the Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) program is at the heart of everything we do here at ADEDA. Why? First and foremost, it gives us the opportunity to express our thanks for the contribution you've made to the community. BRE also enables us to effectively link local, provincial and federal programs and services. We also get a better sense of the specific business issues our entrepreneurs in Annapolis Digby are facing. Through the BRE process, we have learned that many local companies would like to improve their marketing skills. Here’s a great opportunity to do so:
INTERNET MARKETING FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Expert Internet marketing know-how can hard to come by, particularly when you’re working flat out at running your own business. The Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia initiative, with support from the Department of Economic and Rural Development, is sponsoring an inexpensive internet marketing workshop. Session topics include ‘Building Websites that Sell’ and ‘What is Social Media and How Do I Use It?’ You can also sign up for free 1-on-1 consultations with experts who will critique your website.
TV SHOW GENERATES VALUABLE EXPOSURE
Speaking of marketing, Chef Lynn Crawford really gave our region a boost with the broadcast of her new TV show, Pitchin' In, on Canada's Food Network, earlier this month. Aside from all the great PR for our lobster industry, the media time is worth $288,000 to our region, a figure well beyond our current marketing budgets.
STUDENT JOBS PROGRAM
The Federal government has announced the launch of Canada Summer Jobs 2010, which supports work experiences for students and helps provide important community services. Funding will be offered to not-for-profit, public-sector and small private-sector employers to create high-quality summer job opportunities for young people 15 to 30 years old who are full-time students and intend to return to school in the next school year. Here are the details.
Is Nova Scotia Running Out of Agricultural Land?
The short and long term future of the existing agricultural lands will be the subject of a province-wide consultation later this month. According to Canadian census figures, cleared farmland has declined steadily since at least 1901. There are only 181,915 hectares of active farmland left in Nova Scotia, with a large concentration here in the Annapolis Valley. A series of public meetings will take place to look at what the future holds for our agricultural resources.
GOING SOMEWHERE?
Winter driving is hazardous so please remember to check road conditions before getting behind the wheel. You can do this by viewing highway webcams or simply by calling 511. The province is, in fact, asking for your feedback on the 511 highway service info line … do you have suggestions for improvements?
Here’s something for those who would like to take part in the local arts scene: Secret Seeds, one of the region’s newest cultural endeavors, is an event built around a series of short plays. Organizers will be meeting on Saturday to discuss ideas … you are invited to share your expertise and enthusiasm!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Officials Were Warned About Wind Farm
(Source: The Daily Item)By Marcia Moore, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
Jan. 22--SUNBURY -- Two separate Northumberland County boards of commissioners were cautioned since 2006 by three legal advisers about "shortcomings" in a Sunbury firm's wind farm proposal.
At issue is the land-lease agreement between the county and Penn Wind, a 29-year deal that is in the midst of being renewed and has been in jeopardy for months.
The two sides are hoping to keep the project afloat and plan to meet early next week.
Commissioner Vinny Clausi, who has loudly voiced his displeasure with the financial details and discrepancy about the amount of land involved, and Commissioner Kurt Masser said they're optimistic about reaching an agreement.
Since 2007, the county has been leasing land in Coal and East Cameron townships to the company for $1 a year, with an agreement that the county would receive $56,000 a year once the site begins generating wind energy.
Late last week, Penn Wind CEO Justin Dunkelberger revealed the company's intention to sell the lease to an unidentified California company for $1 million and allow it to set up wind turbines on the land.
Masser said he was surprised to learn an outside company might be stepping in, but said he's willing to work with any business that's able to bring jobs and revenue to the county.
"I want to do what's right for the taxpayer," he said, agreeing that the county should reap more financially from the project.
Masser played down the impact of political contributions he received from Penn Wind representatives during the 2007 election, including $600 from James Garman and $500 from Chris Purdy, both of Sunbury, and $100 from Dunkelberger, of Northumberland.
"If I was pushing to get (the deal) done, it might be an issue," Masser said. "But I've been saying all along that we should put our concerns on the table and lay out what we want."
He said that will likely occur when commissioners return to the negotiating table with Penn Wind next week.
And, Masser said, "Unless everyone can agree to the terms, I won't vote for it."
Even before the first contract was signed in 2007, then-county solicitor Guy Schlesinger raised questions about whether the county would receive its fair share. The former board, headed by Samuel Deitrick, along with Masser and Frank Sawicki, went ahead with the contract to lease about 500 acres for $1 a year until a 23-acre site is developed.
In 2008, solicitor Hugh Jones wrote to the commissioners recommending the contract not be signed.
He cited "shortcomings" in the deal cited by former planning Director Steve Bartos, including the lack of provisions for giving the county a percentage of the wind energy revenue and failure to place a limit on how long Penn Wind can lease the property at $1 a year without developing the site.
Despite the concerns addressed by Jones, the current board -- Sawicki, Masser and Vinny Clausi -- signed the deal for another year.
Assistant solicitor Kymberley Best added her concerns about the project last week in a letter in which she described the contract as "disadvantageous" to the county.
On Friday, three days after Best's letter was written, the commissioners learned that Penn Wind planned to sell its lease and allow an outside company to develop the site.
Copyright (c) 2010, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Jan. 22--SUNBURY -- Two separate Northumberland County boards of commissioners were cautioned since 2006 by three legal advisers about "shortcomings" in a Sunbury firm's wind farm proposal.
