Respectful exchange

Candidate meeting at Wellington on the Lake

Polite and civil. No fireworks. No vigorous exchanges. No outbursts from the candidates or the assembled audience of 107, with perhaps as many more watching on Zoom, last Wednesday at Wellington on the Lake.

It was an opportunity for the candidates to introduce themselves calmly and respectfully.

Jennifer Cobb says she found serenity upon arriving in Wellington 24 years ago after an accident that resulted in a brain injury. She says this community helped her to heal and, in doing so, strengthened her connection to the village. Cobb listed an array of community groups, including coaching soccer, sitting on the board of Alternatives for Women and 12 years as a public school trustee, including chairing the school consolidation committee.

Cobb wants to expand diversity on council as well as an anti-ablest approach to municipal decision-making.

Heather Norlock stressed her local roots, having attended elementary school in Wellington and high school in Picton. She started a civil engineering program, but Covid knocked those plans off course. She manages a village motel and designs interiors.

Norlock wants more young people on council. “It’s time for a change,” said Norlock. Key issues include housing affordability, promoting small business and addressing the doctor shortage. Norlock thinks property taxes are too high and that Shire Hall has been on an “irresponsible spending spree.”

Wellington on the Lake hosted a well-attended and polite candidate meeting. (L-R): Corey Engelsdorfer, Heather Norlock and Jennifer Cobb. Evan Nash moderated the evening’s discussion.

Corey Engelsdorfer is the publisher of this newspaper. He said Wellington is at a crossroads— that the next ten years will likely shape this community for our future and that of our children. He pointed to the prospect of potentially thousands of new homes in the village, massive spending on infrastructure to support this development, and the risks this brings to Wellington.

Engelsdorfer attended Pinecrest and PECI. He came to work for The Times in 2010 and acquired the newspaper in 2017.

“This is my home,” said Engelsdorfer. “I know the issues. I read the reports from Shire Hall. I know the stories of this community because we tell them every week in the newspaper. I was happy to see when I arrived tonight to see three residents reading the paper in the lobby area.”

With the introductions out of the way came questions from the floor. Evan Nash moderated them. First, one resident wanted to know where the candidates stood on creating a dog park in Wellington. Heather Norlock said she would advocate for a dog park. Corey Engelsdorfer suggested that parkland commitment, including such amenities as a dog park, should be part of any new subdivision agreement.

Jennifer Cobb wasn’t keen on the idea of a fenced area— preferring that the village become a “more comprehensive dog-friendly community.”

On the issue of climate, Cobb pointed to the work done by the South Shore Conservancy as an example of the initiatives this community should pursue.

“We need a good focus on information,” said Cobb.

Norlock wants greater protection for agricultural land.

Engelsdorfer said the County’s most recent Official Plan is an excellent place to start. He said he would work to ensure the environmental measures prescribed in its pages were enforced and goals pursued. In Wellington, he pointed to the Secondary Plan as the most vital tool to preserve and protect the ‘urban forest.’ He would insist that developers understood and adhered to the principles in this village’s primary vision document.

There were several questions about waterworks: What were the candidates prepared to do about pressure and rising costs?

Heather Norlock said she has heard the concerns and believes costs are too high. She hopes the new water tower currently under construction will help with pressure.

Jennifer Cobb said Wellington came into amalgamation with a new and modern waterworks system. That when it was combined with five other water systems, village water consumers were saddled with mostly older and poorly maintained systems.

Corey Engelsdorfer told the gathering he would advocate for a waterworks commission—governed by users of the service. Currently, it is governed by council—most of whom have no stake in the system. “It is time the residents, who pay for the entire bill, were part of the decision-making,” said Engelsdorfer.

On the issue of development and growth, Norlock said she would push for responsible growth. Cobb said the village needs a “planning vision’. Engelsdorfer countered, saying Wellington has a good secondary plan. He added that the next representative for this village on council must work to control the pace of development. Specifically, he says developers should be prevented from turning Belleville Road into a row of strip malls.

On short-term accommodation, Cobb said her neighbourhood is “a wasteland” and “out of control.” All three candidates favour eliminating grandfathering provisions that enable STA operators to sell their properties with the right to maintain the STA. All candidates want that right extinguished on the sale of the property.

All three would also like to see the size of council shrink. To which one resident asked how, if council was to become truly more diverse, that squared with a smaller council. No one touched that question.

With the mostly polite questions answered, the candidates and the residents stacked chairs and headed home.