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Reedy Bay Homeowner's Association - Sioux Narrows
UPDATE - May 14, 2025
Guess what we found when we peeked into the bald eagle's nest on the Pioneer Park property?!! Today we had the delight of seeing this year's eaglet in the nest. There is at least one eaglet that we can see, although there could be more hiding under mama's wing.
So despite claims to the contrary from Jeff Port and others, the nest is indeed active!
The video below was taken by Craig Poleshuk (son-in-law of Dianne Anderson) and clearly indicates that the eagle nest in Pioneer Park is currently in use and contains a baby eaglet. This video absolutely and unequivocally corroborates the testimony of multiple residents in the area that have advised Council that the nest has not been abandoned. The sale of Pioneer Park to the developer, Ayrie Developments, as approved by Council on May 6, 2025, should be immediately discontinued.
And if anyone is uncertain that this nest is really on Pioneer Park property, you can see the Sioux Narrows bridge in the upper right corner of the second photo. In addition, here is a video of the area.
UPDATE - May 6, 2025
COUNCIL VOTES TO SELL PIONEER PARK PROPERTY TO A PRIVATE FOR-PROFIT DEVELOPMENT FIRM FOR ONLY $2
At the meeting on May 6, we were dismayed to hear that the town council voted 3-2 to proceed with the sale of the Pioneer Park property to Ayrie Developments for $2. The land has officially been declared surplus by the council in preparation for this vote.
UPDATE - October 10, 2024
SPECIAL MEETING SPLIT DECISION BY COUNCIL TO PROCEED WITH PIONEER PARK DEVELOPMENT
It is with considerable shock and dismay that in the face of over 230 signatures of opposition from long time residents, seasonal residents, and local business owners, Council has voted 3-2 to proceed with the proposed development of Pioneer Park following receipt of the draft Environment Assessment prepared by Barry Corbett. Councillors Holly Chant and Matt Rydberg voted in favour of proceeding, and Councillors Steve Salvador and Doug Brothwell voted against proceeding. Mayor Gale Black cast the deciding vote to proceed.
The Special Meeting was strictly governed by Mayor Black and limited to one hour in total. Members of the public were given just five minutes each to make comments concerning the 55-page Environment Assessment. A number of individuals were cut off by the Mayor before being able to complete their comments or ask their questions.
For the second time in a row, an OPP officer was present at a Council meeting and accompanied Mayor Black out of the Township Offices. At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Black had indicated that once the meeting is adjourned, regardless of the decision of Council, everyone in attendance is expected to leave promptly and quietly, to not block stairways or exits, and not to harass Council members leaving the chambers. Considering that the vast majority of those present were seniors and long time residents who have attended many Council meetings without incident or concern, these actions reflect a dismal view by Council and the Mayor of their constituents peacefully expressing opposition to a significant development with lifetime implications. In fact, the only person who expressed her wish to 'take this outside' was actually Mayor Black herself.
Everyone is encouraged to carefully review the draft Environment Assessment. The recommendations and findings of Barry Corbett concerning mitigating measures for the possible continuance of Phase 1 of the proposed project are extensive, and appeared to be very prohibitive with respect to any for-profit market housing development of the Pioneer Park property.
For the first time at any meeting or in any discussions or communications from Council, Mayor Black indicated just prior to the vote that the Pioneer Park project could still proceed with some form of compromise to the proposed plan of the developer, Ayrie Developments. A number of people expressed concern that there had never been any opportunity for the community to comment on potential compromises, and no one came prepared today to even discuss whether any compromise relating to commercial housing exploitation of public space would be acceptable.
One of the highlights in the environmental report is the stipulation that nothing can be built or touched within 100 feet from the shoreline. Additionally, any construction would require materials to be brought in by boat or ice roads. The current 'roads' on the property (built under false pretenses for 'soil pit testing') go against the environmental report and already threaten the eagles and their nest. Nothing can/should be built for at least two years to monitor if the eagles are using the next. If the eagles use the nest, then there will be no road access available at all. This seems like quite a risk to the developer to build a project that may or may not ever be accessible by road.
The Council has stated that they will abide by the environmental report's recommendations. But will they? Will they try to find someone at MNR who can override the clearly laid out concerns regarding Reedy Bay?
Clearly, the road ahead is longer and regrettably not yet at an end. It will require vigilance on the part of concerned members of the community to continue to express concerns and opposition and to monitor further actions implemented on the Pioneer Park property. Multiple public hearings will still be required to amend the Town Plan, to re-zone the Pioneer Park property and to declare the park land surplus for disposition, per the Council's stated intent.
The SNNF website has the following statements:
"Ensuring accountability and transparency is one of council’s roles . . . and is a priority in maintaining public trust. Councillors are, of course, accountable to the public as elected officials."
"The Township of Sioux Narrows – Nestor Falls is committed to accountability and transparency."
"The Code of Conduct (“Code”) for Members of Council and Local Board Members (“Members”) supports the Township’s core values of accountability, dedication, honesty, innovation, respect and teamwork. Members are accountable to the citizens of Sioux Narrows – Nestor Falls and are responsible for the assets entrusted to them. Members must demonstrate the highest standards of ethical, business and personal behaviour. Therefore, every Member is expected to comply with this Code and other Township policies, procedures and applicable laws."
