Ladies and Gentlemen
Our weather rollercoaster continues. Lately I have been
receiving more calls about cleaning up the sand than to remove the snow. Such is life in the Town.
The
Week Ahead
Monday January 22nd starts at
7:30 am when the NSCFDC hosts Marketing Monday, an education series to help
small business learn about marketing fundamentals. The first event is entitled – “Marketing
Foundations – Define your market and develop your marketing plan”. The workshop
is free and takes place at Midland public library. Register online at www.nscfdc.on.ca/upcoming-events.php
At 6:30 pm Midland Council holds a closed meeting
covering two items – nominations for the Youth Committee and staff changes
related to our Service Delivery Review project. At 7:00 pm it’s the regular
Council meeting including:
-
Three awards of merit for outstanding
citizens
-
A deputation by SSEA on our climate change
plan
-
Tender results for a new transit bus
-
Recommendations on snowmobile trails in Midland
-
Preparatory by-laws for the 2018 municipal
election
On Tuesday County Council takes place at 9:00 am.
Council will learn about the new Georgian College Advanced Technology
Innovation and Research Centre. Later
that day at 3:00 pm the Housing Working Group meets at Town Hall.
Wednesday at 2:00 pm our OPP Transition Committee
meets to discuss the latest developments. Please see OPP item below.
On Thursday the 25th the Town has
scheduled two meetings for you to help us determine the future of our bus
transit system. The Transit Operational Review Public Open House will be held from 2 – 4 pm and again 5 – 7 pm at
the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre. Please attend one of the
meetings and/or provide your comments on-line at www.surveymonkey.com/r/midlandtransit.
Friday sees a meeting of the Physician Recruitment
Committee at 8:30 am. The Committee is dealing with the question of whether it
is still needed (seems we now have a good supply of doctors) and if so what its
go forward plan should be. Then at 1:00
pm the Cruise Ship Industry Group meeting
reviews the start-up activities for our cruise ship business case project.
Week -
End
Saturday January 27
5:00 pm –
Robert Burns annual dinner at the Midland Legion
8:00 pm -
Sugar and Gold – Stories of the Underground Railroad. This full length stage
production is a dynamic musical featuring riveting stories of the Underground
Railroad written by Diana Braithwaite, a direct descendant of the first
fugitives who arrived in Canada from America. That’s at the MCC.
Sunday January 28
7:30 pm -
The Real Rabbie Burns with the Celts, a Celtic music supergroup well-known for
their themed shows. Drawing heavily on the back-story, they entertain and amuse
with true stories and anecdotes of the real Rabbie Burns.
Council
Issues Update
OPP
A bit of drama in these final days. The Midland Police
Service Board and the four police bargaining units have gotten into some protracted
discussions that question whether the transfer will take place as hoped in mid-February.
The matter is now before the Ontario Civilian Police Commission who will decide
on Monday whether to let the transfer go ahead or delay their approval
resulting in a three month delay in moving to the OPP. See attached letter for
further details. I will update you Tuesday on what has happened on this important
issue.
Keewatin
Lots of rumors on the potential move of the Keewatin from
Port McNicol to Midland. What can be said with some certainty is that the
owners of the Keewatin have indicated they will likely have to move the ship
and that they would like to keep it in North Simcoe. No information has come to
Council on this matter. So while we are all interested in the future of this
significant tourism attraction we will have to wait until February when the
principals come before Town Council.
*****
Last year the County announced its long term
Transportation Plan. It focused on inter-urban connections with the first bus
route being from Barrie to Midland. The County plans a soft launch of the
service right after Canada Day, with a free introductory service likely until
Labour Day. Hopefully early ridership will lead to the long term success of
this much needed link.
Gord McKay
The
Year for Forging Our Future - 2018
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