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Report of the Committee of the Whole and Council Agenda

 Jan. 17 2012

 This report is based on the best recollection of the author and is compiled without prejudice to reflect the substance of the discussion at the council meeting. 

The Mayor was absent from the meeting and as a result the Mayor’s report including the councillors’ reports will be delayed until the Feb. 7 council meeting. 

There were two deputations.  Marg McLaughlin presented an update on the Winter Carnival. She showed the website for the Carnival and asked for support in promoting the carnival as well as a fee waiver for the use of town facilities during the Carnival celebration.  Grace Urbanski from the BIA made the second deputation.  Her request was a $ 5000 contribution for a start-up fund to assist with 125 anniversary celebrations for the Town. 

Community Services Committee (Rosemary King)

There were 2 items.  The fee waiver request for the carnival produced a great deal of discussion.  There was unanimous support for the proposal, but council asked about the process by which fee deferrals are accounted for in the budget. Bratty questioned the clerical charge back process, Lorenz wanted to know what the line item looked like in the budget and was it over or under budget.  The clerk said the item was over by 50% last year. Jorgenson stated he felt there should be a 0 entry when town sponsored events use facilities. Donoghue supported this, as did Colhoun.  Watson stated that even though he knew that it was volunteers that made this event happen, he wanted an accounting of staff time to support this event so that it could be reflected in the budget of various departments. Bratty supported this.  Cairns challenged her female councillors to compete in the arm wrestling and King rejected that challenge but added a challenge to  compete in the rowing event.  That prompted Watson to announce that there would be rowing on Gull Lake this summer.

The second item was the minutes of the Gravenhurst Centennial Centre Expansion.  Lorenz asked when the pool would be open. Debra Broderick stated the pool was curing and barring any problem with that process; the filling of the pool was slated to take place on Jan.21 

Public Works Committee (Sandi Cairns)

 There were 2 items.  The support for a private members bill requesting a metre of pavement be added to the side of some provincial highways to improve the safety of cyclists was passed unanimously. The next item concerned the designation of handicap spaces at the public parking lots for the seniors Centre, the Centennial Centre and Children’s Place., and the designation of Church St. as a fire route. The fire route was passed quickly.  The discussion on the parking designation revealed many concerns about parking and the adequacy of spaces.  There was also discussion of people coming in on one-way streets and driving on the sidewalks.  Rather than defer the decision to gather more information, council decided to post the signs, based on architectural drawings and the regulations regarding handicapped parking.  The situation will be monitored to determine usage.  There is no time limit in these lots, with the exception of the 3:00 am to 5:00am year round regulation. 

Development Services (Bob Colhoun)

There were 3 items.  One was the closure of a shore road allowance on Riley Lake.  Staff recommended approval.  Carried. The second involved the extension of draft approval for MoonLight Bay condominiums on Gull Lake.  Extension was approved as the draft plan met the conditions of our zoning by-laws and the official plan. The third item will send a zoning amendment application to The OMB. Stuart and Cruickshank will represent the Town in this appeal. 

Economic Development (Lola Bratty)

There were 2 items.  The first was a request to support an application to be part of the consortium of municipalities in putting the bid forward and hosting some of the 22 events in Gravenhurst. Lorenz wanted to be sure all municipalities were on board. Cairns expressed the belief this is very good for the Town based on past experience.  Carried. The next item concerned the 125^th anniversary of the Town.  Council voted to defer the $5000 request from the BIA, until the budget requests come in.  Staff was directed to build 125 anniversary celebrations into their budgets.  There is support in principle, but there is concern about not overlapping other events planned (eg the plans for the Segwun 125 anniversary).  There will be a committee meeting at the Town Offices on Jan.25 at 9:00am to begin the planning process. All groups are welcome to send a representative to begin the planning process. 

Corporate Services (Jeff Watson)

There were 2 items.  The first item concerned an information item from the Treasurer outlining a number of ways the million-dollar bequest from Terence Haight could be invested. Council requested this item be deferred until the Mayor was at the table. Donoghue stated this decision could not be made without public input. Colhoun and Cairns wanted some technical questions answered and wanted a deferral until the Treasure was there. Bratty wanted to know what interest had been earned on the money to date and a comparison of what has been achieved in the various investment options.  The request for information should come to the next appropriate council meeting

In the council portion of the meeting a number of by-laws were approved. There were 9 approved in very short order.  Of particular note was the ratification of a collective agreement with the Inside and Clerical workers.  According to the CAO this agreement will have a 45 to 50 thousand-dollar impact on the 2012 budget.  This is the result of a 2% increase for the staff in this bargaining unit.  The by-law approval also confirmed the appointment of Frank Miele as the new CAO and authorized the Mayor and Clerk to enter into an employment agreement with the CAO