HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdmin-8-96THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE
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Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Date: APRIL 22 1996
Report #: ^ F'�1f�#:
Subject: ST. MARYS CEMENT
Recommendations:
File# E�0�•�
Res. #
By -Law #
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and
Administration Committee recommend to Council the following:
1. That Report ADMIN. 8-96 be received for information
2. That Council advise all interested parties that the
Municipality will not provide an industrial location for
the transfer of the CBM stonecrushing and ready -mix
operation;
3. That Council agree that, should the ownership of Waverly
Road be passed over to St. Marys Cement, as recommended
in the Waterfront Regeneration Trust's Report and
Recommendations on the Westside Marsh, the alternative
road access to Cedar Crest Beach be "The Cove Road
Route", as described in the aforementioned report;
4. That the Chief Administrative Officer, with appropriate
staff, be directed to commence negotiations with any
property owners that hold land designated in the "Cove
Road Route" in order to obtain ownership on behalf of the
Municipality so that construction may commence sometime
in the future;
5. That the Chief Administrative Officer commence
negotiations with St. Marys Cement and any Government
body that may participate in the construction costs of
the Cove Road Route, in order to. identify any cost to the
Municipality;
6. That a report be brought forward to Council identifying
the results of all negotiations, and the recommended
source of funding that would not result`�in an adverse
effect on the municipal tax levy, should the municipality
be called upon to participate financially in the
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construction of the Cove Road Route access to Cedar Crest
Beach;
7. Upon completion of the foregoing, assuming that any
financial contribution on behalf of the municipality does
not have an adverse effect on the municipal tax levy,
Clarington agrees to participate in the Implementation
Committee as recommended in the Waterfront Regeneration
Trust Report of November 1995; and
8. That this report, together with Council's actions, be
forwarded to the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, St. Marys
Cement Company, the Port Darlington Community Association
Inc., as well as those interested parties to this issue.
1. BACKGROUND
1.1 In November of 1995, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust
delivered their Report and Recommendations on the Westside
Marsh. This report came forward as the result of a request
from the Municipality of Clarington and St. Marys Cement
Company to the Waterfront Regeneration Trust to assist in
finding a solution to several outstanding issues surrounding
the operation of St. Marys in the area of the Westside Marsh,
as well as the proposed mining of the marsh itself.
1.2 In preparing the Report and Recommendations, the Waterfront
Trust presented an Interim Report in June, 1995, recommending
the formation of work groups of stakeholders to assist in the
preparation of a "Plan" that would address the numerous issues
surrounding the St. Marys operation in the Westside Marsh
area. After numerous meetings, the Trust presented their
report that recommended that St Marys continue to quarry a
portion of the Westside Marsh, while "a major portion of the
existing Westside Marsh will be retained including the habitat
most important for fish, birds, plants and animals. The Marsh
will be nearly two thirds of its present size, and new habitat
will be provided in order to,achieve no net loss overall. As
much as possible of this habitat will be created on site, and
any shortfall will be made up by augmenting -habitat in nearby
marshes."
2. ST, MARYS' INVOLVEMENT
2.1 As described in a letter from St. Marys to Council, dated
January 9, 1996, the "Plan" called upon St. Marys to do the
following:
a) To "freeze" 36 licensed acres of limestone so as to
preserve the existing marsh thereon. As partial replacement of
limestone, St. Marys would receive the Waverly Road right of
way.
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b) To transfer ownership of the 37 acres adjacent to Cedar
Crest Beach known as the south buffer. The end result is
expansion of the naturalized area from the original 37 acres
to 73 acres.
c) To transf er St. Marys lands on West Beach Road now zoned
"Extractive Industrial" for parkland, with the result that
there would be adjacent to and including the Marsh over 100
acres of parkland and natural area. The consequences of the
foregoing are as follows:
i) It removes the potential for CBM ready -mix, the
stonecrushing operation and Hutton Transport being
relocated to the West Beach Road property.
ii) It eliminates any future potential for St. Marys to
pursue an expansion to its quarry on this abutting 36
acres now zoned "Extractive Industrial".
d) To relocate the CBM stonecrushing and ready -mix operations
from Waverly Road to a suitable new location supplied by the
Municipality of Clarington within two years of the agreement.
