Election 2014 Endorsements

In the next few days, you should receive a mail ballot for the October 27th Municipal election for our local Council and Mayor. These are our recommendations put together by private citizens along with the North Pigeon Lake Ratepayers.

Download Recommendations – Municipality of Trent Lakes Election 2014

This election is the most significant in our township history, we urge you to carefully consider exercising your franchise. Many of us believe we have not had truly representative and transparent civic leadership and should the attitude of “we cannot do anything about developmental pressures on our township” continues, we could become the aggregate and graphite capital of Ontario. Going forward we need a mayor and council dedicated to taking ownership of their duty to be our voice and resistance to encroachment on our way of life. Should our council and mayor meekly kowtow to big business when other municipalities resist we truly will be pillaged. Resistance is not futile, it just makes sense.
The NPLRA questioned the candidates on several continuing issues including but not limited to: OPP policing; Trent Severn Waterway; flooding in watershed area; handicapped parking. Also asked was: would the candidate be in favour of pushing for the return of committees to obtain citizen input. During the interviews we were looking for signs of commitment, forthrightness as well as thinking outside the usual “no we cannot do that” attitude.
We are anxiously awaiting the OMB Chair’s decision on the appeal of the two decisions made by the current municipal council, a rezoning bylaw and an amendment to the Township Official Plan to allow a mega quarry adjacent to an established neighbourhood, the very sensitive Nogies Creek and the historic fish sanctuary. If allowed, according to evidence adduced from the proponent, Dewdney Mountain, this quarry at full capacity will be three times as large as all the other quarries in the municipality put together! This could put as many as 44,000 additional trucks on local roads annually. The impact on EVERYONE is obvious.
Worse, there are several other quarry applications ostensibly awaiting this OMB decision and the next Trent Lakes Council. Also waiting in the wings is the Valterra Bobcaygeon Project proposal, which could end up as one of the largest graphite mines in the world with a graphite seam that extends 90 square kilometers from Bass Lake, through Crystal Lake to Salerno Creek in our township.

The implications of such an open pit mine are potentially devastating to those who live, work and play in this Township.

Both the above developments have galvanized the citizenry of Trent Lakes into an action seeking group of property owners.
Nothing in our history comes close to the threat nor the action needed to control such threats.
We are of the opinion that the current council members, with one exception, were one or all of the following:

• complicit in the mega quarry proposal,
• totally overwhelmed and uninformed, or they
• simply “rolled over” in face of a developer threat to appeal to the OMB. Capitulating at only one set of provincial policies favouring aggregate development versus seeking alternatives favouring local citizens.

With a view to the future, a group of people from Trent Lakes who were active in the Citizens For Responsible Aggregate Development (CFRAD) campaign have been meeting and interviewing candidates for Council and would like you to consider our findings on the following attachment when casting your ballot.
Respectfully, The North Pigeon Lake Ratepayers’ Association in conjunction with a group of concerned citizens from across our municipality.

OUR COMMENTS & ENDORSEMENTS

MAYOR
BEV MATTHEWS: WE ENDORSE BEV MATTHEWS FOR MAYOR
A twenty year veteran of Council, is also running for Mayor and was the lone vote in Council against the zoning change to accommodate a mega quarry. She indicated that “there are times when citizens need to be listened to and when Council needs to make a stand”. She said forcing individuals to appeal to the OMB on behalf of all citizens means the Township Council got a “free ride”. The consequences for all the future applications are obvious. If this state of affairs is allowed to continue, the burden of future appeals will be borne by individuals or else there will be no appeals, and all future applications will be rubber stamped. The damage to our environment, our roads, and our homes must be the concern of all.

Janet Clarkson, is the current Mayor.
She is totally unapologetic for her stance in the bylaw and Official Plan amendments favouring the mega quarry, arguing that because of provincial policies, Council had no choice but to go along. Fighting aggregate appeals at the OMB would be a waste of taxpayers’ money. So it was left to private citizens to hire lawyers and expert witnesses to counter the application.
Ostensibly opposing the project, she is quoted in the Peterborough Examiner of January 27, 2013 as saying:
“It’s way better if it goes on their dollar than on ours”
http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/2013/01/17/no-choice-but-to-approve-quarry-mayor
The fact that Council approved the application and then appeared at the OMB to be an additional advocate for the project undermined the citizen appellants whose legal bills are likely to top $100,000.00. To fully appreciate the current mayor’s absence of logic, we urge you to see the full Peterborough Examiner article.


