Twenty-two dollars.
That’s what it will cost each of the 23,000 residents of Oro-Medonte to have two conservation agencies and an environmental association monitor, review and improve the township’s environmental condition.
The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA), the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) and the Severn Sound Environmental Association (SSEA) will all make 2024 budget request presentations to Oro-Medonte council this afternoon (March 13) during its regular meeting.
Combined, they will be looking for $502,055 from the municipality.
The LSRCA is asking for $94,394, while the NVCA is hoping to secure $246,480 and the SSEA is looking for a contribution of $161,181.
According to the township’s 2023-24 final budget, it earmarked just shy of $385,000 for these services.
The LSRCA was budgeted for $75,844, while the NVCA had an allocation of $172,025 and the SSEA had $137,128.
“Because we deal with multiple agencies, we want to make sure there is no overlap of services,” said Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw. “We need to ensure we’re being billed fairly for the services provided.
“We need to know who’s providing what and where,” he added.
According to SSEA executive director Julie Cayley, all three organizations are focused on their own watershed — defined as an area of land where rainfall and snow-melt, rivers, streams and inland lakes drain or flow toward one area of convergence.
“All three organizations are expertly qualified to provide the best possible service with no duplication of services,” Cayley said in an email to BarrieToday.
She said the SSEA works with Oro-Medonte, and all member municipalities, to provide critical services that support the municipality in protecting the long-term health of the watershed.
This includes services such as monitoring local water quality, reporting on environmental trends, providing in-house toxic blue-green algae early detection, identification and advice on prevention, protecting and restoring pollinator habitat.
She said the SSEA also works with residents to plant trees and shrubs and is working with the township on its climate-action planning.
“Oro-Medonte was one of the visionary founding members of the SSEA and is one of eight municipal members who signed this agreement with shared value and vision,” Cayley said.
The SSEA is seeking $161,181. According to its presentation, $128,759 will be for operations core municipal funding, risk management services will cost $10,051, Bass Lake water-quality monitoring survey will require $9,647, and $12,724 is needed for the Sustainable Severn Sound project,
The LSRCA is a local conservation, restoration and watershed management organization whose primary concern is the Lake Simcoe watershed.
According to the LSRCA’s presentation, $40,000 is required for corporate services, $17,000 is needed for ecological management, $3,000 covers education and engagement, $8,000 is required for greenspace services, $5,000 is earmarked for planning and development services, $10,000 is needed for water risk management and the final $11,000 is for watershed studies and strategies.
The NVCA is a local watershed management agency, mandated to ensure the conservation, restoration and responsible management of Ontario’s water, land and natural habitats through programs that balance human, environmental and economic needs.
The Nottawasaga Valley watershed covers approximately 3,700 square kilometres, with jurisdiction in 18 municipalities in the counties of Simcoe, Dufferin and Grey, and the City of Barrie.
It stretches from the Oak Ridges Moraine to the south, Niagara Escarpment to the west and Oro Moraine to the east, encompassing all the water that drains along the Nottawasaga River into Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.
The NVCA is asking Oro-Medonte for $246,480. According to the NVCA presentation, the 2024 budget represents a transition to a new budgetary framework for NVCA.
Through the province of Ontario, the NVCA’s program areas are separated into three categories:
- Category 1: Mandatory programs and services, where municipal levy could be used without any agreement
- Category 2: Municipal programs and services provided at the request of a municipality through an agreement
- Category 3: Other programs and services an authority determines are advisable but are not under Categories 1 and 2. Use of municipal levy requires an agreement with participating municipalities.
For Category 1 services, the NVCA is seeking $220,634, which includes an asset levy of $9,723. For Category 3 services, the conservation authority is asking for $25,846, which includes an asset levy of $1,557.
“One of the main reasons why people move here and want to live here is because we place a high value on our natural setting,” Greenlaw said. “There’s a cost for us to engage people to regulate it and ensure it’s in compliance.”
