I gave 2 delegation speeches at town council yesterday. They'll be broadcast on Cogeco's local community channel in the coming weeks (will post schedule when it's up).
The first was on the Pilot Project for wind turbines at the Milton Sports Centre. Speech synopsis below (I did some minor ad-libbing as there was some back and forth in relation to noise that's already their due to the air conditioning unit)
Quote: Issue: MOU on wind turbine pilot at Milton Sports Centre.
I support the continued efforts of the Town and Milton Hydro to study and make use of wind, solar or geothermal power where it's economically feasible to do so. However I have a concern that the MOU does not mention possible noise pollution from the turbines. Though my own research I found citations that mention vertical wind turbines may have a lower noise signature than conventional horizontal wind turbines. But I'd still like to know that any possible noise pollution is addressed at an early stage as there are homes nearby.
Some additional questions I have are;
(1) Are the banners meant to be electrical/digital or fixed? From the digital image on schedule B it looked non-electronic but I wasn't sure
(2) Is power generated by the turbines meant to be returned to the grid or used by the Sports Centre
(3) Is there anyway this can be structured to take advantage of the provincial MicroFIT program? (assuming that if so it would have increased financial benefits)
(4) What range of power (broad question, not looking for exact number) might be generated by these 2 turbines?
Thank you for considering these questions as well as the critical issue of ensuring that noise generation will not be detrimental to nearby residents.
I applaud the town and Milton Hydro's continued efforts on looking for ways that solar, wind or geothermal energy can be utilized in an economical manner within Milton.
Answers were...
1. Static/cloth
2. Returned to the grid
3. Yes they will see if this is possible (TBD)
4. Small, as it only a pilot, but exact specifications (TBD)
An additional positive outcome out of this is they are going to host a future public open house where representatives from Milton Hydro will be available to answer questions related to the pilot project.
To the main question around noise, the confirmed they're looking at wind turbines that wouldn't have a negative affect on nearby homes, but that further information on this will be provided in the future, likely at the public open house.
This topic had a lot of discussions on the Villager at --> http://www.hawthornevillager.com/phpbb/ ... hp?t=27874
I also went door to door on the houses right by the sports centre to speak to homeowners directly about their concerns.
The second was on Halton Healthcare Motion for the Milton Hospital Expansion. My speech there was more ad-libbed.
Spoke about...
* Allow residents and organizations to be able to directly contribute to the future Hospital Expansion Reserve fund through fundraisers
* Continue to explore additional fund options, such as naming rights for town facilities such as the new Milton Centre for the Arts
* That I'd be very cautious about ideas around selling Milton Hydro to raise funds. Milton Hydro is positive asset of the towns that generates yearly dividends, and it allows the town to pursue initiatives such as Solar, Wind and Geothermal initiatives in Milton. Selling it would put a crimp in the town's future revenues (Some people were floating the idea of Milton Hydro's sell off)
* Support for not delaying in setting up the reserve fund (i.e. currently council is waiting until 2011
* Talked about current financial headwinds that will impact the town's future financial abilities - basically a 'short' version of my Discover Milton's post (see June 23rd post at http://www.discovermilton.com/miltonblog/)
* That direct tax levies (property tax increases) and increased debt for the town are both two unappealing methods to raise funds.
At the end the town took the very positive approach of considering additional money to be diverted from the slots/racetrack revenue that comes from Mohawk. However they are still waiting until 2011 before creating the hospital reserve fund, something I didn't agree with.
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