REPORT ON COUNCIL
December 14, 2009
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:00 a.m. to 11:50 p.m.
Regular Evening Meeting: 7:00 p.m. – 7:12 p.m.
All members of Council present
Confidential / Closed Session: 11:50 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Summerama, Balm Beach – a contrary opinion
In its presentation on November 9, the organizers of Summerama stated that there were no reported negative incidents during that August 15th event. Waterfront owners south of Balm Beach felt otherwise. In their experience, the number of people using their private beaches doubled in number, and crowds used properties on either side of the 10-foot Township-owned right-of-way off Kitching Lane, one of the access points that lacks a Township sign showing the limits of public ownership.
This group of waterfront owners felt it necessary to hire security personnel during Summerama to identify disturbances, breaches of the law, and, where requested by the property owner, to ask people to move off the private beach area. In a majority of instances, requests met with “heated opposition, vulgarity, and threats of violence”. The OPP supported the efforts of the security personnel.
The owners and the security personnel observed significant and open consumption of alcohol. Owners experienced an increased level of littering. They felt that the signage defining the limits of the public beach at Balm was inadequate, especially given the assurances prior to the event. They also felt that many problems resulted from the location of the event and recommended that it be moved next year to CBO Park.
Dogs at Woodland Beach
In response to one letter asking for outright banning of dogs from Woodland Beach and several others asking for stricter enforcement of regulations regarding dogs, staff were of the opinion that “the combination of enforcement, education and signage are effective and an outright prohibition is not required at this time.” Council accepted the staff report.
New Warden of County of Simcoe
Mayor Breckenridge reported that Cal Patterson, Mayor of Wasaga Beach, was acclaimed Warden at a Special Meeting of County Council.
Simcoe Landfill Site 24 – By-law 09-079
According to Report PD-81-09, there is “an apparent plume of leachate” emanating from a closed landfill in the vicinity of the North Simcoe Transfer Station on Golf Links Road. The plume “is, or may be moving, in an easterly direction from the site”. The MoE has required the County to obtain a “Contaminant Attenuation” Zone along the access road to, and on the adjacent properties, to the northeast of the closed landfill area. [It is not clear how this “apparent plume” was discovered.]
The County of Simcoe will be monitoring the plume under lands owned by Tiny and Midland by “drilling test wells and sampling the water to analyze and to determine the potential location and type of leachate, if any, in the ground.”
Building Permit Activity for November
While year over year activity through November is down from $31 million in 2008 to $23.8 million in 2009, the monthly activity in November increased from $2.2 million in 2008 to $3.8 million in 2009.
Constraints on the proposed McMahan Woods Development
A letter from the Planning Department of the County of Simcoe says:
On August 11, 2009, the County of Simcoe received an Ecology Peer Review Site Inspection Report from SAAR Environmental, the County’s environmental peer review agent. The report concludes that all environmental matters have been dealt with to their satisfaction consistent with the Natural Heritage Policies under the Provincial Policy Statement and local and upper tier Official Plans, including in particular, the County of Simcoe Greenlands policies. Recommendations regarding the documentation and relocation of a couple of species of fern, bird habitat monitoring and tree preservation and planting plans are provided. Based on acceptable results of the EIS and subsequent site inspection, the County may permit a maximum of 20 residential lots as per the Greenlands Policy 3.7.6.
However, constraints on population growth in Tiny Township, as identified in the growth targets in the Province’s “Simcoe Area: A Strategic Vision for Growth” policy document still have to be worked through. The County concludes that at this stage, “advancement of this application through the planning stages is premature.”
Fence By-law Upheld
A private landowner whose fence stands at 2.2 metres, where Tiny’s By-law 06-001 permits a maximum height of 1.9 metres, appealed the Township’s insistence that its By-law be obeyed to the Ontario Municipal Board. The OMB supported the Township’s view and dismissed the appeal.
