Category: News 2021

Donating Trees and Benches

John Draper

You might have seen plaques on Trees and benches in Cobourg’s parks – these generally commemorate someone and are there because a citizen donated them. But to do that, the donor has contacted the Parks Department and discussed it with them although to date there has not been any policy or presumably, consistency on costs or what is done. But now, the Town’s Parks department is working on establishing a policy and procedure for such donations with the first step being to discuss draft documents with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee at their meeting on December 7. The cost will be standardized at $3,000 for most benches (including plaque) and $450 for a tree plus $275 for a plaque…. Read complete articleDonating Trees and Benches

Fees for Marina and Campground to Increase

John Draper

At the next Committee of the Whole Meeting (CoW) on December 6, staff are reporting that they have reviewed current fees for the Marina and Campground and are proposing increases so that they continue to cover costs. Most of the proposed Marina increases are around 3% but campground increases range from 2% to 11% – more details below and links to Staff reports. I understand that separately Staff are undertaking a comprehensive “User Fee Analysis” and these increases are interim (for 2022) pending the results of that study. User fees include Development charges, Parking, Transit, CCC fees and others as well as Marina and Campground. A report on parking fees was provided at the November 15 CoW but was referred… Read complete articleFees for Marina and Campground to Increase

Cobourg Entertainment Coming Alive

John Draper

So far there have been no cases of the Omicron Covid19 variant reported in Northumberland and many people are responding to the Entertainment scene opening up in Cobourg in time for Christmas. After a missing a year of many Christmas events, it’s time to enjoy those that are being held. There’s a list below with details on how to get information but the first one is of course tomorrow’s Santa Parade at 6:00 pm. The weather may not be the best so I may join others and just watch it on TV (Cogeco Cable Ch. 700) but there is a long list of indoor events over the next couple of weeks. The Concert Hall at Victoria Hall re-opened November first… Read complete articleCobourg Entertainment Coming Alive

Transit Fares to Increase

John Draper

If Council approves staff recommendations coming to Council at the next Committee of the Whole meeting on December 6, transit fares will increase.  Cobourg’s Transit is currently heavily subsidised – riders pay $2.00 per ride and Cobourg taxpayers pay another $4.88 to cover costs (based on 108,372 riders in 2019).  Total taxpayer subsidy in 2019 was $707K * – numbers for recent years are worse because of fewer riders during the pandemic – details below.  In 2022, revenues from fares are budgeted at 7.5% of operating costs – capital costs are extra.  As reported earlier, during the 2022 budget review, Councillor Darling commented that the cost of Transit to the Town in 2022 of $1,069,024 was a lot for the… Read complete articleTransit Fares to Increase

Tannery District Public Meeting – November 2021

John Draper

The Tannery Project began in 2009 and since then: has had three open houses (including the initial Charrette); a special page was created for the Town’s web site; a special Community Improvement Plan (CIP) was created to allow the Town to spend money on it and on Monday, a Council Public Planning meeting considered a Secondary Plan and Rezoning Bylaw which would effectively implement the Consultant’s master plan.  See the links below for more detail. Once again, the consultant Matt Reid, presented his plan: over 30 citizens were online to hear what he said and 10 participated – mostly in support.  There are two aspects of the plan that generate support:  first, It’s “Green” and sustainable and second it promises… Read complete articleTannery District Public Meeting – November 2021

Final Draft Budgets approved 5-2

John Draper

Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin chaired the two-day Budget review Council meetings and hoped to reduce the levy increase impact of 6.7% to 5.3% per Council’s target. But by 4:00 pm on the second day, she expressed her frustration that Councillors kept adding amounts that cancelled any reductions. She said “we need to do better”; her comments seemed to blame councillors and Mayor Henderson then told her to “Watch your comments”! He said that they were all trying to do the right thing. When the two days’ work was complete, the budget increase was 6.3% and with a growth amount of 2.2%, the tax levy increase would be 4.1%. In a recorded vote, Suzanne and Councillor Chorley voted against approving the… Read complete articleFinal Draft Budgets approved 5-2

Council Decides on Community Grants for 2022

John Draper

Today, Council started their line-by-line review of the 2022 budget but one relatively small item gets a lot of attention.  The maximum for Community Grants for 2022 was somewhat arbitrarily set at a total of $30k but applications totaled $92K so a lot of pruning was needed.  Before the meeting, Deputy Mayor Suzanne Séguin and Councillor Adam Bureau worked together to do the pruning and their recommendations totaled $29,544. Many of the “grants” were in fact “in kind” – that is, no cash would be changing hands but instead fees normally charged by the Town would be waived.  The two main examples were fees to rent the Concert Hall and parking fees around Victoria Park, primarily for members of the… Read complete articleCouncil Decides on Community Grants for 2022

Councillors’ Coordinator Reports

John Draper

Regular Council meetings are mostly just giving final approval to motions made at the Committee of the Whole meetings a week earlier but they also include “Coordinator reports”.  The way Cobourg Council is currently organized, each Councillor is assigned a department to focus on and they “report” at each regular Council meeting.  These are mostly about stuff we already know about or don’t care about (sorry) but sometimes they include snippets that are interesting.  Last night’s reports included a number of items worth reporting – so below are highlights (my choices – access to full report via video in link below). Note that one of the recommendations of the recent organization review is that the Coordinator system be reviewed and… Read complete articleCouncillors’ Coordinator Reports

Why not Sell the Trailer Park

John Draper

At the next regular Council meeting on 22 November, Council will receive a letter from Ron Smith who is obviously a new resident in Cobourg.  His residence is at the new Legion Condo building on Orr street and he makes a proposal that shows he is not aware of the previous heated controversy on the subject.  His 7 page letter also includes concerns that Council might spend a large amount of taxpayer money on a development at Brookside, a suggestion to use the Memorial Arena as an Arts and Culture centre and some unhappiness at the thought that the Town must pay for maintenance of the New Amherst Clock.  But his final proposal is the zinger – he wants the… Read complete articleWhy not Sell the Trailer Park

Report on Waterfront Operations

John Draper

Teresa Behan, Deputy Director of Community Services, submitted a report on Monday to the CoW meeting of Council that gave an overview of the operational performance of the four waterfront  “business” units: the Marina, the Campground, the Marie Dressler Dredger and the Harbour.  The intent was “to enhance transparency for upcoming budget deliberations”.  The report was for 2021 YTD and given their seasonal nature, this covers most of the year’s activity.  Teresa notes that the Marina and Campground are funded by user fees (breakeven with any profit as a dividend to the Town), the dredger is funded by its users which includes the Harbour and external contracts and the Harbour is funded by the tax levy. I think that’s the… Read complete articleReport on Waterfront Operations