County to Barrie: let’s start fresh

Laurie Watt Barrie Advance
Simcoe County’s municipalities want to start afresh with Barrie.
In a special meeting Thursday morning, the region’s mayors and deputy mayors passed two resolutions – one that puts the Barrie-Innisfil boundary dispute in the past, another that clarifies the role they want the county to play in coordinating services.
For the past two years, relations between the county and Barrie have been strained. This spring, tensions escalated as Innisfil’s Fair Growth campaign urged Ontario to not resolve the long-standing boundary dispute. On June 4, the province intervened, and days later, Simcoe County Warden Tony Guergis blasted the province for rewarding Barrie for playing backroom political games.
Bad blood continued to flow as recently as the Nov. 24 county council meeting, when some mayors and deputy mayors lambasted a committee that had the county’s three growth nodes – Bradford, Alliston and Collingwood – meeting with Barrie and Orillia.
Some called the committee “divisive.”
An emotional e-mail chain went so far as to call the growth node cooperation “reprehensible.”
Orillia Mayor Ron Stevens said the growth nodes committee – which consists of Orillia, Barrie, New Tecumseth, Collingwood and Bradford West Gwillimbury – isn’t the divisive clique some county councillors have made it to be.
“The five growth nodes are in a position to help, providing we get help (from the province),” Stevens said.
“It’s intended to create a situation so we can help other municipalities with infrastructure needs (such as water and wastewater) without the added expense. The County of Simcoe has not been at the table – the reason why, I don’t know.”
Stevens added he expected the county to attend the next meeting, which will be held in Orillia.
“We are not here to stab Simcoe County in the back. We’re helping to make the overall process work.”
Collingwood Mayor Chris Carrier added the committee decided to get together, to discuss if they could work together to help smaller municipalities with water and other services, to protect the environment and implement the province’s directives.
“Collingwood has a history of trying to provide regional solutions. We have an airport, a rail line, a water paper line. We manage other people’s water and wastewater, and not for a profit,” he said. “Regional services may include other options – but all of us should be included in those discussions.”
Tiny Township Mayor Peggy Breckenridge blamed Ontario for dividing and conquering the county.
“It’s the province that pitted us against each other. It’s the province that pitted us against the City of Barrie,” she said, due to the meager growth numbers the province allocated the area.
She added the province also continues to disappoint small, rural municipalities by not providing direction on how to handle “septage” – the product that is pumped from septic systems.
“The province has promises us for six years they’d come up with new regulations for this. Our haulers are getting two-year permits and people are dumping on the municipality.  It’s falling through the cracks.”
As part of its new effort to work together with Barrie, Orillia and the small growth centres, Simcoe County will take a lead role in reviewing water and wastewater systems and examine where capacity remains – and how to best provide services.