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Page C6 THE COBOURG STAR, FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 1975 Wesleyville impact could match Lennox By Suzanne Stickley The few men and trucks working on the Wesleyville Hydro generating station site are just the beginning of a long process of change for Hope township and Port Hope. The exact impact of this huge construction project on the local community is difficult to assess. The closest analogy is the impact the Lennox generating station construction has had on the small municipality of South Fredricksburg and the nearby town of Napanee. Lennox has just passed its peak period of construction with over 1500 workers on the site. Yesterday, Bill Elliott, former re&ve and councillor in South Fredricksburg and a member of the Cataraque Regional Conservation Authority discussed the local impact of Lennox . Bill is a farmer who now works for Ontario Hydro at Lennox in supply and procurement. His is one of approximately 250 permanent jobs at the generating station, but he says he's only going to work until he can pay off his farm mortgage. Even with his full-time work, he has been able to keep crops on his land and beef cattle in his stockyards. South Fredricksburg is a decidedly rural municipality, about 10 miles east of Napanee^ and 20 miles west of Kingston. "Ontario Hydro was the first really big thing that ever happened in our municipality", Bill said. Before, the township had been a peaceful, rural farming community. More Boarding Than Building "The first thing we noticed in the township was that you've got to board up or burn down anything you don't want people sleeping in", Bill said. Much of the labor force for Lennox has been drawn from parts of Ontario that are not within easy commuting distance of the plant. Apparently, workers will sleep anywhere for the four nights of their work week. Area cottages were rapidly converted into winterized homes without permission of the township, and trailers suddenly appeared everywhere. Because most of the labor force came from other centres, there was a "golden opportunity for anyone who wanted to take in boarders. They only stay four nights of the week and all they really want is a bed", Bill said. Despite the increased labor force, South Fredricksburg has not ex- perienced a building boom. In fact, there is one 90-house subdivision approved with only 40 houses built. "If people wanted to buy a house they bought one in Napanee or Kingston", Bill said. He explained that most of the workers know that they will be moving on in four or five years and therefore buy houses where they can sell them again quickly. "If they1 bought a house out in the country on a lot with no trees they probably would not be able to unload it when they had to move", he said. This may or may not apply to Hope township. Many people believe Hope township is within easy commuting distance of Toronto. If a person plans a career with Ontario Hydro construction, he could live in Hope township and commute to the other Hydro generating station construction projects at Darlington (Bowmanville) and Pickering. Expansion of Pickering will be starting soon and Darlington generating station is awaiting final government approval before it goes ahead. Port Hope, Newcastle and Cobourg will probably be the communities most affected by increased interest in house buying. Boarding and apartment renting will definitely be good markets in the towns surround Wesleyville in the next few years. One factor which may discourage settlement in the area is unions sometimes pay travel allowance to .those who live 10 miles or more away from the plant. Wage Rates Affect Local Industry Ontario Hydro hires all its construction employees through local union halls. The demand starts with carpenters, electricians and general laborers and, as the project builds up moves on to pipe-fitters, structural steel workers and other skilled trades. The peak of the manpower requirements will come in 1978, when about 1600 people will be working on the Wesleyville site. The area around South Fredricksburg had very few tradesmen to offer Ontario Hydro so a large percentage of the workers have come from more distant centres. Dave Norman, planning and control engineer for both Lennox and Wesleyville, predicts that within the radius of Peterborough, Belleville and Oshawa, this area will have more tradespeople to offer than the Lennox area did. "This area was not a very high wage area and with the higher pay rates at the LUCKY WINNERS! Sgt. R. Smith of the Port Hope Police Department drew the names of the five lucky ticket holders in the recent free draw for visitors to the Bertan Homes on Highland Heights. Frank Long of Long Brothers Ltd., Realtor, holds the tickets and Terry Holmes, Yvonne Briden, Bill Green and Mary Douglas look on as Sgt. Smith drew the following: WINNERS 20" Portable Westinghouse TV And Stand Electric Blanket Westinghouse Solid State Portable Radio Westinghouse Mantle Radio Mrs. Cathy Gibson, 603 Sandmere