Latest / North Shore News / October 1st, 2025

Transcript

October 1st, 2025 · North Shore News

• 0:07
  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
• 0:10
  Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
• 0:14
  on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
• 0:17
  that we've had with people in the local community
• 0:20
  and beyond. Westbridge Renewable Energy has recognized
• 0:28
  there's still work to be done in gaining public
• 0:30
  support for their proposed solar farm in Loyalist
• 0:33
  Township. The company has committed to undertake
• 0:35
  indigenous and community engagement activities
• 0:38
  and incorporate the feedback as the project moves
• 0:40
  forward. Chief Operating Officer for the company
• 0:43
  and Vice President of Switzerville Solar, Margaret
• 0:46
  McKenna, explains where they're at with the project.
• 0:49
  During consultation, we've heard positive, we've
• 0:51
  heard negative, and we've heard constructive.
• 0:53
  We believe most of that can be incorporated,
• 0:56
  mitigated, or overcome in future planning and
• 1:01
  design. There is work to be done still. and we
• 1:04
  acknowledge that. We believe that the project
• 1:06
  will have a positive impact on the community
• 1:09
  and the township as a whole, while also contributing
• 1:12
  clean, emission -free energy to support Ontario's
• 1:16
  future. While still showing support for the project,
• 1:19
  Council is making sure the company does their
• 1:20
  due diligence. Development Services Manager with
• 1:23
  the Township, Andrea Furness, details some of
• 1:25
  the environmental work that will need to be done.
• 1:27
  As part of the planning application, we would
• 1:29
  require an environmental impact assessment on
• 1:31
  that property. There is environmental protection
• 1:34
  lands going through the property, traversing
• 1:36
  the property through the water course. So that
• 1:38
  would be a requirement. We would where they would
• 1:41
  have to dress everything on species at risk habitat,
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  wildlife habitat, all of that would have to be
• 1:45
  looked at by an ecologist. And the Township uses
• 1:48
  a third party peer reviewer to evaluate that
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  as well. determine if there's impacts and to
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  help form how any development can occur on the
• 1:56
  site without negatively impacting any natural
• 1:59
  heritage features and their ecological functions.
• 2:02
  There are some concerns. The proponent recognized
• 2:06
  that there is homework yet to be done, and I
• 2:08
  think there's a recognition that council wants
• 2:10
  to ensure that that homework. Is it done? Council
• 2:13
  passed a resolution in support of the company
• 2:14
  at their latest meeting to help with the company's
• 2:17
  bid for federal funding. At an August 25th open
• 2:19
  house regarding the project, there were various
• 2:22
  concerns from residents in regards to communication,
• 2:25
  groundwater and the potential to destroy wildlife
• 2:27
  habitat. Councillor Paul Proderick speaks about
• 2:29
  the importance of public engagement and moving
• 2:32
  towards clean energy options in the future. We've
• 2:34
  been down this road before and I think Back early
• 2:38
  in our term of council, we asked staff to develop
• 2:43
  a policy in terms of engagement, and they followed
• 2:45
  that rather extensively. You know, clean energy,
• 2:50
  in my judgment, that's the direction we should
• 2:52
  be taking. It fits into our climate action plan.
• 2:55
  Councillor Lorna Willis sympathized with those
• 2:57
  voicing concerns, but spoke about the importance
• 2:59
  of moving forward as well. I do know what it's
• 3:02
  like to live within a project space. Although,
• 3:06
  you know, I am supporting the motion because
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  I do agree that we do have to do our part to
• 3:10
  move forward with green energy in the township.
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  The proposed project would be located on approximately
• 3:15
  800 acres of private land near Switzerville and
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  would be capable of supplying energy to 20 ,000
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  homes. The target operation date is May 2030.
• 3:25
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 3:27
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
• 3:31
  News. A clean energy company looking to build
• 3:40
  an energy storage center in Loyalist promised
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  the project would bring 670 direct construction
• 3:45
  jobs and 40 permanent jobs to the area. HydroStore
• 3:49
  presented their plans for creating the Quinte
• 3:50
  Energy Storage Center to Loyalist Township Council.
• 3:54
  The proposed site is on a portion of an already
• 3:56
  existing industrial aggregate site near the intersection
• 3:59
  of County Road 22 and Townline Road. Staff with
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  the company noted that each phase of the project
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  will provide over $1 .4 billion in economic benefits
• 4:07
  to Ontario. including the boost in local jobs.
