RESTORE COOTES

Monday, December, 16, 2013 - 12:12:29 PM Call for ‘hard facts’ freezes Dundas Valley lease bid Advisory board seeks answers on costs, regulatory approvals By Richard Leitner, Dundas Star News Staff A Hamilton Conservation Authority proposal to lease a former Dundas Valley outdoor education centre to a private school is on hold to allow for a more rigorous analysis of the financial implications and potential regulatory hurdles. Members of the conservation advisory board referred the proposal back to staff after hearing from 10 delegations, all but two of them opposing a bid by Strata Montessori Adolescent School to rent the Artaban Road centre for 15 years. The lease is one of four options offered for the former Resource Management Centre, now called Maplewood Hall, with the others being demolition, upgrading it as a rental facility and mothballing it for future use. Advisory board member Duke O’Sullivan said there are still too many unanswered questions on the lease, i...

DUNDAS VALLEY: 50 Year Vision: Strategic Directions Preserve and enhance the connectivity of ecosystems in the Valley and explore the  co-benefits of connecting with the Cootes to the Escarpment strategy. Preserve the escarpment and rural countryside, including selected vistas. Protect rare, endangered and species at risk in the Valley area. Combat the impact of invasive and nuisance species within the Valley. Protect and enhance the health of streams, watercourses, and waterfalls. Maintain and protect local architectural and natural heritage Promote green business practices within the community. Develop farmer generated mechanism to develop public support for agriculture and i ncrease the awareness of the importance of local agriculture as both an activity and a  lifestyle and Support the promotion of locally grown and processed crops in close  proximity to residents. Support the implementation of the City of Hamilton’s ‘special character’ roads  throug...

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations Based on the information presented on this report , it is recommended that the Maplewood Facility be demolished and the area naturalized for the following reasons: 1. The Maplewood facility is in need of $560,500 revenue for immediate upgrades due to its age and requirements to meet regulatory standards. 2. Due to its location on the end of steep winding gravel road with limited water service and on-site sewage system and no access to natural gas, the facilities annual operation and maintenance costs are high. 3. The return on investment if the required upgrades are implemented will be low or nonexistent. This will negatively impact the HCA budget and will also limit the attractiveness of the facility to a private operator. 4. Previous attempts to change the facility to another more financially stable operation under a private operator have met with substantial public opposition resulting in the withdrawal or ...

Below, a letter to the editor in the Hamilton Spectator regarding the future of Maplewood in Dundas Valley from non other than the first chair of the Hamilton Conservation Authority (who just happens to remember buying that piece of land and why they bought it.) If that doesn't make things clear, then a Hamilton Spectator report from April on the 50 Year Vision for Dundas Valley - no mentions of leasing public lands to private interests, and a lot about protecting natural habitat, reflected in the title "Preservation Sought for Dundas Valley". I sat on the committee for the 50 Year Vision, and can attest to the direction we felt the HCA should go, toward protecting nature, not playing games with it. rk HCA must not lose Dundas Valley land School operator says project will enhance Dundas Valley (Nov. 6) A proposal to lease Maplewood to a Montessori school has been put forward to the conservation authority. At first glance that might seem a reasonable wa...

To: Chair and Board of Directors of the HCA, Members of the Conservation Advisory Board Re: Future of Maplewood Private school director Tony Evans has said of his Montessori school “We have a profound respect for the environment... This is who we are.” I have a difficult time understanding how Evans’ desire to use Dundas Valley Conservation Area’s Maplewood Hall for his school site fits with this self-image. Children being driven to school along country roads and up a long driveway through an Environmentally Sensitive Area doesn’t teach respect for the environment, it teaches car- dependency. Introducing farm animals and vegetable gardens into the very heart of Dundas Valley’s natural ecosystem only deepens the disconnect between professed conservation goals and true protection of nature. View Maplewood in a larger map Despite Evans’ professed “feeling [that] the benefits of educating another generation about the environment outweigh the negatives,” it really sends t...

If you are like me and couldn't make it to the Public Information Centre (PIC) about the future of Maplewood you can still comment on the issue online with this form: http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/component/rsform/form/16-future-of-maplewood-facility Background info including the staff recommendation which suggests returning the area to its natural function can be found here: http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/maplewood Our take:  http://restorecootes.blogspot.ca/2013/10/back-to-nature-at-maplewood.html

"Based on the information presented on this report, it is recommended that the Maplewood Facility be demolished and the area naturalized" We wholehearteldy agree. However.... The Hamilton Conservation Authority is flirting with the idea of upgrading the facility for use by a private school. Read the report - there are plenty of reasons in there why ignoring the staff recommendation is a bad idea - here they are: 1. The Maplewood facility is in need of $560,500 revenue for immediate upgrades due to its age and requirements to meet regulatory standards. 2. Due to its location on the end of steep winding gravel road with limited water service and on-site sewage system and no access to natural gas, the facilities annual operation and maintenance costs are high. 3. The return on investment if the required upgrades are implemented will be low or nonexistent. This will negatively impact the HCA budget and will also limit the attractiveness of the facility to a private...

Thanks to Judy Major-Girarden of the School of the Arts for continuing to bring ecology and art together at McMaster University. This follows up on her previous work with visiting artist  Gregg Schlanger, whose installation piece related directly to Cootes Paradise and Lot M in particular. Judy is helping bring attention and beauty to bear on the natural areas around campus.

The Hamilton Conservation Area has been putting together a  vision for the next 50 years of the Dundas Valley, and they want your help in prioritizing their strategic directions! Dundas Valley   50 Year Vision   Open House Wednesday 26th September, 2012   6:00pm to 9.00pm A brief presentation will be given at 7:15pm  Dundas Public Library-Allwood Room (18 Ogilvie St. Dundas) TAKE AN ONLINE SURVEY ABOUT THE VALLEY   HERE

This story isn't about Cootes - but a nearby natural area - the Ancaster Councillor exhibits a less than novel argument, that old "Drive-Thru Nature" one where car access trumps environmental integrity. If you don't know this area, it is certainly just barely a road, and a very muddy rutted almost-road at that. Conservation Authority puts Dundas Valley road closure bid on hold Richard Leitner, Dundas Star News Staff, Published on Mar 13, 2009 The Hamilton Conservation Authority is delaying a request to close and acquire a 1.4- kilometre stretch of a Dundas Valley road to allow for discussions with the city on how to limit access by four-wheel-drive trucks, dumpers and bush partiers. Directors agreed to hold off on a bid to close the “badly rutted” dirt track on Martin Road after Ancaster Councillor Lloyd Ferguson implored them to consider other solutions that will maintain it as a public right-of- way. He suggested the road might be upgraded to allow one-way traffic ...