All updates are below in reverse order (newest at top)
UPDATE (November 6, 2016):
GEORGIAN BLUFFS AND CHATSWORTH SEVER TIES WITH SUSGLOBAL
Georgian Bluffs and Chatsworth are severing ties with SusGlobal as operator of the BioGrid. Special meetings of both Councils were held to pass a resolution to terminate the SusGlobal agreement after receiving no acceptable response from a “Notice of Events of Defaults and Conditional Waiver to Avoid Immediate Termination” to SusGlobal Energy Canada Ltd. on November 2, 2016. Effective immediately.
The IVDAARA Board will continue to monitor Council happenings to update our members.
UPDATE (June 17, 2016):
An Agreement between SusGlobal Energy Canada I LTD, a subsidiary of a company created expressly to secure an agreement to operate the Bio-digester, and the municipalities of Chatsworth and Georgian Bluffs and an enabling by-law was on the June 1st Council agenda. This 25-year Agreement was the result of nearly five months of negotiations and calls for SusGlobal invest to expand the capabilities of the Bio-Digester, operate the facility for 25 years, and provide each municipality with $100,000 annualy.
The Agreement is comprehensive and addresses many of the concerns expressed in our document which was submitted last January.
However, there are two items which remain a concern and which we conveyed to Council prior to and at the Council meeting June 1 st : Corporate Structure and Operational Plans.
SusGlobal Energy Canada I Ltd. is a subsidiary of SusGlobal Energy which relocated its domile from Ontario to Delaware. We believe change of control provisions in the Agreement should also include the parent, SusGlobal Energy. Of greater concern is the Operational Plan which includes converting plastics into a diesel fuel and flaring of unneeded biogas. A copy of the talking points for the June 1st Council meeting can be found here: Talking points June 1 2016-1 SusGlobal and Biodigester
UPDATE (May 29, 2016):
At time of writing (May 29), a proposed Agreement between SusGlobal, a company created expressly to secure an agreement to operate the Bio-digester, and the municipalities of Chatsworth and Georgian Bluffs was expected to be on the June 1st Council agenda. This Agreement would be the result of more than six months of negotiations and is expected to include provisions which would see SusGlobal invest to expand the capabilities of the Bio-Digester, operate the facility for 25 years, and forward a share of the operating profits to each municipality. Last January, we submitted a document describing our concerns and outlining items which we believe should be included in the Agreement to ensure that the municipalities and ratepayers are protected and receive benefits for the long term. The link to that document is below in the January 25/16 update
UPDATE (January 25, 2016):
At our Annual Meeting last July Mayor Barfoot expressed a desire to seek a partner to assume operation of the BioGrid facility, make investments to expand the capabilities of the facility, and to make the operation profitable, and for the Municipalities to receive a share of the profits. An RFP to this effect was issued last summer and closed August 20th. While 10 or 11 potential respondents attended a mandatory site visit last July, only one response was received prior to close. That response from SusGlobal was evaluated and found to be technically deficient receiving a score of 26 out of 50. A score of 37.5 had been deemed to be the minimum accepted.
Rather than re-issue the RFP, at its December 18th meeting the BioGrid Joint Board directed the Negotiating Committee to negotiate an agreement with SusGlobal exclusively. While the Directors of your Association support efforts to improve the financial viability of the BioGrid facility, we are concerned that the process underway may not result in a favourable Agreement being negotiated and are requesting that the Township employ competent Legal, Technical, and Financial to assist the negotiating committee and have identified numerous items which we believe should be reflected in a final Agreement.
Our submission to the BioGrid Joint Board can be found by clicking the link below [to a PDF of that letter]