FREE PRESS ~ NEWS WEEKLY
The WellingTon AdverTiser
Volume 44 Issue 15
www.wellingtonadvertiser.com
Friday, April 15, 2011
Road show having little effect on councils’ decisions on new tow truck bylaw by Mike Robinson WELLINGTON CTY. - The road show to have local councils reconsider endorsing a county-wide bylaw regarding tow truck operators is getting little traction here. Fergus area resident Roy Loveless has had his own road show of presentations to various municipalities, asking councils to reject the bylaw, or to reconsider the matter if they had already approved it. Puslinch Township In Puslinch, there was not only a delegation by Loveless, the primary opponent of the bylaw, but delegations from former tow truck operator Scott Mooney and Wellington County OPP Detachment Commander Inspector Scott Smith. The presentation by Loveless to council on April 6, was his second in Puslinch on the issue. He contended there have been a lot of new developments since he last met with council-
lors. “The bylaw you are about to put in place limits tow truck operators and certain businesses and how they operate,” he said. He added that will affect shops that have their own tow trucks and the first responder tow operator “who spends his life in his truck going up and down the highway to be in the right place at the right time to help others in need.” Loveless said he is in the midst of lodging a complaint about how independent towing operators are being treated in Wellington County “and the hoops they are having to go through to be on the scenes of accidents.” As Loveless started to cite individuals involved in the issue, Mayor Dennis Lever cut him off with a reminder the issue was about the bylaw, not individuals. Loveless argued the whole issue of the bylaw stems from where it Continued on page 20
Town to consider more suggestions governing fill by David Meyer ERIN - Council here is continuing its work to fill in the blanks when it comes to controlling outside developers bringing fill to area farms. Council directed staff on April 5 to consider Ed McKelvey’s suggestions about items to add to the town’s fill bylaw. McKelvey is a farmer and one of several residents living along Trafalgar Road who are concerned about the dumping of fill in that area. He attended the council meeting as a delegation. Developers from the GTA have been bringing fill to Erin and paying landowners to accept it. Some were allegedly not stripping topsoil on those lands, and after tons of earth are dumped, the land could become useless for farming. The town not only had little control over that practise - Credit Valley Conservation was Marathon effort - Hundreds took part in the first ever Marden Marathon on April 9. Above were three of the participants in the 5km run: Matt Everett, 17th place; Phil Nightingale, 9th place; and Rob McDonald, 2nd place. More photos on page 24.
photo by Jane McDonald
Township pays $15,000 for school bus by David Meyer BRUCEDALE - Guelph-Eramosa council needed little time to approve an expenditure of $15,000 to ensure children in Rockwood have a safe way of reaching school. Chief Administrative Officer Janice Sheppard presented council with a report on April 4 explaining the third year of a three-year agreement with the Upper Grand District School Board needs approval. She explained the Ministry of Transportation plans to reconstruct Highway 7 this summer, and the township has negotiated continuous sidewalks along that road. She said the Upper Grand District School Board has requested the township again consider paying a share of the school bus costs for young children who use that route. Sheppard explained the township has included the money in its 2011
draft budget, to be taken from the Rockwood Hydro Fund for this year. Mayor Chris White explained why the township pays for the bus. He said at one time, the school board had rules that children in kindergarten to grade 1 living within 1.6km of a school had to walk. Those from grade 3 to 6 living within 2.4km also had to walk. But, White said, that walk was unsafe because MTO plows tossed highway snow onto the sidewalks - where there were sidewalks. He said the walk for young children was “extremely dangerous.” But when the township approached the board about bussing kids in southern Rockwood to Rockwood Centennial Public School, the board noted sidewalks are a municipal responsibility and school buses are a courtesy - the board does not legally have to supply buses to any students.
White said the board agreed if the township would help with the costs, the board would provide a bus. That board vote was not unanimous. The board’s cost is $35,000. White said the township will fund a bus during the coming construction, but it then wants that area declared “a danger route.” He said there will be more kids walking that route, and they will need a school bus. Councillor Doug Breen said forcing grade 3 children to walk that route in winter is “ridiculous” and for kindergarten to grade one it is “beyond stupid.” Breen added, “This very same board is busing kids around woodlots in Guelph because there was a flasher there five years ago. We should haul all those guys out here [to] walk that road.” Council unanimously approved the $15,000 payment.
issuing permits - but the town knew nothing about those approvals. The CVC is now working with Erin, and there is a town move to have the Grand River Conservation Authority also keep the town informed and follow the town’s bylaw governing fill coming into the community. Last month, the CVC board unanimously approved a new “large fill placement procedural guideline,” which defines a large fill project as anything over 500 cubic metres or 40 truckloads. The guideline states that obtaining a permit from the CVC will now require a plan of survey (including fill location, elevations, and quantity, as well as sediment and erosion control measures) and a soil report (stating the exact source of material and proof that it meets Ministry of the Environment guidelines). More importantly, at least for Continued on page 16
Council to check efficacy of having art on bridge supports by David Meyer ELORA - The Elora Arts Centre has proposed hanging art on the piers that once supported the old Victoria Street pedestrian bridge over the Grand River. Phil Irish, the curator at the Arts Centre, took his proposal to the economic development committee, which supported it. The plan would be to have Guelph area artist Janet Morton create a mesh and decorate with lace doilies that appear like giant snowflakes. That committee sent the matter to council’s committee of the whole on Monday. Irish said Morton is well known in Canada and the U.S. and he showed slides of her work where she decorated a cottage with quilt patches into the shape of a tea cozy, and also a building she wrapped in pink. He said Morton would use five heavy cables across the Grand River and lay a mesh over the piers on them.
Irish said the lace-like decorations would be heavily concentrated in the middle and get sparser at either end of the bridge to avoid enticing people to try to cross on it. He has already approached the Elora BIA, the Grand River Conservation Authority, Public Works and Centre Wellington Hydro. He said the utility is willing to help string the cables, provide lights at either end, and that will help light up the work at night. He hoped to have the art work in place by May of next year, in time for the tourism season. Irish added magazines doing articles on the art work would probably mention other village attractions and thus promote the town. He said the piece could be assembled with volunteers, and the utility’s help “makes this very do-able.” Councillor Walt Visser said he thinks the concept is “a great idea” except he is concerned about the liContinued on page 16
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