New cannabis greenhouse coming to Shelburne this fall

July 26, 2018 · 0 Comments

Written By PETER RICHARDSON

Council ran a wide gamut of issues past the gate on Monday, ranging from a site plan application approval for a Cannabis grow -op to produce medical marijuana, to a new fireworks bylaw and the tabling of a parks bylaw to limit access to town parks for certain hours of the day and evening.

The cannabis greenhouse is to be located at 144 Luxton Way, in the industrial district of town and will have a floor area of 4,639 square meters when erected. The owner, a numbered Ontario Corporation from Mono, has owned the land for a period of time, but has only now begun the development process. They hope to have construction under way by the fall of 2018.

Fireworks bylaw

Fire Chief Brad Lemaich presented Council with a proposed new Fireworks bylaw, which, when implemented, will allow the fire department, the bylaw officer or the police to enforce its somewhat stringent controls over the sale, purchase and use of fireworks in Shelburne.

The Chief outlined several incidents in which fireworks were the cause of house and property fires and stressed that a bylaw was required in order to allow proper sale and use of the products in question. In preparing the bylaw, the chief reviewed more than twenty examples from a wide rage of municipalities, including Brampton and Caledon.

The bylaw is extremely comprehensive and includes definitions of what fireworks are and the different types available. It prohibits the sale, use or even ownership of firecrackers and differentiates between the Federally mandated Display Fireworks and those available to the consumer.

Under the new bylaw, retailers and purchasers will be regulated and safety concerns are paramount in all cases. In addition, the sale of fireworks will be limited to a select number of holidays and any day, designated by the Town of Shelburne, as being suitable for the display of fireworks.

In all, the presented bylaw is thorough and well thought out, but will nevertheless be a source of consternation for many residents as they adjust to its rules and regulations. Regardless, it will provide the fire department with a greater degree of control and should definitely help to prevent unnecessary fires and related incidents.

Beautification of KTH Park

On a different note, Shane Hall, of KTH, came to council to present a package of a totally different nature for their consideration. The proposal, concerns the beautification and improvement of KTH Park, a facility, bearing the company name, which currently is being used for sports, including baseball and soccer.

All of the improvements will be totally cost free to the Town, which will only be required to provide the maintenance and watering required. Council received the delegation and accepted the proposed offering and Mayor Ken Bennington was quick to include that council should provide their successors with the idea that the Town could and should plan to supply some upgrades as well. These could perhaps include paving the entrance way, providing parking lines, or perhaps other such improvements.

Arsenic levels in municipal well

Next Council heard a report from Jim Moss, the Director of Development and Operations concerning the ongoing concerns with the naturally forming arsenic levels in Well 3. This has been a point of discussion in the past, and stems from the Province having lowered the acceptable level from 25 ug/L of water, to 10 ug/L.

Well 3 currently has a production of between 11 and 12 ug/L of water, which is above the mandated level. In conjunction with the town engineer, Steve Burnett and Associates, three options were brought before Council for consideration. One of the three and by far the most influential, was unfortunately also the most expensive, despite lowering the arsenic levels to about 0.5ug/L The Dual Train Absorptive Media Filtration System, would cost the Town approximately $1.8 million to implement, however, Shelburne is eligible to apply for a Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund Grant, which if awarded would pay 90 percent of the cost, leaving the Town to fund the remaining 10 percent. This amount could come from the Towns existing Water Reserves in the existing budget.

However, should the Town not receive the grant monies, the necessary arsenic level reductions would still be a prerequisite of the Ministry of the Environment and council would be faced with dealing with it. Although other stop gap options do exist, the ultimate solution is really the only acceptable one and as stated , the most expensive. The money to implement a solution, would have to be raised through a debenture which would cost the Town approximately $85,000 in annual premiums and more than $30,000 in interest. This cost would have to be borne by the rate payers, in increased water rates or taxes, if not both. Council voted to instruct staff to apply for the OCIF Grant money and to have the Engineer continue with testing and searching for other options while waiting to hear about the Grant.

Other business

Council awarded the three year lighting maintainance contract for all the street lights and similar applications, to RA Electrical, a company from Cookstown, for the sum of $23,598 annually. Council approved the payment of expenses to councillors on town business , in the amount of $2,000 per councillor, or $10,000. Neither the Mayor nor the Deputy Mayor were included, as their expenses were covered by the County of Dufferin Council budgets.