Ladies
and Gentlemen
Spring, warmer weather and we are all starting to get
busy. Your Town is no exception. This past week featured the Downtown Master Plan
report from our consultant, Urban Strategies, bringing together your ideas
about the remaking of our downtown. About 80 people attended the meeting and
provided a lot of positive feedback.
The draft plan included a wide range of actions that will
take years if not decades to implement. Key recommendations included:
-
Significant greening of the entire downtown
-
A traffic circle at King and Yonge, providing
a remarkable entrance feature to the downtown
-
A dramatic change for the layout of the
streets and buildings where our downtown meets the harbor
A copy of the draft presentation is at this link.
http://www.midland.ca/Pages/downtownmasterplanstudy.aspx
under Presentations. The Town is still looking for your feedback by May 8th.
Your comments will go to the Downtown Master Plan Steering Committee for final
direction to the consultants. Then the work begins.
Last week also saw the quarterly public discussion on our
healthcare future. GBGH services and constraints on healthcare funding were key
discussion items. The meeting also learned that the Citizens Healthcare Steering
Committee has completed its formation phase and is now looking for permanent
members. I am reproducing their ad that will appear in the newspaper shortly.
You may consider stepping up to this important position to help our community.
“Quality
healthcare is essential to everyone in North Simcoe. Recent changes to
healthcare services in our area have required citizens to take a more active
role. A group of citizens, working in
consultation with the mayors, the aboriginal community and healthcare providers
has established the Citizens Healthcare Steering Committee. We are now looking
for ten individuals from our communities to take a leadership role in building
our area’s healthcare.
The successful
candidate for this volunteer position will support the Committee’s mission by:
-
Advocating
for improved healthcare
-
Informing
and educating all stakeholders
-
Working
collaboratively
You are
interested in healthcare challenges and in finding solutions to problems. You are already involved in other community
groups and regarded by your peers as approachable and fair minded. You listen
to others and work with them in finding a common understanding of complex
situations. Others seek out your views
in resolving problems.
As a Committee
member you are expected to commit for a three year period and participate in 1
three-hour meeting each month. You must be able to use e-mail. While the
Committee’s work is supported by the municipalities there is no compensation
for the position.
If you are
interested in applying, please forward your resume to Mr. Claude Marchildon at claudemarchildon@rogers.com
before May 15, 2015. The Terms of
Reference for the Committee are posted on www.midland.ca/chsc’
*****
Monday April 20th will start at County with
two information meetings. Those that follow municipal planning will know that the
County’s planning process has been stalled for years due to an OMB appeal. This
meeting updates what has happened with the County Official Plan through the
last few years. The public sessions are at the County Museum from 2:00 to 4:00 pm
and 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
Back
in Midland we have a special Council meeting starting at 5:00 pm. The agenda
includes:
-
A presentation on owning electrical distribution
companies in Ontario. Part of this may be closed if we talk specifics about the
MPUC.
-
A new Huronia Museum Lease and separate Partnership
Agreement
-
A discussion on financial reserves policy.
There will be an opportunity for public input allowing you to speak to the
matter
-
Town surplus/deficit statement. We had a small operating deficit on the tax
side and a slightly larger surplus on the rate (water/wastewater) side
-
Our new Building Official arrangement with Penetanguishene
-
Acceptance of Jones Road by the Town
On Tuesday April 21st at 6:30 pm at the MCC is
the 8th Annual Meridian Business Women of the Year
Awards, sponsored by Meridian Credit Union. Business women have been nominated
in the following categories: Business Woman of the Year, Female Entrepreneur of
the Year and Heart & Soul of the Community. Tickets are available at the
MCC.
Wednesday April 22nd will feature our monthly
Downtown Safety meeting at 10:00 am at Town Hall. This meeting will get into
the organizational issues of how to respond quickly to incidents in our downtown
as well as creating a better social safety net to prevent them from occurring.
On Friday you are invited to attend the regular
Waterfront Steering Committee. With the first tranche of funding in place from
the developer, the committee will look to advance the next stage of design and
the development of an “iconic feature” for our new neighbourhood.
Weekend
Saturday
-
50th Annual Elmvale Syrup festival
takes place from 8 am to 5 pm – a sticky good time
Gord
McKay
Be
part of Midland’s Year of Bold Action - 2015
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