Adding another seat at the table seems like a good idea to Woolwich councillors. How to go about doing that was the contentious part Tuesday night as they discussed rearranging ward boundaries.
Specifically, councillors had a problem with paying $10,000 to a consultant for what appears to be a fairly simple change.
Currently there are five members of council: a mayor elected township-wide, two councillors in Elmira (Ward 1), one representing St. Jacobs and the northwest part of the township (Ward 2) and one for the east and south parts of Woolwich (Ward 3). That arrangement has been in place since 2000, when provincially-mandated reductions – ostensibly a cost-saving measure that was a failure province-wide from day-one – saw the elimination of four representatives.
Restoring one of those voices around the table will involve a few more hoops, including a public meeting and a change to the bylaw, explained clerk Christine Broughton.
Using the current population figure of 24,124 residents, each of the four councillors would optimally represent 6,031 people. As it stands, each of the two Ward 1 councillors represents 5,235 residents (10,470 divided by two), while Ward 2 has 6,351 people and Ward 3 has 7,305. Given growth forecast in Elmira, St. Jacobs and Breslau, the numbers will change over the next decade, with the township’s population expected to hit almost 29,000 by 2021.
Growth in Breslau, which has already overtaken St. Jacobs as the second largest settlement area in the township, will be the most dramatic. For Coun. Mark Bauman, that makes the area a prime candidate for a fourth ward. Pointing to a map of the township’s current boundaries, he suggested using Highway 7 (perhaps the line proposed for the new route) as a natural dividing line for what would be Ward 4. The current wards, meanwhile, would be changed using Northfield Drive as a boundary, with residents east of the line being added to Ward 3 to partly offset the number lost to the new ward in the south end.
The concept of a simple and straightforward realignment was dismissed by staff, however, who recommended allocating $10,000 to hire a consultant to help with the process.
“It’s important to get it right,” said chief administrative officer David Brenneman.
The majority of councillors baulked at the idea, however, deferring a decision on the extra spending until they could get more information.
“I don’t know why we would have to spend $10,000 for someone to figure it out,” said Coun. Julie-Anne Herteis.
“I can’t support spending that money until somebody proves to me that it’s absolutely worthwhile,” added Coun. Allan Poffenroth, who chided staff for wanting to spend money simply because there are $30,000 in an election reserve fund.
The Ward 1 councillor was in fact reluctant to contemplate the ward boundary review and addition of another councillor, which would add about $17,000 a year to the payroll.
“I don’t know that it’s fiscally the right thing to do right now.”
In a split vote, councillors sent staff back to the drawing board, with another report expected at a future meeting.
Changes to the boundaries and the composition of council have to be finalized by the end of the year in order to come into effect for the next municipal election, slated for November 2014.
