REPORT ON COUNCIL
May 25, 2009
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:01 a.m. – 1:22 p.m. and 1:43 p.m. – 4.33 p.m.
Regular Evening Meeting: 7:04 p.m. – 7:33 p.m.
Mayor Breckenridge, Deputy Mayor Lawrence and Councillors Claire, Cornell, and Warren present
CONFIDENTIAL / CLOSED SESSION: None.
OXFAM CANADA TRAIL WALK RE-ROUTED TO ALLENWOOD: Consultants working for Oxfam are planning a 100 km walk. They wanted to have it end at Tiny Beaches Road South and Archer Rd. Council explained that this area was not suitable as a destination for this fundraiser in terms of size and parking. The consultants were also looking at Wasaga Provincial Park at Allenwood and all agreed that was a better site.
PROPOSAL FROM CENTRAL ONTARIO ATV CLUB: This club made a presentation hoping to get approval to use parts of the Tiny Trail system and some concession roads to connect their current trails in County Forests in Tiny and Springwater. Members of Council did not appear comfortable with this proposal and it was referred to the Recreation Committee for more study.
REPORT RE THE SEVERN SOUND SUSTAINABILITY PLAN: Developed by representatives of the nine municipalities of the Severn Sound Watershed, members of the public, and many community organizations, the report was endorsed by Council. The complete document is available on the Township’s website under Council / Agenda / Committee of the Whole / May 25.
An Interim Sustainability Plan Steering Committee (ISPSC) will be established for one year beginning April 2009 to begin to implement the Plan. Partner organizations will be encouraged to help.
BY-LAW ENFORCEMENT CRITICIZED: This subject came up several times during the meeting and Council members displayed frustration that enforcement does not seem to be particularly effective. One example was the Animal Control report that said there were 336 complaints and investigations to the end of April but only 4 fines in the same period. Other comments related to drinking on the beach and uncontrolled fires.
MINISTRY OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS TOUR OF THE 8TH AND LAFONTAINE PARK: At Council’s request, officials from the MFO toured the 8th Concession Beach Road Allowance and Lafontaine Beach Park at the 16th to discuss what steps could be taken to improve them while conforming to MFO regulations. Further consideration is to be given to moving some rocks to improve access into the water at the Lafontaine Park. The problems presented by the ever-changing drainage channels at the 8th were discussed, but no conclusions were drawn.
DECLINE IN VALUE OF BUILDING PERMIT ACTIVITY: Year to date totals decreased from $5,119,000 in 2008 to $4,583,000 this year and April figures fell from $2,229,000 to $1,738,000.
