By Julie Pollock
Senior of the Year
Mulmur Township’s Senior of the Year, Morley Brown, was recognized during the June 4 Council meeting for his years of civic service.
An avid historian, Brown seized the occasion to speak about one of the many projects that enjoy his attention: the ongoing restoration of an antique Mulmur Township road grader. Brown’s other interests include longstanding involvement with the Dufferin County Museum and support for the restoration of Mansfield’s Stanton Hotel. He has volunteered for many years on the Township’s Committee of Adjustment and, more recently, on the Strategic Planning Committee.
Brown lives with his wife on their Mulmur farm where they garden and pasture beef cattle.
County Forest Public Meeting
Dufferin County is seeking input on a 20-year management plan (2015 to 2035) for the Dufferin County Forest. As part of the process, there will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday, June 17 at 7 pm at Shelburne’s Mel Lloyd Centre. The meeting will provide information on a draft forest management plan, draft recreation policy and a proposal for access by off-road (non-racing) motorcycles by the Ontario Federation of Trail Riders.
The Forest, which was established in the 1930s to reduce soil erosion caused by overclearing of trees, comprises 2,606 acres in 13 tracts throughout Dufferin County. The main tract – nearly 60% of the forest (1,492 acres) – is located north of Mansfield in Mulmur Township. This tract, together with an adjacent section of the Simcoe County Forest, makes up a large public area that is a potential resource for recreation and tourism development.
The Public Meeting follows establishment of a Forest Plan Advisory Team, complete forest inventory, a user survey, a random household survey and two Open House information sessions. This is one of the last opportunities for input as all comments must be submitted to Dufferin County by Thursday, July 31.
Arbour Farms Info Session Mulmur Township will hold an information session on Saturday, June 21 at 10 am at the Honeywood Arena (North Dufferin Recreation Centre) to provide an update on the applications review process for Arbour Farms, including the results of traffic impact studies.
Arbour Farms is a 103-acre property (80 hectares) owned by Adam Krehm on the east side of Airport Road, south of County Road 21. The company applied to Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources in January 2013 to extract and haul up to 500,000 tonnes of gravel annually from the site. The deposit is estimated at 8.7 million tonnes of aggregate material, some of which is below the water table. Under the Aggregate Resources Act, Arbour Farms has until 2015 to address comments received.
The information session will provide an opportunity to comment before the Township finalizes its position on Arbour Farms’ municipal applications for rezoning and official plan amendment. A Public Meeting in June 2013 drew about 150 attendees. Concerns raised included the potential for heavy truck traffic, operational noise, effects on groundwater and other environmental impacts.