Kneehill County council took into account the upcoming provincial election and the agriculture industry before choosing a June date for a solar and wind farm development information night. The decision was made at the March 28 regular meeting of council.
Councillors heard an update on the renewable energy information session they’d decided to host from Barb Hazelton, manager of planning and development.
“At the Feb. 28, 2023, council meeting council directed administration to organize a landowner education event regarding renewable energy,” stated Hazelton’s agenda memo.
“Council wants to make sure that landowners have the information and tools necessary to make an informed decision if they are considering leasing their land for a renewable energy project.
“As a municipality, we would host the event, but council wanted a third party to do a presentation and have an opportunity for questions from the floor.
Administration has been in contact with the Farmer’s Advocate (FA) office and they are willing to do a presentation and have a question-and-answer following.
“Administration is looking to schedule the event in June since the FA may not be able to provide external public engagements for the period prior to the scheduled election which will be held on May 29. It will also be helpful to avoid seeding to get greater participation.
“The FA (spokesperson) Darcy Allen already has several days in June booked, so we are looking to provide a date and time as soon as possible so he can add it to his schedule,” added Hazelton.
Kneehill County recently approved a brochure to offer information to property owners considering leasing their land to a solar or wind farm development; the brochure also offered information to neighbours of said property owners.
Readers should note that, according to the Government of Alberta’s website, the FA “…advocates for legislative and policy change on behalf of rural communities and groups to ensure it is useful, meaningful and relevant to Alberta’s farmers and ranchers and their related industries.”
Allen, with experience in both agriculture and the energy industry, is the FA’s energy, utilities and policy specialist, and in a 2021 social media post announcing his hiring, the FA stated, “Darcy was born and raised in rural central Alberta where his family managed a mixed farming operation.
Darcy’s background is highly weighted towards aspects related to energy exploration and development, and field operations, with additional expertise in community relations, conflict resolution, communication, and collaborative stakeholder engagement program delivery.”
Coun. Laura Lee Machell-Cunningham noted she’d recently heard a different speaker, Action Surface Rights Association director Daryl Bennett, at an event in Olds and asked if Kneehill County had investigated adding him to the information session. Hazelton responded no, as staff thought councillors only wanted the FA office.
Machell-Cunningham noted Bennett had a wealth of information to offer and from a different perspective than the FA.
Deputy Reeve Ken King, who was chairing the council meeting in Reeve Jerry Wittstock’s absence, stated he liked the FA presentation recently held in Rumsey, but also didn’t have a problem inviting more speakers keeping in mind some consultants charge a fee for their services; the FA apparently doesn’t.
He pointed out that the county needed to narrow down dates for the event while reminding his peers an evening meeting would only offer a few hours of session time at most.
Machell-Cunningham noted as far as she knew Bennett only charged mileage for his appearances.
Councillors unanimously approved June 12 or 14 as dates for the renewable energy information session, noting as they voted that staff would look into inviting Bennett to also speak.
Stu Salkeld
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
ECA Review
