Some days, it’s very challenging to be a municipal councillor. There are no right decisions.
Such challenges will likely lead to significant turnover on Chatham-Kent council next fall, we predict.
But council deserves credit for making the right call recently in terms of two proposed wind turbine projects in East Kent.
Our elected officials voted against allowing the Crossfield Wind Farm and the Botany Wind Project to move ahead.
Councillors listened to constituents, who rallied hard in opposition to the proposed projects.
Over a period of two decades Crossfield would have delivered more than $15 million to C-K’s community fund coffers, while Botany would have yielded about $14 million.
That’s not chump change. But when water quality for rural residents is in question, it’s just not worth it, especially when the United Nations says everyone around the globe is entitled to have access to safe and affordable water for personal and domestic use.
On the tough decisions front, council recently approved putting bylaw officers (see “Bylaw officers to patrol encampments” on page 8) into action to patrol the homeless encampments in C-K. The officers have been trained up and are now ready for the task.
Well, as ready as they can be.
It’s hard to see a bylaw officer, who is not a trained police officer, making a huge difference at the encampment site on Grand Avenue East near the Chatham water treatment plant.
According to municipal officials, bylaw officers have been contracted to patrol the sites in order to maintain a presence, deter non-compliance and build relationships with the people living there.
It will take some time to make any inroads, if at all. The homeless can be a distrusting lot.
Is this a good use of taxpayer dollars?
After three months of homeless occupation of the green space, the adjacent ratepayers are still very unhappy with the situation, and fear for the safety of their families and their property.
Enter the bylaw officers. Perhaps seeing a regular presence in the area will serve as a deterrence for people thinking of breaking the law, but, again, the bylaw officers are not law enforcement personnel.
No, instead they can issue citations…
