The Mayor's Life is Always Interesting-and I love it!

The last two weeks has been quite busy as we approached the summer season.

We speak of Springwater as a community of communities. Canada Day illustrated the uniqueness of some of those communities.

Canada Day

In Minesing there was a family oriented event with a special competition for those that wanted to dress up their bikes in a Canada Day motif. It was great. Everyone in the community participated with grandparents, parents and children all having a great time. Thanks to Tracy, Wanda and the rest of the local Recreation Board for their efforts.

In Phelpston, their annual fireworks was fantastic. Everyone buys fireworks from the Kinsmen Club and the Kinsmen Club come and facilitate the safe lighting of the fireworks. I would say there were about 200 people in attendance. A few brought their own POP!. Thanks to Danielle, Rick and the rest of the Phelpston Recreation Board.

All of our Boards are becoming quite alive and energetic, which I find encouraging. I have spoken to a few people and possibly, for next year, we can have a special event for each of the major holidays in a different area of the township. Our small communities are simply great!

Farmers Market

The Elmvale Springwater Farmers Market has been open for a few weeks but the official opening was on July 3^rd. It was a great day and the market was well attended with a lot of locals and visitors partaking of our excellent locally grown foods and crafts. A number of new participants have signed up and, on speaking to them, are pleased with the attendance and the venue. Come up to Elmvale on Friday mornings from 9:30 to 1 and get your fresh foods. It does taste better!

Official Plan Workshop

As many people know, the Springwater Official Plan dates back to 1998 and has a number of amendments. Parts of the Plan do not appropriately reflect new planning regimes especially the impact of the Provincial Policies and Plans from 2005 and beyond. This makes it challenging, both for landowners and planning staff. We staged our second workshop with Bob Lehman and Associates last week and it was very fruitful. The report to Council will be tabled on July 20^th and we will then begin the process of developing a “Made in Springwater” Official Plan. It is our desire to move away from an external driven planning approach, to a township internally controlled planning process. We hope to be proactive rather than reactive. That will assist the township in being able to better project OUR future.

Strategic Planning Session

One of the things that I found very useful in my 40 years of business was developing a direction for the organization that had buy-in from everyone. It’s called a Strategic Plan. The last Council created one in 2010, updated it in 2012 and you see mention of it on staff reports. Times have changed with this council and we want to develop a Strategic Plan in concert with those that elected us. We had our first session last week and we have now set the direction for the development of the plan. In the near future you will be asked to respond to a questionnaire on your vision and needs in Springwater. So please participate. Being a great believer in Branding, I have asked Council, Staff and anyone that is interested to come up with a slogan that we might use as an umbrella for both our Official Plan and Strategic Plan. To show the interest and enthusiasm at the meeting, CAO Robert Brindley provided one that I think shows the direction we as township want to embrace, “Our Springwater, Our Future”. I have already had some other suggestions, some not for the faint of heart.

Springwater Park

We received great news last week with the announcement of the returning of Springwater Provincial Park to operating status. Beausoleil First Nations and the Province of Ontario have entered into a 5 year co-management agreement along with an operating agreement with BFN. The Park opened its gates for visitors last Friday. As a Township, I am pleased that we were able to provide assistance during the last six months and I kept in communication with both parties. The Township provided snow plowing to the gate during the Winter months and our Parks and Recreation Department trimmed the grass in advanve of the recent POW WOW at the Park. Congratulations to all for reaching the agreement. I encourage us all to visit the Park once this Summer. I know in the last term Councillor Hanna and McConkey tabled and passed a resolution to set aside some money for the Park. I think we will hear more on that in months to come and possibly a cooperative initiative.

Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture 75^th Anniversary

I sit as the County Council representative on the Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture. This is a wonderful organization that is both protecting the future of farming in the area and at the same time educating all of us about importance of agriculture in a healthy economy and society. This year they celebrated their 75^th Anniversary and it was hosted at the Partridge Family Farm in Oro Medonte. Over 380 people were fed. There was a great showing of vintage vehicles and farm tractors that was enjoyed by all. The food was great and the audience had the pleasure of dancing and celebrating to the tunes of the Martels Rock and Roll Show. The People’s Choice Award  Trophy for Vintage Vehicles was Ron and Linda French with their beautiful coral coloured ‘56 Mercury Convertible. I hope Mike has a photo in this edition. Special mention should also go to Wayne Hawke of Anten Mills and his really cool 1929 Model A hotrod and Gary Strachan and his pristine 1933 Ford Vicky street rod as both were close runners-up. The next time you see a farmer, say “thank you for feeding us”. You will get a broad smile back.

