ARICHAT - With a 2030 deadline looming to end the use of fossil fuels and make a sizeable shift towards renewable energy in Nova Scotia, Richmond Municipal Council has taken two steps to make wind power more prominent, in both the onshore and offshore perspective. 

A public hearing prior to the latest regular monthly council meeting in Arichat saw Richmond County residents debating the merits and potential pitfalls in proposed changes to the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-Law for the county's Central Richmond Zone. Should these changes receive second-reading approval at the October 24 regular council session, they will allow more leeway for individual residents to erect wind turbines on their properties. 

Following the hearing, Richmond councillors debated the spending of $25,000 toward a new municipal position that would enable the county and the Town of Port Hawkesbury to make a smooth three-year transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. If approved later this fall, the town and the county would contribute the same amount, while the federal government - through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) - and Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR) would pour a combined $950,000 into the three year project.  

Speaking to Telile Community Television LJI journalist Adam Cooke following the main council session, Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette expressed hope that the county would successfully transition from current energy sources to renewable energy while respecting the work currently being carried out at the coal-fired generating station run by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated (NSPI) in Point Tupper. 

The same meeting saw councillors approve a list of four secondary or "J-class" roads to be submitted to the provincial Department of Public Works (DPW), for consideration for a program that would split the costs of repairing these roads between the province and the county. Lobster Plant Road in Cap-Auguet heads up the list, with other rural pathways in Isle Madame and eastern Richmond County filling out the submission. 

On the subject of rural roads, Isle Madame councillors Shawn Samson and Michael Diggdon asked the municipality to deploy the second of its two electronic speed radar signs to curb speeding in different parts of the island. There is already such a sign posted in West Arichat, and municipal staff will investigate the possibility of deploying its two speed radar signs along Highway 247 in Arichat - commonly known as the community's "High Road" - and in the northeastern Isle Madame community of D'Escousse.