Category: News 2021

Managing High Volumes of Visitors at Victoria Beach

John Draper

One of the things Council has wrestled with in the past year is the ongoing concern in the Town about the use of Cobourg’s Beach.  It is on Lake Ontario and is one of the Province’s best beaches and is wide open for anyone to use – resident or not.  Town Staff and a number of others see Cobourg as a Tourist destination with the beach being a prime attraction but not all residents agree.  After all, maintenance is paid by taxes and there is a debate as to whether beach goers bring a benefit to the Town or even whether they should bring a benefit.  The beach is not crowded on most days but on some weekends in a… Read complete articleManaging High Volumes of Visitors at Victoria Beach

Presentation to Council about On-Demand Transit

John Draper

As part of the 2021 budget deliberations, Council authorized a year-long trial of an On-Demand Transit system.  This would improve service and probably increase the number of users.  If successful, it would allow bus sizes to be reduced and reduce costs.  At Monday’s regular Council meeting, the proposed suppliers made a presentation to Council with additional details.  The current Transit Contractor, Pacific Western, plus their software partner Rideco, listed other municipalities using or planning to use their On-Demand Service – both Pacific Western Transit (PWT) and Rideco are Canadian companies although Rideco has several US customers including San Antonio, LA and Houston. They also demonstrated their App and gave a timeline for the Trial.  PWT has 35 Transit Contracts in… Read complete articlePresentation to Council about On-Demand Transit

Many Old Municipal Documents No Longer Available Online

John Draper

At the beginning of this year (January 1), legislation passed in 2005 required new standards for accessibility for web sites provided by Ontario municipalities (amongst others). This means that online documents must meet standards that were not previously mandatory.  But Northumberland County and probably the Town of Cobourg have thousands of documents that don’t meet those standards.  Since this is a significant amount of work, the county has taken these documents off-line as has the Town although for a different stated reason.   That means that the public can only access most bylaws or earlier agendas and minutes by emailed request (details below).  The County is asking the Province to change the legislation and the Town is saying that the issue… Read complete articleMany Old Municipal Documents No Longer Available Online

Tim Hortons Coming to East End

John Draper

The owners of the property at the northeast corner of King Street East and Brook Road North first applied for approval to develop the property in 2014 and despite getting approval, never proceeded to build.  But in April 2020, another application was made and has worked its way through planning with several changes.  I reported on one version in August 2020 – see link below – but the final site plan was up for approval at the Committee of the Whole Council meeting on January 25.  Council approved the application.  Development will be in two phases with a gas bar and Tim Hortons in the first phase.  The plan includes two spaces for Electrical Vehicle chargers and a second phase… Read complete articleTim Hortons Coming to East End

Provincial Grants Help Local Non-Profits

John Draper

The pandemic is hurting businesses and individual workers and to date Governments have to some degree provided relief for them. Now, the Province has announced significant help for local non-profit organizations that are hurting. MPP David Piccini announced that six local non-profit organizations will receive a total of $555K. They include four Arts organizations, one sports club in Oshawa and Cornerstone which provides shelter to women suffering domestic violence. The amounts are significant and are welcomed by the affected groups. In making the announcement MPP Piccini said “Non-profit organizations are a crucial and valued part of any community. These organizations enrich the lives of people in our communities, while playing an important role in building a strong and prosperous Ontario… Read complete articleProvincial Grants Help Local Non-Profits

Budget Meeting – part three

John Draper

A lot of ground was covered in the two days of budget meetings – but at around 6:00 pm on the second day, Council came in under their target as reported earlier. The first day included presentations by the Police even though the only thing Council could do was to reject the entire budget.  It was pre-approved by the Police board in closed session and only open to the public once it was approved. But at the budget meeting, the Police presentation was all about how the Police make a contribution to the Town both financially and with partnerships. More on this below. The Fire Department Chief and Deputy Chief, the Library CEO, the AGN Executive Director and Town staff… Read complete articleBudget Meeting – part three

Budget Meeting – Beach and Events

John Draper

The budget meeting last Thursday and Friday covered a lot of ground – budgets for all departments were reviewed so staff and councillors talked about many issues and provided a lot of insight into what is being planned for 2021.  For example, what’s happening because of the pandemic; what projects will go ahead; will Tourism be encouraged?  As several Councillors said, it’s too early to decide whether the Beach should be open or how it should be managed but this certainly is an important subject.  Although budgets decide on money allocation, Council budget decisions also point to what staff should spend their time on.  Below are some of the things that Council and Staff mentioned and decided and help us understand… Read complete articleBudget Meeting – Beach and Events

Cobourg Council Meet 2021 Budget Target

John Draper

After a marathon two full days of a special Council Meeting to review the 2021 budget line by line, Council managed to reduce the draft budget sufficiently to more than meet the 0 to 1% target set by Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin.  All Councillors contributed but Councillor Brian Darling made the most suggestions for reductions – although some were only to start a discussion.  There were many decisions made and a lot of information provided so it won’t be possible to give a full report in one post (besides, I’m tired!)  But stay tuned over the next week for reports on the highlights – e.g. what to do about the beach, the CCC and the Concert Hall.  Below is the… Read complete articleCobourg Council Meet 2021 Budget Target