Saugeen Shores council is calling on the Ford Government to reconsider amalgamating the conservation authority into a much larger one.
The province plans to group the existing 36 conservation authorities into seven large ones, create the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, and an online permitting system.
Council passed a resolution Monday (Jan 5) saying the Town of Saugeen Shores requests the amalgamation into the Huron Superior Regional Conservation Authority, be reconsidered.
The resolution says, they want to maintain local oversight and are concerned being amalgamated into a larger conservation authority will mean local voices and issues will go unheard.
The Town says the provincial government’s proposed online permitting program will alienate residents who don’t have internet access and it also notes the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority has worked hard to provide a streamlined service locally, which they say is possible because it has elected officials form eight local municipalities that make up its board.
They say if the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority is amalgamated the Town will be grouped in with 80 other municipalities.
Council is requesting that if amalgamation is insisted upon, then rural authorities with similar watershed characteristics should be grouped together, while grouping more urban authorities together for similar reasons.
Council also says the amalgamation plan doesn’t address how to manage all the local conservation lands and campgrounds.
The resolution states, “The amalgamation plan does not address how these assets, which by extension belong to member Municipalities, would be equitably divested. Many of these properties were granted to the authority, specifically detailing the nature and terms of ownership which legally must be maintained going forward.”
Council adds, Saugeen Shores is the largest contributor of annual levies that cover the operation of the conservation authority. They say the member municipalities cover 44 per cent of the operational costs of the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority with 7 per cent coming from provincial funding and the remaining amount is generated through revenue and permitting fees.
They say, “Authorities across the province have liquid assets in the form of trusts, and reserves that belong to member municipalities which run the risk of being swallowed up by large Authorities with larger budgets and resources.”
The resolution says fees charged by conservation authorities have been frozen for three years which has had the effect of shifting the financial burden onto property taxpayers.
Council adds, the provincial government’s plan to create an agency funded by municipalities will only add another layer of bureaucracy.
The town says it wants any transitional costs to be fully funded by the Province and not borne by member municipalities.
Saugeen Shores Council’s resolution is urging the Province to engage with affected municipalities and First Nations communities to collaboratively review the service delivery model, and standardize only where necessary paying attention to the different needs of rural and urban authorities.
They’re forwarding their resolution to the Premier, Minister of Environment Conservation and Parks, Bruce County Council, all Ontario Municipalities, Huron Bruce MPP/ Minister of Rural Affairs, the board of Rural Ontario Municipal Association, Conservation Ontario and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.