John is Mayor of Alnwick/Haldimand Township and also Warden of Northumberland County and is now taking a leave of absence “in order to address a personal matter”.  As John says in a statement: “the roles of Mayor and Warden require – and deserve nothing less than – an individual’s full attention and energy to see these through.” So he says that “to make a necessary shift in focus to a personal matter, I will be taking a tem­porary step back so that the business of both councils can continue at full pace.”  His role as Warden will be taken over by Port Hope Mayor Bob Sanderson since he is the longest serving member on County Council – there is no… Read complete articleJohn Logel Taking Leave of Absence

This year, the County is making major changes in recycling and garbage collection.  For recycling, instead of using clear plastic bags, you will get a blue box and a grey box. And garbage will be changed too – you’ll get a green box for organic stuff that can be composted.  In addition, there will be more places to dispose of hazardous waste.  There will be an extensive education program which has already started – read the Waste and Recycling Collection calendar which every household should have received at the beginning of the year (via Northumberland News).  At Cobourg’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting on May 13, Adam McCue from the County will make a presentation on this subject.  Some… Read complete articleMajor changes in Recycling and Garbage collection

Last Monday’s Cobourg Council meeting saw Northumberland County report on their 2018 accomplishments and their approved 2019 budget.  CAO Jennifer Moore and Director of Finance/Treasurer Glenn Dees made the information understandable with some simple graphics and bullet points.  For example, of the total budget of $123 Million, taxes supply only $56.2M, grants and subsidies $39.2M and garbage fees $6M.  Most of the tax money gets spent on roads ($17.9M) with social services second at $9.5M although the total spent on social services is $28.7M – the rest mostly comes from the Province.  The Golden Plough lodge is a major part of the County’s operational and Capital costs – it will be rebuilt over the next few years at a total… Read complete articleCobourg Council gets update from the County

The County is asking the public to complete a survey to provide public input for their strategic plan for the years 2019 – 2023.  This is quite different to the process used by Cobourg Council – although it was open to the public, no advance input was solicited for the Cobourg version.  Instead, a draft plan will be available online at some point for comment (but not yet).  One immediate problem is that many people are not clear on all the responsibilities of the County.  Apart from pickup garbage, what do they actually do?  The survey asks what you like about Northumberland; what programs and services do you feel should be priority areas for focus, and why; what should be… Read complete articleCounty Wants Public Input for Strategic Plan

On Wednesday 30 January, the County announced that it had approved a budget within their guideline of 2.3% but to do that, they decided to eliminate the Bulky Waste Voucher program.  Each year at about this time, a voucher has been mailed to all Northumberland residences which allowed disposal of up to 100 kilograms of residential waste at no charge. This has a value of $11.50 and it’s estimated that this will save a total of $268,000 – or rather, the County will collect that much instead of providing the service free.  If my math is correct, that means they are now planning to collect up to $11.50 each from more than 23,000 people who would have used the vouchers… Read complete articleCounty Eliminates Bulky Waste Voucher