Saturday, September 7, 2013

Saturday September 7. 2013

Ladies and Gentlemen

Hard to believe but summer is pretty well wrapped up. A summer of many amazing events in our community:
-          Some 240 delegates attended the Ontario Heritage Conference in Midland
-          Our first annual and very successful Butter Tart festival
-          Canada Day was a walk in the park
-          Tugfest saw some 29 tugs from many parts of Ontario descend on our harbour
-          The majesty of the three tall ships dockside was breathtaking
Yes, there were some darker days such as the cancellation of Bikefest and the continuing pressure from a slow economy, but all in all a good summer in one of the best Towns in Ontario.

Looking forward to the fall, a few things to watch for:
-          Developments with the Midland Waterfront (the Unimin property).  We will try to keep all meetings open to the public – this is your waterfront
-          Economic development efforts will focus on bringing new healthcare sector jobs to our community.  You will likely see a new area Economic Development Officer
-          The Town will review OPP service costing.  A decision is most likely after the next election. Again we intend to have all meetings open to the public
-          Budget deliberations start this month and will feature a continued effort by Council to keep taxes down
-          And lastly, don’t forget this is the lead up to the 2014 municipal elections.  Should be interesting.

So on with the work.

On Monday September 9th   at 6:00 pm a closed meeting of Council will take place to address a number of personal and legal issues. The September General Committee starts at 7:00 pm. The agenda includes:
-          Discussion of our upcoming election process
-          A review of surplus municipal lands with possible disposition
-          Discussion of the OPP costing review process
-          Direction given on the need for a new engineering position
-          A variety of proposals from the Parks and Recreation department about how to increase revenues/fees
Depending upon the direction given for the engineering position, a Special Meeting of Council will be held immediately after the General Committee meeting to ratify the position.

Tuesday at 10:00 am will see a different type of County Council meeting. The County governance committee has directed that the County should now discuss its business as the Committee of the Whole.  This new form of governance will be put to the test on Tuesday.

Wednesday September 11th starts the 2014 budget season.  The first meeting will be held at the Town Hall starting at 6:00 pm and will cover the operating budget. The public is encouraged to input to the budget process either by contacting Council or staff.  In addition a special session on the budget will be held for public input on Wednesday September 25th at 6:00 pm

Thursday September 12th look for a lot of water specialists to be in Town as the Ontario Water Works Conference will meet at the NSSRC. 

Weekend

On Sunday the 15th the Legion Drumhead ceremony will take place at 2:00 pm at the Lakeview Cemetery. While always a special event, this year’s ceremony will feature a delegation from the US who has come to remember a US civil war comrade buried in our cemetery.



Gord McKay


Be part of Midland’s Year of Getting Involved - 2013.

                                                                                              


No comments: