Collingwood’s hospital and town staff continue to talk about the clear cutting of trees on hospital property.
CAO Gord Norris says the hospital has now put up a silt fence and silt barrier to prevent physical runoff from the property.
He says hospital officials have also been talking with a nearby property owner affected by lights from the parking lot shining into the home since the cutting.
Norris says the hospital is looking at what the best type of barrier would be.
He adds town staff will be talking with hospital officials to discuss the site plan of the property.
Norris says the clear cutting last month was in violation of the site plan agreement because any changes have to have an amendment which the hospital did not ask for.
He says the hospital could still be fined, but he says resolution is always the best solution and charges come when a resolution can’t be achieved through negotiation.
The tree cutting bylaw carries fines of up to 10 thousand dollars.
Mayor Chris Carrier had said it wasn’t just a small area of bushes that was cut down, there were trees with a 30 centimetre diameter in the woodlot.
Carrier has told us that hospital officials had mentioned to him they didn’t know they were required to get permits to chop down the trees.