Welcome Residents of Belfountain.ca

For the West Caledon Communities Aggregate Group presentation to the Town of Caledon on Sept 21st, 7pm:

This link tells you what it is about  http://www.belfountain.ca/west-caledon-communities-aggregate-group-presentation-to-town-of-caledon-september-21st-7pm/

This is the link to use to access the meeting on the 21st and provides instructions to get in to the meeting via live stream or phone.  
https://calendar.caledon.ca/Meetings/Detail/2021-09-21-1900-Planning-and-Development-Committee
 
This link takes you to the agenda. 
https://calendar.caledon.ca/Meetings/Detail/2021-09-21-1900-Planning-and-Development-Committee/a2ef8946-8b52-44b5-b3a9-ada5011dbb5e
 
If you have technical difficulty getting into the meeting, please follow the instructions on the Town of Caledon website and reach out to their technical team.

We’d like to encourage all of you to participate in an event which could have major implications for the proposed Caledon mega quarry application.  Over the past several months, the West Caledon Communities Aggregate Group, of which the B.C.O. are a member, has diligently worked on a presentation for the Town of Caledon Councillors and the Region of Peel Planning Committee.  This PowerPoint review will present a compelling case for more robust Official Plan policies to deal with future quarry applications.  A stronger, more environmentally sensitive Caledon Official Plan could be a game changer for all future Aggregate applications. 

This online presentation is scheduled for the evening of September 21, between 7 and 9 PM (exact time will hopefully be confirmed for us in a few days) before the mayor and councillors.  We urge all of you to watch this presentation online because council will be monitoring the number of attendees. Strong community interest will send a clear message.

To log onto this Town of Caledon meeting, please use the following link:

 https://calendar.caledon.ca/Meetings/Detail/2021-09-21-1900-Planning-and-Development-Committee

We hope you can join us and show your support!

Thank you

We are providing additional information to the residents of Belfountain regarding the Community Garage Sale Saturday September 25^th from 11 am – 3pm.  

We are asking for your help to raise funds for our community.  This is a fundraiser to help all of us defend against the serious threatening issues and significant financial impacts from the Manors of Belfountain development and the Erin Wastewater plant. 

We would like to attract as many people as possible to our garage sale.   Please copy and paste to send this link (not this email) to everyone you know and encourage them to come and spend their money here for a great cause.  

https://www.belfountain.ca/spread-the-news-near-and-far-belfountain-community-yard-sale-is-sept-25th/

The sale begins at 11am and ends at 3pm.  There will be a great band, representatives from the Coalition for the West Credit River and sale tables at the corner of Forks of the Credit Rd and Old Main beside the green building.   We expect that people will be walking along the roadsides to visit the tables at the end of the driveways.   We have asked everyone to maintain social distancing.

Please email salamander@belfountain.ca  if you intend to participate and are putting your items at the end of your driveway. Please coordinate with your neighbours if that makes sense for you.  If you have items for sale that you would like to donate but will not be able to put out a table, please drop them off before 9am at South East corner of Forks of the Credit Rd and Old Main Street. 

If you are willing to volunteer to help carry stuff, work at the tables, etc., please email salamander@belfountain.ca

Please contribute to protect our small and beautiful hamlet. Once you have sold your goods and the garage sale is over, we hope you will share your profits by donating all or a portion using these methods.   If you prefer to give the cash you have received, there will be a central donation box at Forks of the Credit Rd and Old Main from 3pm – 4pm.  Please give generously to the BCO through your garage sale efforts.    If you, or someone you know, are unable to participate and would like to donate , you can do so by either of these methods:

1. Donating directly to the B.C.O: 100% of donations made are used to pay legal fees, experts’ invoices, and administration costs. No tax receipts are available.  The B.C.O. is an incorporated non-profit organization supported by volunteers. You can donate directly to the B.C.O. by cheque, cash or e-transfer by contacting  treasurer@ belfountain.ca, or click on the link below to use PayPal at BCO to support the initiatives. 100% of donations made are used to pay legal fees, experts’ invoices, and administration costs. No tax receipts are available.  The B.C.O. is an incorporated non-profit organization supported by volunteers. B.C.O. administration costs are outlined in our financial statements which are reviewed publicly at the Annual General Meeting and posted to our website.

2. Donating through Small Change Fund: For those of you who would like a tax receipt, we are pleased to announce that we have partnered with Small Change Fund.  When you donate $25 or more to either project, you will receive a tax receipt.  SCF does retain a percentage of the funds donated to support the services they provide as outlined on their website. Choose the project: (Manors of Belfountain Subdivision) Belfountain-needs-your-help or/and  (Erin Wastewater Treatment Plant)  Cut-the-crap-save-the-credit .  As projects are resolved and donations received are higher than the invoices for the project, the overage will be applied to the most urgent of the remaining issue.

Belfountain may be small, but we are mighty when we work together

Please spread the news and help support the B.C.O. through the Belfountain Community Yard Sale on Saturday, September 25, 2021, 11am – 3pm.

The day will include live music!  Members of the Coalition for the West Credit River will be there to show kids how to tie flies for fishing.  

Don’t forget to drop into our local businesses and take advantage of all they have to offer.

