March 3, 2020: Mayor's Report

February 18th

This was our regular Council Meeting and I'm pleased to say that we passed the 2020 Budget. Thank you to the Marmora and Lake residents for your input and thank you to staff and Council for working cooperatively and meeting our budget schedule.

February 20th

I attended the regular meeting of the Crowe Valley Conservation Authority. The CVCA budget was passed.

February 21st

Deputy Mayor Stevens, Tonia Bennett and I conducted interviews for the Treasurer's position.

February 26th and 27th

We had a major snow and storm event that resulted in numerous cancellations and early closures. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I would like to thank our Transportation Department staff for a job well done. I know the sidewalk plow was down and we borrowed Stirling's plow. I understand they had a similar situation last year and borrowed ours so there was no cost. This is a really good example of shared services and working together in the community.

February 29th

Councillor Donaldson and I attended a book signing event at the Community Centre. The book is called Ice and Thunder and is a history of the Trent Valley Hockey League. One of the two authors, Stewart Richardson, was present and presented a slide show of the key topics in the book. Stewart reminisced about Marmora winning the most championships in the history of the League. The league also had about ten players progress to the NHL and two are in the Peterborough Hockey Hall of Fame.

Marmora was one of the first to have an enclosed arena initiated by Bill Shannon recognizing the fan's love of hockey and to attract teams to play in Marmora.

The books will be available in the Marmora Library for sale shortly.

Curtis Trimble and his staff did an excellent job of putting together a "hot stove lounge" event with memorabilia and pictures of hockey even ts from the early 1900's to present and snacks to share while reminiscing. I was pleased that a number of administrative staff were present and assisted with various jobs.

Curtis organized a hockey game following a red carpet introduction. Joe Maloney dropped the puck to start the game. The teams were the Madoc Hurricanes and the Marmora Older Boys. At the first intermission, the 7 year old Grizzlies played and I have to say it was just as exciting as the adult teams.

Curtis did an excellent job of putting together a program that celebrated the sport of hockey in Marmora. Thank you to Curtis and his staff, to Stewart Richardson and Dave Barry the authors of Ice and Thunder, to the two teams, the referees, time clock operator, music provider, staff volunteers and Murray's rugs for the red carpet. A special thank you to all volunteers and the fans who attended.

A $100. 00 donation was received from Annabella Stoyke, Direct Realty and $200.00 from the TVL League. This covered the cost of the food. Thank you very much.

It was recommended that this type of event should be considered for the bicentennial. Curtis advised me that they plan to meet in September to arrange for a week long play down to a final game on the Saturday night with a small banquet later. It sounds like a great plan.

March 1st

Councillor Donaldson and I attended a Women in Wellness Expo "Soul Sisters Tea" event sponsored by Janice Chrysler and a group of ladies from the community in recognition and support of International Women's Day which is March 8th.

The event was held at the Community Centre. The hall was nicely decorated using the colour purple which is the theme colour of International Women’s Day. The Girl Guides served tea and food to the tables and gluten free food prepared by Marilyn Leaver. There were a variety of food tastefully presented, numerous prizes, draws and a guest speaker. Photo opportunities were offered by Doug Prindle. Again, this was a well coordinated and enjoyable community event.

The "Soul Sisters" are celebrating the week of March 1st to 8th and many events are planned daily throughout the week. On March 7th there is an event in the Community Centre which will focus on products and services to promote health and wellness. There will be door prizes. Please plan to attend and support the business women of our community who are advocating for the health and well-being of all women.

March 2nd

I attended Hastings County Council. The County budget was approved. There is a Council News Release available on line.

Jim Pine, C.A.O. and special advisor to the Minister of Health, announced that the consultation process for modernization of the health care system has been resumed. The meetings were postponed due to the repatriation activity at CFB Trenton. Mayor Albert, Chair of the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health and I will be attending the consultation opportunity for this area on March 19th in Frontenac County. I encourage you to contact me if you have any specific input you wish to convey or you can go on-line and submit your comments.

Thank you.