Another attempt at OCP approval coming in the fall

“We are trying to book some meetings with the minister in charge of that (Minister of Government Relations Jim Reiter),” Dionne said on Monday. “And once we do that, we’ll be then, myself and the city manager (Jim Toye), meeting with them to see how we can move it forward.”

In lobbying the government, the City is looking to have the province allow a one-in-100-year flood plain to be used instead of the mandated one-in-500-year flood plain. The latter standard affects 2,000 properties in the city, while the former affects far fewer property owners.

The Official Community Plan requires the approval of the province, and the plan must adhere to the regulations set out in the Statements of Provincial Interest. Dionne said he believes the City has solutions for moving the Official Community Plan forward. He said they’re only deadlocked on the one-in-500-year flood plain.

“Well, let’s agree to the plan and move ahead and still settle with the one-in-500,” Dionne said.

By the end of the new timetable Guenther laid out, Dionne said the meetings will have been completed.

“He (Guenther) wanted to have it earlier, but I said to him first of all no one’s around in July. We all holiday in July and we’re not going to do it in July and August when people are away. We’re going to be very public about this process and we’re going to continue to move it forward so we changed the dates.”

Guenther told the executive committee that he forwarded information to Toye regarding dike design and costing, analysis and updates and the cost of design standards. The Official Community Plan suggests the construction of a dike along the riverbank.

Coun. Don Cody wants to see the City put its “best foot forward” to researching everything it can do by way of lobbying the province.

“But I think at least we owe it to our taxpayers and particularly the 2,000 or 2,001 properties, we owe it to them at least to show that we’ve done something. At least show that we’ve done something,” he said.

He warned fellow members of council that the flood plain is a big issue, “bigger than what any of you people think it is, larger than you think.”

The City plans to continue its public consultation process while the mayor and city manager hold discussions with the province.

The next Official Community Plan open house will offer residents an opportunity to see practical applications of the plan, including an in-home sprinkler system display. Property owners who have had to implement flood preventative measures in new builds would also be on hand to discuss their experiences.

Guenther explained that a lot of people won’t understand the high-level policy, but the practical information is more “on the ground.”

The next Official Community Plan open house will be held on June 10 in the City Hall foyer.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames

by Thia James

Another attempt at OCP approval coming in the fall

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