Category: News 2018

Float your Fanny Down the Ganny – 2018

John Draper

This year’s event seemed to have a bigger crowd and more excitement than previous years.  There were 55 Canoes and Kayaks and 51 crazy craft and the emergency crews had many occasions to rescue participants from drowning – see video below.  The water seemed faster and although many crazy craft hit bottom (on the rapids), it was definitely a little deeper.  The event was originally scheduled a week earlier but was postponed due to the bad weather.  It seems that lots of people heard about the new date and were able to come a week later.  I don’t have numbers but there seemed to be more vendors around as well – one popular food truck was from MacDonalds; they  were… Read complete articleFloat your Fanny Down the Ganny – 2018

CIP program expands scope for 2018

John Draper

Previous Downtown Community Improvement Plan (C.I.P.) grants and loans were aimed at improvements in facades and roof improvements but for 2018, with a $150K budget, the scope is expected to expand to include “refurbishment of the upper floors of downtown buildings”.  Many of the existing downtown buildings have upper floors intended as apartments but many are in a poor state of repair so have been empty for years.  In addition, instead of two intakes, there will be only one with a deadline of July 13, 2018 and approval (or not) by Council by August 13.  A single intake in July allows more time for applicants  to “obtain relevant information, complete design work, secure quotes and obtain necessary approvals” as well… Read complete articleCIP program expands scope for 2018

Doug Ford campaigns in Cobourg

John Draper

There were about 250 people at the CCC today to greet Doug Ford on a campaign visit to Cobourg.  His team and the team of local PC Candidate David Piccini were there to smooth the way and Doug delivered one of his signature speeches (more below).  Not to let Doug go unchallenged, immediately after the event, Liberal Candidate Lou Rinaldi issued a rebuttal in a Press Release (download at link below).  Doug spoke to the mostly supportive crowd about the waste and debt of the Kathleen Wynn Government and made a point in highlighting the high salary of the CEO of Hydro one.  Doug said that although CEOs of Hydro entities in other Provinces had salaries around $450K to $500K,… Read complete articleDoug Ford campaigns in Cobourg

Sidewalk Priority Plan

John Draper

Last summer, there was considerable debate in Council about a sidewalk on Abbott Boulevard.  In the end, Council called for Priority Ranking Guidelines and that a Policy based on these should be produced.  In probably his last memo to council before he retires, Director of Works Barry Thrasher has now provided a priority list and described the basis for this.  The starting point is the official Plan which says that all collector and arterial roads (will) eventually have sidewalks on both sides of the street and local streets (will) have sidewalks on one side.  The new list is estimated to cost over $2.6M to build and as the usual budget for sidewalk construction is around $100k these will take 27… Read complete articleSidewalk Priority Plan

Golden Plough Build to go to Next Stage

John Draper

At their next meeting, County Council will be asked to approve the award of a $3M contract to Salter Pilon Architecture Inc. for architectural and engineering services for the rebuild of the Golden Plough Lodge (GPL).  Construction costs for the project have been estimated at $49.0M but there is a possibility that the project will be expanded from 151 to 180 beds.  In that case, the estimated total of $82.5M includes not just construction costs and the additional beds but also all other associated costs such as professional services, land/property value, approval/permits, insurance and applicable taxes.  Of this, approx. $35M would come from the Province and the rest from our taxes spread over 25 years.  The expansion from 151 to… Read complete articleGolden Plough Build to go to Next Stage

Concerns about High Lake levels Occurring Again

John Draper

A delegation to County Council on April 18 will ask Council to have emergency plans for the possibility that flooding from high water levels on Lake Ontario could happen again.  This may be aggravated by the recently implemented Plan 2014 which allows extreme lake levels to be 2.4 inches higher than previously.  The issue affects property owners in both the U.S. and Canada who have a Lake Ontario waterfront so they have formed a group called United Shoreline Ontario. The presentation talks at length about Plan 2014 and implies that it was a bad decision but the reason for it was to allow for greater variation in lake levels to help coastal wetlands.  The level in Lake Ontario is managed… Read complete articleConcerns about High Lake levels Occurring Again

Another Cultural Icon Closes Shop

John Draper

The Friends of Music have announced that after their next concert on April 15, they will suspend operations.  Their announcement says that “There will not be a 2018-19 concert season. Instead, the FOM Board will seek a new direction for the organization.”  The problem was financial due to declining audiences and rising costs.  Their demise follows on the heels of the shutdown of the Shelter Valley Folk Festival and Port Hope Jazz Festivals last year – although neither of these were Cobourg based, their audiences included a large number of Cobourg people. (The Port Hope Jazz Festival may yet be resurrected).  To many, the thought that Friends of Music would shut down would be a shock since they have presented… Read complete articleAnother Cultural Icon Closes Shop

Water Park approved in close vote

John Draper

Because the streaming of the previous Committee of the Whole meeting was missing the sound (this was blamed on You-Tube), Mayor Gil Brocanier asked Director of Recreation and Culture Dean Hustwick to repeat the rationale for the proposed Water Park.  Dean did so and I have summarized his long response below.  Each Councillor then spoke on whether they were supportive of the proposal or not and then voted.  Seeing that it was contentious, Forrest Rowden asked for a recorded vote and the result was four in favour and three opposed so the motion was carried and the contract with ATL Distributing will proceed.  The Water park is expected to be operating for this summer with a start date of June… Read complete articleWater Park approved in close vote