Category: News 2019

Memorial to Afghanistan Veterans Unveiled

John Draper

On Friday November 8, Cobourg’s memorial to those who fought and died in the war in Afghanistan was unveiled.  The workhorse of the Canadian troops, the LAV III (Light Armoured Vehicle), not quite a tank, was a Canadian manufactured armoured troop transport with a 25 mm gun described as “fast, armoured and packed a punch” so it is a fitting tribute to the 40,000 soldiers deployed and the 162 Canadians who died (158 military).  Displayed is a replica consisting of an actual “hull” donated by the Federal Government then mounted complete with plaques and signs indicating what it’s about.  It’s located just south of the Cobourg Community Centre on D’Arcy Street.  The Highway of Heroes is also memorialized with a… Read complete articleMemorial to Afghanistan Veterans Unveiled

More Details on New Hotel Provided at Public Meeting

John Draper

Plans to build a Holiday Inn Express Hotel were first made public in September (see link below) with the next stage a public meeting which was held on November 4th.  The new hotel will be four stories with 82 rooms and will be built on an extension of DePalma Drive alongside Home Depot.  The original application for rezoning asked for a number of exemptions including less than required parking and less than required landscaping.  However, by the time of the public meeting, these concerns were resolved leaving only the rezoning to allow a hotel.  Since both the County and Town’s Official Plans allow hotels in this location, this would seem to be merely a formality.  No objections were raised at… Read complete articleMore Details on New Hotel Provided at Public Meeting

Should a Natural Waterfront Park be created?

John Draper

Richard Pope of the Willow Beach Field Naturalists (WBFN) did all the right things.  He convinced four Advisory Committees and the GRCA that a Natural Heritage Waterfront Park would be a good idea but his presentation to Council only got a lukewarm reception.  Despite a lot of information being provided in advance, the idea was deferred to February 2020 when Staff will provide a report.  The idea was made public in a Post based on Richard’s presentation to the Sustainability and Climate Change Advisory Committee (SCCAC) early October (see link below) and basically means that the West Harbour, the West Headland, the Ecology garden and the West beach would be declared a Natural Park with restrictions on what can be… Read complete articleShould a Natural Waterfront Park be created?

YMCA Pool – Part 2

John Draper

In addition to the information provided in the agenda for the Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting tonight, more info was made available at the actual meeting.  Some of it was a surprise to Councillors and caused quite a discussion – so I am providing an unusual follow up to yesterday’s post.  Leslie Murray led the YMCA delegation but Mark Galonski from the YMCA board was helping.  As noted in the addendum to yesterday’s article, the Y is not planning to merge with the CCC since the joint YMCA/ Town committee decided against that.  In their presentation Leslie and Mark said that they wanted Town support in the form of $500,000 spread over 5 years starting in 2021 – but… Read complete articleYMCA Pool – Part 2

YMCA still wants Aquatic Centre at CCC

John Draper

In 2016, consultants were hired and public meetings held to explore the feasibility of the YMCA moving to the Cobourg Community Centre (CCC) but in 2017 the idea was shelved because it was too expensive (cost perhaps $25M).  The YMCA centre and particularly its aquatic centre (pool) is reaching end of life and Leslie Murray of the YMCA will be presenting the case once again at Council’s Committee of the whole on Monday, November 4.  Leslie is General Manager – HFA (Health, Fitness and Aquatics) Operations & Community Development.  She quotes from a 2017 report by the consultants (link below) that documents the current situation, our demographics and public opinion.  The report recommends a merge of facilities – in particular… Read complete articleYMCA still wants Aquatic Centre at CCC

MPP Piccini Announces New Funding for NHH

John Draper

At an announcement this morning at the Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH), MPP David Piccini announced $3.79 Million in new annual funding for the Hospital.  The formula has been revised so that this will continue in future years.  Bob Sanderson, Warden Northumberland County said: “By rectifying an historical inequity in hospital funding formulas, the Province is ensuring that the dedicated staff, physicians and volunteers of NHH have the support they need to continue delivering excellent care to local residents.”  NHH CEO Linda Davis was clearly happy with the change and said that “this announcement is a turning point in the evolution of Northumberland Hills Hospital” and  “We know all too well what our priority needs are. We have – until now… Read complete articleMPP Piccini Announces New Funding for NHH

Update on Police Activity

John Draper

Over the past few weeks, Cobourg Police seem to be arresting more bad guys – or maybe they are just reporting more despite having recently lost their communications person.  There’s talk that since Peterborough ejected the “tent city” people, some have come to Cobourg but if that’s true, it doesn’t explain most of those arrested.  Police are transparent about what they do and issue Press Releases regularly so I’ve summarized 19 of their emails to get an overall picture.  One of these is a “weekly summary” from a week ago which lists calls received and more details of a few of them. As of August 23, the Cobourg Police Service had 35 sworn officers, 20 Special Constables and 14 Volunteer… Read complete articleUpdate on Police Activity

More on Cobourg’s Harbour

John Draper

This post covers two topics – boat-lift-out and harbour repairs; first the lift-out: It’s a sure sign that winter is coming – boats can’t stay in the harbour for too long so they are all lifted out by late October. The first lift-out was done September 28 and the second lift-out was done on Saturday, October 26.  As usual, it involved a crane rented by the Yacht Club with about a dozen volunteers.  The crane came with two men – one to operate the crane and the other to direct it. Some owners elected to first have their mast removed while others left them in place.  Each owner was charged a fee determined by the yacht club but not made… Read complete articleMore on Cobourg’s Harbour

Citizenship Ceremony in Cobourg

John Draper

For the first time, a citizenship ceremony was held on Friday in Cobourg.  Although Cobourg hosted the event and organizing it was partially by Northumberland County, the 38 participants were from a number of places and not just the county.  County CAO Jennifer Moore said that it helped to showcase the County and Mayor John Henderson said he was pleased to be participating in the event held in Cobourg’s Victoria Hall.  Previous M.P. Paul Macklin, Warden Bob Crate and Mayor John Henderson gave speeches welcoming the new Canadians. Councillors Adam Bureau, Nicole Beatty and Emily Chorley were amongst the guests.  There were no children participating in the ceremony although there were several as guests.  I understand that children of new… Read complete articleCitizenship Ceremony in Cobourg

Sidewalk Priority Policy Finally Approved

John Draper

After more than two years of debate, at Monday’s regular meeting on October 21, Council finally approved the latest sidewalk priority policy as submitted.  As Director Laurie Wills said “we were asked for a priority policy, not whether there should be sidewalks or not”.  A last minute delegation by local resident Kevin Burt asked that residents be consulted for input and provided some himself about Abbott Blvd.  But in response to a question by Councillor Emily Chorley, Director Laurie Wills defended her Policy and answered some of Kevin’s concerns.  When it came to a vote, Council approved the Policy as it stood with only Emily voting against.  That means Abbott Blvd will be first on the list to get constructed… Read complete articleSidewalk Priority Policy Finally Approved