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  The company will also be making long -term direct
• 4:13
  contributions to the Township and County through
• 4:15
  a community benefits fund. Vice President of
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  Business Development with Hydrostore, Shahir
• 4:20
  Aziz, explains the project and why they chose
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  the area. The Quinty Energy Storage Centre is
• 4:25
  a energy storage project that we have been working
• 4:27
  on for the past couple of years in Lennox and
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  Addington County. The reason why we are so attracted
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  to this location is that we want to be adjacent
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  to the Lennox Transformers Station, which is
• 4:37
  a critical transformer station in the province
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  of Ontario. It allows for power to transfer east
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  towards Ottawa, as well as transferring power
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  west towards Toronto. when needed. Aziz speaks
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  about the jobs the project looks to bring to
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  the area. We are a long -term infrastructure
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  project. What that means is that we actually
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  need to be constructed on site and on the ground,
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  which is really good for boosting local economy
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  as well as regional economy. Our project will
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  create approximately 670 full -time construction
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  jobs as well as 40 jobs once it's actually operating.
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  And what's really exciting about these jobs is
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  that these job opportunities once operating are
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  not you know jobs that need to come away from.
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  take away from any industry but rather repurposing
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  jobs that come out of the fossil fuel generation
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  space. We're going to be driving local benefits
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  to both the local Indigenous communities as well
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  as working with your Township to see what opportunities
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  for our project to really work and contribute
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  to the community. Aziz highlights the work they've
• 5:39
  been doing in the area. We've been working on
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  two sites in this area. With one of the sites
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  we like to call Quinty East, the location of
• 5:47
  the site, proposed site, is on the northern end
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  of an existing quarry located on an industrial
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  aggregate site in Loyalist. We have been able
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  to screen the site from a desktop environmental
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  screening perspective as well as conduct studies
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  to understand the interconnection capacity and
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  start to move ahead with some of the feasibility
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  and development of the site. We have also partnered
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  with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinty who are
• 6:10
  our First Nation Indigenous partners for the
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  project. and are supporting us on our journey
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  ahead. Aziz details the technology that Hydrostore
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  uses. Our technology is one of the lowest cost
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  long duration energy storage technologies available
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  today and it operates emissions free. What else
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  is also really unique about our technology is
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  that it has a 50 year plus operating life without
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  any degradation. That's really helpful because
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  it means that we aren't repeatedly refurbishing
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  our storage project and instead it operates like
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  any other, you could compare it to a pump storage
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  plant which is online for 50 -100 years and doesn't
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  require any major replacement. The way our technology
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  works is that you take electricity from the grid
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  when power is cheap or in excess. You use that
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  to compress air underground into an underground
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  cavern. During that process, as you are compressing
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  air, we actually take heat and we store it into
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  a thermal management system. That heat is being
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  generated when you're compressing air underground.
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  Once the system is fully charged, the air pushes
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  all the water out of the cavern and holds in
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  steady state. When you then need to generate
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  electricity, you flip a valve. The water pushes
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  the air out. The air goes up our well and through
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  our turbine generating electricity. One of the
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  primary engineers with HydroStor Lucas Texan
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  explains how the company builds its caverns and
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  notes the rock formations in the area. We site
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  our caverns specifically to be in very impermeable
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  rock formations that are not suitable for hosting
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  water. It's one of our siting criteria. The rock
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  that is in this area is excellent for that case.
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  It has very low hydraulic permeability once you're
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  below the karst formation, below that limestone
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  and into the Canadian shield, which is where
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  we would target to build our caverns. Our construction
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  shafts, which will travel from the surface down
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  to our cavern construction horizon, are cased
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  with a steel casing to ensure there's no interaction
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  between our a -case process and the groundwater.
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  speaks more about how the project will benefit
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  the province, country and local economy as well.
