For those who oppose TC Energy’s controversial hydro-electric pumped storage proposal, it can be uncomfortable, if not infuriating, to see council discussing future negotiations for community benefits, among other considerations, should the project ultimately move forward. It is important however, even when faced with what has been an unpopular proposal for many, for council to prepare as best as possible for any eventuality, and to ensure that if the project moves forward, there will be some benefit, hopefully significant benefit to the residents of this municipality.
If council and the municipality don’t prepare in advance for the possibility that the project ultimately moves forward, this community could find itself not being appropriately compensated for the significant disruption and inconvenience that will be felt during the years of construction, again if the proposed pumped storage plant is ultimately realized.
A balancing act indeed, but one that is necessary, as our small town council continues to navigate the world of a multi-billion dollar project proposal in our own backyard.
It is certainly a challenge for council to explore and negotiate community benefits to come from a proposal that many residents strongly oppose.
No matter one’s views about members of council and any positions they might hold on local issues, it can’t be denied that the pumped storage issue, as massive and as controversial as it is, has put council in an unenviable position.
To use a term that Councillor Tony Bell shared a couple of weeks ago at council, the pumped storage project proposal has forced our small town council and municipal administration to have to ‘punch way above its weight’.
Local residents are always right to be concerned with any major development proposal, particularly one that will cost multi-billions of dollars to construct over several years. The sheer magnitude of the pumped storage proposal is almost hard to imagine.
The issue is complex for many reasons of course, not the least of which is that the project is proposed to be built on federal land, on our local military base, stripping council of much of its say and influence had the project been proposed for truly municipal land.
Councillor Tony Bell made a point at a recent council meeting, insisting that a motion put forward by the Deputy Mayor should specifically state that the project, while proposed to be located within the Municipality of Meaford, is more specifically proposed to be built on federally controlled land. Bell is right of course, it should always be highlighted that the land in question is federally controlled land, which strips away much of council’s influence on the proposed project.
As the provincial government noted in their recent announcement of an investment of up to $285 million to advance ‘pre-development’ work for the proposal, which will include the completion of a detailed cost estimate along with environmental impact assessments, it is the province that “will make a final decision on the project once a detailed cost estimate is complete, ensuring the project is built only when it is in the best interest of Ontario ratepayers.” Not the Municipality of Meaford, but the Province of Ontario.
On the bright side, in our system of municipal governance, such issues are discussed by council in public with cameras recording, allowing anyone to view council discussions at their leisure, without having to be physically present at a council meeting.
Public input and participation is of course paramount. From my observations over the past few years, local residents badly want to be heard by our elected representatives, from our local councillors to our MPP and MP. Perhaps more than being heard, I think many want those elected representatives to acknowledge that they have actually heard, and that their voices matter.
Personally, I would love to see a quarterly town hall-style meeting held by the mayor along with some members of council, and invited guests such as provincial and TC Energy representatives that would allow residents to share their concerns, and to hear from council and others directly about their own concerns as well as their plans, which of course are ever evolving as time marches on.
The mayor and members of council are busy folks of course, and perhaps my desire for a quarterly town hall meeting isn’t practical, but I think both council and residents would benefit from more opportunities for direct discussions in a public setting, outside of the formalities of a regular council meeting.
Whether people agree with a proposal, or if they are strongly opposed, council must explore every angle, and they must work to ensure that this municipality is in the best position possible should the project move forward.
Unfortunately we aren’t talking about a few hundred unit residential development, but instead, a massive industrial mega-project that will cost billions of dollars and will take several years to construct, a project where the real influence is at the provincial and federal level.
Residents of a small, rural community are often powerless in these sorts of situations, which makes it even more crucial for our council to explore and negotiate the very best community benefit package they can, so that should the project move forward in spite of the significant and vocal opposition, this community at the very least sees some rewards, some real benefits as compensation for all the friction created within the municipality, for all of the time and resources the issue has taken up, and for the several years of chaos and inconvenience that is sure to come during the construction phase.
While a municipal council is entrusted with making decisions that are in the best interest of the community at large, sometimes they must make the best of a bad situation, sometimes they need to plan for the worst while hoping for the best.
The Deputy Mayor’s motion, approved by council on Monday, seeking to establish a bylaw and a framework for dealing with proposals that fall outside of provincial planning processes is wise, but perhaps a little early. This small municipality has never been faced with such a massive project proposal before, and it is certainly frustrating for council to have so little control over such a such major project that could be built within Meaford’s borders. And while I think having a policy in place for future out-of-the-ordinary proposals is a great idea, I would have thought that such a policy would come after we get through this current ordeal so that we could apply all that we have and will learn during this process to a bylaw and framework.
As was noted during Monday’s council meeting, proposals that fall outside provincial planning processes are rare, but not unheard of; they can be large or small (communication towers were given as an example), so it is wise to have a process on the books to handle these sorts of files. Whatever bylaw staff produces, and whatever bylaw council approves is sure to change significantly several years from now after this experience with the biggest project proposal that Meaford has seen, and is likely ever to see, is concluded.