DEPUTY MAYOR

RICK AUBE: WE ENDORSE RICK AUBE FOR DEPUTY MAYOR
Rick has been a cottager in the area for more than 50 years and is now a full time resident. He says there are too many quarries already and will bring fresh ideas and an energetic work ethic to Council and pledges to work with the citizens to find solutions going forward. Rick worked in financial services in Toronto in his previous life, but is now self-employed out of his residence in the former Cavendish Township.

Peter Franzen has been on Council previously, both in Harvey-Galway-Cavendish and earlier on the Galway-Cavendish Council. He currently resides in the Harvey Ward at Pirates’ Glen. While he projects many good ideas, in our opinion, he carries with him considerable history from his previous tenure on Council that we are not comfortable with at this time.

Ron Windover is the incumbent Deputy Mayor, and like Ms. Clarkson, is an apologist for Council’s actions on the re-zoning mega quarry vote. The Deputy Mayor, like the Mayor, is a member of the Peterborough County Council (the next highest tier in local governance) and we feel Mr. Windover has not played any positive role in advancing the interests of the Township in defending liveability at our local or at County Council.

COUNCILLOR-AT-LARGE DICK PERSSON: ACCLAIMED. WE ENDORSE DICK PERSSON
Our committee interviewed Mr. Persson before nominations closed and we were impressed. We found him to be well-prepared, thoughtful and respectful for the views of others. He brought in a comprehensive program for our township, including a responsible program for economic development that does not compromise our environment, but will increase jobs and broaden our tax base. He will work to unite the disparate parts of our community from Buckhorn to Bobcaygeon from Pigeon Lake to Kinmount. He is the owner of the Canoe Company in Buckhorn and has served on the Board of the Canoe Museum in Peterborough and the Kawartha Highlands Park and is currently on the economic development committee of Trent Lakes. Our group was fully prepared to endorse Mr. Persson even before he was acclaimed as he brings much promise to Council.


GALWAY-CAVENDISH Ward

TERRY LAMBSHEAD: WE ENDORSE TERRY LAMBSHEAD FOR COUNCILLOR
Terry has lived in this area all of his life and is a respected businessman here. He has seen enough quarries outside his door and is passionate about retaining the quality of our environment. He also commits to citizen involvement in solving big questions facing the citizens of Trent Lakes.

Madeline Pearson was the incumbent member-at-large and is now running in the Galway-Cavendish Ward. Ms. Pearson who has lived and served on Council for many years voted for the Official Plan amendments and re-zoning allowing the mega quarry and from positions as expressed by her votes in Council and in all of the all-candidates meetings, there is increasing concerns about her ability to navigate through the increasingly complex matters before a five member Council. She has served her community well, but the very fate of our Township may hinge on the outcome of the October 27 election.

Richard Wackernagel: We were unable to interview this candidate in spite of several attempts to contact him and as he was not at all the all candidates meetings we could not form an opinion other than his lack of visibility.


HARVEY Ward: PETER RAYMOND: ACCLAIMED. WE ENDORSE PETER RAYMOND FOR COUNCILLOR
Peter is the other fresh face on Council. Mr. Raymond was also acclaimed. Our interviewing group saw Mr. Raymond as an interested participant at many of the OMB hearings and meetings of ratepayers. It was obvious during our pre-nomination interview with Mr. Raymond that he has come to share many of the citizens’ concerns about the role of the local Council going forward. Mr. Raymond will be an important part of the new Council as he pledges that he will be a voice for all the citizens of Trent Lakes.

This is a summary of our best collective thinking going forward.  These are our strong recommendations only. You are free to follow our recommendations or not, based on your own individual preferences.