Cr., Cobourg. Mrs. Nelson Doherty 26 Arthur Street, Port Hope. Mr. PaulE. Brooks, 432 Burnett Dr. Cobourg. Mrs. T.W. Friar, 2lBramley St.S. Port Hope. Mrs. Jean Smith, 285 Ontario Street, Port Hope. BROS. LIMITED Insurance* Realtor QUEEN AT WALTON, PORT HOPE, ONT. DIAL 885-4501 Electric Kettle LONG Hydro plant people have been clam-boring to get jobs", Bill Elliott said. These wage rates have definitely had an adverse affect on the local industries, farms and other places of employment according to Bill. The pool of labor for. farmers is gone, but the former reeve could not think of a farm which was sitting idle because the farmer could not pay casual labor rates. "The farmers are just working harder themselves", Bill said. Farmers in Hope township have had difficulty in paying the rates for casual labor for a few years now so Hydro's higher rates may not affect them as severely as in South Fredricksburg. Similarly, Bill could not think of an industry in Napanee or elsewhere in the, local area where industry has to shut down because of Hydro's higher wage rates. Napanee Industries did close its doors last year, but apparently for reasons other than labor rates. However one looks at the situation, Wesleyville will be in a demand position locally for skilled labor, and some industries may have trouble keeping their employees. Again, Dave Norman mentioned that Hydro may be competing with itself for employees in this area because of the three generation projects at Wesleyville, Darlington and Pickering. "We'll start , drawing from the local labor force and then move out to an ever widening area", Dave said. Traffic Problems The Lennox plant is situated on Highway 33 right by Lake Ontario. From Napanee to the plant is a county road. Hydro did not build any special roads to the plant and the existing roads become jammed with traffic every afternoon at 4:30 when the shift changes. Bill Elliott says this has created a tremendous problem in the area and "Ontario Hydro has done nothing about the problem". When he says Hydro has done nothing, he means in road building or re-surfacing. He mentioned that Hydro had frequently contacted the local Ontario Provincial Police about speeding on the local roads but the OPP have their own staffing and other problems and have just not been able to handle the traffic. The Hydro officials present at the interview felt that because Hydro has built an access road from Highway 401 to Wesleyville, traffic will be less of a problem there. The Lakeshore Road, however, will still be an alternate route to Port Hope for many Hydro workers. Great For Napanee Merchants z "Merchants in Napanee have done the best in the past five years that they have ever done", Bill said. Area merchants will probably be in the same position as soon as employees start working in masses at Wesleyville. Bill forecasts a down-turn in business for the Napanee merchants when Hydro completes construction and moves out. The boom may just continue longer for area merchants if Hydro's plans for a second plant on the Wesleyville site are approved before the first plant is completed in 1980. Real estate boomed in Napanee at the beginning of the construction peak, but house prices are expected to drop when all the Hydro employees put their homes on the market. Good For Municipality For the municipality of South Fredricksburg, the Hydro generating station has been a god-send. Bill cannot see taxes rising for years to come because Hydro pays a grant in lieu of taxes which amounts to a maximum of 50 percent of the township's tax role. This grant in lieu is in addition to the regular taxes collected in the township has enabled the municipality to do projects which would never have been done before. The odd thing is that South Fredricksburg has approached neighboring municipalities about amalgamation and they would not speak of it. "Seems strange they don't want to get in on the goodies", Bill said. "Traffic and other problems caused during plant construction are only temporary, but the economic good from this plant will continue forever", Bill said. At present, Ontario law keeps the grant-in-lieu from being applied to education costs; therefore, itstays in the general revenues of the township. However, this matter is being studied for amendment at present. Does A Hydro Plant Attract Other Industries? Companies have come and gone looking at property in South Fredricksburg, but none have located there because the Lennox generating station is nearby. One plant, Canada Cement, is about four miles down the road from Lennox, but the site was chosen because of the limestone deposits, not because of the generating station. There has been much speculation and many rumors about industries filling up the Lakeshore Road area near Wesleyville, but if they do locate there it will be for reasons of closeness to transportation, the lake and a labor pool, according to Ontario Hydro officials. Bruce generating station did not attract other industries and Nanticoke did, but that was part of an industrial