"Integrity: Every Member shall:
-perform their duties with accountability, dedication and honesty;
-seek to advance the common good of the Township of Sioux Narrows – Nestor Falls;
-impartially perform his or her duties exercising care, diligence and skill"
(See Code of Conduct for Members of Council and Local Board Members)
Ultimately, everyone in Sioux Narrows would welcome additional residents here to enjoy our beautiful area. However, it is abundantly clear that the vast majority of the community does not wish to have a condo development on the Pioneer Park property. There are other options worthy of exploration, initiatives which will maintain public trust in an accountable and transparent fashion. A mark of good leadership is to recognize and acknowledge when it's time to move in a different direction. It's time for Council to demonstrate the highest standards of behaviour, to hold themselves accountable, and to diligently work towards the common good of all of us who love Sioux Narrows.
UPDATE - October 4, 2024
The full Environmental Impact Assessment is now available for review HERE or click web address below.
NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL ON OCTOBER 9, 2024 at 10:00 am
At the Council Meeting of October 1, 2024, Council voted to hold a Special Meeting on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 10:00am at the Sioux Narrows Municipal Office. This meeting is to review the full Environmental Impact Assessment Report relating to the Pioneer Park property and then decide whether to continue or discontinue the proposed development project. At our request, Council further voted to make the full Environmental Impact Assessment available to the public on the Township website as soon as it was delivered to Council to allow interested parties an opportunity to review prior to the Special Meeting. Council advised that they had only received a summary and expected to receive the full report by Friday, October 4, 2024.
The Special Meeting is open to the public and there will be an opportunity to ask questions and make comments about the Environmental Impact Assessment and the proposed project.
Please attend if you can! It is important that we continue to voice our opposition. We also need to show Council the widely based level of community concern and objection to this project.
In addition, please obtain more signatures for the petition. The petition currently has 136 online and 74 wet ink signatures to date, totalling 210 individuals who stand in opposition to this development. We need to ensure that everyone has had an opportunity to learn about this project and indicate their opposition. A quick link to the petition is HERE.
We will post the Environmental Impact Assessment Report on the Protect Reedy Bay website as soon as we have access to it. We encourage everyone to read and provide their comments, particularly if not able to attend the Special Meeting.
UPDATE - October 3, 2024
Since our last update, there have been three council meetings. Each meeting was well-attended by SNNF residents who spoke passionately about their opposition to the proposal. Two of the meetings were accompanied by protesters who were equally passionate about protecting Reedy Bay.
It is clear that what has already been done to do the soil pit testing (see photos below) has caused significant damage to the area and that this testing/deforestation should have never occurred. It remains unclear why the soil testing needed to happen before the environmental assessment was complete. Please see above for a very important special meeting on October 9.
And despite what has been alleged, the eagles are indeed there! A nearby property owner saw them just today.
Minutes from the August and September meetings are available HERE.
UPDATE - August 5, 2024
Please see below for some photos, a video, and updates regarding what has sadly already transpired on the Pioneer Park property.
There is a SNNF Council meeting tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday, August 6 at 2:00pm. Meeting is at the Sioux Narrows Municipal Office, 5521 Highway 71. This proposal is on the agenda (click HERE for agenda) and we encourage everyone to come, if you can, to show our opposition to this development.
The minutes from past meetings can be found HERE. It is curious that the June 25 meeting moved to a "closed session to discuss items pertaining to (c) a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board." Why does this item need a closed session? Why the secret nature and lack of transparency? Certainly the proposal to give away (not sell, but give for free) valued municipal park property to a for-profit developer should have more community input? After all, the council exists to serve the community and we pay their salaries.
Over the last week, there has been much deforestation of the site in preparation for test pits. However, it is curious that the roads need to be so wide to allow the equipment for a test pit. In addition, they have also put up a new Hydro pole.
On July 26, the SNNF Community Development Officer spoke at a luncheon in Sioux Narrows. She reported that MNR had given permission only for test pits, not for roads or any other construction. She also stated that there was still a lengthy process in order to do anything more to this property. She promised to follow up with the concern that wide roads were being built, but no news yet over a week later.
See two photos from roads below as well as a video showing the destruction.
The Community Development Officer also said that MNR was allowing test pitting because the bald eagles were not in their nest right now. See the photo below from last week . . . the photo resolution isn't great, but clearly the bald eagles are here and one is sitting on its branch. And the second photo is of a road bulldozed very close to the tree. We've also included the Ontario code which clearly states that land clearing for road construction is prohibited within 200 meters from the nest. And construction is prohibited within 400 meters from the nest. Why has this been ignored?
And to circle back the value of the land, MPAC has the Pioneer Park property currently zoned as tax-exempt vacant land with an assessed value of $244,000. This land has not been assessed for multi-residential and commercial use, which will result in a much higher assessed value. And this property is being given for free to a private developer to use as a for-profit development.
Please, please consider attending the meeting on August 6 at 2pm! This issue is on the agenda. We need to show our support in protection of our lake, our forests, our wildlife, and our community.
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