By Matthew Talbot Alliston Herald
Essa Mayor David Guergis withdrew his motion to dissolve the Nottawasaga Valley
Conservation Authority (NVCA) tonight.
The mayor submitted, and succeeded in passing in a unanimous vote, a revised motion.
At tonight’s council meeting, Guergis instead called for staff to ask the NVCA to cease
collecting permit fees. The new motion also called for a third party review, among other
requests.
Outside of the meeting, NVCA CAO Wayne Wilson said he and the conservation authority
would be requesting a meeting with Essa tomorrow, in advance of the NVCA’s monthly
meeting on Friday. It is expected at that meeting the board will discuss a policy that would
dictate how it works with municipalities.
A draft of that policy was revealed to Essa council earlier tonight during a delegation from
Wilson, prior to Guergis withdrawing his motion.
Wilson said he needed more information from Essa regarding the requests in the new
motion before decisions “in terms of how reasonable it is for [the] authority” are made.
Past chair of the NVCA Fred Nix said a change in the permit fee structure would be unlikely
to pass at the board level.
“I’ll make a prediction...” he said. “That suggestion, when it gets to our board, won’t go
very far.”
“I find it very difficult to say legally we could do what that motion asks us to do,” he said.