and residential plan formulated by the Ontario government. The power produced at the generating station is 500 kilavolts. which would have to be transformed many times before becoming usable for industry. The power from all the generating stations now being built is fed into a grid system of transmission lines which carries the power across the province. Complaints About Hydro's Land Aquisition Policies Bill Elliott said that many local people have been upset by the way Hydro acquired the land for the plant. He feels their pricing policies were not always fair. In fact he made some very caustic comments about Hydro preferring to take on individuals rather than large corporations who have slick lawyers to fight Hydro. He complained that Hydro acquired landfor an egress transmission line through individual farms rather than Canada Cement land . Impact On Environment Not Definite • Ontario Hydro has a huge staff doing environmental assessment for all its generating stations. They study the conditions before the plant is built and then return to assess the changes the station has made to the environment. Bill said that many members of the local conservation authority want Hydro to better the environmental standards set by the Ontario government. "They feel that Hydro should be an example to all other industries. I disagree. If these people feel that the government environmental standards are not high enough, they should be asking the government to change the standards, not picking on Ontario Hydro because it is a crown corporation", Mr. Elliott said. Hydro very carefully estimates the impact the- plants will have on the environment, but in some cases," the impact can just not be predicted. For example, the warm water coming from the condensing process in the plant travels in a tear drop shaped plume about 10,000 feet out into the lake. This warmer water advances the life cycle of algae in the area, but Hydro is not sure whether it actually creates more algae or whether it just means the algae live longer. Smoke emission is very carefully controlled by precipitators and Hydro is expecting few problems with the standards they have set in these fields. Importance Of Community Relations Many people in the South Fredricksburg area have had minor complaints and questions about the plant and Hydro. Bill noted that the community relations officer for Lennox, Dennis Wilkinson, had handled most of the questions and complaints to people's satisfaction. The community relations officer is the best person for the public to contact because he knows how to get answers, Bill said. There were lots of rumors and falseinformatior.floatingaround and Bill said the public relations officer could clear up matters more simply than anyone else. Wesleyville has a community relations officer. Ross Fitchett has been visiting the community for over a year and now has an office in a farmhouse on the Lakeshore Road. His telephone number is 885-2411. Wide rafnge in tenders Ontario Hydro has received four bids for site grading and preparation at the Wesleyville generating station site. The contract has not been awarded yet but bids have been received from : Alnor Earth-moving Limited, Oshawa, $3,904,648; Rumlber Contractors Limited, Mississauga, $3,995,485; Pitts Engineering Construction Limited, Toronto, $5,066,435; Marntette Brothers Limited, Windsor, $8,747,450. Ontario Hydro hopes to get this work started by May 12 and scheduled for completion for December 1, 1975. The contract will be awarded during the next few days. 1974 - PLYMOUTH Sebring Sundancer - Low mileage, full power an extra special car. HRA 1973 OLDS. CUTLESS S. - Vinyl roof, power brakes & steering, swivel buckets. Finsihed in Polar White with black trim BLL-526. 1973 HORNET - 2 door, 6 cylinder automatic, one in green, one in blue DTO 204 - DTO 201. OTHERS TO CHOOSE FROM (S.P.Q.R.) A VISION OF TRAFFIC PROBLEMS - All these cars belong to construction employees at Ontario Hydro's Lennox generating station. This view from the powerhouse roof at Lennox gives some idea of the number of employees and the resultant traffic problems which could evolve at the Wesleyville generating station near Port Hope. Lennox is now at the stage Wesleyville will reach about four years from now. OHRP meeting While Cobourg is questioning the feasibility of administering the new provincial home renewal program, Hamilton township is still looking for a willing neighbor to join the venture with them. Hamilton township council has written to all neighboring municipalities suggesting that the cost of administration would be lessened if more than one municipality operated I he program together. The only reply so far has been from Hope township, administrator Ron Skillings said on Tuesday, and a meeting is being arranged to discuss the project with that council. Under the Ontario home renewal program the government will provide low interest loans up to $7,500 for home owners wishing to make repairs to their homes. 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