In November 2021, a consultant reported to Council that not enough money was being spent on stormwater management.  The new asset management plan makes it clear how much should be spent so in future, we can be assured that drains, pumps and storage areas will be properly funded.  This led to a discussion as to how the money should be collected and council approved a new method: instead of the cost being included in taxes, there would be a fee in the same way that water supply and sewer management is funded.  The fee would depend on the type of property and the area it covers – this approximates to the actual cost for each property although there is one… Read complete articleTown to Now Start Billing Stormwater Fee

Cobourg Council have been discussing the provision of chargers for electric vehicles at least since 2021 and once again it was on the Agenda at Monday’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting.  Randy Curtis of the EV Society gave a presentation and said there are vendors who would be willing to install and operate charging stations in Cobourg at no cost to the Town or taxpayer.  That’s because revenue and grants would pay for their costs.  There are details to be worked out – exactly how many (16?) and where, and which company to work with – Randy suggested an Ad Hoc Committee be formed to decide these in time for this year’s budget deliberations.  Cost consideration would be potential… Read complete articleEV Charging stations on Municipal Parking Lots

The Integrated Community Sustainability Plan was something Council decided was needed once they declared a “Climate Emergency” – which they did in December 2019. Canada’s contribution to global warming is said to be ~2% and based on population, that makes Cobourg’s contribution .001%.  However, local environmentalists are keen for Cobourg to do its part and by showing leadership maybe the rest of the world will follow.  So in early 2022, work started on creating the ICSP and it was given final approval by Council at their regular meeting on July 3, 2023.  So what exactly is it?  It’s a top-level plan that is intended to guide and direct actions by staff on what to do to make life in Cobourg sustainable… Read complete articleICSP Approved

On 12 October 2021, Council approved the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee to look at how the Town could transition to zero emission vehicles.  It would be a sub-committee of the Transportation Advisory Committee. It took until 16 May 2022 for the terms of reference to be approved and then the committee presented their report to Council on 3 October 2022. Chair Randy Curtis presented a summary of the 50 page report including recommendations.  The committee looked at hybrids, hydrogen powered and battery electric vehicles (BEV) and decided on BEVs. The committee’s decision was based on cost and lifetime greenhouse gas emissions. The report also addresses many of the concerns about BEVs such as recycling batteries, resource limitations and impact on the… Read complete articleTransition to All Electric Vehicles

When the two high Schools in Cobourg amalgamated, the land for a playing field in the West End of Town was no longer being used. (See below for more detail on location). It was therefore likely that the School Board would eventually sell the land but there is a process that they must follow that means that 15 or more entities – including the Town of Cobourg – must be notified first. They did that in 2021 (see the Timeline below) although prior to that they formalized the right-of-way provided for the Boardwalk. Negotiations between the Town (Council) and School board were held in closed session to ensure confidential negotiations.  On September 20, 2022, the School board accepted the Town’s… Read complete articleTown has Purchased Surplus School Land

Cobourg Staff have recommended that the cost of stormwater management be handled differently.  At the same time, they have been developing an asset management plan that determined how much money will be required in future to provide good stormwater management.   At the CoW meeting on June 20, Council was asked to approve the change.  They were told that significant additional money would be required and that if there were no changes, the average taxpayer would pay $150 per year instead of the $37 currently budgeted (buried in their tax bill).  If the proposed stormwater fee were to be implemented, residential taxpayers would instead pay $75 – no longer in their tax bill but instead in a new bill – similar… Read complete articleCouncil Approves New Stormwater Fee

In September 2021, Council asked staff to investigate the idea of limiting idling for vehicles in the Town and at the CoW meeting on June 20, staff will present such a draft bylaw for approval.  Staff also suggest an initial education campaign.  The case for an anti-idling by-law is to reduce Green House gasses and improve air quality.  There are many exceptions such as hot or cold weather (details below), Transit, police and more and enforcement would be difficult.  As staff point out, the enforcement officer would have to watch a vehicle and time the duration of idling – although it’s suggested that the maximum idling permitted be only 2 minutes (and not 3 or 5 minutes as in other… Read complete articleProposal for Anti-Idling By-Law