Nov-2017

236 237 “When you think of having such a large transportation corridor (everything going to the upper Great Lakes, on ocean-going or lake vessels, crosses our western shores), and all the major pipelines (28) under the river, the safety record is impeccable.We’ve never had a pipeline incident here because they’re buried deep under the silt, not sitting on the bottom.” BVM: How is technology impacting development growth? RODEY: “Our population is growing at a slow rate. Lambton County’s population of 128,000 hasn’t increased more than ten thousand in the last 20 years.There hasn’t been a lot of growth in the chemical valley during that time and a lot of the refineries are getting older.” MAYOR ARNOLD: “Computerization and distributed control systems have had an impact on development in every industry sector,where we used to pride ourselves on having a lot of employment opportunities, not as many people are needed nowwith technological advancements. CNCmachines have replaced a ton of manual labour in machine shops. Skill levels are getting higher for jobs in ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP, ONTARIO chemical operations. Even agricultural processes are automated, and farmers need to learn basic electron- ics repair to keep equipment like self-guided tractors functioning.” BVM: How are you attracting people to live and do business in St. Clair Township? MAYOR ARNOLD: “You need a good water supply, proper sewage treatment, parks and recreation facil- ities, and cultural facilities. If the municipality does those basics right, then people with far more expertise and knowledge will come and bring their people to grow the community and create more opportunities for others.One thing we don’t have is a large commer- cial area.Our large community of Corruna is lumped in with Sarnia for big franchises. So, if Walmart, for exam- ple, is looking to expand, chances are they’ll go to the large population area.” RODEY: “We do have a lot of smaller retail busi- nesses in the community, and specialty shops along the river. Down the road we’d like to see a choice of nice restaurants with Toronto-style cuisines locate