Welcome Residents of Belfountain.ca

We would like to thank everyone who has submitted a response to our community survey regarding the noise from the bird cannons.

As of today, we have received 70 responses.

• 58% are very concerned
• 14% are some what concerned
• 28% are not concerned 

The geographic representation of those that responded as concerned or very concerned are located within the hamlet and/or directly adjacent to the West Credit River valley.  Most are within 1km of the point of discharge.  Concerns are associated with disturbing the peace, scaring pets, disruption of daytime sleep for shift workers or harming business.  This is characterized as a disruptive nuisance to the residents of the community of Belfountain.

One response included this news article regarding Adamo Estate Winery in Hockley and how they are now using advanced bird deterrent system that does not involve noisy bird cannons. They made this switch after the cannons did not work, numerous complaints about the noise and a negative effect on Hockley Valley Resort and local tourism.     A representative of the community will follow up with Adamo Estate Winery to ask for further  details.

Based on your feedback indicating the majority of local residents would like the BCO to take some action,  the BCO will write a letter to the property owner of Belfountain Estates Farm, with the results from the survey and the article regarding Adamo Winery.  We will ask Belfountain Estates to investigate and implement alternative solutions that are not a disruptive nuisance to our community.

We will share the farm’s response with you and advise of next steps.

If you have not yet completed the survey, we encourage you to do so as we will be closing it off this Tuesday.

Thank you,

The BCO

The community of Belfountain seems to be suffering from a large amount of noise recently.  You will have been hearing gun shots from 7:30 am – 8:30 pm every five minutes every day since August 11^th.   These gunshots are from propane powered bird cannon designed to scare birds temporarily.    The farmer at 17529 Shaws Creek Road is using these devices to protect the vineyard as birds will eat grapes as they ripen on the vines.

We would like your feedback regarding this situation and your recommendation on appropriate actions the Belfountain Community Organization should coordinate on behalf of the community.

To gather this information, please answer this four question survey so we can understand your feelings on the matter.   Survey is accessible through this LINK.

Your feedback is important to us.

Thank you,

The BCO

Community Art and Poster Workshop!

Trivia Night!

Part of Belfountain’s  200^th Anniversary Celebrations

 Saturday June 28^th

Belfountain Community Hall

1pm-4pm:  Join in the free poster printing and art workshop with artists

Wendy Mitchell & Cindy Leeman

6pm-8pm: Community trivia night hosted by Rob Rees – learn new things and socialize!

Hope to see you there!

In February 2025, the Ontario Land Tribunal heard our case regarding the Manors of Belfountain’s subdivision proposal.  BCO’s case is based on two critical interests, protection of our groundwater and protection of our ecology. The BCO experts (legal counsel, hydrogeologist and aquatic sciences expert) have provided high quality evidence to the OLT. They are now submitting their invoices and must be paid.  We have collected on your pledges and received your generous donations. Thank you.

Its’s your water!

Our total cost of the tribunal for protecting Belfountain’s water and ecology is $267,400.

We are 10% short on funds.  $28,800 is required to complete payment for legal fees.  This is an urgent call for your additional donations please.  Every amount matters and helps.   If you or someone you know would like to donate, you can do so by any of these methods some of which provide tax receipts as indicated:

Donating directly to the B.C.O: 100% of donations made are used to pay legal fees, experts’ invoices, and administration costs. No tax receipts are available.  The B.C.O. is an incorporated non-profit organization supported by volunteers. You can donate directly to the B.C.O. by cheque, cash or e-transfer by contacting treasurer@ belfountain.ca, or click on the link below to use PayPal at BCO to support the initiatives.

If you do not require a tax receipt, your funds can be directed directly to the BCO through e-transfer to treasurer@belfountain.ca or via PayPal at this link https://www.paypal.com/donate. Alternatively, contact through treasurer@Belfountain.ca for cheque or cash pickup or delivery instructions.  Cheques should be addressed to the Belfountain Community Organization.

Donating through Small Change Fund: Donations to Small Change Fund are used for legal fees.  The project: (Manors of Belfountain Subdivision) Belfountain-needs-your-help.  When you donate $25 or more you will receive a tax receipt.  SCF does retain a percentage of the funds donated to support the services they provide as outlined on their website.  Here is the link to the Small Change Fund: https://smallchangefund.ca/project/belfountain-needs-your-help/.

We would greatly appreciate your donation being made within the next two weeks if that is possible.    The BCO fundraising committee will be coming door to door again.

Please share this email and spread the word to everyone you can think of that can help us with these outstanding payments.   !

Belfountain may be small, but we are mighty when we work together!

As you may be aware from recent news articles, the Town of Caledon is moving towards “Regional Councillor at Large” rather than the current two councillors representing wards.

The result could be that our Regional Councillor resides in Bolton.  Issues such as water, wells, septic systems, farms and rural life might not be fully represented for the taxes we are paying. 

Town of Caledon committee meeting is Tues May 6th at 2:30 pm. Residents are encouraged to attend. 6311 Old Church Rd, Caledon East, ON L7C 0H2

https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/122/755/original/2025_04_11_Municpal_Election_Democracy_at_Risk_in_Caledon_-_11_APR_2025.pdf

https://justsayincaledon.com/resident-on-shift-to-at-large-system-in-caledon-that-is-not-representation-that-is-erasure/ 

Residents can still weigh in on this issue either by letter or email or appearing as a delegate at the May 6th committee meeting.

