[All] OMB update

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Hi folks
First off, my sincere apologies for screwing up the location of the hearing. It took place at REGIONAL council not the City of Waterloo. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. I arrived a bit late as a result, but none the less here is the update.
Today's meeting was about outlining the protocols and procedures. Due to the number of parties involved, the Regional solicitor Duxbury, has requested from the board, time to meet with other parties without prejudice over the course of summer in order to streamline the process for everyone. They hope to reduce the number of issues, reduce the scope of various legislation they'll be addressing and in a nutshell, although not specifically said, they are trying to reduce costs to make the process more affordable for everyone. The Board and all parties agreed this is acceptable and September 9th is the day they will meet again with an OMB chair present. The Region admits their issues list will not be finalized by the time the Sept. 9th meeting comes along but they hope this next hearing will serve to update the status of these cases before the Board. The meeting will take place at 10pm Regional Council Chambers on that date.
I saw some familiar faces among the other solicitors including former OMB chair Susan Rogers who was representing Activa Holdings. Larry Masseo from Activa was there as well. I also saw solicitor Barry Horosko from Bratty & Partners LLP who represented Mr. Owen during the Owen/McNally OMB hearings. The Region has their work cut out for them but none the less, we should take a supportive stance of their efforts to protect the Country Side Line and to address the risks of Gravel pits in our area.
One of the ways we can help with the gravel issue is to write your local MPP and support the revision of the Aggregate Resource Act to protect our Prime Farmlands and primary recharge areas from harmful aggregate projects.  We can also request that our MPP and MInister of Environment support the establishment of EA processes for quarries and that Aggregate be regarded as a potential risk in the Source Water Protection Act. (Currently Quarries are exempted from being considered a water risk and they do not require EA processes in Ontario.)
Talk to you later
Lulu
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