RED ROCK — Sometimes, it takes a good question to weed out the right answers.
At Red Rock’s most recent regular council meeting, a discussion was brought forward regarding Hydro One’s vegetation maintenance around hydro lines within the township of Red Rock.
Coun. Gord Muir expressed concerns about whether or not Hydro One is obtaining landowners’ consent before carrying out the spraying of herbicides or any sort of vegetation maintenance activities.
“I noted that they said that they do obtain consent from landowners . . . I do want to see some proof that they’re getting consent from people. It would be nice to know if they’ve actually asked people - I don’t know how we do that but it would be nice to know,” Muir said.
Mark Figliomeni, Red Rock's chief administrative officer, confirmed that he has seen evidence of Hydro One requesting consent in reports that have been provided to him by the company.
He also said that Hydro One has offered them a couple of options - including their preferred method of spraying regulation-approved herbicide or a ‘mechanical’ process whereby Hydro One workers clear the land themselves without chemicals.
Mayor Darquise Robinson said that she was unaware the township had an option other than the application of herbicides and leaned in favour of the mechanical process.
Council seemed mostly in agreement about the need to switch to a mechanical process but Figliomeni pointed out that there are downsides to it as well.
Mainly, he said, it means Hydro One will have to return to the township more regularly to maintain the area to combat persistent growth.
He pointed out that the mechanical process is offered more as a “courtesy” to municipalities.
“If there’s a comfort level that’s not there for this, then we advise them to machine it . . . they just need to know to prepare for what they’re doing,” Figliomeni said.
Robinson, Muir, and the rest of council agreed that the next best move is what’s best for the environment and health of their residents.
“We’ve already got enough chemicals in the air,” Muir said.