• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

Don’t scrap NVCA, councillors say

By
In Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority
Oct 8th, 2009
0 Comments
1435 Views

By Laurie Watt Innisfil Journal
Disagreements over development should be water under the bridge – and municipal officials shouldn’t move to dissolve the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, say two Innisfil councillors.Both current NVCA rep Bill Van Berkel and former rep Lynn Dollin – who is now the regional sourcewater protection committee chairperson – agree conservation authorities play a key role in protecting the environment as they assess how development might affect not just lands nearby, but lands downstream.
Bad blood between Essa Township and the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority has been flowing as Essa Mayor Dave Guergis lobbies other municipal leaders to get rid of the conservation authority. This week, he made his case in New Tecumseth.
“I think it’s a bad idea for anyone to consider disbanding the conservation authority. There are always people who think they can do it better,” Van Berkel said. “We should sit down and work it out. I think (Guergis’ plan) is extreme.”
Conservation authorities have legislated powers and the Ontario Municipal Board respects when they comment on the effects of development proposals, Van Berkel added.
But Guergis’ frustration has been growing. At Simcoe County Council, he often comments about how conservation authority red tape ties up planning proposals in Essa.
The latest Essa-NVCA issue includes a dispute over land his wife owns on Highway 90 in Angus, near a No Frills store. Leesa Turnbull-Guergis paid to remove trees to clear the way for development, originally for a Canadian Tire store. That deal has since expired.
Guergis says his push to remove the authority’s powers has nothing to do with the delays the NVCA had caused for his wife’s project. The dissolution motion is based on cost and the inefficiency with which the NVCA works to better the watershed, Guergis said.
Another sore point relates to the former Utopia Conservation Area and Mill, which Essa leased and pledged to restore. The township, however, did not, and during its tenancy, there was an oil spill into the creek. The project is now in the hands of a community group.
Ontario’s conservation authorities were created shortly after Hurricane Hazel devastated southern Ontario in 1954. They were put in place to monitor to create floodplain protection in case of major storms.
His council colleague, Dollin, says now is not the time to reduce environmental standards.
“The growth pressures we’re going to be faced with over the next few years will be so intense. We need them to make sure the environment – all of it – is protected. The whole mission of a conservation authority is to protect persons and property,” said the former board member of both the NVCA and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.
“You have to look upstream and downstream. A municipality may not look beyond its borders. There has to be a partnership. You have to work together. Anyone who doesn’t look at the big picture won’t be doing the best for their residents.”

Leave a Reply

Commenters must post under real names. AWARE Simcoe reserves the right to edit or not publish comments. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *