ABERFOYLE – Puslinch Township’s first use of a new excess soil bylaw is proving to be the first test of the bylaw as well.
The owner of property at 4670 Sideroad 10 – a decommissioned and rehabilitated quarry near Forestell Road – has applied for a site alteration permit to import soil to level the property and make it more suitable for farming.
Council heard the proposal at a public meeting on May 28.
The property is zoned agricultural and there will be no zoning change.
What is requested is permission to truck in 145,000 cubic metres of clean fill and topsoil over the next three years.
The fill will improve the grade and the top soil will eventually be planted with crops.
Owner Gino Martinello also hopes to build a pole barn and eventually a dwelling on the site.
He has applied for a building permit for the barn.
Brian Enter, project manager with Meritech Engineering, spoke on behalf of Martinello, noting that while the former quarry was required to restore the pit to its original function, the soil is very gravelly and quite steep in some places.
“The benefit is to increase the arability of the soil and get some yield from this land,” Enter said.
Many studies have been completed. Enter said adding the soil will not impact drainage or surrounding wells.
Because so much soil needs to be imported, it is necessary to set a haul route.
Enter said the proposed haul route goes from Highway 6 west along Laird Road and then south on Sideroad 10 N to the site.
Soil could be delivered along this route Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:30pm.
Fortis Environmental Inc. will oversee soil management and check each load to ensure nothing is contaminated.
Jerome Nicholls of Nicholls Ventures will be the contractor and site supervisor and while the proposed hours of operation are weekdays from 7am to 6pm and 7:30am to 4:30pm on Saturdays, Nicholls said he never has crews running on Saturdays.
What could happen on a Saturday is site preparation for Monday’s deliveries, he said.
Many Puslinch residents who live near the site expressed frustration with the proposal.
They claim soil was illegally brought to the site in 2020 and 2021 and between heavy truck traffic, noise from the trucks and dust from the dirt, it caused disruption to their lives.
Mayor James Seeley noted that the previous activity has been “dealt with.”
“The public needs to be assured there are consequences,” said one woman.
John McNie spoke against the proposal on behalf of the Mill Creek Stewards.
“Puslinch has all kinds of problems (with excess soil being brought in) because enforcement is not happening,” he said.
“You are opening the door to a whole new problem, bringing unknown soil into Puslinch.
“This is an opportunity for Puslinch at the beginning to say no.”
Acting CAO Courtenay Hoytfox explained why the bylaw was passed.
“The township has had for a long time a prohibition on excess soil, but it was not effective,” she said.
“What this council did was to [pass] a bylaw to allow an applicant to bring in soil in a way that aligns with the province.
“The alternative – not allowing it – it will still occur and the township will have no control over what’s coming in.”
McNie disagreed, noting, “Banning fill is the only way to go. Deal with litigious situations as they come up.”
Hoytfox said illegal fill is the number one bylaw complaint in the township, “and we cannot litigate every application.”
She added the township has already paid “hundreds of thousands of dollars litigating these files.”
Hoytfox said the courts don’t accept an outright ban.
Seeley added, “We very much want to manage this especially to improve farming.”
“There are a lot of holes to fill in Puslinch,” countered a woman in the audience.
“These properties will be bought up by people who want to fill the holes.”
Councillor Russel Hurst said, “I quite struggle with this being a commercial fill operation or agriculture.”
Councillor John Sepulis wanted assurances daily loads would be manageable and that noise complaints could be mitigated.
Councillors also had questions about the haul route and site hours, and the ability to ensure clean fill.
They did not vote on the proposal. It will return to council at a future date.
