The latest twist in Meaford's long running legal battle with residents of Georgian Beach Road came Monday night as council put forward a bylaw that would close the northern portion of the road and effectively remove more than 40 property owners from the lawsuit who were recently added to the case by judges order.
First and second reading of the bylaw took place at the July 26 meeting with third reading being reserved until the document can be brought before Ontario Superior Court Justice Daly for a ruling before the municipality proceeds with final approval of the bylaw.
The case which began in 2007, has pitted the municipality against some of the property owners on Georgian Beach Road who had blocked access along the water side of their properties angering some residents who maintained that the area in question is a public road access. The municipality filed a lawsuit that has in large part hinged on a bylaw from 1854 that they say proves that the road exists and has never been officially closed off.
Though the initial lawsuit was brought against a few property owners, when the case finally reached a courtroom earlier this year the judge ordered that the municipality must include all property owners along the stretch of road which expanded the case to some 70 properties.
According to Meaford's Director of Corporate Services and Treasurer David Kennedy, the bylaw put forward on Monday night is an effort to remove from the lawsuit the property owners who were not originally part of the legal action.
“It is to demonstrate to home owners that were added by judges order that they [council] aren't interested in dragging them into the lawsuit,” Kennedy told The Independent on Tuesday.
Kennedy said that the action taken in bringing forward the proposed bylaw was done so upon the advice of the municipal legal counsel.
When the bylaw was introduced in the council chamber some members of the public gallery expressed frustration that the municipality was showing favouritism by officially closing part of the road and removing only some property owners from the legal action.
In late June a resolution put forward by Councillor Jim McPherson to “rescind By‐law 80‐2007 and further to that withdraw the actions taken against the Defendants in Court File No. 07‐249 of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice” found the support of three other council members.
That move would have ended the lawsuit but two weeks later, after members of council met with their legal and insurance team Councillor Harley Greenfield and Deputy Mayor Michael Traynor reversed their support of McPherson's attempt to end the lawsuit saying that the information provided to them by municipal lawyers caused them to reconsider.
The loss of those two votes meant that when Councillor Cynthia Lemon put forward a resolution to rescind McPherson's, only Councillors McPherson and Shortt were in support of discontinuing the lawsuit and the bylaw to terminate the lawsuit never made it to the table for a vote.
McPherson indicated on Monday night that the cost to the municipality for the lawsuit has now exceeded $600,000 and he has asked the Treasurer to confirm this fact.
If the municipality is successful in convincing the judge to support this bylaw to officially close part of the road, the bylaw will have it's third reading, and the lawsuit will continue against the original property owners involved in the case.
