>Remembrance Day services set across West Niagara / Pg 9-12 > Staff a Go Girls supporter Pg. 4 > Where there smoke, there’s pastrami Pg. 6 > Fantasy of Trees ready to go Pg. 7 Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015 Vol. 4 Issue 22
www.wn3.ca 100% Niagara owned, operated and printed.
Proudly serving Grimsby, Lincoln, West Lincoln & Winona
Circ: 25,733
Detenbeck juggles biodigester hot potato at breakfast
(L to R) Abby Simmons, Nancy Smethurst and Emily Simmons were at the Lake Street dog park Tuesday afternoon when a town employee arrived at 4:20 p.m. to lock the gate. Williscraft - Photo
Dog owners upset park hours limited By Mike Williscraft NewsNow Grimsby residents who frequent the municipal dog park on Lake Street for an unwanted surprise when dropped by the facility a week ago. They were greeted with a sign which stated, “This facility will be locked half an hour before dusk starting Nov. 2, 2015. The night that sign was posted, Oct, 29, the park was locked. “I couldn’t believe it,” said Ruth Prosser, a regular at the park who has started a petition to asking that the
limitation is removed. At 4:40 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon there were about 30 dog owners and their four-footed friends at the site when a town employee pulled up to lock the gate. While interviews and photos were being shot over a half-hour span, the gate was not locked and the town vehicle left the lot at 5:10 p.m. “It really makes not sense. As a start, with the sun going down before 5, nobody could get home after work and get here in time,” said Nancy Smethurst.
While Prosser has been circulating a petition in recent days, Ald. Steve Berry has been following up with another resident who complained. “When our parks department was reviewing the original approval for the hours for the dog park it was discovered that the hours are 7 a.m.-9:30 p.m. This should address your concern,” write Berry in an email to Suzanne Levere. “The sign will be changed in the next couple of days.” Despite that note sent late See DOGS, Page 2
By Mike Williscraft NewsNow A record crowd at Mayor Bob Bentley’s annual breakfast was treated yesterday (Wednesday) to a lively discussion on the merits of Grimsby Energy’s $4.5 million biodigester project. While Bentley opened the discussion with an overview of how the project was chosen in the first place, it was Grimsby Energy Board chair James Detenbeck who walked the crowd through the nuts and bolts of what is happening at the Sobie Road site. “It (the biodigester option) looked like a good fit all around. The numbers we have are still valid and it is a good project for the community,” said Bentley, who has said in the past the project will generate $20 million to $25 million in revenue for the Town. At issue for some in attendance was not what shows on the revenue side of the ledger, rather, it is
the expenses of the project – both initial capital costs and ongoing management of the site. Carol Jones told Detenbeck she had concerns with truck traffic “from all around the province” making their way to the Sobie Road plant to unload raw materials. Detenbeck confirmed requirements of their FIT contract stipulate they must be open to receiving materials from anywhere in the province, he maintained it does not effect their project saying, “this is a regional project” and it would not be cost-effective for anyone to ship great distances. Former Grimsby Energy chair Rob Hattin, who has voiced concerns with several aspects of the project in the past, noted several new issues. Among them: • unexpected costs related to a “premature delivery” of grape pomace when See DISPUTE, Page 3