By John Francis
MNBP hired a consultant to prepare a Draft Parks and Recreation Master Plan, including conceptual plans for the Lion’s Head Arena and Community Centre and for the Lion’s Head waterfront.
Stakeholders were consulted; surveys were circulated. The process was mentioned in the municipal Public Notice ad in this newspaper and on social media.
97 people filled out surveys, including 68 residents.
The consultant presented the first draft of their report to a Special Council Meeting on April 25. Council discussed it at length, although the main concern was getting the arena renovation up and running.
Over the next few months some people actually looked at the draft report and saw the proposals for the Lion’s Head waterfront (see ad, opposite page). Many of those people felt they should have been given a chance to comment. (The fact that they were given a chance to comment is not material to this discussion. I’ll get back to that later.)
The municipality opened up the online survey process again and made a splash on social media. They got 144 responses.
With 4,000 permanent residents and several thousand more seasonal residents/property owners, that’s a sample size in the range of 2%. Which means that 98% of those with a right to speak have not done so.
* * * * *
Eight or ten years ago, MNBP did a study about expanding the public sewer and water systems in Tobermory. Laura Swanson of Darryl Robins Consulting did a superb report with conceptual plans for three possible scenarios. MNBP held a public meeting in Tobermory to show off the plans and get public reaction. The meeting was well-publicized and they held it on a weekday evening in summer so that people who worked weekends would be able to attend. At least three councillors came out. CAO Bill Jones was there, the Public Works Supervisor and Assistant Supervisor were there and several other staff members plus the engineer, Laura Swanson.
I think two members of the public showed up. I was one of them and I think Smokey Golden (now Councillor Golden) was the other. I was stunned. Why did nobody come out?
I’m still not sure why. But there was an important object lesson there (somewhere) concerning public consultation.
I think the lesson was that you can’t force people to make unpleasant decisions. Town water is expensive — just ask Lion’s Head. Without the heavy federal and provincial subsidies that supported the Lion’s Head initiative — and those days appear to be gone — the taxpayer contribution to municipal infrastructure would have been breathtaking. So why not just stay home and not think about it?
The result, of course, is that ten years later, we have no hope of getting new public housing or even new multi-unit housing in Tobermory. Why? No sewers and no public water.
* * * * *
The process of drafting a new Recreation Plan is long and boring and involves a lot of reading. The Agenda for the Special Meeting on April 25 was 233 pages. All the Councillors read them. I read them. I suspect very few other people did.
The scope of the document was huge. It required a lot of heavy thinking to research and write it. It required a lot of heavy thinking to read it and critique its conclusions. Easier to not get involved. Hey — there’s a new season of Stranger Things!!
It’s much easier to just let things slide and then react after the politicians make a decision.
Which is how we got to this point, with an important decision under consideration and staff and Council twisting in the wind — trying to find a way forward based on a 2% sample of public opinion.
* * * * *
The public property at Lion’s Head beach is an exceptional public asset. It did not happen by accident. It was destined for development when the Eastnor Horticultural Society stepped in and bought it, then gifted it to the Village of Lion’s Head to use as a public park. That was about 90 years ago.
Imagine the work the Horticulture Society executive will have put in, to imagine the future importance of Lion’s Head beach and find a way to secure it forever for the public.
Out of respect for their vision and effort, couldn’t we find a few minutes to fill out a survey? (Or a couple of hours to read the report so we could do an intelligent job of filling out the survey…)
* * * * *
There is one important thing to bear in mind concerning these conceptual plans — they are concepts, not intentions. Accepting the report does not magically create a budget to implement the plans. That would be a separate process and the changes would not be cheap.
But let’s fill out the survey and let staff and Council know what we, the voters, want. That way they’ll have some confidence at budget time.
