Author: John Draper

Long Debate on Balder CIP

John Draper

At Monday’s Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting, Councillors debated whether to approve awarding Balder Corporation the CIP amounts promised for their development. The concern (as pointed out in a previous Post) was that the number of affordable units per the County/Town definition was only 4 compared to the original 15 (20% of 71). The developers made a presentation to Council that included the fact that they were persuaded by Mayor Henderson to change their original plans for a retirement home to be a rental project with a promise of Council support. Their presentation plus subsequent Council discussion lasted 84 minutes. Staff also made it clear that even with no affordable units, the requirements for the CIP would be met. According… Read complete articleLong Debate on Balder CIP

Cobourg Entertainment Scene Update

John Draper

One of the ways Cobourg’s Community Centre can recover costs is to hold major concerts. With 2500 seats, they can stage big names – like upcoming Country and Western star Chris Janson who will come to Cobourg June 15. Last year, one of Canada’s big name bands – Blue Rodeo – was also here. Tickets for the Chris Janson event are around $100 and will go on sale shortly. Getting the word out in Cobourg requires an effort – there are web sites, newsletters, posters in shop windows and social media. Various attempts have been made to consolidate entertainment calendars but people generally won’t look online for something if they don’t already know it’s there. I try to help but… Read complete articleCobourg Entertainment Scene Update

Fewer Affordable Units at Balder Development

John Draper

At the next CoW Council meeting on March 13, Council will be asked to formally approve CIP grants and loans to Balder corporation despite the fact that there are only 4 affordable units instead of the 15 originally planned.  The project on University Ave West (near William St.) has 71 rental units and is now almost fully rented.  According to advertising by Balder (see graphic in resources below), rents start at $1,540 per month for studios with one-bedroom apartments starting at $1,595 (utilities included).   These rents are higher than initially planned “in response to increased costs associated with the development”. However, according to a report by Cobourg Staff, there are four one-bedroom units which meet the affordable definition used by… Read complete articleFewer Affordable Units at Balder Development

The Total Tax Bill for 2023

John Draper

Earlier today, there was a Letter to the Editor from Dennis Nabieszko of the Cobourg Taxpayers Association about the true tax increase this year. The extra is the stormwater charge which was previously included in the tax bill from the Town but will now be included on your Electricity/ water/ sewer bill from Lakefront. So far this year, I have received two such invoices with no sign of the stormwater fee so I called LUSI.   They said that there will be a new line item on invoices when the details are sorted out.  LUSI is simply administering the bills and will pass the amount collected to the Town.  This idea was first approved earlier in 2022 and the subject has… Read complete articleThe Total Tax Bill for 2023

Police Review and other Concerns

John Draper

There were several contentious items brought to the regular Council meeting on Monday, 27 February. Apart from the budget and Councillor remuneration issues previously reported, there was also a major issue raised in correspondence from the Police board plus there were motions about 1) the action in response to the delegations on homelessness, 2) extending the sunshine list to the Library and 3) approval of affordable Housing CIP grants. In 3 of these 4, the vote was divided – more details follow. There were 13 items of correspondence which also had to be dealt with. It’s now clear that this council is quite divided: as commenter Informed says: “The Mayor might not be my favourite person but I certainly didn’t… Read complete articlePolice Review and other Concerns

Bureau Changes Vote on Remuneration – Budget Approved

John Draper

At last week’s Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting, Councillors voted 4-3 to increase their remuneration and this came up for ratification at tonight’s regular Council meeting. But, surprise, Councillor Adam Bureau changed his mind.  Conceding that he might be accused of flip-flopping, Adam said he listened to the people – in particular those demonstrating outside Victoria Hall.  The Mayor, Deputy Mayor and each of the Councillors (except for Aaron) spoke about the reasons for their vote but basically, the disagreement was on whether this is the right time for a raise.  All agreed that a raise was required.  Randy Barber also pointed out that individual councillors did not have to accept the raise – they could for example donate… Read complete articleBureau Changes Vote on Remuneration – Budget Approved

King Street West Update

John Draper

Cobourg residents are encouraged to shop and do business downtown.  The centre of downtown is King Street West but some stores have closed or are wanting to close and their buildings are up for sale – although there are also building owners selling with the tenants continuing.  What does that mean?  A CIP is available that provides grants for building improvements but the amounts are small compared to current ask prices.  The program to “vitalize” the Downtown that started over 10 years ago seems to have died and judged by actions, this was a low priority in the previous council.  On King Street West alone, I count 10 current listings of downtown properties, some for multiple buildings.  There is negative… Read complete articleKing Street West Update

Revisions to Policies on Free Parking

John Draper

At the Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting on 21 February, Director of Legislative Services, Brent Larmer submitted a memo that asked Council for direction on the distribution of free or discounted parking passes. This was in response to a discussion during budget deliberations on Community Grants when staff were asked to review the relevant policies. Some groups currently ask for free parking passes as part of the Community grant process but others ask separately as part of organizing a special event. There are three policies that affect the issuing of free parking passes and Brent made recommendations for changes to each of them. Brian Darling moved that staff make the recommended modifications and bring the amended policies back to… Read complete articleRevisions to Policies on Free Parking