The Citizen, 2011-10-13, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2011. Huron County Council
unanimously carried a motion
saying council’s thoughts on rural
severances would be passed on to
the Provincial Government for its
review of the Provincial Policy
Statement (PPS) coming up
soon.
At the Oct. 5 meeting of council
the issue arose for discussion once
again when Ashfield-Colborne-
Wawanosh Reeve Ben Van
Diepenbeek said it was unfair that
the PPS served up a simple “no” as
an answer to all rural severance
situations.
Questions were directed at Huron
County’s Head of Planning and
Development Scott Tousaw who has
been appointed to a committee
representing Ontario’s rural and
northern communities in terms of
planning.
Tousaw said the committee has
had one meeting that was strictly
introductory which he had to miss,
so he was unable to provide much
information on what the committee
will be discussing.
He suggested, however, that a
presentation could be compiled for
the ROMA conference in February
when an audience could be
requested with the Minister of
Municipal Affairs along with the
Minister of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs.
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn
asked Tousaw if a motion from
Huron County Council would help
the process at all and assist in the
“loosening up” of guidelines
surrounding rural severances.“There needs to be moreflexibility for rural Ontario,” Ginnsaid. “It works well in urban
Ontario, but it’s too restrictive for
rural Ontario.”
Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan then expressed concerns
that the committee isn’t currently
accepting presentations from
groups, asking if it was just a group
of people simply discussing the
issue around a table.
Tousaw however said the
committee was still in its infancy
and more work was necessary before
action can begin to be taken.
“I haven’t been to a meeting yet,”
Tousaw said. “There isn’t
even a meeting scheduled right
now.”
Tousaw said the process had been
put on hold due to the Oct. 6
provincial election and that meetings
would resume after the election had
taken place.
Ginn, who has been championing
the loosening of the rules for years,
said it was an important topic to be
explored and that it was also an
integral time to be having these
discussions.
“This needs to be opened up,”
Ginn said. “There are economic
factors, socio-economic factors and
planning issues at play.”
Van Diepenbeek said that there are
still two municipalities in Huron
County with extremely strict
guidelines on such severances,
including North Huron and
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh. He
said Huron County Council should
make up its mind before taking a
drastic step and presenting to the
province.Goderich Mayor Deb Shewfeltagreed, saying a united front wouldhave to be presented if Huron
County wanted to be taken seriously
by the province.
“You better clean up your own
backyard before you start knocking
at the province’s door,” he said. “You
need to present a unified front and
you can’t do that now.”
It was then mentioned that perhaps
the concept should go to Huron
County’s nine lower-tier
municipalities for ratification before
coming back to the Huron County
Council table.
Ginn, however, said if that was the
case that it would take six months
before council had anything in
writing and by then it would be too
late.
Ginn cited the recently-announcedAccommodation Review forHolmesville and Colborne CentralPublic Schools as a reason to speed
up the process.
“We’re losing our communities,”
he said. “We need to have an all-
encompassing conversation with
other parts of rural Ontario to see if
they would like this issue addressed
and part of the problem is the
Provincial Policy Statement.
“Our infrastructure is going to go
south.”
MacLellan, however, said that if
everyone had the same opinion, it
might make the argument harder to
make.
“I don’t want everyone to have the
same opinion,” MacLellan said.
Bluewater Mayor Bill Dowson felt
going to each lower tier municipality
was crucial in making a decision.“Each one of us has our ownplanning department and our own
official plan,” Dowson said. “We
have to respect that they’re our
people. They put us there.”
Huron East Deputy-Mayor Joe
Steffler said the one-size-fits-all
approach needs to be removed from
the PPS.
“Every severance should be
judged on its own merit,” Steffler
said. “The rubber stamp should be
taken out.”
After further discussion, a
motion was made to send a letter
expressing the views of Huron
County Council sent to all
applicable ministries.
A recorded vote was called and the
motion passed unanimously.
Reduced property assessment due
to wind turbines was discussed by
Huron East councillors at their Oct.
4 meeting amidst worries that
reduced assessment would affect the
municipality’s bottom line.
Councillor Bill Siemon mentioned
a court case that is ongoing against
Prince Edward County over reduced
assessment due to the placement of a
wind turbine.
Siemon said the case could be
precedent-setting in that if the
county is found to be responsible for
the reduction in assessment, people
will be “lined up” to have their taxes
lowered due to lower assessment
figures due to wind turbines.
Siemon suggested Huron East
should consider drafting a bylaw that
would make the wind turbine
company responsible for any
difference in assessment after
turbines are placed.
“Anyone within 1,000 to 1,500
metres of a wind turbine should have
their property assessed,” he said. “It
would be great to have it, but who’s
going to enforce it?”
Councillor Larry McGrath agreed
with Siemon’s concept on principle,
he said, but he said that if a wind
turbine developer is operating within
the laws of the province, he couldn’t
see any of them covering such costs.
“If it fits the guidelines, they’re
going to say ‘I’m not buying half of
your house. Sue the government,’”
he said. “There’s going to be lost
revenue and who’s going to make it
up? Queen’s Park?”
The question was then asked what
the assessment benchmark would be.
How would homeowners know what
their property was worth before
wind turbines were placed near their
property and how would they know
what kind of a reduction, if any, they
would face after the fact?
“It would need to be evaluated
somehow, someway and it would
have to be documented,” Siemon
said.
Councillor David Blaney ensured
that his fellow councillors stayed on
topic, saying that tax dollar revenue
should be council’s only concern on
the topic.
“We could negotiate or pass a
bylaw,” he said. “People need to
know their assessment and then have
the property reassessed. That’s how
you know the difference.”
Blaney said there are many aspects
of the world of wind turbines council
can’t control, but that assessment
dollars is something that could
possibly be controlled by council.
Clerk-Administrator Brad Knight
said a clause on assessment values
could be worked into negotiations
with the turbine company once the
municipality enters into talks.
Councillor Larry McGrath,
however, said he felt such a clause
would be tough to work into the
agreement.
“I think it’s speculation,” McGrath
said, “and I don’t think you can do
it.”
Siemon said it should be a
legitimate concern for Huron East
councillors, especially when
considering the level of Ontario
Municipal Partnership Fund
(OMPF) money the municipality has
coming in year after year.
“We’re this close to losing our
OMPF funding because we’re losing
agricultural assessment,” he said.
“Wind turbines are industrial
assessment and that could be huge
dollars.”
Council to bring severance argument to province
HE Council discusses
wind, property values Checking the colours
The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) held its annual fall colour tour on Oct. 2
at the Wawanosh Nature Centre with several families taking part despite the frigid
temperatures. Here a group is pulled through the area while being guided by Erin Dolmage of
the MVCA. (Vicky Bremner photo)
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By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen