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SIMCOE COUNTY NEWS
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Council to County: build the wall, pay security depositPosted August 31, 2010Simcoe County and New Tecumseth are in the final stages of approving the site plan agreement that will guide development of its new Public Works depot on Cty Rd 1 west of Beeton. The works yard, which also will include salt-sand storage for winter, and its trucks and equipment, will be located across the road from New Tecumseth's Joint Operations Centre, and is adjacent to residential homes. It will replace the site now located at Main and Patterson Street in Beeton. A noise impact study provided in September 2009 concluded the works yard operation will generate noise levels exceeding Ministry of Environment guidelines so a 3.5 to 4 metre high wall is required along the property lines of the abutting residential properties. But the County asked New Tecumseth for relief of that provision, seeking instead to wait until after the facility has been constructed and operating. Then, a new noise impact study would be commissioned to determine if the walls were still necessary. Additionally, the County was asking that it not be required to post a $117,000 security deposit. A letter from the Ministry of Environment, included with the County's request, supports the waiver for the walls as long as an impact study is carried out per the upper tier's schedule A background report and recommendation from the Town's engineering department, approved last week by council in committee, was set to allow those amendments to the site plant agreement. Then, at last night's council meeting, a neighbour of the proposed works yard, who required unanimous consent to address councillors on the matter, announced,"we oppose the County's wishes not to build a noise wall around their property." Ward 5 councillor Jim Stone, an avowed "no friend of the County," said there was upper tier arrogance at play. "Personally, I don't think the County should just unilaterally decide that they know a hell of a lot better than we do. I feel they should put up these fences. Whether it's going to happen after this thing is up, are they going to tell us to get lost or something?" said Mr. Stone. "If a regular corporation was trying to do the same thing, I don't think they'd be allowed to do it. I think they're taking privledges here they really don't have. I think they should stick with the site plan." The County's request for relief from the security deposit comes because "as an upper tier municipality we endeavor to complete the conditions of the site plan agreement and have budgeted the required resources," according to the County's letter to New Tecumseth. "My only concern," added Ward 4 councillor Richard Norcross, "is that the County has up to a year before they have to address the issue, and it could be ongoing for a year. I wonder if it would be easier for them to build a wall now, while it's under construction." There will be no choice following last night's council decision, which deputy mayor Rick Milne moved "to ask the County to put the money up for the wall now instead of waiting a year." Mr. Stone said he was puzzled by the notion that a public works operation wouldn't produce noise issues for neighbours. "They're going to be working 24 hours a day. You get a snow storm or something, these people are going to be laying awake all night. It doesn't take a hell of a lot of noise to upset some people at that time of the day, so I don't know how the environmental laws are going to come into play out there. But this is an operation, and I can't see how trucks can be quiet when they're banging on the doors and their boxes and stuff like that." |
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