Many residents feel that rampant development in Willoughby that has filled schools to overflowing could have been avoided had there been more communication between the Township and the school district.
Planners and administrators from both jurisdictions meet irregularly to discuss development applications and their impact on schools, and council and school board trustees also meet once or twice a year to talk about issues of mutual interest.
But information has often failed to trickle down to residents.
A new mayor and a new school board chairman are changing that with the formation of a new Township-school district liaison committee.
In an in-camera meeting on Monday afternoon, Township council named Councillors Charlie Fox and Michelle Sparrow to the committee.
The trustees to serve on the committee have not yet been named.
Staff representatives will be Township administrator Mark Bakken and recreation director David Leavers, and school district secretary-treasurer David Green and the new superintendent.
The committee’s mandate is to provide a forum for the exchange of information, promote partnerships, opportunities and development of programs, and keep each other advised about policies and matters of mutual interest.
The committee will meet at least once every three months.
Township Mayor Jack Froese and Wendy Johnson, who chairs the board of trustees, have both made better communication a priority since their election last November.
