Ladies
and Gentlemen
Suddenly
winter. The Town Christmas tree was barely
alight when the wind strengthened, the snow came in and Midland is now all
frosty white. It was a fun ceremony with
hot chocolate and a visit from Santa. Thank
you to the Southern Georgian Bay Relators, Midland Pipes and Drums, Huronia Harmonizers,
the Boathouse Restaurant, Midland Police, Town staff and our secret Santa.
Christmas
festivities were tempered by the announcement of CCL closing in Penetanguishene
with the loss of 170 jobs. The shutdown
will begin next year and complete in 2015.
I am constantly perplexed that we live in province that is facing
significant economic challenges and we have no plan to deal with the structural
changes impacting our manufacturers. Picking up the pieces seems to be left to
the smaller communities, most recently Leamington and Penetanguishene.
*****
Monday
November 25th will start at Barrie City Hall at 4:00 pm with the
launch of the 2013 Mothers Against Drunk Driving campaign. Then at 5:30 pm back to Midland for a closed
meeting of Council dealing with matters of litigation and labour. At 7:00 pm is
the November Council meeting. The agenda includes:
-
Three deputations:
o
Update on the SSEA budget arrangement
o
Presentation on the new Tiffin House retirement
home
o
Information about Marina Park (the four story
residential development next to Bayport)
-
Direction on the sale of four surplus Town
properties – 349 Lakewood Dr; 1037 Ingram Cres; 1041 Ingram Cres; and 347
Estate Court.
-
Shawn Berriault, our Director of Public
Works, will be recognized for his outstanding sustainability work with the SSEA
-
Discussion of appointing a temporary
municipal representative to the Police Service Board
Right
after Council another closed meeting dealing with personal, litigation and land
acquisition.
Tuesday’s
highlight is the short County Council meeting in Midhurst at 9:00 am.
Two
items for Wednesday November 27th.
At 7:00 am the North Simcoe
Community Futures Development Corp. is hosting an Employers Breakfast at
Brooklea. Please call NSCFDC if you wish
to attend.
From
9:00 am to 11 am the OPP will be holding a car seat clinic at the Southern
Georgian Bay OPP, Hwy 12. If you wish to have your infant seat
professionally assessed you will need to make an appointment by calling 705-526-3761.
On
Thursday November 28th the four municipalities will meet at Midland Town
Hall at 2:00 pm for their monthly Economic Alliance meeting. This meeting will discuss the management structure
for the Alliance and progress on the $400,000 funding request from the County.
You are welcome to attend these meetings.
At
5:00 pm the downtown merchants are organizing a grass roots gathering to
critique and revitalize the downtown. This spontaneous discussion is being done
in parallel with the BIA. The event will
take place at the Shopmidland location at Hugel and King. Then at 5:30 you may
wish to go to Ste. Marie for the first evening of “First Light”. This memorable
event with take place for three nights starting on the 28th and is
open from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm.
And
be sure to wish your American friends a Happy Thanksgiving.
Friday
is a quiet day with Town staff attending their Christmas party in the evening.
Weekend
Ending
on a Christmas theme, the annual Civitan Christmas parade will take place on
Saturday at 11:00 am. It will start at
Little Lake Park and move down King Street to the waterfront. Please come out
for our wonderful annual event.
Gord
McKay
Be
part of Midland’s Year of Getting Involved - 2013.