by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — The current Whitewater Region council is hoping to better understand the Renfrew County Official Plan, as well as Amendment #11, and what those documents it mean to the municipality.
At the March 2 planning committee, Chairman Councillor Chris Olmstead noted there is a 115-page document in the committee package regarding the Official Plan and Amendment #11.
By meeting’s end, the committee agreed they would each review the document and any questions they may have would be sent to deputy-clerk Hope Dillabough who could then forward them to the county and municipal planners for review prior to them attending a meeting.
Reviewing the package, Coun. Olmstead said there is a letter from JP2G consultants responding to a number of questions council had at the last review meeting. There is also a letter from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to the county planner and “all sorts of stuff in the package” including 10 different documents and a bylaw to adopt Amendment #11.
The idea for this meeting was to discuss concerns and questions council members had about the document, he said.
“There are no resolutions to pass, this is simply another phase of trying to understand the OP and Amendment 11,” he said.
Silence fell in the room, and then Reeve Terry Millar spoke up.
“Someone’s gotta say something about this, it’s pretty important, isn’t it?” he questioned.
He recalled an all-candidates meeting in Westmeath about 15 months ago. A question was asked about the Renfrew County Official Plan and Amendment #11 and he had to admit he knew nothing about it.
“The very next morning, I came into this office, and I asked for a copy of Amendment 11,” Reeve Millar said. “I’ve been reading it, and reading it and reading it, for a year, and I’ve been asking questions of everybody for a year.
“What I’ve learned is not anything about Amendment 11 and the official plan, but the need for more training to this council in regards to how we interpret and administer …
“My personal belief is that a lot has changed in 10 years since its inception,” Reeve Millar continued. “It’s linked to water quality in Muskrat Lake by way of the watershed council. I have issues with the watershed council and the geography that it takes in now.”
He noted not only does the watershed council cover Muskrat Lake, it also includes the Indian River watershed.
Reeve Millar suggested there be special meetings to deal with this one issue and that a committee be struck, made up of council and community members, like there had been previously. There are qualified people within the community who would be willing to sit on a committee, review the documentation and re-sell this document back to council before it makes a decision, he explained.
“This is very, very serious to our future I think,” he said. “I think there are a lot of hidden meanings in signing something like this. I think there’s a bunch of carrots offered to do it but keep in mind those carrots were stolen from us long ago and they’re not giving them all back.”
Councillor Charlene Jackson was hopeful planners Charles Cheesman and Brian Whitehead would have been at the meeting to answer questions council members had.
“I simply say that without them here, and without them being able to answer the questions, we might as well put it over to another day when they are available because I think there are a number of people who have questions,” she said.
Mayor Hal Johnson agreed with the reeve, that more education is required by this council and for that to happen, Mr. Cheesman and Mr. Whitehead should have been at the meeting. He has also requested that staff from provincial offices involved with this document attend a meeting so they can answer questions as well.
“I would think maybe we shouldn’t put this ahead through, we need to think more about it,” he said. “I personally, and as Reeve Millar has said to me many times, this plan has a lot of really good things, but it has some things we need to change. And so, being in a hurry is not what we have to be. Cautious is what we have to be.”
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin said council needs to know what this document contains, which happens through more education and getting answers to their questions. He thinks it may be wise to allow another company to review the document and come back with their ideas on the document.
“We want to make sure that we know exactly what (is in the document), because I’ve heard before that somebody slipped something by us, and I don’t want that to happen to this council,” he said.
Coun. McLaughlin said it’s important he know exactly what he’s agreeing to when he passes a bylaw accepting the amendment, so spending money to allow another consultant to review the document is fine with him.
“I think even if we have to spend more money to get another partner in on this, I want to make sure that when I raise my hand and be in favour, I know what I’m talking about and I understand it,” he said. “For me to read this right now, I don’t totally understand it and I don’t know if there’s someone around the table that does.
“There’s a lot of stuff in here and there’s a lot of hidden parts that need to be answered,” he said.
Reeve Millar is in agreement with Coun. McLaughlin about hiring an independent consultant. Council is currently paying people who are also representing the County, private enterprise and the Aboriginal groups, which have a say in the watershed council, he added. An outside assessment, regardless of cost, is required in order to move forward with this document, he said.
Coun. Olmstead said while an outside assessment is required, he believes if this was a test or exam, it’s the one each council member needs to pass.
“This is the single biggest decision that this council will make in its four-year term,” he said. “The implications of this Official Plan, Amendment 11, will set the course for the next 50 to 100 years in our community.
“I really think while we do get some advice from outside, legal counsel and groups, I think it’s incumbent upon each one of us to understand as much as we can about this OP and Amendment 11 as well,” Coun. Olmstead stressed.
Coun. McLaughlin said prior to hiring a third party to review the document, he feels Mr. Cheesman and Mr. Whitehead need to answer the questions of council.
“If we still feel we need to get a third party in, then at that point, we would,” he said.
Mayor Johnson agreed with that idea.
“I do agree, we better go back to our people first to clarify,” he said. “What I’m reviewing right here, and I read it over and over and over, we’re getting some really great things in this, we just have to verify that they are great and then we’ve got to go forward.”
Coun. Jackson agreed time is required to get answers, but before hiring someone to review it, she wants to know the cost.
“If we’re not satisfied with some of the answers, or we want clarification, then perhaps bring somebody in who can answer those questions for us,” he said.
Coun. Olmstead said it’s important what council is interpreting is what the ministries are interpreting.
Reeve Millar said he wants a committee formed now.
“How would I go about doing that and will you all support it so we can start having other people, other locals, working on this and presenting it?” he questioned. This committee of “smart people” could then coach the committee, he added.
Coun. Jackson said once questions are answered, and a committee is required to provide more help, she would be hopeful the people would be from throughout the municipality. Councillor Cathy Regier agreed.
The previous committee was made up of people from just one area of the municipality, Coun. Jackson said. This Official Plan affects the whole municipality, not just a portion of it, she stressed.
Coun. Olmstead suggested a committee review the document, if required, and then hiring a consultant if there are still some unanswered questions.
Coun. Jackson questioned why the previous ad hoc committee was disbanded.
She noted a lot of money has been spent on this specific project and she doesn’t want to see the process delayed more than it has to be.
“It’s taken 10 years in the making to get to this point and I don’t want it to take 10 years again,” Coun. Jackson said.
The people who have questions can ask council for answers or go directly to Mr. Whitehead or Mr. Cheesman, she said.
“I don’t want to re-write the whole Official Plan again,” she stressed. “I hesitate to go to a committee, because I don’t want to go through it line by line by line.
“We’ve identified a number of issues and I would encourage everybody to read it and understand it and ask those people who sat on the committee before the questions, so you better educate yourself,” Coun. Jackson said.
She has asked a planner she knows to clarify some things in the Official Plan, and she suggested other council members may want to do that.
Mayor Johnson said a public meeting should also be held, similar to an open house, so people could talk to council and the consultants one-to-one. Maps could be provided to give a better explanation, he added. This would provide an opportunity for people to ask questions council might not even think of, he said.
“We should be able to, if we do our homework correctly, explain the different things that have been proposed and how they will affect (the municipality) and we also need to be closer to the official Renfrew County Plan before we get to that point,” he said. “We will have to know how this all correlates with everything else. We need to go through Step One straight through to Step 10.”
Coun. Olmstead suggested council members review the documents and forward any questions they have to Deputy-Clerk Hope Dillabough, who can then forward them to Mr. Cheesman and Mr. Whitehead. This will allow them opportunity to review the questions prior to attending a meeting.