Compliance Audit

As some of you are aware, a defeated candidate in the Fall Election has requested a Compliance Audit on my election expenses. Since I am the only candidate in Springwater that, in addition to my financial statement, provided an Independent Auditors Report, I look forward to the meeting on July 20^th starting at 9 a.m. If you have time, please come out and witness the exercise. I will definitely be writing about the matter when it is complete.

The Mayor's View

In early June we had our second strategic planning session at the County of Simcoe. The purpose of the meeting was to reaffirm the direction County Council is taking over the next few years. Many confirmed that as a County we must be fiscally diligent but at the same time respond to the growing needs of the 450,000 residents it services.

The meeting was very productive and the engagement of all the Councillors is encouraging and a true effort of “for the greater good” was prevalent in the lively discussions.

There is much work to do in County capital projects which needs to be balanced with confirmed sources of revenue. The Administrative Staff were directed to come back with different scenarios for next year’s budget based on low tax increases and what the impacts may be for the Long Term Financial Plan. Keep tuned to the County information as 30% of your taxes goes to the County.

At the Township level our Long term Financial Plan, based on three growth scenarios is progressing quite well with lively dialogue from all parties involved. The challenge is projecting the assessment values of the new developments since higher density development is new to Springwater. I have difficulty accepting a premise that just because it is being built in Midhurst, the assessment value will be more than a similar property in Barrie. We need to make sure we have this right as the future financial sustainability and viability will be based on what we conclude in this plan. If we get it wrong, and overestimate the assessment values, our revenues could fall short of projections and we, the tax payer, will pick up the difference. A good example is with the County as a comparison. The County conducted a DC Charge study in 2011. It included projections based on some optimistic forecasts. Starting in 2012, through to today, it has come up dramatically short of the projected revenue levels leaving a large DC reserve shortfall. Even using an optimistic view it will take many years to stabilize this shortfall. With Springwater being a smaller municipality, if we miscalculate our financial projections, it will result in a dramatic impact and could hit your wallet significantly. We will persist until we have the financial projections correct.

I was pleased to participate in a number of events in the township recently. The Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival Banquet was a sold out event and Kevin Frankish’s Elmvale centric version of Jeopardy was great. I found a few things I didn’t know about the history of the local area. Great laughs were had by all. Many local organizations benefit from this annual event and its 50^th Anniversary was one of the best they had in recent years.

The Bike Safety poster competition in all our schools brought over a 100 submissions from area elementary schools. The schools narrowed it down to four winners and the Community Policing Committee hosted a lunch at the Township Administration Centre for these students and their families. I had the opportunity of presenting the certificates and had each of them explain the meaning of their particular posters. This type of peer education is so effective. Kids accept and absorb information more readily from their peers as compared to someone in a position of authority. I congratulate everyone involved with this fun initiative.

The Pow Wow on June 13^th at Springwater Park was well attended and put life back into this sacred and special ground. Working with the MNR and Ontario Parks, our Springwater property maintenance staff assisted in preparing the grounds for the event in exchange for some consideration from the MNR. Working together we can provide benefits and opportunities to local area residents without burdening the taxpayer. We have been in dialogue with the Ministry and our First Nations People offering our assistance in expediting the reopening of this valuable asset. For a point of clarification, the MNR and Ontario Parks has confirmed that Springwater Park will remain a Crown asset and owned by the people of Ontario. There is no intention of handing over ownership to any other party. There is certainly discussion on uses of portions of the Park, so it is important to keep things in perspective.

Since people keep asking about the progress of the potential developments in Midhurst, we will be adding correspondence to the Township website in the Midhurst Secondary Plan section to make everyone aware of some of the challenges we encounter when trying to resolve a growth plan far beyond anything we have ever experienced. We are progressing as fast as possible with the Environmental Assessments and Long Term Financial Studies and all parties are committed to the process. Whatever happens, the execution must be well managed and must prove to be a net benefit to all residents of Springwater.