At issue is the land-lease agreement between the county and Penn Wind, a 29-year deal that is in the midst of being renewed and has been in jeopardy for months.
The two sides are hoping to keep the project afloat and plan to meet early next week.
Commissioner Vinny Clausi, who has loudly voiced his displeasure with the financial details and discrepancy about the amount of land involved, and Commissioner Kurt Masser said they're optimistic about reaching an agreement.
Since 2007, the county has been leasing land in Coal and East Cameron townships to the company for $1 a year, with an agreement that the county would receive $56,000 a year once the site begins generating wind energy.
Late last week, Penn Wind CEO Justin Dunkelberger revealed the company's intention to sell the lease to an unidentified California company for $1 million and allow it to set up wind turbines on the land.
Masser said he was surprised to learn an outside company might be stepping in, but said he's willing to work with any business that's able to bring jobs and revenue to the county.
"I want to do what's right for the taxpayer," he said, agreeing that the county should reap more financially from the project.
Masser played down the impact of political contributions he received from Penn Wind representatives during the 2007 election, including $600 from James Garman and $500 from Chris Purdy, both of Sunbury, and $100 from Dunkelberger, of Northumberland.
"If I was pushing to get (the deal) done, it might be an issue," Masser said. "But I've been saying all along that we should put our concerns on the table and lay out what we want."
He said that will likely occur when commissioners return to the negotiating table with Penn Wind next week.
And, Masser said, "Unless everyone can agree to the terms, I won't vote for it."
Even before the first contract was signed in 2007, then-county solicitor Guy Schlesinger raised questions about whether the county would receive its fair share. The former board, headed by Samuel Deitrick, along with Masser and Frank Sawicki, went ahead with the contract to lease about 500 acres for $1 a year until a 23-acre site is developed.
In 2008, solicitor Hugh Jones wrote to the commissioners recommending the contract not be signed.
He cited "shortcomings" in the deal cited by former planning Director Steve Bartos, including the lack of provisions for giving the county a percentage of the wind energy revenue and failure to place a limit on how long Penn Wind can lease the property at $1 a year without developing the site.
Despite the concerns addressed by Jones, the current board -- Sawicki, Masser and Vinny Clausi -- signed the deal for another year.
Assistant solicitor Kymberley Best added her concerns about the project last week in a letter in which she described the contract as "disadvantageous" to the county.
On Friday, three days after Best's letter was written, the commissioners learned that Penn Wind planned to sell its lease and allow an outside company to develop the site.
Copyright (c) 2010, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
About Gaia
James Lovelock and Silver Donald Cameron
Father of the Gaia hypothesis
, IT's IMPORTANT for Gaia that
human beings survive," says
James Lovelock.
"Our intelligence, if it can be
integrated as part of the whole plane-
tary system, would make ours the first
intelligent planet in the galaxy, per-
haps. What a wonderful future for hu-
mans!"
A great scientist needs great courage
and a great imagination - and Jim
Lovelock has both, in spades.
It is now 40 years since he rattled the
scientific world and electrified the rest
of us by publishing Gaia: A New Look
at Life on Earth (1979), which argued
that the Earth behaves like a single
living organism that creates and main-
tains a viable environmentfor life.
The Gaia hypothesis - named for the
Greek Earth goddess - implied that
the world was far more complex than
modern reductionist science had imag-
ined. It offered a coherent vision of the
whole living world that echoed all our
wisdom traditions and renewed the
human sense of wonder.
Mainstream scientists were horri-
fied. Many still are. But Lovelock's bold
insights, and his continuing explora-
tion of their implications, became the
foundations of "Earth system science,"
the study of systems like the circulation
of the oceans, the maintenance of the
atmosphere and the relationships
among the earth's many systems.
Noted author Gwynne Dyer considers
Lovelock "the most important figure in
both the life sciences and the climate
sciences for the past half-century," and
compares his achievements to Dar-
win's.
Slight, cheerful and white-haired,
Lovelock is now 90 years old, though he
looks decades younger. He published a
new book last year, The Vanishing Face
of Gaia. He and his American-born wife
Sandy spend their summers in Devon,
England, and their winters in her home
town of st. Louis, Mo., where I came
calling one brilliant January morning.
Lovelock resembles a geologist in his
easy navigation of the vastness of deep
time, but he recalls the Enlightenment
sages in his assumption that science is
a single enterprise, artificially split
into disciplines. He has been self-em-
ployed as a freelance scientist and in-
strument-maker for 50 years, largely
because of "silly people who would say
to me, 'You can't do biology, you're a
chemist.' As ifl didn't have a brain."
Freedom from institutional politics
allowed him to indulge his preference
James Lovelock is the author of Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. (SILVER DONALD CAMERON)
C, where crocodiles lived and bred.
Lovelock thinks that's the kind of
world we're creating - and because of
our essentially tribal politics, our ef-
forts to avoid it will likely fail. Since a
less habitable Earth won't sustain a
global population of seven billion, pop-
ulations will crash. Human beings
should plan a "sustainable retreat" to
the Arctic region. Canadians should
prepare for hordes of people trying to
relocate to northern Canada.
Is this inevitable?
