Warm up with care

 

South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds attended the annual ROMA/OGRA Combined Conference in Toronto last week.

The conference, which took place from February 26th to February 29th, gave Byvelds the opportunity to meet with politicians from other municipalities throughout Ontario.

According to their website, ROMA (Rural Ontario Municipal Association), “is Ontario’s rural municipal voice, ensuring that matters affecting rural  communities are brought to the attention of the provincial and federal governments.”

OGRA (Ontario Good Roads Association) “represents infrastructure interests of municipalities through advocacy, consultation, training and the delivery of identified services.”

On March 6th, Byvelds revealed that “there were no objectives going to ROMA. It is,” he added, “a great opportunity to discuss issues or methods with fellow municipal politicians.”

In terms of how things progressed at the conference, he said “there were some good information sessions.”

“I believe if you come home with one idea it was worth the effort.”

As for what South Dundas residents might find relevant from the conference, Byvelds said, “I did go to a seminar that was related to climate change and picked up a contact with information we can use when we have our public meeting concerning the sewer issues in our villages.”

In addition, “there was also a panel discussion on how municipalities need to work with local post-secondary institutions and how they affect economic development.”

According to their own literature, the ROMA/OGRA Combine Conference “is one of the largest annual gatherings of municipal leaders in Canada. It’s aim is to reinvigorate public debate about how municipalities will respond to emergent challenges and opportunities.”

This year’s conference, according to Byvelds, presented a good opportunity “to get a feeling on where the Provincial government is heading in these current times of fiscal restraint (don’t expect the cheque in the mail).”

While Byvelds didn’t get an opportunity to speak with the Premier himself, he did “take the opportunity to listen when he spoke.”

According to Byvelds, Premier Dalton McGuinty “did speak in generalities and hoped to continue to work with municipalities in the future. He committed to the finish date on the uploads but cautioned us on the new spending limit for the OMPF (Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund) of $500 million. He also re-committed to Green Energy.”

While several politicians walked out during the Premier’s ROMA appearance in protest of his energy policy, Byvelds admitted, “no, I was not involved.”

“I do not think it is a way to have a meaningful dialogue on issues. It takes two to discuss and walking out does not solve the issue.”

[…]

A little over six months ago, the Morrisburg Business Improvement Area hired their first non-member as a coordinator, and this month, for the first time, they opened an independent office in the Morrisburg Plaza.

The office, located at 99 Main Street Morrisburg (beside Bo’s Barbershop) was generously donated to the Municipality of South Dundas by local lawyer Doug Grenkie. It was donated for the purpose of housing a public washroom facility.

The BIA decided that the washroom project fits nicely with the work of the BIA, and gives the organization the opportunity to have a standalone space.

The idea of a public washroom in the Morrisburg Plaza has been floated for several years. With the land donation, and the BIA involvement, it is coming much closer to becoming reality. 

However, as of yet, there is no specific plan or time-line available for that project.

“What we needed first was a location,” said Grace McDonough, coordinator for the Morrisburg BIA. “Now that we have this location, we are working at applying for funding.”

The plan is to install one fully accessible public washroom in the space adjacent to the newly established and renovated office.

So far, little has been done to the space, as the washroom will require extensive changes to the area, and likely a relocation of the door to meet provincial accessibility requirements.

Several years ago, fund raising was done for a washroom facility for the Morrisburg plaza, as a South Dundas Chamber of Commerce initiative, carried out in partnership with the Morrisburg and District Lions Club, and fundraising matched by the Morrisburg Scotiabank. The $8,100 raised through those efforts, will go to the BIA in support of the washroom project.

While the washroom project is an important priority for the BIA in its new home, it is one of many initiatives the BIA will be involved in this year.

When McDonough was hired in 2013, it was just on the heels of a successful Antiquefest, which was done in partnership with the South Dundas Chamber.

This year, the BIA, with a committee of BIA members and community members will take on organization of the 2014 Antiquefest alone. Learning from observations and input from last year’s vendors, McDonough says this year, all of the vendors will be in tents in mall courtyard behind the clocktower, or a section of the parking lot that will be cordoned off for the summer event slated for July 19 and 20. “We plan to grow the event this year,” said McDonough.

In McDonough’s first year as coordinator, she participated in a number of pumpkin-themed events including spooky tales, pumpkin carving and window decorating and baking contests, and the BIA plans for many of those to return again this fall. Last Christmas, in addition to the seasonal decorations that adorn the Morrisburg Plaza, courtesy of the BIA, they were joined by the Seaway Valley Singers for carolling in the plaza, held a window decorating contest for its members and turkey draws for Plaza patrons.

“All of this is like nothing I’ve ever done before. I brought a basic skill set to this job, and have been learning a lot along the way. With so many great ideas, and lots of feedback from our members, I’m looking forward to applying what I have learned,” said McDonough. While looking forward to having a role in these returning events, McDonough anticipates some new initiatives to the plaza.

