At Mississippi Mills April 14th council meeting, a resolution opposing the ALTO high-speed rail proposal was passed.
The resolution was a carbon-copy of the Eastern Ontario Warden’s Caucus motion that was recently voted on and accepted by Lanark County council. A short discussion resulted in council advising staff to include a March 30th letter from Mayor Christa Lowry to MP Scott Reid in their submission to federal and provincial officials as well as the president of ALTO.
Staff was also asked to include some reasons that are specific to their jurisdiction backing the municipality’s opposition.
Lowry’s four-page letter detailed her concerns that her community would face disproportionate and negative impacts without any benefit to residents.
She identified the strong potential of long-term increased operating costs for emergency services, public works, student transportation, and travel due to permanent closures of sections of rural roads.
The letter warned of environmental impacts on watersheds and ecosystems as well as the undermining of long-term growth plans. All of this would be without clear mitigation or compensation strategies according to Lowry.
Only Deputy Mayor Rickey Minnille said he was in favour in principle of high-speed rail, but he voted to support the opposition motion making it a unanimous decision.
Story by Brian Turner