No, says Lovelock. Gaia is far more
complex than we understand, and we
do not even know the depth of our igno-
rance. A scientist can only say that this
nightmare scenario is probable. But we
should prepare for it now, while the
world is still a reasonably civilized
place.
The real horror would be if our spe-
cies survived, but its fmest achieve-
ments were lost - science, art, culture.
Lovelock believes we could be the
evolutionary ancestors of an intelli-
gent, post-tribal species that will serve
an aging Gaia as her consciousness.
This is a colossal vision of tragedy -
and redemption.
Lovelock smiles.
"Gaia needs us," he says. "What a
wonderful future for humans!"
SILVER DONAI.D CAMERON
for observation over computer model-
ling and permitted him to follow the
evidence fearlessly, wherever it led.
In 2007 he was "shocked" to learn
that the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change had "reached a consen-
sus on a matter of science.'!
Science is about nature. Consensus is
about politics.
So where has the evidence led him
lately?
Sea level, Arctic ice cover and ocean
algae populations, he says, are the best
indicators of global warming - and
they all reveal that the earth is heating
up much faster than the panel's projec-
tions. Furthermore, the evidence from
the Earth's last hot period, 55 million
years ago, shows that global temper-
atures don't necessarily change slowly
and evenly; they can flip fairly quickly
to hotter or colder states.
On that earlier occasion, most ofthe
Earth became a scorching desert. Life
retreated to the shores of an Arctic
Ocean with surface temperature of 21
Visit Silver Donald Cameron's website at
www.silverdonaldcameron.ca
Father of the Gaia hypothesis
, IT's IMPORTANT for Gaia that
human beings survive," says
James Lovelock.
"Our intelligence, if it can be
integrated as part of the whole plane-
tary system, would make ours the first
intelligent planet in the galaxy, per-
haps. What a wonderful future for hu-
mans!"
A great scientist needs great courage
and a great imagination - and Jim
Lovelock has both, in spades.
It is now 40 years since he rattled the
scientific world and electrified the rest
of us by publishing Gaia: A New Look
at Life on Earth (1979), which argued
that the Earth behaves like a single
living organism that creates and main-
tains a viable environmentfor life.
The Gaia hypothesis - named for the
Greek Earth goddess - implied that
the world was far more complex than
modern reductionist science had imag-
ined. It offered a coherent vision of the
whole living world that echoed all our
wisdom traditions and renewed the
human sense of wonder.
Mainstream scientists were horri-
fied. Many still are. But Lovelock's bold
insights, and his continuing explora-
tion of their implications, became the
foundations of "Earth system science,"
the study of systems like the circulation
of the oceans, the maintenance of the
atmosphere and the relationships
among the earth's many systems.
Noted author Gwynne Dyer considers
Lovelock "the most important figure in
both the life sciences and the climate
sciences for the past half-century," and
compares his achievements to Dar-
win's.
Slight, cheerful and white-haired,
Lovelock is now 90 years old, though he
looks decades younger. He published a
new book last year, The Vanishing Face
of Gaia. He and his American-born wife
Sandy spend their summers in Devon,
England, and their winters in her home
town of st. Louis, Mo., where I came
calling one brilliant January morning.
Lovelock resembles a geologist in his
easy navigation of the vastness of deep
time, but he recalls the Enlightenment
sages in his assumption that science is
a single enterprise, artificially split
into disciplines. He has been self-em-
ployed as a freelance scientist and in-
strument-maker for 50 years, largely
because of "silly people who would say
to me, 'You can't do biology, you're a
chemist.' As ifl didn't have a brain."
Freedom from institutional politics
allowed him to indulge his preference
James Lovelock is the author of Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. (SILVER DONALD CAMERON)
C, where crocodiles lived and bred.
Lovelock thinks that's the kind of
world we're creating - and because of
our essentially tribal politics, our ef-
forts to avoid it will likely fail. Since a
less habitable Earth won't sustain a
global population of seven billion, pop-
ulations will crash. Human beings
should plan a "sustainable retreat" to
the Arctic region. Canadians should
prepare for hordes of people trying to
relocate to northern Canada.
Is this inevitable?
No, says Lovelock. Gaia is far more
complex than we understand, and we
do not even know the depth of our igno-
rance. A scientist can only say that this
nightmare scenario is probable. But we
should prepare for it now, while the
world is still a reasonably civilized
place.
The real horror would be if our spe-
cies survived, but its fmest achieve-
ments were lost - science, art, culture.
Lovelock believes we could be the
evolutionary ancestors of an intelli-
gent, post-tribal species that will serve
an aging Gaia as her consciousness.
This is a colossal vision of tragedy -
and redemption.
Lovelock smiles.
"Gaia needs us," he says. "What a
wonderful future for humans!"
SILVER DONAI.D CAMERON
for observation over computer model-
ling and permitted him to follow the
evidence fearlessly, wherever it led.
In 2007 he was "shocked" to learn
that the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change had "reached a consen-
sus on a matter of science.'!
Science is about nature. Consensus is
about politics.
So where has the evidence led him
lately?
Sea level, Arctic ice cover and ocean
algae populations, he says, are the best
indicators of global warming - and
they all reveal that the earth is heating
up much faster than the panel's projec-
tions. Furthermore, the evidence from
the Earth's last hot period, 55 million
years ago, shows that global temper-
atures don't necessarily change slowly
and evenly; they can flip fairly quickly
to hotter or colder states.
