February 4, 2005

 

We are:
A community of concerned citizens, part of a province-wide movement, who are dealing with the use of public provincial resources in order to protect our quality of life and nurture sustainable growth in our community and in the Province. The Association did itself proud at the January 18 Meeting and we have been remiss in not thanking you sooner. Some 70 - odd members attended. Next time we are looking for some even ones.

 

Help the Association:
Dig into the latest Internet sources of interest.
The more we snoop, the stronger we become:

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment: cape.ca

Dealing With The OMB:ontarionature.org/onnature/feature_2.html
ontarionature.org/enviroandcons/issues/local_issues.html
ontarionature.org/enviroandcons/issues/omb.html

Water Questions: waterkeeper.ca

Pit Noise and Rehabilitation: gravelwatch.org

Provincial Policy Statement: planningreform.ca

Environmental Commissioner Ontario: eco.on.ca

Pembina Institute/Aggregate Recycling: pembina.org

greenontario.org

Ontario Greenbelt Alliance: greenbelt.ca

Ontario Environment Network: oen.ca

A Success Story: melancthon.net/OutcomeStradaAggregateIssue.html

 

We are working on how best to use the membership's expertise, interest, and willingness to serve the Association and the community.

Time and energy to spare?
Ask the BOD about our Chore List.

All offers of assistance will be appreciated.
Carol, Chuck, Faithe, Margaret, Bob, Mark

 

HELP WANTED:
Alnwick/Haldimand Heritage Day is Saturday, February 26, Grafton Town Hall. V V will have a display there and we need someone to staff the display. 1:00pm to 4:00pm, more or less. Please let Chuck know.

 

Making The News:

Let those who wreck the road pay for it, councillors demand: Cobourg Star, Jan 27:
"gravel operations that send out heavily loaded trucks (should) bear more of the burden .....", "enforce seasonal half-load limits on all vehicles using county roads."

Voices raised over possible haul route: Northumberland Today:
"to draw aggregate from the proposed gravel pit using Shelter Valley Road .....", "if SVA takes the planning issue to the OMB, Valley Voices will support the municipality financially."

Reduce demand for aggregates:
"to continue to let it (the APAO) to mine aggregate wherever it wants, apparently regardless of the environmental, economic and social costs ..... is simply unsustainable ....". Pembina Institute letter to Toronto Star.

 

Humour:

When told by SVA that gravel couldn't be delivered in the evening for use the next morning but had to be delivered around 6:00am, Linda Taggart commented, "Like, it's not as if gravel has a best-before date."

Coming Events and Meetings:

We are planning a delegation to Council, the AGM in April, and an organized, concerted letter-writing campaign running until March/April.

 

January 18 Planning Meeting:
As a result of this meeting .....

WE THINK WE UNDERSTAND THESE POINTS:

1. If a permit to excavate is granted, the primary lobby is now SVA and the aggregate industry. The MNR and/or MOE are in control. Whether they can be counted on to monitor pit operations, site plan changes, and effects on the water table is open to question.

2. SVA/Council would rather not deal with concerns about water tables. They wish the question of water would go away.

 

WE STILL AREN'T CONTENT WITH THESE POINTS:

1. The conditions upon which Turk Rd West and Shelter Valley Rd would be used as haul routes.

2. A pit operator can change any aspect of its operation without having to go through an entire public re-application process/EA again. There are no clear and absolute legal requirements that changes must be negotiated in public and not carried on in camera by SVA/MNR.

3. Can anything be done to prevent a request for water for a wash-site to be snuck in after a pit is opened? Where are there strict guidelines on water extractions?

4. SVA didn't say what other dust suppressants it would use. Is CaCl2 all that safe?

5. Aggregate is a public, non-renewable resource. Extraction of aggregate should only occur when the location does not conflict with environment, when a pit does not interfere with quality of life, and when the need for extraction has been demonstrated publicly and then approved in accordance with democratic principles. Under no circumstances should a private company be allowed to dictate the location, timeframe, hours of operation (5:30am on a private road?), transportation route, or any other aspect of operations in relation to resource extraction.

6. Must every Township have its own private reserve of aggregate? If Townships can share emergency services, can they share aggregate? Are there Provincial regulations preventing municipalities from doing so?

7. How does an operator lose a permit? How bad does bad have to be? MNR/MOE criteria?

8. Council never should have allowed those homes to be built alongside a future pit site. What were the residents applying for a building permit told about the possibility of a pit operation? When were they told? This will be a major issue if we hit the OMB. The issue of incompatibility.

9. Does the ARA over-rule a Holding (H) designation?

10. re Municipal Protection - to empower a citizen's association to play a Council-approved role in reviewing the zoning application and designing the restrictions there-in.

 

Kudos and Thanks:

With thanks to Gord James for his submissions on the topic of Water, to Kathie for her website, to Doug for his excellent newsletters, to Terry for volunteering to do Internet searches, and to the volunteers who work the phones and distribute the flyers.

 

We don't think Council quite understands our resolve.

 

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