Costs of plebiscite reviewed, suitability yet to be determined
By Anneleen Naudts

King councillors recently reviewed information on the costs of a potential plebiscite, but they didn't see eye-to-eye on whether holding one would be appropriate.

The issue was brought up at council late last year, when Councillor Jeff Laidlaw stated he wanted some method developed to determine if Nobleton residents wanted to be hooked up to the new sanitary sewer system being planned for the village. It was decided at the time that staff would address holding a plebiscite, but only in broad terms.

Township Clerk Chris Somerville reported she had investigated its associated costs and procedures.

A plebiscite, a term often used interchangeably with a referendum, is defined as the process of referring a political question to the general electorate. Voters are asked to answer yes or no to a general question, according to the Municipal Elections Act.

Somerville determined a plebiscite would cost an estimated $15,000 if voting followed a municipal election model, or $20,000 if voting occurred by mail. The vote would be binding in both cases.

A plebiscite requires 50 per cent of the electorate to vote, she stated in her report. In the Nobleton sewer case, the electorate could either constitute residents from the estimated 1,000 dwellings in the Nobleton Community Sanitary Sewers (NCSS) service area, or all residents of King Township (which would cost an estimated $75,000, or the same amount as a municipal election).

Schomberg area resident Henry Verbruggen expressed his opposition to a possible plebiscite, saying the matter has been going on for 15 years, and it is time to move forward. He reminded councillors they were elected for a reason, and they should carry out their responsibilities.

Councilor Bill Cober observed that in his experience, he has come to realize he cannot please everyone all the time. Nevertheless, he added it is the elected representative's responsibility to make decisions, and considering all viewpoints and information is important.

Councilor Jack Rupke said that considering the costs and staff time involved, he would not support a plebiscite.

Councilor Cleve Mortelliti was worried about the results of a plebiscite being binding and being able to obtain a 50 per cent voter turnout. He wondered if it wouldn't be better to gauge public opinion via on-line polls, such as the one on the Township's Web site. He agreed it's important to be able to gauge public opinion, considering circumstances change within the four-year term following elections. He added committee of the whole meetings might not suffice in gauging this opinion, since generally members of the public in opposition to an issue are the ones to attend meetings.

The costs and time associated with conducting a plebiscite were reasons Councilor Jane Underhill said she was not fond of the concept. She would support mail-out surveys, which she said are beneficial and do not require a lot of money.

Other options to gauge public opinion described in the report were mail out, door-to-door, telephone, and online surveys.

Surveys by mail would cost $6,000 (or $30,000 township wide), door-to-door would cost $10,000, and by telephone would cost $6,000.

The cost associated with using online survey provider Survey Monkey, would be $200 per year, the report stated, adding that on top of that there would be considerable staff time to prepare and compile the survey, monitor responses, as well as collect, analyze and interpret the results.