Category: News 2017

CCI assisting with Christmas Magic

John Draper

On Friday November 24, Cobourg’s Christmas lights will be turned on. The ceremony starts outside Victoria Hall at 6:30 and proceeds down Second Street to the waterfront where there will be a ceremonial switching on of the lights at 7:00 p.m.  Included in the display will be wood cutouts of bears, deer, beaver and a moose.  These were created by students in the CCI woodworking class led by Shawn Davis and they were shown to the media and Cobourg Council today.  In addition to the cutouts, the school is also providing a large mural announcing “Cobourg Downtown”. This will be erected on Second Street – exact location not yet decided. Along with teacher Shawn Davis, CCI Principal Jeff Kawzenuk proudly… Read complete articleCCI assisting with Christmas Magic

Councillors split on Kerr Street Parking

John Draper

The recommendation to deny the request for some residents to park on Kerr Street came before Council tonight.  The issue first came up October 2nd, 2017 when a delegation of residents made their case for an exception to the relevant by-law.  On the Agenda for tonight’s Committee of the whole meeting, Barry Thrasher, Director of Public Works recommended that their request be denied.  The residents then wrote a letter to council protesting  and said that “this subdivision should never have been approved (but) it was, and with that comes the responsibility to accept the consequences.”  This was reported on this post here. Tonight several councillors supported the residents but in the end they were not granted an exception although there… Read complete articleCouncillors split on Kerr Street Parking

Dartmouth III Visits Cobourg

John Draper

Not many large boats or small ships visit Cobourg so the visit of Dartmouth III was newsworthy.  Late on November 11, the ferry dropped in for an overnight stay in Cobourg on its trek from Nova Scotia to Toronto.   Built in 1979, she was a ferry from Halifax to Dartmouth until recently but was then bought for $100,000 then refitted for $500,000 and will be put in service by the Toronto Island Transit Service to increase capacity on the Toronto-Centre Island run.  With a capacity for up to 390 people, the ship is relatively large with a gross tonnage of 256 and a draft of 6 feet.  It’s 79 feet long with a 32 foot beam (width) and a top… Read complete articleDartmouth III Visits Cobourg

Business Attraction Marketing Plan

John Draper

In 2013, a Downtown Vitalization Action Plan was put together and recommended attracting businesses and consumers to Downtown Cobourg.  Although a number of initiatives have been completed (see links below) the marketing portion has been in preparation for over a year.  The plan is going before council once again on November 13 with a request for the expenditure of $40K to be approved.  The plan includes a large amount of research and facts – some of which was published November 10 on Cobourg News Blog here (Downtown Vacancies).  It’s also clear what the objective is – to get more businesses in Downtown Cobourg.  But although the Town, the Chamber of Commerce and the DBIA are united in their intent to… Read complete articleBusiness Attraction Marketing Plan

Downtown Vacancies – Nov 2017

John Draper

A report prepared by Cobourg’s Economic Development Department has listed all the Downtown commercial units and building lots available for sale or lease (as of 26 September).  Although it’s part of a report that will be the subject of another post, by itself, the information contained is an excellent list of properties that need a marketing effort to get them occupied.  The report of the 26 vacant units also identifies to what extent each is ready for occupancy and use.  Only 8 of the 26 are turnkey and require few if any improvements.  Although the CIP program helps with external improvements, it seems to be not often used for internal defects not visible from the outside although these are in… Read complete articleDowntown Vacancies – Nov 2017

Big Birthday Celebration for Marie Dressler

John Draper

November 9th is Marie Dressler’s 149th birthday so the Dressler Foundation put on a big celebration for her.  In 1931, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Min and Bill and in 1932 and 1933 she was the highest grossing actor in the world.  Last year, the Foundation completed the renovation – or rather the complete rebuild of the museum at Dressler House – see links below.  But today, the celebration featured a professionally made documentary of how the community came together to build the museum, free Marie Dressler Butter Tarts (and coffee) and then followed this with a screening of one of Marie Dressler’s earliest movies, “Tillie Wakes Up“, made in 1917.  (The Butter… Read complete articleBig Birthday Celebration for Marie Dressler

Police Reports – November 2017

John Draper

Cobourg Police go to some trouble to communicate with the public – they have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a web site, an interactive incident map and regular press releases (more on these below).  In most cases, they serve to show that there is not much major crime in Cobourg.  This past week was a little busier than usual with 211 service calls ranging from 11 vehicle accidents to 5 assaults.  Details for all incidents are not provided but instead a “summary” is provided with limited details on some of them.  The Social Media accounts are mostly used for preaching (enjoy your weekend safely) or social announcements (Skate with Police Food Drive) but the interactive incident map (crimeplot) graphically shows… Read complete articlePolice Reports – November 2017

Street Parking on Kerr Street

John Draper

On October 2, a delegation representing owners of Townhouses at the west end of Kerr Street asked council for an exemption to banning of parking in front of their new homes on Kerr Street. They said they were misled by the developer and Council should now remove the “No Parking” restriction to compensate.  But at the next Committee of the Whole meeting, staff will recommend that their request be denied. The main reason to enforce the ban now is to avoid a precedent that would be hard to undo once Kerr Street becomes an arterial road per Town Planning.  The Townhouses are fairly new and have parking access at the rear but a slope on the land makes rear access… Read complete articleStreet Parking on Kerr Street

Heritage, Culture and Tourism

John Draper

Prof Robert Shipley spoke today to an audience of about 50 people on why Canada is not a young country and that our heritage goes back thousands of years.  His talk in the Concert Hall at Victoria Hall was illuminating and full of interesting facts but was not as promoted.  It did not touch on tourism, culture or the economic benefits of Heritage.  Although intended to promote an interest in Heritage, the audience seemed to be mostly people already interested in history and/or heritage.  However, independent of the purpose, it was certainly of interest to many Canadians so below is a synopsis of his talk plus some comments on the connection between heritage and culture. Introduction The Chair of the… Read complete articleHeritage, Culture and Tourism

New Business Support Initiative from County

John Draper

On November 27, at 4:00 pm, Cobourg Council will have a special meeting to receive a report on the Venture 13 program announced last May.  This will involve using a building at the Northam Industrial park to house an Economic Development Tech Innovation Centre (see link below for details on this).  But the County already has a more generalized group that supports business.  The Business & Entrepreneurship Centre (BECN) provides services for businesses to help them be successful – see the “Faster Forward Business Success Program” video below.  But they are not stopping with that; they have now announced “the Grand Opening of The Factory: a creative, modern co-working space for entrepreneurs that will further support the growth and sustainability… Read complete articleNew Business Support Initiative from County