BURLINGTON, ON May 29, 2012 BurlingtonGreen will be back at a council committee meeting providing input and prodding to ensure that the wind turbine intended for the Pier in the original plans gets installed.
Amy Schnurr tells the Mayor in a letter that she “believes it to be most unfortunate that the issue needs to be brought to Committee for further debate. Prior to what turned out to be inaccurate information presented to you and the public on April 18, the wind turbine installation was to proceed as planned.
“While the original project was approved by the former Council, we have seen no evidence to suggest this Council had plans to remove the feature from the pier project under its’ current contract. We expect with the hire of a new pier contractor in the fall of last year, the entire project budget was reviewed carefully with decisions made to retain or cancel or modify various components. It is our understanding that the wind turbine remained as a component to be included in the pier project up until April 18, 2012.
“All the reasons the turbine was originally approved are still valid. Burlington still needs renewable energy; the pier is a high profile location and will deliver a valuable message to Burlingtonians and our City’s visitors. The project was never intended to make money and it will not be losing money under microFIT.
“Additionally, on May 18 we asked the following from Mr. Eichenbaum (City Engineer) : Can you advise if any structural work was required for the pier to accommodate the turbine feature? If so, can you advise of cost for this added work? He replied: (The design requires a “heavy duty” structure for the Beacon node for the extra viewing deck and the beacon tower frame for the LED Lights. The 2nd upper deck and the beacon tower for the Lights are still part of the project even if the Wind Turbine is not included. We aren’t planning to redesign the beacon structure even with the Turbine not included in the project.)
“Although we did not receive a response regarding the cost estimate, it appears that structural work to support the beacon tower (as part of the original turbine feature) has been included and we would assume with associated costs. This provides further rationale to proceed with the turbine installation. Doing so is financially responsible to the taxpayer.
“As a solution focused agency, we are pleased to have been able to help identify and share accurate facts on this issue. Contrary to what we have heard and read, BurlingtonGreen did not “do digging” to uncover the facts as the majority of the information was forwarded to us. We are less concerned about the misinformation of the past and more about making the right decision based on the facts you now have before you. Please vote to continue the plan to install the wind turbine on the pier as originally approved.
Schnurr closes her letter with: “We would like to remind Council that during my delegation on April 30 we requested the item be deferred to allow for public awareness and input and to explore potential solutions. You declined this option and instead voted to cancel the turbine project. Thus we would expect you remain in a position to make a decision to install the turbine without further public input or delay and continued debate.
Schnurr has drawn her line in the sand – will council meeting in committee vote to put the turbine back into the plan and put it behind them and move on to – why there isn’t any work being done on the Pier. We thought you made hay when the sun was shining – and the sun has certainly been shining – but there are no works crews out on the Pier. Why not?