Latest / North Shore News / October 9th, 2025

Transcript

October 9th, 2025 · North Shore News

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  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
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  Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
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  on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
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  that we've had with people in the local community
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  and beyond. Prince Edward Lennox and Addington
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  Social Services are still looking to create 49
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  child care spaces by December 31st, 2026 as part
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  of their expansion under the Canada -wide Early
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  Learning and Child Care System. The group is
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  looking to find an operator who can expand or
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  open new child care spaces in the area. The group
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  are looking for applications before October 31st.
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  The Canada -wide Early Learning and Child Care
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  System gives families access to more affordable
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  and high -quality child care options, helps lower
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  child care fees for parents and of children under
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  the age of six, increases child care spaces,
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  supports the child care workforce, and supports
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  inclusive child care. As of March this year,
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  the system has created about 39 ,500 new affordable
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  child care spaces. This goes towards their goal
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  of creating 86 ,000 spaces by the end of 2026.
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  As of January 1st this year, The system capped
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  fees at $22 per day, bringing the provincial
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  average to $19 per day. By March 2026, the system
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  is looking to lower that average to $10 per day.
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  Families and individuals may be eligible for
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  reduced fees if their licensed child care provider
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  is enrolled in the system and charges more than
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  $12 per day for child care, with the child being
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  under the age of six or turns six years old and
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  is enrolled in a licensed preschool, kindergarten
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  or family age group or a licensed home child
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  care premises until June. 30th. Costs can depend
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  on a family's income and can be reduced by 50
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  % for eligible children in system -enrolled programs.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Loyalist Township is once again partnering
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  with the Odessa Agricultural Society to bring
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  Halloween fun to families at the fourth annual
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  Trunk or Treat and Crafts event. On Sunday, October
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  26th, from 1pm to 4pm at the Odessa Fairgrounds,
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  located at 231 Main Street, Odessa, there will
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  be an afternoon of free, family -friendly festivities.
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  Local businesses and organizations will be showcasing
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  their creativity with decorated vehicles of all
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  shapes and sizes. Children are invited to trick
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  -or -treat from trunk to trunk in a safe, accessible,
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  and spook -free outdoor environment. This event
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  takes place rain or shine. Inside, the Odessa
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  Agricultural Society will be hosting a variety
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  of festive activities including Halloween -themed
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  games, crafts, and a cash canteen. Loyalist Township
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  noted they're proud to collaborate with the Lennox
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  and Addington Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee
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  and Treat Accessibility to ensure the event is
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  inclusive and welcoming for everybody. For more
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  information, visit loyalist .ca slash trunk or
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  treat. For Amherst Island Radio and the Local
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  Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is
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  North Shore News. On Monday, October 20th from
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  1 to 3 p .m., Loyalist Township will be celebrating
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  the grand opening of the new Downey Wenjack Fund
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  legacy space at the W .J. Henderson Community
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  Center. Following this ceremony, the legacy space
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  will be open to the public. This space is part
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  of a national program created by the Gord Downey
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  and Shawnee Wenjack Fund. These spaces are designed
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  to be safe, welcoming spaces where people can
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  learn about Indigenous cultures, reflect on shared
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  journeys, and take part in meaningful conversations
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  about reconciliation. The opening celebration
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  will include a ribbon -cutting, welcoming remarks
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  from local leaders and representatives of the
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  Fund, as well as guided tours of the new space.
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  Visitors will have the chance to see exhibits
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  featuring indigenous art, artifacts, storytelling,
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  and a local school project. There will also be
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  a cultural performance and opportunities to speak
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  with indigenous elders, Township staff, and members
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  of the Downey Wenjack Fund. In July 2024, the
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  Township signed a five -year agreement with the
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  Downey Wenjack Fund to create this legacy space.
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  This space will offer ongoing opportunities for
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  residents to participate in workshops, cultural
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  activities, and public education. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Westbridge
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  Renewable Energy has recognized there's still
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  work to be done in gaining public support for
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  their proposed solar farm in Loyalist Township.
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  The company has committed to undertake indigenous
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  and community engagement activities and incorporate
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  the feedback as the project moves forward. Chief
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  Operating Officer for the company and Vice President
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  of Switzerville Solar, Margaret McKenna, explains
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  where they're at with the project. During consultation,
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  we've heard positive, we've heard negative, and
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  we've heard constructive. We believe most of
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  that can be incorporated, mitigated, or overcome
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  in future planning and design. There is work
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  to be done still. and we acknowledge that. We
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  believe that the project will have a positive
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  impact on the community and the township as a
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  whole, while also contributing clean, emission
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  -free energy to support Ontario's future. While
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  still showing support for the project, Council
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  is making sure the company does their due diligence.
