IT’S COMING... ARE YOU READY?
21 Industrial Dr., Elmira | 519.669.2884 | martinssmallengines.ca
11 | 17| 2012 VOLUME 17 | ISSUE 49
DANCING HER WAY TO INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION LIVING HERE PAGE 32
COMMENT PAGE 12
SAFETY IS ONE THING, BUT COMMON SENSE MUST PREVAIL
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Deal would allow Now you Jigs Hollow gravel pit to go ahead see it... STEVE KANNON
The water tower, encased with scaffolding, has been tarped off to allow workers to go ahead with the resurfacing.
...now you don't
The recoating of the Howard Spheroid water tank has begun. The scaffolding surrounding the tower was erected by All Systems Inc. and Rescom Coating will be painting the structure. The work is expected to be completed some time in December. [COLIN DEWAR / THE OBSERVER]
It’s now up to residents to convince the province to halt plans for a gravel pit in the Winterbourne valley, after township and regional officials reached a deal for the operation to continue. The agreement that was signed just minutes before an Ontario Municipal Board hearing Thursday morning allows Kuntz Topsoil, Sand and Gravel to extract up to 150,000 tonnes of gravel each year from an 89-acre site at 125 Peel St., close to Winterbourne, Conestogo and West Montrose. The company may also import up to 30,000 tonnes of asphalt and concrete for recycling, as well as topsoil for screening and resale, despite Woolwich council’s rejection in June of the recycling option on health and environmental grounds. This week’s hearing was brief, essentially a summation of the settlement agreement given by the applicant’s lawyer, Jeffrey Wilker of Thomson Rogers, and planning consultant,
David Sisco of IBI Group. OMB representative Mary-Anne Sills, who chaired the hearing, agreed to reconvene on November 26 in order to allow residents to review the formal minutes of settlement and prepare remarks prior to a decision on the appeal. Five residents given participant status have until November 21 to file written statements. The deal follows a mediation session involving the applicant, the township and Waterloo Region. The settlement includes some tweaking, including additional plantings and berms to mitigate noise and visual impacts, but essentially allows the pit to proceed as planned. Many of the concerns raised by residents over the last few years this pit has been discussed were addressed in the mediation talks, said the lawyer representing Woolwich Township, Eileen Costello of Aird & Berlis. While residents had been pushing for a sunset clause, legal limitations GRAVEL | 7