On that earlier occasion, most ofthe
Earth became a scorching desert. Life
retreated to the shores of an Arctic
Ocean with surface temperature of 21
Visit Silver Donald Cameron's website at
www.silverdonaldcameron.ca
A Fall-Down or Lay-Down Zone
Wind turbines blown away; CCI Energy project denied by Planning Board
By Nancy White / nwhite@cnc.com
Fri Jan 22, 2010, 11:35 AM EST
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Cohasset -
Wind turbines may not have a future in Cohasset under the current zoning bylaw.
The Planning Board on Wednesday night once again denied CCI Energy’s wind turbine application.
Down the road, the current wording of the bylaw on setbacks will likely prohibit a turbine’s construction anywhere in town.
This time around it was not the technical aspects – the shadow flicker, the noise impacts, the visual impact, the ice throw – that derailed the twin turbine proposal sited off Route 3A. Rather, it was an issue that did not even come to light during the first round, eight-month-long, public hearing process last year.
According to Cohasset’s wind energy conversion facility bylaw there must be “laydown area” equal to the height, including the turbines’ blades, and that laydown area must not encroach on a residential district.
Recently it came to the attention of the applicant and the planning board that the Trustees of Reservations’ Whitney and Thayer Woods, one of the adjacent properties to the proposed siting for the turbines, is zoned “Residential C District.”
The laydown area largely falls on property zoned technology/business district, but part of both turbines’ laydown area falls on the Whitney and Thayer Woods property, which is currently utilized for open space.
“We spent so much time looking over the complicated portion of the application, we failed to look at the simplest – the setback issue,” said Planning Board member Stuart Ivimey, who was the sole vote against the project the first time around. “Under the application of the bylaw (this project) simply can’t be done.”
Planning board members used the words “embarrassing,” “unfortunate,” “conflicted” and “stuck” to describe where they were on Wednesday night.
The ultimate vote was 1-3, with three members voting against approval of the special permit application and one, member Clark Brewer, voting in favor. Planning Board member Jean Healey Dippold did not vote because she did not serve on the board during the entire course of the application.
The vote denies the project application, put forth by a private developer, Plymouth-based CCI-Energy, which proposed the installation of two 1.65-megawatt sized wind turbines sited off Route 3A on the Scituate Hill behind Graham Waste Services and Hingham Lumber. The towers are 462-feet (or 100-meters) in height, including the height of the blades.
The project has had a long and arduous history with vocal opposition from a group of neighbors and residents around town and over a dozen lengthy (and at times contentious) public hearings. The Planning Board effectively denied it in May. The application, which is the first under town’s wind energy conversion facility bylaw, has been on the Planning Board’s docket since September 2008, but returned to the planning board in early December due to a court ordered remand. Sufficient and material changes were made to the application since its denial and the planning board was ordered to re-consider the application in light of those changes.
The Planning Board, as chair Al Moore explained on Wednesday, is a “quasi-judicial board.”
“We look at the bylaws and act upon them,” Moore said. “When a bylaw passes that is somewhat unpopular, it puts us in a difficult position as we try to follow those rules and bylaws fairly.”
Moore congratulated the applicant on addressing all the technical aspects of the application, but ultimately felt the portion of the bylaw that addressed the setback could not be overlooked.
The Planning Board spent more than an hour deliberating. The deliberation took several twists and turns as members tried to reach a consensus. Several motions and amendments to those motions were proposed and discussed.
Notably, Brewer proposed approving one turbine, the one sited farther away from Route 3A. However, his motion failed to receive any support and a vote was not taken. The board did take a 3-1 vote to deny the special permit (Ivimey, Moore, and member Charles Samuelson voted in favor of denial; Brewer voted against). The vote could not constitute a denial because according to state statutes a super-majority, with at least four members agreeing to a motion to approve or deny, is necessary.
Moore also proposed a motion that would have approved the project contingent on the applicant seeking a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals on the setback issue.
Eventually, Ivimey moved to approve the application for the sole purpose of bringing the proceedings to a close.
“There is no other motion that will bring this to a head, to a termination,” Ivimey said.
During the deliberation Samuelson noted the bigger picture evident in what came to be the ultimate denial of the project.
“The way the bylaw is written (not allowing a fall down zone in a residential district) prohibits wind turbines from being built in Cohasset,” Samuelson said. All the large swaths of land targeted as potential turbine sites are in, or abut, residential districts. “I would support the (Alternative Energy Committee) adding something in (the bylaw) to enable these types of facilities to be built.”
In an e-mail sent after Wednesday’s decision, CCI-Energy legal counsel Kenneth Ingber said the project became “an unintended casualty of that flawed language (in the bylaw).
“The Planning Board went out of its way to commend CCI Energy for fully and satisfactorily answering every concern raised in the initial denial of the application for a wind energy project on Scituate Hill,” Ingber said.
“CCI reaffirms that its proposed project exemplifies Cohasset's stated goal of encouraging wind energy and remains the single best project in the single best location in the town. It is in as remote a location as there is in Cohasset yet still will provide the Town of Cohasset the significant financial and green benefits of a good wind energy project.”
Ingber said the CCI Energy would re-evaluate the situation and determine the best way to proceed.
