The Creemore
ECHO
Friday, June 26, 2009
Vol. 09 No. 26
News and views in and around Creemore
SCI REMAINS IN LIMBO After 4.5 hours of debate, Trustees no closer to decision on high schools by Brad Holden The Accomodation Review process dealing with high schools in north Simcoe County ground to a halt Monday night after Simcoe County District School Board Trustees debated for fourand-a-half hours without passing a single motion. Itself an extension of a regular board meeting on June 17 during which Trustees did not get to the local ARC due to a heavy agenda, Monday’s meeting was eventually adjourned at 11 pm after hours of futile debate. The date and time of the next meeting is now at the call of Chair Diane Firman, who told the frustrated capacity crowd that notice would be put on the board’s website
when a meeting was scheduled. The conundrum the Trustees now find themselves in has reached nearepic proportions, and perhaps the only solution is one that has been offered by Simcoe County Warden Tony Guergis in a letter delivered to the Board this week. Guergis offered to form a lobby group with School Board representatives to ask the Ministry of Education to clarify funding levels provided to the region. “Simcoe County is consistently at the bottom of the funding scale and we need to be addressing our concerns as regional service providers,” he said. “When we act together we have a stronger voice.” The uncertainty of funding is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to a successful solution of the ARC dilemma. In private, more than one trustee has been (See “Trustees” on page 3)
COUNCIL APPROVES ITS OWN GROWTH PLAN by Craig Simpson Brushing aside the recent provincial report titled Simcoe Area: A Strategic Vision for Growth that allocated a population growth of only 4,200 people between now and 2031, Council approved a plan that would add between 5,100 and 6,800 new residential units in that same time frame. This was positioned not as an act of defiance, but rather one of sticking to plans for “controlled growth” that have been in the making for years. Planning Director Michael Wynia was unequivocal in his belief that this approach would be perfectly acceptable, citing a sentence in the latest Provincial document that states, “this growth plan will not apply to subdivision applications convened prior to the growth plan coming into effect.” Wynia has held to this interpretation
of how to deal with these so-called “transition units” throughout the series of policy statements issued by the province starting with Places to Grow in 2005. In response to questioning from Councillor Thom Paterson, he acknowledged that any disconnect between his interpretation and this most recent Provincial position “will be decided at the OMB and in the courts.” Whereupon Mayor Ken Ferguson reminded everyone of his position that the Township was not going to spend any money on legal fees in any lawsuits brought by developers. Deputy Mayor Alicia Savage stated that her initial disappointment with the Province’s latest declaration was based on the lack of respect and cooperation shown to the major efforts expended by all the constituent representatives (See “Growth” on page 14)
ARRIVING IN STYLE Zachary Whitley enlisted his grandfather Dalton Lowe to drive him and his classmate Nathan Kacarevich to Wednesday’s NCPS Grade 8 graduation in Dalton’s Model A Ford. Others arrived in a variety of ways, including a white limousine, a grey Gator and the back of a pickup truck. For more pictures of the glamorous evening, see page 8 or visit www.creemore.com.
Inside the ECHO
Mill Street Party
Happy Canada Day
Ribbons and rain on newly paved road.
Get ready for a huge bash!
PAGE 14
PAGE 20
Publications Mail Agreement # 40024973
Serving Mulmur & The Creemore Hills for 32 years
RCR Realty. Brokerage
The Town & Country Agent with the City Connections
Drop by, pay us a visit and you’ll see why we are ranked #1 in customer satisfaction...
Ginny MacEachern
in both sales and service!
444-1414
B.A.
Broker
(705) E-mail info@collingwood.toyota.ca
10230 Highway 26 East, Collingwood
1-800-360-5821• 705-466-2607 • gmmulmur@bconnex.net Visit My Website: www.ginnymaceachern.com