Category: News 2023

Council Gets Public Input on STRAs

John Draper

At a public meeting on Monday, October 30, Cobourg Council once again presented their proposed rezoning and licensing by-law to legalize Short Term Rental Accommodation (STRA).  Currently, Hotels and Bed and Breakfasts (B & Bs) are legal but STRAs are not although the Town is doing nothing about these illegal establishments.  They are illegal because they are not permitted by zoning anywhere in Cobourg so the Town plans to remedy this by rezoning.  In addition, a By-law will require STRAs to be licensed and several STRA owners made it clear that the requirements of the proposed regulation could well make them no longer viable.  Director Brent Larmer presented a summary of the proposed requirements and highlights of these are provided… Read complete articleCouncil Gets Public Input on STRAs

Update on Encampment

John Draper

One of the agenda items on the regular Council meeting is “Correspondence” – that’s letters and emails received by the Town, often asking for support.  At Monday’s meeting, Council did decide to support some issues – more below – but a letter from Johnny Percolides got the most attention.  He was calling attention to health and safety concerns and the poor reputation Cobourg now has.  Mayor Cleveland said that although it seemed nothing was happening, there is in fact action and in due course the public will be advised.  Council also passed motions giving final approval to the Strategic Plan, an updated Municipal Grants Policy, developing an MOU with the YMCA and the new Governance structure – but Council spent… Read complete articleUpdate on Encampment

Cobourg GO Bus Pilot to Continue

John Draper

For at least 18 years, there have been people wanting the GO Bus or train to extend service from Oshawa to Port Hope or Cobourg. Last year, the County started a pilot program with two interconnected bus routes – a “Durham” route from Cobourg to Oshawa and a “Northumberland” Route picking up in Campbellford, Brighton and Colborne. The idea was to test if there was in fact enough demand for it to be viable – 20% of operating cost would need to be recovered from fares. After one year of the pilot/trial service, the Northumberland route will be discontinued on November 30 since there were only 513 tickets sold for the approx. 3650 trips (10 trips per day for a year). The Durham route… Read complete articleCobourg GO Bus Pilot to Continue

Councillors give their thoughts on Governance

John Draper

A revised way of holding Council Meetings under the heading of “Governance” may be the single biggest action of Council in its term – so please excuse the multiple posts on the subject.  At their Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, Councillors were asked to approve the draft by-Law implementing the change but instead they made comments and deferred a decision to a special meeting to be held after more public consultation.  Councillors generally accepted the idea of changing to the “Standing Committee” model – there was no discussion of other options such as maintaining the current structure.  It looks like the change is a done deal – only minor tweaks are being discussed.  A change looks likely in… Read complete articleCouncillors give their thoughts on Governance

Council to Debate Proposed Governance Change

John Draper

A report from Town Clerk Brent Larmer plus a proposed implementation by-law will be debated by Council at their next Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting on 16 October. This change was first proposed in 2021 and has had citizen consultation and Council debate earlier this year. The changes are significant and are said to “streamline processes and improve the efficiency of Town business” and “contribute to an efficient and effective decision-making process”. The revised governance structure is similar to that used in many other municipalities – notably Northumberland County. However, it’s not just the number and role of meetings that’s changed – more details below. The previous system with councillors assigned as coordinators and many advisory committees will be… Read complete articleCouncil to Debate Proposed Governance Change

Council Reviews Governance Committee

John Draper

In 2021, consultant KPMG conducted an organization review and one of their recommendations was that the Town “could discontinue the Council Coordinator role of governance for a committee structure”.  Instead of coordinators and a Committee of the Whole meeting, it would have four Standing committees with perhaps three councillors on each of them. This was discussed and a new structure proposed at a special Council meeting on 28 November 2022. (See Cobourg News Blog report in resources below).  Pending this change, Councillors were not assigned to coordinator roles and most advisory committees were suspended.  Earlier this year, an Ad Hoc committee was formed to make a recommendation and since then there have been some community consultations (12 individuals went to… Read complete articleCouncil Reviews Governance Committee

Town to Now Start Billing Stormwater Fee

John Draper

In November 2021, a consultant reported to Council that not enough money was being spent on stormwater management.  The new asset management plan makes it clear how much should be spent so in future, we can be assured that drains, pumps and storage areas will be properly funded.  This led to a discussion as to how the money should be collected and council approved a new method: instead of the cost being included in taxes, there would be a fee in the same way that water supply and sewer management is funded.  The fee would depend on the type of property and the area it covers – this approximates to the actual cost for each property although there is one… Read complete articleTown to Now Start Billing Stormwater Fee

First look at New Strategic Plan

John Draper

At the Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting on October 16, Council will be asked to approve asking the Public for feedback on the “Strategic plan for 2023-2027 and Beyond”.  After getting feedback and making (hopefully) minor changes, the plan will come to the CoW on November 6 for final approval.  Guided by a consultant, work started on the plan with a two day meeting of Council and Staff on 27 and 28 June. There are a few things different about this plan (apart from being 9 months late):  It’s less ambitious (it has only three “Strategic Priorities” and the five “Pillars” are not used) and it avoids giving Operational directives (e.g. specific projects).  It was noted that the Town… Read complete articleFirst look at New Strategic Plan