At the first Melancthon draft OP meeting, the presentation by Jerry Jorden, the planner, was basically reading word for word the.....entire draft...... OP.....sorry, I dozed off there....
There wasn't even anything like oh say, MAPS, for people to review to keep them awake. I mean seriously anyone who had printed off the draft and read it themselves could have made the same presentation.
And the most common statement by the planner when questioned on anything..."I think" or "I am not sure, I will have to look into that". Seriously, he has been working on this for FIVE years and in the Mayor's own words has been paid at least $100,000.00 for his work on the draft OP alone and he doesn't know and still have to look into stuff. Not very encouraging for sure.
Anyhew things livened up a bit during question period.
Jorden stated that the bottom line was there would be no impact on water for any approved aggregate operation -not quality or quantity.
A ratepayer asked what would happen if Highlands application got approved and there WAS impact on the quality or quantity of someone's water who had never had a problem before a 2,400 acre 200 foot mine was dug.
He replied that it would not be an issue with the municipality, but the property owner experiencing the issues would have go through the courts and PROVE that their problems with water were caused by the 2,400 acre 200 foot mine operating.
Now I am paraphrasing here, but that means if you have a problem, you take your own limited resources, hire a lawyer and try to win a court case against a company with more money than God.
This ratepayer suggested that because of the size of this proposed application, as stated by the company themselves, was beyond any other standard ever seen in Ontario, perhaps Melancthon through site plans and bylaws should set the standard higher and perhaps request money on deposit from this company to assist individuals in their lawsuits. (If people remember, this was suggested in the summer of 2009 by a ratepayer who made an impassioned plea to Council.)
There wasn't even anything like oh say, MAPS, for people to review to keep them awake. I mean seriously anyone who had printed off the draft and read it themselves could have made the same presentation.
And the most common statement by the planner when questioned on anything..."I think" or "I am not sure, I will have to look into that". Seriously, he has been working on this for FIVE years and in the Mayor's own words has been paid at least $100,000.00 for his work on the draft OP alone and he doesn't know and still have to look into stuff. Not very encouraging for sure.
Anyhew things livened up a bit during question period.
Jorden stated that the bottom line was there would be no impact on water for any approved aggregate operation -not quality or quantity.
A ratepayer asked what would happen if Highlands application got approved and there WAS impact on the quality or quantity of someone's water who had never had a problem before a 2,400 acre 200 foot mine was dug.
He replied that it would not be an issue with the municipality, but the property owner experiencing the issues would have go through the courts and PROVE that their problems with water were caused by the 2,400 acre 200 foot mine operating.
Now I am paraphrasing here, but that means if you have a problem, you take your own limited resources, hire a lawyer and try to win a court case against a company with more money than God.
This ratepayer suggested that because of the size of this proposed application, as stated by the company themselves, was beyond any other standard ever seen in Ontario, perhaps Melancthon through site plans and bylaws should set the standard higher and perhaps request money on deposit from this company to assist individuals in their lawsuits. (If people remember, this was suggested in the summer of 2009 by a ratepayer who made an impassioned plea to Council.)
The planner, in his infinate wisdom, however didn't feel that was necessary, citing past precedent that people had to prove their cases in court at THEIR expense.
God help us all.....because Council doesn't seem to be in a position to impose anything beyond the bare minimum because of course it is the province's fault.
And my own opinion, the planner for Melancthon is out of his element and a dinosour in the planning world. Just saying....
If only there was a place where people could make wild accusations and force the defendant to pay the accuser's costs to prove it.
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