Ladies
and Gentlemen
At last summer seems to have arrived. And with it the temptation
to get out the lawn chair and push the world away. As you will see below, there are a number of important
meetings coming up in the Town this week. You may want to get involved before
the truly lazy hazy days of summer set in.
This past week, the Town held a special meeting of
Council to pass the required Development Charge By-law. These by-laws are set
every five years and define the onetime charges assessed on new houses and
buildings to pay for increased use of Town services. Your Council voted to
freeze our current rates for one year so we could decide on what rates would
best allow for managed growth in Midland. By taking time to assess the planning
and economic implications of development charges, we will be in an informed
position by this fall to set our rates for another five years.
*****
Monday May 26th at 4:00 pm is a Waypoint Sponsors
event at Waypoint – a celebration of the many people who continue to make
Waypoint such a success. Then at 6:00 pm
at the Town is a closed meeting to discuss a matter of litigation.
At 7:00 p is the May Council meeting. A long agenda
featuring:
-
Two presentations:
o
Our champion Midland Atom BB Hockey team and
o
A special award to four of our firefighters
-
Three deputations:
o
Huronia Museum’s three year strategy
o
Presentation on our septic tank inspection
program
o
Request for a compassionate exemption for two
additional dogs – our by-law limits households to two dogs
-
Finalization of the 2014 budget – we are
coming in with a Town tax rate of about 0.5%
-
Review of two new summer 2014 events for our
Town – Ribfest and a Watercross event for Little Lake Park
-
By-law regarding the zoning variance for the
proposed Guesthouse shelter relocation
-
Direction on the long outstanding RSI waste
re-cycling facility.
Tuesday May 27th starts with County Council at
9:00 am. Then at 3:00 pm are two
important items:
-
Our Georgian Bay General Hospital will make a
media announcement regarding the situation they face
-
The first meeting of the North Simcoe Housing
Working Group will meet at NSSRC. This group
will establish our North Simcoe requirements for affordable housing and homelessness
prevention. This position will guide the
County’s 10 year housing strategy.
At 7:00 pm that
evening a “Café Conversation” on healthcare in our area will take place at the
NSSRC. The panel discussion is hosted by
Fred Hacker and sponsored by Chigamik and the Association of Ontario Health
Centres. There is no charge to attend.
Wednesday is a quieter day. Our Healthcare Innovators group
will be presenting one of their innovative business ideas to the Midland Penetanguishene
Builders Association. If successful we will
be able to better help area seniors who modify their homes to make them more
livable.
Thursday May 29th, you may want to be at Home
Depot at 9:00 am as they launch their “Buy a Hammer, Build a Community Campaign”
in support of Shelter Now.
At 12 noon is a very important meeting at the NSSRC. The
North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN recently issued an RFP (since rescinded) that could have
resulted in ophthalmological services moving out of the North Simcoe area. Many
citizens were concerned with the increased difficulty in accessing services such
as cataract surgery and the potential for other services (eg. Endoscopy, laboratory
services) leaving the area. After a
number of discussions with local groups, the North Simcoe mayors agreed that we
needed to sponsor a public discussion on what healthcare services were needed
in North Simcoe. This first meeting, focusing on seniors healthcare, starts the
discussion that should lead to a “Healthcare Charter” – a citizens statement of
what healthcare services our area must have to meet our citizens’ needs. You
are welcome to attend. A light lunch
will be served.
Following that meeting, at 2:30 pm at the NSSRC, is the regular
Huronia Economic Alliance meeting. The meeting
will review the potential Board members for the new Economic Development Corporation
of North Simcoe (EDCNS). A well-structured EDCNS is a major step forward on our
economic development journey.
Friday and the weekend looms. At 5:00 pm join Bruce
Stanton at Brian Orser Arena in Penetanguishene for a Fish Fry in support of Gateway. Then at 6:45 the Relay for Life event in
remembrance of cancer survivors takes place at Rotary Park in Penetanguishene.
Weekend
Saturday
So much to do – so little time!
o
“Welcome to the Water” – the new In-Water
Boat Show at Bayport Marina – all day – all welcome
o
At 11:00 am the Midland Bay Sailing Club
hosts ”Blessing of the Fleet” at its location
o
At 12:00 noon the HMS Badger arrives at the
Bayport gas dock carrying Mayor Marshall. Cannon fire will be de rigeur
o
1:00 pm the Commodores Sail Past takes place
in Midland harbor, just off the sailing
club
o
Ontario Seniors Games featuring tennis at Little
Lake Park, starting at noon
Sunday
o
“Welcome to the Water” – In-Water Boat Show
at Bayport Marina continues
o
At 8:45 am I board the HMS Badger at Bayport
for the return trip to Penetanguishene. Ceremonies will occur there about noon
o
The farmers market opens downtown at the
Harbourside Park location at 10:00 am. Note this is a different location from
last year.
******
More signs of summer
in our downtown. The new Authentic Thai restaurant is now open on Bay Street. The new men’s clothing store Taylor&Co.
is now open on King Street. The expanded Bajic denture clinic is now open at
519 Hugel.
Gord
McKay
Be
part of Midland’s Year of Making Decisions - 2014
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