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Thursday December 2 2021 | Issue 518
INSIDE: JANE VAN NOOD REMEMBERED PAGE 20
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QUITE THE SHINDIG: Wendy Kurtz (Robin Duke) drapes Penelope (Victoria Bingham) with a ‘pashmona’ during the Highlands Christmas Shindig at the Haliburton Legion Nov. 27. The fundraiser for Fuel of Warmth brought in $43,000. See more photos on page 23. Photo by Lisa Gervais.
Roberts, Kennedy cleared of conflict By Mike Baker Dysart’s top two elected officials have been given the green light to continue participating in talks over the proposed Places for People affordable housing development slated for Wallings Road. Mayor Andrea Roberts and deputy mayor Pat Kennedy were each accused of having a conflict of interest by area resident Andy Muirhead who, in a recent letter submitted to council, asked that they recuse themselves from any future discussion of, and decision on the prospective development. Muirhead’s claims stem from the fact
that Roberts resides on nearby Halbiem Crescent and is a member of the Haliburton By The Lake Property Owners’ Association, whose president Tim Negus appeared before council Nov. 23 to voice his group’s collective opposition to the Places for People project. Kennedy has family who reside in the neighbourhood. The project has hit something of a snag in recent months, with the County expressing concern over the ability of the existing Wallings Road/CR 21 intersection to handle what would be a massively increased flow of traffic. It has been suggested that a go-between road connecting Wallings and
Halbiem could alleviate those concerns. Muirhead indicated that since Roberts and Kennedy have “actual or clearly apparent conflicts surrounding the consideration of traffic routing” at the location, that they couldn’t be trusted to make an impartial decision. He went as far as to suggest that council, influenced by Roberts and Kennedy, had deliberately avoided properly discussing a potential Wallings/Halbiem thoroughfare – something he believes would be the “safer and more reasonable option.” While an official complaint has not been submitted, Roberts and Kennedy took
Come Home for Christmas
it upon themselves to reach out to the municipality’s integrity commissioner, Harold Elston, earlier this month to get his input on the situation. “Deputy mayor Kennedy and I felt it best to face the allegations head-on,” Roberts said. In her correspondence with Elston, Roberts asked three questions: if, as a member of the HBTL property owners’ association she was in a direct or indirect conflict when the president appeared as a delegation to express the group’s opposition to the development; does the Municipal Continued ‘Councillors’ on page 2