BARRIE - Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall thinks Oro-Medonte council’s decision to unanimously pass a motion that called for an alternate route to solving the current municipal boundary discussions both “undermines” the process and “jeopardizes” the solution.
At its Feb. 26 meeting, Oro-Medonte Township council unanimously passed a five-page motion, put forth by Deputy Mayor Peter Lavoie, that called for an “expedited approach for the purpose of achieving agreement” to the current Boundary Adjustment Provincial Facilitation Process and included a detailed page-and-a-half appendix on how the proposed process would work.
“Oro-Medonte’s decision to move forward with this motion undermines the agreed-upon process and jeopardizes the collaborative approach that was intended to find a local solution to the boundary dispute,” Nuttall told BarrieToday via email. “By rejecting the provincial framework, they appear to be pursuing a separate process of their own, which Barrie won’t be part of.
“Despite this, Barrie remains committed to following the provincial process, as it ensures fairness, transparency and a structured path to resolution,” Nuttall added.
In a March 19 letter to Oro-Medonte council, which was received and discussed at the township’s council meeting Wednesday, Nuttall said the city was “surprised” to receive Oro-Medonte’s notice that its council had passed this motion, given that all parties had agreed and signed the terms of reference for the work of the provincial facilitator in 2024.
“I did not receive any notice from Oro-Medonte’s mayor or deputy mayor that ... Lavoie would be introducing this motion and, as far as we can see, the City of Barrie only received official notice less than 24 hours before the meeting,” Nuttall said.
While discussing Nuttall’s letter, Oro-Medonte Coun. Richard Schell expressed concern that the township’s decision to pass Lavoie’s motion may have violated the terms of the original agreement.
“I’m concerned about continuing with this,” Schell said. “The accusation I’m reading in here (Nuttall’s letter) or seeing in here is we breached confidentiality by going to the press on the talks. I just don’t know where we’re going to go from here.
“I would like to reconsider,” he added.
Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw said he didn’t see where the confidentiality breach occurred and he tried to add greater clarity to Lavoie’s motion.
“We don’t have a clean definition of what it is we’re trying to facilitate and we are behind schedule and we are over budget,” Greenlaw said. “What Deputy Mayor Lavoie has laid out is how we’re going to move forward within a scheduled time parameter.”
Schell wasn’t buying it.
“OK, I guess I should just get right straight to my point,” the councillor said. “At the time we made our vote on the motion, we were not aware that the motion brought forward by the deputy mayor was in violation of the signed agreements and was a violation of confidentiality.”
Greenlaw disagreed.
“No, because what he (Lavoie) proposed was a different path forward, an alternative, because what was laid out in the facilitation was not getting any traction, in substance, in order to move to a conclusion,” Greenlaw said. “I think what the deputy was just saying is that these things here are not working and therefore we need to restructure the model moving forward.
“It was just a suggestion — we weren’t saying this is what it has to be,” he added.
Nuttall disagreed.
“For this process to move forward effectively, all parties involved must abide by the original terms and conditions they agreed to,” Nuttall said. “Any deviation from this undermines the process we signed up for.”
Following Oro-Medonte’s passing of the motion, the township sent the decision to the other municipalities involved in the boundary discussion talks — the City of Barrie, the Township of Springwater and the County of Simcoe — seeking their support and urging them to draft and pass similar motions.
“I offer this motion to this council and the other three councils (Barrie, Springwater and county) for consideration and their own motions for a vote to establish whether or not they want to engage in a different kind of public negotiations where we can consider the issues and deal with the issues in a manner not unlike an Ontario Land Tribunal hearing would be conducted,” Lavoie said following the motion’s passing by Oro-Medonte council on Feb. 26.
While the City of Barrie drafted a letter of response, the two other municipalities dealt with the motion during their respective council meetings.
Springwater received the motion for information only at its council meeting last week.
While Springwater Mayor Jennifer Coughlin expressed similar frustrations with the process, she wanted to ensure her township was on solid ground with whatever next steps it decides to take.
She sought clarity from Doug Herron, Springwater’s chief administrative officer.
“The terms of reference we currently have in play provides that the township would act in confidence in those discussions,” Herron told council at that meeting. “The motion that is before us, as presented from the council of Oro-Medonte, is suggesting we take a completely 180-degree reversal and open it up to the public.”
When Oro-Medonte passed Lavoie’s motion Feb. 26, Coughlin said she wouldn’t comment on the development due to an earlier agreement between the parties not to talk publicly about the process.
At county council on Tuesday, Lavoie put forth a motion to get a report from county staff on the issue. The motion was passed and the report will be presented to council at an unspecified future date.