Celebrate Ontario gives award to St. Lawrence Parks

South Dundas council is still mulling over what they know is a tough bylaw.

The draft sewer use bylaw, is once again undergoing revisions before it is finalized, taken to the public and approved by council.

South Dundas council held a special meeting January 7, at the South Dundas Municipal Centre in Morrisburg, to review the latest draft document.

“We need to be reasonable with this tough bylaw,” said South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds, adding that good public education over this issue will amount to better public acceptance and compliance.

The implementation of a sewer use bylaw is the next logical step to ensure that the public investment of millions of dollars of funding channelled into improving waste water infrastructure in South Dundas is protected. 

Like any sewer use bylaw, the aim is to eliminate all  water not originating from the municipal water supply from the sanitary sewer system. That includes roof leader connections and foundation drain (sump pump) connections.

Most taxing to the system is the extraneous inflow that results at both the Morrisburg and Iroquois waste water treatment plants during big rain events. 

The sudden spike in flow data indicates that rain water, especially rooftop rain water, is being drained into the sanitary sewer system, according to experts. 

Each time this happens, the plants come dangerously close to exceeding capacity. Should either plant ever exceed capacity the municipality  would have to answer to environmental officials and could face potential fines or work orders to construct costly holding tanks to keep the sewage from pouring into the St. Lawrence River.

“This will result in a savings in the long run,” said Mayor Byvelds.

With this bylaw, South Dundas officials hope to address much of the root cause of this extraneous flow.

Municipal officials know the corporation is contributing to the extraneous flow, through the existence of some combined sanitary and storm sewers. 

Todd Grant, of AECOM, the consulting company working on the sewer use bylaw, said, “You have them, and are trying to get rid of them. We need to pinpoint the locations of all of those and find an alternate way to drain the water.”

The comprehensive bylaw sets out rules and regulations, applicable to both commercial and residential connections. 

It spells out requirements for commercial food-related grease interceptors and sediment interceptors. It too prohibits any food grinder, commercial or residential from being connected to the sewer system. 

The bylaw also sets out deadlines, yet to be finalized, likely towards the end of 2015, for all existing illegal drain connections to be disconnected from the sanitary sewer system.

The bylaw gives The Municipality of South Dundas the authority to carry out inspections to enforce the bylaw and to slap offenders with large fines. Although South Dundas will gain that authority, council does not see door-to-door inspections and fines as a first step achieving compliance. 

“We need to take baby steps with this,” said Byvelds, and council agreed.

Public education, surveys and keying in on addressing the large problem areas are what council sees as first steps once this bylaw is enacted. 

The bylaw will be finalized and go to council after a public consultation process. 

It will apply to all of South Dundas’ sewer connections, including the Morrisburg, Iroquois and Williamsburg sewer systems.

[…]

The Seaway Valley Presbytery is the first presbytery in Canada to complete an en-masse restructuring.

In 2011, hundreds of church delegates voted to support a process that would support and encourage dialogue concerning the future of local United Churches.

The presbytery includes United Churches in the Seaway Valley from Prescott to the Ontario-Quebec border. 

The results of those dialogues are now coming to fruition, with many of the ongoing changes set to take effect July 1, 2013.

The basis of the restructuring is the pressure that all churches are facing due to increasing costs and declining membership.

The bold moves that this region has taken to facilitate change have garnered the interest of many across the country and across faiths.

“We get calls from right across the country, from people who are interested in finding out how the process is going,” said Rev. Wendy Wright-MacKenzie. She chairs the vision and transformation committee of the Seaway Valley Presbytery. “Many, including those of other faiths, are monitoring our model,” she said.

The discussions have been left with the congregations, rather than the governing body (the presbytery), to allow each area to choose their own path forward, explained Wright-MacKenzie.

Some churches, like Morrisburg’s Lakeshore United Church, have opted to remain a stand alone church. 

Change for that church will be minimal, however, their minister is moving on, so they will be seeking a new minister.

Others like Iroquois United and Brinston (pictured) -Hulbert Valley United have decided to amalgamate. Through this new union, they will become the Iroquois-Matilda United Church. 

It will be a two point charge, under one minister. The Iroquois-Matilda United Church is seeking a minister.

Other models being explored across the presbytery are a regional model and cluster model. 

A cluster model involves sharing one new governance. Churches at the west end of the presbytery are in the process of determining if they would like to follow this new cluster model.  

A regional model is a fresh start. “In a regional model, churches disband and close, and a new ministry is started,” explained Wright-MacKenzie.

Only one regional church has been formed in the Seaway Valley Presbytery: Christ  Church United.

This new ministry is located in the Chesterville United Church building, but the building has been completely changed in order to make it a new space to those moving there from the former Morewood and Chesterville area churches. 

Christ Church United is still in discussions with other area congregations, including the Williamsburg congregation, which presently holds services at the former Elma School location after selling their church building. 

Wright-MacKenzie explains that this regional model is one that is generating much excitement among its parishioners.

“The difference between amalgamation and what is happening here, with a new ministry, is that people are encouraged to get rid of the tangibles and to embrace letting go. Church is not the building,” she said.

“Churches generally have key leaders. When you go to a regional model, this puts all of their energy together. And, when you do that, something exciting blossoms,” said Wright-MacKenzie.

In a regional church model, one minister does two services on Sunday. 

There is more lay-leadership, pastoral care is shared with the people in the congregation, study groups are led by trained lay-leaders, and a central youth group is formed. Resources, such as music are shared.

“We are looking at ways to meet the needs of the community,” she said while the congregation explores new ways of worshiping differently, together.

[…]

   Brian and Tracey Shaver, organizers of the 2015 Ball Hockey for Easter Seals Tournament are calling the event a “huge success.” “We raised over $5,700 for Easter Seals,” said Brian Shaver, “the second largest […]