Oro-Medonte intent on conservation authority levy reduction, hires consultant

 Agnew to attend NVCA board meeting next Friday, urging rejection of requested refund

Clarification: the headline on the article has been changed 

By Kate Harries AWARE Simcoe October 21 2011 

Controversy is building about the proposed Memorandum of Understanding that would result in a reduction of $29,000 in the annual levy Oro-Medonte pays the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority.

In an interview with Orillia Today Mayor Harry Hughes claims that Oro-Medonte has been overpaying the NVCA $30,000 a year for a decade because of a duplication of services provided by the Severn Sound Environmental Association.

This is preposterous.

Oro-Medonte only decided to extend the NVCA boundary to include the SSEA area in 2003, on the advice of a consultant council retained to examine the best option for environmental protection and consistent planning and regulatory enforcement.  

The SSEA charged Oro-Medonte $29,500 in 2011, and that’s the amount the township wants taken off its NVCA levy.

The true picture? The SSEA’s budget for work in Oro-Medonte increased 24 per cent in 2011, from $23,800 in 2010.  And Oro-Medonte council is spending $32,000 on consultant Knox Henry, whom it has hired to lobby the NVCA to approve the MOU and the levy reduction.

AWARE Simcoe board member Sandy Agnew will be making a presentation on the MOU to the NVCA board on Friday October 28. The meeting, which starts at 9 a.m at the  John L. Jose Learning Centre, Tiffin Conservation Centre, Utopia, is open to the public.  

Please plan to attend to listen to the discussion and learn how your tax dollars are being spent. The NVCA is soliciting public comment on the MOU, in writing, by noon October 27.