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  We're also going to be generating approximately
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  1 .4 billion in support of Canada's GDP. and
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  also once operating about 31 million dollars
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  per year in GDP. We've also been starting engagement
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  with Loyalist's town planning team and who have
• 8:43
  who guided us towards your requirements for community
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  engagement and a pathway towards municipal support
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  resolution and so we will be engaging following
• 8:51
  Loyalist's requirements and doing our best efforts
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  to engage with the community and proceeding ahead
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  with that as we look to move forward. For Amherst
• 8:59
  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
• 9:02
  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. All
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  sides have backed down and agreed to work together
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  after the town of Greater Napanee was warned
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  about potential legal action from the county.
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  Lennox and Addington originally requested that
• 9:22
  the town cease distributing its encampment protocol
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  map that identified public property, including
• 9:27
  county lands. Greater Napanee Council confirmed
• 9:30
  a letter they received September 9th from the
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  county states that Lennox and Addington does
• 9:34
  not intend to pursue any further legal remedy
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  to the disputes that existed. The letter also
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  noted that the county would pass its own bylaw
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  regarding the matter at hand. CAO of Greater
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  Napanee Matthew Grant explains the timeline of
• 9:47
  events. I'm pleased to say that we're now at
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  a place where I kind of wish we had started,
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  but we did receive correspondence from the County
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  of Lennox and Addington. It is their intention
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  to pursue their own bylaw. We did send a letter
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  to the County of Lennox and Addington following
• 10:04
  our last meeting. We offer to assist them in
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  their bylaw. I'm happy to share that we've already
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  made that offer to the chief administrative officer
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  of the county, as well as the head administrative
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  head of Pellis. And we sent a note to the county
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  of Lennox and Addington as they are identified
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  by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs as the service
• 10:27
  manager accountable for service delivery. And
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  we also sent a note to Pellis and the mayor sent
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  one to the Pellis chair. as the operational service
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  provider. Grant explains the latest recommendation
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  he made to Council, which they approved at their
• 10:42
  meeting. I'm recommending that we offer use of
• 10:44
  our facilities in the community and that Council
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  authorize staff to waive any fees that we might
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  charge so that when they engage in consultation,
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  as we engage in consultation, that they can do
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  so with whatever facilities at our disposal that
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  they feel will fit their plan. Grant details
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  how staff are moving forward. Council and staff
• 11:05
  look forward to putting this unfortunate incident
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  behind us. And, you know, I know that, you know,
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  staff are very much looking forward to proceeding
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  forward with our partners with mutual respect
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  and mutual support. With that in mind, we are
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  pleased to assist with any upcoming consultations,
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  bylaw development, or activities with the Summit.
• 11:31
  any of the ongoing efforts of the provincially
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  funded and mandated organizations responsible
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  for housing and homelessness. Mayor Terry Richardson
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  notes the importance of working together while
• 11:40
  trying to help unhoused individuals and families.
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  We've got to move on from this. We have to work
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  together to try and resolve a multifaceted problem
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  that exists in every municipality. in this country
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  and probably in this continent. So if we don't,
• 11:57
  we're going to continue to spin our wheels and
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  the people that we're supposed to be representing
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  are not going to be represented. For Amherst
• 12:03
  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
• 12:06
  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. The
• 12:17
  Lenox and Addington County OPP Detachment presented
• 12:19
  their annual report, including data about crime,
• 12:22
  traffic enforcement and community well -being.
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  The report noted an increase in violent crimes
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  through 2024 and the creation of a crime prevention
• 12:30
  and community support bureau. The report also
• 12:32
  highlights the detachment's initiatives and successes
• 12:35
  from the past year. Inspector David Toville noted
• 12:38
  where the department is at and what they're looking
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  forward to in the future. highlights our crime,
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  roadway, waterway and trail safety and our community
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  well -being data and highlights successes from
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  the past year. This 2024 report also as a midway
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  report for the Lennington Addington OPP 2023
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  to 2025 action plan and provides updates on our
• 12:59
  current progress and our action plan commitments.
