine tune this. Kelly explains how the company
• 27:41
  chooses an ideal site. The way we look at projects
• 27:44
  and the way we would select an ideal site is
• 27:48
  obviously Is there availability on the local
• 27:51
  transmission line to add new power and can we
• 27:55
  connect to it in an economic way and transfer
• 27:58
  and transmit the clean energy in an economical
• 28:01
  and efficient way? We look for non -prime agricultural
• 28:05
  land where there's very good solar radiance,
• 28:09
  meaning the ability to generate an excellent
• 28:12
  amount of energy that makes the project economical.
• 28:15
  Where there's definite landowner interest, we
• 28:18
  see the landowners as very much as our partners
• 28:20
  and where there is municipal and community support
• 28:25
  and very much where we're working within the
• 28:27
  guidelines and the policies of the municipalities
• 28:29
  and the communities that we are partnering with.
• 28:32
  Kelly notes how the company collaborates with
• 28:34
  the communities they work within. All of our
• 28:37
  projects are very much elaboration with the communities
• 28:41
  in which we are working with. We spend a lot
• 28:44
  of time with the municipalities, with the local
• 28:47
  landowners working within the regulations and
• 28:50
  the environment that we're working in. Every
• 28:53
  project is unique and we look at ourselves as
• 28:58
  long -term partners with the community and do
• 29:01
  our very best to benefit the community in every
• 29:03
  way we can. Kelly explains how the company establishes
• 29:06
  a community benefit fund for communities they
• 29:08
  work with. In terms of adding back to the community,
• 29:12
  it's something we very much take as part of our
• 29:16
  project. Every project that we build and plan
• 29:22
  and bring to market includes a small fund that
• 29:29
  would uh essentially share some of the revenue
• 29:32
  and some of the benefit and some of the funding
• 29:34
  and money that comes from this project with the
• 29:37
  local municipality. COO and director with Westbridge
• 29:40
  Renewable Energy Margaret McKenna speaks about
• 29:42
  the lifespan of the project. The typical lifespan
• 29:45
  can be kind of anywhere between 35 and 50 years
• 29:50
  depending on whether the panels are replaced
• 29:54
  and how many times they are replaced during the
• 29:58
  life of the project. There will be a decommissioning
• 30:01
  plan. It's required as part of the renewable
• 30:05
  energy approval process and we anticipate that
• 30:09
  there would be coordination and consultation
• 30:13
  with the Loyalist Planning Department in terms
• 30:16
  of what that looks like. Kelly explains the timeline
• 30:19
  of their proposal and their steps going forward.
• 30:22
  We did have a pre -consultation meeting at the
• 30:24
  end of July. We have met with several landowners.
• 30:27
  I've met with several of them personally in the
• 30:29
  last few weeks myself and we're planning an open
• 30:32
  house just around the corner. on the 25th of
• 30:37
  August at the Odessa Agricultural Society Fairground
• 30:39
  to discuss face -to -face with anyone in the
• 30:43
  community who would like to attend. And we'll
• 30:45
  be back in September with much more finalized
• 30:49
  plans and be coming to the council for some support.
• 30:56
  And the final submission is October 16th. For
• 31:01
  Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 31:04
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
• 31:07
  News. This has been North Shore News and Interviews.
• 31:12
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• 31:15
  stories for the show, consider joining our 100
• 31:19
  % volunteer team. Contact Amherst Island Radio
• 31:23
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