Saturday, September 17, 2011

Saturday September 17, 2011

Ladies and Gentlemen

Those beautifully crisp bright days of autumn have arrived. The kids are back at school. Summer tourists have fled.  We should all breathe a sigh of relief - except there is so much to do!

This Sunday September the 18th at will see a Legion remembrance ceremony at Lakeview Cemetery. All are welcome.

Wednesday September 21st at at the Penetanguishene Town Hall is their public meeting on police services for Penetanguishene. Penetanguishene is trying to decide whether to continue to contract with the OPP or join with Midland to create a new joint police service for our area. Information publicly available indicates that the new joint service will be less costly and will likely provide better control and a local focus to policing. This meeting will give the residents of Penetanguishene their say as to how they wish to be policed.

On Thursday September 22nd at is the Huronia Community Foundation luncheon and AGM at the NSSRC. If you intend on going please call the HCF ahead of time. 

Later that day at is the official opening of our new Town Hall. There will be number of presentations and tours will be available. Please do come out and join us for this important event.  It’s a busy evening. The Chamber All Candidates debate takes place that evening (6) but over at the Native Friendship Centre.

Friday is the start of the Coldwater Fall Fair which runs until Sunday September the 25th. The opening parade takes place at on Friday September the 23rd.  Come and see one of the best fall fairs in our area.

Saturday September 24th will see an eco-event called “Moving Planet”, meant to remind us that we don’t always need to use the car to get around. There will be a number of events including a walk from the Native Friendship Centre at and a gathering at our Community Garden in Little Lake Park starting at . 

In closing, an update on the Hugel roadwork. The first phase up to and including
Second Street
should be completed this week including paving and lawn repairs. Phase Two (
Second Street
to Fourth) will start next week and continue for about a month. If you have any questions, please contact Shawn Berriault at 526-4275 or sberriault@midland.ca


Gord McKay

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sunday September 11, 2011

Ladies and Gentlemen

What a week-end in Midland.  Everything from professional tree climbing in Little Lake Park; to a Pow Wow in Ste. Marie; to an art show at the Huronia museum;  to boating in the bay. The summer that keeps on giving.

The week starts for your Mayor in Toronto on Monday. The MPUC will be meeting with Hydro One and the Ministry of Energy to discuss improving hydro service to our Town.  That same evening at at Town Hall is the September General Committee meeting.  On the agenda:
-          a report on splash-pools, possibly coming to our park
-          a decision on parking and water access improvements at Pete Peterson Park
-          should Party on the Dock expand to become a full week-end festival?
-          a review of the residential waste collection options for Midland that your County Council will be deciding upon

On Thursday September 15 at the Town budget meetings begin. This first meeting will focus on the 2012 capital budgets.

On Saturday September 17th the Huronia Foundation for the Arts and Stellula Music are hosting a Fish Fry Funday in Little Lake Park. Starting at and finishing at , It will be a day of good eating, children’s games, a beer tent and live music starting at . A day ticket is $20, children under 12 are free. A good excuse to have fun at Little Lake.

Looking ahead, fall leaf vacuuming and pick-up starts right after Thanksgiving (October 11th) and continue to November 10th, weather permitting, The Town will try to clean-up the last leaves the week of November 14th.

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This past week your Town made a presentation to the Pentanguishene Police Services Board, asking them to join with Midland to form a new joint police service. Penetanguishene also asked the OPP to make a proposal to them about continuing to provide contract policing services.  As opposed to summarizing the presentation meeting and its results, I will quote a piece the Gerry Marshall sent to his residents yesterday.


One of the items of most interest from last week, was the receipt of the bid submissions and subsequent presentations from both the OPP and Midland Police forces.  Please note while reviewing the numbers and data below that the Central North Correctional Center (CNCC) charges are paid by the CNCC and  have no municipal tax implications and that the Town charges noted below are paid by the municipality and do have municipal tax implications.
 
OPP

THE UPSIDE – A credible policing option with a very professional persona.  A large depth of force and services provided that can manage our day to day needs. In an emergency they can quickly add their own resources to the complement of responding officers.  Numbers provided were in depth and hit all the contractual points.

DOWNSIDE -  the Town portion of the pricing sees a $300,000 per annum ( 21% increase) from our actual policing costs for 2010.  A $278,000 (17.2% increase) over their 2011 estimate.   A 3.7% tax hike would be required to support the increase. 