• 13:03
  So at the end of 2025, we will be going into
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  our next action report. And what's going to be
• 13:08
  exciting about this one is this time with having
• 13:10
  our detachment board in place, we're going to
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  be working with the board who represented our
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  communities to understand what our priorities
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  are in each of the communities and that will
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  form our action. plan for our officers moving
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  forward over the next few years. We'll be able
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  to have those little milestone markers throughout
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  that term to evaluate how we're doing and pivot
• 13:34
  as needed to ensure we're meeting the needs of
• 13:36
  our community. Along with the creation of the
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  Crime Prevention and Community Support Bureau,
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  the detachment's response to an increase in violent
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  crimes includes more training for officers. Tovel
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  explains the training they've implemented. We've
• 13:48
  increased the number of officers trained in major
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  case investigations, including human trafficking,
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  intimate partner violence investigations, and
• 13:57
  investigative interviewing techniques. In courses
• 14:00
  like the human traffic investigations, these
• 14:01
  are new courses over the last few years. Again,
• 14:04
  it's a new concern in policing that we never
• 14:07
  really. had to worry about a number of years
• 14:10
  ago but it's just the reality of society now
• 14:13
  and you know we've learned that human trafficking
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  goes through all of our communities and and often
• 14:19
  it's within all of our communities it's important
• 14:20
  for our officers to to understand and recognize
• 14:23
  those signs for those types of crimes. Toville
• 14:26
  details the importance of training and notes
• 14:28
  the amount of new young officers on their front
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  line. During the 2023 to 25 action plan period
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  Our detachment lending static no PP have increased
• 14:38
  our capacity for investigative excellence in
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  a number of ways. Training has been key for us
• 14:43
  and training our people. Our detachment frontline
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  in particular is made up of a lot of new young
• 14:51
  officers. Probably most of our shifts have less
• 14:55
  than four years policing experience in. Probably
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  80 % of that is less than three years. We have
• 15:00
  officers who have been on a year and a half coaching
• 15:02
  new recruits. And that's just the reality of
• 15:04
  policing across, I think across the country.
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  So it's not unique to the OPP. It's just a reality.
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  And with that then comes a high demand for training.
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  And so that's a big burden to put on our Ontario
• 15:15
  Police College and our provincial police academy
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  out of OPP headquarters. Toville spoke about
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  road safety in the area. Our officers remain
• 15:23
  steadfast in their commitment to keeping our
• 15:24
  roads safe. We're pretty proud to say that our
• 15:27
  impaired driving enforcement has increased 20
• 15:29
  % over where it was in 2023. Our speed enforcement's
• 15:33
  increased 32 % over 2023. Our steep belt enforcement
• 15:37
  has doubled since 2023 and our distracting driving
• 15:41
  enforcement is near tripled since 2023. Fatal
• 15:46
  motor vehicle collisions were reduced and I'm
• 15:48
  pleased to report that year to date, there have
• 15:51
  been no fatalities. Personal injury collisions
• 15:54
  and property damage collisions have reduced an
• 15:57
  additional 14 % year to date right now from where
• 16:00
  they were in 2024 through the efforts of our
• 16:02
  officers. Tobil went on to speak about waterways
• 16:05
  and trails in the area as well. We've engaged
• 16:08
  with community stakeholders and regional traffic
• 16:10
  teams to address a number of specific issues
• 16:12
  on our roads, waterways and trails and during
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  this action plan period we've committed to a
• 16:19
  full -time marine program. We've done this for
• 16:21
  a few years now and between May to September
• 16:24
  the OPP has full -time operators on our waterways
• 16:27
  throughout Lennington and Addington. In 2024,
• 16:30
  our operators alone engaged more than 1 ,300
• 16:34
  operators on our waterways promoting recreational
• 16:37
  safety with a focus on preventing unnecessary
• 16:40
  injury or death. Toville noted the amount of
• 16:42
  mental health calls they received over the last
• 16:44
  year. We are down in our mental health calls
• 16:46
  this year. Last year we had 338 calls year to
• 16:48
  date. We're at 300 right now, so we are down
• 16:51
  a bit, but still 300 calls with regards to mental
• 16:55
  health. When we didn't at one time have that
• 16:58
  social services available and it was police responding
• 17:01
  who weren't trained to deal with providing the
• 17:03
  assistance to these people, that's in place now.
