A week before being sworn in as mayor of the Municipality of Central Elgin, Dennis Crevits is already becoming acquainted with municipal staff and preparing for the next four years. “A month ago, I didn’t have all these little red dots in my calendar, but now probably 75 per cent of the days are filled with meetings already and with what’s happening in the next four years,” said Crevits. Crevits is familiar with the Elgin County administration building, having served as Central Elgin’s deputy mayor two decades ago and as a two-term ward councillor. Across the street from his future office, the former St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital lands are undergoing redevelopment. With a request for proposals now before developers, Crevits said he hopes servicing will be in place on the property within two years. “Something we’d like to see is the starting of the first phase where the main building is. We’d like to see a community, a village, a grocery store, commercial and then affordable housing, some seniors housing, perhaps a long-term-care home. We want a village, not just another subdivision, and that’s the important thing.” Ontario Housing Minister Rob Flack, who knows Crevits and former Elgin County warden Tom Marks, said he is looking forward to working with the new council on the transformation of the hospital lands and expects to have an announcement in the coming weeks. “This has been a labour of love, so to speak,” said Flack. “At the end of the day, I think we’re there, and it’s going to mean a great opportunity for people to buy affordable homes in the years ahead.” Crevits said he has been hearing from residents about the issues they want addressed by the new council. Among the most common concerns are municipal water rates, an issue that has persisted through previous administrations led by Sally Martyn and Andrew Sloan. “The water rates within the municipality, people still see them as extremely high,” said Crevits. “It’s something that we have to focus on and we need to keep those in check. Something that I’d like to do is maybe work with the province and have a joint water board, but there’s different avenues that we will look into.” With major industrial development expected in the region during his four-year term, Crevits said he is also monitoring progress on the Highway 3 bypass and is considering discussions with the City of St. Thomas regarding a potential business park at the St. Thomas Municipal Airport. Central Elgin covers a large geographic area, and communities including Belmont, Lynhurst, Port Stanley and Sparta each face unique challenges. “I’ve been contacting all the elected officials and the ones that have been acclaimed as well, and I’m starting to see some of the other issues that I wasn’t aware of,” said Crevits. “There are some bridges that need replacing or repairing within the municipality. Another big thing is the disaster mitigation fund in Port Stanley with the flooding. That’s an ongoing process. We have one project going on down there on Bessie Street, but there’s other streets that are coming within the next couple of years.” The new council is scheduled to be sworn in Nov. 18.