“CCI Energy remains committed to realizing a wind energy project that Cohasset overwhelmingly wants to see implemented,” Ingber said.
By Nancy White / nwhite@cnc.com
Fri Jan 22, 2010, 11:35 AM EST
Tools: Print
Comments
ShareThisStumbleUpon
Newsvine
del.icio.us
Digg
Cohasset -
Wind turbines may not have a future in Cohasset under the current zoning bylaw.
The Planning Board on Wednesday night once again denied CCI Energy’s wind turbine application.
Down the road, the current wording of the bylaw on setbacks will likely prohibit a turbine’s construction anywhere in town.
This time around it was not the technical aspects – the shadow flicker, the noise impacts, the visual impact, the ice throw – that derailed the twin turbine proposal sited off Route 3A. Rather, it was an issue that did not even come to light during the first round, eight-month-long, public hearing process last year.
According to Cohasset’s wind energy conversion facility bylaw there must be “laydown area” equal to the height, including the turbines’ blades, and that laydown area must not encroach on a residential district.
Recently it came to the attention of the applicant and the planning board that the Trustees of Reservations’ Whitney and Thayer Woods, one of the adjacent properties to the proposed siting for the turbines, is zoned “Residential C District.”
The laydown area largely falls on property zoned technology/business district, but part of both turbines’ laydown area falls on the Whitney and Thayer Woods property, which is currently utilized for open space.
“We spent so much time looking over the complicated portion of the application, we failed to look at the simplest – the setback issue,” said Planning Board member Stuart Ivimey, who was the sole vote against the project the first time around. “Under the application of the bylaw (this project) simply can’t be done.”
Planning board members used the words “embarrassing,” “unfortunate,” “conflicted” and “stuck” to describe where they were on Wednesday night.
The ultimate vote was 1-3, with three members voting against approval of the special permit application and one, member Clark Brewer, voting in favor. Planning Board member Jean Healey Dippold did not vote because she did not serve on the board during the entire course of the application.
The vote denies the project application, put forth by a private developer, Plymouth-based CCI-Energy, which proposed the installation of two 1.65-megawatt sized wind turbines sited off Route 3A on the Scituate Hill behind Graham Waste Services and Hingham Lumber. The towers are 462-feet (or 100-meters) in height, including the height of the blades.
The project has had a long and arduous history with vocal opposition from a group of neighbors and residents around town and over a dozen lengthy (and at times contentious) public hearings. The Planning Board effectively denied it in May. The application, which is the first under town’s wind energy conversion facility bylaw, has been on the Planning Board’s docket since September 2008, but returned to the planning board in early December due to a court ordered remand. Sufficient and material changes were made to the application since its denial and the planning board was ordered to re-consider the application in light of those changes.
The Planning Board, as chair Al Moore explained on Wednesday, is a “quasi-judicial board.”
“We look at the bylaws and act upon them,” Moore said. “When a bylaw passes that is somewhat unpopular, it puts us in a difficult position as we try to follow those rules and bylaws fairly.”
Moore congratulated the applicant on addressing all the technical aspects of the application, but ultimately felt the portion of the bylaw that addressed the setback could not be overlooked.
The Planning Board spent more than an hour deliberating. The deliberation took several twists and turns as members tried to reach a consensus. Several motions and amendments to those motions were proposed and discussed.
Notably, Brewer proposed approving one turbine, the one sited farther away from Route 3A. However, his motion failed to receive any support and a vote was not taken. The board did take a 3-1 vote to deny the special permit (Ivimey, Moore, and member Charles Samuelson voted in favor of denial; Brewer voted against). The vote could not constitute a denial because according to state statutes a super-majority, with at least four members agreeing to a motion to approve or deny, is necessary.
Moore also proposed a motion that would have approved the project contingent on the applicant seeking a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals on the setback issue.
Eventually, Ivimey moved to approve the application for the sole purpose of bringing the proceedings to a close.
“There is no other motion that will bring this to a head, to a termination,” Ivimey said.
During the deliberation Samuelson noted the bigger picture evident in what came to be the ultimate denial of the project.
“The way the bylaw is written (not allowing a fall down zone in a residential district) prohibits wind turbines from being built in Cohasset,” Samuelson said. All the large swaths of land targeted as potential turbine sites are in, or abut, residential districts. “I would support the (Alternative Energy Committee) adding something in (the bylaw) to enable these types of facilities to be built.”
In an e-mail sent after Wednesday’s decision, CCI-Energy legal counsel Kenneth Ingber said the project became “an unintended casualty of that flawed language (in the bylaw).
“The Planning Board went out of its way to commend CCI Energy for fully and satisfactorily answering every concern raised in the initial denial of the application for a wind energy project on Scituate Hill,” Ingber said.
“CCI reaffirms that its proposed project exemplifies Cohasset's stated goal of encouraging wind energy and remains the single best project in the single best location in the town. It is in as remote a location as there is in Cohasset yet still will provide the Town of Cohasset the significant financial and green benefits of a good wind energy project.”
Ingber said the CCI Energy would re-evaluate the situation and determine the best way to proceed.
“CCI Energy remains committed to realizing a wind energy project that Cohasset overwhelmingly wants to see implemented,” Ingber said.
