At their first Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, in addition to discussing a report on the election, debating and deciding on a new Council meeting procedure and on whether to have retail Cannabis stores in Cobourg (see links below), Council also heard a delegation on Christmas lights, discussed business carried over from 2018 and decided on whether to re-hire the same Integrity commissioner.  Bruce Moore made a presentation that asked to “Make Victoria Park Great Again” by restoring Christmas lights there.  He said that it was supposed to be a temporary move and it was now time to move them back [They were moved in 2015].  He said that new technology could avoid damage to trees if that… Read complete articleCouncillors were Busy at their First Meeting of 2019

As reported earlier (see link below), at Monday’s Committee of the whole meeting, Council was asked to approve a draft revised procedure for council meetings.  The intent was to present it to a public meeting on January 28 looking for input.  But Emily Chorley spoke for several on Council who wanted immediate changes – in particular, items that dealt with delegations and a question and answer period.  Emily said that the proposed procedure was “moving in the wrong direction” and she would be putting forward 20 amendments to the document.  She suggested that Council’s consideration of the document should be postponed until after the public meeting but Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin pushed ahead with a line by line review of… Read complete articleRevisions to Draft Council Procedural By-Law

At tonight’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Council voted 4 to 3 to “opt-in” to allowing retail Cannabis stores.  This has yet to be confirmed with a by-law at next Monday’s regular meeting but it’s unusual for councillors to change their vote.  There was a considerable debate after the staff motion was read by Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin which recommended “opting out”.  John Henderson was strongly in favour of opt-out since not only could we opt in later but we could learn from other similar sized municipalities who had opted in.  Brian Darling pointed to the strong majority in the survey who had no concerns – 78.5% vs 21.5% of 3,458 participating. He felt that we need to act now… Read complete articleCobourg to Opt-in to Cannabis Retail stores

At the first council meeting in the New Year on January 7, revised procedures for Council meetings will be introduced that are intended to improve efficiency and transparency.  A Q & A session at each meeting is not proposed; instead a quarterly meeting is planned which will follow a Committee of the Whole (C.O.W.) meeting.  This will last an hour with up to 10 minutes available for each speaker with no advance notice being required although participants would have to sign-in.  Other changes are proposed that limit delegations to a maximum of 4 at C.O.W. and regular Council meetings.  Overall, the intent seems to be to add more organization and discipline to meetings.  However, before the changes are implemented there… Read complete articleUpdate proposed for Council Procedures