The group from Baysville and Dorset called The Friends of Norway Point Park attended the Jan. 26 council meeting in Dwight to find out who was to be on the Norway Point task force.
A Dec. 8 council meeting determined that eight community members would form the task force without council representation. Surprisingly, at this latest council meeting a resolution was passed that the task force was no longer just community members reporting back to council, but in fact was now to be called an advisory committee with mayor Janet Peake as chair.
In addition, district councillor Margaret Casey will be the councillor on-board the committee with councillor Ruth Ross as her alternative. Both the mayor and councillors will be entitled to vote.
One might question the fairness of this committee. Below is how its membership has changed:
Original membership: water access 3; local marinas 2; general public 1; Lake of Bays staff 1; Bigwin Island development 1; total 8.
Revised membership: water access 2; local marinas 2; general public 2; LOB staff 1; Bigwin 1; total 8.
New advisory committee: water access 2; local marinas 2; general public 2; LOB staff 1; Bigwin 1; councillor 1; mayor as chair 1; total 10.
The initial resolution had to be changed repeatedly as it sounded like the shovels were already in the ground and the hammers were already at the dock.
The entire piece of property is included under the current parks bylaw.
Friends of Norway Point Park want to know if an environmental impact assessment needs to be done before any tree cutting or dock changes are permitted. Will this residential waterfront property need to be rezoned? Will allowing the exclusive use of public property set a precedent in the township? Why allow the township to give taxpayer lands for islanders to use for parking, when we don’t give public lands in support of affordable housing?
Waterfront residents, cottagers and non-waterfront families in the community must have access to nature and green spaces on the lake. These are important to our well-being and must be reserved for our children especially, to make them mindful and to keep them coming back to Muskoka.
Sue Smith, Carol Campbell and Henry McClelland
On behalf of Friends of Norway Point Park