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04 15 1991 Public Minutes .. THB CORPORATION OP THB TOWNSHIP OP ORO SPBCIAL PUBLIC DftIHG HORD&Y APRIL lS. 1111' '1:00 P.M. - COUNCIL CHAHBDS ORB IlUNDRBD ANI) PIPTY PIRST DftIHG 1188-1111 COUNCIL The following members of Council were present: Reeve Robert E. Drury Deputy Reeve David Caldwell Councillor David Burton Councillor Alastair Crawford Councillor Allan Johnson Note: Ms. Kris Menzies, Ms. Nicole Linuell Ms. Anne Guiot, Mr. Gary Bell, Mr. Doug Skelton, Mr. Albert Anderson, Mr. Blake Uren, Mrs. Linda Uren, Nadene Uren, Blake Uren, Ms. Marion McLeod, Mr. Jack Scott, Mr. Nelson Robertson, Mr. Jim Langman, Mr. Earl Robertson, Mr. Glen Stewart, Mr. Bernal Johnston, Mr. Bryan Johnston, Ms. Shirley Woodrow, Mrs. Anita Beaton, Mr. David Johnson, Mr. Edward Johnson, Mr. Robin smith, Mr. Ted Beaton, Mr. Steve Hayward and One Member of the Press. Councillor Allan Johnson declared a Conflict of Interest with regards to this Public Meeting, concerning Oro Sand and Stone's proposed Development Application concerning a Gravel pit; the nature of his conflict is that his parents own property adjacent to the effected lands. Mr. Johnson then vacated his seat and left the Council Chambers. Also Present Were: Reeve Robert E. Drury chaired the meeting. Reeve Robert E. Drury opened the meeting by explaining to those present that this Public Meeting was to obtain public comments with respect to a proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment, under section 17 and 34 of the Planning Act. The applicant has applied to redesignate and rezone certain lands described as Part 0 Lots 9 and 10, Concession 13, (Oro Sand and Stone). To date, the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Oro have not made a decision on this application, other than proceeding to a Public Meeting. only after comments are received from the Public, Township Staff and requested agencies within the appropriate time period, will Council make a decision on this application. Notice of the Public Meeting was mailed out on March 15, 1991, to all property owners within 400 feet of the subject lands. Notice 0 the Public Meeting was also placed in both the Barrie Examiner and Orillia Packet and Times on March 15, 1991. The Reeve then asked the Clerk if there had been any correspondence received on this matter. The Clerk responded by indicating that correspondence had been received from the following agency: A letter from Mr. R.A. Law of the Ministry of Natural Resources, addressed to Skelton, Brumwell and Associates, dated March 24, 1988 indicating that the Ministry do not object to the redesignation as proposed. Note: The Clerk read the above piece of correspondence. ~ - 2 - The Reeve then stated that those persons present would be afforded the opportunity of asking questions with respect to the proposed Official Plan and zoning By-Law Amendment. Reeve Robert E. Drury then turned the meeting over to the Township Planner, Ms. Kris Menzies, to explain the purpose and effect of the proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment as well as to introduce the proponents consultants who would further explain the proposal. Kris Menzies: The proponents are proposing a redesignation and a rezoning of subject lands abutting an existing extraction pit for the purposes of expanding the extraction pit. The redesignation is to pits and Quarries and the zoning is for Industrial Extraction. Doug Skelton: (Mr. Skelton pointed to the map showing th existing location and proposed location of the extraction pit). The original area was licensed in 1974, an there have been two revisions since that date. The total existing license area is 40 hectares and the new area to be added consists of another 12 hectares. The existing license is for four hundred thousand tonnes per year. The object in this undertaking is to expand to include a area to be extracted, not to expand the annual license. In other words, the effec of this is to produce no more gravel per year, but simply to expand the life of the application to include another area, it does not increase the tonnage. (Mr. Skelton pointed to the map showing th existing phase and explaining various procedures carried out on that location, equipment etc.; and also the proposed sit development showing and explaining the areas of mining to be carried out). The drainage from the site is totally contained on the site and there will be total retention ponds provided through the life of the pit. There is no overflow fro the site to the creek. The top soil and overburden will be stripped and stockpiled and progressive rehabilitation will take place so that as an area is mined to the pit floor, it will then be rehabilitated with overburden and topsoil. No more than 20 hectares will be open at one time without being rehabilitated. The idea is to mine to within a metre and a half of th water table. There will be no mining occu below the water table. The monitoring wil occur to support or substantiate where the high water table is in that seasonal fluctuations. - 3 - Douq Skelton: We achieve a minimum of one percent grade on all of the surfaces to ensure that they are suitable for agriculture purposes after. The area of bush that is taken out of bush land is 9.8 hectares and the area being replaced with this growing is 10.3 hectares. (Mr. Skelton read a letter from Ecological Services and Planning a firm from Guelph which is retained by Skelton, Brumwell). This firm undertook a study in October of 1990 and their mandate was to look at the various species of trees, birds etc. They stated that the result of this study indicated that the lands do not