Category: News 2023

Town Announces Situation on Homeless Camps

John Draper

On August 9, the Town removed a tent that had been erected in Victoria Park but did not immediately act on several tents on the West Beach.  Councillors received multiple complaints about these and in Today’s Northumberland, Pete Fisher reported the details on one couple living there (see Resources).  However, the Town has now reported that “Officers found that the encampment is in violation of the current Parks By-law, Nuisance By-law and Trespass to Property Act.”  But before acting, Council met on Friday in a special closed Session emergency meeting to consider legal advice – in particular to consider a recent ruling of the Ontario Superior Court in the Waterloo decision which dictates that “unless and until encampment residents are… Read complete articleTown Announces Situation on Homeless Camps

Pickleball Club asking Town to Fund Dedicated Courts

John Draper

Pickleball is getting to be very popular worldwide and now in Cobourg. The Cobourg Pickleball club had 67 members in 2021 and now has 227 members.  Currently they share 19 facilities (courts): 6 indoors at the CCC, 10 at Sinclair Park and 3 at Peter Delanty Park.  But shared courts are not optimum and the club wants dedicated courts – and they’ve chosen Sinclair Park.  They believe they can do the conversion (to dedicated) for $250,000 for 10 courts but Town staff report that the cost will be more like $733K for 6 courts and $1,070K for 12 courts.  Although it does not have to be done all at once, that’s a big difference.  Further, staff do not seem convinced… Read complete articlePickleball Club asking Town to Fund Dedicated Courts

Cobourg Police Annual Report – 2022

John Draper

Each year, Cobourg Police produce an annual report on their activities.  The report on 2022 was released at the Police Board meeting on 18 July and will be presented to Council at the Committee of the Whole meeting on 14 August. The format this year is different to previous years – Statistics are not tabulated but instead integrated into the text of the report.  However, I will try to make clear the information that we want to know – e.g. is Crime getting better or worse and are Police catching the bad guys?  And did it exceed the budget which cost the taxpayer 2.8% more than in 2021?  Short answer No! You can download the full report from the link… Read complete articleCobourg Police Annual Report – 2022

Town Acts to Close Unsafe Residence

John Draper

Today the Town of Cobourg announced that a residence on Division Street had numerous fire and life safety concerns and was deemed unsafe for occupancy.  The tenants were “removed from the property for their own health and safety and have been provided with temporary accommodation through the support of Red Cross”. Lisa Munday of Cobourg Police made the announcement on behalf of the Town. She said that “on Thursday, July 27, 2023, the Town of Cobourg Fire Department conducted an inspection of a residence on Division Street that uncovered numerous fire and life safety concerns.”  Then “on Friday, July 28, a second multi-agency inspection was completed. Under the Ontario Building Code and applicable Health Protection and Promotion legislation, the building… Read complete articleTown Acts to Close Unsafe Residence

News about Cobourg News Blog

John Draper

If you tried to connect to the Cobourg Blog this morning (Wednesday, 26 July) between early morning and around 11:00 am, most of you would not have succeeded. Hopefully, the problem is now fixed but I’d like to let you know some background on the problem. First, know that for the last 20 years I have been operating a business called Cobourg Internet which designed and maintained as many as 60 web sites.  Along the way, I used many ways to provide hosting and eventually settled on renting my own “dedicated server”. The good news is that this can be very reliable but the bad news is that it is expensive and requires daily attention. As I “gradually retire”, I have transferred… Read complete articleNews about Cobourg News Blog

A Pension for Councillors?

John Draper

In a bid to make serving on Council more attractive, Council is considering allowing Councillors to join the OMERS Pension scheme. This would only benefit those eligible and anyone not already receiving an OMERS pension.  To be eligible, you must be less than 71 and you cannot both contribute to a pension plan and receive from that plan simultaneously.  Randy Barber is over 71 and both he and Brian Darling already receive an OMERS pension. The big benefit is that the Town will match the employee’s (councillor’s) contribution to the plan effectively increasing their income (albeit deferred) by approx. $2400 per year. It’s optional to join so Brian and Randy would likely not join since their pension would then stop…. Read complete articleA Pension for Councillors?

EV Charging stations on Municipal Parking Lots

John Draper

Cobourg Council have been discussing the provision of chargers for electric vehicles at least since 2021 and once again it was on the Agenda at Monday’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting.  Randy Curtis of the EV Society gave a presentation and said there are vendors who would be willing to install and operate charging stations in Cobourg at no cost to the Town or taxpayer.  That’s because revenue and grants would pay for their costs.  There are details to be worked out – exactly how many (16?) and where, and which company to work with – Randy suggested an Ad Hoc Committee be formed to decide these in time for this year’s budget deliberations.  Cost consideration would be potential… Read complete articleEV Charging stations on Municipal Parking Lots

Cobourg’s Treasurer – Ian Davey – Retiring

John Draper

After more than 20 years with the Town of Cobourg as Director of Corporate Services and Treasurer, Ian Davey will be retiring effective 27 October.  Recruitment is under way for his replacement and Ian is hoping for a month before that for the new person to absorb Ian’s 20 years of knowledge about Cobourg specific things.  Ian was born and raised in Cobourg (well actually Hamilton) and still lives there.  I was hoping that there would be a public announcement of the change but all we get is a notice of recruitment for his replacement.  I’m not an accountant but I know that Ian has worked hard at his job and is well liked.  The only information I can offer… Read complete articleCobourg’s Treasurer – Ian Davey – Retiring