Conserving what? LPRCA greed.

With days to go before the Municipal Election it's time for Citizen's of Norfolk County to vote for leadership that will take charge for the next four years.  These leaders will not only lead the County but four of them will also be on the Board of Directors for the Long Point Conservation Authority.

Our Conservation Authority is leader of it's own in many categories.  The Conservation Authority website states that their mandate is : "Conservation Ontario is the signal of the shift to a new, more entrepreneurial way of conducting environmental business and it focuses on excellence in managing and delivering watershed-based ecosystem resources and services."

How effective has the LPRCA been at excelling in managing and conducting business?  Let's put the numbers to the test shall we?

Economics of Eco-Passages

In front of Council next week, the Long Point Causeway Phase II Wildlife Culvert Project will be seeking approval for 3 additional Eco-passages on Long Point.  The County is acting as a liaison for the design and construction and has not allocated any funds to this project.

Even with such a minimal role in this project, County Staff still managed to draw the ire of Nick Wilson, President, Long Point Biosphere Reserve Foundation.  Hopefully Councilors read enough of the report to find this paragraph :

"Council should be aware that we will not be providing any funding for the proposed
guardrails and anti-fishing fencing at the existing aquatic culvert that were included
in the low bid, These items were inserted in the tender by County staff without our
consent even though we were paying for the preparation of the tender documents
by the consulting engineers. The LPWBRF does not agree that these costly items
are needed to prevent people from fishing at the culvert and does not have any
funding available for such work under its current funding agreements with the
federal and provincial governments."

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

A concerned Citizen recently sent us a copy of a very disconcerting document which we are now releasing to the public for the very first time.

This is a purchase agreement between the financially struggling Long Point Region Conservation Authority and The Nature Conservancy of Canada whereby a 45.2 acre parcel is sold.

The purchase price is $0 but the 2 parties swap a $2 bill and The Nature Conservancy of Canada agrees to 'donate' $360,000 to the Long Point Region Conservation Authority.

A Short Reprieve for Tax Payers

With Norfolk County Council on summer holidays for the past month the Citizen's have had a reprieve of their pocketbooks.  Much like how kids feel about summer, it went by far too quickly and Council entered the doom room last Tuesday.

As per usual Council started with their top secret closed door meeting and second up was an item on the agenda that just seemed to magically appear.  With a reference to a mysterious staff report CSD 14.22 which we were unable to find and does not appear on the agenda, the County rented out 10 acres of land beside the Norfolk County Soccer Park to a farm company for the purpose of growing ginseng.  With prime ginseng land now commanding $900 per acre you can likely bet the County settled for much less.

Not surprisingly another item on the agenda was yet another budget amendment.  We would have liked to have seen a tender for Public Works who desperately needs a different dart board so they can have a better quoting system.  A Port Dover water main replacement project just jumped up another $450,000.  As per usual Engineering fees came in rounded to the nearest $1000 with the total cost for them being $147,000.

More Norfolk County Budget Woes

This evening on the docket for Norfolk County council to consider are no less than 6 issues that will require budget amendments.  From a Crossing Guard to a front end loader it will all need approval and more money than what was allocated in the last budget.

Today alone council will vote on going over budget by a whooping $246,494.68.  That's nothing compared to the almost $2 million that was approved last time council was in committee.  5 issues were on the table then and it seems that every time they get together more of our money gets burned.  Hopefully they start the summer break soon so that the reserve accounts also get a break.

Fuel Spill at Norfolk County

 With Norfolk County’s Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan for 2014-2019 recently released we've had a chance to go over the numbers and the results are staggering.

You will know by now that we're not fan's of the Norfolk County Roads Department or Public Works by this point and the Fleet fuel consumption numbers just solidifies the fact that those departments are broken.  Some how these departments have used 140,000 more litres of fuel in 2013 than 2012.

The Long Point Conservation Authority - A Visual

We've had a large number of Citizens asking us for more detailed information regarding our post on how the Long Point Region Conservation Authority is feasting at the trough.  There seems to be some kind of virus in Norfolk County since it would appear that County Staff is also infected.

A few cases of PED (Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea) reported in Norfolk County but this is something different.  PED has a 100% mortality rate in nursing piglets.  What Norfolk County is experiencing is a different kind of PED (Politician Epidemic Diarrhea) might be a better description for it.

This peculiar infection causes hogs to be so insatiable at the trough they forget where the slop comes from and who's feeding them.

Erosion - The Nature Conservancy of Canada's Norfolk Plan

Erosion : the act or process of eroding or the state of being eroded.

There's been a lot of talk from Citizen's in Norfolk County with regards to The Nature Conservancy of Canada's penchant for buying farms, tearing down the buildings and how it affects the tax base of the County.  A concerned Citizen has taken it upon themselves to delve a little deeper into the equation and has sent us some much needed information to produce hard results.

The loss of these farms is irreparable to our community.  The jobs, production, and family's are gone forever.  Money churn cannot be calculated.  If it could the results would be staggering.