• 17:06
  Toville detailed some of the new technologies
• 17:08
  officers are using. The OPP has invested heavily
• 17:11
  on our frontline mobile digital technology. Over
• 17:15
  the last year, year and a half, all of our cruisers
• 17:18
  now have in -car cameras. They have cameras not
• 17:21
  only recording exterior of the car, but we also
• 17:24
  have cameras inside the front seat, back seat
• 17:27
  for when we do have prisoners. All officers now
• 17:30
  have body worn cameras that are... activated
• 17:34
  through self -activation or when we activate
• 17:37
  our emergency lights in the cruisers, not only
• 17:39
  do our in -car cameras come on, but our body
• 17:41
  -worn cameras also. And all that video evidence
• 17:44
  is captured in cloud base. Each cruiser has mobile
• 17:48
  workstations. Each officer has now been issued
• 17:51
  a mobile cell phone and the purpose of the cell
• 17:54
  phone is all the video evidence that's coming
• 17:56
  from our in -car camera, body -worn camera, and
• 18:00
  taking audio statements. That's all tethered
• 18:03
  through the mobile phone and our officers do
• 18:05
  a lot of the work in uploading that through that
• 18:07
  device. Toville explained the use of closed circuit
• 18:10
  television for officers. We've also trained our
• 18:12
  officers in the community, the new community
• 18:14
  safety outreach system, commonly referred to
• 18:16
  as a CCTV. So Greater Napanee area through grant
• 18:20
  funding and working with Leningston Addington
• 18:22
  OPP have enhanced their CCTV system in the downtown
• 18:28
  and the main intersection areas. There's a couple
• 18:30
  of years ago when I first started as a Dutch
• 18:32
  commander, there were a few cameras in place
• 18:34
  and they were looking to tear down a building.
• 18:35
  So they called me just to give me a heads up
• 18:39
  that infrastructure was going to be torn down
• 18:40
  and we were able to stop that and actually take
• 18:44
  advantage of a grant. a substantial grant from
• 18:47
  the Ontario government and the CCTV network we
• 18:49
  now have in the Greater Napanee area has got
• 18:52
  AI technology, it's got a capacity for automated
• 18:56
  license plate recognition and those sorts of
• 18:59
  things. We've used it for locating missing persons,
• 19:01
  solving crimes. And we have representatives from
• 19:08
  all of our communities. I'm very, very pleased
• 19:11
  with the relationship that we've established
• 19:14
  within the board already. So great communication
• 19:17
  and a lot of great stuff ahead. Chairman Norey
• 19:22
  and I attended Ontario Association of Police
• 19:25
  Service Board meeting. in London a couple months
• 19:27
  ago together and we're able to talk about a lot
• 19:30
  of policing issues and community safety issues
• 19:33
  that we share and the work that we're looking
• 19:36
  forward to doing in the coming year. So things
• 19:39
  are working really well there. For Amherst Island
• 19:41
  Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm
• 19:44
  Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. According
• 19:55
  to their 2024 annual report, Loyalist Township
• 19:59
  Emergency Services responded to a total of 542
• 20:02
  calls for service in 2024. This included a total
• 20:05
  of 65 fires, resulting in just over $2 million
• 20:08
  of loss. Fire Chief Kent Reedman noted an approximate
• 20:12
  percentage of accident calls that come from the
• 20:14
  401. When I look at the stats from last year,
• 20:20
  it's about around 100 calls. where car accidents
• 20:24
  or motor vehicle collisions, exactly 100 out
• 20:28
  of our calls. So that accounts for about 18 and
• 20:30
  a half percent of our calls are car accidents.
• 20:33
  Out of that, I don't have the specifics on the
• 20:36
  401, which I can get, and it's probably a good
• 20:38
  number to actually keep track of, but I would.
• 20:42
  Just a rough guess, we're going to look at probably
• 20:45
  at least 75 % give or take of our calls of our
• 20:48
  motor vehicle collisions would be on the 401.
• 20:50
  So a significant amount. So you're probably looking
• 20:53
  at last year, give or take 75 calls on the 401.
• 20:57
  Councillor Paul Prodrick spoke about the time
• 20:59
  spent on the 401. The chief and I talked last
• 21:02
  night and I was really intrigued by how much
• 21:03
  time is spent on 401 calls because I think people
• 21:06
  need to realize how much of our time is spent
• 21:10
  on the major highway. Reedman provided counsel
• 21:13
  with statistics and general information on a
• 21:16
  variety of operational and division -specific
• 21:18
  aspects of their team in 2024. They welcomed
• 21:21
  Reedman as their new Fire Chief last year, along
• 21:23
  with two Deputy Fire Chiefs. Just under 6 ,500
• 21:27
  hours of training were delivered to staff in
• 21:29
  2024. They counted a total of 29 more service
• 21:32
  calls in 2024 than in 2023, representing a 5
• 21:36
  .35 % increase. The Amherst View station responded
• 21:39
  to the most calls in 2024, being the primary
• 21:42
  response area for 225 calls. Reedman spoke about
• 21:46
  the breakdown of their annual report. It's based
• 21:49
  on just the average of the municipality. We could
• 21:52
  separate the more urban areas out. It does create
• 21:57
  some significant differences within that reporting
• 22:00
  structure. It definitely can be done. It was
• 22:03
  just done as an average over the entire township.
