The decommissioning of the WPD White Pines project is slowly moving forward.
Councillors in Prince Edward County voted in favour of a road users agreement on Thursday afternoon during their regular committee of the whole meeting.
The decommissioning will see the wind turbines and other equipment removed from properties following the cancellation of the project by the provincial government.
A third party consultant will assess the damages following the decommissioning and WPD will pay the municipality for the cost of road damages and road allowances.
These damages include the roadway (surface and base) as well as all related damages in the road allowance, including but not limited to signage, ditches, landscaping, trees, swales, roadside safety devices, etc.
Resident Liz Driver addressed council during the virtual meeting asking if staff had a report regarding the number of trees that have been cut down during the construction process.
Construction supervisor Tayna Redden says they do in fact have an arborist’s report from prior to the project commencing to compare to.
The decommissioning route will utilize the same roadways that were used for the construction of the project and there will be no major repairs to the road allowances at this time.
WPD would also be responsible for maintenance and emergency repairs of the roadways within the haul route during decommissioning and would be responsible for the costs associated with such.
CAO Marcia Wallace told council the Ministry is really driving this decommissioning and their role right now is specifically related to roads.
The roads used for this project and those used during the decommissioning are County Road 49, County Road 6, County Road 5, County Road 34, County Road 4, Talbot Street, Lake Street, County Road 10, County Road 13, Murphy Road, Royal Road, Maypul Lane Road, Bond Road, Johnston Road, County Road 24, Lighthall Road, Crowes Road and Old Milford Road.
The motion passed and will be formally voted on next month.
