Ladies and Gentlemen
One beautiful long week-end, tailor made for enjoying
with family and friends. I will keep this short as my granddaughter wants me to
go look for frogs.
Tuesday May 24th is a day of Council meetings.
At 9:00 am it’s County Council in Midhurst. One of the reports that we will be
receiving covers the waiting lists for County “rent-geared-to income” housing. The
statistics are not good:
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Families face a three year wait
-
Seniors face a 5.7 year wait and
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Individual adults face a 5.8 year wait.
This reinforces the critical need to bring additional housing
on stream so we can get our residents reasonably housed. At 11:00 am the County
will hold a hearing on the allocation of 20,000 housing units made available to
requesting municipalities in Simcoe County.
At 6:00 pm its Midland’s turn. We start with a closed
meeting addressing three topics – labour negotiations, committee nominations
and a personal matter. At 7:00 pm it’s the
Council meeting including:
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Three deputations
o
Update on EDCNS, our economic development arm
o
Introduction to the new CEO of our Library
o
Status report on Little Lake brought to us by
Keith Sherman, SSEA
-
Presentation of long service medals for our
Fire Service
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Decision on the second suite by-law
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Discussion of the home occupation by-law
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Review of a question of whether additional DC
charges should be assessed against a developer on Aberdeen Blvd.
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Finalization of our 2016 tax rate. The good news
is that the Town portion is up by 1 percent and the overall tax rate that you will
see on you bill is up by just 0.3%.
Given that inflation is in the 1.5% range, you will have a relative tax
reduction.
Wednesday is Midland’s Rotary
Club "Random Acts of Kindness Day" taking place all over Midland.
Drop by the Town dock at 12:30 pm for a free hot dog lunch – and remember to
pay it forward.
On Thursday the 26th at 5:30 pm you are
invited to a Downtown Project Steering Committee meeting in the Council
chambers. Your chance to see what we have
planned for the downtown.
Friday the 27th will have us welcoming the
United Church Conference to Midland. This multi-day gathering will see hundreds
of visitors in Midland, discussing matters spiritual and enjoying our beautiful
Town. Please give them a warm welcome.
That evening you are invited to a
unique photography exhibition at 7:00 pm at the Museum. Gunter Hille has been photographing Midland
for 50 years and has some remarkable images of our community. Please come and
enjoy an Evening of Photography. And at 8:00 pm Huronia Players stages their new
production of Goodbye Piccadilly. If you
have never seen a Huronia Players production, now is the time.
Weekend
Saturday
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10:30 am look to the harbor for a lot of sail
boats as the Midland Sailing Club hosts its annual sail past
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8:00 pm Jerry Lee Lewis tribute at the MCC
Council Issues Update
MPUC
This past week Council hosted another public discussion
on what should be done with the MPUC. There is a lot of information pointing to
the increasingly risky environment our utility is facing. Council voted that
the status quo was not an option. We have to make a structural change to our MPUC.
At the end of this month, Council will receive a report
from the MPUC as to the sale and/or merger options they have discovered in their
discussions with other utilities. Then about mid-June Council will reconvene to
make its decision on where our MPUC is headed.
*****
The date for Margaret Trudeau’s visit to Midland
draws near. She will speak about her lifetime of experiences in support of The
Guesthouse Shelter. Here is a link to a recent interview with
Mrs. Trudeau http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=865396
The event will take place at the Highland Inn
on Thursday, June 2nd at 7:00 pm. It promises to be a fascinating evening supporting
an important local cause.
Gord McKay
Your
Year for Getting Aboard – Midland is on the Move - 2016
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