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  Development Services Manager with the Township,
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  Andrea Furness, details some of the environmental
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  work that will need to be done. As part of the
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  planning application, we would require an environmental
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  impact assessment on that property. There is
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  environmental protection lands going through
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  the property, traversing the property through
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  the water course. So that would be a requirement
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  where they would have to address everything on
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  species at risk habitat, wildlife habitat. All
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  of that would have to be looked at by an ecologist.
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  And the Township uses a third party peer reviewer
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  to evaluate that as well. determine if there's
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  impacts and to help form how any development
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  can occur on the site without negatively impacting
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  any natural heritage features and their ecological
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  functions. There are some concerns. The proponent
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  recognized that there is homework yet to be done
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  and I think there's a recognition that council
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  wants to ensure that that homework. Is it done?
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  Council passed a resolution in support of the
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  company at their latest meeting to help with
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  the company's bid for federal funding. At an
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  August 25th open house regarding the project,
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  there were various concerns from residents in
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  regards to communication, groundwater and the
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  potential to destroy wildlife habitat. Councillor
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  Paul Proderick speaks about the importance of
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  public engagement and moving towards clean energy
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  options in the future. We've been down this road
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  before and I think back Early in our term of
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  council, we asked staff to develop a policy in
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  terms of engagement, and they followed that rather
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  extensively. You know, clean energy, in my judgment,
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  that's the direction we should be taking. It
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  fits into our climate action plan. Councillor
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  Lorna Willis sympathized with those voicing concerns,
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  but spoke about the importance of moving forward
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  as well. I do know what it's like to live within
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  a project space. Although, you know, I am supporting
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  the motion because I do agree that we do have
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  to do our part to move forward with green energy
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  in the township. The proposed project would be
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  located on approximately 800 acres of private
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  land near Switzerville and would be capable of
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  supplying energy to 20 ,000 homes. The target
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  operation date is May 2030. For Amherst Island
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  Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm
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  Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. A clean
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  energy company looking to build an energy storage
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  center in Loyalist promised the project would
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  bring 670 direct construction jobs and 40 permanent
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  jobs to the area. HydroStore presented their
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  plans for creating the Quinte Energy Storage
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  Center to Loyalist Township Council. The proposed
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  site is on a portion of an already existing industrial
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  aggregate site near the intersection of County
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  Road 22 and Townline Road. Staff with the company
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  noted that each phase of the project will provide
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  over $1 .4 billion in economic benefits to Ontario.
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  including the boost in local jobs. The company
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  will also be making long -term direct contributions
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  to the township and county through a community
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  benefits fund. Vice President of Business Development
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  with HydroStore, Shahir Aziz, explains the project
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  and why they chose the area. The Quinty Energy
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  Storage Centre is an energy storage project that
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  we have been working on for the past couple of
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  years in Lenox and Addington County. The reason
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  why we are so attracted to this location is that
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  we want to be adjacent to the Lenox Transformer
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  Station, which is a critical transformer station
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  in the province of Ontario. It allows for power
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  to transfer east towards Ottawa, as well as transferring
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  power west towards Toronto when needed. Aziz
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  speaks about the jobs the project looks to bring
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  to the area. We are a long -term infrastructure
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  project. What that means is that we actually
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  need to be constructed on site and on the ground,
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  which is really good for boosting local economy
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  as well as regional economy. Our project will
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  create approximately 670 full -time construction
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  jobs as well as 40 jobs once it's actually operating.
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  And what's really exciting about these jobs is
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  that these job opportunities once operating are
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  not, you know, jobs that need to come away from.
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  take away from any industry, but rather repurposing
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  jobs that come out of the fossil fuel generation
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  space. We're going to be driving local benefits
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  to both the local Indigenous communities as well
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  as working with your Township to see what opportunities
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  for our project to really work and contribute
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  to the community. Aziz highlights the work they've
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  been doing in the area. We've been working on
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  two sites in this area. With one of the sites
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  we'd like to call Quinte East, the location of
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  the site, proposed site, is on the northern end
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  of an existing quarry located on an industrial
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  aggregate site in Loyalist. We have been able
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  to screen the site from a desktop environmental
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  screening perspective as well as conduct studies
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  to understand the interconnection capacity and
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  start to move ahead with some of the feasibility
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  and development of the site. We have also partnered
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  with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte who are
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  our First Nation Indigenous partners for the
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  project. and are supporting us on our journey
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  ahead. Aziz details the technology that Hydrostore
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  uses. Our technology is one of the lowest cost
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  long duration energy storage technologies available
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  today and it operates emissions free. What else
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  is also really unique about our technology is
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  that it has a 50 year plus operating life without
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  any degradation. That's really helpful because
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  it means that we aren't repeatedly refurbishing
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  our storage project and instead it operates like
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  any other, you could compare it to a pump storage
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  plant which is online for 50 -100 years and doesn't
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  require any major replacements. Aziz details
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  Hydrostore's process for generating electricity.