Midland

UPSIDE – A professional and credible policing option that can manage our day to day needs.  In an emergency they leverage their relationship with the OPP and Barrie Police for assistance.  The overall number quoted sees a modest savings. The Town portion sees a significant price differential as they come in at $300,000 less per annum then the OPP.  The Midland number proposed for the Town policing portion would result in a zero tax increase.

DOWNSIDE - Midland provided numbers based on our historic policing activities from past years and provided little background detail.  Midland positioned that the lack of detail related to the need of the new 5 person Joint Police Services Board to determine the joint policing model, philosophy and actual move forward service levels.  Once completed the final and true costs could be derived.

As you can quickly see, both proposals come with pro’s, con’s, concerns and questions.  That said, I wanted to get some details to you quickly and well in advance of our upcoming Public Consultation so you had time to get your head around the issues and collect your thoughts.   I do need to highlight though, that there is far greater information that we need to share with you.  I would do this topic a true injustice to say more at this time, without going into a full deep detailed description of all the facts and consideration. 

We will be delving deep into the facts and details during our Public Consultation being held on September 21st , at Townhall.  I do encourage you, your neighbours and friends to attend.  If you could spread the word about the consultation, I would appreciate it.  Along with advertising the public consultation, we will send direct invites to the schools, banks, liquor store, beer stores, corner stores, taxi companies and others to remind them of this meeting. We need your input, insight and thoughts on all of this.  Please do come and share with us.  In the interim please do not hesitate to email or call in advance of the meeting.

Formal Price Submissions
2012 Cost
Town of Midland
OPP
Town
$1,599,079
(includes $96,678 in capital)
$1,897,697
CNCC
$833,771
(includes $60,000 in capital)
$658,975
TOTAL
$2,432,850
$2,556,672

*2011 budget $2,471,292 ($851,672 CNCC + $1,619,620 Town)

 from Gerry Marshall, Mayor Penetaguishene”


Pentanguishene is about to make a very significant decision for the future of policing in their community. We have put forward our position that joining with Midland to create a new force is in the best interests of both communities. If they should decide in favour of a joint service, we would then start the discussions that may eventually lead to that conclusion.  There will be ample opportunity in both communities for public consultation and input before any final decision are taken on a new joint force.


Gord McKay
                                                                                              

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Sunday September 4, 2011

Ladies and Gentlemen

I hate to say it but its back to work. You have to admit though, it was a fabulous summer!

The Town meetings start on Wednesday September 7th at with an in-camera session of the Planning and Development Committee, dealing with litigation and a potential land acquisition. Then at at Town Hall is the regular PDC (I wish I could give you more information but the agenda has not been posted yet.  Please visit  http://midland.ca/meeting-schedule/index.htm )

Also on Wednesday, Rogers TV is holding an open house at the NSSRC at to tell you about their programming plans for our community.

On Thursday the County celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Adult Day Program at Georgian Manor in Penetanguishene.  The Adult Day Program provides a social setting with many activities for elderly individuals who may not otherwise be able to get out of their homes.

This Saturday September 10th and Sunday the 11th is the 11th annual traditional Powwow at Ste. Marie Park, off of
Wye Valley Road
.  The Grand Entrances are at and on Saturday and 12 and on Sunday. This is a wonderful opportunity for the whole family to come and experience the culture and friendship of our First Nations.

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This fall will be an extremely busy and important period for your Town. Some of the challenges that Council will be dealing with over the next three months are:

The 2012 Budget: This year will set the direction for the Town budget for the next four years.   Starting September 29th Council will be holding public meetings to debate the budget. My intention is to work with my fellow Councillors to keep our entire budget within the rate of inflation, similar to last year’s 1.5% increase.

Economic development. Midland, like all of Ontario, is confronted with a changing economy. Over the summer we saw the downside with job losses at three area manufacturers. The Town has already started work on its economic strategy to bring new employers and jobs to the area. Look for further developments this fall.

Joint Efficient Task-force (JET): Talks have taken place with our friends in Penetanguishene about the ideas from the community about where we should be working together. These include everything from Police, to water, to by-law. Look for the first of these “efficiency projects” this fall.

Recent Meetings with Ministers: As reported in the media, your Town held four meetings with key Ontario cabinet Ministers last month. The work continues this month with further discussions with Queen’s Park. The major issue affecting our relationship with the Province is the increasing cost to the taxpayers of Midland, due in large part to the many regulations and requirements put on us by Queen’s Park. Look for more action on this matter.


Gord McKay