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HYDRO MPP Smith urges residents to voice opposition to sale 2
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THE PICTON
Gazette
Volume 185, Week 45
THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 5, 2015
SHINING
County 4-H clubs recognize past year’s achievements
SHARING
Volunteers turn donations into meals for food banks
Canada’s longest publishing non-daily newspaper, proudly serving Prince Edward County since 1830
Council reaches stalemate on restructuring plans Status quo, threeward system tie in committee vote CHAD IBBOTSON STAFF WRITER
It appears County council will continue with a complement of 16. There was an air of confusion and frustration following a lengthy special committee-of-the-whole meeting last Thursday. Residents in attendance and even a few councillors walked away exasperated with the results. Mayor Robert Quaiff said he was neither pleased with the result nor the means by which it was reached. “We went through a whole series of exercises and, at the end of the day, we came back with the same exact thing we started out with years ago,” he said. “The way we fumbled tonight, it's a little bit embarrassing.” Quaiff said the issue is full of controversy and means a lot to a lot of people in Prince Edward County. “Because of those pressures I think council gets to a point where they feel so uncertain that we don't make good decisions,” he said. However, Quaiff said he didn't regret going through the process. The issue will be back up for debate at council's next regular meeting on Nov. 10.
DEBATING Councillors vote on a motion during last Thursday’s special committee-of-the-whole meeting on council size.It looks like coun-
cil won’t be altered with councillors remaining divided. The issue is expected to come before council Nov. 10. (Chad Ibbotson/Gazette staff)
Thursday's meeting began with councillors discussing a recommended motion stating the two-ward proposal with an 11-member council and the three-ward proposal with a 13-member council were the two preferred options to reduce the size of council, as indicated by the public consultation process. After more than an hour debating the issue, the committee voted 9– 7 against. From there, the committee had to decide how to proceed. Councillors decided to name
their preferred option in an informal voting process to eliminate the least favourable options. The nine-ward proposal and two-ward proposal were the first to go, leaving the status quo and the threeward option. As the process continued and it seemed more and more like council would remain divided, more than one councillor called for a vote to select the status quo. Councillor Jamie Forrester, who chaired the meeting, said he wouldn't entertain
such a motion as council had already decided on a method to deal with the options. Ultimately, each of the remaining two proposals received eight votes in the final round of elimination with councillors Roy Pennell, Steve Graham, Gord Fox, Forrester, Dianne O'Brien, Janice Maynard, Steve Ferguson, and David Harrison favouring the status quo. Councillors Treat Hull, Jim Dunlop, Barry Turpin, Kevin Gale, Lenny
Epstein, Bill Roberts, Brad Nieman, and Mayor Robert Quaiff supported the threeward proposal. With the apparent tie, Gale made a motion to carry on with the process and bring forward the remaining proposals to a further council session, but that was lost. Forrester predicted a deadlock back when the council size process began again early this year. “It's deja vu,” he said following Thursday's meeting. “The same issues still sepa-
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Inside this week’s edition of the Gazette... OP/ED
rate the rural from the urban areas, the same concerns, and they have not been addressed.” He said he isn't sure if those issues ever can be addressed, but it's clear there is a strong division. “It's unfortunate, but maybe a plan will come along one day to change it,” he said. “At the end of the day – regardless of what plan we do go with, whether it's the status quo or threeward plan – we have done our due process.” Four options were presented to the public — a two-ward option with 10 councillors and a mayor, a three-ward option with 12 councillors and a mayor, a nine-ward option with 13 councillors and mayor, and the status quo. Months of gathering public input and hosting public forums boiled down to a report on Thursday's agenda which seemed to suggest those who were interested were interested in change. The report says the County's public consultation sessions garnered attendance which ranged from 15 to 40 not including municipal staff and councillors. In total, 649 responses to the weighted survey were received. Respondents were asked to rank their preference from first to fourth choice.
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