Recovering money appropriate, responsible
Editor:
I am writing in regards to the letter to the editor by Donna Baylis in last week’s Echo.
I always encourage people to be more aware of what happens at county council, however Ms. Baylis should have taken more time to learn the facts about the Beeton Woods issue.
The property in question is located near the village of Beeton and is privately owned (not public) and is zoned agricultural. The residents of Beeton trespassed onto this private property on a regular basis and used it as their own personal forest. The property owner decided he wanted to clear the trees and use it for agricultural purposes (which is allowed with a permit). In January 2012, a stop work order was placed on the property for tree cutting without a permit under the Forest Conservation Bylaw.
Following discussions with the owner, Ministry of Natural Resources, The NVCA and Simcoe County, terms of a permit were agreed upon by all parties which included the preparation and acceptance of an Environmental Impact Study, a reduction in the clearing area, protection of certain features and replanting of some Butternut trees (these are the only protected species on site).
In January 2015 a permit was granted by decision of county council to allow tree clearing under the agreed terms. Following the issue of the agreed terms and the beginning of tree cutting, local residents expressed concern about disturbance of cultural heritage. The county issued another stop work order to hear from the local residents.
The owner appealed the stop work order and after consultation with legal counsel it was determined that the fairest way to deal with this issue was to hold an appeal hearing before county council (as provided for in the Forest Conservation By-Law).
The hearing was conducted in two parts. On April 14, 2016 at county council chambers and many local Beeton residents spoke at the hearing, expressing their objections to the clearing of the forest. The second part was on May 12, 2016 where county council deliberated and made the decision to issue the permit (lift the stop work order).
One must remember this is still private property being cleared for agricultural use as permitted by the agricultural zoning and all conditions of the permit were being met by the property owner.
Up until then, involved parties had legal representation at both parts of the hearing and AWARE Simcoe was present in the gallery video recording the events.
Following the hearing the county and the property owner were served with an application to the Divisional Court for a judicial review. The application was made by AWARE Simcoe alleging that county council had conducted the hearing improperly.
AWARE Simcoe also applied for an interim order to prevent any tree cutting while awaiting a decision on the judicial review.
Up until then the County of Simcoe had incurred thousands of dollars in legal fees and now additional legal fees would be incurred defending the appeal by AWARE Simcoe.
The judge hearing the matter (Justice Eberhard) determined that Simcoe County had not acted improperly and determined that the case for AWARE Simcoe had little chance for success and therefore denied the interim order. As part of the order Justice Eberhard invited Simcoe County and the Property Owner to make submissions to costs. Justice Eberhard awarded $25,000 to the property owner and $5,000 to Simcoe County.
Simcoe County council then went into deliberation to determine if the county should recover the settlement awarded to them.
It was determined that the thousands of dollars in legal costs dealing with this issue and additional costs defending the appeal by AWARE Simcoe was an undue expense to the taxpayer and efforts to recover what monies the county could was appropriate and the responsible course of action on behalf of the taxpayer.
In closing, I encourage all residents of Simcoe County to express any concerns or issues that may occur in their community.
I am always available and I will do my best to provide accurate information.
I am amazed how difficult it is to get information to the public but how quickly incorrect information can spread.
This is certainly not a SLAPP suit and AWARE Simcoe’s actions created a situation that forced added expenses on the back of the taxpayer.
Barry Burton,
Deputy Mayor Clearview Township
Creemore.
