Category: News 2019

Public Meeting on East Pier and Campground

John Draper

In June, Town staff presented the options for the East Pier and Campground and asked that a consultant be hired to present this to the public.  Council instead asked that staff present it to the public without a consultant and present results in time for Council to consider them in Budget deliberations.  This is what happened at an open house at the CCC on Thursday evening.  The event had a good number of Community Services and other staff explaining the options with the help of 11 displays (see photos below).  Most councillors were there too. Citizens could submit comments or sign up for emailed updates.  The open house did not really provide any additional information – the benefit was that… Read complete articlePublic Meeting on East Pier and Campground

CIP for Affordable Housing in Cobourg

John Draper

Cobourg’s first Community Improvement Plan (CIP) was created for downtown and has resulted in annual grants and loans to Downtown businesses wanting to spruce up their premises.  But if it works to allow subsidies for upgrading Downtown buildings why not create one to legalize subsidies for affordable housing?  At their Monday Council meeting, Council approved the award of a contract for the preparation of a Town-wide Affordable Housing CIP at a cost of $65,185.  In his supporting memo, Director Glen McGlashon said that “the CIP would provide a legal mechanism and various incentive tools authorized under Section 28 of the Planning Act to help stimulate the provision of affordable and rental housing in the community.”  In addition to being affordable… Read complete articleCIP for Affordable Housing in Cobourg

Councillor Pay Increases back on the Table

John Draper

Last May, Council voted against a salary increase for themselves with a vote of 4 to 3 but last week,  Nicole Beatty gave a notice of Motion that the issue should be reconsidered.  So at last night’s regular Council meeting it was on the Agenda. To be considered, a two-thirds majority was needed which would be 5 of the 7 councillors but it so happened that Mayor John Henderson was late to arrive because he was “dropping the puck” at the Cougar’s opening game at the Cobourg Community Centre.  In his absence, two thirds was four of the six at the meeting and the motion to reconsider passed 4-2. (See voting details below).  Nicole Beatty originally voted against an increase… Read complete articleCouncillor Pay Increases back on the Table

Pre-emptive Upgrade at West End of King Street

John Draper

The community at the West end of King Street (including Pebble Beach) has only one entrance/exit; if it were to be blocked – for example by a collapsed culvert – it would be an emergency and a million or so would need to be spent to quickly restore access plus the damage would need to be fixed for another million or so.  It makes sense therefore to spend the money now and make sure the access is reliable and not likely to collapse.  This logic appealed to the Provincial Government when they looked at applications for infrastructure funds so they approved spending $1.5M of which $1.24M will come from the Province and $250K from the Town.  As Mayor John Henderson… Read complete articlePre-emptive Upgrade at West End of King Street

A Couple of Interesting Developments

John Draper

There was a public meeting last Tuesday to get input on Public thoughts on a development at 900 Division street (which also uses address 9 Elgin Street east) and separately, at the next Council meeting on September 9, Trinity Development Group who manage the Northumberland Mall property are asking for rezoning for part of their land. The 900 Division Street rezoning was approved and will be confirmed at the September 9 meeting but the change at Northumberland Mall will require a public meeting – it’s currently at an early stage.  The 900 Division street  re-zoning was to allow the conversion of an existing building on the corner property into a Medical Clinic to provide space for up to eight doctors. … Read complete articleA Couple of Interesting Developments

New Hotel planned

John Draper

Cobourg’s Planning department has received a re-zoning application to allow a hotel to be built at the end of DePalma Drive between Home Depot and Walmart.  The specific hotel brand has not been revealed but the company behind the application is DePalma Developments Limited which has been active in Cobourg for some time.  It’s just at the notification stage – there will be a public meeting called before too long and more details are expected then.  The proposed Hotel will “consist of 82 hotel suites, amenity space for hotel patrons including pool, fitness centre, meeting rooms, board room, meal space, and lobby area. Spaces for hotel staff office/administrative and maintenance will also be provided”.  Below is a Google Earth map… Read complete articleNew Hotel planned

Cultural Master Plan – Public Meeting

John Draper

The second public meeting for gathering input on the Cultural Master Plan was held at the CCC on Thursday – only 42 people showed up, mostly the same people as always come to these meetings.  Three Councillors were there (Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin, Councillors Adam Bureau and Nicole Beatty). A draft plan has been issued and it contains Six Strategic Directions which the Public was asked to comment on.  The common theme of the “Directions” is better promotion and communication.  It seems we are already doing well and have a good supply of culture – all we need to do is communicate and promote it better.  The Plan contains no blockbuster recommendations – some thought it might recommend establishing a… Read complete articleCultural Master Plan – Public Meeting

Process to replace Cobourg’s CAO

John Draper

When CAO Stephen Peacock went on medical leave, Ian Davey was named as Interim CAO but only for 6 months.  Human resources was then asked to report on the options to hire a replacement and that report was provided at Tuesday’s C.O.W. Council meeting.  Although Stephen is on “medical leave”, any replacement would be on an “extended interim basis” for 24 months.  This implies that Stephen is not expected to return to work for at least 2 years.  The options are pretty much what you’d expect for any recruitment to a senior position – Council is expected to “provide direction” to staff on which option to use, presumably before the 6 month period is up.  When asked, HR Officer Melissa… Read complete articleProcess to replace Cobourg’s CAO