Author: John Draper

Beach Survey Results

John Draper

From February 2 to February 23, Cobourg residents were asked what they thought about managing the visitors at the beach.  The survey was described in a Cobourg News Blog article on February 3 – see the link below – but now the results are available.  A tabulation of answers – including all of the comments by participants – is available in a 156 page “Public Engagement report”.  This will be reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Committee in a meeting on March 9 and they will then make recommendations to council. The survey had 1408 respondents and is considered the Town’s “most responded to survey”.  Although the report is long and a good summary of the comments is impossible here,… Read complete articleBeach Survey Results

Two Councillors hold Zoom Town hall Meeting

John Draper

Although about 50 registered to join the Zoom Town Hall by Councillors Nicole Beatty and Adam Bureau, there were at most 35 who were actually online. Several people complimented Nicole and Adam on organizing it and would like to have it be a regular occurrence. Most of the questions were not new and subscribers to this blog would already know most of the answers. The most popular subject raised by maybe 3 or 4 participants was the issue of affordable housing but other issues were also raised which indicates what people want to know even if there is little new information to know.  Some just wanted to vent and both Nicole and Adam were clear that they want to know what… Read complete articleTwo Councillors hold Zoom Town hall Meeting

Is Tourism good for Cobourg?

John Draper

Not everyone agrees that Tourism is good for the Town and for its businesses and last Fall the Town decided to try and resolve this question.  With some Federal funding, consultant Laridae Communications Inc was hired to do this and their results will be presented in a report to Council at their Committee of the Whole meeting on March 8.  Kara Euale, Manager of the Marketing and Events Department in the Community Services division views the effort as a way to “evaluate our current marketing tactics”.  Staff are working on the premise that Tourists should be attracted although they see the report as a way to “measure the level of impact tourism has on our local economy”. The staff memo… Read complete articleIs Tourism good for Cobourg?

A Review of Local News

John Draper

The problem with news is not that Google and Facebook are stealing it (they just link to headlines of what’s already there) but that there is not enough money in the online advertising by media companies to compensate for the lower revenue from print advertising.  Although major (and minor) newspapers have an online presence that uses material gathered by professional journalists, and Google etc. simply point to this, these sites don’t generate enough revenue to replace what they used to get from print advertising.  Governments – notably Australia, France and Canada – are trying to force Google and Facebook to share some of their revenue but meanwhile the shift in where to get news is happening anyway.  The practical result… Read complete articleA Review of Local News

Council Meeting Report – Feb 22

John Draper

There are two kinds of Council Meetings: Regular meetings and Committees of the Whole (C.O.W.) All by-laws are passed at regular meetings but most debates happen at a C.O.W. meeting.  As a result, the C.O.W.’s are more interesting although decisions are not final until ratified at a regular meeting.  In addition to ratifying decisions from a C.O.W. Meeting, regular meetings also include “Coordinator reports” where councillors provide news from their assigned responsibility.  There was no major news from the regular meeting on Monday 22 February but quite a number of interesting things were decided and discussed.  These ranged from a bit more information about the closing of Brookside, to information on the Beach survey to a vote on the Abbott… Read complete articleCouncil Meeting Report – Feb 22

Cobourg Citizens Lobby Council

John Draper

At Tuesday’s busy Committee of the Whole (C.O.W.) Council meeting, a number of citizens made their thoughts known on three separate issues: Ted Williams presented some facts and ideas about Marina finances, Kevin Burt had an opinion about the construction of sidewalks on Abbott Boulevard and the Accessibility Advisory Committee wanted to revise the policy and service level for Wheels Transit. Council listened to their input and debated the issues with varying results. The Marina is supposed to be 100% self-funding but it’s not clear that Capital projects are included; Kevin Burt asked why was the Abbott Boulevard sidewalk being done given previously raised objections and the Accessibility Advisory Committee want Wheels Transit to return to a more door to door service…. Read complete articleCobourg Citizens Lobby Council

Council Approves Re-zoning of Woodlawn Property

John Draper

Last October, Council was advised that the new owners of the Woodlawn had applied for re-zoning to allow its use as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.  At Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting, the results of the public meeting were presented and Council was asked to approve re-zoning to allow the project to continue.  But first, three of the seven members of Council declared conflicts because they owned nearby properties (Councillors Darling and Chorley) or worked for a company that does business with the owners (Councillor Burchat).  This left four councillors to make the decision.  Ryan Guetter of Weston Consulting represented the owners and provided two documents with responses to questions asked at the public meeting in November. … Read complete articleCouncil Approves Re-zoning of Woodlawn Property

Unfinished Business – February 2021

John Draper

Since the last report on unfinished business in November (see links below), not much has changed and many items from last September are still on the list. The idea is good – to make sure that actions and goals don’t get forgotten – but if nothing gets done, you wonder what the value is. Although it’s on every Agenda of both regular and Committee of the Whole meetings, and although the detailed list is a big improvement on earlier minimal lists, recently it has rarely been publicly reviewed by Council. Not all actions are urgent but at some point Council thought it was important enough to ask for action so attention to them would be useful. So let me once… Read complete articleUnfinished Business – February 2021