Even though we, as a Council are being more transparent than ever before, with many public meetings and open hours, the Township has received a Freedom of Information request to have access to my personal email account, which would suggest that some party feels there is something untoward. It is an interesting request as my personal email is not under the control of the Township and they have no access to it. On the other hand my Springwater email account is under the control of the Township and would be subject to such a request. The Act is not clear and we await direction from the Privacy Commissioner. The request was predictable and will not detract me from doing what is best for Springwater.

Two important matters for Elmvale came to the table at the last Council Meeting. The Elmvale Curling Club as many know had a major facility failure which cut their season short. Even though, the Township is not a lending institution, Council responded to a request for a loan to replace the equipment. The Curling club will repay the loan over a 5 year period at prevailing borrowing rates and are expected to actually repay it in 18 months, after they apply and are successful with some grant applications for 2016. Of greatest importance to the Elmvale Community is Elmvale District High School and its long overdue renovation and expansion. Even though Education is a provincial responsibility, the previous Council agreed that we as a Township had to show our commitment. Councillor Ritchie was a crusader in the last Council and this term supported by Councillor Austin, Council increased the commitment from $200,000 to $300,000, using part of the Elmvale Hydro Fund reserve which can only be used for Elmvale based projects. I know Councillor Ritchie would have preferred more and has made me clearly aware that he felt we could have done more. The positive thing here was that the resolution was supported unanimously by all of Council.

In closing people have been asking me, “so what do you think of the job so far”. The simple answer is “I love it”. I have always able to get the best out of people throughout my career and I feel I am having a positive impact on Springwater and we have just started. The support, enthusiasm and involvement of this council, with their fresh ideas, working closely with our management and staff, makes it even that much more enjoyable. We had a great turnout for our staff BBQ and all Council were present to express our appreciation for the work they do. I also really enjoy the visits when people drop in on Friday afternoons.

There are definitely challenges as anyone at our last Council Meeting will attest, but we are all in it for the right reasons is my belief. Come to Council Meetings and judge for yourself.

Springwater Happenings from the Mayor's View

There has been a lot of activity with both the Township of Springwater and the County of Simcoe in recent weeks.

The Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival had record crowds and excellent weather this year. The Pancake Breakfast had long lineups but was well worth the wait. The log sawing contest had 17 teams competing and was again a must see event. Congratulations go to winners MPP Garfield Dunlop and Jane for winning the Open competition by a wide margin. The Ladies event was won by our own Springwater Fire Services Volunteers Karen Todd and Lesley French. Special recognition also goes out to two more Township representatives as runner-ups in the Ladies division, Councilor Jennifer Coughlin and Community Liaison Janine Peck. I would be remiss if I did not mention the Friday Night Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival Variety Show at Elmvale District High School and the Youth Awards. The talent was of such a caliber that any of these young singers and performers could have competed on some of our top TV talent shows such as the Voice or America’s Got Talent. The Youth Awards were presented to Adrianna McGinnis, Sydney McGee and Brendan Rebidoux of EDHS and Fraser Swan of St. Teresa’s. Congratulations and our special thanks for all that you do.

We at Springwater have undertaken the development of a vision and direction for our own economic development strategy in Springwater and more will come as time progresses. I am also the Western representative for Springwater, Clearview, Collingwood and Wasaga Beach on the County of Simcoe Economic Development sub-committee and we had our first meeting last week. OMAFRA also hosted an excellent municipal workshop last week for the Economic Development Officers and other interested parties at the County Museum. It was very informative and will help all of us develop plans to create job opportunities in our area.

Springwater Park is an important part of Springwater Township’s fabric. The Ministry of Natural Resources has been negotiating with our First Nations people to establish an agreement to reopen the Park. The original plan was targeted for the upcoming Victoria Day Weekend. I spoke to the local Ministry representative and my First Nations contact and there are some delays but both are optimistic that a deal is imminent. I did offer the assistance of Springwater to expedite the opening day and, if necessary, possibly becoming an interim transitional operator, which would be subject to Springwater Council’s approval of course.

