This is the fifth of an eight-part series examining the amalgamation that reconfigured Wellington County from 21 municipalities to seven in the late 1990s.
When amalgamation was taking shape among Wellington County’s 21 municipalities, Puslinch Township escaped unscathed and almost entirely intact.
Some say it was geography that allowed the township to remain status quo, while others say the fact the municipality had high assessment and fewer services to support meant it could stand on its own in a reconfigured Wellington County.
Eventually amalgamation would see the 21 municipalities trimmed to seven, with the majority teaming up with neighbouring municipalities to establish single townships.
Back in 1977, Brenda Law was hired by the township as acting clerk and would rise through the ranks to chief administrative officer-clerk-treasurer.
When she retires at the end of this year, it will be the culmination of a long career that saw her watch as rumblings of amalgamating the township went by the wayside.
“I think it was just our geographics,” she said of some early considerations to merge Puslinch. “We didn’t border anybody.”
There was some consideration to merging with Guelph-Eramosa, but the only merger would be a small portion of Jones Baseline going to that township.
“If we had gone with anybody it would have been Guelph-Eramosa, but the city (Guelph) would have been sandwiched between us,” said Law.
There was even brief talk about merging the township southward, but that didn’t happen either.
“(Our) commercial and industrial assessments were always (high) so the county didn’t want to get rid of us,” she said.
The township has also seen strong growth over the past 12 years, with the population rising from 4,900 in 2000 to 6,300 today. The increase has also seen construction of estate homes, something that has also added to annual assessment increases.
The township was also different from other county communities that merged because it did not have any urban centres.
“Puslinch is a little different because we don’t have a big town centre,” she said. “We have Aberfoyle and Morriston, but most people usually drive to Guelph or Cambridge to shop.”
What the township did lose in the amalgamation process was its landfill site. The site came under the jurisdiction of the county and its solid waste department. Even emergency services didn’t change.
“Police service in our eyes didn’t really change and the same with ambulance,” Law said.
OPP policing, which was free to the township pre-amalgamation, was eventually taken over by the county.
Brad Whitcombe, who was reeve at the time and eventually would become mayor of Puslinch, sat on the restructuring committee prior to amalgamation.
He also agrees it was geography that eventually dictated Puslinch would avoid a merger with neighbouring townships. But he also noted there was another reason to have the municipality remain intact.
In the days of the Common Sense Revolution under the Mike Harris Conservative government, Whitcombe was concerned the initial amalgamation might pave the way for city expansion.
“For Kitchen and Armstrong (the architects of the amalgamation process) a little light went on that if there was a push for the city of Guelph to expand in the future it would gobble us up,” Whitcombe said, adding a merged Puslinch would have looked more attractive as part of a Guelph expansion.
“(Staying on our own that) was much less likely. It made sense for Puslinch to remain Puslinch.”
There was another argument put forward at the time when amalgamation was being considered.
“If I would shut up we’ll leave you alone,” Whitcombe recalled of the argument raised by amalgamation proponents. “My job was to take a look from my municipality’s perspective at the benefits.”
The loss of the local landfill site to the county was the best thing to happen, he added. Puslinch and other small municipalities with landfill sites didn’t have the “fiscal wherewithal that was needed to bring it up to proper standards.”
Under county management that has changed, he said.
The same applies to libraries coming under county responsibility. Whitcombe, an avid library supporter and member of the county library board, said the library system is stronger because of county control.
“It was a made-in-Wellington response,” he said of the county taking over libraries, policing and landfills.
As expected, budgets have changed in the years since amalgamation. In 2005 the township spent $3.6 million with this year’s expected budget set at $5.6 million.
One thing that has changed is the way the budget is set up. Prior to the new council taking office, including Mayor Dennis Lever, the township operated with one budget. It now operates with an operating and capital budget.
“Councils are now questioned more, (residents) want to know the nitty-gritty,” Law added of the way the budgets have changed.
Township employment has remained close to the same, with 11 full-time staff, a mayor and four councillors, as well as a county representative, Don McKay, councillor for Ward 7, which includes Puslinch and part of Guelph-Eramosa.
“The county rep came in with amalgamation,” Law said. A large part of taxes collected locally go to the county, she added.
“Sixty-five cents of our dollars go the county (and) we keep about 15 cents to 18 cents,” Law said. The remainder goes to education.
McKay, in his capacity as a county councillor, has lived in the township since 1984, along with his wife Barb, who has also been a township councillor and county representative.
McKay is a strong supporter of amalgamation, saying the merger has allowed the county to pursue ventures that benefit a large area. He points to county efforts to establish an economic development strategy.
“Think what we need to do in this day and age if we want to compete with our neighbouring municipalities to bring in industry – we have to do it as a united entity,” said McKay.
He points to Highway 401 access in the south and serviced, vacant land in the northern county municipalities as two important factors to attract new business.
“We work together on all our strengths,” he said. “The whole is greater than the sum of our parts. It’s one-stop shopping.”
He added, “From my perspective I think it’s something that is running fairly well. With the seven (municipalities) with amalgamation we’ve been able to do a lot of economies of scale and better services.
McKay heads up the county solid waste services committee and sees cost savings in garbage collection and recycling, library services, social services and OPP services as areas where an amalgamated county has saved money, as opposed to individual municipalities carrying the costs to provide similar services.
“It would have cost a fortune,” he said if Puslinch had retained its landfill site.
“We have such a good rapport with the MOE they hold us up as an example,” McKay said of county-operated landfills.
“I think these types of things have been a real benefit with amalgamation,” McKay noted. “Puslinch was fortunate we weren’t asked to join with others.”
He said with provincial downloading and new regulations for services such as water, landfills and bridges, a stand-alone Puslinch would have difficulty financing the new requirements.
McKay said judging the success of amalgamation is difficult without any comparisons. He said the only way to judge success would be to compare several municipalities that did not amalgamate with one that did, like the county. However that comparison doesn’t exist.
“Maybe the costs weren’t reduced, but they were minimized,” he said, referring to the provincial government’s claim at the time of amalgamation that merged municipalities would save money.
“We have to look at the bigger picture, which is what is best for the community,” he said. “Is the net benefit greater than the net cost? In Puslinch it is and that’s why we belong to an amalgamation.”
Lever, who was not politically active when amalgamation happened, is also a strong supporter.
“It’s hard for me to imagine 21 municipalities,” said the former businessman. “It would be pretty unwieldy.”
He said it’s essential for politicians that make up the county to work together.
“The issues in Minto and Wellington North are different, but we have to find some balance,” Lever said of joint objectives that have to be met.
“I think the county is working well. People aren’t going to agree, but that’s the way it is.”
