Residents are lobbying countys committee on generator severance
Residents in this village are contacting Wellington County to oppose a proposed severance at the land division committee that could lead to a hydro generation system in the downtown.
The severance is for an irregularly shaped parcel of land just over one-third of a hectare in size that is part of an abandoned hydro facility along the Grand River.
The land is the former Little Folks furniture factory. The owner, LFL Properties Inc., of New Jersey, would retain 2.11 hectares of land for proposed residential and commercial use with the existing remains of the industrial buildings there.
Centre Wellington chief administrative officer Michael Wood said in an interview on Tuesday the township has nothing to do with the project and the application is in the county’s hands.
The company was awarded a feed-in tariff (FIT) contract in April of 2010 to provide water power with the station.
Wood said the operation would be similar to the one that has been in place across the river at the Elora Mill Inn. That building has long used a hydro generator for its power.
“That’s what these guys are trying to do,” Wood said of the proposal.
Company spokesman Michelle Phillips said in an interview she was unable to make any statement and she had no idea when the generator could be installed or even how much power it would generate.
“We do have a FIT contract,” she said, adding there was “no megawatts confirmed.”
The FIT contract announced by the government states the contract is for 1,000 kilowatts. The project was announced in 2010 along with 143 other wind, solar and water power projects.