Please practice the Covid-19 safety measures outlined by Region of Peel, Public Health. Public health measures – Coronavirus – Region of Peel (peelregion.ca)

You and your friends and family can learn more about this exciting day by streaming the Dufferin Life show on Rogers TV Sunday September 19 through Sunday September 25th.  (Sunday: 9am, 1pm, 10am, Monday through Saturday: 9am, 1pm, 7pm and 10pm.) It can be seen on Rogers Cable 63 Dufferin-Caledon. Click on the link below during any of the show times listed above and click on the “watch now” in the top left corner of the screen.  http://www.rogerstv.com/home?lid=14&rid=21

The BCO has received this update from the CVC.   CVC are offering a site tour in the coming weeks to residents of Belfountain.  If you are interested in attending, please advise secretary@belfountain.ca by September 3rd and we will provide the CVC with your name and email. 

I appreciate that the construction noise can be unpleasant for those that back onto the conservation area and I appreciate their patience and long suffering. Please know that we are moving as swiftly as possible to get the heavy works done by the end of September. Our schedule is driven by the need to complete the pond removal, channel construction and dam mitigation works within the fisheries window for the West Credit. The good news is that we are on schedule and the contractor (R&M Construction) have been fantastic in moving this along – and I trust that the overall results will be worth the disruption.

We have just posted a blog updates on the project page here with some information – please feel free to share this: https://cvc.ca/conversations/restoring-belfountain-conservation-area/

I have also attached a number of additional pictures with labels here to this email that show the main things that are going on to-date and which illustrate the progress.  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RX3ZJB8fpi93jeQWbvzNrcNZ92aXKkJL?usp=sharing

Right now we are working to complete the final 1/3 of the dam mitigation works and the last bit of the new channel. The recent hammering noise that folks have heard is the demolition of the sluice gate (figure below highlighted in Yellow below signature). This was the control gate with stop logs and a valve that CVC installed in the 1960’s. With the dam being lowered by 1m and anchored, and with the pond removed, we are restoring the original width and face of the dam as it connects to that wingwall. The hammering will be over today, as next week will see the installation of the formwork and concrete pouring for this restored section of dam. Beyond September we are working on the new public realm elements (boardwalk, outlook, stone masonry restoration, bridge, etc.) and the daily noise should decrease.

Regards,

Jesse de Jager | he/him/his

Manager, Capital Projects and Assets | Credit Valley Conservation

905-670-1615 ext 281 | M: 416-277-9314

jesse.dejager@cvc.ca | cvc.ca

CLEAN OUT YOUR ATTIC! YOUR BASEMENT!

This year on what would have been SALAMANDER FESTIVAL

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th

LET’S HAVE A COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE!

Throw in some music with a couple of local bands. Get together with our neighbours and help fund the BCO’s fight to preserve our community.  This is a FUNDRAISER, so please DONATE A PORTION OF YOUR PROCEEDS to the BELFOUNTAIN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION that works for you and me.

TIME: 11 am to 3 pm
PLACE: You can have your own table in front of your house or join the COMMUNITY TABLES IN THE VILLAGE.  For information regarding the community tables please email salamander@belfountain.ca

For Immediate Release:  11 August 2021

Town of Erin Must Follow Through with its Commitments to Stakeholders

The Coalition for the West Credit River (Coalition) is concerned that the Town of Erin is moving forward to the construction phase of the Erin Wastewater Treatment Plant when it has not met key commitments it made in its Town of Erin Urban Centre Wastewater Servicing Class Environmental Study Report (ESR).

For this reason, Judy Mabee, President of the Belfountain Community Organization and Linda Heron, Chair of the Ontario Rivers Alliance, have filed an Environmental Bill of Rights Application for Investigation of the Corporation of the Town of Erin (Town). The Ministry will investigate whether the Town contravened or violated Section 38 of the Environmental Assessment Act.

The ESR committed to issuing an Addendum to the ESR once a final project site was chosen.  The Project received Minister Jeff Yurek’s conditional approval on 29 August 2019; however, Site 1 (the Solmar land) was not officially chosen until a Town Council Meeting held on 18 August 2020, more than 2 years after the Notice of Completion was issued. The Council resolution included the announcement that a corresponding Addendum to the ESR would be completed.

Judy Mabee reported, “Mayor Alls recently informed us that the Town would not be issuing an Addendum and that the Project has been put out to tender to three pre-qualified contractors.  They expect to award the contract sometime this month”. 

The ESR also committed to an Environmental Management Plan, an Arborist Report for all affected areas, and additional bird and bat surveys; however, we are not aware if these additional commitments were completed before brush was cleared and burned, trees ripped out by the roots and a coldwater Brook Trout nursery and tributary to the West Credit River was severely damaged by heavy machinery in and around the study area.

The majority of this damage took place in a Provincially Significant West Credit River Wetland Complex, Species at Risk Woodlands, and a Greenbelt Natural Heritage System. It is important to know if these additional studies were done before major damage was done to SARs, SARA, migratory birds and/or sensitive species habitats, or if they were ever done.

“Failing to issue an Addendum to the ESR deprives stakeholders, the public, and Indigenous communities of the opportunity to be consulted and provide input into this highly controversial Project.  If successful, the Minister will ensure these commitments are met, and provide a 30-day comment period to the public and Indigenous communities”, said Linda Heron.

The Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks and the Auditor General’s office are charged with considering the Coalition’s Application for Investigation.

The Coalition for the West Credit River represents the following organizations: the Belfountain Community Organization, Izaak Walton Fly Fishing Club, Ontario Rivers Alliance, Ontario Streams, Trout Unlimited Canada – Greg Clark Chapter and the West Credit River Watch.

For more information contact:

Judy Mabee

President, Belfountain Community Organization

Chair, Coalition for the West Credit River

President@Belfountain.ca

Belfountain.ca

(416) 670-3879

www.CWCR.ca