Sunday September 27, 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen

Our love affair with the warm summer-like weather continues but you don’t have to go too far to see the leaves changing color. Get out there and enjoy it while it lasts.

There were a couple of important healthcare meetings this past week.  On Tuesday the citizens of North Simcoe met for their quarterly update with the NSMLHIN and our hospital. We learned that there will likely be changes for CCAC (who provide a lot of the provincially funded home care); the possibility of changes for primary care delivery (our frontline doctors and nurses):  and the fact the NSMLHIN is about to name a new agency to coordinate the delivery of seniors’ healthcare. The meeting also introduced to our new Citizens Healthcare Steering Committee who will be our strong voice to ensure proper healthcare for the residents of North Simcoe.

Then last Thursday the GBGH Board invited the public in to comment on what should become of the surplus PGH site. Two main ideas were promoted by the some 15 speakers:

• Keep our GBGH viable
• Help the LHIN turn the PGH site into a new healthcare hub
  After the public meeting, the hospital Board decided to delay their vote on the future of the Penetanguishene site for up to eight months. The decision was based on a request from the NSMLHIN that the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care needs the time to review a proposal to repurpose the site into a health hub.

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Monday September 28^th and more meetings. At 1:30 pm at County, the Affordable Housing Advisory committee will be meeting with the BILD builders association to explore how the private sector can be induced to build more affordable housing units. Unless we have the private sector meaningfully participate in the construction of affordable housing, we will never get past the multi-year wait lists we have in Simcoe County.

At 6:30 pm, Council holds a closed session to consider committee appointments. At 7:00 pm is the regular Council meeting. A full agenda including:

• Three deputations:
  • Overview of the 2016 Senior Summer Games to be hosted by Midland
  • Concerns by Tiffin residents about their neighbourhood
  • Presentation by Bill Smith concerning the zoning of his property on Hwy 12
• A Public Meeting (you may speak) concerning four matters:
  • The proposed land sale at 808 Birchwood Dr.
  • Change of fees by-law to deal with repeat offenders
  • Change of fees by-law to reduce the cost to merchants for use of the downtown sidewalks
  • Amendment to the sign by-law to permit the Sargeant gas bar sign on County Road 93
• Introduction of our first ever municipal operations “dashboard”.  This is an ongoing tracking report that shows how the Town is progressing against key operational targets such as 1) cost control, 2) customer satisfaction and 3) staffing levels.
• A vote on the Chigamik/Waypoint Downtown Health Centre proposed for part of Edgehill Park
• Agreement on the process to assess the control of “second suites” in Midland
• Discussion on what we will do with tiered response by our Fire service
  
  
  
  
  Tuesday 29^th starts early with a 7:30 am breakfast meeting with BNI (Business Network International) at Na Na’s.   Our BNI chapter is made up of some 30 local companies that meet monthly to help each other market more successfully. A great organization.
  
  
  Keeping with the theme of business development, I meet later in the morning with the Chair of our Economic Development Corporation (EDCNS) to align the work we are doing as a municipality with that of EDCNS. Then that afternoon I meet with a local healthcare entrepreneur to discuss job growth in our area.
  
  
  On Wednesday September 30^th you are invited to attend the first draft operating budget meeting at 6:00 pm at Town Hall. While we are just at the start of the public budget process, the first draft should show us an operating increase, year over year, of about 0%. That will allow us to keep tax rates down when we deal with that matter later in the year.   Looking ahead, mark October 7^th at 6:00 pm on your calendar as the date for “public input” budget meeting - your chance to comment on the Town’s budget.
  
  
  Thursday is the first of October. Gets you thinking about Hallow’een. So it’s appropriate for Discovery Harbour to be launching its new Pumbkinferno event. More details at
  http://www.discoveryharbour.on.ca/dh/en/SpecialEvents/HalloweenDay/index.htm
  
  
  On Friday I have a meeting with our newly minted MPP Patrick Brown to discuss how he can help us with the issues that matter most to Midland. Patrick has already expressed an interest in doing some fundraising for GBGH.
  
  
  
  
  Weekend
  
  
  Saturday
  
  
• It’s Treasure Day. Your chance to put out good items you don’t need that may be of use to a neighbor. Put items out to the curb after 8:00 am and have those not picked up back in by 5:00 pm.
• 9:00 am Valu-Mart is hosting a Downtown Sidewalk Sale Spectacular. All proceeds will go to Wye Marsh
• 6:00 pm is the Tiawenk fundraiser for Martyrs’ Shrine at Brooklea
• 7:30 pm is the Be Our Guest concert by Serenata at St. Pauls. A free will offering with proceeds to the Guesthouse
  
  
  Sunday
  
  
• Treasure Day continues

Gord McKay

Be part of Midland’s Year of Bold Action - 2015