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Shotyk bows out PDF Print E-mail
Elmvale Foundation abandons plan for water research centre at Site 41
AWARE Simcoe Janary 5 2011
Dr. William Shotyk, president of the Elmvale Foundation, has notified Simcoe County Council that his board has withdrawn from the plan to create a water research centre of the land once intended for Dump Site 41.
Foundation board members lobbied three levels of government and although their ideas were "warmly received," funding for innovative new ideas is challenging in these times of fiscal restraint, Shotyk says in a Dec. 31 letter to members of county council. 
“Beyond this, we also faced an insurmountable challenge: on August 23, 2011, we learned that the Province of Ontario was launching the Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) – in essence, a replica of what we wanted to create in Elmvale,” Shotyk writes.
However, the Foundation remains committed to continue “leading-edge water research in Springwater Township, with a focus on the natural filtration of water by soils, and to develop the water collected at the Elmvale Groundwater Observatory as a “reference” water for scientific studies worldwide,” the letter states.
The Foundation will also work with local businesses and service clubs to build a water "info station” on Highway 27 and continue its annual World Water Day Speaker Series and the Elmvale Water Festival, now combined with the fall fair.
 
Comments (2)
  • |2012-01-06 16:17:13 AnnT  - Re: Shotyk
    This is really sad news and a great loss to Simcoe County.
    If only our County council and staff had the vision and foresight to see what could be!
    They could still donate the Site 41 property to the Elmvale Foundation to give them more time to get the funds and develop a business plan.
  • |2012-01-11 19:42:15 Peace Officer Pete
    "ON THIS LAND" Yes, it is sad to read this news. On my list of things to do was to send William (c/o the U of A) a copy of the DVD I made of his presentation about the centre - (@ the potluck) which I thought was great. Frustration, contradictions (in governmental procedures)>(Simcoe)... and now the SOWC duplication of intent. I can understand that being the last straw, so to speak.
    Opportunity lost...
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