• 22:07
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 22:10
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
• 22:13
  News. Greater Napanee Council decided to defer
• 22:23
  a decision about selling a piece of land with
• 22:26
  a former CN rail line on it. Staff will wait
• 22:28
  to hear from the Town's Ad Hoc Committee on Trails.
• 22:31
  In May of 2023, Council held a meeting regarding
• 22:33
  the land in question and created the Ad Hoc Committee
• 22:36
  on Trails. The trail, previously used by the
• 22:39
  community for recreation, was recently closed
• 22:41
  following an increase in use of private property
• 22:44
  by individuals and motorized vehicles. The public
• 22:47
  portion of the trail ends soon after crossing
• 22:49
  Highway 401 and leaves no other option but for
• 22:51
  users to access non -public land if they wish
• 22:54
  to continue. The town has since blocked access
• 22:56
  over the bridge on advice of the ad hoc committee.
• 22:59
  Working on crossing the 401 is underway, but
• 23:01
  plans cannot be finalized until the MTO finishes
• 23:04
  widening the highway. The town is also waiting
• 23:06
  for clarity from the MTO on exactly how in -town
• 23:09
  trails will be able to cross Highway 401. Mayor
• 23:12
  Terry Richardson explained why they decided to
• 23:14
  defer to the ad hoc committee. We've employed
• 23:17
  an ad hoc committee to do this work. They've
• 23:20
  done a marvelous bunch of work. We have a direction
• 23:24
  to go in. We should bring them back and have
• 23:25
  a conversation with them. because they're the
• 23:27
  ones that did all the work on this. And so maybe
• 23:30
  what we should do is before we change direction,
• 23:32
  because we did have a direction with the resolution,
• 23:35
  before we change direction, maybe we should have
• 23:37
  a chat with them and see what their thoughts
• 23:39
  are. And then, because let's face it, none of
• 23:42
  us had worked on this, and we had six very able,
• 23:46
  competent people that worked on this thing. And
• 23:48
  I'll tell you, they came up with some solutions
• 23:50
  that I didn't think were possible. And I just
• 23:52
  don't think it's fair that the ad hoc committee
• 23:55
  for us to make a decision this evening without
• 23:58
  actually consulting with them. I just think we
• 24:00
  owe it to these six people to come and have a
• 24:03
  chat with us because I gotta admit they have
• 24:06
  done an absolutely marvelous bunch of work on
• 24:08
  this thing. The Town's CAO, Matthew Grant, originally
• 24:11
  recommended removing the resolution from the
• 24:13
  Town's resolution tracker, but staff did not
• 24:15
  agree. Grant explains. Since this report's been
• 24:18
  published, a number of council members have been
• 24:22
  kind enough to come forward and let me know that
• 24:25
  the initial report as written really missed the
• 24:27
  mark. And they explain the reasons why, and I
• 24:32
  have to agree with them. And what specifically
• 24:33
  members of council said to me was, by removing
• 24:38
  this from the resolution tracker, it doesn't
• 24:41
  sufficiently remind us of our obligation to the
• 24:44
  stakeholders that we made. And so for clarity,
• 24:47
  it was a good deed that was not necessarily well
• 24:50
  thought out and council who did not have any
• 24:55
  desire to change what we were doing was kind
• 24:58
  enough to point that out. So it is my intention
• 25:01
  to with some of the background information and
• 25:05
  alternatives to consider to sort of. put us back
• 25:10
  on track there. Councillor Michael Schenck explained
• 25:12
  why listening to the ad hoc committee's recommendation
• 25:15
  made the most sense. We all agreed the ad hoc
• 25:17
  committee said we're going to close the railway
• 25:20
  line and the town went ahead and we put up barriers
• 25:22
  but closed no trespassing on the railway bridge
• 25:25
  itself. And it's proven in the in how many reports
• 25:29
  that we've seen that saying that that railway
• 25:32
  line ends and doesn't go anywhere. It's just
• 25:36
  going across behind somebody's property. I always
• 25:38
  try to put yourself in the other person's position,
• 25:41
  all right, or the other farmer's position, or
