Category: News 2019

Community Grants Approved

John Draper

At the 2019 Town of Cobourg Budget approval meeting tonight, a number of key decisions were made, including who would get Community Grants.  The budget initially suggested was $45,000 but with a total of more than $77,000 requested, that meant there would be some disappointments.  Each grant was subject to an individual motion and this task fell upon Councillor Adam Bureau.  Most of his recommendations were routinely approved although many got less than they asked for.  There was a long discussion about the Santa Parade – the initial recommendation to give to the committee was $3,000 compared to their requested $10,000.  But Mayor John Henderson convinced everyone to up that to $5,000.  Paul Pagnuelo (from the gallery using an allowed… Read complete articleCommunity Grants Approved

More changes at Cobourg’s Cannabis Facility

John Draper

The entrepreneur who started the idea of using the old Kraft factory as a cannabis grow factory has now left the company.  Thomas Fairfull has been replaced as President of FV Pharma and is leaving the company.  Last October, he sold his shares in the parent company FSD Pharma for $8.5M (see links below for source) so he may be happy with the arrangement.  He sold his FSD Pharma shares at $0.64 which is more than they are currently priced at ($0.20).  The new President is Sara May, Ph.D. who was previously responsible for quality assurance at FV Pharma.  The announcement follows the termination of the joint venture between Auxly Cannabis Group and FSD Pharma which Fairfull had helped setup. … Read complete articleMore changes at Cobourg’s Cannabis Facility

Lions not funding 2019 Santa Parade

John Draper

According to Andrew Hall who is on Cobourg’s Santa Parade organizing committee, he is not aware of any funding from the Lions club for this year’s Santa Parade.  This is a change from previous years and is why the committee is asking for a $10,000 community grant.  Andrew explained this in a presentation to Council at Monday’s meeting.  The organizing committee consists of all volunteers and gets a regular contribution of $3500 from the DBIA but with no contribution from Lions and only a few hundred dollars from sponsors, they will not be able to cover their usual costs of $9 to $10K.  The budget for 2019 with the grant and DBIA’s $3500 would be higher than previous years but… Read complete articleLions not funding 2019 Santa Parade

Can the Town of Cobourg Communicate better?

John Draper

Currently the Town communicates to citizens using the remaining newspaper, the Town website, social media (including You-Tube) and email – and communications manager Ashley Purdy wants to know how it can be done better.  A new survey with 10 questions is now available until Friday, March 29, 2019 (see link below).  Questions start by asking how you currently get news and go on to ask for suggestions on what can be done to do better.  The focus is on what the Town does: Planning, Town managed events and Venture 13 but there is no suggestion that the Town should provide information on what other organizations are doing even though the Town promotes Tourism and visitors are interested in events managed… Read complete articleCan the Town of Cobourg Communicate better?

Willow Beach Field Naturalists Lobby Council

John Draper

There has been a lot of discussion about a possible boat travel lift for Cobourg boats.  Most of the discussion has been about the need for it for economic reasons versus who should pay (see links below).  There is also concern that it’s related to additional boat slips on the West side of the Centre Pier.  But in a letter to Councillors, the Willow Beach Field Naturalists (WBFN) raise another issue.  To gain entry to the harbour, a ramp is proposed west of the current boat launch which would reduce the size of the small beach there which the WBFN says is “the main gathering area for the impressive number and diversity of waterfowl and gulls for which our harbour… Read complete articleWillow Beach Field Naturalists Lobby Council

County Wants Public Input for Strategic Plan

John Draper

The County is asking the public to complete a survey to provide public input for their strategic plan for the years 2019 – 2023.  This is quite different to the process used by Cobourg Council – although it was open to the public, no advance input was solicited for the Cobourg version.  Instead, a draft plan will be available online at some point for comment (but not yet).  One immediate problem is that many people are not clear on all the responsibilities of the County.  Apart from pickup garbage, what do they actually do?  The survey asks what you like about Northumberland; what programs and services do you feel should be priority areas for focus, and why; what should be… Read complete articleCounty Wants Public Input for Strategic Plan

CIP Update and Plan for 2019

John Draper

At the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday 11 March, staff will report on the results of the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for 2018 and the planned process for 2019.  As mentioned in the report, the CIP has been implemented since 2016 in response to a 2013 survey where Cobourg residents expressed concern about the “poor appearance of building exteriors, back lanes and parking lots”.  The Downtown Cobourg Vitalization CIP is a collection of 8 incentive programs providing grants or loans for some of the cost of improvements.  The cost to the Town consists of grant dollars, plus loan admin and interest costs, and when compared to the applicants’ contribution, this produces leverage ratios which were 3:1 in 2016,… Read complete articleCIP Update and Plan for 2019

Green Party Nominates Jeff Wheeldon

John Draper

Jeff was the Green Party Candidate for the recent Provincial election and will now represent the party in the October Federal Election. Giving an example of being efficient, the Party held two AGMs and nominated their candidate all in one meeting – held at the Cobourg Community Centre.  First was the Provincial AGM with Patricia Sinnott being re-elected as President by the approx. 25 people in attendance.  Jeff  reported on the election results and blamed the relatively low vote on people who did not vote their heart but were intent on stopping either the Liberals or Doug Ford.  The meeting also elected three other executive members.  The second meeting was for the Federal Riding association who elected a new four… Read complete articleGreen Party Nominates Jeff Wheeldon