A $5,000 bill for the removal of the lone wind turbine from the Blind River marina had some councillors concerned about the way the removal was handled.
Council, at its meeting Monday evening, was presented with a bill for $5,028.50 for the work from municipally-owned utility North Shore Power Group (NSPG).
Several councillors said they were unaware of the plan to remove the turbine which was not in use and which finding parts for was deemed too expensive.
Clerk administrator Kathryn Scott, in a report to council, indicated that the bill will have to be approved by council and suggested the money would have to come from the marina budget. She said the shortfall was not the fault of poor budget planning by staff.
Councillor Cliff Spratt, who is one of three council representatives on the NSPG board, said the board decided to remove the blades because of the high cost of getting replacement parts. “The board finally found out we had to remove the thing,” according to Councillor Spratt.
“It (demolition) should have been brought to council’s attention or the chief administrator’s attention that this thing had to come down, but that didn’t happen until it came down and we got the bill,” Councillor Spratt said.
An agreement between the NSPG and the town signed in 2010 states that Blind River would be responsible for maintenance of the turbine.
Councillor Jim Dunbar said council should have been made aware of the bill by the NSPG and said he hoped it was not an indication how council and the board will be working “down this road.”
“I appreciate the idea that the blade and the generator was dismantled for safety reasons,” he said of the lack of information to council despite the three members of council sitting on the NSPG board. “It’s a lack of communication I personally don’t like to see when it comes to boards acting on their own without the collaboration of council.”
Councillor Steve Wells agreed.
“I have a lot of concern here and now we get a bill. I would like to think that the NSPG would have at least shown us the common courtesy of making us aware that they were planning on dismantling this turbine before we find a bill on our table this evening,” Councillor Wells said.
Councillor Wells said the work done on the turbine was “demolition” and not maintenance which had him also questioning the bill.
Councillor Spratt said the NSPG would be more “forthcoming “ in future dealings with the town.
Council approved deferring paying bill until the NSPG board can deal with at its meeting in January.