HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-04-12, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018.
Landowners vow to escalate Blyth Creek Drain issue
Landowners on the Blyth Creek
Municipal Drain in Morris-
Turnberry have vowed to seek
arbitration on the issue after council
refused their request to stop
engineering work on the drain.
The drainage situation dates back
over four years to when landowner
John Huether requested a clean-out
of the drain. He claims that Morris-
Turnberry staff had him sign a
request for improvements to the
drain instead of the clean-out
documents, however, leading to a
project that may cost landowners
more than $400,000.
Huether and fellow landowner Jim
Phelan have said they can have the
project done for less than 10 per cent
of that cost.
After a public meeting hosted by
Huether and Phelan, a group of
landowners against the project
attended a March meeting of Morris-
Turnberry Council urging council to
stop the engineering project, which
had already racked up more than
$100,000 in work.
Council vowed to discuss the issue
with the engineer and find out if it
was worth stopping to save the
additional costs. During a closed -to -
the -public meeting, council
claims to have been told the
project was not at a point where it
made financial sense to stop.
Council passed a motion at its
April 3 meeting to not only continue
with the project to create a new
assessment schedule for the drain,
but to also continue with work on the
drain, including significant
waterway work.
Councillor John Smuck, who made
the motion to continue with the
project, said that Huether and Phelan,
who were at the meeting, still had the
opportunity to object to the project.
"The way things have come
together, you have the... opportunity
to go to the referee," he said. "That
would be the best way to proceed"
Smuck said council had been
contacted by individuals serviced by
Hutton Heights development eyed
The costs of developing Hutton
Heights, a potential subdivision
location just south of Wingham,
aren't just limited to financial
considerations, according to a
presentation at North Huron
Council's April 3 meeting.
North Huron owns 38 acres of
developable land which it purchased
in 2007. Huron County Planner
Sandra Weber explained that the
property was purchased because the
Chief Administrative Officer at the
time felt it was prudent to save the
land for development lest it go to an
individual who might build a single
house on the property.
Currently, the property and
surrounding development are zoned
natural environment, community
facility and residential, and
developing it would require
significant financial investment, as
well as a decision regarding the A2A
Project near the recently -constructed
Maitland River Elementary School.
The Hutton Heights development,
according to the report, would
require $1.5 million in service
construction costs to run water
services and build a sanitary sewer
pump to connect the development to
Wingham's existing water and sewer
infrastructure. With that kind of
servicing, 130 properties could be
created on the 38 acres North Huron
owns.
Council, however, wasn't ready to
commit to that with the A2A project
outstanding.
The A2A development, as council
members pointed out, hasn't seen
any change since the developers
requested an extension on their plan
of subdivision. The progress of the
subdivision, which includes 454
potential properties, could make
development of Hutton Heights
unnecessary. However, as council
members pointed out, the A2A
development isn't a sure thing.
"I've never seen any progress from
the A2A project," Councillor Trevor
Seip said. "We've only heard about
delays and extensions."
Bruce Potter, Engineer from B.M.
Ross who consulted on the report to
provide pricing for servicing Hutton
Heights, agreed with Seip, saying
that he's heard the developers there
want to proceed, but has seen little
action.
Seip said that, by proceeding with
an investigation into Hutton Heights,
it may convince the developers
behind A2A to start working on the
project.
"We need this development," he
said. "Ratepayers would like to see
it. We need to seriously consider a
harder discussion with the A2A
developer as well as a conversation
about Hutton Heights to bring both
issues to the table and see who can
get the project done first."
Weber pointed out that the A2A
development currently has less than
two years to begin the first phase of
the project. Chief Administrative
Officer Dwayne Evans said it may be
worthwhile to advise the developers
when they have one year left if there
hasn't been any action on the project.
No action was recommended as a
result of the discussion, however,
council did receive the presentation
to include in future discussions as
the municipality's Official Plan is set
to be reviewed in 2019.
the drain who are in favour of the
project.
Mayor Paul Gowing said other
drainage issues had come to light
when council spoke to the engineer,
though he didn't elaborate.
Councillor Sharen Zinn said the
engineers had presented the project
as one that couldn't be completed
with a clean-out.
Phelan responded by saying that
council was siding with the engineer
instead of the ratepayers. He then
told council that he and Huether
would be pursuing arbitration for the
issue.
Gowing said the landowners could
do that, but warned them that the
costs of a tribunal could reach
$50,000 that would be put against
the involved landowners in the event
of a lost appeal.
Council carried a motion to
proceed with the project.
`Clang, clang, rattle-bing-bang'
McGregor and Friends and the Foundation for Education
Perth Huron are producing A Bunch of Munsch this week
in Blyth. Above, Curran Forster takes on the title role in
Mortimer, one of the stories brought to life. (Denny Scott photo)
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