Cobourg News Blog

As a result of the KPMG Service Delivery Review, Council has asked Staff to report on possible efficiencies in several departments and at the next CoW Council meeting, CAO Tracey Vaughan will deliver several status reports starting with the Works Department.  Specifically, this will cover Parking, Fees for Storm Water Management and Transit.  The intent is not to reduce “services” and their associated cost, but to get more revenue.  These projects were previously the subject of Council discussion and decisions and Cobourg News Blog reported on them – see Links below.  The key point is that in each case, Council has approved increasing user fees.  However, revenues still mostly fall short of costs.  Below are summaries of the Staff reports… Read complete articleReview of Public Works Efficiencies

Yesterday (March 1), the Province relaxed most restrictions and the Town has been quick to follow. An announcement on Tuesday seemed to say that Cobourg is now finished with Covid restrictions but look closer. Masks are still required indoors unless you can maintain two metres separation, people should still check for symptoms and some businesses may elect to still ask for proof of vaccination. But there’s no capacity limits, businesses like restaurants need not ask for proof of vaccination so it’s almost back to normal.  As a result, the Town has announced re-opening Victoria Hall, the Community Centre, the Library, the Art Gallery and Venture 13 – details below. Covid-19 has not gone away but Health authorities – in Ontario… Read complete articlePost-Covid – Cobourg Opens up

In early 2018, Council thought that their remuneration (salaries and benefits) should be reviewed so they established an Ad Hoc Committee to do that.  This committee reported on April 30, 2018 but recommended little change.  In a delegation, the Cobourg Taxpayers Association made a strong case that there should be significant increases and some councillors agreed (see table below) – but not all.  The issue was discussed by Council several times and along the way, Council asked that there be a review of salaries in the third year of their term – that is, in 2021.  Staff are now belatedly bringing this to Council at the Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting on March 7 and asking for direction.  In… Read complete articleCouncillor Salaries back on the Agenda

Despite the departure of Cobourg’s Communication Officer to the HKPR District Health Unit, there’s a whole lot happening on “Engage Cobourg”.  There are currently three active surveys; the one on “Short Term Rental Accommodation” has just closed and a new one on the “Integrated Community Sustainability Plan” has just started (see links below).  The Town is actively recruiting a replacement for Ashley Purdy although last time I looked, the job was not listed on the Town’s web site. The Communication department does have a second person but she is currently on maternity leave!  To help with the crunch, Ashley is helping out part time in addition to her new job.  Gathering input from citizens used to mean Public meetings where… Read complete articleEngage Cobourg is well used

As a result of the recent organization review by KPMG, Cobourg Council have agreed to hire a Purchasing Manager to improve efficiency.  Another recommendation by KPMG was that purchasing authorities for Staff should be significantly increased – for example the CAO is currently limited to authorizing $50K.  As a result, relatively routine and minor matters are still required to be brought to Council. All purchases must be within the budget approved by Council – why micro-manage staff?  We don’t have to go very far to get a good example of what an updated policy should look like.  Northumberland County have much higher levels of authority (see table below) and also have high levels of accountability.  For example all purchases between… Read complete articleCobourg Hiring a Procurement Manager

In the Spring of 2019, Cobourg’s “Economic Development Officer” Wendy Gibson retired and was not replaced.  Soon after, the Economic Development Advisory Committee was dissolved and since then we’ve only had a “Small Business facilitator” – there has been no serious effort led by a manager to attract or retain businesses for Cobourg. But there are now moves to hire an Economic Development Manager. Budget was allocated for a July 1 start but because of budget savings, CAO Tracey Vaughan asked Council for approval to instead start this manager on April 18. Further, Tracey wants this new manager to report to the Director of Planning and Development so as to avoid the disconnect/ disjointed processes and reduce potential frustration on the part… Read complete articleEconomic Development Manager to Start Sooner