CPV and Skypower
CPV Canada Receives Court Approval to Purchase the Wind Portfolio of the Former SkyPower Corporation
Press Release Source: CPV Canada Development ULC On Tuesday January 19, 2010, 3:33 pm EST
TORONTO, Jan. 19 /CNW/ - CPV Canada Development ULC ("CPV") announced today that it has received approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice pursuant to the Companies Creditor Arrangement Act to complete its acquisition of the wind development portfolio of the wind energy company Interwind - which was formerly part of SkyPower's renewable generation and development business. Closing is anticipated to take place the week of February 8.
"We are delighted the court, creditors and Interwind management have accepted our offer as the best way to move forward Interwind's portfolio of renewable energy projects," said Sean Finnerty, CPV Sr. Vice President. "CPV is committed to growing our portfolio of renewable energy projects in Canada and help build a bridge to a sustainable energy future."
CPV Canada Development ULC, an affiliate of Competitive Power Ventures, Inc., is advancing a broad portfolio of wind and natural-gas generation projects across North America. Led by a blue chip management team and the financial backing of the investment fund Warburg Pincus, CPV is fast becoming a leader in the development of renewable energy.
For more information about the project and CPV please go to www.cpv.com.
About CPV
CPV is comprised of three main business lines: Wind Generation Development, Asset Management, and Thermal Generation Development.
(x) Wind Generation Development: CPV Renewable Energy Corp. currently has
6,100 MW of high quality wind generation projects under site control,
1,800 MW of which are in advanced development; including over 350 MWs
with executed long term PPAs.
(x) Asset and Energy Management: CPV currently manages the day-to-day
operation, maintenance and energy trading of over 4,400 MW of
generation in eight states to provide improved financial returns and
enhanced environmental protection to the owners and greater benefits
to the consumers.
(x) Thermal Generation Development: CPV is actively developing combined-
cycle and combustion turbine facilities totaling approximately 4,300
MW of generation, in markets with the greatest need for efficient,
reliable electricity capacity in the U.S. and Canada.
The acquisition of Interwind would be a further expansion of its presence in the Canadian market. CPV is currently developing a 400 MW natural gas-fired peaking facility in North Dumfries (near Cambridge), and a 1,200 MW combined cycle natural gas-fired project in the Nanticoke area (consistent with Canada and Ontario's efforts to reduce its electric generation carbon footprint by reducing the reliance on coal).
For further information
Braith Kelly, (860) 713-3309, bkelly@cpv.com
Press Release Source: CPV Canada Development ULC On Tuesday January 19, 2010, 3:33 pm EST
TORONTO, Jan. 19 /CNW/ - CPV Canada Development ULC ("CPV") announced today that it has received approval from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice pursuant to the Companies Creditor Arrangement Act to complete its acquisition of the wind development portfolio of the wind energy company Interwind - which was formerly part of SkyPower's renewable generation and development business. Closing is anticipated to take place the week of February 8.
"We are delighted the court, creditors and Interwind management have accepted our offer as the best way to move forward Interwind's portfolio of renewable energy projects," said Sean Finnerty, CPV Sr. Vice President. "CPV is committed to growing our portfolio of renewable energy projects in Canada and help build a bridge to a sustainable energy future."
CPV Canada Development ULC, an affiliate of Competitive Power Ventures, Inc., is advancing a broad portfolio of wind and natural-gas generation projects across North America. Led by a blue chip management team and the financial backing of the investment fund Warburg Pincus, CPV is fast becoming a leader in the development of renewable energy.
For more information about the project and CPV please go to www.cpv.com.
About CPV
CPV is comprised of three main business lines: Wind Generation Development, Asset Management, and Thermal Generation Development.
(x) Wind Generation Development: CPV Renewable Energy Corp. currently has
6,100 MW of high quality wind generation projects under site control,
1,800 MW of which are in advanced development; including over 350 MWs
with executed long term PPAs.
(x) Asset and Energy Management: CPV currently manages the day-to-day
operation, maintenance and energy trading of over 4,400 MW of
generation in eight states to provide improved financial returns and
enhanced environmental protection to the owners and greater benefits
to the consumers.
(x) Thermal Generation Development: CPV is actively developing combined-
cycle and combustion turbine facilities totaling approximately 4,300
MW of generation, in markets with the greatest need for efficient,
reliable electricity capacity in the U.S. and Canada.
The acquisition of Interwind would be a further expansion of its presence in the Canadian market. CPV is currently developing a 400 MW natural gas-fired peaking facility in North Dumfries (near Cambridge), and a 1,200 MW combined cycle natural gas-fired project in the Nanticoke area (consistent with Canada and Ontario's efforts to reduce its electric generation carbon footprint by reducing the reliance on coal).
For further information
Braith Kelly, (860) 713-3309, bkelly@cpv.com
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Once again, your comments/posts are welcome. However they will neither be read nor posted if a full name and location aren't seen. Thanks. Kathleen Gidney Nova Scotia Canada
Friday, January 22, 2010
P.E.I and Community Wind Farms
Summerside sets example for community wind power projects
A1BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
Stumble Upondel.icio.usDiggFacebookPrintEmail5 Comment(s)Now that New Brunswick's existing wind farms are expanding, the next step is to help individual communities harness the power of the wind to generate their own electricity, Energy Minister Jack Keir said yesterday.
