Feature Article September 23, 2004
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Council to consider more communication on Sydenham water project
by Craig Bakay
Money, or lack of it, is the problem with the Sydenham water project, resident Bob Forbes told South Frontenac Council Tuesday night at the Bedford Community Centre.
If somebody else was paying for it, you wouldnt have heard a sound, he said.
Forbes said he is a member of the Sydenham Water Steering Committee, but wasnt there as a committee representative.
I just feel I have to get this off my chest, he said.
Forbes presented Council with a letter listing 10 points related to the high cost of the Clean Water Project but conceded that Council had heard much of it before.
But, he said, he felt still more could be done.
I know Council is concerned, he said. But the situation is becoming critical and you have to put more muscle into it.
There have got to be other approaches, grants still available and youve got to go out and fight for them.
When Forbes implied township staff should spend more time investigating grants and funding, Mayor Bill Lake shot back.
Weve spun our wheels for a half million dollars worth, Lake said. I hate to see staff trading what might be done for something thats got to be done. Staff has spent a lot of time on this.
Lake suggested that efforts of the steering committee have sometimes been at odds with what the Township has tried.
Every time we try to do something, the water people run off to the MP or MPP, Lake said. It took months to get an answer to whether or not we could take water from Sydenham Lake.
A lot of these things (on Forbes list) weve already looked into.
Forbes then suggested that perhaps Council wasnt informing the residents of its efforts well enough.
Coun. David Hahn suggested that a recap of the Townships efforts to date might be in order.
Id like to see things listed and identified, he said. Lets get it down on paper.
I will bring a motion to support Bobs ideas to the next meeting.
Council will give it due consideration and get back to you, hopefully by next Council meeting, said Lake
