On October
23 at the Simcoe County Museum with coffee and timbits, the new city of
Midhurst was unveiled by the developers. In a word, it is a beautiful
development and great planning if it were in Barrie, Orillia, Midland or
Alliston. It is not the typical small developments we have seen in Springwater
since the beginning of rural living by urban workers. This is no Snow Valley or
even the new large Yorkwood development on Sunnidale. The City of Midhurst is
simply massive and unprecedented for a small rural municipality.
I was
surprised to see our Mayor Linda Collins lead off the festivities and CAO Robert
Brindley speak to the order of the development process. A layperson had no
doubt that the Springwater Council was in 100% support of everything that was
presented and the landowners group did a great job at conducting the orchestra.
Few would understand that the command performance of all councillors being
present that two of them are opposed to what is planned. Only Hanna and Ritchie
have had the courage to push back the tide of the runaway train called the
Midhurst Secondary Plan.
I spent a
lot of time speaking with the developer’s experts and they were well prepared
and answered all my questions openly and honestly. To be frank much more
honestly and informed than the answers I have received from some of the elected
officials.
The first
question I had was quite simple, “Why build such a large development in
Midhurst instead of Barrie which is a designated primary settlement area?
Straight forward answer. The province is running out of development land and
the landowners group and developer don’t own land in Barrie. The developers saw
an opportunity and through lobbying and salesmanship convinced those in power
that developing a city in Midhurst was a good idea. I don’t make that remark as
a criticism of the developer, but I do criticize our council and staff for not
properly defending the rural landscape and needs of our township. Developers
are in business to build houses. That is what they do. They answer to investors
and shareholders and owners the same as any business does. They, unfortunately
for us, are doing a great job for their stakeholders. I suggest you read the recent
Christopher Hume article, Toronto
Star, Oct. 27, 2013 for
a better overview of the problem with urban sprawl.
It was
clear from the beginning that the designer has a lot of experience and has
created wonderful community designs for urban centres. It was painfully clear
that the Midhurst rural landscape is designed to be a future city landscape
when the bulldozers move in. That is just the way it is and I offer no
criticism about the design. My criticism has always been that these mega
developments have no place in rural municipalities and it was never the intent
of the province to permit this urban sprawl. I went as far as to say to the
developers that I like their city designs and if I wanted to be a city dweller
I would love to live in one of their developments. I also told them that,
unfortunately for them, I chose to live in a rural community away from urban
sprawl, so their development plans are unwelcomed by most of those directly
impacted.
I did
clarify and received confirmation that based on the Altus Report of 2009 that
the Landowners Group and developers will pay for all the new infrastructure
related to their planned mega growth. That is good, as I could not get lucid
answers that made sense from our township. The developers lawyer did emphasize
that it must be growth related to their developments and that raises a little
red flag as I do believe their version of growth related infrastructure costs and
the township’s vision may be different tunes from the same hymn book. I hope
that gets clarified in the EA 3 and 4 studies. I won’t do my math right now but
just point out that the initial infrastructure is $100M paid for by the
landowners and developers. The replacement and maintenance will come from
our taxes. Keep in mind that 50 years from now the replacement cost will be
$250M based on an annualized inflation rate of 2%. That’s means we must set
aside about $5M a year to have the funds to replace it and probably another $5M
a year to maintain and operate it. These costs come from our tax dollars not
development charges! That is a little scary and has been the cause of
concern for Barrie, Mississauga and Vaughan which has resulted in huge fiscal deficits
and tax increases. Currently we have an annual infrastructure deficit of about
$2.5M which we started to borrow to keep on track. That part of the debt will
grow by about $10M during the term of this council at the current rate.
The
engineer informed me that the wastewater treatment plant discharge into Willow
Creek will represent as much as a 30% increase in volume in a low flow
situation. That somewhat shocked me and I hope the NVCA and MOE address what
could become an ecological disaster. News on CTV this week states that there is
a growing concern in regard to the water quality of the Nottawasga Watershed. Nancy
Chong from Midhurst wrote a great article recently about other affected
species. This mega development will not enhance it. When questioned about the
phosphorus, the engineer stated there are new technologies but they are very
expensive. So how much will this water treatment plant really cost in the end and
what will be the impact on our taxes as it is operated and maintained? I know
if someone gave me a two million dollar home, I could not afford the heat, the hydro and the taxes.
If the developer pays in excess of a $100M for infrastructure, will the
operating cost have the same impact on us as a township. Will we get something
free but cannot afford to operate it and maintain it unless we double our
taxes?
It is
unfortunate that there was not an open question period at the meeting, but as I
said the landowners and developers paid the orchestra to play the tunes they
wanted us to hear. I quite enjoyed my discussions with some of the key people
and I will continue to meet with them and ask the questions that should be
routine from our elected officials. It is unfortunate that only Hanna and
Ritchie are concerned about the possible impacts of the mega developments
around Midhurst. I don’t understand the blind embracement of the MSP plan by
the rest of council, as I can see no net benefit. It will be harmful to the
social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the township and each of us as
residents. Ironically the Living Green Environmental Action Barrie eco friendly
organization that sent a number of glowing letters in 2009 supporting the
development of the City of Midhurst have now withdrawn all those letters. I
would think that our council would pause and find out why that happened, but
not much was said when the withdrawal letter was received at last Monday’s
Planning Meeting.
Keep
informed. Read this wonderful newspaper we have. Ask the township to include you
on the mailing or email list to receive all information regarding the
developments of the Midhurst area. Please come to Council and Planning meetings
as you must decide who you think should be running this township when you vote
next year in the municipal election.
It is great
that many more people are attending the meetings as residents throughout the township
are beginning to realize that the mega developments and creation of the City of
Midhurst will impact each and everyone of us.
A special
mention of all those that did attend the open house and asked some challenging
questions to those present. We all must keep informed and start asking our
council why are they so convinced that this new City of Midhurst is a positive
move for Springwater.
