ICE LAKE—For several months now, the township of Gordon/Barrie Island and the Ice Lake Landowners Association (ILLA) have been waiting for a response from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) before taking any action at the Ice Lake dam (which is in a deteriorating condition), to see if Gordon/Barrie Island owns the creek bottom. The ministry has now indicated it owns the creek bottom at the dam.
“Up until now we have been going down the path that the creek bed dam was on private property,” said Greg Hudson of ILLA. “But the township received notice that the MNR owns the creek bottom. This takes the responsibility off the township and our plate for needed work that has to be carried out on the dam.”
Lee Hayden, Reeve of Gordon/Barrie Island explained, “we have sent the ministry another letter on behalf of council and are waiting for a response from them. We will wait and see what response we receive. The MNR says it owns the dam, so we have put the onus on them to deal with it (the deteriorating dam). However, we want to help in any way we can and would like to work with the MNR and the ILLA and possibly Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association (MSIA). This should be a joint effort.”
Mario Bianconi, IRM technical specialist with the MNR Sudbury District informed reeve Hayden and council in a letter dated October 22, “At this point we have established that the MNR does have a claim to the creek bed which required you for an application to purchase crown lands and a work permit when commencing the (proposed) actual work. Once submitted, reviews will be started at which point when completed survey requirements will be provided. It will be up to the surveyor you hire at that time to determine the extent of the private land ownership in relation to the Crown creek bed. This job rests with the surveyor, who in turn will have to do the required research.”
“To keep expectations at bay, this and any application for crown lands requires extensive time to review, consultation requirements, approve/deny and subsequently get the survey requirements to the applicant,” wrote Mr. Bianconi. “I want to be up-front from the get go for the sake of transparency.”
Mr. Bianconi’s latest letter had been in reply to Reeve Hayden’s letter on the containment dam on Ice Lake and to obtain information on how to proceed with obtaining clarification on any claims MNR would have on the specific site the current dam is located on. “The dam is currently in very poor (critical) condition. The municipality has been working with local property owners and stakeholders on Ice Lake to investigate how to proceed with repairs or replacement.”
“There is not a municipal lakeshore allowance easement where the dam is located,” continued Reeve Hayden. “The municipality recognizes the importance of this infrastructure and is prepared to proceed with purchasing parcels of land from two separate private landowners, in order to commence with a plan for replacement.”
“However, the survey has suggested we need to acquire comments from the MNR as whether there would be any claims to the creek bottom where the dam is physically located,” wrote Reeve Hayden.
However, after receiving the letter from Mr. Bianconi indicating the MNR has claim to the creek bed bottom at the dam, Reeve Hayden, in a letter he and Mr. Hudson put together wrote to Mr. Bianconi states, “With regards to the MNR claim to the creek bed, this is the first statement of ‘ownership or claim’ of any sort that the current council has on record. I say this as the discussion of the dam’s condition has been brought up on several occasions over the years where the MNR, Ministry of the Environment and the federal Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries have had representatives in attendance during meetings regarding the Lake Kagawong levels. I personally raised these concerns at these meetings, and every time the subject was discussed, each ministry representative declared they had no controlling interest in the dam.”
“Your response indicating MNR ownership of the dam’s location was discussed in detail at the last meeting of council on November 12,” continues the letter. “This is the first time this council has received confirmation of this claim, and thus changes the approach council feels it should proceed with going forward.”
“Council now feels that if the physical location of the dam is on MNR owned and controlled land, it should be the responsibility of the MNR to assume responsibility for all matters concerning the dam,” continued Reeve Hayden’s letter. “As stated in my previous correspondence, the municipality does not have any claim to a lake shore allowance in the dam’s location, and as such was attempting to explore options to facilitate repairs to this critical piece of infrastructure.”
“The path forward appears now to rest on discussions between the MNR, adjacent landowners, Ice Lake Landowners Association, Manitoulin Streams and the municipality of Gordon/Barrie Island,” the letter continues.
“Further, as an FYI, an additional document was submitted recently by the Ice Lake Landowners Association which is attached. During a township meeting in February 1986, the MNR had confirmed the Ice Lake dam was under their control, and if agreeable, the following year, control could be transferred to the township. Please refer to the attached meeting minutes document, which reflect a meeting with three MNR representatives in attendance (stamped/received by the Espanola MNR office. This document speaks to control being transferred, not land being sold through a lengthy drawn out process which your response referred to.”
“Lastly, council would welcome the opportunity to meet face to face with yourself and others from the MNR,” wrote Reeve Hayden. “Council would propose as well that the chairman of the landowner’s association, abutting landowners, as well as a representative from Manitoulin Streams also be in attendance. We could use that time to include a site visit to inspect the dam and surrounding properties.”
Reeve Hayden had in his most recent letter to the MNR noted that the municipality has been working with the local property owners. The landowners/stakeholders are organized and published a petition that to date contains over 500 signatures. Manitoulin Streams has also been engaged and outlined the steps to be taken to put the proposed work project on the dam formally on their backlog. The dam’s weakened condition (50 plus years old) increases vulnerability during extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall or rapid snowmelt. Should the dam fail, there would be a number of consequences: a substantial negative impact to the lake’s ecosystem to the point of an ecological disaster; a decrease in the water levels by 16 inches in the spring on a lake that is very shallow; shore wells/exiting water intake lines for house/cottage water rendered unusable. Said lines could be extended, however, additional costs include replacing any existing heat tracer line; impact to the water table on properties adjacent or in close proximately to Ice Lake could have negative impacts to drilled wells.
