Category: News 2020

MPP David Piccini briefs Cobourg Council

John Draper

At the regular Council meeting on Monday, MPP David Piccini reported on what was happening with a number of Provincial programs and how they affected Cobourg.  As shown on the recently approved budget, the Province provides close to $1M of Cobourg’s revenue – much of that is jointly with the Federal Government which provides another $1.6M.  The big items are Cobourg’s request for funding for Harbour repairs plus the ongoing hope of funding for the Victoria Square Project which has been on hold for a few years pending such funding.  David also reported on a number of smaller grants plus he spoke briefly about the Provincial Project to improve MPAC which provides all property assessments in the Province – these… Read complete articleMPP David Piccini briefs Cobourg Council

Council approves 2020 budget

John Draper

The target for the tax increase was 1.9% but it looked like it was going to be 2.7% because of a couple of last minute additions.  The biggest addition of $105K was because Brian Darling wanted higher wages for the Town’s non-union employees and he won support for that (see links below) but there were also other items for a total of $200K more than the target.  But after Deputy mayor Suzanne Séguin discussed  this with Treasurer Ian Davey, it was decided that there were enough funds in the Holdco reserve to allocate another $200K to the 2020 budget.  This means that, in the end, the target for an increase of taxes of 1.9% has been met. To help explain… Read complete articleCouncil approves 2020 budget

Adult Fitness Park Gets Council Support

John Draper

Since November 2016, Keith Oliver has been coming before Council to campaign for an adult Fitness Park and in May 2018, the Waterfront study included Outdoor Adult Fitness as one of its goals.  Since this was approved by council, Town support seems to be mandated.  Last June, Keith won Council support for help in applying to the Federal Government for a grant and also spoke of success in fundraising from the Cobourg Community.  He was not so successful in getting support in recent budget sessions but at the Committee of the Whole Meeting on 27 January 2020, he tried again and said that Council support was needed before other donors (such as Rotary) would contribute.  This time he succeeded in… Read complete articleAdult Fitness Park Gets Council Support

Local Health Teams are Prepared for “Corona Virus” Threat

John Draper

The public health scare from the virus originating in Wuhan has caused health teams across the world to make sure they are ready to cope if it arrives in their area.  Although it’s an International Health Emergency, so far there are no cases in Northumberland.  However,  the HKPR Health Partners have issued a statement saying that “we have heightened our communication to ensure we continue to share the information and resources needed to protect the public’s health”.  The statement describes what the virus is, what is involved with being prepared, where to get daily updates, the connection with common flu, and what to do if you have recently travelled to Hubei province in China and have symptoms  (Wuhan is the… Read complete articleLocal Health Teams are Prepared for “Corona Virus” Threat

Can Uber replace Transit in Cobourg?

John Draper

In reviewing Taxi ByLaws, Town Clerk Brent Larmer expanded his report to Council to include a short review of what the Town of Innisfil was doing with Uber to substitute for a Town Transit System.  Innisfil didn’t have a Transit system but citizens wanted something cheaper than a taxi to get around.  Typically, Towns do this by subsidizing a Transit system with fixed route buses but Innisfil decided to look into teaming up with Uber to provide transport between designated spots in the Town for a price of $4 – $6 with the balance of the cost paid by the Town. They can also go anywhere in the Town door-to-door with a $5 discount over the Uber fee. The Town saves on… Read complete articleCan Uber replace Transit in Cobourg?

Problems with Wheels Transportation Service

John Draper

At the Committee of the Whole Council meeting on Monday, two issues were raised by delegations that affected transport for disabled people. One was about a person who needed to go to the Hospital from the Golden Plough Lodge (GPL).  Since it was an emergency, an ambulance provided Transportation but when the patient was discharged, it was no longer an emergency so an ambulance was not available. However, since the 93 year old was on a stretcher, there was no way to get home to the GPL who said they are not mandated to provide this kind of transport. Eventually, after a long wait and a $160.18 charge to a credit card, Voyageur Medical Transportation did the job. The other… Read complete articleProblems with Wheels Transportation Service

Cobourg’s Taxi Regulations to be Updated

John Draper

In February 2019, Cobourg Council decided to look at the regulations/By-Laws governing Taxis to see if complaints by users and Taxi owners could be resolved.  Issues included availability of accessible cabs, fares not sufficient to encourage new taxis, the cap on the number of taxis was too low and there was no provision for Uber, Lyft and similar services. (The Town calls these Transportation Network Companies – TNCs).  Although the cap was quickly removed, it was felt that input from cab-owners, cab-drivers and taxi users was needed before further changes were made.  So from September 16, 2019 until October 11, 2019, an online survey was conducted that got input from 116 Citizens, 4 Taxicab Owners and 3 Taxicab Drivers but… Read complete articleCobourg’s Taxi Regulations to be Updated

Cobourg’s Ten Thousand Villages to Stay Open

John Draper

The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a Christian organization dedicated to Social causes – or as they put it “working for peace and justice”.  In Canada in 1972, they started the Ten Thousand Villages chain of stores selling “Fair Trade” goods.  Fair Trade means that the people who make the goods in the stores, generally in third world countries, get paid fairly and sustainably.  (More on this below).  But unfortunately, in the last few years, MCC have found it financially impossible to continue their stores.  In 2018 they closed nine stores and on Tuesday January 21, they announced the closure of the remaining 10 company stores while leaving the twelve “board” stores to make their own decision.  “Board” stores are… Read complete articleCobourg’s Ten Thousand Villages to Stay Open