[getsmart-l] East Gwillimbury Mayor fells trees on Sharon Temple site

[Janet May]

East Gwillimbury launches inquiry into felled trees 

 

  East Gwillimbury 

Nov 12, 2007 04:32 PM 


By: Teresa Latchford, Staff Writer 

The Town of East Gwillimbury has launched a public inquiry into what council
has now dubbed "the Sharon Temple tree-cutting incident".

The move comes after a private meeting today to deal with the Oct. 24
incident in which Mayor James Young, equipped with a hard hat and safety
goggles, fired up a chainsaw and felled 75 trees on the historic Sharon
Temple site without permission from the temple board of directors, Ontario
Heritage Trust - an organization that protects the landscape of historical
property - and despite the fact town staff advised against the move. 

The chainsaw-wielding mayor was accompanied by Councillor Marlene Johnston
and a crew of town workers.

No other councillors were aware Mr. Young was going to clearcut a path
between the two properties, Councillor Jack Hauseman said last week.

While an official release outlining the town's next steps will be issued
later today, George Rust-D'Eye, an expert in municipal law, has been
obtained to provide legal services for the town, yorkregion.com was told.

Stephen Heckbert of Thornley Fallis will help develop a communication
strategy on behalf of council and assist in reviewing what happened.

The town has also hired Bruce Tree Experts as arborists to provide an
assessment of the damage and Mike Dale of Ultimate Protection will
investigate a specific, yet unknown, health and safety issue.

A request that individual costs of the above services be tracked and
accounted by the treasurer was also carried.

Mr. Young and Councillor Johnston were not in attendance during the
in-camera discussions.

"We (council) decided last Monday to conduct a review and, until it is
complete, it is imperative that I do not comment," Ms Johnston said. "The
review has not yet included me or my information. I have not been asked."

The incident, which has garnered national attention, has angered and
confused residents, some of whom are calling for legal action.

Council and staff have also passed a resolution that the review and reports
produced during the inquiry are made public, in an effort to make the
process transparent to the public.

Details of the in-camera session will be released tomorrow morning in the
form of an official statement.
  

 

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