Between 100 and 150 residents and cottagers arrived at the Bala Community Centre last Wednesday night to vent concerns and ask questions about the proposed North Bala Dam hydroelectric project.

Swift River Energy Ltd. is proposing to build a small power generating facility at the north dam in Bala. This is the dam with the waterfall and rock formations that entertain many summer tourists and residents. Guaranteeing the preservation of this area as a tourist spot is a major concern for residents.

Many who attended expressed their disappointment at the meeting format. It was in a large room with a series of placards on easels around the room. There were no formal speeches or common dialogue to participate in.

People were asked to sign in and fill out a questionnaire, then left to wander and ask questions. On hand to answer queries were investors/developers from Swift River, consultants from Hatch Engineering and power generation operators from Bracebridge Generation Ltd.

“I haven’t heard anyone say anything good about it,” said longtime Bala resident and business operator Jack Hutton. “People thought they would be at a meeting to hear things and have a back and forth. This public relation format gives no place to vent. If they are going to sell it to the public, they are going the wrong way about it. People are going out of here very angry.”

Muskoka Lakes Township Mayor Susan Pryke expressed her view that the Swift River representatives had done the extra in bringing their proposal to the public.

“They were not required to do this,” she said. “This is an extra thing. It is good to see the turnout.”

The proposed generating station could be located where the former Bala Electric Light and Power Company generation facility was prior to 1957. Swift River developer John Wildman showed a photograph of the former generating station with the turbine building on the Moon River side, far enough away from the falls to allow full access to both sides of the waterfalls. A representative design in the original 2005 proposal was on the placards. It showed a structure which would limit access to one side of the falls.

Wildman explained the design has not been made yet and access will be a consideration with any design. He added it was a “very preliminary meeting.”

Vince Kulchycki, director of operations for Bracebridge Generation Ltd., the company that will operate the proposed facility, said it is a structure to house the generators and turbine, and capacity of these units will dictate size. The project is being proposed as a three to four megawatt hydroelectric facility.

“It will take 18 months to complete the environmental assessment of this project,” said Wildman. The timetable as posted at the meeting said environmental assessment will start this September and be completed by 2008, with approvals in place by winter 2008. Construction is planned to start in the spring of 2009, with commissioning and commercial operation a year later.

“We held this information meeting before the long weekend so many cottagers could attend,” said Wildman. “We just don’t have all the answers yet.”

Hatch Engineering, which was formerly Hatch-Aker, did work on the original proposal in 2005. Copies of this proposal were left with the Muskoka Lakes Chamber of Commerce and MNR. The company completed that work and has been formally engaged again now that the project is moving forward.

“We are two years behind schedule because the government changed the way it awards this project,” said Wildman. “But I feel pretty good about the way it turned out.” The Swift River proposal was accepted in early 2006.

Another major concern for residents is water levels and how they will be maintained with another hydro station using water flow. Cottager Frank Fraser said he is concerned that water levels may affect the sewage treatment plant in Bala and more treated effluent would be put into the Moon River.

“This project is going to have an environmental impact,” he said. “Why is there not someone giving us information, instead of us going around and memorizing it. This is poorly done.”

Jack Fenn, a past president of the Muskoka Lakes Association, said the association did a three-year study of water volumes in the lakes and came to the conclusion there is “not room for extra power generation in our area. “I don’t want to see our lake turned into a reservoir,” he added.

Kulchycki said there are seven generating stations in and around Bracebridge and all maintain water levels. Bracebridge area generating stations include High Falls, Wilson’s Falls, Bracebridge Falls, Matthiasville, Tretheway Falls, Hanna Chute and South Falls. Bracebridge Generation, a subsidiary of Lakeland Holding Ltd., operates High Falls, Wilson’s Falls and Bracebridge Falls, as well as a plant at Burk’s Falls.

When questioned about the spring 2009 date for starting construction Wildman referred to Bruce MacTavish of Hatch Engineering, who conceded that summer construction could see traffic down to one lane through Bala at times.

Swift River chief operating officer Ian Bain said they are aware of the concerns raised and are planning more consultation and focus groups to deal with public concerns. He points out that they are required to have only one more public meeting in the distant future, but it is obvious that much consultation with area residents is required. Bain also indicated that Swift River would be contacting Bracebridge Generation at High Falls to find out how they went about answering public queries and would be hiring consultants to answer residents’ concerns.