REPORT ON COUNCIL
August 9, 2004
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:00 a.m. – ??:?? p.m.
Regular Evening Meeting: 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
All Members of Council present.
CONFIDENTIAL / CLOSED SESSION: At least one subject of discussion here was a report from Zinner and Co. concerning the search for a new CAO / Clerk.
ACTION RE SITE 41: Councillor Rob Panasiuk asked each member of Council to speak to the question “Is it your will to stop site 41 from ever happening in its present location.” Four of the five answered yes. Councillors Peggy Breckenridge and Rob Panasiuk observed that responses given by Doug Jagger, of Jagger Hims Limited, to two key questions, when County representatives came to speak to Council about Site 41, persuaded them to oppose the dump. To “If Site 41 were being examined afresh as a dump site, would it be selected?” he replied “Probably not.” To “Was the amount of water under the site considered when it was selected,” he responded, “No.” Unlike the others, Mayor Klug said that if the expert consultants say it will work, he wouldn’t say no to the dump, though he feels strongly that thoroughgoing countywide waste diversion should be put in place first.
With the majority of Council opposed to Site 41 ever being put in place in its current location, Council (the Mayor included) then discussed how to achieve that objective. Should they lobby all the mayors and deputy mayors who have a vote at County? Should they lobby the Provincial Government — and if so, who and how? They decided to hire a firm expert at lobbying, and to follow its advice as to what to do and in what sequence. Councillor Rob Panasiuk supplied a short list of appropriate firms, from which a selection might be made.
ZONING BY-LAW MEETING DELAYED/ DAVID LAMBDEN: The meeting on the new Zoning By-law, which was scheduled for August 28 and then put off until September 18, has been delayed until next spring. The September 18 slot is to be used for a
Special Committee of the Whole meeting
10 a.m.
Wyebridge Community Centre
8340 Highway 93
David Lambden, surveyor and boundary expert, is coming to tell Council about his progress with the Land Identification Project (the extent of shore lands owned by the Township). Council also wants to consult him about the mapping that is to accompany the new Zoning By-law.
HIGH SPEED INTERNET FOR ALL OF TINY: The Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations and Tiny’s Residents Working Together made a joint presentation asking that Council ensure that High Speed Internet Service is made available to the entire Township. Roughly 200 households had expressed interest in response to notices that appeared in The Tiny Cottager and in Tiny Ties. The two groups spoke of the importance of the service for students, people working from home, home-based businesses, and ordinary folk all over the Township. They noted that surveys conducted by real estate companies reveal that high speed internet service is an amenity that purchasers of cottages ask about and require.
The presentation included quotations from those who responded to the survey. It supplied information about different kinds of High Speed Internet service available in Tiny Township, and it asked that Council:
Call Bell and ascertain how much of Tiny Township that company will supply with High Speed Internet service, either through outreach from new “central offices” or through the Anik F2 satellite.
Explore government programs (COBRA and BRAND), with the help of our MP and MPP, as a way of funding the necessary infrastructure, if Bell’s coverage is inadequate.
Make efforts to attract suppliers to Tiny Township if service cannot be achieved through Bell or with the help of government funding programs.
A COMMUNITY BEACH ALONG PLAN 670 OF WOODLAND BEACH? Elaine Stephenson spoke to Council on behalf of both the waterfront residents on Plan 670 and the nearby residents who use the beach in front of Plan 670. The beach in question extends north from Woodland Beach Park to Tamarack Trail.
According to Ms Stephenson, the grooming of the beach that took place in the week of July 19 was the first time the Township had maintained the beach; for many years residents had been told by staff and members of the Council of the day that the beach was not Township-owned; these same residents knew that they themselves did not own the beach.
In her view, several parts of the Official Plan have not been honoured at Plan 670, notably those concerning the environmental sensitivity of the shoreline area and minimization of impacts on adjacent neighbourhoods and on the beach itself. She asked why the Official Plan spoke of the six Major Community Parks in the Settlements as providing recreational opportunities for the Township’s residents while the five large Parks on the Western Shoreline of Tiny were to be for public use. She drew attention to the OP’s requirement that master plans be prepared for the five major Shoreline Parks; she observed that much work has been done at Woodland Park even though no master plan has been prepared. She asked that neighbours be consulted before any further work is done, and she asked that use of Woodland Park be restricted to Township residents, by reserving all or most of the 36 parking spaces in the Park for those with parking permits.
FLOODING AT TRIPP LANE: The storm that caused the flooding along Tiny Beaches Road south of Stott Park at the end of May also caused flooding on Tripp Lane in Concession 1. A foot of water stood on the road and flooded the basement of the one permanent resident on the Lane. These are just the latest in a series of such incidents at Tripp Lane. The Manager of Public Works is to propose a plan of action.