Grey Highlands Mayor Paul McQueen is not pleased with the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority and has suggested drastic action be taken to solve a lingering issue.
At the Grey Highlands council meeting held on Feb. 26, McQueen suggested that his municipality consider expropriating conservation authority land in order to solve a winter parking issue for residents near Kimberley.
The parking issue has been on council’s plate for quite some time. Currently, residents on a section of Sideroad 7B use the parking lot at the Old Baldy trail for winter parking when a section of the road is not maintained by the snow plow. Sideroad 7B is a long and winding road and a portion of the road is not plowed during the winter months.
The parking lot is owned by the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority. During the winter, Grey HIghlands plows the parking lot to use it as a turn around. For many years, local residents were able to use the lot to park near their homes for free. Last winter, the authority implemented a $500 fee and asked residents using the lot to sign an agreement to use parking the lot.
In the first year of the new fee system, Grey Highlands reimbursed residents for the fee. However, in Oct. 2024 council passed a motion directing staff to work out a permanent, no cost solution with the authority.
At its meeting on Nov. 27, the authority board of directors voted in favour of continuing the fee and agreement system for parking at the Old Baldy parking lot.
That decision did not impress McQueen, who made his feelings on the matter known when council discussed the minutes of the authority’s Nov. 27 meeting.
“It’s not sitting well with me,” McQueen said of the situation and raised the spectre of Grey Highlands using the expropriation process to take over ownership of the parking lot property. “Is that an option? It could be an option. We’re plowing it anyway.”
CAO Karen Govan said expropriation is a legal process that staff would have to research.
“To expropriate, you have to show a need - a benefit to the municipality,” she said.
McQueen also raised the possibility of Grey Highlands invoicing the conservation authority for its work to plow the parking lot.
“Can we send the conservation authority a bill? We plow it,” said McQueen. “We need to get a resolution on this.”
Govan warned that stopping snow plowing would make the current problem even worse. The CAO said the conservation authority does not use the parking lot during the winter and has no need for it to be plowed. She said the authority would likely close the lot and “chain it up” if Grey Highlands sends an invoice for snow plowing.
“We have residents who have paid for permits and are parking there,” said Govan.
Council took no action on the matter. In response to the mayor’s comments, Grey Sauble Conservation Authority CAO Tim Lanthier said in an email that the authority has “no comment.”