Melancthon Township Council has decided to have a by-election if necessary to fill the vacancy created by the death of mayor Ron Dillman shortly after he was elected to the office.

Under the Municipal Act, the council had the option of appointing a replacement or of holding an election.

CAO Denise Holmes said Section 65 of the Act requires that the nomination date be within 60 days of passing a bylaw to fill a council vacancy by by-election. She opted for Friday, April 13, as the nomination date.

If there is more than one nomination, a by-election would be held on May 28, 45 days from the nomination date.

If there should be only a single nomination, the byelection would become unnecessary.

At the November election, there were only two mayoral nominations, Mr. Dillman and former deputy mayor Debbie Fawcett. Mr. Dillman, who had been actively promoting Dufferin Landowners Association since early summer 2006, narrowly defeated Ms. Fawcett, and there had been a recount.

Ms. Holmes said township councillors had found that the public favours the call for nominations, rather than applications for appointment, in part because of the four-year term. (As of May 28, 2007, there will still be 3 1/2 years remaining in the present mandate.)

Replacement of the mayor comes at a time when the township is facing an Ontario Municipal Board hearing into its delay in taking a decision on rezoning for the second phase of what would become a 200 megawatt capacity wind farm.

At the recent pre-hearing, it appeared that the township would proceed with the necessary zoning approvals provided that the Ministry of Environment approves the Environmental Screening Report, and that an unspecified financial arrangement is completed.

A decision on whether to approve the ESR or to require a full Environmental Assessment (an elevation of the ESR process) is expected within weeks.

Mr. Dillman had favoured the rezoning, and had taken the view that the township needed the industry, the employment and contract opportunities, and the financial spinoffs to the community at large.

In her campaign, thenincumbent deputy mayor Fawcett said she was in favour of the Phase 2 turbines, but would likely oppose any further development (beyond the 45 existing ones plus the 88-turbine Melancthon II in Melancthon and Amaranth).