Minden Hills

The town's council includes a mayor, deputy mayor, councillor at large and three councillors elected on the basis of one per ward, who are elected to join the mayor at meetings of Haliburton County Council. The members of council elected in 2018 are:[3]

Mayor: Brent Devolin

Deputy Mayor: Lisa Schell

Councillors:

• At Large: Ron Nesbitt
• Ward 1: Jennifer Hughey
• Ward 2: Pam Sayne
• Ward 3: Jean Neville

The primary residential and commercial centre of the township is Minden, located just off Highway 35 (44°55′34″N 78°43′33″W).

The township also includes the smaller communities of Blairhampton, Brady Lake, Buller, Carnarvon, Deep Bay, Dutch Line, Gelert, Hindon Hill (abandoned community), Howland, Ingoldsby, Irondale, Kilcoo Harbour, Lochlin, Lutterworth, Miners Bay, and Moore Falls.

The Gull River flooded in April 2013, leading to a state of emergency declaration on April 20.[6] By May 3, officials were predicting another two weeks of abnormally high water levels in the Trent-Severn Waterway system. The excess water that was held back in the reservoir lakes north of Minden was being slowly released and moved through the village so as not to cause increased damage. The use of the reservoir lakes north of Minden to collect water was necessary to avert a threat to the essential utilities of water, hydro and sewage treatment. However, it extended the flood damage area north throughout the entire Gull River Watershed. Many of the properties on those lakes were damaged.[7]

Residents of the area were evacuated from their homes on short notice and remained out until mid-May.[8] Claims by residents to the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program totaled 1.8 million dollars by November 2013, in addition to an estimated 2.2 million dollars in insured claims. The township spent $370,000 on flood related costs.[9]

Residents of Minden Hills were once again affected after only four years since the massive flood in 2013. Watershed flooding was at its max capacity in the reservoir lakes of the Trent Severn Waterway only to be hit with 129 millimeters of rain in late April increasing flood levels.[10][11] A state of emergency was put into place on May 6, 2017 for the town of Minden Hills.[10] The Gull River through Minden recorded 5 centimeters lower than the record 2013 flood.[10] A new automated sandbag machine was purchased earlier in March, helping with handling sandbags at a much faster rate for flood relief. Close to 40,000 sandbags being filled by the end of the weekend.[11] Provincial aid was provided after Reeve Brent Devolin had been in contact with Premier Kathleen Wynne.[12] The Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program offered reimbursement for homeowners affected.[13]

Minden Wild Water Preserve was a venue of the 2015 Pan Am Games hosting canoe events.

Populations prior to amalgamation (2001):

• Population in 1996: 5,336
  • Anson, Hindon and Minden (township): 3,459
  • Lutterworth (township): 927
  • Snowdon (township): 950
• Population in 1991:
  • Anson, Hindon and Minden (township): 3,239
  • Lutterworth (township): 899
  • Snowdon (township): 852

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 89.6%
• French as first language: 2.0%
• English and French as first language: 0.2%
• Other as first language: 8.2%

• List of townships in Ontario

• Township of Minden Hills
• The Minden Times
• Archivia.net - Minden Post Office
• Haliburton County Studio Tour, which also encompasses the Township of Minden Hills
• Minden Hills Cultural Centre