1 of 3
GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPTBy the end of the year, this lineup of TransAlta windmills seen from the Magnetic Hill area will include 18 new units. GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPTSteve Snyder, left, CEO and president of TransAlta, chats with Energy Minister Jack Keir at the Lions Club in Riverview yesterday. GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPTDr. Yves Gagnon "The big wind farms represent large-scale investments by big companies. A 100-megawatt wind farm is a $200-million to $250-million investment. That's a lot of money where I come from and so, in order to get those big wind farms on, you need big companies to invest.
"The next step to get wind on the grid is small community wind farms that generate about 10-megawatts, and so we're going to put a renewable policy in place that's going to allow a smaller wind farm to also get onto the grid."
The provincial government has been working on a new policy for community wind farms for about two years and Keir hinted yesterday that an announcement is coming soon.
The energy minister was in Riverview with officials of the TransAlta Corporation to announce that 18 more windmills will be added to the Kent Hills Wind Farm south of Moncton. TransAlta already has 32 windmills at the site, which began commercial operations in December 2008. Construction of another 18 windmills is expected to begin later this year and cost about $100 million.
Once complete, the Kent Hills site will provide 160 megawatts of electricity per year, enough to supply about 9,000 homes. TransAlta will hold an open house in Moncton on Jan. 28 for companies that want to participate in the construction project. TransAlta president Steve Snyder said local contractors and suppliers will be hired for many aspects of the construction project.
"Once this expansion is complete, the 150-megawatt Kent Hills Wind Farm will be the largest wind farm in Atlantic Canda," Keir said.
New Brunswick communities thinking about setting up their own wind farm might find inspiration across the Northumberland Strait in the City of Summerside. The P.E.I. community generates its own electricity, sells it to NB Power and uses the money for its own infrastructure projects.
"When the wind is blowing, we have enough capacity to power the whole city but, most of the time, we have to buy electricity from NB Power," Terry Murphy, the chief administrative officer for the City of Summerside, said yesterday.
Summerside has a population of about 15,000 and recently built the new Credit Union Place, a 4,000-seat, multi-use arena complete with pools, fitness centre and bowling alley.
Murphy said Summerside has had its own electrical utility since 1885 and historically purchased power from New Brunswick. It also had diesel-powered backup generators for emergencies.
He said the city's idea to build a wind farm came along with the new arena. The arena had a $40-million price tag but the city could get only $10 million in government money, but it could get $22 million of the $30 million required to build the wind farm. It used infrastructure money from the gas tax fund to set up four big windmills that each generate three megawatts of electricity for a total of 12 megawatts. The windmills are set up on the shores of Malpeque Bay but inside city limits.
Murphy likes to state that Summerside is the only city in Canada that is bordered on two sides by the ocean.
The city-owned utility sells the electricity it generates to NB Power for approximately $1 million a year, and puts that money back into infrastructure.
Murphy said the big decision was to divert infrastructure money that could have gone into paving streets toward windmills, but the city figured it was better to use that money to build something that would create an ongoing revenue stream.
He said the other tough part was negotiating a deal to sell that power.
"There's no sense in building a wind farm unless you can get a fair rate on the grid."
Keir said yesterday that New Brunswick will continue looking at ways to generate new wind energy and that won't change with the controversial sale of NB Power's assets to Hydro-Quebec.
"New Brunswick is always going to be in charge of their energy policy, their energy initiatives and their energy sovereignty. That's not going to change," Keir said.
He added that TransAlta has long-term power purchase agreements with NB Power, and the windmills will remain the property of TransAlta. He said community wind farms would have similar deals.
Keir said having big companies like TransAlta invest their own money to build and operate the windmills makes good financial sense.
"We could do it ourselves, but there's large investment dollars required for it," Keir said. "My own personal view is that government funds should be used on hospitals and schools and roads. If we can get the private sector to invest in our communities and these types of project, I'm more than willing to let the private sector do it."
But Yves Gagnon, chairman of the K.C. Irving Centre for Sustainable Development at l'Université de Moncton, disagrees. Gagnon, who was present at yesterday's announcement in Riverview, says the provincial government should set up a crown corporation to deal with wind power so the province can benefit from the profits of its operation.
"The large economic impacts from the generation of electricity are in the control of the profits, so you need to control the profits if you want economic impact. And controlling the profits means you need to own the wind farm," Gagnon said.
"The government is hammering the message of self-sufficiency. Well, if we want self-sufficiency we need to exploit our natural resources to the benefit of the population of New Brunswick. By this announcement, what the New Brunswick government is saying is that the self-sufficiency agenda is dead."
A small group of protesters, angry over the sale of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec, stood outside shivering in the cold yesterday. Keir admitted there is still a lot of opposition to the deal with many calling for a referendum, but he said people voted for change and the Graham government is making changes.
"We've got an opportunity before us that I've never seen in a long time. I believe in my heart the opportunity we've got with this proposed agreement with Hydro-Quebec is an opportunity to change the economic landscape in New Brunswick in such a positive way than we've had before, and I want to take advantage of that."
He also said progress is being made on tidal power as 15 sites along the Bay of Fundy are being studied.
Keir added that New Brunswick is also watching with interest the research Nova Scotia is doing on tidal power.
A1BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
Stumble Upondel.icio.usDiggFacebookPrintEmail5 Comment(s)Now that New Brunswick's existing wind farms are expanding, the next step is to help individual communities harness the power of the wind to generate their own electricity, Energy Minister Jack Keir said yesterday.
