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824210 Massie Road RR5 Chatsworth, ON N0H 1G0 June 19, 2015
Mr. W. Moore Chief Administrative Officer Clerk Township of
Chatsworth Advance copy via email: [email protected] Dear Mr.
Moore:
Information related to Bio-Digester Agreement and Landfill Thank
you for your letter of June 8, 2015 and the documents in response
to my May 7, 2015 FOI request. I enclose a personal cheque in the
amount of $105.00 (Invoice 078501 dated June 15, 2015). For the
record, here is a list of the documents you provided, by date:
1. Letter report from Gamsby and Mannerow Limited (G&M) and
dated March 10, 2011 re: Environmental Monitoring Data;
2. Annual Operations Report (2010) prepared by G&M for the
Sullivan site (March 2011); 3. Annual Operations Report (2011)
prepared by G&M for the Sullivan site (March 2012); 4. Annual
Operations Report (2012) prepared by G&M for the Sullivan site
(March 2013); 5. Annual Operations and Environmental Monitoring
Report (2013) prepared by G&M for the
Sullivan site (March 2014); 6. Letter report dated March 10,
2015 from GM Blue Plan Engineering (GMBP) to the Director of
Public Works of the Municipality of Grey Highlands re: 2014
Annual Monitoring Report for the Markdale/Holland site;
7. Annual Operations & Environmental Monitoring Report
(2014) prepared by GMBP for the Sullivan site (March 2015);
8. Letter to the MoE from GMBP dated March 30, 2015 re: Annual
Monitoring Report (2014) for the Sullivan site; and
9. Letter of clarification to you from GMBP dated June 8, 2015
re: references to the joint landfill site referred to in the May 7,
2014 letter.
In addition to the preceding documents, you provided a single
undated sheet with basic information about the Sullivan site in
response to my FOI request dated June 11, 2014. In your June 8,
2015 letter, you provided information that I take to be a summary
of the context for the above-noted May 7, 2014 letter from GMBP to
Georgian Bluffs, and the outcome. For present convenience, your
letter said:
GB approached Chatsworth for permission to have GMBP provide
information related to the
Sullivan site for planning purposes. Based on the agreement
between GB and Chatsworth, GB
is responsible for amending the Sullivan Certificate of Approval
to allow GB access if and
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when the time comes (subject to a negotiated contract which, as
you know, has not been done
as yet).
Chatsworth has been moving toward applying for a Certificate of
Approval to open Area C for
some time now. That application has not been submitted yet.
GB requested GMBP to provide cost estimates if they were to
piggy back on Chatsworth's
amendment process already underway. GB did not request to
proceed with this approach.
My understanding from this explanation is that, subsequent to
the meeting referred to in the May 7, 2014 letter from GMBP,
Georgian Bluffs decided to not participate in any studies or work
with relation to the Sullivan Landfill site at this time. This does
not imply, of course, that Georgian Bluffs has abandoned the
possibility of attempting to exercise whatever rights they believe
to have been provided by the Memorandum of Understanding dated
February 2, 2011. Please advise whether my understanding is
correct. In view of the information you have provided, I take it
that:
1. Chatsworth has nothing in writing pertaining to the approach
by Georgian Bluffs for permission to ask GMBP conduct work at the
Sullivan site;
2. Chatsworth has nothing in writing pertaining to the granting
of permission to Georgian Bluffs and/or GMBP, even though this work
was, at the time, thought to be related to the Sullivan Certificate
of Approval;
3. Chatsworth has nothing in writing pertaining to the decision
by GB to not proceed further at that time; and, more generally,
4. Chatsworth has nothing in writing related to implementation
(or interpretation) of the Memorandum of Understanding dated
February 2, 2011.
In the circumstances, I must say that I am surprised by the
practise whereby decisions are evidently being made, purportedly in
the best interests of the citizens and taxpayers of the Township of
Chatsworth, without even the most basic documentation. Finally, I
note that since March 2012, the Annual Reports regarding the
Sullivan site have recommended steps towards the pending closure of
Area B and approvals for Area C. Council received the March 2015
report at its meeting on April 15, 2015 and set aside April 29 for
a Committee meeting to discuss it and landfill-related matters.
However, I cannot find Minutes of the April 29 meeting on the
Chatsworth website; will you please provide a copy? Yours truly,
INFORMATION COPY
Original Signed by
Trevor E. Falk cc Mayor and Councilors (via email only)
