REPORT ON COUNCIL
November 29, 2004
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:00 a.m. – 10:46 p.m.
Regular Evening Meeting: roughly 7:00 p.m. – 10:48 p.m.
All Members of Council present.
CONFIDENTIAL / CLOSED SESSION: 5:25 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. and ?:?? – 10:46
SITE 41—ACTION AT LAST!: Councillors Ray Millar and Rob Panasiuk, presented a motion:
“That in light of the recent release of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario’s Annual Report and his remarks in connection with Site 41;
And that in consideration of the continued and unified community opposition to Site 41;
Be it resolved that Mr. Harry Dahme of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP be retained by the Township to provide legal advice in connection with the Certificate of Approval issued to the County of Simcoe relating to Site 41;
And that a sub-committee of Council be formed consisting of Councillors Millar and Panasiuk to provide Mr. Dahme with all necessary instructions and direction in connection with his engagement;
And that Mr. Dahme be authorized to engage such experts as are required in order for him to provide the aforementioned legal advice, subject to the prior approval of Council.”
The motion received the unanimous support of Council.
Dahme is an acknowledged expert in environmental law and has been familiar with issues connected with Site 41 for many years. He successfully represented Tiny Township in the Environmental Assessment process in 1989 when a Certificate of Approval was refused for Site 41 (a decision subsequently overturned by an Order in Council) and he has kept up on the issue ever since. He is based in Toronto.
Millar and Panasiuk were appropriate choices for the committee to liaise with him as they are frequently in Toronto. And it was felt that Panasiuk’s legal background would be useful. Dahme is to recommend 2 or 3 possible legal avenues of opposition to Site 41 and suggest what each would cost. Council is to review the options he presents, and if a decision is taken to move forward on one of them, Dahme is to hire the necessary experts in such areas as communication and hydrogeology.
DECISION RE TRAIL BRIDGES: The Members of Council had many different sources of information to consider as they decided what to do about unsafe and derelict Tiny Trail bridges.
107 surveys about the future of the trails had been submitted and the information in them had been analyzed thoroughly by Holly Bryce, Recreation Coordinator. Henk Blom, Manager of Public Works, had costed out 8 different bridge options. In discussion he noted that Options 1-4 could be installed and maintained by Township staff, whereas installation and maintenance of the others would have to be contracted out. Councillor Rob Panasiuk produced some new information from this season’s Ontario snowmobile pass, which makes it clear that riders accept that trails would not be maintained uniformly and would not necessarily be groomed. In other words, the earlier assumption that replacement bridges would have to be able to carry a “groomer” if snowmobiles were to be able to use the trail was incorrect.
Councillors Ray Millar and Rob Panasiuk argued strongly for Option 4, and in the end persuaded the others to support it too. Option 4 creek-level bridges are sturdy and long lasting, as they are constructed out of steel girders. Their estimated cost to the Township is modest, at $87,170 (only $12,000 above the $75,000 cost of removing existing hazardous bridges). According to Mr. Blom, Option 4 bridges could be installed with only 10% changes in grade leading up to and away from them and the trail could thus be used by the handicapped. These bridges could support a range of uses – bicycling, hiking, cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, horseback riding, ATV riding, and (now that is clear that they wouldn’t have to be groomed) snowmobiling. At 2.5 m or 8 ft. in width they would be accessible to Township maintenance vehicles.
Option 4 will now be submitted for SuperBuild approval, as the $87,170 estimate is dependent on SuperBuild funding. (Without SuperBuild funding the total estimated cost is $166,100.)
Council also approved the annual agreement with the Georgian Bay Snowriders.
REVIEW OF KEY BYLAWS: Members of Council ran a sharp eye over proposed amendments to the Township’s all-important Financial and Procurement By-Laws and Hiring Policy By-laws. Both had to be brought into compliance with the new Municipal Act. The three Councillors – Peggy Breckenridge, Ray Millar and Rob Panasiuk – all suggested useful refinements to the draft prepared by staff.
ENCROACHMENT POLICY: Council decided to have a broad policy discussion in the near future about different types of encroachments and ways to handle them.
MORE RE GARBAGE: The County of Simcoe has not forwarded its enabling By-laws with regard to waste collection (something Councillor Rob Panasiuk had asked for). Instead it referred the request to its legal Counsel.
Ruth Coursey (Tiny’s CAO/Clerk) and Henk Blom (Manager of Public Works) met with County staff, and were informed that Tiny’s request for a tag system would not be implemented.
As the County’s idea of delivering information about new garbage rules to each residence in Tiny in December is impractical for seasonal residents, the County is to be advised that the Township will assist in distributing the information, at County’s expense, and will place data about garbage collection on the Township’s website.
PAUZE PLUME UPDATE: John Easton of Dixon Hydrogeology brought Council up to date on the spread of chemicals from the Pauze Landfill site. The dumpsite is located north of Concession Road 8 East, roughly 1 km east of County Road 6; it was closed years ago. The most recent data supplied by the MoE (which monitors the spread of contaminants from the dump) was based on samples taken from 8 private wells located off Concession Roads 8 & 9 West. In recent years the concentration of contaminants has continued to decline or remain stable because of dilution by rainwater and bacterial action. Only one chemical is still above the relevant Ontario Drinking Water Standard, namely vinyl chloride, and it was detected in only 1 well.
Samples were taken in 2004, but results have not been released as they are still in the process of being reviewed.
The contaminants are expected to break through the Nipissing Ridge soon, at which point they are expected to evaporate on exposure to air, though there are some uncertainties. There was discussion about asking the MoE to monitor shore wells, including the one in Stott Park, but it was not clear whether this was acted on.
OPP COSTS LIKELY TO RISE: The formula that the OPP use to estimate the cost of their services has been increased by 5.5%.
