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PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1998.
Municipalities split on restructuring talks
By Brenda Burke
Advance-Times Staff
Who will live with whom?
Local- amalgamation groups are
in the midst of defining which
municipalities will merge.
And the Town of Wingham and
Townships of Turnberry, Morris
and East Wawanosh seem to be
going their separate ways.
Turnberry and Mortis made a
sudden announcement at a
restructuring meeting last week,
reflecting the fact they are starting
their own amalgamation talks on
Jan. 1.
Wingham and East WawanoSh
have been invited to the table, prior
to the deadline.
In the meantime, a Nov. 30
meeting has been arranged for
Wingham and East Wawanosh,
plus the Towns of Blyth and
Brussels, and including Grey and
Howick Townships.
"I can assure you that I
personally, and the Town of
Wingham, are dedicated to moving
forward and consider the six
municipalities as a new restructu-
ring unit," wrote councillor Archie
MacGowan in a letter to all six
municipalities. -
At the meeting, he plans to bring
up the issue of hiring a consultant,
a decision, he feels, that would
"really move things forward".
A recent history of 'hard feelings'
has been established by the fact
Morris, Wingham, Turnberrx. and
East Wawanosh did not invite the
other four municipalities to a
restructuring meeting in September.
At a meeting later that month,
representatives of those groups
voiced their feelings before leaving
the meeting.
"Following the unfortunate
meeting at the Bluevale Hall on
Sept. 29" wrote MacGowan to the
affected municipalities, "I do regret
the impressions given that youand
your municipality --were. not
welcome in the restructuring -talks.
I regret that time has been wasted
that could be better utilized in
getting down to the task of
negotiating and discussing the
proposal." „_
MacGowan states the
Turnberry/Morris announcement
does not affect the original intent to
discuss a restructuring proposal
covering most of the North Huron
area.
BrusselS and Grey have decided
to start their own talks as well, with
the option of letting other
municipalities join in. (Howick has
stated it isn't interested in joining
talks with either group).
"We reached the pint where we
were tired of tailing," Grey
Township Reeve Robin Dunbar
informed those at a Nov. 10
restructuring meeting in Wingham.
His impression following the
"super" Bluevale meeting was that
the "Wescast four" wanted to be
together.
MacGowan, who has chaired the
past two meetings, concluded the
latest meeting on a positive note.
"It seems like some of the groups
are already falling into place...It's
taking a direction, which is nice to
see for a change."
In the meantime, Blyth was to
make its restructuring decision at a
council meeting on Tuesday night.
East Wawanosh councillor Judith
Gaunt expresses her feeling that
Blyth, which has always been
involved with North Huron
restructuring talks, should be
included in such an amalgamation.
Blyth has recently met with the
Clinton/Hullett/Goderich Township
restructuring group, explained
Blyth Clerk- Treasurer John
Stewart.
The village is invited to the
group's Dec. 2 meeting, at which
time its decision is expected to be
voiced.
Stewart explains how the
Bluevale meeting indicated the
north wanted to work in a smaller
group, one that appeared to leave
out Blyth, which recently met with
the Hullett group and was very
impressed with its positive outlook.
"We are hopeful that we can
come to a consensus among
ourselves," said MacGowan.
WELLINGTON
EXPERIENCE
At the Nov. 10 meeting, Jim
Andrews, chief administrative
Officer/Clerk for the County of
Dufferin, presented his views based
on restructuring experience he's
recently had with Wellington
County.
In November 1997, Wellington's
deal was made official after being
notified in the fall of 1996, that if
municipalities didn't get `a move
on', a commission would step in
and make decisions for them. In
May 1997, consultants were hired
and the process was under way.
In the beginning, Andrews said,
the Wellington area was not keen
on restructuring.
"It wasn't well accepted, to be
quite frank with you, and it sat on
the shelf."
The decision wasn't shelved for
long, however, due to the
commission threat. Andrews
believed, if it wasn't for this push,
area restructuring would have
stalled.
"It'll be done for us if we don't
do it ourselves," Andrews
reasoned. "The gun was cocked
beside yotir head. It's a great
motivator."
Although Andrews admits it's a
frightening notion that one person
has so much power in such a
decision, he describes the
Chatham-Kent amalgamation,
which was 'forced' in a similar
manner, as a very successful
money-saver.
In the Wellington area,
restructuring reduced 21 munici-
palities to seven. Consultants were
hired, their report was adopted
almost in its entirety and according
to Andrews, they determined the
success of the process.
"I think that's what makes it or
breaks it."
There was open communication
and staff was involved very early in
the process, with clerk-treasurers
urging consultants to get on with
restructuring. Each council had its
own private meeting with the
consultants in an effort to get "a
pretty good idea who would live
with who."
Without county influence,
consultants also met with
functional groups such as road
superintendents, fire chiefs, and
clerks and treasurers. Key details
were put in place very early and an
attempt was made to avoid getting
bogged down with details such as
services (with the exception of
policing and hydro) and
consultants' terms of reference.
The Wellington area public
apparently has no interest in the
entire process. Out of three
meetings, noted Andrews, less than
100 citizens showed up, leaving
most of the talk to local politicians.
Andrews adviged the group there
is not a magic population number
needed in order to restructure. The
feeling is to avoid having a
dominant area, he explained.
MacGowan expresses the fear that
smaller areas would feel lost within
a large amalgamated area. New
boundaries would include new
wards for representation on local
councils, explained Andrews.
"I think it's important not to
follow the old boundaries because
you're bringing the old baggage to
the table again."
As far as capital expenditures go,
he adds, they become assets of the
new municipality, with the
exception of those reserved for
specific purposes.
What about cost savings?
"There was no specific savings
identified," said Andrews. "It was
looked at more generally."
In the Wellington experience, the
economics were looked at hastily,
yet big-ticket items such as graders
were considered.
Does a larger municipality have
better grant access?
Yes, said Andrews, but in a
subtle way, due to other factors
involved. Overall, he adds, a larger
municipality would attract more
expertise from a larger pool of
people and the public would be
attracted to a larger municipality
due to growth-potential.
When Grey Twp. asked for
suggestions for municipalities
trying to restructure in a `piece-
meal' fashion, Andrews replied,
"The ones that were done piece-
meal, quite frankly, were the ones
that weren't too successful. It
certainly created a lot of hard
feelings between municipalities (in
central Wellingon)."
However, he added later,
restructuring relationships with
willing partners could very well
spell success.
"That's probably better than
nothing happening at all."
A definite consensus is needed
between municipalities about to
amalgamate, he advised.
Andrews explained how must
restructuring requests appear to be
stalled, and will not be considered
until after an election.
When a meeting participant
wonders if the public will get good
municipal representation once
restructuring takes place, Andrews
replied, "There's certainly no
doubt, the larger you are, the more
you'll have to rely on bureaucrats."
He stressed this is not necessarily
a negative move, due to better
quality representation.
Since amalgamation, he added,
the relations-hip between local
municipalities and the county has
been strengthened. The biggest
task, he added, was getting the
proposal in order to get the minister
to sign the deal.
The most controversial issue, he
added, is the decision on where to
locate a centralized office.
"A lot of these offices are
relatively new. It will be interesting
to know what will happen to them."