See: https://www.caledon.ca/en/government/speak-at-council.aspx

Your Councillor’s contact info: https://www.caledon.ca/en/government/mayor-and-council.aspx

The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) hearing for the Manors of Belfountain concluded with closing statements on March 3rd. These were submitted in writing to all parties and the Chair on March 7th. You can find the Belfountain Community Organization’s (BCO) closing remarks here..

We extend our heartfelt admiration and gratitude to our legal counsel, David Donnelly of Donnelly Law, for his exceptional expertise and tireless dedication throughout the hearing, as well as in the preparation and follow-up stages.

We also wish to express our deep respect and thanks to our experts and summoned witnesses—Les Stanfield, Garry Hunter, Nancy Mott, and Luis Lasso—whose technical knowledge in planning, hydrogeology, and civil engineering hydrology greatly strengthened our case against the proposed subdivision plan.

Our collective efforts made a compelling case to protect our water. We now await the OLT’s ruling, which may take several weeks or months. Unfortunately, we have no control over the timeline for their decision.

Thank you for your continued support.

Warm regards, Belfountain Community Organization

Week three was a full five days of evidence in chief and cross examination.  Niagara Escarpment Commission wrapped up on Monday and the remainder of the week was spent with BCO experts.

Day 10     

Brendan Henderson – Niagara Escarpment for MoB 

• • • Finished evidence in chief 
    • Cross examination by BCO’s lawyer David Donnelly
    • Lacked local knowledge of community water resources
    • Was not aware of domestic wells drawing water from shallow aquifer

Luis Lasso, Hydrogeologist, Region of Peel – summoned expert witness for BCO

• • • Evidence in chief 
    • Confirmed the 500m zone of influence should be from the location of pumping, not the property boundary
    • Confirmed limitations of 72 hr pumping impact assessment was restricted to wells in property – no wells in the hamlet
    • Seemed to believe that residents were informed of pumping test that occurred in June 2024 by a letter sent March 2024
    • Was not aware of domestic wells drawing water from shallow aquifer
    • Testified that in the case of a disruption of local well water, the Region of Peel would no longer provide water as an emergency replacement

Drew Haines, Development Engineer, Town of Caledon – summoned expert witness for BCO

• • • Evidence in chief 
    • Confirmed the Chief Building Official for the Town has no authority under the Ontario Building Code to monitor nitrates from septic systems on private lands
    • Was not aware of domestic wells drawing water from shallow aquifer
    • Confirmed rapid infiltration facilities would transmit chlorides from road salt into the shallow aquifer

Day 11     

Les Stanfield, Aquatic Ecologist and Landscape Hydrologist – expert for BCO

• • • Evidence in chief and cross examination    
    • Confirmed Belfountain Creek is a sensitive cold-water habitat 
    • Confirmed 3.0 mg/l nitrate is the long-term water quality guideline for protection of brook trout 
    • Confirmed that exceeding the guideline for more than 7 days can cause the death of trout eggs and embryos           

Day 12  

Les Stanfield, Aquatic Ecologist and Landscape Hydrologist – expert for BCO

• • • Completed cross examination

Garry Hunter, Hydrogeologist and Civil Engineer – expert for BCO

• • • Evidence in chief 
    • Confirmed 80% of MoB groundwater in shallow aquifer goes to Belfountain Creek
    • Confirmed presence of moraine dam
    • Confirmed “sleeping giant” of nitrate contamination would be from lawn fertilizers

Day 13   The Town of Caledon introduced a new draft plan condition as a result of BCO’s identification of septic nitrate migration issue:

The Applicant and Town have reached an agreement on one additional Draft Plan Condition, which we share now with the parties and the Tribunal. Please forward this to Member Best.

 A clause shall be included in the subdivision agreement stating that, prior to registration for either Phase 1 or 2 (if Phase 2 proceeds), the Owner is required to enter into and register on title of the subject lands an agreement or other appropriate instrument (“Agreement”) requiring the use, installation and maintenance of an advanced wastewater treatment system for each lot, which has capacity to reduce nitrate by at least 50% (“Advanced Treatment System”) and such Agreement shall include clauses requiring lot owners to conduct nitrate monitoring and reporting, maintenance and replacement of any installed Advanced Treatment System, and, further, that the Owner shall provide the necessary financial deposit/security, including the timing of such payments, to carry out any of the works identified in the Agreement, all to the satisfaction of the Town and Region. Any peer review required by the Town or Region to develop a monitoring program within the Agreement shall be funded by the Owner.

The Belfountain Community Organization was informed earlier in the week of this proposal.  The Board of Directors turned down the proposal from the Town on Wednesday evening as it did not address nitrate contamination monitoring and contingencies for existing domestic wells in the village or Belfountain Creek

Garry Hunter, Hydrogeologist and Civil Engineer – expert for BCO

• • • Evidence in chief and cross examination

Day 14 

Nancy Mott, Planner – summoned expert witness for BCO

• • • Evidence in chief and cross examination
    • Confirmed plan of subdivision not consistent with Niagara Escarpment Plan

 Dr. Martin Shepley, Hydrogeologist for MoB

• • • Reply to evidence of Mr. Hunter
    • Confirmed no data collected for surrounding groundwater springs and seeps in Belfountain

Closing statements from each party will be on Monday afternoon starting at 3PM, following which, the OLT hearing closes