As previously reported, the CoW Council meeting on Monday 26 will have a long Agenda.  This is the fourth article (post) on this meeting – see Resources below for a list of earlier articles. Apart from the five items which are already the subject of my reports, I count four more items of interest coming before Council as well as a number of routine items (mostly Heritage Permits but also some new policies).  1) Keith Hearst, recently hired Grant and Policy Writer, provides a report on applications made and approved in 2022; 2) If approved, the development at the corner of Albert and Division will proceed – but it’s controversial;  3) A use has been chosen for the empty Memorial… Read complete articleNews and Decisions coming to Council

At the year’s final Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting next Monday (26 Sept), Council will be asked to approve an usually large number of items.  Previously posted were highlights plus a report on the Harbour repairs but there are more items.  Staff reported on progress with three reports: The Service Delivery Report; the 2022 Organizational Review and the Strategic Plan.  In addition there are four policy reviews and a report on the Town’s grant applications.  The Agenda also includes a number of other items that need to be made public plus the usual Heritage Permits and other less significant, but still important, matters. (Watch for a report on these in Part 4 – yes, there are a lot of… Read complete articleEnd of Year Staff Reports – Part 3

At the Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting on 26 September, three major reports on Staff actions will be presented as well as five reports on Policies and other actions.  Reports on these by Cobourg News blog will follow in the coming days but advance notice on some key items seems called for.  The reports are listed below and it must be said that it’s good that Staff, led by CAO Tracey Vaughan, are providing these updates to Council and the public. Some things that are happening and highlighted by these reports (notably the Service Delivery Report) are:  Reduced spending on Tourism, $1M per year increase in Parking Revenue, the new Asset Management plan and review which will point to… Read complete articleEnd of Year Staff Reports

Many citizens of Cobourg criticize Councillors but few actually make a delegation to Council and let them know what – in their opinion – they are doing wrong. At Monday’s regular Council meeting, Bryan Lambert made a delegation to Council saying that for multiple reasons, hiring yet another consultant was the wrong thing to do.  The consultant in this case would review all the user fees paid to the Town to see if they could be increased and to provide a formula for an annual review.  Bryan also pointed to the unusual adjustment of the contract price to keep it below the limit imposed by the fact that the Council was now in a Lame Duck period.  This award was the… Read complete articleBryan Lambert – Delegation to Council

At the Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting on August 15, Council voted to award a contract to Watson & Associates for a Comprehensive User Fee Study for a total cost of $91,288.90.  This despite it being more than the budget allocation of $35,000 and that a second bid closer to the budget was also received.  Cobourg News Blog reported on this under the heading “Does Cobourg Use Too Many Consultants” (see Resources below).  But because Council is now in a “Lame Duck period”, the additional amount of over $50K is not allowed so the matter came back to Council.  The contract was re-negotiated to a lesser amount ($83,500) by assigning some of the work to Staff so the amount… Read complete articleConsultant for User Fee Study Approved