Living Wage Certification

John Draper

At the Cobourg Council meeting on December 2, 2019 Kristina Nairn of the Haliburton, Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPR) asked that Council consider being certified as a “living Wage Employer” – that would mean that Cobourg and its contractors would have $17.95/hour as their minimum wage. Councillor Nicole Beatty moved a motion (that passed) that staff report back on the feasibility and impact on the Town with the report due March 9, 2020. So at the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9, Interim Human Resources Manager, Colleen McBride will provide that report.  It turns out that there are three levels of certification and the Town already meets the middle level, called the LEADER Level.  To get… Read complete articleLiving Wage Certification

New Management at Beach Canteen Planned

John Draper

Over the last two years, the Victoria Park Beach Canteen has been operated by the owners of Market and Smor, the downtown boutique greengrocer, but for 2020, a new operator is being sought. As well as the canteen operation, there were four weekends in 2018 and two in 2019 when the nearby “courtyard” was used for licensed events with entertainment.  The Town deemed them a success and has seemingly prompted a suggestion that the new Canteen operator might also offer a licensed service (presumably beer and wine and in the Courtyard). The RFP issued by the Town on 21 February says that they “will consider alcohol as part of this RFP. The Town of Cobourg is open to all ideas for providing… Read complete articleNew Management at Beach Canteen Planned

Work to Start on Restoring Certo Building

John Draper

On the property of FV Pharma, a subsidiary of FSD Pharma which owns the Cannabis plant at the old Kraft property, there is a derelict building once used to do research on the pectin product branded Certo.  In 2017 it was in really bad shape with an engineering estimate of approx. $500K to restore it so the company asked for a demolition permit.  But after a public outcry (see links below) the permit was denied and the company said they would restore the building and convert it to an on-site dispensary with a completion date of 6-8 weeks or around January 2019.  The announcement was made by Thomas Fairfull but since that time, he is no longer the CEO and… Read complete articleWork to Start on Restoring Certo Building

Health Team gets funding for Community Paramedicine

John Draper

The Ford Government last year announced that LHINs would be disbanded and instead we would have “Health Teams” and Northumberland was one of the first to form such a team.  One of their goals in the first year was to implement a Community Paramedicine program and now MPP David Piccini has announced that this will be funded by the Province to the tune of  $342,000.  The idea is to take advantage of skills that paramedics already have and do some pro-active health care.  So as well as paramedics responding to 911 calls, they will also do things like “assisting with diabetic care, doing medication assessment, providing flu vaccinations, conducting post-injury or illness evaluation, and other care functions”.  The overall intent… Read complete articleHealth Team gets funding for Community Paramedicine

New Initiatives at Venture 13

John Draper

The focus at Venture 13 is on encouraging Entrepreneurs – especially young start-ups.  But on Tuesday, Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) announced a new program where Cobourg Police are partnering with innovators.  On Wednesday, they also announced a partnership with Telus with a focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology.  Both CFDC and Cobourg Police were anchor organizations with the Town of Cobourg in the founding of Venture 13 in May 2018.  (See links below).  Wendy Curtis, Executive Director of Northumberland CFDC, said that the Cobourg Police service is “one of the most innovative in the country” and now they are taking it further with their new PoliceTech Accelerator.  That’s not a new pursuit car but a “test… Read complete articleNew Initiatives at Venture 13

Update on Major Projects – Feb 2020

John Draper

Cobourg’s planning department is involved in a number of projects – some move through quickly but sometimes developers are slow to act so projects take many years.   In any event, planning does a good job of putting details and status on the Town’s web site so the public can know what’s happening.  Details are brought to council at various stages – some require re-zoning and can be controversial and others get a lot of attention because they respond to a cause like a shortage of low-cost housing. The Town site has a lot of detail (see link below) and includes details on projects such as the Tannery project, the new strip plaza on Mall property, the new Coastguard building and… Read complete articleUpdate on Major Projects – Feb 2020

County Budget Brings Changes

John Draper

After a longer than usual review, County Council approved the 2020 budget on 13 February with an increase over last year of 2.61% in the tax levy.  Included in the budget are some key initiatives plus some changes in fees.  This year will see “breaking ground for construction of the new Golden Plough Lodge and Northumberland County Archives & Museum facility” and “continuing with county-wide implementation of the Affordable Housing Strategy, including completion of a detailed design for the Elgin Park Redevelopment Project.” Effective March 30, fees for tipping at Community Recycling Centres (CRC) (that’s the latest name for the waste dumps) will increase from $115 to $130 per tonne and Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) operations at the Brighton and… Read complete articleCounty Budget Brings Changes

Cobourg Library – MOU wanted

John Draper

At the committee of the whole Council meeting next Monday, the Cobourg Library will be in the spotlight.  In budget deliberations, Library CEO Tammy Robinson asked for “a Memorandum of Understanding with the Town of Cobourg in regards to facilities” and on Monday, Councillor Adam Bureau will ask for this to be prepared.  He asks for clear direction on roles and responsibilities between the Cobourg Public Library Board and the Town of Cobourg to help with “budget requests, deliberations and approvals for the Cobourg Public Library”.  The amount of money Cobourg contributes to the Library’s budget is significant and Provincial cutbacks have made budgeting difficult for the Library with an increasing amount required to keep it going.  The Library is… Read complete articleCobourg Library – MOU wanted