May 1, 2025 marks an exciting new chapter for Township of Springwater!
By Linda Belcourt, Editor, May 6, 2025
Township of Springwater is one of the 169 municipalities across Ontario that received Strong Mayors. This new authority will allow the township to work more effectively with Premier Ford and advance key Provincial priorities for the benefit of Springwater.
This significant expansion reflects Ontario’s commitment to streamline local governance and help ensure municipalities have the tools they need to reduce obstacles that can stand in the way of new housing and infrastructure development. The powers would allow heads of council of single- and lower-tier municipalities with councils of six members or more to support shared provincial-municipal priorities, such as encouraging the approval of new housing and constructing and maintaining infrastructure to support housing, including roads and transit.
Strong mayor powers and duties include:
Choosing to appoint the municipality’s chief administrative officer.
Hiring certain municipal department heads and establishing and re-organizing departments.
Creating committees of council, assigning their functions and appointing the chairs and vice-chairs of committees of council.
Proposing the municipal budget, which would be subject to council amendments and a separate head of council veto and council override process.
Proposing certain municipal by-laws if the mayor is of the opinion that the proposed by-law could potentially advance a provincial priority identified in regulation. Council can pass these by-laws if more than one-third of all council members vote in favour.
Vetoing certain by-laws if the head of council is of the opinion that all or part of the by-law could potentially interfere with a provincial priority.
Bringing forward matters for council consideration if the head of council is of the opinion that considering the matter could potentially advance a provincial priority.
Springwater taking ‘wait-and-see’ approach with storm cleanup
By: Wayne Doyle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: BarrieToday.com, April 23, 2025
As of last week, Springwater had spent more than $150,000 cleaning up the damage caused by the recent ice storm.
At a special council meeting Tuesday night, the township allocated another $100,000 to the cleanup efforts, an amount it may or may not need to pony up, depending on the success of the County of Simcoe’s brush and debris pickup program.
“In my community today, the county was there and they were picking up both large and small brush branches,” said Ward 3 Coun. Brad Thompson, who represents the Anten Mills area. “I did get a notice from them today that they were in my area and that they were doing this and that they’d be coming back next week to get the larger stuff.
“I interpreted it in all likelihood that we aren’t going to need to do any of this brush pickup,” he added.
“That is correct, it’s a wait-and-see approach,” responded Trevor Harvey, the township’s director of public works and infrastructure. “There may be an opportunity that we don’t have to engage in a lot of this.”
According to Doug Herron, Springwater’s interim chief administrative officer, the township is taking the same approach to the cleanup as neighbouring Oro-Medonte, which was also heavily hit by the storm, which began March 30.
“My understanding is that their response has been similar to ours,” Herron told council. “They’re basically allowing the county to do the work they need and then they’re engaging their staff to do further work with contractors.”
In his ice-storm recovery report to council, Harvey suggested the cleanup might take longer, but since the situation is “fluid” or rapidly changing, his initial estimates have been superseded by new information.
“Last Thursday, when we got an update, I had no idea when the county was initially coming,” Harvey said. “And now, obviously, they’re engaged. They’ve notified us that they’re in the township.
“My anticipation would be that we would do it right after the county, per se. I don’t anticipate wanting to do this months from now,” he added.
According to Harvey, the county has been quite active in the township this week, picking up smaller brush and with plans to maintain that activity next week when they circle back for larger limbs.
If there are larger pieces that the county doesn’t pick up, the township would take them at a later date, Harvey said.
He said he’s taking a measured approach to ensure township staff and county staff aren’t “tripping over each other.” He suggested the township could work with the county to identify the harder hit areas of the municipality.
“I think if we work collaboratively, those timelines may shrink and you may see action sooner than we think,” Harvey said.
Deputy Mayor George Cabral supported the strategy, saying the last thing he wants to see is the township duplicating the county’s efforts and spending money on something that’s already being done.
“Continuing to do an assessment on where the county is and what they’re doing and then strategically deploying our resources as they’re needed for a specific area, especially if we’re in a position where we can actually work with the county to direct them to the hardest-hit areas, works for me,” he said.
Cabral recommended the township’s pickup, if needed, be done the same way the township’s Christmas tree pickup is done – a one-and-done opportunity.
“I think we let the public know that this is taking place and if you miss it, you miss it,” he said. “If we’re in the position to let them know the areas in advance and we tell them that this is the day or this is the week that it’s happening, that should work.
“We really cannot afford to keep going back and picking stuff up,” Cabral added.
Council directed staff to continue to monitor the situation, collaborate with the county on cleanup efforts and implement the proposed plan.
Next week, or the week after, staff will reassess the situation and will, at that time, make a decision as to when the township will notify residents to have all debris and waste ready to be picked up.