Grey Highlands council has voted against the possibility of the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority amalgamating with the Lake Simcoe Regional Conservation Authority.
At its meeting on April 16, Grey Highlands joined the growing chorus of area municipalities rejecting the suggestion from Oro-Medonte that the two conservation authorities merge into one entity.
At the meeting, a resolution from the Town of Collingwood opposing the possible merger appeared on the consent agenda for the meeting. Coun. Joel Loughead lifted the item from the consent agenda and asked for council’s support for a Grey Highlands resolution opposing the amalgamation.
Loughead said the amalgamation idea had been discussed extensively at NVCA meetings and had not received any support.
“All of the municipalities either have or will be rejecting the amalgamation,” said Loughead. “It was unequivocal the opposition from the other municipalities.”
Rather than formulate a brand new resolution, council chose to use the wording from Collingwood and substituted the Municipality of Grey Highlands for the Town of Collingwood.
The resolution stated:
“No independent, expert analysis has been conducted to determine whether an amalgamation would improve efficiency and service delivery or whether it may instead result in increased costs, governance challenges, operational inefficiencies or dilution of focus on the needs of the individual watersheds.”
Council unanimously supported the resolution.
