Council puts hold on Balm Beach parking plan, McMahon Woods development

By Elsie  MacLaren AWARE Tiny June 3 2010

Many members of the public were at this meeting. 

There were two presentations. The first was by Bill French on “Sustainable solutions,” and how his company could help the township with solutions to benefit the people, the environment and future building and development.

The second presentation was by Jim Wright of “Greenrite Technology Inc.” 

They have their technology in many locations, including Disney World, NASA, and Whistler BC for the Winter Olympics .

It appears that the company would be interested in purchasing a 3 to 10 acre parcel and building a”Biodryer” which reduces organic waste to about 25% of it’s original amount. This would be at no cost to the municipality and they would make their money on tippage fees.  

alm Beach parking

Much discussion surrounded the issue of paid parking at Balm Beach.  This was to be put into effect immediately if passed along with banning parking on Balm Beach Road. There was a lot of opposition to these possibilities. Deputy Mayor George Lawrence suggested that there be parking along one side of Balm Beach Road rather than eliminating [parking altogether there, but “Only for Tiny residents with permits.”

Mayor Ray Millar questioned why it had to be done so quickly. A public information night will be held June 18th and another vote will  be taken on June 26th. Evidently one can only have their say by going through a Beach  Association, so it appears the general public will not have much input on this important issue.

McMahon Woods

Another important issue was the “McMahon Woods development”. Again members of the public have many questions as to why this should go ahead when there are still environmental concerns that need to be addressed. It appeared that staff, Ray Millar, and  Councillor Gibb Wishart wanted the plan to go forward, but Councillors Andre Claire, Nigel Warren and George Lawrence were not in favour because of studies etc that still have to be done, and the number of lots seems to vary, between 20 and 51 lots.

At one point Gibb Wishart interrupted Nigel Warren when he was speaking about his reasons for rejecting this and accused Nigel and George Lawrence of working for specific groups in the township. Both men vigorously rejected the accusation and cross words were parried.

In the evening, the vote was in favour of delaying the paid parking issue till after the public information session, and the go ahead for development of McMahon Woods was voted down.