Ladies and Gentlemen
Well it may not have been hot but that was a great
summer. Many people have stopped me and said that they could not recall when
Midland had had so much summer fun -
Butter Tart Festival; The Big
Duck; RibFest; Zuchinni Mania – to name a few. My thanks to
all the organizers for the “Summer of 17” and looking forward to more to come.
The
Week Ahead
Tuesday September the 5th and
students head back to the classroom. Please watch out for excited youngsters as
you head out on Tuesday. I also head out to a meeting in Toronto with the
Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. We are going to talk about the growth
of the cruise ship industry in our area.
This summer cruise ships have been visiting many ports
around the Great Lakes with Midland receiving some 15 visits from two ships.
The potential exists for 50-60 visits a year but challenges such as docking the
ships in many ports and federal regulations restricting cruise ship operations
on the Great Lakes need to be addressed. Minister McMahon is interested in
helping us develop the industry. This meeting is a first step in a multi-year
initiative.
At 7:00 pm it’s the Planning and Development Committee meeting
at Town hall. A busy agenda including:
-
Zoning by-law amendment for 536 Dominion as
they add a residential unit on the ground floor
-
Site plan for a new gas station at 9620
Highway 93
-
Start of the Official Plan amendment process for
the development of the new Jarlette Long Term Care facility at 658 King Street
At 7:30 pm at the MCC it’s “A Day in the Life” featuring
Tommy Ambrose. Tommy’s musical career launched at the age of 5 when he began
singing at religious rallies for evangelist Charles Templeton. By 20, he was
hosting “Cross Canada Hit Parade” on CBC TV and later “The Tommy Ambrose Show”
on CBC TV. He found his niche in singing commercially, including “jingles” for
Brylcreem, milk (the “mike moustache), Labatt’s, Wrigley’s gum, eggs (get
crackin) and many other iconic commercials. This event is sponsored by the
Friends of the Keewatin so all who buy a ticket will receive a free pass to
visit the Keewatin.
Wednesday the 6th features an
important public meeting as Council decides on the future of policing in
Midland. Council looks forward to hearing from you. Please review the
background information about the decision at http://www.midland.ca/Pages/OPP-Costing.aspx The meeting starts at 7:00 pm at NSSRC,
Week -
End
Saturday September 9
12 noon – Georgian
Bay Native Friendship Centre Pow-Wow at Ste. Marie Park. All are welcome
Sunday September 10
12 noon – Georgian
Bay Native Friendship Centre Pow-Wow at Ste. Marie Park. All are welcome
1:30 pm – Suicide
awareness commemoration at Midland Bay Landing Park, off of Bayshore
2:00 pm – Drumhead Ceremony
to remember our war dead at Lakeview Cemetery
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm - Bruce
Stanton and Patrick Brown sponsor their Shore Supper Fish Fry at the pavilion in
Little Lake Park
Council
Issues Update
OPP
Over the last six months the Town has invested
significant time and energy in providing a fair assessment of the costs
associated with going with the OPP or staying with the Midland Police. In developing
this assessment the Town retained the services of an experienced consultant,
called in outside specialists in legal matters, HR and pension/benefit costs,
used our own financial staff to double check the numbers and contacted many
other OPP municipalities to confirm the findings. Those results have now been relayed to
Council for its decision this Wednesday.
While there are numerous details supporting the analysis,
the essence of Council’s decision will likely come down to the following facts:
1)
Both the MPS and OPP are quality police
services and both are capable of policing Midland
2)
The OPP offers Midland a savings of
approximately $6 million over ten years – all in. Operationally, the OPP will
cost about $1 million dollars a year less than the MPS once the Town is brought
into their regular costing model in year 4
3)
The OPP offer provides more front line officers
than the MPS currently employs or expects to employ
4)
The MPS has been with the Town for over 100
years. The MPS arguably knows the community better. If the Town goes to OPP
almost every officer is expected to transfer to the OPP.
The analysis and recommendations that Council will be
receiving from the OPP Costing Committee are contained in the report at the
following link.
*****
Midland lost a good friend this past week. Julianna
Matyas was an inspiring charismatic lady who worked tirelessly on behalf of
children and the good of the community. Julianna
was always positive and looked on the bright side of life even as she battled
cancer. She will be sorely missed.
Gord McKay
The
Year for Getting It Done - 2017
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