One of the more expensive and contentious budget items is the high cost of Cobourg’s Transit System.  Service is limited – not all areas are covered and there’s a one hour interval between buses.  Further, buses are larger than would be reasonably required for usual ridership counts.  The operating budget for 2021 is $1.3M and ridership is expected to be about the same as for 2020 which was 52,000.  That’s an average of 142 per day – and split over 2 buses that’s about 7 per one hour trip.  In addition, the accessible Transit service (Wheels) had much fewer users.  Subsidies from upper levels of Government reduced the net cost to the Town to $943K which is 3.7% of the… Read complete articleMore on Micro-Transit Trial

There are a good number of projects happening in Cobourg, some residential and some commercial, and Councillor Nicole Beatty (file photo below) occasionally gives a comprehensive report of what the Planning Department has on its plate.  One of these occasions was tonight’s regular Council meetings.  Highlights of her report are provided below or you can download her full report. Since it’s an update, there’s not a lot of detail on most projects but you can get more detail by following the links embedded or listed below. Major projects include the work at the Mall, the development by Mason Homes at 425 King Street East and affordable housing projects. There’s also info on Downtown projects and a Heritage project.  Some have… Read complete articlePlanning and Development Projects – January 2021

At last Monday’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting, Sean-Michael Stephen, manager at Watson and Associates Economists Ltd., presented his report containing recommendations for rates for water and waste water (that is “sewer”) for the next 5 years as well as a forecast to 2030.  Although there were questions from Councillors, the recommendations were approved and will be formally put in place at next Monday’s regular Council meeting.  Over the last 5 years, rates have increased by 5.3% per year and will increase by 5.9% per year over the next 5 years.  The increases are needed to fund the “long term capital needs of the systems by 2030, providing for the sustainable replacement of infrastructure and ongoing operation and maintenance… Read complete articleWater Charges to Increase

At the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, Cobourg Council voted to start collecting parking fees downtown once the Provincial lockdown is over – currently scheduled for January 23.  They also voted to start collecting Transit fares and resume normal hours January 26.  With free parking, staff have observed that many spaces that would otherwise be used by shoppers are likely occupied by “people who have continued to work in the downtown area or are residents of the residential units above the many storefronts”.  Although parking is free, other restrictions are still being enforced – these include tickets for parking in “no-parking” areas or in front of Fire Hydrants etc.  For Transit, a significant issue is the continued closure… Read complete articleParking and Transit back to normal – almost