"No choice but to approve quarry" : Mayor

This is taken from an article by Brendan Wedley of the Peterborough Examiner.


Municipalities can’t block the development of quarries, Galway-Cavendish and Harvey Mayor Janet Clarkson maintained Wednesday after township council gave planning approvals for a controversial new 432-acre quarry the day before.

The issue has galvanized the community with one meeting on the project drawing an estimated 500 people.

Even with council’s approval of official plan and zoning bylaw amendments Tuesday, there are more approvals needed before Dewdney Mountain Farms Ltd. can start its quarry on Ledge Rd. about 15 kilometres northwest of Buckhorn.

Galway-Cavendish and Harvey council will need to lift a hold that it put on the zoning change to give the township and developer time to negotiate over improvements to Ledge Rd. that it argues is needed to handle trucks carrying aggregate from the quarry. And the official plan amendment will be considered by Peterborough County council.

When the approvals are in place, the provincial government will consider whether to issue an operating licence for the proposed quarry.

With about 35 quarries in the township, the municipality’s roads are being battered by the trucks carrying aggregate from the pits, Clarkson said.

“The provincial government has said ‘there will be quarries,’” the mayor said. “Our roads are being destroyed, but at the end of the day our provincial government is pulling the strings.”

Clarkson voted in favour of the planning applications for the quarry, but she argues council decided it didn’t have a choice on the matter after it discussed the issue with a lawyer and its professional planners. “It looks like the municipalities are making these decisions. These decisions are being mandated by the province,” she insisted. And there are more applications being prepared by developers for other quarries in the township, Clarkson added. “We’ve got too many,” she said. “There’s many more on the way.”

Groups such as the North Pigeon Lake Ratepayers’ Association and Stop the Quarry have lobbied against the project, citing concerns such as traffic, noise from blasting and the need to protect water sources.

Dewdney Mountain Farms Ltd. had several studies done to support its applications, including hydrogeology, noise, blasting impact, traffic impact, archeological and natural environment reviews. Those studies were peer reviewed by other professionals.

Adri Eastman, who lives on Ledge Rd., remains concerned about the quarry possibly affecting her well water and a nearby fish sanctuary. "We tried to talk with (council). We tried to reason with them. We’ve been giving them information,” she said. “They did have the opportunity to turn it down if they wanted to.”Eastman shared that she and her husband built their house in 2010 on a quiet country road. “I’m less than two kilometres from the quarry,” she said. “I built on a dead-end road thinking that I wasn’t going to have any neighbors out in the middle of nowhere.” Eastman tried to block the project by appealing a severance application to the Ontario Municipal Board in November. The quasi-judicial body decided in favour of the severance application last month.

After the expense of the first Ontario Municipal Board appeal, Eastman’s not sure if she’ll appeal the most recent decisions on the project. The Stop the Quarry group is going to discuss the option and possible fundraising for an appeal.

Clarkson commented she’s sure the item is destined to go to the Ontario Municipal Board, whether was from the company appealing against council’s rejection of the applications or in the current scenario the residents appealing council’s approval of the applications.

“It’s way better if it goes on their dollars than on ours,” she said.

Local Council approves OP and rezoning

On Jan 15th 2013, Council gave the go ahead and granted Dewdney Mountain Farms the ok for rezoning and change to the OP. This all needs to be ok'd by Peterborough County before a license can be issued.

Modernization of Approvals?

This EBR posting states that "the MNR is going to streamline the permitting, licensing and approvals processes to help individuals and businesses access these services faster and more efficiently. The goal is to provide faster and improved services and to reduce the burden on individuals, businesses and government."

Translation: The MNR would like to fast track these developments before anyone knows what is going on. Making local government powerless to make decisions based on what is best for their communities. Get your comments in ASAP! Deadline in November 13th 2012.

Click HERE for the link. Get your comments in ASAP! Deadline in November 13th 2012

More projects brewing just outside of Bobcaygeon

We have recently learned about possible Graphite mining in the Bobcaygeon area. Valterra’s exploration was conducted in the vicinity of Bass Lake.

For more information please see the link Here.