• 25:43
  the other thing, what would you feel? Now, we've
• 25:45
  already gone through all these public meetings
• 25:48
  and discussions and everything else, and then
• 25:51
  we're gonna leave it to a new council, and you
• 25:54
  never know who you're gonna get, and they're
• 25:56
  gonna say, oh, by the way, we're gonna make this
• 25:58
  into a walking trail. Now, you've got the county
• 26:01
  arguing about homelessness. You know you're gonna
• 26:05
  leave public property behind a multi -million
• 26:07
  dollar farm and they're not supposed to be upset
• 26:10
  I would lose my mind. Councillor Angela Hicks
• 26:13
  explained why deferring to the ad hoc committee
• 26:15
  was council's best option. I don't have a crystal
• 26:18
  ball but I do not foresee in 50 years any way
• 26:22
  possible for that rail line and again that's
• 26:24
  already been determined by the ad hoc committee
• 26:26
  and council has accepted their recommendations.
• 26:31
  Don't agree necessarily with putting it up for
• 26:33
  sale right now But I think it should be we can
• 26:38
  remove the resolution I like the resolution because
• 26:40
  it's there and it's a glaring reminder to everyone
• 26:44
  on this council and future councils that it needs
• 26:46
  to be dealt with, that there is a project underway.
• 26:49
  It's just sitting there, it's not doing anything.
• 26:52
  I don't know what the amount of money would be
• 26:54
  that we would get for it, but I think good faith
• 26:57
  to the ratepayers of the town and the ad hoc
• 26:59
  committee is to just leave it, not sell it right
• 27:02
  now until we've made further headway with the
• 27:05
  MTO on getting over or under. the 401. Shank
• 27:10
  noted potential plans he's seen and the importance
• 27:12
  of the recommendation of the ad hoc committee.
• 27:15
  If the trail was going somewhere and it was not
• 27:18
  in a dead end, you would have an argument by
• 27:21
  leaving it open and not having it in a surplus
• 27:24
  list. Camden Road, when they expand the 401,
• 27:28
  they will be doing redevelopment on that bridge
• 27:30
  in a walking or whatever. A couple of designs
• 27:33
  that I saw was one going north with the Old Skidoo
• 27:36
  Trail. One going possibly over the Camden Road
• 27:39
  over that bridge there. But at no time do I believe
• 27:43
  MTO will go underground right where the railway
• 27:47
  bridge is at this current time. So therefore,
• 27:50
  we got a dead -end trail, and we've had some
• 27:53
  very intelligent people sitting on those committees.
• 27:55
  And if we say, well, by the way, for the last
• 27:58
  three years that you've been doing this committee,
• 28:00
  and we're, you know what, we don't agree with
• 28:02
  you. and you've already given to our public meetings,
• 28:05
  and you gave our presentation, and we didn't
• 28:07
  question you there, and now we're going to go
• 28:09
  ahead and say, ah, we don't want to sell it.
• 28:11
  When they're saying, hey guys, we don't need
• 28:14
  it, I don't want to be down that road. CAO Matthew
• 28:17
  Grant explained what future talks with the ad
• 28:19
  hoc committee could look like. I'm confident
• 28:21
  that they would be very receptive to sharing
• 28:25
  their perspectives that they've already given
• 28:26
  and to hearing that we're open to making on the
• 28:31
  ground progress. on trails within the town. I
• 28:37
  think in some of the conversations that I've
• 28:39
  had is talk is great, but investing in some of
• 28:44
  the trail stuff that we have on the ground is
• 28:46
  even better. Staff confirmed that any discussion
• 28:48
  on the sale of the lands cannot occur until it
• 28:51
  has been deemed surplus by council. This procedure
• 28:53
  would need to be accompanied by public consultation.
• 28:56
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 28:59
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
• 29:02
  News. This has been North Shore News and Interviews.
• 29:08
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• 29:11
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• 29:14
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• 29:18
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