King council seems to have another card up its sleeve in the fight against a peaker plant that is planned for the Holland Marsh.

Pristine Power Inc. was awarded a 20-year contract with the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to develop a power plant, which would go on east side of Dufferin Street, on a roughly 33-acre property. It is to be run by York Energy Centre.

But it seems now that council may be able to put the brakes on it for a while. Council passed a motion Monday night calling on Township staff to bring an interim control bylaw report for review at their meeting this coming Monday

Jan. 18).

This would give the Township leverage to try and stop the building of the peaker plant, even if it’s only for a while.

As well, staff and Jay Feehely, the Township’s solicitor, will be meeting with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) Feb. 2 on the issue. This meeting is also to determine if Pristine Power will be granted a license to build.

Feehely said the only alternative that Township has at this time is the interim control bylaw.

“Though we could be turned down once we are in front of the OMB, but it’s good that we try to exhaust every opportunity that may stop the peaker plant,” Feehely said.

Feehely told Councillor Jeff Laidlaw that incomplete information regarding the plant, pertaining to such matters as the environmental site assessment, would be held as having merit in helping them stop the plant.

“Anything against it would be held as merited, I have no problem saying reports are not complete,” Feehely commented.

Councillor Cleve Mortelliti thought an interim control bylaw was the best solution, as did Councillor Jane Underhill.

“We need to put it into place to stop it for now,” Underhill declared. “I don’t want that kind of facility in the greenbelt.”

Feehely did advise that councillors should not get their hopes too high, because OMB could reject the interim control bylaw if deemed necessary. He told Councillor Bill Cober if that happened, it would give Pristine Power the tools to build the peaker plant.

East Gwillimbury resident Katherine Parsons said it was her understanding that the peaker plant would be built within a flood line.

She brought up a map, which indicated the York Energy Centre site plan with the top regulation flood map located, sized and fit to the site plan.

“According to the area

on the map) there is a margin of safety setback that they add on when they are calculating flood plains,” Parsons said.

“In the map you can see part of the building is still in the flood plain.”

Parsons added that Conservation Ontario, in its 2009 report, warned that storms are becoming more frequent.

“Between 2000 and 2005, we experienced 10 severe storms that are normally expected less than once every 100 years,” Parsons stated.

“What is considered a 50-year storm today will be the 20-year storm by the 2050s because of climate change.”

Parsons believed that Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority

LSRCA) was going to recalculate lines and go through software that looks at different flooding scenarios.

Councillor Jack Rupke, who sits on LSRCA, requested that they draw this to the attention of OPA.

Jamie Reaume, executive director of the Holland Marsh Growers’ Association, was happy to see that council once again was saying “no” to Pristine Power.

“We need to challenge them on economics and refute any mandate that allows them to do this to us,” Reaume said. “We need to nail this sucker dead.”

Reaume said the issue is before OMB.

“This is forced on people by those who have no idea what that they are doing,” he commented.

King City resident Debbie Schaefer, chair of Concerned Citizens of King Township

CCKT) wondered if democracy is still alive in the township.

“It has been voted that we do not want a peaker plant,” Schaefer said.

Ansnorveldt area resident Clayton De Vries said people are starting to move out of Ansnorveldt, having heard the peaker plant was moving in.

King City resident Harvey Tenenbaum said he was extremely encouraged by the attitude of council to take on opposition of the plant.

“I am glad to see that you are on board,” Tenenbaum replied.