There's been a couple changes for the board of Wawa's Economic Development Corporation.
During last night's annual general meeting, EDC members approved a resolution reducing the size of the board from eleven seats to nine - for now, at least.
That meant a smaller election during the meeting, with three seats in contention - four of the other six seats will be up for vote next year, while the other two are Council appointees.
Three EDC board members sought to retain their seats - current Chair Andy Stevens, Liz Talian-Clarke, and Rick Dickson - while two more EDC members were nominated from the floor, Kaitlin Dube and Heidi McLaren - voting ended with Stevens, Talian-Clarke, and McLaren elected to fill the three seats.
The board is filled out by Danette Mathias, Joey Ralph, Russell Reid, Johanna Rowe, and the Council appointees, Mayor Ron Rody and Councillor Robert Reece.
Attendees were also treated to a presentation from former EDC CEO Maury O'Neill - now the municipal CAO-Treasurer - who highlighted various EDC activities over 2018, including the windup of the Wawa Green Project and the Wawa Wood Heat Program - she noted quite a bit of interest, with 20 rebates provided before the program was cancelled by the provincial government, most for switching to a new wood heat appliance from an older one, though some for switching to wood heat from another fuel type.
O'Neill also emphasized good news for other local projects, including the Magino Gold project recently clearing its environmental assessment, as well as progress on the East-West Tie Transmission Line from Wawa to Thunder Bay.
NextBridge representative Matthew Jackson further discussed that project, noting it was given leave to construct in February and cleared the environmental approval process in March, with plans to start construction in June, continuing to December 2021 - it has chosen an Edmonton-based contractor with experience in such projects as its general contractor, while Supercom - which is wholly owned by the Bamkushwada Limited Partnership, including Michipicoten First Nation - will handle subcontracting.
Jackson emphasized 300 indigenous workers have been trained for the project, with plans to source locally, when possible.
O'Neill and departing EDC board member Dave Jennings were both honoured during the meeting with a gift recognizing their contribution to the organization.