REPORT ON COUNCIL
August 30, 2010
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:00 am – to 4:12 pm (The day included site visits to Woodland Beach Park, the recently acquired Hunters’ and Anglers’ building, and Blair Lane.)
Regular Evening Meeting: 7:00 pm – 9:08 pm
All members of Council present
CONFIDENTIAL / CLOSED SESSION: N/A
MAYOR’S CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT: Mayor Breckenridge announced that the Charity Golf Tournament attracted 66 golfers and raised more than $5,000 for the Huronia Museum and the Huron Ouendat Village.
STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE FOR WOODLAND BEACH PARK: Community Stewardship Committees similar to the one that keeps an eye on the Bluewater Park are to be set up for each of the major shore parks after a new Council is elected. However, it was felt that a committee is needed right away for Woodland Beach Park, so an interim committee is to be struck, with terms of reference similar to those of the Bluewater Dunes Restoration Advisory Committee.
ZERO-BASED BUDGETING / DATES OF BUDGET MEETINGS: Four members of Council – Councillors Nigel Warren, André Claire, and George Cornell, plus Deputy Mayor Lawrence — all made points in support of zero-based budgeting, and in particular in support of having one department tackle it during the next budget period. Treasurer Doug Taylor was open to the idea and the Recreation Department was selected for the experiment. According to Taylor, some of the principles of zero-based budgeting are already in play in the budget process in Tiny Township.
Budget meetings are to begin at 9 am on January 17, 2011, February 7, 2011, and February 21, 2011.
ANOTHER PHRAGMITIES UPDATE: There’s still no confirmation in writing from the relevant ministries permitting the Township to spray the Phragmites at the 8th Concession beach road allowance The Manager of Public Works (Henk Blom) knows that the plants are now in bloom. His fall back plan is to have the seed heads clipped and the plants left standing in case spraying is eventually allowed. Once permission has been received for the 8th, applications will be made for the spraying of stands of Phragmites elsewhere on Township property, so that a plan can be in place for next year. Meantime, the Works Department intends to cut the Phragmites on all Township properties on the shore.
[We hear that the Phragmites at the 8th has been treated, so permission must have been received.]
SITE 20 RESOLUTION / STATUS OF CLOSED LANDFILLS: Zoning issues regarding the closed landfill on Part Lot 15, Concession 14 West have reached a reasonable conclusion. The landfill area is to be designated and a setback of 30 metres to be established around it. Only one property is affected. The report from Genivar Consultants is to be released to the involved property owners.
The Township’s Chief Planner, Roger Robitaille, commented that of 36 closed landfills on the County’s list for Tiny Township, only 13 remain to be resolved. However, as these same landfills have been cleared a couple of times before, he has opened a file on each one for future use if needed. He intends to supply details in a report to Council.
BUILDING PERMIT ACTIVITY: July building activity was up as compared with July last year. Building activity has been vigorous this year — $21,171,000 to the end of this July, as opposed to $12,808,000 for the same period last year.
COUNCIL AND THE COMMITTEE OF ADJUSTMENT: At this meeting, Council learned for the first time that it may, if it wishes and time permits, make a recommendation regarding a particular case to the Committee of Adjustment.
PUBLIC MEETING ABOUT THE PROPOSED McMAHAN SUBDIVISION: At this well-attended public meeting regarding a proposed subdivision on the northeast corner of Concession Road 4 West and Crosslands Road, the developer’s planner Darren Vella presented the proposal – 51 lots on 35 hectares of land zoned as future development in 1977, 19 hectares of retained woodland, two entries off Tiny Beaches Road South.
Surrounding communities then presented their concerns. Tim Cane of Jones Consulting, who spoke on behalf of the Bluewater Dunes Ratepayers’ Association, raised 10 questions, among then whether the development truly conforms to the various planning documents including the Provincial Policy Statement, the County Greenlands Policy with its 20-lot maximum and the Township’s Environmental II overlay, the regional ANSI on the site, and Township policies put in place in the years since 1977.
Irene Wilson, President of Bluewater Georgina Wendake Beaches Association, spoke about the cumulative impact on the environment of development of existing vacant lots, of the 66 lot Montabello development on Concession 5, and of this proposed development of 51 lots. She questioned the validity of the traffic study, which was done on a cold May weekend rather than at a time of peak use in July or August. She asked whether the aquifer could support all this development, questioned whether pedestrian traffic to and from the beach could be managed safely, noted that the estimate of 2.5 individuals per household would probably be well below actual use in summer months.
Ian Ferguson, a resident at Bluewater Georgina Wendake Beaches, brought a map showing that the ANSI and the County Greenlands Policy cover the entire property, not just the Nipissing Ridge part of it. He quoted from a series of letters regarding the requirement that no more than 20 lots could be build on County greenlands.
Area residents, Bob Harper and Colleen Stanton, also spoke to the issue, notably about the need for more detailed testing of effluent from the closed dumps on the property.
And Kate Dewey, also an area resident, asked whether a proper archeological study had been done as many first nations artifacts had been found on the property.
