Category: News 2021

Council Meeting – May 10

John Draper

Monday’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting covered a good number of issues including some interesting announcements.  CAO Tracey Vaughan gave her regular report on Cobourg’s Covid-19 status and also summarized the results of the Council’s recent review of their Strategic Plan.  With about 18 months to go in their term, there’s not really a whole lot of time to accomplish their revised goals.  A decision on what to do about managing summer beach crowds was deferred to May 31 although that will be complicated by an extension of the current lockdown to June 2.  Tracey said that she had heard that legislation has been passed to do that but as yet it has not been announced by the Premier…. Read complete articleCouncil Meeting – May 10

Cobourg Police Annual Report

John Draper

A special Council meeting was held Monday May 3rd to receive the Annual Police Report. Presentations by Chair Dean Pepper and Chief Paul Vandegraaf summarized the glossy 44 page report (see link below). The report mostly covers achievements and partners but does include some of the closely watched numbers. Because of the pandemic, some numbers were down and others increased – the virus did not stop criminals. Councillor comments after the presentations praised Police performance, the use of tiered Policing and asked about body-worn cameras and what was being done about graffiti – more on this below. The force – sorry, “Service” – consists of 18 Auxiliary Police (volunteers), 20 Special Constables as well as 35 “sworn” or regular constables…. Read complete articleCobourg Police Annual Report

Cobourg Cultural Community Lobbies for Action on Brookside

John Draper

A group of 14 of Cobourg’s Community organizations have joined together to ask MPP David Piccini to support re-development of Brookside and Strathmore House into multi-purpose spaces that would meet the growing needs of Cobourg’s Cultural organizations.  They have jointly submitted a letter that describes their ideas and needs and although no numbers were provided, they say that some groups are currently paying over $1,000/month for storage and rehearsal space that is not suitable to their needs. Their letter concludes: “With Strathmore House at the centre, we believe the repurposing of Brookside Youth Centre could become a vibrant cultural hub that inspires collaboration, facilitates a platform for cross sector partnerships and stimulates multi-generational learning opportunities for members, Cobourg residents and… Read complete articleCobourg Cultural Community Lobbies for Action on Brookside

Are Sidewalks Good for Cobourg

John Draper

At the risk of flogging a dead horse but hopefully providing a summary and “last word” on the subject, it’s worth reporting details about a memo from the Sustainability and Climate Change Action [Advisory] Committee (SCCAC) that was provided to Council at the last Council meeting. The Committee was strongly supportive of providing sidewalks everywhere in Town. This year will see a sidewalk built on Abbott Blvd against the wishes of some but not all residents on that street.  I will attempt to summarize SCAAC’s reasoning plus the history of the issue plus where Councillors and staff stand on the issue.  In the future (that’s what we used to say before “going forward” became fashionable), deciding whether to construct a… Read complete articleAre Sidewalks Good for Cobourg

Announcement re Federal MP candidate

John Draper

In the middle of this Covid-19 crisis, there has been continual talk of the performance of Federal and Provincial politicians with particular speculation about the possibility of a Federal election because of the minority Government.  The current Federal MP for Northumberland Peterborough South (NPS) is Conservative Philip Lawrence and if a federal election were to be held, many have assumed that he would be running against the previous incumbent, Liberal Kim Rudd.  But today, Kim announced that because of health reasons, she would not be running again.  Given the possibility of an election at any time, that means the Liberal Party will need to find a candidate quickly.  Kim’s announcement today did not discuss who might run in her place… Read complete articleAnnouncement re Federal MP candidate

Should the Town Buy the Brookside property?

John Draper

At tonight’s regular Council meeting, Council received a memo from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee which recommended that Council “consider making an attempt to acquire the Brookside property as a community benefit”.  Although this memo was terse, it was triggered by a letter to the Committee by member Richard Pope who included more rationale as well as some suggested uses for the property.  It’s hard to know what the property might be sold for by the Province but at a cost of $40,000 per acre, the reported 70 acres would cost $2.8M.  (The $40k figure is based on recent sales at Lucas Point Industrial Park).  Since at least some of the land is described as being in a flood… Read complete articleShould the Town Buy the Brookside property?

Nicole Beatty Seeks Provincial Liberal Nomination

John Draper

Cobourg Councillor Nicole Beatty today announced that she will seek the nomination of the Liberal party as its candidate for Northumberland Peterborough South in the June 2022 Provincial election. The MPP currently in the riding is Conservative David Piccini – at the last election he was opposed by Liberal candidate Loui Rinaldi who had held the seat off and on since 2007 and I’d guess he won’t want to run again. In the last Municipal election, Nicole received the most votes and has been quite active in her role as Councillor so looks like a strong candidate. The next Council election will be October 2022 so if she wins the nomination and wins the Provincial vote, she would be leaving… Read complete articleNicole Beatty Seeks Provincial Liberal Nomination

Vaccine Update – 21 April

John Draper

At her first media “scrum”, Dr. Natalie Bocking, the new HKPR Medical Officer of Health, provided a comprehensive update on what is being done to cope with the pandemic.  A good part of the statistical data she provided is available online at the HKPR DHU website (That’s the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit web site) but she also provided additional details about variants, vaccines, demographics, clinics, vaccine distribution and appointment availability.  It was open to the media and local media people did ask some questions. This report will provide a summary of information provided but in the interest of transparency, the one hour session was recorded on You-Tube and is available via links below. If you have the… Read complete articleVaccine Update – 21 April