Deputy mayor Terry Fisk will represent Minto and Wellington North on the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority (SVCA) board of directors.
The municipalities have not had representation on the SCVA since Minto county councillor Mark McKenzie stepped down in July, citing the difficulty of representing two municipalities that sometimes took conflicting positions.
During SVCA budget deliberations, Minto had no concerns with a $2,911 levy increase proposed for their municipality. However, Wellington North did not support their $4,200 increase.
“Councillor McKenzie was placed in the difficult position of having to vote differently for each municipality. For the budget alone the authority has a weighted voting formula for joint municipal representation,” stated CAO Bill White in a report to council at its Nov. 20 meeting.
Currently, the SVCA has a 15-member board. The only other municipalities sharing a representative are Howick, Morris-Turnberry and South Bruce. White explained that in order to have separate representation, Minto would have to pass a resolution requesting the change for the SCVA board to consider. White’s report noted that only the most northerly third of Minto and Wellington North are in the SVCA watershed. He pointed out that there would be some increased cost for meeting attendance if each municipality had its own representative.
Council agreed to appoint Fisk to represent the municipality after being advised that Wellington North had also agreed to the joint appointment.
Fisk, who already represents Minto, Mapleton and Wellington North on the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority board, said he was willing to take on the SVCA post “until someone is willing to take it over.
“I feel very strongly that we need a voice on this conservation authority,” Fisk stated.
