An update on the Grey Road 1 Download issue has been published as a feature article in the Spring 2013 View Point (IVDAARA newsletter). Comments that we have received from our members can be found at the end of that feature article.

Grey Road 1 to be divided and downloaded in proposed Grey County Transportation Master Plan.

Grey County’s Transportation Master Plan, tabled at the County Council meetings of April 2 and 4, 2013, proposes to download a large number of County roads to the municipalities. In the IVDAARA area this will severely affect the stretch of Grey Road 1 where the majority of our members have their properties, from the Kemble Women’s Institute Lookout to the Wiarton-Keppel Airport, or in fact the entire Island View Drive section of GR1. The full consultant produced plan, which can be downloaded here, uses a point system to rate each road. The report does not tell us how many points the IVD section received, but it clearly shows that it does not meet the criteria to be maintained as County road.

Existing Grey County Roads (left picture) and Proposed Situation (right picture)

What does this mean for Grey Road 1 / Island View Drive ratepayers?

• After recently having had to change their postal address, ratepayers will have to go through this annoying process again.
• The sections of the road that are in bad shape may not be improved after downloading to Georgian Bluffs. This is a safety issue, due to no space for pedestrians and cyclists to move out of the way of vehicular traffic.
• Tourists will be less likely to discover this scenic road.
• Although downloading should be property tax neutral (lowered county tax and increased municipal tax), history shows that in practice this is not the case.

Send us an email If you would like to add your comments to this article.

Memory Garden proposed on a donated addition to Big Bay Cemetery

At the Georgian Bluffs Recreation and Property Committee meeting held on March 11, 2013, Jim Halliday and Edith Galloway (as private person, not as IVDAARA president) proposed to convey to the Township a piece of their land of approximately one acre for the purpose of a Memory Garden. The location of the section of land is immediately to the east of the Big Bay
Cemetery (at the intersection of Big Bay Sideroad and Cape Road) and would be accessed
from the cemetery. A photo of the proposed area for the garden is shown to the left. The existing cemetery does not function as a burial plot anymore, but it exhibits considerable history re the community of Big Bay. As an adjunct to that site, this memory garden idea would enable Big Bay to continue to remember its people. The garden would involve merely a monument, or wall, or large stone, to display plaques in memory of individuals who wish to have one for themselves or family members in the area. Edith proposed to the committee
that there would be no cost to the Township. Continue reading

Grey Sauble Conservation has been selected to participate in the Shell’s Fuelling Change Program. This program will provide grants for projects that gain the most votes from participants such as our IVDAARA members. Please support the Project “Digital Mapping for Watershed Conservation” at Grey Sauble Conservation! From now until January 4th you can go to http://www.fuellingchange.comclick the Redeem Codes button and enter the code io9-Eob89 in the code box to get 100 free votes. You can then scroll to theproject in the $25 000 category and use the votes towards the Grey Sauble project. Then until April 30th you can obtain additional votes by filling up at Shell stations and using the code provided on Shell sales slips.

Fred Gilbert passed away June 24, 2012 in his 89th year. Fred was born in Wiarton and operated Gilbert’s Shoes with his wife Jean. In 1975, he was one of the five founding members of Island View Drive and Area Ratepayers’ Association. Fred spent many active years in retirement. From his Island View Drive home he looked out over the blue waters of Colpoy’s Bay. This photo of July 13,1996 shows Fred enjoying himself at the IVDAARA picnic.