May 30, 2002 Special Meeting
M I N U T E S
OF THE CORPORATION OF THE
MUNICIPALITY OF WEST ELGIN
SPECIAL MEETING
WEST ELGIN COUNCIL CHAMBERS
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MAY 30, 2002
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mayor Duncan McPhail, Deputy Mayor Graham Warwick
Councillors: Trudy Balint, Brad Bandeen,
Mike Mooser
STAFF PRESENT
: Linda Cranston, Clerk/Deputy-Treasurer
ALSO PRESENT
: Ted Halwa, Community Planner
Prof. David Douglas
The morning planning session of this meeting was held in the West Lorne Community
Complex, and then the afternoon session was held in the West Elgin Council Chambers.
Mayor McPhail welcomed everyone to the meeting and then asked Ted Halwa, to
introduce the guest speaker for the morning session.
Mr. David Douglas, a Professor of Rural Planning and Development, at the University of
Guelph gave a slide presentation and discussion period in relation to the trends in
planning over the past few years, and hopefully gave council some insight into how
would be the best way to proceed with their new Official Plan and Comprehensive
Zoning. He gave some ideas on various aspects of community development, with some
emphasis on economic development. Council participated in questions throughout the
presentation. Council thanked Mr. Douglas for his presentation.
Mayor McPhail left the meeting after the morning session.
SUBJECT: APPOINT CHAIR
RES. NO. 1 Moved by Bandeen
Seconded by Balint
RESOLVED that Deputy-Mayor Warwick is hereby appointed to act as
Chair for this special meeting of council of the Municipality of West Elgin in
the absence of Mayor McPhail.
DISPOSITION: Carried
SUBJECT: BUS BARN PROPERTY
A delegation was in attendance at council to discuss the possibility of developing a
property in the municipality as a bus compound area. The spokesperson for the group
was Mr. Neil Badder, the Manager of the bus barns. Also in attendance for this portion of
the meeting was Realtor Ernie Fodor, and Property owners Mr. & Mrs. George Andrei,
and his daughters, as well as neighbouring property owner, Joe Fischer.
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Special Council Mtg. – May 30, 2002
Mr. Badder explained to council that his family owned bus service consisting of more
than 100 buses, had formerly operated out of a compound area located on properties
owned by the Board of Education. The newly amalgamated Thames Valley School
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Board has given Mr. Badder notice that as of June 30, 2002, his contract will have
ended with the School Board and they are refusing to make any exceptions.
This has left the company very little time to come up with an alternate location. They
have been pursuing various locations and areas, and none seem to be a suitable
property. They are ideally looking for a location in the West Lorne area or to the east of
that location.
With this in mind, they have found a property that they feel is quite suitable for their
purpose, and it seems to meet the needs of various different items. This property is
presently owned by Mr. & Mrs. George Andrei, who rent it out as cash crop land. The
bus compound would only require approximately four acres of the 98 acre parcel of land.
Since the buses all run on natural gas, it is beneficial to know that the gas line is in place
right at the road allowance. Hydro is available, and there are no buildings presently on
the property. The close proximity to the overpass over the 401 is also a big asset to the
location.
Chair Warwick asked the Planner to review with the delegation the hurdles which they
will face before this can proceed. Ted explained that the property was currently
designated as Agricultural in the Official Plan Amendment and this would be the major
hurdle that will have to be crossed, then a severance application will have to be heard at
the County level, and along with those things would also be a Zone Amendment to
change the property to Highway Commercial Zone and a survey of the property. The
costs for these items were discussed, and the time lines for these applications to take
place.
Mr. Joe Fischer stated that he felt that the property was ideal for the new purpose
proposed, and he felt that since it was a community need, that council should consider
fast tracking the process in some way.
Councillor Mooser and Chair Warwick stated that they will do whatever they can to
speed the process along, however there was no way of avoiding the due process of an
Official Plan Amendment and Severance application. They must be done according to
the procedures they would normally follow.
The Administrator reminded the group that thought should be given to the road and
approach upgrades that will be needed in order to facilitate this. They were advised to
speak with the Road Superintendent and/or the County Engineer, about the costs
associated with this type of proposal.
Basically council was in the consensus, that the group could proceed with the idea in
principle. The group thanked council for their time and they left the meeting. Mr. Halwa
left the meeting at this time also.
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SUBJECT: 2 CONSIDERATION BUDGET
The second draft consideration budget was presented by Joanne Groch. She presented
a new draft that included the proposed changes suggested at a previous budget
meeting. She also gave council some recommendations that she was proposing for the
sewage and water budgets. When discussions centred around the recreation budget,
Councillor Mooser wished to have it recorded that he was opposed with the line item of
$100,000.00 for a recreation storage building, even though it had already been decided
at a previous meeting.
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Council was acceptable to the budget as presented with the changes, which would
mean an increase of 2.2% overall including the county increase to taxes. This would
equate to approximately a $33.07 increase on a home assessed at $100,000. The
Administrator was given direction to proceed to finalize the figures and prepare the
bylaw for the next meeting.
SUBJECT: ADJOURNMENT
RES. NO. 2 Moved by Mooser
Seconded by Bandeen
RESOLVED that Council do now rise and adjourn from this Special
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Planning and Budget Meeting at 3:30 p.m. to meet again on June 13,
2002.
DISPOSITION: Carried
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These minutes were adopted on the 13 day of June 2002.
__________________________ __________________________
MAYOR CLERK
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