This area is primarily known for its tourist industry, beautiful lakes and an ever expanding retirement destination. When do we say enough is enough? Leave the beautiful place we call home alone!

Thank you for all the support!

It was standing room only yesterday during the NPLRA delegation infront of council! Lets hope they heard us!

NPLRA

We are happy to announce that "Stop the Quarry" has joined forces with the North Pigeon Lake Ratepayers Association and formed a committee to take action and help shape policy decisions on the development and use of quarries in the North Pigeon Lake region.

Mid October NPLRA drafted and sent a letter to offering a potential solution to council. On November 6th 2012 the committee will be making a presentation to council in support of the letter that has been sent.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this meeting. Council meetings start at 1:00pm at the following address.

Township of Galway-Cavendish and Harvey
701 County Road 36
Bobcaygeon ON K0M 1A0

Aggregate Review on hold

Photo Credit: National Post

In the wake of Dalton McGuinty stepping down on Monday Oct 15th as the Premier of Ontario, the legislature has been prorogued until a new Premier is elected.

This basically means that anything that was happening legislatively is effectively dropped.

Click HERE to read the article in its entirety at Orangeville.com.

Updated images

Why is June 23rd so important?

Many people are asking why the June 23rd meeting is so important to attend? It is important for a few reasons. It will give you a chance to be more informed about what is going on, a better idea of the whole picture. This is the last chance to oppose at the municipal level. This proposal is destined to go to the OMB (Ontario Municipal Board) It is our job to convince council to force Mr. Ritchie to take it to the OMB (on his dime) and not the community. The more bodies that show up to this meeting, the clearer the message. If one does not show opposition at this level then they cannot oppose it once it gets to the OMB level. Please set aside 2 hours of your day next Saturday June 23rd at 10am and stand by your neighbor together we can Stop This Quarry!

Informational Meeting

Meeting Date officially changed due to poor weather forecast. Rain date is Sunday June 10th 11:30am

We have retained a Planner! He will be coming up Saturday June 9th. You are all invited to join us at 11:30 at 2024 Ledge Rd. Please bring your own lawn chairs. This will be a very important meeting regarding the up coming June 23rd Meeting at Caygeon Lanes. He will be offering us strategy regarding our next steps. Prior to the meeting we will be accompanying him to the site, through the haul route and to surrounding communities so he has a feel for the area and what we are up against.  We at this point have raised the funds to retain Mr. Rowe but this will only take us to the preliminary review stage. Fundraising will be a must and we are as always still accepting donations (there is a donation box at the Bobcaygeon Chamber of Commerce) any little bit helps, cash, check, loose change.

   As you have all seen the council has put notice in The Promoter and Kawartha Lakes this Week regarding the up coming meeting. We need as many people as possible to attend this meeting, council has to know that we are serious about this issue and have previously scoffed that only about 150 turned up against another proposed quarry. This doesn't just affect a small area, Bobcaygeon and surrounding areas will be greatly affected. Noise and dust travel, and the increase in truck traffic on the roads will be unbelievable.

   I am happy to announce we now have a website, although this website will be going thru some drastic design changes in the next week or so you can simply access it through the url www.stopthisquarry.com

Looking forward to seeing you all Saturday!

HERE IS A VIDEO CLIP FROM A PUBLIC MEETING HELD ON THE MAY LONG WEEKEND

A sense of community

   This area is made up of many small communities. I often ask myself why I chose to remain living in a small community? The answer is clear. We all have neighbors, growing up in a small I always considered myself fortunate to personally know my neighbors on a first name basis. Growing up in a small town I was taught to be friendly and respect my neighbors. I was taught to smile and wave when you meet them on the road, I was taught to offer them a helping hand when they are in need, I was also taught to respect their way of life whether I agreed with it or not. I have seen this time and time again in our small surrounding communities, when someone is having difficulty in their lives we gather as a community and rally around them in support. We go to Jack & Jills to support an upcoming wedding, we go to fundraisers to help families that have been caught off guard by an unexpected illness, we attend fundraisers to support a cause. We all do this, not because we HAVE to, but simply because it is the right thing to do, the neighborly thing to do.

