Public Consultation And Communications

Public and agency consultation is an important part of this project and continues through all of the study phases. From the outset and throughout the EA process, Utilities Kingston stresses the importance of consulting with area residents, community organizations and government agencies.

To meet the EA consultation requirements set by the Ontario Energy Board, and to set the stage for achieving the consultation objectives, the consultation plan called for a series of communication and consultation activities that would be closely linked to the technical work being conducted as part of the EA.

Communication activities included a newspaper notice, Letter to Agencies , letters of invitation/notification, a public open house meeting and a project Website. In addition, meetings in person, by telephone and electronic mail were also undertaken by SENES/UK staff. The following sections detail public and agency consultation activities since the inception of the environmental assessment.

The following were objectives of the public consultation program:

• To seek out and involve potentially affected members of the public in the process
• To provide participants with the information they required to participate in a meaningful way
• To make all reasonable efforts to identify the interests of, and meet the needs of participants
• To provide opportunities to participants for meaningful input into the process
• To consider public issues/concerns in developing the project design and making project approval decisions
• To communicate how the input from the public affected outcomes (i.e., project design and review/approval decisions)