Members of Lower Trent Conservation’s Board of Directors, including the positions of Chair and Vice Chair, will remain unchanged in 2020. Jim Alyea, long-time municipal representative on the Board and Deputy Mayor of the City of Quinte West, and Deputy Mayor Eric Sandford of the Municipality of Centre Hastings, were both acclaimed as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, during the organization’s annual meeting on February 13. Alyea was first appointed to the Board representing the former Murray Township from 1990 to 1997 and returned in 2007. Sandford joined the Board in 2015.
The 2020 budget of $1,847,452 was approved by the Board at the final meeting in December 2019. The seven local municipalities will provide $1,003,994 in general levy, a little less than 54%. The remainder of funding is slated to come from grants, donations, user fees, partnerships and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
“Despite setbacks associated with provincial funding cutbacks, we continue to find creative and efficient ways to get our conservation work done,” says Rhonda Bateman, Lower Trent Conservation CAO. “Our fund development program will remain key to garnering donations and grant monies that will assist us in the continued delivery of the important education, outreach and stewardship programs that complement our many regulatory and conservation services.”
For people living within the Lower Trent watershed region, the programs and services of Lower Trent Conservation are focused on a 2,070 square kilometre area that stretches from Grafton to Quinte West, and from Rice Lake to Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte. Lower Trent Conservation’s watershed region includes the lower portion of the Trent River watershed and a number of smaller watersheds draining into Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte.
The seven municipalities within this watershed region appoint members to the Board of Directors which oversees the activities of the Conservation Authority and sets its budget. The 10-member Board includes the following municipal representatives for 2020:
Township of Alnwick/Haldimand Mike Filip
Municipality of Brighton Mary Tadman, Mark Bateman
Municipality of Centre Hastings Eric Sandford (Vice-Chair)
Township of Cramahe Don Clark
City of Quinte West Jim Alyea (Chair), Lynda Reid
Township of Stirling – Rawdon Bob Mullin
Municipality of Trent Hills Rick English, Gene Brahaney
In 2020, the Board of Directors will meet the second Thursday of the month. Members of the public are invited to attend the meetings of the Board. Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and are held at the Lower Trent Conservation office located just south of Wooler at 714 Murray Street, Quinte West. Meeting agendas are available at LTC.on.ca in advance of each meeting.
Submitted by Lower Trent Conservation
