>Grimsby, Smithville Terry Fox runs have great years, Pg 5 > Lincoln Homecoming Festival next week Pg. 2 > Carnegie Building part of Doors Open Pg. 7 > Fall Home Improvement tips Pg. 12-15 Thursday, September 21, 2017 Vol. 6 Issue 20
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Grimsby passes site alteration bylaw By Mike Williscraft NewsNow About seven weeks after noise, truck traffic and environmental impact concerns were raised regarding a major fill project on Kemp Road West, Grimsby council has approved a site alteration bylaw. At Monday’s council meeting, a bylaw which will give the Town some level of control was approved. Essentially, anyone dumping more than eight cubic meters of fill - about three dump truck loads - would require a permit. As well, significant alterations of grade would also have to be approved. “It’s unfortunate we are seeing what we are seeing. We don’t want to stop legitimate filling. We want to stop filling for profit,” said Ald. Nick DiFlavio. The matter arose in earnest in early August when hundreds of dump trucks motored through downtown each week on their way to or from 42 Kemp Road West. John Schonewille, director of building and enforcement, told council the bylaw is a hybrid of measures taken in other municipalities, including Hamilton and West Lincoln. Schonewille said the intention is to give the municipality some measure of control, “as opposed to See FILL, Page 3
Dave French, whose property abuts the lot at 42 Kemp Road to the north, says rock and fill comes as close as three feet from his property, infringing on the 15m setback required in Town bylaws. Here a truck dumping top soil to cover the fill, leaves its load.
Biodigester complaint contact clarified By Mike Williscraft NewsNow At least three area residents dispute a claim by Grimsby Ald. Steve Berry at Monday’s town council meeting. Berry said - and noted the same information would be made public in a press release Tuesday morning - that the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change had not received any complaints about odour or other issues from local
residents. “Chris Medland, provincial officer with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has stated he is aware of comments made in our local newspapers regarding the biodigester. These comments were related to residents reaching out to local aldermen with concerns about the odor,” states the release. “He would like Members of Council and the local media to be
aware that the Ministry has not received any complaints from local residents on this matter. Furthermore, he stated that the operating company of the Biodigester has also not had any complaints to date.” Resident Tony Ferrara, who was quoted extensively in an Aug. 31 story about the effect of odours emanating from the biodigester is having on his home, said he has had multiple conversa-
tions with MOE’s Steve Green going back to early July. Lincoln resident Paul Scott also said he called and spoke with Medland on Monday. This was confirmed by Medland on Tuesday morning. As well, Medland noted any complaints registered directly with the Ministry in Toronto would not come back to him. NewsNow is in receipt of three such letters of complaint. Grimsby’s release
states to contact the MOE’s spill centre and gave a phone number, but Medland said the best number to call is his direct line, 905704-3912. The line given by the Town, 1-800-2686060, is a 24/7 catchall line. Medland said calls would be processed and a report would go to him, but the direct line is best. Medland said immediacy is very important when dealing with complaints and
encouraged anyone with concerns to call right away. “We need to find out the wind direction and time of complaints because we need to check things out as soon as possible to determine the source,” said Medland. Scott said it would be very easy for someone to get confused in trying to lodge a complaint as it took him three calls to eventually get passed on to Medland.