The last election spoke loudly to Springwater being in control of future development in the township so we can grow progressively and in an orderly fashion and avoid the problems of uncontrolled growth. For quite some time, planning has been reactionary in that developers table proposals and the township responds. What we as a Township plan to do is develop a new planning document that directs developers to where, when, how and what we want in all areas of Springwater. Step one is to bring everyone up to speed on the process of updating and creating a new Official Plan as the current Springwater OP dates back to 1998 and has been unchanged except for some Official Plan Amendments and Secondary Plans such as Hillsdale and Midhurst. The Province suggests that Official Plans should be updated every 5 years, so our current plan is well past its useful shelf life. We are engaging well respected Planning Consultant Bob Lehman and Associates to lead our workshop.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with Jim Wilson, the Interim Conservative and Opposition Leader, and requested his continued support for improvements and expansion of Elmvale District High School. We discussed residential growth issues and concerns in Springwater and I reported on Deputy Don Allen’s and my excellent meeting with Minister McMeekin in March. I also asked that he consider requesting some provincial funding for a transit study that might see Springwater working with Barrie to expand its bus routes into Springwater, especially in the Midhurst area.

I must congratulate the Midhurst Ratepayers Association for hosting a very informative meeting last week featuring expert speakers on a variety of subjects.

Your councilors are eager to respond to your questions and are always open to suggestions and comments. Do not hesitate to contact them.

Aside from the fact that I invite you to phone and set up a meeting with me at any time, starting May 8^th, I am setting aside every Friday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. and inviting you to drop in for a chat with me personally without an appointment. I will treat you to a cup of coffee or a glass of water. You elected me to be your voice, so let me know what is important to you and I will bring that to Council. Let’s talk!

Agriculture - A Key Economic Driver

One of my key points during last Fall’s election campaign was Agriculture. As soon as I was elected I requested to be the Simcoe County representative on the Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture and I am also an alternate on the County Agricultural Liaison Committee. Farming is the key economic driver in Springwater and I want to do my part to see it prosper.

I attended the Ontario Farmland Preservation’s Farmland Forum in Durham over a week ago, which is an annual event that moves around the province. There was a general concern by farmers about the loss of agricultural land to urban sprawl and the increasing red tape with governments at all levels.

There was much discussion and at times misunderstanding of the impact of the proposed expanded Greenbelt that would freeze lands from any further encroachment by urban sprawl. Some considered it positive while others were skeptical about its effect.

Some farmers expressed concern on how they will be able to cash in at the end of their career and liquidate their farm assets for retirement. This is a real issue as some next generation farm offspring are leaving the farm for careers elsewhere.

In California the American Farmland Trust has been able to connect Cap and Trade of Greenhouse gases and using those funds have purchased easement rights in perpetuity for agricultural land, removing it from the threat of urban sprawl and forcing smarter growth in urban centres. Pennsylvania has a similar model but uses funding from State and Municipal levels to secure easements in perpetuity for farmland. In the last 25 years, Pennsylvania has secured 4,700 farms, 500,000 acres and invested $1.3B to protect farmland from urban sprawl. In Ontario we have a volunteer program with Ontario Farmland Trust that works with various agencies and NGO’s to secure and preserve both environmentally sensitive and farmland throughout the province. Talking to both the MMAH and OMAFRA representatives at the conference, Ontario government officials will be visiting Pennsylvania this year and the Wynne government hopes to develop a similar program to help retiring farmers and preserve this valuable resource.

I also travelled to Ottawa for Ontario Farm Day on Tuesday last week and attended a reception with a number of Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries to MP’s and Senators. Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture representatives from our area met with local MP’s Peter Van Loan, Patrick Brown, Bruce Stanton and Kellie Leitch to echo their concerns. Ontario farmers in primary agriculture contribute $13.7 billion in receipts, and $8.1 billion in wages. They spend $12 billion on farm inputs and generate $1.4 billion in provincial tax revenues. More than 70% of Ontario Farm products remain in the province and combined with the food and beverage processors add $21.3 billion to the Ontario economy. The food processing sector employs 91,000 people. The farming community is asking the Federal Government to assist smaller municipalities like Springwater with investment in infrastructure such as natural gas and broadband services. If the Federal Government can provide more funding to the local municipality then the local tax rates can be reduced or at least controlled from escalating at a high rate.

The OFA continually lobby governments at all levels, but we must help their voice be heard. Farmers now represent only about 1.5% of the population of Ontario and less than 10% of the total rural population. They are concerned that urban centres and at times, a lack of voice, are driving the growth that infringes on good farming practices.

As we all know in Springwater close to 90% of our non-farm workers leave the township every day for employment. We need to protect that 100% population that works on the farm and is the most vibrant part of our local economy.