1 of 3
GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPTBy the end of the year, this lineup of TransAlta windmills seen from the Magnetic Hill area will include 18 new units. GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPTSteve Snyder, left, CEO and president of TransAlta, chats with Energy Minister Jack Keir at the Lions Club in Riverview yesterday. GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPTDr. Yves Gagnon "The big wind farms represent large-scale investments by big companies. A 100-megawatt wind farm is a $200-million to $250-million investment. That's a lot of money where I come from and so, in order to get those big wind farms on, you need big companies to invest.
"The next step to get wind on the grid is small community wind farms that generate about 10-megawatts, and so we're going to put a renewable policy in place that's going to allow a smaller wind farm to also get onto the grid."
The provincial government has been working on a new policy for community wind farms for about two years and Keir hinted yesterday that an announcement is coming soon.
The energy minister was in Riverview with officials of the TransAlta Corporation to announce that 18 more windmills will be added to the Kent Hills Wind Farm south of Moncton. TransAlta already has 32 windmills at the site, which began commercial operations in December 2008. Construction of another 18 windmills is expected to begin later this year and cost about $100 million.
Once complete, the Kent Hills site will provide 160 megawatts of electricity per year, enough to supply about 9,000 homes. TransAlta will hold an open house in Moncton on Jan. 28 for companies that want to participate in the construction project. TransAlta president Steve Snyder said local contractors and suppliers will be hired for many aspects of the construction project.
"Once this expansion is complete, the 150-megawatt Kent Hills Wind Farm will be the largest wind farm in Atlantic Canda," Keir said.
New Brunswick communities thinking about setting up their own wind farm might find inspiration across the Northumberland Strait in the City of Summerside. The P.E.I. community generates its own electricity, sells it to NB Power and uses the money for its own infrastructure projects.
"When the wind is blowing, we have enough capacity to power the whole city but, most of the time, we have to buy electricity from NB Power," Terry Murphy, the chief administrative officer for the City of Summerside, said yesterday.
Summerside has a population of about 15,000 and recently built the new Credit Union Place, a 4,000-seat, multi-use arena complete with pools, fitness centre and bowling alley.
Murphy said Summerside has had its own electrical utility since 1885 and historically purchased power from New Brunswick. It also had diesel-powered backup generators for emergencies.
He said the city's idea to build a wind farm came along with the new arena. The arena had a $40-million price tag but the city could get only $10 million in government money, but it could get $22 million of the $30 million required to build the wind farm. It used infrastructure money from the gas tax fund to set up four big windmills that each generate three megawatts of electricity for a total of 12 megawatts. The windmills are set up on the shores of Malpeque Bay but inside city limits.
Murphy likes to state that Summerside is the only city in Canada that is bordered on two sides by the ocean.
The city-owned utility sells the electricity it generates to NB Power for approximately $1 million a year, and puts that money back into infrastructure.
Murphy said the big decision was to divert infrastructure money that could have gone into paving streets toward windmills, but the city figured it was better to use that money to build something that would create an ongoing revenue stream.
He said the other tough part was negotiating a deal to sell that power.
"There's no sense in building a wind farm unless you can get a fair rate on the grid."
Keir said yesterday that New Brunswick will continue looking at ways to generate new wind energy and that won't change with the controversial sale of NB Power's assets to Hydro-Quebec.
"New Brunswick is always going to be in charge of their energy policy, their energy initiatives and their energy sovereignty. That's not going to change," Keir said.
He added that TransAlta has long-term power purchase agreements with NB Power, and the windmills will remain the property of TransAlta. He said community wind farms would have similar deals.
Keir said having big companies like TransAlta invest their own money to build and operate the windmills makes good financial sense.
"We could do it ourselves, but there's large investment dollars required for it," Keir said. "My own personal view is that government funds should be used on hospitals and schools and roads. If we can get the private sector to invest in our communities and these types of project, I'm more than willing to let the private sector do it."
But Yves Gagnon, chairman of the K.C. Irving Centre for Sustainable Development at l'Université de Moncton, disagrees. Gagnon, who was present at yesterday's announcement in Riverview, says the provincial government should set up a crown corporation to deal with wind power so the province can benefit from the profits of its operation.
"The large economic impacts from the generation of electricity are in the control of the profits, so you need to control the profits if you want economic impact. And controlling the profits means you need to own the wind farm," Gagnon said.
"The government is hammering the message of self-sufficiency. Well, if we want self-sufficiency we need to exploit our natural resources to the benefit of the population of New Brunswick. By this announcement, what the New Brunswick government is saying is that the self-sufficiency agenda is dead."
A small group of protesters, angry over the sale of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec, stood outside shivering in the cold yesterday. Keir admitted there is still a lot of opposition to the deal with many calling for a referendum, but he said people voted for change and the Graham government is making changes.
"We've got an opportunity before us that I've never seen in a long time. I believe in my heart the opportunity we've got with this proposed agreement with Hydro-Quebec is an opportunity to change the economic landscape in New Brunswick in such a positive way than we've had before, and I want to take advantage of that."
He also said progress is being made on tidal power as 15 sites along the Bay of Fundy are being studied.
Keir added that New Brunswick is also watching with interest the research Nova Scotia is doing on tidal power.
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