As Orangeville's lawyers prepare to appeal a Superior Court judge's conflict-of-interest decision, correspondence between the Town and its solicitors suggests it could be as much as 11 months before the appeal is dealt with and a decision reached.

Justice Francine Van Melle found Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams and Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock, as county councillors, had a conflict of interest in the disposition of the county-owned former CP Rail corridor north from Orangeville.

Orangeville is serving notice that it intends to appeal the decision and has retained Toronto-based municipal law specialist George Rust- D'Eye to handle the appeal.

If the appeal goes directly to the Ontario Court of Appeal, a notice of motion must be filed by August 21 (30 days after the impugned decision's release) the town would have another 60 days to "perfect" the appeal and have the matter listed for hearing.

Perfecting an appeal entails the appellant delivering an Appeal Book containing all evidence and relevant court rulings to be relied on in the appeal. That document will contain the affidavits of Mayor Adams and Dufferin County CAO Linda Dean, plus transcripts of the Superior Court hearing and the parties' respective cross-examinations.

"In our experience, the hearing is generally scheduled six to eight months after the appeal is perfected," Stutz & Associates lawyer Robert Brown said in a letter to the Town.

In the correspondence, Mr. Brown outlined several aspects of Justice Van Melle's decision that he expects to be included as grounds for appeal.

"We are struck by the absence of any review of the prevailing case law in her endorsement," Mr. Brown wrote, "and it is clear to us that she clearly failed t o consider the purposes and policy of the Municipal Act, and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act in rendering her decision."

He added that the judge "failed to consider the farreaching ramifications of her decision and the general application that this ruling has on the definition of 'pecuniary interest' and how her ruling will impact the relationships between the constituent municipalities of an upper tier municipal government.

"She failed to consider the counterbalancing pecuniary interest of the other constituent municipalities in the County of Dufferin on this issue, which could serve to disqualify those members from deciding on the issue as well."

The railway saga was engineered by allegations that the purchase by Highland Railway Group would be merely to facilitate development of a quarry in Melancthon, and that Orangeville would force the corridor sale only to ensure that its sale would be completed, or at least that it would garner the full $7-million sale price.

Melancthon and the County obtained legal opinions to the effect that the Town of Orangeville and its representatives would be in conflict. Faced with those, Orangeville received a legal opinion of its own that disagreed with that obtained by the county.

As long as Justice Van Melle's decision stands, county council — for purposes of the rail issue — is reduced to nine from 14 members. Those nine hold 13 of 30 votes.

Both Orangeville and Shelburne would be unrepresented on the railway issue, as Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson and Deputy Mayor Ken Bennington have declared personal conflicts of interest. Neither of those councillors may comment publicly, but the Town would obviously have an economic interest in restoration of the railway.

County councillors from the townships of Melancthon and Mulmur might be the most affected politically. But between them, they have only three of the 13 votes, as Mulmur Deputy Mayor Sue Snider has also declared a personal conflict.

The Town of Mono, the second most populous municipality, has four votes at the county — two each for Mayor Lorie Haddock and Deputy Mayor Ken McGhee. Mayor Haddock, in interviews, has said she would favour a lease over a sale of the corridor, but in any event sees an economic benefit in rail restoration.

Should the remaining county councillors vote on the rail issue, the majority decision would be valid, even though it would not reflect the majority of council as a whole and be by politicians representing a tiny fraction of Dufferin's 54,000 population.

Walter Kolodziechuk, a county councillor as deputy mayor of Amaranth, said the legal battle has been detrimental to county council obtaining the information it needs to make a educated decision on the rail issue.

"I haven't heard all that has to be said," he remarked. "To be quite frank, I want to hear it all and I'm inclined to keep an open mind." He added that prior to the rail sale discussion being suspended due to the legal proceedings, the county was in the process of obtaining an outside evaluation.

"I would like to know all that I can on the benefits of selling the railroad [right-of-way], leasing the railroad, or doing nothing with the railroad."

While there are no immediate plans for county council to vote on the rail issue, Mr. Kolodziechuk said an intelligent and responsible vote could be had, even with five councillors left out.

"If I was prohibited to vote on an issue, I would trust the wisdom and judgement of the rest of council. Council isn't just three or four individuals. It works as a whole."