Addington Highlands Council supports Conservation Authority Plans, in principle

Jeff Green | Jul 13, 2022

In response to changes made at the provincial level, Brad McNevin, the Chief Administrator of Quinte Conservation, and Sally McIntyre, General Manager of Mississippi Valley Conservation, brought a presentation and proposed budget to the July meeting of Addington Highlands Council last week (July 5).

The presentation outlined the scope of Conservation Authority powers, according to Section 21 of the new Conservation Act. These include, among others: researching, studying and investigating the watershed, controlling the flow of surface waters to prevent floods or pollution, planting and producing trees on Crown lands and private lands with the consent of the owner, and collaborating with other levels of government and organisations.

Section 21 splits those functions into 3 categories. Category 1 is mandatory programs and services such as dam operations and water quality monitoring. Category 2, municipal programs and services, includes septic inspection, and reviews and reports related to planning. Category 3 is programs and services that a Conservation Authority determines are advisable to further the goals and purposes of the Act, such as stewardship and education programs.

By creating these new categories, the province has been able to designate that mandatory programs and services will be funded in the same way Conservation Authorities have been funded in the past, split among the municipalities where the Conservation Authorities operate, based on property values.

Category 2 programs and services can be funded through user fees, grants, or special levies to the municipality that contracts the service, and category 3 programs and services can be funded in a similar way, except multiple municipalities can be involved in programs that they all agree to support.

The cost implications of the new funding model will become clear by early next year, but for now McNevin and McIntyre were asking for Council to agree in principle, for them to prepare the costing, to maintain the services that each of them currently provides to the township under categories 2 and 3.

Council agreed.

Flinton Jamboree

The Flinton Jamboree is coming back after a two-year COVID hiatus. Karen Anderson, the Jamboree Committee chair, made some requests to Council on behalf of the Jamboree. She asked the township for an exemption to two bylaws, in order to permit camping on the Jamboree site at the Flinton Recreation Centre, and to permit amplified music during the festival. The Jamboree was also looking for an exemption to any fees the township would normally charge for the use of the site.

These were all exemptions that were granted to the Jamboree in the past and Council agreed to grant them this time as well.