Communications Coordinators meeting

Introductions

Invited guests:

• Glen McNeil, Brett Pollock, Meghan Tydd-Hrynyk (Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Township)
• Phil Beard, Ben Van Dieten, Patrick Huber-Kidby (Maitland Valley Conservation Authority)

Communications Coordinators and designated alternates:

• Represented: Amberley Beach, Ashfield Beach South, Cedar Grove, Horizon View Estates, Huron Sands, Kintail Beach, Mid Huron Beach, Shamrock Beach, Sunset Beach
• Not represented: Ashfield Beach North, Birch Beach, Brindley Beach, Bogie's Beach, Buchanan's Beach, Goat Trail, Green Acres Cove, Hunters Beach, Huron Sands North, Huron Shores, Lakeland Estates, Linfield Beach, Kingsbridge Shores, Maple Grove, Menesetung Park, Port Albert, Victoria Beach

ACW Township update

Glen McNeil, Mayor

• For the 2024 budget, Council approved a 10% increase in the levy, which resulted in an 8.9% increase in the tax rate.
• Each year, Council attempts to improve at least one lakeshore road. This year, Birch Beach will be paved from the highway to the top of the bluff. Also, ACW will be making improvements to one of the municipal drains in Port Albert; the cost of the related road upgrades that are required as part of that drainage work will be shared 50/50 between the Township and the abutting landowners.
• Last year, ACLA requested that ACW extend weekly lakeshore garbage/recycling pickups to include May and October. ACW's contract with Waste Management comes up for renegotiation in 2025, and the request will be considered for the 2025 budget. We have also had requests for pickups more than once a week during the summer months.
• The response period for ACW's township-wide survey of landowners re short-term rentals closes at the end of May. The results will be analyzed and presented to Council for deliberation in June. Anything that Council decides to pursue further will be aimed at providing more effective controls for problems, not at preventing rentals. If you have concerns but have not yet responded to the survey, it is available here until the end of May.

Brett Pollock, Chief Building Official

ACLA has advocated for several decades on the need for a septic-inspection program. We are thankful to ACW Council for initiating its program.

• The septic-inspection program starts this year. In the first six-year cycle, the lakeshore areas will be done in the first three years, the settlement areas in year 4, and the rural areas in years 5 and 6. The results and the experiences learned in the first cycle will be assessed to determine an appropriate on-going cycle thereafter.
• Inspections along the lakeshore will be performed weekdays during the summer season, starting at the north end of the Township and progressing southward. Around 250 inspections will be performed this summer, and 500 next year. Letters will be sent to landowners informing them of the date of their inspection, well in advance; if that date is not convenient, the landowner can re-schedule by contacting the Township office.
• The annual cost of the program will be added as an item on the landowner's tax bill. It is anticipated to be $55 (or $30, if you have a tertiary septic system under a maintenance contract).
• For details, see the "Program Information", "Onsite Inspection", "Resources", and "Types of Systems" sections of the "acwseptic.ca" website here.

Meghan Tydd-Hrynyk, Huron County Planner

The item on the need to update the shoreline-areas section of ACW's Zoning By-Law appears below, after the MVCA presentations, since it fits better as a follow-on to MVCA's item on recent changes made by the province to its Conservation Authorities Act concerning the regulation of development in hazard areas.

Maitland Valley Conservation Authority

Phil Beard, General Manager

• The province initiated the Healthy Lake Huron program in 2010. It is administered by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
• After delays due to the temporary absence of provincial funding, the program is again active. A new 5-year work plan is being developed by the program's steering committee, focusing on soil health, cover crops, rural storm-water management, and water-course buffering with natural vegetation.
• For more information, see the HLH website.

Ben Van Dieten, Agricultural Stewardship Services

• The North Shore watersheds work that the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks is funding is part of the Healthy Lake Huron program.
• Recent MVCA projects have resulted in 3.7 acres of reforestation, 1.6 kilometers of windbreaks, more than 3,000 trees planted, and MVCA is providing $15/acre to help more farmers plant cover crops.

Patrick Huber-Kidby, Planning/Regulations Supervisor

• The mapping of MVCA's part of the Lake Huron shoreline was completed last year. The work was funded by ACW, Goderich, and Central Huron. MVCA has applied for provincial funding for its follow-on Coastal Resiliency program, for pilot projects that will focus on bluff stabilization.
• The province has recently passed Bill 185 (Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act), a Revised Draft Provincial Planning Statement (PPS 2024), and Ontario Regulation 41/24 (Prohibited Activities, Exemptions and Permits under the Conservation Authorities Act).
• The new regulation is intended to create consistency across all of the province's Conservation Authorities in regulating development in hazard areas, and replaces the individual regulations that each Conservation Authority had previously developed.

Updating ACW's Zoning By-law section re the shoreline areas

Meghan Tydd-Hrynyk, ACW's Huron County Planner

• These recent regulatory changes have a direct impact on development along the ACW lakeshore, and the ACW Zoning By-Law needs to be updated to bring it into compliance. Council has directed staff to:
  • review and update the zoning provisions for Lakeshore Residential communities, including a review of the seasonal and year-round zoning designations;
  • consider what changes to the By-law are required to adjust to new CA requirements and to clearly communicate lakeshore policy to residents and potential buyers;
  • any other changes deemed to be desirable or corrections identified during the review process.
• ACW staff wishes to schedule consulation meetings with lakeshore residents through the summer months, starting as soon as possible, and is asking ACLA to help in making the inital contacts with the individual lakefront associations.
• After the consultations, ACW staff will draft proposed changes to the Zoning By-Law. The public will have opportunity to comment on the proposed changes, and a finalized draft will go to Council in the fall for consideration.

ACLA administrative matters

Treasurer's report

Beth Ross, Mid-Huron Beach

• Bank balance as of April 2023 was $7,269.
• In the absence of any additional projects warranting ACLA funding for the past several years, ACLA has waived its annual request for a contribution of $10 per local-associtation member. Therefore, the only income was $0.78 in bank interest.
• Expenses were $149 for annual website-hosting and domain-registration fees, $20 for bank charges, and $200 for renting the Kingsbridge Centre basement for the 2024 meeting.
• Balance as of May 2024 is $6,900.

Motion to accept the Treasurer's report

• Moved by Roger Watt, seconded by Nigel Bellchamber. Passed.

Motion to move the ACLA bank account to Libro

• There will be no bank fees associated with the Libro account.
• Moved by Beth Ross, seconded by Barb Holmes. Passed.

Motion to resume the annual request for contributions from local associations

• Moved by Nigel Bellchamber, seconded by Morten Jakobsen, that, starting this year, ACLA re-instate the annual request for voluntary contributions from the local lakefront associations ($10 per member), and establish an annual program of donations to MVCA to assist in its various projects that result in improving the lakeshore environment. Passed.
• There is enough money in the ACLA bank account to enable a $5,000 donation to MVCA in 2024.
• ACLA recognizes that some local associations may have already approved their budget for the 2024 season and may not be able to resume the voluntary contributions until next year.
• Cheques payable to "ACLA" for the annual requested contribution from each local association ($10 per member) should be sent to:

  Beth Ross, ACLA Treasurer
  122 St. Patrick Street
  Goderich ON, N7A 2L7

Issues from the floor

• Beth Ross (Mid Huron Beach) reported on the well-testing "event" that she and others sponsored last year. It drew enthusiastic support from a number of local agencies, and they are interested in continuing the event. If your local association would like more information, please contact Beth at bross@hurontel.on.ca

Adjourn

The meeting adjourned at 11:45. Next year's meeting will be at 9am on Saturday May 17, 2025; method and location TBD.