Amalgamation is ruled out in urban node discussions

By DOUGLAS GLYNN Midland Free Press January 26 2011
PENETANGUISHENE -The people trying to figure out what a Midland-Penetanguishene joint urban node will look like have ruled out amalgamation.
“Everything’s on the table” -according to a consensus reached by eight focus groups that discussed the towns’ new joint status -“except amalgamation.”

The “A” word was quickly dropped from the brainstorming discussions in favour of non-emotional issues, such as the possibility of combining police, fire, public works, parks and recreation services. Discussions also included ways to maximize efficiency and reduce waste.
To kick things off the towns have agreed to explore sharing transportation services and to hold joint festivals.
The second of three public meetings to further explore “what becoming a joint urban node will mean” is being held Feb. 17 at the Midland Public Library.
Midland and Penetanguishene decided to jointly seek status as an urban node after the province in 2009 designated five communities as urban growth nodes in Simcoe County. Both municipalities were left off the list.
In their request to the province, they indicated they would work together to explore land use planning, infrastructure charges, economic development, and areas where they might share services.
In a proposed amendment to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe released by the province in October, the two towns were added as a joint urban node.
While the amendment acknowl-edged the towns’ “status,” the province did not provide any directions on how a joint urban node is supposed to work. Since there are no other joint urban nodes in Ontario, the councils of both towns have launched the public meetings to allow people to participate in its creation.
Midland Mayor Gordon McKay and Penetanguishene Mayor Gerry Marshall expect discussions will be ongoing during the coming months and years.”We’re not 100 per cent sure what it will look like,” says Marshall. “It’s got rough edges and needs to be polished and brought to a final format.
McKay describes the meetings as a forward looking exercise that will evolve over the coming years.
“The province has put us on notice (by granting the towns’ request for joint urban node status) that all sorts of people are going to want to live in Simcoe County over the next 20 years. A good chunk of them -and the jobs associated with them -are going to come to the Midland- Penetanguishene area.
“We need the public’s input,” he added, “because its going to profoundly shape the future of our municipalities over the next 20 years. So, let’s start talking about this right now so we are all part of the solution.