New Tec agrees to wait for ‘strategy’ report before moving on airport fill operation
New Tecumseth Free Press Online
A week removed from a unanimous decision to issue the Tottenham airport property owner an ultimatum to conduct bore hole tests for contaminated soil at the fill import operation underway as part of its runway expansion, councillors last night agreed to wait for a Town staff and solicitor draft listing options to finesse the same means to an end.
Last Monday night, Michael Fleischmann, a Toronto based lawyer representing the residents of Tecumseth Estates who neighbour the airport and have opposed the fill operation since it started about three years ago, reminded councillors that the “legal status is the airport has no permit, its applied for no permit, it has done no studies required to obtain a permit, and its made no commitments required to obtain a permit. What it does have is permission from the council dating back to a resolution April 16, 2012.” Mr. Fleischmann suggested the Town could withdraw that permission unless the operator agreed to the bore hole testing.
An additional information memorandum to council, followed up last night by Town solicitor Jay Feehely, took a more cautious approach, suggesting there are no provisions in place to force the owner to conduct the tests.
“Right now we don’t have any agreement. We don’t have any specific authority to demand bore hole tests,” said Mr. Feehely. “It would be a question of whether or not we can make that demand, or amend the bylaw to allow for that, then whether or not it’s going to be a contest. I know from my review of what they have done, they have certainly done extensive soil testing every year, the issue is whether or not we’re satisfied that they’re doing it properly.”
“Under the 2010 bylaw there is a provision that allows for the Chief Building Official to require for contaminate testing, that’s part of the reason we want to have some time to investigate how we can go about doing this,” he said, “because at the end of the day, I would also caution we are in a unique situation. The protocol here was developed between the developer and the MOE and throughout, the MOE has actively attended at this site, if it’s a question of us acting as a second set of eyes to look at what’s happened, there is a provision that continues to apply to this site and we can use that. But we need to spend some time to see how best we can do it. I think just sending us in and asking to do bore holes is not the right way to do it. It’s to find out how can we find out whether or not there’s contamination, and we do have authority to do that.
Deputy mayor Jamie Smith said the issue had “festered long enough.”
“It was apparent during the recent election, and it’s apparent now, there’s a fairly high level of distrust of what the Town has done on this, particularly among the citizens of the south, and specifically the citizens of Tecumseth Pine,” Mr. Smith said. “So my object here is, either to satisfy the people in that part of the community that we have looked at this and taken a serious look and satisfied ourselves or satisfied experts that in fact there is no contamination being added to the soil and things are being done properly, because I don’t think they believe for one minute that’s the case.”
New Tecumseth CAO Brendan Holly said, “That was the intent when we wrote the additional information. We would bring back a strategy that outlines the options of achieving what you’re asking for, we want to ensure there are no contaminants.”
New Tecumseth creating action plan for Tottenham aerodrome
New Tecumseth has committed to creating an action plan to address the environmental concerns with the ongoing fill activity at the Tottenham aerodrome.
Monday, council authorized town staff to create a strategy and implementation plan, changing a decision made at last week’s committee of the whole meeting to request the aerodrome owner John Bailey perform additional soil testing at the property on Highway 9, east of Tottenham Road.
For the strategy plan, the town will consider various options, including having additional soil testing performed to confirm the quality of soil at the site.
Since the work predates the town’s updated fill bylaw passed in 2012, the town may also be able to exercise more control over the site by forcing the owner to apply for a fill permit under the 2010 bylaw.
Currently, the work is being performed at the property without a site plan agreement with the municipality.
The town has struggled with how to regulate the fill operation that started three years ago, and the matter is complicated because aerodromes are a federal jurisdiction.
Deputy Mayor Jamie Smith said the town needs to take swift action on the issue, noting how many residents living in the municipality’s south end have lost trust in council to handle the matter.
“What I would like to see happen is a plan be developed to help us, and council, satisfy ourselves and satisfy those who are living in the area, that everything is being done to protect their interests, and I don’t think at the present time those people do believe that,” he said.
Before voting on the issue, council received a deputation from Eric Hood, an engineer who conducted soil sampling for a fill activity site in the Township of Scugog.
Hood believes the Ministry of Environment’s best management practices for excess soil “makes it really clear” that municipalities are the regulator of construction fill sites.
He also told council that additional soil testing at the site could cost between $10,000 to $40,000.
While a number of councillors are pushing to have the aerodrome owner cover these costs, the town’s solicitor Jay Feehely said getting him to pick up the tab may not be straightforward, noting how the town’s current bylaw doesn’t have the proper provisions in place.
Feehely said the aerodrome owner would likely decline the request since they are already performing tests at the site.
“They have certainly done extensive soil testing every year, they do it on a regular basis, the issue is whether or not we are satisfied they are doing it properly,” he said.
Coun. Shira Harrison McIntyre, whose ward contains the aerodrome, noted how other municipalities such as Scugog and Burlington have had success dealing with similar fill operations.
“I feel we have a responsibility to act without delay to ensure that the town demonstrates its due diligence for the benefit of local residents,” she said.
New Tecumseth CAO Brendan Holly said another option the town could consider is asking the property owner to submit its own soil results to the town instead of paying for more testing.
“There are different options to achieve the end result of protecting our residents,” he said.
The strategy plan is expected to be back to council for review at the first committee of the whole meeting in July.
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