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  The way our technology works is that you take
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  electricity from the grid when power is cheap
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  or in excess. You use that to compress air underground
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  into an underground cavern. During that process,
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  as you are compressing air, we actually take
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  heat and we store it into a thermal management
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  system that heat is being generated when you're
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  compressing air underground. Once the system
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  is fully charged, the air pushes all the water
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  out of the cavern and holds in steady state.
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  When you then need to generate electricity, you
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  flip a valve, the water pushes the air out, The
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  air goes up our well and through our turbine
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  generating electricity. One of the primary engineers
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  with HydroStor Lucas Texan explains how the company
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  builds its caverns and notes the rock formations
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  in the area. We site our caverns specifically
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  to be in very impermeable rock formations that
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  are not suitable for hosting water. It's one
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  of our siting criteria. The rock that is in this
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  area is excellent for that case. It has very
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  low hydraulic permeability once you're below
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  the karst formation, below that limestone and
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  into the Canadian Shield, which is where we would
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  target to build our caverns. Our construction
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  shafts, which will travel from the surface down
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  to our cavern construction horizon, are cased
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  with the steel casing to ensure there's no interaction
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  between our A -case process and the groundwater.
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  speaks more about how the project will benefit
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  the province, country and local economy as well.
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  We're also going to be generating approximately
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  1 .4 billion in support of Canada's GDP. and
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  also once operating about 31 million dollars
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  per year in GDP. We've also been started engagement
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  with Loyalist's town planning team and who have
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  who guided us towards your requirements for community
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  engagement and a pathway towards municipal support
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  resolution and so we will be engaging following
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  Loyalist's requirements and doing our best efforts
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  to engage with the community and proceeding ahead
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  with that as we look to move forward. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. All
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  sides have backed down and agreed to work together
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  after the town of Greater Napanee was warned
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  about potential legal action from the county.
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  Lennox and Addington originally requested that
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  the town cease distributing its encampment protocol
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  map that identified public property including
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  county lands. Greater Napanee council confirmed
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  a letter they received September 9th from the
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  county states that Lennox and Addington does
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  not intend to pursue any further legal remedy
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  to the disputes that existed. The letter also
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  noted that the county would pass its own bylaw
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  regarding the matter at hand. CAO of Greater
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  Napanee Matthew Grant explains the timeline of
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  events. I'm pleased to say that we're now at
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  a place where I kind of wish we had started,
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  but we did receive correspondence from the County
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  of Lennox and Addington. It is their intention
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  to pursue their own bylaw. We did send a letter
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  to the County of Lennox and Addington following
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  our last meeting. We offer to assist them in
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  their bylaw. I'm happy to share that we've already
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  made that offer to the Chief Administrative Officer
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  of the County, as well as the head, Administrative
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  Head of Pellis. And we sent a note to the County
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  of Lennox and Addington as they are identified
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  by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs as the service
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  manager accountable for service delivery. And
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  we also sent a note to Pellis and the Mayor sent
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  one to the Pellis Chair. as the operational service
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  provider. Grant explains the latest recommendation
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  he made to Council, which they approved at their
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  meeting. I'm recommending that we offer use of
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  our facilities in the community, and that Council
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  authorize staff to waive any fees that we might
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  charge. so that when they engage in consultation,
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  as we engage in consultation, that they can do
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  so with whatever facilities at our disposal that
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  they feel will fit their plan. Council and staff
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  look forward to putting this unfortunate incident
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  behind us. And, you know, I know that, you know,
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  staff are very much looking forward to proceeding
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  forward with our partners with mutual respect
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  and mutual support. With that in mind, we are
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  pleased to assist with any upcoming consultations,
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  bylaw development or activities with the summits,
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  any of the ongoing efforts of the provincially
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  funded and mandated organizations responsible
• 15:50
  for housing and homelessness. Mayor Terry Richardson
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  notes the importance of working together while
• 15:54
  trying to help unhoused individuals and families.
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  We've got to move on from this. We have to work
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  together to try and resolve a multifaceted problem.
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  That exists in every municipality in this country
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  and probably in this continent. So if we don't,
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  we're going to continue to spin our wheels and
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  the people that we're supposed to be representing
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  are not going to be represented. For Amherst
• 16:16
  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. This
• 16:24
  has been North Shore News and Interviews. If
• 16:27
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