Ladies and Gentlemen
Summer is officially here and the excitement is building
around our upcoming Canada Day festivities. It’s going to be a great summer for
getting out with a planned Ribfest, Feast Fest, Tug Fest and Floatie Fest to
name just a few special activities. Invite your friends up and introduce them
to Midland at its best.
The
Week Ahead
On Monday the 26th at 10:00 am the OPP
Transaction Team meets to receive an update from our consultant on the costings
for the OPP and the MPS. At 5:30 pm
Council holds a closed meeting at Town Hall to review three items; 1) labour negotiations;
2) committee appointments; and 3) disposition of land. This is followed at 7:00
pm by the June Council meeting including:
-
Presentation to the Midland Mystics –
Division 8 Provincial Basketball Champions
-
Three deputations:
o
Request for a heritage district on King
Street by Ms. Scarth
o
An update on the Rosewood “Operation Grow” by
K. Willis
o
Presentation on the upcoming Terry Fox Run
-
Recommendation for fencing around the Tiffin
storm water management pond
-
Request to complete the technical studies
required for the Midland Bay Landing property
-
Proposal to create a Municipal Services
Corporation to manage the Town’s land assets
-
Recommendations to help our Town staff serve
you better
On Tuesday County Council meets at 9:00 am; the
last meeting before its summer break. The meeting will take place at the County
museum and considers some of the longer term financial and operational issues
confronting the County.
Two interesting items on Wednesday the 28th.
The property at 118 Main Street (old Brule Hotel) in Penetanguishene is going
through a dramatic internal refurbishment. Through the efforts of some 15
community agencies and local companies the building will be brought up to modern
residential standards. This project
brings 29 affordable housing units to our area. While the media tends to focus
on new builds, it is the improvements to our existing housing stock that will solve
our affordable housing shortfall.
At dusk come on down to
509 Bay St. (the parking lot at King St) and enjoy the Midland Movie Night screening
of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". Bring your own lawn chair.
On Thursday I attend a full day meeting in Orillia
on coordinating the healthcare initiatives taking place in Simcoe County with
the municipalities and residents. This education
day prepares the mayors to work with the LHIN and the province to better guide
the changes that are occurring to our healthcare system. At 7:00 pm both GBDSS and St Theresa’s hold their
2017 graduation ceremonies. Then at 7:30 pm Buffy St. Marie plays to a sold out
house at the MCC.
Friday the 30th and the Town offices
are closed. If you are looking for something to do, our Library invites you to join them at 2:00 pm to celebrate their 50 years
on King Street.
Week -
End
Saturday July 1 – Happy Canada Day
-
An all day celebration. Check out the program at http://www.midland.ca/Shared%20Documents/CanadaDay-Schedule2017.pdf
-
Some of special Canada Day items:
o
10:30 am Civitan Parade down King Street
o
11:30 am unveiling of the Midland mural at
NSSRC
o
Pickleball tournament at Tiffin Park. It starts
at 9:30 am until 3:00 pm. Bring a chair
o
Fireworks
at our neighbours in Penetanguishene
Sunday July 2
-
6:00 pm Music in the Park at the Little Lake
Park Rotary bandshell. The music plays
every Sunday until September with July shows starting at 6:00 pm and August
shows starting at 7:00 pm
Council
Issues Update
OPP
The Town OPP Costing Committee should receive the cost
analysis from the outside consultant this week. That will give us the long awaited
“apples to apples” comparison of the costs of an OPP service versus an MPS
service. The costing will cover many financial aspects including wages,
benefits, transition costs, government grants, etc - and project those costs
over a number of years so that the full impact can be seen. I expect the
content of the report to be made public in short order.
Midland Bay Landing
Council will be asked to authorize a number of environmental
studies that were to have been completed by our previous development partner. Fortunately we have $250,000 from our previous
partner that can be used for this purpose. Combine that with anticipated
funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and we should be able to
complete all outstanding studies with no cost to the Midland taxpayer. With that done we will be fully ready to
negotiate with future development partners.
Gord McKay
The
Year for Getting It Done - 2017