There are costs associated with the move, and, while these
operations. ultimately would have to have been moved, the two-
year requirement consumes capital at an earlier date.
e) To dedicate to the Municipality of Clarington three parcels
of land totalling 13.5 acres over and above the 37 acre parcel
directly north of Cedar Crest Beach Road.
f) To bear the cost of the diversion of Westside Creek around
the licensed area. There is a significant additional cost,
estimated to be in excess of $2.5 million, to St. Marys to
implement this recommendation given the longer route and
larger volumes of overburden required to be excavated.
3. MUNICIPAL INVOLVEMENT
3.1 The Regeneration Trust's Plan calls upon the Municipality of
Clarington to do the following:
a) Clarington will close and transfer to St. Marys about 4
acres of Waverly Road thereby allowing the Company access to
limestone under Waverly Road and 12 acres of its own land; St.
Marys, at its own expense, will relocate the Waverly Road
portion of the Westside Creek east and then south into the
Westside Marsh.
b) Clarington will provide access to Cedar Crest Beach by a
bridge and road connection to West Side Beach Road.
c) Within two years of the agreement, Clarington will provide
an industrial location for the transfer of the CBM
stonecrushing and ready -mix operations.
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4. IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM
4.1 The Waterfront Regeneration Trust recommended three steps to
implement the Plan:
a) establishment of an Implementation Committee;
b) formal applications by St. Marys to the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans with a full proposal, based on this
integrated plan; and
c) following approval in principle of St. Marys' application
by DFO, the Implementation Committee should commence
coordination of the integrated steps in this plan, including
the necessary permits and approvals.
5. MUNICIPAL ACTIONS
5.1 Upon receipt of the Regeneration Trust's Plan, Council
directed Staff to identify potential costs against the
Municipality should the Plan be carried out as proposed. It
should be noted that when the Regeneration Trust introduced
its interim report in the summer of 1995, requesting
participation from the stakeholders to assist in the drafting
of the final report, Staff advised the Trust that they were
participating in the committee process on the clear
understanding that no financial commitment could be made on
behalf of the Municipality, given the budgetary restraints
that the Municipality was facing at that time. Since then,
Provincial cutbacks of Transfer Payments have resulted in even
greater pressure on the municipal budget.
5.2 Over the past few months Staff has obtained an Impression of
Value of the Waverly Road property as well as attending a
number of meetings with both St. Marys and the owners of the
properties that would be -affected by the construction of the
proposed alternative routes to Cedar Crest Beach, in an
attempt to identify costs that would be directed towards the
Municipality in the Regeneration Trust's Plan.
5.3 Staff has also requested Ontario Hydro to give consideration
to making available a portion of their Darlington NGS site for
the relocation of the CBM stonecrushing operation, as
recommended in the Plan. We have now been advised by Hydro
that such a proposal was not in keeping with their future
plans. We would recommend that Clarington not participate in
providing an alternate site for this operation.
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6. IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE
6.1 Prior to Clarington's commitment to the Implementation
Committee, it is imperative to clearly identify the potential
cost exposure to the Municipality, and ensure that the
municipal tax levy is not adversely affected by any financial
involvement on Clarington's behalf.
6.2 Upon reviewing the three proposed alternative routes to
service West Beach Road, should the ownership of Waverly Road
be transferred to St. Marys, staff would recommend the Cove
Road Route. The attached map identifying the three proposed
routes indicate the privately owned lands that must be crossed
for construction purposes. A preliminary cost of acquiring
such land on the Cove Route, plus the cost of building the
road and bridge, would be between 1.5 and 2.2 million dollars.
6.3 It is recommended that staff proceed to negotiate the purchase
of private lands to accommodate the construction of the Cove
Road Route, as well as continue to'identify any potential
financial assistance from other levels of government, and St.
Marys Cement Company.
6.4 Once staff reports the outcome of these negotiations to
Council, identifying any financial involvement on behalf of
Clarington, as well as a source of funding that would not
adversely affect the municipal tax levy, Council may then
commit to participate in the proposed Implementation
Committee.
Respectfully submitted,
W. H. Stockwell,
Chief Administrative Officer
WHS:nof
att.
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