Check out the township website for my report to Council on the meeting Deputy Mayor Allen and I had with Minister McMeekin, requesting that development control be put back in the hands of the township rather than being dictated by outside interests.

We had an excellent turnout at the Public Meeting last week where a developer is asking to increase the density of a development by 50%, which appears to be out of character for the community of Elmvale. Your voice was both heard and noted. We will work with the developer to hopefully achieve a compromise that is acceptable to the area residents.

There was an excellent meeting in Barrie hosted by the provincial government to gather input on the coordinated review of a number of provincial growth and environmental plans. A common theme was to protect both the environment and agricultural land, irreplaceable resources.

Keep informed and involved with Springwater by checking out our website www.springwwater.ca and the calendar of meetings. Also stay close to the action and read this excellent local paper, the Springwater News and check out our regular Springwater Link and Council Corner columns. Be part of the solution and have your say. This Council does want to hear from you. You are seeing columns from most of Council and they do want to engage you in our local government and keep you informed. I am quite pleased at these efforts.

Contact me at 705-728-4784 ext. 2040 or my cell at 705-718-7031 or email at bill.french@springwater.ca and follow me on twitter @MayorFrench

My View - Mayor French

You will find some details in the Springwater Council Corner article in Springwater News www.springwaternews.ca outlining some activities at an OGRA/ROMA conference that I, the Deputy Mayor and some senior management attended recently. The conference did make me think about some things beyond my immediate Springwater boundary after listening to some of the Provincial Ministers at the various sessions. With that in mind here are some thoughts and questions.

Ontario is faced with challenging financial times and its debt servicing absorbs a lot of funds that could be better spent on actual services. Quite often I hear at Springwater Council and also at Simcoe County Council that we should have more funding to do this or that from higher levels of government. We at the municipal level have had numerous things downloaded from the province over the last 20 years. Unfortunately for all of us there is only one tax payer and I believe the Province has run out of money, so we can’t depend on them in the future. We as local politicians must focus on controlling costs and finding our own sources of revenue. The best thing the Province could do is put the actual governance of our local municipalities back in our hands instead of having Ministries like Municipal Affairs and Housing and Infrastructure and agencies such as the OMB decide what is good for us.

I know no one wants to ever question the subject of health care, as we all need it, but it is a Provincial responsibility. Since that is the case why has the County provided Capital Funding for local hospitals to the tune of $60,000,000 over the last 20 years. To me that is an extra tax being applied to the hard working people of our area. I also question why we as a township pay money into physician recruitment for local hospitals but see no direct doctors setting up shop in our local communities.

What about our education system? Does it make sense that by using some Ministry of Education formulas and area review committees, that schools like Penetanguishene High School or Barrie Central are closed and the protests of the area residents fall on deaf ears. Here is another question. Does Barrie really need another university when it has a well established College of 50 years that has created a very effective University Partnership Centre offering a variety of degree courses and by their own admission could handle another 5,000 student intake? I ask that question as we are already funding a new university in Orillia. Is that not enough?

It would be nice to have hospitals and universities on every corner like fast food outlets, but we can’t afford it. As governments, we need to focus on what people actually need rather than what would be nice to have. Until then, we will continue on a downward spiral.

Over the next four years I plan to ask these questions of the higher levels of government. You need to ask the same questions of your local MP and MPP.

Now back to our township. As a Springwater council we are only as good as you make us. Keep informed and email or phone us regularly. I appreciate the calls and visits I have had on a variety of issues that range from flooding in back yards, fallen trees, extension of Barrie Transit into Midhurst, to the lack of high speed internet in some of our communities. In each case I follow through and engage others when necessary. In some cases, the answer I or someone on the Springwater management team provides is not what the person would like to hear, but we will be straight with you; that I promise.

I encourage you as individuals and local advocacy groups to engage our elected officials at all levels of government and start pushing back. We live in a wonderful community, township, county, province and country, but if we don’t start focusing on reality, we will leave a legacy that is not very promising for our future generations. We all need to speak up!

On a positive note we will be hosting our first Town Hall meeting in Elmvale to listen to your opinions on what is important to you and your community. The date will be set shortly.

Contact me at 705-728-4784 ext. 2040 or my cell at 705-718-7031 or email at bill.french@springwater.ca and follow me on twitter @MayorFrench