The Municipality of South Dundas has been setting aside funds for a revitalization of the Morrisburg Plaza, and the BIA is looking forward to having input into that project.

The BIA is continuing to work at various ways to promote the plaza, including advertising, promotions and events, more than just hosting its own events, McDonough hopes to be able to make the plaza a stop on established regional events and tours. Additional attractions such as an expanded farmer’s market are in the works. The BIA is interested in making the mall court yard more welcoming to visitors, by adding seating and bicycle racks. 

“Not only would it give visitors a place to rest, it could also be a gathering place to sit outdoors and enjoy lunch,” said McDonough.  “It’s just part of being welcoming community. The tourist season here is a short season, so we want to help our businesses.” 

The Morrisburg Business Improvement Area consists of the geographic area of the Morrisburg Village Plaza. It is funded through a levy, administered by the municipality. The president of the Morrisburg BIA is Bill Ewing. The position is appointed by the municipality for the term of council. There are more than 240 BIAs across the province. BIAs have many functions including overseeing area improvements, promoting the area and advocating on behalf of the interests of the business improvement area. 

The primary responsibility of the coordinator is to assist the board in implementing revitalization and promotion strategy, as directed by the board, while serving as a link between the board and the BIA members, as well as coordinating the activities of committees, community groups and volunteers.

[…]

 

The lead up to the July 16 South Dundas Council meeting foreshadowed of lively debate and potential conflict, but the end result was quite the opposite.

Those opposed to the potential grain terminals at the Universal dock along Lakeshore Drive, the owner of the dock, the Grain Farmers of Ontario, and South Dundas’ planning department, were all on the agenda for the meeting, to make presentations, but a lawyer’s letter presented to council by the initial delegation of concerned citizens put an end to any potential council or staff input, feedback or questions.

So, each group was given about 10 minutes to make their planned presentation, and did so. 

An estimated crowd of about 150 had gathered to watch the proceedings.

Chris Rowntree, spoke on behalf of the citizens group, saying that allowing the grain terminal to be built on this land does not conform with its light industrial zoning. And that allowing it under the guise of calling it a warehouse is indefensible in a court of law.

He then had Gerben Schaillee, who is part of the concerned citizens group, read aloud a letter from the group’s lawyer, Donald R. Good of AGB Lawyers in Ottawa.

Good maintains that classifying a grain terminal as a grain warehouse is erroneous.

“This appears to be a deliberate misuse of the word ‘warehouse’ to simply avoid  the proper re-zoning process which would allow public input into the addition of this new permitted use in the M1 zone,” said Good.

“To proceed to issue a building permit, will subject the Township to potentially expensive litigation,” said Good. “I encourage the Township to reconsider its position and not issue a building permit until the property has been properly vetted through the re-zoning process.”

Following Rowntree and Schaillee, Tom Kaneb, owner of UTI made a presentation. 

He noted that  these lands have been industrial since prior to 1967, pre-dating some of the neighbouring homes and many of their current owners. 

“The tension that we have here is often felt when residential areas expand close to older industrial areas,” said Kaneb. “We know that we need to try and reach an accommodation.”

“We are designing into the project modern dust controls and low noise aeration fans to minimize dust and noise,” he added.

Kaneb spoke of the local economic benefit to farmers and to South Dundas and to the support that the project has from area farmers.

“We intend to proceed with the support of the community and will do our best to meet all laws, regulations and zoning requirements,” said Kaneb.

Again, because of the legal involvement brought on by the concerned citizens group, council did not question or comment on the matter.

Following Kaneb’s presentation, Grain Farmers of Ontario delegate Warren Schneckenburger, told of the need and importance of this new terminal in South Dundas.

“We are fortunate here to have two end users, Ingredion (formerly Casco) and Greenfield Ethanol, but their maximum capacity has been realized,” said Schneckenburger. He explained that the result is a reliance on the Port of Prescott, which fills very rapidly in the fall.

“This issue is bigger than South Dundas,” said Schneckenburger, pointing out that grain regularly flows to this area from a much larger region regularly coming from about 5,200 producers.

Once again, South Dundas council refrained from questioning or commenting on the presentation.

Included in council’s information package was a key information report from Donald Lewis, manager of planing and enforcement, regarding the status of the status of the project.

Council did not allow Lewis to speak to the report.

According to the report, a peer review with planning consultants has confirmed that the grain terminal proposal meets zoning requirements and currently staff are in the process of determining if all applicable laws have been satisfied.

The proponent has secured the required County Road setback permit, and have sufficiently addressed truck traffic concerns. 

In its current form, the proposal does not require any South Nation Conservation permits. 

Ministry of the Environment staff are in the process of reviewing the application.

[…]