contain an significant environmental features and fro this standpoint the proposed operation is an appropriate land use consideration. However, certain off site features such as the tributaries to Bluffs Creek must be given consideration in planning the aggregate extraction operation. (Read out several recommendations regarding this which were made by this firm and Mr. Skelton indicated that their recommendations were being implemented). with respect to the impacts of this operation: Regarding setbacks, there is one resident effected and the old license boundary is 150 metres away from that residence and we are not changing it in any respect. What we are doing new is mining in this area (pointed to map) and that setback is 230 metres from the residence. with respect to visual, we have added a berm (pointed to map), the whole of this site and the mining is going to be some 20 25 metres lower than the existing grade. When the area is mined, it will be mined a a depth that you will not see it. Visuall you will not see any of the operations going on here. A recommendation was made by one of the members of the Planning Committee, could we do something with the entrance. We agreed and will be adding some planting and extend the buffer. From the noise will be mining and because we certain depth, attenuated. point of view, because we back further on the propert will be mining below a the sound will be From the point of view of dust, dust has been a problem on the site and there has been considerable discussions taken place between the neighbour directly across the road and as a result of those discussions, several alterations have taken place, a sizeable berm has been constructed and the fine stock piles have been moved. The applicant has undertaken to employ good - 4 - Douq Skelton: dust control techniques. All storage of petroleum products on the site will be required to be stored in containers that are stored on a concrete pad with containment walls so that if ther was a puncture then none of those material would get into the ground. All portable equipment such as trucks etc. will be required to be serviced off the site. Surface water will be contained on the sit and the retention areas have been designed to accommodate a 100 year storm. From a traffic point of view, this application is not changing the annual tonnage of 400,000 tonnes presently authorized under the license. currently there is only 200,000 tonnes being hauled out of there. Anne Guiot: As has been mentioned, the application we are looking at is an expansion to an existing license pit. In January 1st of 1990, the Aggregate Resources Act was proclaimed and as a result we had to upgrade to meet the new requirements of the new Aggregate Resource Act. We recently received compliance from the Ministry of Natural Resources and has enabled us to proceed with an application under the new act. When I say we have received compliance, it is simply an indication that the Ministry of Natural Resources has approved our application in meeting the requirements of the legislation. This is in no way an indication that they have given any form 0 approval. I am just going to briefly review the application process under the Aggregate Resources Act. We have submitted our application to the Ministry of Natural Resources which comprises of an applicatio form, site plan, a supporting report and various land ownership agreement forms and application fees. The Ministry of Natural Resources in turn, circulates this information to the Public and to various agencies. They circulate the application package to all the associated agencies for review and comment. The agencies have forty five days in which to review and comment back to the Ministry of Natural Resources. Secondly, a notice of application was put in the local paper, the Packet and Times, last Thursday and Friday, identifying that an application has been made under the Aggregate Resources Act, for an expansion to the existing pit. þ - 5 - Anne Guiot: Thirdly, the applicant is required to post signs on the property indicating to the local people in the area that there is an application on hand concerning that particular property, providing details of what the application is for and where they can obtain further information. After the forty five day review process, when the Ministry of Natural Resources has received comments and input from the various agencies and the interested public then it is at that time that they do their formal review and take into consideration all the comments and concerns. The site Plans are in no way finalized at this point and the opportunities will exis for some time to come to improve the site Plans and accommodate any concerns that agencies or people from the public may have. Finally, as far as the co-ordination goes between the applications at hand, we are dealing with various planning applications as well as the application through the Ministry of Natural Resources. We try as much as we can to co-ordinate the applications so that the public has a better understanding of the process that i going on. We were able in this particular instance to get the circulation under the Aggregate Resources Act initiated prior to the Public Meeting for the planning application. Gary Bell: You have heard how we have had to upgrade applications based on new legislations and requirements and it was not really until about a year ago that we were ready to proceed in total with the application. Note, the Ministry of Natural Resources comment in which they would like further address made to the agriculture background and that is done in several ways. The Province of ontario established some