‘Comprehendable’ report coming, non-resident fees going
by Roger Varley
The township’s planning consultant, Elizabeth Howson, said Monday that she will deliver her final report on the Grainboys application on Monday, March 11.
Commenting to council Monday night on a communication from Kresho Petrovich of Grainboys Inc. regarding residents’ concerns over the Grainboys application for a zoning bylaw amendment, Howson said the report will be made available to the public well ahead of council making its final decision on the application April 8. Grainboys is seeking the amendment in order to build a dry grain cleaning plant featuring 18 60-foot silos just east of Goodwood.
After reading Petrovich’s letter, which was supposed to answer questions raised by residents about the proposed plant, Councillor Gordon Highet offered that the answers were the same as those given by the company last summer.
“We tried to get clarity,” he said, “(but) this makes me even more confused.”
Howson, acknowledging that the Grainboys response still left some questions, said she will read all submissions made by Grainboys so far and then put together “a comprehendable” report.
On the question of possible noise from the plant, Howson said Grainboys’ response that it will meet noise regulations is not sufficient, saying they have to show how they will do it.
However, Councillor Gary Ruona said he visited Grainboys’ Aurora facility recently and found the noise factor outside that plant to be “minimal.” Mayor Dave Barton said he had also visited the plant and found the noise level low.
“I’m pretty comfortable with the business,” he said.
Also mentioned at Monday night’s council meeting – fee relief for out-of-towners. A letter to council from a number of Uxbridge sports groups asked council to review its policy of charging extra fees to non-residents playing with the groups and using local facilities.
Grant Oliver of the Uxbridge Soccer Club was asked to speak to the matter, and said that sports groups are all experiencing markedly reduced numbers of participants, particularly since the out-of-towner fee was introduced in 2012.
Mayor Barton said the fee was introduced when the sports groups were “at capacity” but noted that numbers are dropping across the board.
“Now it’s hurting sports,” he said.
Council agreed to waive the out-of-towner fee for this year, with Councillor Bruce Garrod, chair of the finance committee, saying the amount of money involved is not significant enough to affect the Recreation Department’s revenue projections for the 2019 budget. The mayor added that the move will likely increase revenue by attracting back non-resident players.