Meaford’s Mayor is looking back on the work of the past year, especially in regards to the proposed TC Energy Pumped Storage Project.
Ross Kentner says 2023 was a great year for the municipality as it set the stage for some significant growth and development for Meaford.
“One of the first things we did as a new council was to declare Meaford a willing host to TC Energy’s Pumped Storage project,” says Kentner. “Earlier this month, Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney, Interim CAO Matt Smith and I had a meeting with the federal impact assessment head to discuss how that body plans to hear from everyone with concerns about the project and how our municipality will have a strong hand in decisions concerning any impacts environmental, social and so on.”
He says not too far into 2024 he believes a public committee will be looking at what community benefits Meaford wants from this project including in the short, medium and long-term. The municipality will look at bringing on a negotiator of their choosing to represent Meaford when dealing with TC Energy.
Additionally, he says following the retirement of previous CAO Rob Armstrong, which was a challenge, they will have a meeting on Jan. 8 to review a short list of candidates to fill the roll.
“We are determined to get this right because it takes both a council and a staff working together to really have progress in any municipality,” says Kentner.
He adds the development by Skydev, which is under construction, has changed. It will still include a hotel, but instead of a dense housing development, the project is moving a head with a few apartment buildings and they have moved where the park will be located, which will face Bridge and Fuller Streets.
Council also recently held a public meeting to highlight the number of major projects the municipality is undertaking.
In the new year, Kentner says there are about 1,500 houses in the queue to be built in the municipality.
“The bad news is, we have lots of water, but the sewage capacity probably will limit us to 500 or 600 of those houses,” says Kentner.
He says they plan to request support from the Rural Ontario Municipal Association to address the issue.
