On May 17th
of this year the township held an information meeting and provided documents as
an overview for the Midhurst Secondary Plan titled Midhurst 20/20. There was
also a public open house on the Midhurst Secondary Plan EA process on May 29th.
In
September the township published its response to the questions posed and held a
special council meeting on September 17th with a hired lawyer to
outline the township’s position. This is the sixth installment of articles on
this complex issue. I encourage you to read the document yourself (found on the
township website under Governance/Public Consultation/Midhurst Secondary Plan) and
form your own opinion. Certain questions and answers are truncated for space
consideration.
This is the
last in a six part series that dissected the answers provided.
Question 57: Is the Township Council going to
cancel the MSP since the current residents of Midhurst are opposed to it?
Township Answer: The matter will be discussed
by the Township Solicitor at the Special Meeting of Council to be held on
September 17th.
My Opinion:
Since Collins, McLean, Webster, Clement and regrettably my councilor McConkey
think this development is good for the township, they in fact passed a motion
at the meeting to “not revisit, discuss or revise” the MSP. Only Hanna and
Ritchie to their credit opposed the motion. Everyone was caught off guard and
expected them to only receive the report as the Council typically does. I
believe the constant visits by the landowners and developers to the mayors
office preceding this meeting pushed them to table and approve the ill
conceived resolution.
Question 64: Is Midhurst being developed to
encourage annexation to the City of Barrie
Township Answer: No.
My Opinion:
I agree. The reason Barrie will never be interested in Midhurst will be the
legacy costs of the infrastructure. Barrie is already in a huge infrastructure replacement
deficit and the expensive infrastructure required to service Midhurst will be
much more expensive as the pipes run approximately 5 kilometres in either
direction for water and sewer. Unfortunately since council says the Midhurst
current residents do not have to connect, half the distance will have no
connections making it very inefficient. Barrie’s growth direction from the
province and their own official plans puts most of the development to the south
into the approved annexed lands in Innisfil. They also built their state of the
art “surface water” facility in the south end. Ironically if the MSP goes,
within a few years the residents would want to be part of Barrie as the
Springwater tax assessment increase, caused by the MSP infrastructure, will
make Barrie’s taxes look like a bargain.
Question 65: Will there be a cost to the
current taxpayers if Council rescinds the Midhurst Secondary Plan?
Township Answer: It is likely that legal action
would be taken against the township if the secondary plan was cancelled.
My Opinion:
I don’t agree. It is clear in the municipal act and the planning act that the
Council has a right to approve or reject plans. There are also sections that
specifically make the council and township immune to lawsuits if they conduct
business in a rightful manner. This council has caved to the intimidation and
threats of a few and has put all of us up for ransom because they lack the
fundamental guts to make good decisions. Again only Hanna and Ritchie have
illustrated through their votes that the MSP in its present form is flawed. The
rest of council followed the enchanting tunes of the pied pipers; the
landowners and the developers.
Question 66: How can future Township Councils
be bound to the current Council’s contention that the Township will not force
current residents to connect to the new water and sewer systems?
Township Answer: The current Council cannot
bind a future Council.
My Opinion:
I agree. Once all the costs are in, the township will quickly realize they need
revenue from the existing 1400 homes in Midhurst and you will pay to hook up.
Calculations range anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000 a lot to hook up. The
township will of course give you a low rate loan that you can pay off over 20
years on your tax assessment bill. That’s a mere $3,000 to $4,000 a year added
to your tax bill. These are just some of the legacy costs of this ill-conceived
MSP.
Question 67: Did the Province mandate that the
village of Midhurst Grow?
Township Answer: No. The 1998 Official Plan
established development rights within the Midhurst Settlement Area.
My Opinion:
The “No” answer is correct. The second part is not factual. In 1998 there was a
“study area” established to research and find where best it would be to add the
projected 3,500 people to the village, not 25,000 people. Don’t take my word
for it, review the signed affidavits of Harold Parker, Paul Fleming and Ian
Bender that were all in the loop at the time. The last two councils have danced
to the tune of some well connected landowners and their representatives. The
mega growth in Midhurst is not mandated, not included in any study up to 2008
and is an example of council not doing their job to protect the best interests
of its constituents.
This is my
final submission on this matter and you should be concerned and do your own
homework as you will pay the price of the creation of the City of Midhurst. I
will repeat, it is still not too late to slow down and modify this terrible
plan for Midhurst. In January I encourage as many people as possible to file
nomination papers and run for an elected office and bring about the change we
need. It was refreshing to see 12 people attend the recent election information
session hosted by the Township Clerk. It is obvious that more people than I are
not happy with the direction of this council.
Talk to the
Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council and tell them to stop the greatest calamity
that Springwater has ever experienced. The Midhurst Plan as planned is a
disaster waiting to happen and you and I cannot afford it!
