Council here received correspondence from Stan Denhoed on Wellington County’s source water protection policies on March 7.
Mayor Dennis Lever said there are a number of items Denhoed pointed out.
There is a certain amount concern among those items “especially that of a risk management official for 15 of those policies.”
Councillor Susan Fielding wondered if Denhoed included the recommendations from Hamilton Halton, since those reflected the Lake Erie Source Water Protection.
“Hamilton certainly wants a compliance officer for some of the policies – where the headwaters are in the township.”
They are also asking for signs – something else to be dealt with in the future.
Lever said there were no comments about signs in Denhoed’s report.
Councillor Ken Roth asked what type of notification property owners receive. “Is it going to change their lives or property values?”
Fielding believes the approach would be similar among the source water protection areas. For the Hamilton protection area, letters were sent recently to inform all the property owners in sensitive wellhead protection areas to inform them of public open houses. People can either attend the open houses or call to ask questions.
She added that there is legislation that land owners had to be notified.
Lever said last year he was at a pu blic meeting for the Grand River Conservation Authority portion. At that time, they sent letters to affected landowners.
“The meeting was very generic. It notified people that there were policies that would affect their property, but nothing specific as to what would need to be managed or what activities would be prohibited going forward.”
He said Denhoed’s report noted there will be policies the township must manage, including:
– undertaking septic system inspections;
– requiring tertiary treatment systems in specific areas;
– undertaking educational outreach programs for home heating fuels; and
– updating emergency plans to address spill emergencies.
Lever said he hopes there will be more specific information sent to the landowners from the source water protection committee.
Fielding said each step is becoming more and specific.
Because she lives in one of the affected regions, she was able to personally state she received more information than in previous letters.
“I think it will get very specific, and I think the township and the building inspector will have to be notified because there will be specific restrictions on certain properties.”
