The year that was

It started with a decision. Actually it was the very last day of 2009 that Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) vice-chair Jyoti Zuidema dismissed an appeal made by Lyle McBurney and Jim McPherson seeking to erase the County’s historic ward boundaries for electoral purposes and redistribute the population in a way that would better balance each voting district. Time had already run out, however. To have an effect on the October election, changes had to have been enacted by council before the end of 2009. While they lost that battle, McPherson and McBurney may yet see an overhaul of the municipal electoral system in Prince Edward County.

When asked in October, more than 80 per cent of respondents to a question on the ballot said they wanted to take another look at the size of council. Though not enough folks voted to compel council to deal with the issue, it will be impossible for council to ignore the will of the people on this issue.

Early in 2010 the OMB returned another decision mostly dismissing an appeal of the rezoning of Fields of West Lake that permits the construction of an inn on the property. In his decision OMB member Norm Jackson made his dismissal based upon five conditions. Those five conditions were satisfied this week and the file is now officially closed.

The troubles aren’t yet over, however, for Mark Henry and Lynne Ellis, owners of Fields on West Lake. The County has successfully prosecuted a noise complaint, brought by a neighbour, against the wedding and event facility. A decision on the size of the fine is due in January. Other noise prosecutions are pending. Council is urged to fix this early in the New Year.

Through the winter and spring a small group of citizens, senior staff and council members spent many, many long hours working through the County’s waterworks system— determining what it is, how much it will cost to keep working and who will pay. It was long and at times tedious work—but work that had to be done, in an open and transparent way. It revealed many problems, some of which can be fixed, others that will require a great deal of money to make right. It was, however, a mightily important exercise. For now we can begin the debate over the future of our waterworks from a base of facts and hard information.

In the spring, we learned that the Byran wind energy project, which was already teetering through bankruptcy and facing tough opposition from the Department of National Defence, finally came crashing to the ground.

Other smaller projects inched forward during the year— but the focus largely shifted from erecting wind energy factories to making electricity from the sun in 2010. The province saw a massive uptake in its Feed-in Tariff (FIT) and MicroFIT (small scale incentives) in 2010—as individuals and business were won over by the extravagant premium and rich contracts available to erect solar panels.

Even after the province realized it was giving too much away and pulled some money off the table—the enthusiasm for solar panels barely skipped a beat. It has caused a problem for municipalities; traditionally the folks who regulate what and where structure such as these may be located and how near or far they are allowed to be from neighbours, roads and other public infrastructure. The Green Energy Act took those regulating powers away from the municipalities and thus we see solar panel structures being erected in odd, annoying and at times dangerous locations—without oversight or planning.

The summer was largely given over to destruction of the brick church on Main Street and the antics of convicted environmental criminal Jim Sinclair. The demise of the church did serve, however, to arouse a general public concern for the architectural heritage of this community.

After much public debate, consultation and some hard feelings council finally gave the green light to a couple of larger scale real estate development projects—a cottage resort on East Lake being developed by Cottage Advisers and a golf course residential community in Wellington by the Kaitlin Group. Both projects mean jobs for local firms and individuals.

The scrutiny of these projects should not end here, however. In fact many would argue that now is when the critical oversight of these projects begins.

This year saw the completion of several major projects in the County, made possible by the desire of the governments at all levels to stimulate growth in the economy. These include a new sewage plant in Picton, a new community centre in Wellington and, on a smaller scale, a skatepark in Picton.

October saw the municipality elect a smart new council headed by Mayor Peter Mertens. This council starts out on a better footing than any other council. It begins work with the support of a strong core of professional staff in finance, public works, planning and administration. Most of these folks are new—trained and experienced in other communities— with the credentials needed to run a multi-million dollar organization.

Already the dividends are being reaped in the form of thorough, detailed and informative reporting on the choices and issues affecting our local government. This is key. With current and accurate information we can all better participate in the decisions being made on our behalf.

The County and its elected officials face significant challenges in 2011, but not for a long time have we entered a new year with such reason for optimism.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca