Councillors cite safety in name change
Council votes to adopt Meaford as new name
By Chris Fell Express Staff

In a stunning move Georgian Highlands council voted at Monday night's regular meeting to change the name of the municipality to Meaford burying the Transition Board's choice - Georgian Highlands.

Council was split down the middle on the issue of a name change with four councillors approving the resolution and three being opposed. Those in favour argued the change was necessary to avoid confusion while those opposed were outraged that naming continues to be an issue in the new municipality.

Councillors Sam Luckhardt and Linda vanAalst combined to bring forward the resolution which awakened a meeting that until that point had been quiet and without controversy.

The staid atmosphere at the former St. Vincent municipal offices quickly changed when Mayor Gerald Shortt read the motion which advised that if passed council will introduce a by-law at its March 5 meeting to change the municipal name to The Municipality of Meaford.

The name Georgian Highlands has since its inception been a difficult proposition for many people. It closely resembles the names of neighbouring municipalities Grey Highlands and Georgian Bluffs and has often lead to name interchanging.

Councillor Paul Hutchinson was the first to argue in favour of going with Meaford and he has almost since he took office argued that Meaford - the Transition Board's second choice next to Georgian Highlands - should be the name to get rid of the confusion.

"It's important we do this because we've had requests from the service clubs asking to change the name and make things better for the whole community," said Hutchinson.

Councillor Sam Luckhardt said he has seen no signs of the name confusion ending and for that reason would support Meaford being the new name.

"There's too much confusion and it's getting worse instead of better. Almost every day someone who's interchanging the names," said Luckhardt. "If Georgian Highlands had of been first off the block with its name I would think it was a great choice, but we were third. People from the west part of the municipality are still going to say they're from Owen Sound and people from the east will say they're from Meaford," he added.

Councillor Linda vanAalst said safety concerns were a major concern for her with Georgian Highlands and she said council should make every effort to avoid the confusion.

"The ambulance service doesn't use the civic numbers it uses the names and every person I've talked to said it was confusing, people told me they were reading the wrong council reports in the paper," said van Aalst who noted that she had spoken directly with more than 20 people and only two of them said they were getting used to the name. "Meaford is there on a map and people can see it. We have to get this name issue resolved and move on to other things," she added.

Although those in favour of making the name change made strong arguments other members of council were as equally opposed to the whole name change business.

Councillor Harley Greenfield referred to the presentation by Doreen Robinson regarding 911 services and possible confusion over the name issue in the county's emergency system.

"I felt there was a personal concern from her point of view, but I wasn't genuinely persuaded that there was a valid danger," said Greenfield. "The name Meaford is not representative of the new municipality, it's only part of it representing a minority of the population. I would say if this goes through it's a sell out of the rural population," said Greenfield.

Deputy Mayor Robert Reid said it was unfortunate a county employee (Robinson) and the 911 system was getting dragged into the debate noting that lower tier had nothing to do with the 911 system, however he admitted there already has been problems with ambulance dispatch which is done out of London and uses municipal names.

"I'm aware that someone did die because an ambulance was lost and was looking for the fire trucks," said Reid. "That's unfortunate, but it happens," he said, adding that there had also been two farm accidents in which the ambulance got lost. "There was a process that was developed to choose a name and we had a vote and Georgian Highlands won by 18-12. If we use Meaford then we lose what's unique about the town of Meaford and it will be the final nail in the coffin for the rural residents. They'll just sign their cheques send in their tax money and be forgotten," said Reid, who suggested if the name needed to be changed a new process involving the public should be developed.

Councillor Diane Hurlburt was equally outraged by the change to Meaford movement.

"There's 6,000 people out there being totally ignored. I thought this was behind us and we've been urged to get on with the business of the municipality. I cannot in all fairness pick one of the former three and call it that," said Hurlburt.

With the councillor split 50/50 on the resolution the deciding vote fell into the hand of Mayor Gerald Shortt who's made no secret of his desire to see a name change with his first choice being Meaford. On this night Shortt remained true to his earlier statements.

"I strongly support this motion," he said in a short statement and pointed out that in the Kincardine area two townships joined a town and picked the name Kincardine and that seemed to work out well. In addition Chatsworth here in Grey County was chosen the name of the amalgamated municipality consisting of Sullivan and Holland townships and the village of Chatsworth.

Before the vote could be taken Reid asked that the motion be tabled in order to give more public input, but his motion was defeated 4-3. Then in a recorded vote the name resolution passed in another 4-3 vote with Shortt, Hutchinson, Luckhardt and van Aalst in favour and Reid, Hurlburt and Greenfield opposed.

According to the motion council will introduce a by-law to officially change the name at its meeting on March 5. If the by-law is adopted the change will be sent to Queen's Park to be made official. Although it has been suggested a Private Members Bill needs to be passed by the Provincial Legislature to make the change law - the Municipal Act only states that a municipality can change its name by by-law at any time provided the name isn't the same as any other municipal name.