Cobourg Council to Regulate Transition House

As previously reported, Cobourg is negotiating with the County to establish what is allowed at the new Transition house location at 310 Division. The idea is to get an agreement similar to what was agreed in Whitby. But there is a “Plan B”.  If an agreement cannot be reached, then Council has voted to implement a By-Law that would require “Emergency Care Establishments” to be licensed with requirements similar to that agreed in the “Whitby” agreement. At the Council meeting on 28 February, Council passed the Licensing by-law to be in effect March 28 which is the day after the next Council meeting. The date is a month later than the timeline originally proposed so it can be repealed if… Read complete articleCobourg Council to Regulate Transition House

Encampment People Settling in for the Winter

It seems that the 18 people encamped outside Brookside have no intention of accepting Transition house as a place to live.  No doubt they have trouble accepting the rules so they are soliciting donations for heating equipment and firewood to allow them to stay where they are.  A Press Release today by Jenni Frenke linked to a Go Fund me page which has so far raised $13,486 of a $16,700 goal.  The money is used to buy winter tents, “Cobourg Fire Department approved stoves” and firewood.  Jenni reports that so far “we have been able to provide 9 individuals/couples with a hot tent and wood stove” plus “we also were able to purchase a large community tent with two stoves… Read complete articleEncampment People Settling in for the Winter

Predictions for 2024 –  Opinion

Judging by my previous efforts. I’m not very good at predicting what will happen in the next year but it’s fun to do, so why not?  But first, how did I do last year? Out of 12 Town predictions, I got 9 right.  Notable misses were that I thought the harbour would get repaired (wrong!) and the web site would get fixed (ever hopeful). Of 6 predictions on the economy, I got 3 wrong – no Cannabis stores closed in Cobourg (although one failed to open), inflation improved and there was no recession.  For 2024, once again I predict no action on the Harbour, Sidbrook, the Park Theatre, the Tannery or Downtown vitalization. There will be some action at Brookside but probably… Read complete articlePredictions for 2024 –  Opinion

Most Discussed Subjects in 2023

It’s a no brainer that the single most talked about subject in Cobourg this year was homelessness and the encampment. That’s also the message provided by the number of comments on posts.  But what came second and third?  Reader interest seems to put Council issues (Budget, Governance, Strategic Plan, remuneration of councillors) second and Police/Crime third. Cobourg residents also do care about public transport and the environment – but they have little to add to my reports on Entertainment. Maybe that’s good given that many comments are negative.  I should note that my numbers are biased since I have a strong focus on Council meetings so subjects discussed there dominate. This is not a scientific survey!  Overall, there were 118… Read complete articleMost Discussed Subjects in 2023

Merry Christmas from Cobourg News Blog – 2023

It seems that every year, Christmas comes upon us quicker than ever.  It’s also the end of another year and time for a review. The big international news is about two wars, National news is dominated by what people think of Trudeau and the local news is about the encampment by individuals who refuse the help provided by our generous social services.  But let’s not start ranting on about negative things – I do get tired of the seemingly endless criticisms by people commenting on this blog.  How do these people find anything to be happy about?  But Cobourg still has a thriving entertainment scene and life is good in Cobourg.  And Christmas is generally a happy season – especially… Read complete articleMerry Christmas from Cobourg News Blog – 2023

Police Approve 2024 Budget

Cobourg’s Police service is the single biggest line item on the Town’s budget but their increase in 2024 at 6.3% is less than Cobourg’s proposed increase of 8.06%.  A big plus for the Police is they partially support themselves with their business unit – in 2024, the business unit will contribute $2.1M or 22% of total cost. Another plus is that they provide a good amount of detail – including personnel count. This is important because I calculate that wages, salaries and benefits are 77% of Police costs. Separately, the Police provide detailed reports on their performance – see the Agendas of their monthly meetings. See link in Resources below for the statistics to November in December’s report. The board also hears… Read complete articlePolice Approve 2024 Budget

Town Publishes Budget Survey

If it’s like previous surveys, only a few hundred will participate although you’d think more would care about their tax increase. I don’t recall any budget surveys in previous years but then the proposed 8.06% hike is the biggest for some time.  The key question asked is about which services are important and there are only three specific budget items mentioned: the Centennial pool, the trial of fixed route Transit and the idea of a 1% infrastructure levy. It’s not a big survey but it might help Council understand what people are thinking. It starts with personal questions on age, income and how long you’ve lived in Cobourg then asks which services are important. One key service not included is… Read complete articleTown Publishes Budget Survey

Cobourg’s 2024 Draft Budget

Town Staff have now presented their draft budget to Council and it was in a different format to previous years. Instead of spreadsheets, each department used the same format highlighting key drivers, savings, large operating increases, special projects and capital requirements. But first, the new director of Finance, Adam Giddings provided a summary highlighting additional staff, main budget drivers, increases by department and the overall increase compared to inflation. Adam presented numbers to show that budget increases over the last 5 years have not kept pace with inflation. He also gave the total expected tax levy increase: 8.06% compared to 6.6% in 2023 – both numbers after accounting for growth. But this is what Town staff are asking for (recommending)… Read complete articleCobourg’s 2024 Draft Budget

Mayor Cleveland stirs Budget Pot

At the close of the first day of a two day budget session (Dec 12 and 13), Mayor Lucas Cleveland moved two motions that would be major changes to the budget setting process and to tax rates. Lucas is concerned with two things: first, when staff are added partway through the coming year, the budget impact is less than a full year so there is a hit in the following years that is not really considered. To fix this, Lucas wants the full year cost added to the budget and any unused amount transferred to a reserve to be used for future staffing needs. This was the subject of a motion he made which passed.  The second concern was more… Read complete articleMayor Cleveland stirs Budget Pot

Mayor Cleveland Answers Questions

Mayor Lucas Cleveland started last night’s Town Hall meeting with a longer than promised review of the last 12 months. The meeting was held in the Gym at the CCC where about 400 chairs had been provided. The room was about half full. Lucas was nearly finished when an audience member interrupted because she wanted to get on with the question period. Lucas said there were 60 online questions – I counted a total of 18 questions were asked/answered including maybe 4 of the online questions. Key points made by Lucas were that: 1) Council needs to start with a strong foundation; 2)  He was elected on a mandate of change yet people do not like change; 3) People want… Read complete articleMayor Cleveland Answers Questions