North Huron, Morris-Turnberry, at long last, confirm cross-border servicing agreement
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
On April 22, the councils of North Huron and Morris-Turnberry respectively approved a reciprocal cross-border service agreement for water and wastewater servicing that’s been a whopping six years in the making. In the lead-up to this historic moment, the staff and councils of both municipalities had met in closed session several times in order to hammer out the details before the existing agreement for the provision of water services from Morris-Turnberry to residents in North Huron was scheduled to expire on April 30. On the other side of the street, the agreement for the provision of services to Morris-Turnberry residents from North Huron had actually come to an end years earlier, in 2019.
Finally, on April 22, both councils discussed the final draft of the agreement at their respective meetings before voting to approve it as is.
North Huron Council held its meeting in Wingham, at 6 p.m. Included in that evening’s agenda was a report submitted by Clerk Carson Lamb, along with the final draft of the reciprocal cross border servicing agreement that addresses both Morris-Turnberry’s connections to North Huron’s systems and North Huron’s connections to Morris-Turnberry's system.
Lamb reports that, on Feb. 25, a meeting was held between the two municipalities, and an agreement was developed over the following weeks. At a March 17 closed session meeting, the draft agreement was presented to council for review and feedback. Upon returning to open session, the agreement was approved in principle and sent to the township’s solicitor for legal review. An amendment was made, changing the terms from a mutual written consent requirement for termination to a requirement for written notice by only one party for termination.
While Deputy-Reeve Kevin Falconer did vote in favour of approving the final draft of the agreement, he suggested that using the word “reciprocal” be reconsidered. “‘Reciprocal,’ to me, indicates that it’s equal,” he pointed out. “Back and forth. Where, with the two systems that we’re talking about, our system provides fire suppression in both of our reciprocal areas, and, in return, the reciprocal area does not provide fire protection. Thus, it changes the cost of insurance to the homeowners in our municipality, while we’re giving away the added advantage of having flow meters and hydrants… just possibly not call it a ‘reciprocal cross-border agreement’. It’s just not reciprocal,” Falconer concluded.
Lamb responded by pointing out that, at the top of the actual bylaw, it just says “cross-border service agreement.” He added, “It’s just kind of wording that’s carried over from the previous direction of council to negotiate agreements for the two systems.”
Councillor Mitch Wright moved things along by thanking North Huron staff for working so effectively with Morris-Turnberry staff in the name of bringing the saga of the cross-border servicing agreement to a satisfying conclusion. “I think it goes to show that when you walk into a negotiation with the idea that you both want to be winners of the agreement, things can get done fairly easily and quickly, and it benefits both municipalities,” he said. “Hopefully we can use this as a model to work for future agreements with Morris-Turnberry for other services.”
In North Huron, the motion to approve the final draft of the reciprocal cross-border agreement was put forth by Councillor Chris Palmer and seconded by Wright. Reeve Paul Heffer then brought the motion to a vote, which passed unanimously.
Morris-Turnberry Council convened for its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Council reviewed a progress report submitted by Chief Administrative Officer Trevor Hallam before voting on the final draft of the agreement.
Councillor Jamie McCallum complimented staff on working to reach the summit of this legislative mountain, together. “It’s been a long haul,” he said.
Councillor Sharen Zinn also praised the joint effort. “It’s nice to see that, after six years of working on this, the hard work has finally paid off,” she said.
Councillor Jodi Snell also expressed gratitude to staff for reaching the finish line of a project that began years before she became a member of council.
Deputy-Mayor Kevin Freiburger was just happy that the ordeal was finally over. “It’s what we were after since the get-go. Too bad it took this long to get here, but at least we got here,” he lamented.
Before the big vote, Mayor Jamie Heffer commented on what a long, strange trip it’s been. “Six years is a long time to be working on an agreement,” he admitted. “We got there, with an agreement that is fair and equitable for the parties on both sides… it’s time for our community to pull together, and hopefully this is a good step towards working together, better, in the future.”
The motion to approve the agreement was put forth by McCallum, and seconded by Zinn. When Mayor Heffer asked if anybody was opposed to moving forward with the much-anticipated cross-border agreement, the only response was laughter. The motion then passed unanimously.