MPS and IPS kids will be first to Stay On Course

Forty area school children, gathered Monday to learn about a community splash pad project set for this summer, here in Earl Baker Park.

Having already secured about half of the $200,000 needed to make the splash pad a reality, the community playground committee was surprised with a $10,000 cheque from the local Legion, Branch 48 in Morrisburg at the launch of the fundraising campaign.

“What a great way to start,” said Matt McCooeye, committee spokesperson. “In our last campaign, they were among the first to step up and contribute. We really felt their generosity served as a springboard for all of the great community support we received in our last campaign.”

The community playground group, which was created in 2011, piloted a community driven campaign that recruited over 225 volunteers and raised over $114,00 to build the playground in Earl Baker Park.

The splash pad is phase two of that 2011 project.

Legion president Graham Houze, said they were happy to provide $10,000 to this cause. “It’s a very worthwhile cause for the children and the people of the area, so we thought we would throw our support behind it with this donation.”

“The concept is about the whole community working together to deliver something for the kids,” said McCooeye.

Like the in phase one, the children will have a say in their new splash pad, which the committee intends to have completed by the end of this year.

“It is important for us to engage all people in South Dundas, including the kids,” said McCooeye. “We want to get the kids’ input into what they want included. We can’t wait to hear what they have to say.”

The kids will get their say as part of the ‘Dotmacracy’ when the committee visits area schools in June. Kids will have the opportunity to vote on their favourite features, and that input will be used for the creation of the final design.

Since the project is meant to be a community endeavour, anyone who has an idea to help fund raise for the splash pad is welcome to bring it to the committee.

Already, a local band – One Night Standards, has approached the committee to hold a fund raising dance for the splash pad. Lane Hunter, Oak Hunter, Troy McMillan and Night Hunter will play the Morrisburg Legion, May 17, with all proceeds going to the splash pad.

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The Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry 2015 International Plowing Match & Rural Expo (IPM) has issued a call to local artists to submit original artwork for the IPM Official Poster Art Contest.  The contest is open to all residents of Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry, City of Cornwall and Akwesasne. 

The artwork must showcase the rural lifestyle of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and incorporate the SDG 2015 IPM tagline “Link to the past…Look to the future”.  “We have been receiving lots of positive feedback from our members” states Bruce Davis, Executive Director at Your Arts Council Cornwall & the Counties.   

“The contest will be an excellent way for all local artists to showcase their work and illustrate the great community we live in”, said Shauna Baggs, Contest Coordinator. “The 2015 IPM is expected to draw over 75,000 people to Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.  The whole event will be filled with opportunity – for local businesses, attractions and now artists.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase what SDG is made of!”

One Grand Prize winner will receive a cash prize of $1,500.  All of the artwork will be displayed in a silent auction during the week of the plowing match from September 22-26, 2015. 

Contest Information:

• Must be a resident of Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry, City of Cornwall or Akwesasne

• Artwork can be painted, pencil, pastel or photography

• Size: Vertical 18 x 24 canvas

• All artwork must capture the rural lifestyle of SDG (emphasis on plowing)

• Tagline for the S-D-G 2015 IPM is “Link to the past….Look to the future”

• Entry form must be submitted by email by January 17, 2015 by 12:00 midnight

• Final submission of original artwork to be dropped off January 31, 2015 at the IPM office in Finch, 9A John Street  between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm, along with a $25 entry fee.

• Full contest details at www.plowingmatch.org

The 2015 SDG International Plowing Match and Rural Expo will be held in September.

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A wrinkle has appeared in South Dundas’ ongoing project to expand the Morrisburg’s commercial business park.

South Dundas council decided that offering more readily accessible commercial land in the Morrisburg Industrial Park was a priority, so this summer they broke ground on a project that has been in the works for several years.

The $535,000 road extension to extend roadway 500 metres north and 400 metres east to complete a loop to Prospect Road is underway and will make available municipally-owned commercial properties, located on the west and north sides of the new road.

“When South Dundas decided on constructing the road it was with the understanding that the wetland was not a current issue but may impact us down the road,” said South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds. “However, now it may become an issue sooner.”

Local councils and municipal officials have known for many years that the Provincial Government (MNR) had intended to designate part of South Dundas’ holdings of municipal land in the Morrisburg industrial park as a provincially-significant wetland, but a loop-hole meant that the designation had not been made officially thus leaving open one last opportunity for the municipality to open up access to the lands, allowing them to be properly marketed for economic growth.

“South Dundas is still allowed to do what we want, within reason, in the area,” said Byvelds. 

That is why South Dundas undertook the study of the area and moved forward with the road project. 

“None of the roadway and adjacent lands are in the wetland but they are within the 120 meter buffer area. One can develop that area with a study that proves the proposed development does not impact the wetland.”  

In advance of this project, South Dundas and the United Counties had agreed that any employment lands that would eventually be lost to the PSW designation, would be shifted west of Morrisburg, through an expanded settlement area designation.

SDG is the planning authority for the region, by virtue of the Official Plan. A recent report to Counties Council revealed that, the province will not agree with the compromise.

“When this was put to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, they said we needed to do a study to determine what the future needs were and what was available to justify the proposal,” explained Byvelds. “The study indicated that there is enough vacant land throughout SDG to accommodate any growth for the next 20 years and as such, MMAH were not going to allow any expansion unless vacant land was traded off to do so.”

A trade off could mean that South Dundas loses potential employment lands completely, if the trade off is for land in another municipality within SDG.

South Stormont council is pushing the issue by passing a resolution supporting a proposed 260 hectare planning expansion of employment lands in South Stormont.

If approved by counties council, South Dundas would lose 160 hectares of potential employment lands and the other 100 hectares would come from other, much smaller vacant land parcels from all the other municipalities in SDG.

Counties council has made no decision on the matter, but it is expected that South Stormont will continue to push the issue.

“I acknowledge that some of the Morrisburg employment lands are wetland, however, I want to make sure the line is in the right place,” said Byvelds. The lines already exist on a map, and Byvelds is of the opinion that the designation extends too far to the south. 

If the lines were a little further north, it would move the buffer area away from the commercial properties South Dundas will market for commercial growth. 

Byvelds would like to see some of the vacant land being lost in South Dundas move to another area of South Dundas.

“I want to protect what we have and what we may be able to use in the future,” said Byvelds. “I am willing to work with our partners at SDG but it needs to be fair to South Dundas and all the townships.”

South Dundas and Counties staff will meet soon to determine a course of action.

“If it looks like things are changing, I would recommend South Dundas hires a firm to study the area and delineate the boundaries,” said Byvelds. “I strongly feel that there are less lands in the proposed wetland and it will be up to South Dundas to prove it, not MNR.  I know this does not sound right but it is the way it is for now.”

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