Category: News 2019

Police Budget – 2020

John Draper

The good news is that the Police budget request is $6.27M for an increase of 1.09%.  The bad news is that the Town is legally only allowed to take it or leave it with no line by line veto allowed.  That also means that the submitted budget will stand unlike the other departments whose budgets will be scrutinized closely and chopped to get the overall total down to the 1.9% target.  But there’s more good news: the Business Services department is doing well and is not only self-sustaining but contributes to reserves used for Police Capital purchases, $2.9M expected in 2020.  Chief Paul Vandegraaf also spoke about his “pivot” to evidence based policing: that is, measuring results and directing effort… Read complete articlePolice Budget – 2020

Community Services Budget Request

John Draper

On Thursday, 28 November, the Community Services Division made their requests to council for their 2020 budget – but before they started, Sheila McCoy, President of the Cobourg Art Club, asked that the Division focus more on Arts and Culture.  Sheila made the case that they pay little attention to Arts and Culture and this is supported by the job title and description of their planned new hire.  The title “Manager of Recreation and Culture” emphasizes Recreation over Arts and Culture and the job qualifications barely mention Culture or Arts.  See the links below for Sheila’s presentation and info on the new Manager position.  Community Services Director Dean Hustwick  asked for a net increase of $643K or 8.6% over 2019’s… Read complete articleCommunity Services Budget Request

Banning Bottled Water

John Draper

In March 2019, Petra Hartwig and Gigi Ludorf-Weaver (see photo below) made a presentation to Council expressing concerns about the environmental impact of the sale of bottled water. Their concerns seemed to include the exorbitant profits made from corporations selling Municipal water, the quality of the water being sold and the environmental impact. However, there was little mention of the proliferation of empty plastic water bottles. (See the report below on their presentation in March for more on their concerns).  Staff was asked to report back and they came up with some recommendations which council endorsed.  Basically, it was decided that subject to input from the public, the Town will phase out the sale of bottled water at Municipal facilities… Read complete articleBanning Bottled Water

Mall Strip Plaza re-zoning approved

John Draper

There were no objections at the Public meeting on Monday to the proposed minor rezoning required for a proposed new Strip Plaza on Mall property.  The developer is Trinity Development group with design by MHBC – both were represented at the meeting.  The new building would be at the corner adjacent to the Strathy road lights with its rear boundary on Elgin Street.  There will be provision for a banking institution, a drive through restaurant and four other retail stores.  The Developer is describing the space for a bank in neutral terms but the zoning at the mall allows only one “financial Institution” and since the Bank of Nova Scotia is currently in the Mall, while that is there, no… Read complete articleMall Strip Plaza re-zoning approved

Neighbours Unhappy with Transition House Usage

John Draper

Alyson King and Grace Lovekin made an emotional plea to Cobourg Council on Monday 25 November to do something about the problems that have happened Downtown and around the Transition House location at 10 Chapel Street since it reopened.  Instead of being a true transition house for people temporarily without a place to stay, when it re-opened in October 2018 it became a “low-barrier emergency shelter”. Alyson said that “since it has reopened, the neighbourhood has experienced increased and recurring problems with public drug use, people sleeping outdoors, verbal abuse and intimidation, disruptions day and night including physical altercations, theft, and break-ins. While Transition House may not be the “cause” of these problems, it is clearly associated with them as… Read complete articleNeighbours Unhappy with Transition House Usage

Grant Requests Well Over Budget

John Draper

A few years ago, the Town of Cobourg formalized the process for applying for grants for community projects – typically cultural or charitable. The first step now is to make an application with a deadline of October 31; then applicants may make their case to Council and that opportunity happened on Monday November 25. Twenty-four applicants did just that and their total request came to $142.733.70 although the budget is $50,000 so many will be disappointed.  Not all the applicants were Cobourg based and some were new – that is, they had not previously applied for a grant from the Town.  And some presentations were more impressive with more financial detail, evidence of success in raising money from other sources and… Read complete articleGrant Requests Well Over Budget

Christmas Lights Return to Victoria Park

John Draper

Not only are Christmas lights now in Victoria Park but they are also magnificent in Rotary park. In his speech to the large crowd in front of the bandshell, Mayor John Henderson said “we listened – you said you wanted lights in Victoria Park so that’s what we did”.  The details were decided by a citizen’s committee set up for the purpose last January after Bruce Moore made a presentation to Council on the subject (see links below). And once again, Cobourg showed it knows how to party and somehow, everyone in Cobourg showed up – well not really but it seemed that way – I’d guess there were close to a thousand people in Victoria Park, including lots of… Read complete articleChristmas Lights Return to Victoria Park

First 2020 Budget Session

John Draper

Cobourg’s budget setting starts with each department providing a requested budget (wish list?) and six of them provided these on Thursday 21 November.  It would be probably unrealistic to expect that they would all initially come in at the targeted 1.9% increase and in that respect there were no surprises.  Budget chief Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin chaired the meeting and commented that the average was 10-12%.  In mid September, Citizens were given a chance to provide input on the budget but there was no noticeable impact of these (see link below).  The Departments (or Divisions) submitting at this meeting were: Cobourg Library; Art Gallery of Northumberland;  Planning and Development; General Government Services; Economic Development and Venture 13.  The others will… Read complete articleFirst 2020 Budget Session