Solar panels delay reeve’s fence

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This article was published 14/08/2019 (1715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

La Broquerie reeve Lewis Weiss says the solar panels he’s incorporating into the fence council ordered him to build will delay the project for an indefinite amount of time.

Called upon Wednesday to provide a progress report to council, Weiss said he’s waiting on an application he submitted to a new Manitoba Hydro program for commercial solar energy projects.

Weiss told The Carillon he wasn’t sure how long the project would be delayed.

In April, council renewed an unfulfilled zoning ordinance from 2006, and told Weiss to finish building the fence by Aug. 31. The intent of the order was to shield derelict vehicles in Weiss’s auto recycling yard from the view of passing motorists.

In June, Weiss submitted a concept plan for two L-shaped fences made of steel poles and sheet metal that included the option of integrating solar panels into the design.

At that time, Weiss pledged to begin the work as soon as the materials arrived. On Wednesday, he confirmed he had the metal on hand, but explained can’t begin building until his solar application is approved.

Weiss said the angled panels will face Highway 52, stand two feet off the ground, and reach higher than the required six feet.

“It will look like a big fence,” he told council.

Weiss said he got the idea while driving past a similar solar array near Deacon’s Corner.

Evolve Green, a Marchand-based solar energy company, has been hired to design and install the panels, Weiss said. The reeve plans to build the remainder of the fence using his own equipment.