Prowind will not be moving forward with its wind turbine project in the Cassel and Innerkip areas of East Zorra-Tavistock.
A well-behaved, standing-room-only crowd of about 120 people attended Wednesday’s East Zorra-Tavistock meeting in Hickson to hear presentations from Helmut Schneider, Prowind’s Vice-President of Renewable Energy, and local farmer David Cunningham from Wind Concerns EZT.
A resolution was passed by council saying, “Be it resolved that the Township of East Zorra-Tavistock declares itself to be an unwilling host for wind turbine developments.” Councillor Jeremy Smith asked for a recorded vote, and it was passed unanimously followed by loud cheers from most in the gallery.
Councillor Steven Van Wyk declared a conflict of interest and was not in chambers for the presentations, discussions, or the vote. He is employed by Stubbe’s Precast in Hickson, the company that supplied concrete to the Gunn’s Hill wind project and could have potentially done the same for any EZT wind farms.
After a few minutes of discussion on if and how council should proceed with a potential resolution, clerk Will Jaques read the motion which was followed by words from Mayor Phil Schaefer. “I believe that renewable energy is important, and I also believe wind turbines may form a part of that. But I don’t understand why the most valuable farmland in the township and the county would be proposed for a massive wind turbine development. It produces energy, yes, intermittently, but it also produces division. It pits neighbour against neighbour and puts a price on friendship. I will support this resolution.”
After his presentation, Cunningham asked council to pass a resolution declaring the township as an unwilling host and in the end, that is exactly what happened. He said he’s thrilled the decision was made so quickly, not letting the issue linger on and cause anxiety. “A little unexpected. I thought they might take a day or two to consider it and then vote, but thoroughly happy with the decision. It supports the community.” His Wind Concerns EZT partner, Rick Hommes, added the resolution was unexpected. “I thought about it but never expected it to happen. And unanimous.”
Councillor Scott Zehr spoke following the presentations and said the response from residents was overwhelming and he thanked Cunningham and Hommes for their efforts. “I think you guys did a great job of rallying the community and educating folks. From the amount of emails I received personally, people spoke up.”
Both men agreed the residents in attendance did help their cause. “100%. It was a community effort, that’s what it was,” added Hommes. “I am big on consensus, and they saw a small sampling of what the community was saying,” said Cunningham who added it was a focused effort over a few months. “Since just before Christmas our heads were down, we were like sponges trying to get as many facts as we could to keep the emotions out of it to focus on the vital few things we thought were important. The community rallied together quickly.”
Schneider said he is disappointed with the resolution and was hoping for more time to build relationships in the area. “The reason we did not make an ask of council is that we felt it was important for (them) to get to know us and to see if we are sincere in our community engagement process. Do we use this process to make sure we build trust in the community? We did not ask for a council resolution, but it has been made and we have to deal with that.” He added the company will regroup and see what it means for their proposed developments. “We do have other developments in Oxford and Ontario and for us, it is more comfortable to work with a willing host so that is what we will focus on.”
Despite the company’s setback in East Zorra-Tavistock, Schneider said he did have a lot of support for the project with 19 land option agreements for turbines signed to date. “I don’t think it is correct to assume that all the people in that room were in opposition because I did recognize several people who had written letters to council in support of this project. It is a bit of a false assumption, but the majority of people came here because they were requested to. We did not ask anybody to come and support us. We did not think there was a need for that because we didn’t have an ask for a resolution.”
