Vol. 10 No. 24
YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER COVERING NORTH DURHAM
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
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Uxbridge cell tower draws fire DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard
DRAGONS RETURN TO NORTH DURHAM: Teams participating in the 2013 Dragon Flies Dragon Boat Festival in Port Perry this weekend have been busy practicing all month long. The event, which raises funds for local hospitals in the battle against cancer, gets underway Saturday morning (June 15) in Palmer Park. BLAKE WOLFE The Standard
UXBRIDGE: Councillors were greeted with the first wave of opposition to a proposed cellular communications tower near Sandford at their meeting on the morning of Monday, June 3. The tower, which is proposed to be located at 8699 Conc. 3 near Sandford was panned by Ward 2 Councillor Pat Molloy during a presentation from Duane Lovelace, a consultant with the Altus Group working on behalf of Bell Mobility. “Residents vehemently oppose this tower, it is the worst location you could have chosen,” Councillor Molloy said. “In my opinion it will negatively affect property values and residents may choose not to use Bell as their carrier if this tower goes in. This tower is only 3.5 kilometres from another tower near Zephyr, and this appears to be an abuse of the process.” Later in their meeting, councillors heard a presentation from local resident Wayne Welsh whose property sits adjacent to the proposed location. If approved, the tower will sit just 10 feet from his property line. “What’s being proposed is a 60 metre lattice tower, which is the ugliest tower you can find. I don’t think there’s anyone in this room that wouldn’t see red in my position,” commented Mr. Welsh. TURN TO PAGE 5
Scugog drops appeal of Greenbank solar farm BLAKE WOLFE The Standard
SCUGOG: In an about-face move late last month, Scugog councillors directed staff to halt work on an appeal regarding a solar farm proposed for a Greenbank property and instead move forward on an agreement with the developer, one day before preliminary hearings were to begin on the matter. The decision came out of a closed session during the May 27 committees meeting, with the item added late in the prior week. Earlier this spring, Community Services Director
Don Gordon recommended to councillors that the township appeal the Solray Energy development, recently awarded approval from the MOE, after a document by the provincial Ministry of the Environment presented at the April 22 general purpose and administration committees meeting stated that appeals to the project had to be received by April 30. Since the project falls under provincial green energy legislation, the township has no formal role in approving the project. At the May 6 committees meeting, Mr. Gordon said
that a preliminary hearing into the matter was to be held May 28, followed by a mediation process and, if warranted, a full hearing in late June. The development, proposed for a Cragg Rd. property, has raised concerns from both township staff and neighbours over the last year. Among those concerns is the use of agricultural land for such a project, which opponents have said took advantage of a loophole in the provincial Green Energy Act that previously allowed for such developments on any lands zoned rural, including Class 1 and 2 farmland. TURN TO PAGE 4
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