Refusal to extend session means additional meeting called for this week
Outgoing Pelham Town Councillors Lisa Haun and Marianne Stewart effectively declared themselves lame-duck taxpayer representatives at council’s August 22 meeting, with both twice refusing to further extend the session to work through an extensive agenda. On the second motion to extend council curfew, they were joined by Ward 3’s Bob Hildebrandt in putting an end to the meeting after four-plus hours.
While Mayor Marvin Junkin and Councillors Wayne Olson and John Wink voted to keep working, the motion was lost on the procedural rule of a tie. Ward 2’s Ron Kore—who is also not running for re-election this fall—was absent without explanation and did not attend the virtual gathering.
When council hit its first curfew at 9 PM, Wink tried to make a motion to extend the meeting by an hour, but then reduced it to 30 minutes. Haun and Stewart would only agree to finish the matter at hand, and voted against Wink’s motion.
“I’d like to point out that we are indeed the head of a corporation, and people are waiting for this council to make decisions,” Junkin said. “And we only meet once a month [in the summer], and as a council we’ve got to realize that if you have a council meeting once a month, it’s going to tend to be long.”
Haun replied that the council agendas are too long.
“All due respect, but we also made a pact some time ago as to procedures to have 350 pages to read, and we’re up to 900 and something on this one,” she said. “I think we’ve all made some changes here to accommodate … and some of us do still work.”
The Mayor shot back: “Yes, I’m quite aware that some of us still work, I happen to be one of those.”
It should be noted that Haun, Kore, Stewart and Hildebrandt—dubbed the Gang of Four for their tendency to vote as a bloc— defeated a staff recommendation earlier this year to hold more frequent summer meetings specifically to address the heavy agendas spurred by the growing community (traditionally, council only meets once a month in July and August). At the same time, the bloc also defeated a proposal to move the regular council curfew time to 9:30 PM, and also voted against giving Pelham councillors a pay raise from the current below-legal-minimum-wage salary of roughly $16,000 per year.
Yes, I’m quite aware that some of us still work, I happen to be one of those
By voting against the first curfew extension, Haun and Stewart actually jeopardized a matter they have routinely claimed to prioritize— building temporary additional parking at the MCC. Because approval was needed quickly so construction can be completed before the onset of winter, and the accompanying slate of hockey tournaments, CAO David Cribbs urged passage.
Council ultimately green-lit the plan unanimously. The low-end price tag for the project is $48,000, and will create about 60 more parking spots.
Not rescued at the meeting was Pelham’s proposed new comprehensive zoning bylaw, intended to replace the current bylaw in place since 1987 and which staff as been labouring over since before the pandemic started.
The delay was triggered by Haun, who, just before the last curfew hit and the meeting was ended, specifically took issue with a matter that’s actually under the province’s jurisdiction, going to bat for local businessman Tim Nohara in the process.
Nohara, who wants to build a second home on his Highway 20 property, recently discovered he is barred from doing so given that the land is within the Ontario Greenbelt.
While Nohara’s appeal is ongoing, Haun said she wanted to wait to pass the overall bylaw until Nohara got a “second opinion” on the matter.
“I’d just like to understand better from an external source,” she said.
The CAO expressed some frustration at the delay and its rationale.
“This [updated bylaw] is the single largest project undertaken this term of council,” said Cribbs. “It is exceptionally difficult to hold off something that affects more than 7,000 properties and 18,000 people because of an objection by one. We’ve already deferred it multiple times. We look at it in its totality, we will never have unanimous agreement, but the province is abundantly clear— your choice is either to amend this so it is in direct contradiction of provincial guidance on secondary dwelling units in green spaces, or not.... You don’t hold up [a completed document] to get external opinions. You have an entire planning staff that has put this before you.”
Nonetheless, as curfew descended, the new bylaw remained tabled.
Debate over proposed East Fonthill public square
Council saw a preliminary design for the East Fonthill public square, which was included in the area’s 2013 Master Plan. David Duhan, from SHIFT Landscape Architecture, presented the concept drawings, which is a plaza format across from the community centre at the corner of Meridian and Wellspring Ways. The public space calls for trees, a large lawn, a water feature and a stage/pavilion, at an estimated present-day cost of just over $1 million.
Duhan said feedback was received from 21 Pelham residents after a one-month consultancy period, but council had more questions.
Hildebrandt didn’t think enough citizens provided feedback, while Haun said residents should be made aware of the potential price tag. Wink wondered aloud if the stage aspect would take away from recent and future improvements to the bandshell area in Peace Park.
“I’d hate like heck to see this preclude all the efforts we’re doing in Peace Park,” the Ward 2 councillor said.
Duhan said the stage could also be a pavilion and is not a final plan, while adding the feature could be used as an event platform in conjunction with the community centre.
Either way, the proposed space is not currently a priority for the Town, something Councillor Marianne Stewart stressed.
“The library and the parking are far more important than this,” she said. “We have no floating platform above the town to put it on with magic escalators. This is a place where we can put the library. I am really opposed to pushing this forward in any way.”
Treasurer Teresa Quinlin-Murphy said she was not at liberty to discuss potential plans regarding moving the Fonthill Library to a proposed addition at the MCC, as talks regarding grant funding are ongoing. The current library will be outdated as currently constituted when the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act comes into effect in 2025.
CAO David Cribbs reminded councillors again that merely accepting the report did not obligate the Town to any financial outlay. Hildebrandt still felt more comfortable adding an amendment that project approval would be contingent on future grants. All councillors except Stewart voted in favour.
Highway 20 apartment building proposal deferred
Council unanimously voted to defer the issue of the controversial apartment complex proposed for 15 Highway 20 East. Residents of Kinsman Court, the cul-de-sac directly behind the property, have objected to developer plans to have the complex’s garbage picked up on their street at the rear of the new building, and presented a petition to council.
Junkin initially was prepared to green-light the project, warning that not approving it would likely lead to another defeat at taxpayer cost via the Ontario Land Tribunal.
“Sooner or later, something’s going to go on that site,” the Mayor said. “Other towns would love to have an apartment building go up.”
However, Wink moved a successful motion to see if the Region could approve garbage pickup from Highway 20. It was believed that the building’s cantilevered design may prohibit large trucks from entering from the front, but Director of Community Planning and Development Barb Wiens said clarification on the concerns could be brought back by next month.
Odds and ends
Businessman Tim Nohara appeared at the virtual meeting, not regarding his second dwelling unit request but rather in what was likely his last presentation to this council as chair of the Cannabis Control Committee. He said that the Town’s odour bylaw is being appealed to the Ontario Superior Court, and likely won’t be heard until next year. The excessive light bylaw is also pending legal challenges based on a similar bylaw in Leamington.
Council voted to name the East Fonthill Trail after late Pelham Olympian Jane Haist. Members approved an honour in principle for Haist earlier this summer, with Junkin consulting her family on their preference for a tribute.
As part of the comprehensive zoning bylaw changes, Wink asked that pet chickens be banned from the urban zones of Pelham, citing smaller properties and yards and associated sanitary concerns. The Voice understands that a separate bylaw addressing the presence of poultry and livestock in subdivisions will be forthcoming.