mineral aggregate resources policy. It is a statement of policy by the Province to let the public, councils, and the board know about the importance of aggregate resources. They are important to the Province and our economy. This document also provides principles by which the planning and developing of aggregates should take place. A couple of those for your reference are that aggregates are an essential resource that are only found in limited locations. All parts of ontario possessing these aggregates share the responsibility for meeting the future demand. Development of aggregate resource must ensure that extraction is carried out with minimal social and environmental costs. # - 6 - Gary Bell: Another principle is that extraction can b looked upon as an interim use of the land. When extraction is complete, land use must be returned to something worthwhile. Specifically, the Official Plan Amendment is to redesignate this land now designated Agricultural within the Township, to pits and Quarries. Part of the new land is already designated pits and Quarries. The Oro Official Plan has extensive policies and requirements in it for managing and developing aggregate resources and we have ensured that our application provides everything that this Official Plan Policy requires. Zoning By-Law for all of the site is to be effected by the proposed Zoning By-Law. W are changing the side yard requirements of the old By-Law, in accordance with the Official Plan and in accordance with the provincial Governments regulations. Normally side yards to a pit are 15 metres and that is larger than the case of the existing pit and 30 metres is the normal front yard requirement. This Zoning By-La that we have proposed here makes that reference explicit for this particular pit it would be a special zone for this pit only. Implementation, we are seeking the adoptio of several By-Laws, one is the Official Plan Amendment By-Law; number two would be a By-Law to add to the agreement between the municipality and the operator. We spoke about dust and new drawings and it i important to incorporate those by By-Law. Thirdly, there is the Aggregate Resources Act License that was described to you. In summary, the proposed expansion of the existing pit into an area expected to contain high quality resource, will not have significant adverse effects on the physical environment. Measures are and have been taken to protect the areas residential land use and establish compatibility of land uses. Anita Beaton: I am in Lot 10 of Concession 8 and was interested in knowing about the planting (pointed to the map to a certain area), when it is going to be done and what age trees or seedlings are going to be planted The other question is with regard to the wetlands, what will the impact be on this area? Have the Ecological Consultants suggested any kind of monitoring of the water quantity or quality in that wetland? ~ - 7 - Doug Skelton: Firstly, with respect to the plantings, th size of the trees are not specified but usually they would be three to four feet i height and it would not be anticipated tha just seedlings would be planted. As soon as the mining in an area is mined to its limit, then the area will be rehabilitated and the objective is to grade, put the overburden and topsoil on and then to plan it. with regards to the wetlands, Ecological Services who did the study, did not recommend that we monitor. But they did recommend we do what we are going to do an that is with respect to our site we are going to have total containment on the sit and we are not mining below the water table. Anita Beaton: You mentioned something about planting wit respect to the land at the north east wher there is a residence and along the concession line, in that area. I understood you would be doing this rather soon as it would be important to noise, dust and so on. Doug Skelton: Yes, that was one of the issues with the neighbours and it took some extensive work on Mr. Uren's part and that is what these photographs show, this is the construction of the berm and if you drove there tonight you can see that there is some trees that have been planted on top of that berm. I believe there is still some planting to be done which will be done right away. Anita Beaton: Over the past year I have visited all the aggregate sites and have taken pictures of the aggregate sites in Oro Township and they certainly to date, add anything at al to the joy and pleasure of anybody who happens to live there or travel the area. I think if you are going to do anything to improve the external features of this development it would be commended. Doug Skelton: Yes, we don't expect to add anything, but we are hopeful that we will not take it away either and that is the purpose of som of the planting that we have talked about. Anita Beaton: We have some pretty ugly entrances around here. Planting little trees has often bee the case in the past, which means you are looking at a good many years before any significant improvement can be seen. The Reeve after enquiring and ascertaining that there were no further questions from those present, thanked those in attendance for their participation and advised that Council would consider all matters before reaching a decision. He then advised those present that if they wished to be notified of the passing of the proposed By-law, they should leave their name and address with the Clerk. , ' . . , MOTION NO.1 - 8 - Moved by Caldwell, seconded by Crawford Be it resolved that the special Public Meeting of Council (Oro Sand and Stone, Lot 9 and 10, Concession 13) now be adjourned @ 7:45 p.m. ~/!~~ Reevf( Robe t E. Drury Carried. C 1 !ß([:f:. Y ,