HAMILTON VOTES2018
Ward 12 Learn the issues, know the area and meet the candidates
FOR SOME RESIDENTS of Ward 12, their day-to-day concerns include issues such as barn permits, irrigation, livestock and fencing issues.
Other Ward 12 residents are worried about gridlock on the 403, development at the Ancaster Business Park, and transit service.
Ancaster is a mosaic of neighbourhoods, arterial roads, big-box stores, major highways, and now, increased rural population. It’s one of two wards (along with Ward 13) that absorbed the city’s only entirely rural ward after the Ontario Municipal Board forced councillors to accept new ward boundaries to better reflect the city’s population density.
That means whoever is victorious at the ballot box on Oct. 22 will have to prove to rural residents that their voice will still be heard around the council table — while still pushing the priorities of the more intensified areas of the ward.
Coun. Robert Pasuta, who formerly represented the city’s only entirely rural ward but who is not running for re-election, had said he built a personal relationship with his constituents — a leadership style many rural residents will expect to continue.
“The biggest difference is most of the issues you’re dealing with, you’re out dealing with people as individuals,” he said. “They expect to get help because the big city is down on them.”
Ancaster is also one of the wards that could face higher taxes if the city’s area rating taxation system is changed. Currently, each area of the city pays only for the services they receive (such as transit). However, council will be revisiting this system in the following term, which could lead to a tax boost for some Ancaster residents if transit costs are shared evenly across the city.
Ward 12’s longtime representative Lloyd Ferguson is running against four challengers: Mike Bell, Kevin Marley, Miranda Reis and John Scime.
Here are some issues to discuss with your candidates before the Oct. 22 election:
Cannabis grow ops: In July, the city slapped a stop-work order on a major medical marijuana grower that started building a 150,000-square-foot greenhouse days after council refused permission for the project. The Green Organic Dutchman, one of Canada’s fastest-growing pot producers, asked council for permission to build an Ancaster grow operation that would have been about six times bigger than the current 24,000square-foot limit. However, the massive pot proposal had the support of city staff.
Business park growth:
The city just broke ground on an extension of Cormorant Road to Trinity Road that will open up another 50 acres for development in the Ancaster Business Park. The park, one of Hamilton’s major economic engines, already includes 218 companies employing over 3,800 people. While the development means more jobs, it also means an increase in traffic, pollution, and potential hazards for two at-risk species of bat and the similarly at-risk eastern meadowlark (whose habitats had to be moved to make way for the project).