At a meeting on Tuesday Nov 28, the Town announced revised rules for applications to hold outdoor events – e.g. the Rib Fest, Wine and Ale in the Park, etc. Fire safety rules were enhanced and existing rules will be more strictly enforced. Deputy Chief Paul Vandegraaf said that they will deploy more officers to enforce rules such as liquor infractions but that Special Constables will be mostly used for this purpose. There are currently 12 Special Constables but this number will increase to 15 shortly. Bylaw enforcement officers and Fire Department Officers will also be deployed.
It seems that some requirements that have been in place for some time have not been enforced but they now will be. For example, the requirements to complete a Refreshment Vehicle form and the specified lead times for applications will be enforced. Also there needs to be 10 metres clearance between oil cooking equipment and heritage buildings e.g. the Victoria Park Band Shell.
Teresa Behan, Manager of Parks, said that event organizers should not drop off an application the same day as advertising for the event starts. Two months notice is required for events with an attendance of less than 5000 (or any returning major event) and at least 3 months in advance for events with an expected attendance of 5000 or more (or new Tourism events).
Teresa also listed other changes:
- The requirements for clearance around the Cenotaph would be better enforced.
- A limit of 24 would be placed on the number of benches that would be provided (would this affect Rib Fest?). They are not stored centrally but must be moved from wherever they are currently located. She noted that the benches in the Lion’s Pavilion would not be moved.
- Fundraising events like car-washes in Town Parking Lots would no longer be approved.
- Holding events on the Pier may be dependent on the results of the Waterfront study currently nearing completion.
- Organizers are encouraged to keep porta-potties away from residential areas – or at least erect a barrier to stop them being viewed by residences.
In addition, Fire Rules have been spelled out (some new) and although Fire inspections will not be performed in every case (due to insufficient staff), some inspections will happen and if a violation is found, the offending activity will be shut down. It seems that a new era of stricter Fire Safety rules is being ushered in.
The revised 20 page procedure with the new and updated requirements is available on the Town’s Municipal Event Application Page here. This is for outdoor events only; Victoria Hall and CCC events are handled separately.
Good to see Special Constables on the hunt for liquor infractions.
Not long ago police were busy busting marijuana users and growers.
Now former public servants, politicians and law enforcement officers have gravitated towards the sector, which analysts say could eventually be worth somewhere between C$5bn and C$10bn annually.
Among them Mr. Law-and-Order, Julian Fantino, is chair of a company which is broadening the understanding of medical cannabis and its therapeutic properties.
sorry for duplication ..still trying to figure out the new format.
Almost half-century ago, the Cobourg Sentinel Star raised questions in an article entitled, “What You Should Do About Pot.” http://cobourgtown.blogspot.ca/2008/09/what-should-society-do-about-pot.html. Hilarious in the context of today.
I had made a small fortune as free lance reporter for the local paper when I covered all the pot trials in town. There were so many one summer that a special court date was set aside to deal with just that. Drugged teens and an elementary school teacher partied in the burbs; the Bewdley Eleven partied in a cottage. Friends and acquaintances and my girlfriend were called to testify. One teen witness testified that they had given up on LSD and took out a library card instead.
So come Canada Day, how many aging hippies will return to their old stomping grounds in Victoria Park to spark a spliff? Oh Canada! Our Home and Native Brand.
Not sure how this segued in a discussion about marijuana, but I’ll contribute…
I wish they had picked a better date than July 1st. How about April 20th, or if they wouldn’t be ready, April 20th, 2019? We set aside July 1st to celebrate the anniversary of our nation. Why cheapen that with having the date coincide with the legalization of pot? Would anybody pick Christmas? Thanksgiving? I think there are probably around 360 days that would be a better choice than July 1st. Who’s dumb idea was that?
Someone had a sense of humour and irony. Frenchy sez, “We set aside July 1st to celebrate the anniversary of our nation” and that will be done by contributing millions of dollars to Canadian entrepreneurs to grow the Canadian economy. Get yer red and white rolling papers dipped in maple syrup or poutine. Or one could groove on dubious doobie doo. Our Home and Native Bland.
That’s groovy Wally, buy you’ve got to fast forward to 2017 with the rest of us.
Canada Day is like a country wide party so it makes sense to me. You can’t compare it to religious based holidays. Ultimately you can do as you please come Canada Day. Live and let live.
The lighthouse was a safe place for a petite puff. Narcs from the Peterborough detachment used to spend evenings on the second floor of the Federal Bldg overlooking the park. Now the authorities can watch via remote video. Finally, the lifting of that oppression, Canada Day is a sort of liberation from the prohibitionist era. Canada Day seems quite appropoetic justice.
What do you mean “the rest of us”? Since when did you appoint yourself to represent everyone except me? My experience spans 1947 to the present. Obviously your experience of Victoria Park is shallow. Learn some history from the locals Frenchy.
Wally, when I clicked on your link, I noticed a heavy use of pseudonyms over on the right hand side under your profile. What’s up with that?
When you were over there did you also note that Canada’s most astute literary journals have published me?
Well, I don’t know if they are Canada’s most astute literary journals, but congrats for getting published anywhere.
Couldn’t find Impulse, Waves, or West Coast Review with basic Google searches.
While I could find Prism, the Fiddlehead, Open Letter, Rampike Magazine, Other Voices and Carousel (a blog), I couldn’t find your work using Wally, Keeler or your pseudonym 422-902-510 anywhere on those sites. (I could be wrong, but given your approximate age, that number and the numbering pattern, it doesn’t take too much of an imagination to guess that you might have mistakenly publicized your SIN to the world.)
Descant seems to have folded a couple of years ago, looks like Misunderstandings went out of biz in 2011, so I couldn’t do a search for you there.
Still has me curious though, why you rail against pseudonyms yet appear to have used at least 2 different pseudonyms in at least 10 different places. What’s up with that?
Of course you wouldn’t know whether they are Canada’s ‘most astute’ because you are largely ignorant of Canada’s contemporary literary scene. Carousel is NOT a blog. Your basic Google search abilities are inadequate. Carousel is here: http://carouselmagazine.ca/about/ Sheeesh. Anyway, I’m not here to serve your curiosities. I only intended to respond to Walter’s pot reference. This has developed into a useless tangent. Listen, if you are genuinely curious about those things you want to know, I’d be open to meet you for a coffee downtown and explain it all. 10/4
You do a lot of railing against pseudonyms (and those who use them) right here on this blog, so I (and perhaps others) would rather hear the explanation for your use of your unimaginative dime-a-dozen pseudonym here. I’m sure it’s a beauty.
I’m curious. What is the approximate circulation of “Canada’s most astute literary journals”?
So does no fundraising in town lots means no $10 charge to park when attending an event? That alone keeps me a 23 yr resident from going to events in the park or downtown. It also makes it hard to do business downtown during events. ie bank or post office runs