   We are asking for your support, to rally together as a community and support your neighbors. We are the people you meet on the roads, the people who serve you at local businesses, just regular small town folk fighting to preserve the sense of community that we all enjoy. Please join us at the Public Meeting on June 23rd at 10:00am at Caygeon Lanes and support your neighbors!

Use extreme caution

Just a friendly warning if you are heading up Ledge Rd to see for yourself what is going on. Please drive with extreme caution. Both Ledge and Quarry Roads have recently seen a large amount of traffic of logging and mulch trucks up and down this road on a regular basis and do not want to see anyone get hurt. The road is very narrow in some spots and there are very poor sight lines on the road. Please be careful.

Short term benefits vs. long term impact

    Far to often the planning of land use is done using the short term impact approach. We need to take care when making decisions today, we need to consider how these decisions are going to affect future generations. We are more than ever more cautious of the way we do things, faced with a decision to make... Do we approve yet another quarry or do we say NO, enough quarries... for now. Lets maybe hold off on some new quarries until some of the thousands of quarries in operation in Ontario have reached their end. We understand the need for aggregates, but at what cost? First the trees are removed, this displaces animals from their natural habitats, then we start blasting away, making holes, consuming the surrounding water and what do we have left? A big hole in the ground, a concrete plant and silos sitting in the woods all boarded up because they have taken everything they can and have moved onto the next.

    We do more now than ever to protect what we have for future generations. We turn off lights to conserve energy, we compost and now more than ever before we recycle. We do ALL this for future generations.

    It is stated that "Government land use planning policies, as reflected in the Provincial Policy Statement, 2005 (PPS), give a high priority to aggregate operations". This is a social issue, not once did we hear about a study on the social impact that this is going to have. Many of us grew up here, others moved here to get away from the noise, pollution and fast pace that the cities suffer from. It is time that the government starts giving some priority to the people that live and/or vacation around these operations.

    We need to make decisions based on long term sustainability of the proposed land and all that surrounds it vs the short term benefits. 

    Join us at the Public Meeting on June 23rd to have your voice heard! We look forward to seeing you all there!

Video

Quarry Alley

Some of you have been wondering why we refer to Hwy 36 between Bobcaygeon and Buckhorn "Quarry Alley" The picture below should demonstrate why! Not hard to find on a map what is quarry. Upon closer look at this map we figure the image is about 4-5 years old! Wonder what it looks like now? Check back and we will post it when we get it!

Note: NONE of these quarries operate under "unlimited tonnage"

What wildlife?

So they claim that the quarry will have no "significant" impact on the environment and wildlife... give your head a shake, are we reading the same diagrams?

Taken from Page 25 of the "Planning Justification Report". We kindly magnified the Legend for you!

View the entire report HERE

Celebrate Earth Day in Bobcaygeon

Join us in Celebrating Earth Day in Bobcaygeon at Kawartha Settlers Village on Sunday April 22 2012 from 1:00pm-5:00pm. For more information click HERE to read the article and get all the details from MyKawartha.com. Looking forward to seeing all of you there!

Kids have voices too!

This is a copy of a poster made by a local 10 year old who would like to declare "Kids have voices too!" The youngster who made this poster is helping inform children about how this will affect them and their future in the area. Keep up the good work! Kids DO have a voice too!

Tax increases

Ok, here is for all of you that have the "it doesn't affect me" attitude. Taxes, we all pay them! No matter where you live, you pay taxes. A portion of your taxes go towards road maintenance. How is your Township, Municipality or City going to come up with the extra cost for road repairs when the traffic of trucks are increased on your highways. Your answer = tax increases! I should mention that in a few short years to come the by-pass in Bobcaygeon along with the bridge over Little Bob are going to need significant repairs if not a complete replacement. Who is going to pay that bill? Not the Quarry! The City of Kawartha Lakes don't even at this moment have a haul agreement with the proposed Quarry! That means its coming out of your pockets! The aggregate companies from what was stated at the last council meeting, pay 12 cents per tonne. The gov takes half and the township gets the other half... But not if you don't have a haul agreement! Start saving up!