Category: News 2019

County Stops Roundup Use in 2019

John Draper

At a special County Council meeting on Friday June 7, County Council voted to discontinue the use of Roundup for vegetation control along County road guide rails and within the County Forest, for 2019.  A delegation by Faye McFarlane, Tom Shea, and Bruce Bellaire, Volunteers with Blue Dot Northumberland, made the case that the arguments used to win the Monsanto court case in California apply and that Roundup use should cease.  Staff argued that Health Canada and all pesticide regulators said it was OK but nevertheless deferred a decision to Council.  It seems that scientists don’t all agree – besides it’s become a political hot potato. Most vegetation control currently uses mowers “and other forms of preventive maintenance” so Roundup… Read complete articleCounty Stops Roundup Use in 2019

New Tourism Publication for 2019

John Draper

At Cobourg Council’s Committee of the Whole Meeting on Monday, June 3, the Manager of Marketing Events, Kara Euale, presented the new Experience Cobourg 2019 Tourism Booklet.  It’s a noticeable improvement on previous years even though production credits are the same.   Although the cover page shows footprints on our beach, Kara said that the goal was to convey that the beach is not the only story.  Advertising is included to help defray costs but the intent was not to “scream advertising” as so often happens in these kinds of publications.  Some advertising is actually in the form of advertorials which blend in and make for interesting reading. They are based on interviews given by business owners.  Fonts are larger than… Read complete articleNew Tourism Publication for 2019

Max’s Big Ride comes to Cobourg

John Draper

Eight year old Max Sedmihradsky has Duchenne muscular dystrophy which currently has no cure and will likely confine him to a wheelchair by the time he is 12.  He may not survive past his mid-20’s.  But his Mom and Dad are not giving up – this is the fifth time his Dad Andrew has ridden a cargobike with Max from his hometown of Hamilton to Ottawa with the aim of raising money to support research to find a cure for the disease (which seems promising – see Links below).  Also along this year were his 3 year old sister Ilsa and of course Mom Kerri.  Since they started in 2015, they have raised over $170,000 – this year the goal… Read complete articleMax’s Big Ride comes to Cobourg

Council Receives Report on Canoe Rental Trial

John Draper

At the Council’s Committee of the Whole (C.O.W.) meeting on 15 May, a motion was moved by Emily Chorley and passed 5- 2 to look into details of a trial by Green Canoe outfitters (GCO) to move their Canoe and Kayak Rental summer business from the Beach in front of the Breaker’s Motel to the Cobourg main beach.  The move would not be large since they would remain at the far eastern end of the beach but they would be in the jurisdiction of the Town instead of on waterfront owned by Breakers Motel.  Staff were concerned that they would not have time to do a full review but they managed to report in enough detail and define enough conditions to… Read complete articleCouncil Receives Report on Canoe Rental Trial

John Logel Taking Leave of Absence

John Draper

John is Mayor of Alnwick/Haldimand Township and also Warden of Northumberland County and is now taking a leave of absence “in order to address a personal matter”.  As John says in a statement: “the roles of Mayor and Warden require – and deserve nothing less than – an individual’s full attention and energy to see these through.” So he says that “to make a necessary shift in focus to a personal matter, I will be taking a tem­porary step back so that the business of both councils can continue at full pace.”  His role as Warden will be taken over by Port Hope Mayor Bob Sanderson since he is the longest serving member on County Council – there is no… Read complete articleJohn Logel Taking Leave of Absence

Public Meeting on Planning Notifications

John Draper

In April 2018, Council asked Planning Director Glenn McGlashon  to produce a report about what notifications to the public were used and how they could be improved.  In April 2019 Glenn produced a comprehensive report (see link below) and Council directed that this should be followed up with an online survey and a Public meeting.   The survey closed May 27 and the meeting was held on Monday June 3. Cobourg already provides more notifications than many municipalities but there’s always room for improvement.  The results of the online survey were not discussed but were simply published in the meeting Agenda (see link below).  Three speakers spoke from the floor and no written submissions were made. When the meeting started, there… Read complete articlePublic Meeting on Planning Notifications

Gay Pride Month – 2019

John Draper

This year, Cobourg celebrates the beginning of Gay Pride month with a rainbow crosswalk at King and Second Street (not Third as reported earlier).  There was a large crowd at a ceremony today in front of Victoria Hall:  Mayor John Henderson, Police Chief Kai Liu, Councillor Adam Bureau and Ashley Bouman (Leader of the local pflag chapter) spoke about inclusiveness, community and a supportive environment.   The size of the audience at event this year was noticeably bigger than previous years – in  2016 there was less than half a dozen at the flag raising at the Police Station.   As in previous years, there will also be a parade later in the month.  Council has been supportive by proclaiming June Pride… Read complete articleGay Pride Month – 2019

Town Crier Championship

John Draper

On Saturday June first, Cobourg hosted the “Ontario Guild of Town Criers Provincial Championship” – held on the Esplanade.  Eleven Town criers from all over Southern Ontario competed in a three part event: the first was a cry where the subject was their “Home Town”, then a second round was about “Victoria Hall” with a third in Grafton about “Inns & Taverns or Heritage Architecture”.  There was a panel of judges who looked at various aspects such as keeping within the 100 – 125 word limit, exactly following their submitted script, keeping to the theme and no doubt overall effect.  Some chose to start their Oyez sounding more like a song, many included humour and others used rhymes.  Many were… Read complete articleTown Crier Championship