Mayor’s Report for December 20th, 2022
December 6th
I presided over the regular Planning Meeting and Council Meeting. This was the first official Council Meeting of the new term.
December 7th
I presided over the regular Crowe Valley Conservation Authority Meeting. The meeting was postponed from November 17th when there were three appeal hearings.
The CVCA Budget for 2023 was presented but deferred to the next meeting.
At 4:00 p.m. I attended the Miner’s Restaurant and cut the ribbon to officially open the restaurant. The owners have done a great job on the renovations and display a number of mining memorabilia. They provided food samples which were delicious. On behalf of myself and Council I provided a business certificate and extended a welcome and appreciation for choosing Marmora to open their restaurant business. We welcome you and wish you every success in your new business.
December 8th
I participated in a telephone meeting with John Wright, Northland Power in preparation for the open house on December 15th.
December 9th
I attended the Crowe Valley Conservation offices to sign cheques and a letter in response to North Kawartha’s letter.
December 10th
I attended the Marmora Inn on the occasion of their open house. Thank you to Yakin and his staff for providing food samples and tour of the Inn. Welcome to Yakin for choosing to invest and provide much needed accommodations in Marmora. We welcome you and wish you every success.
December 12th
I had a telephone meeting with a resident.
December 14th
I attended the office to sign cheques and meet with the Treasurer in preparation for today’s budget presentation.
December 15th
I attended the public information open house hosted by Northland Power and OPG. In spite of the significant weather event, there was an amazing turnout. Northland Power and OPG have provided a message, as follows:
Northland and OPG would like to thank all members of Council who attended the information session.
We were very pleased with the level of attendance at the Marmora Electric Pumped Storage Project – Community Information Session on Thursday. We offer our thanks to everyone who participated and we appreciate the level of interest.
We had some great discussions and received many questions that will be addressed as part of the Environmental Assessment Process. Thursday’s information session was the first of many as the project advances (subject to approvals).
In the meantime, people can continue to ask questions and provide comments via the website at www.marmorapumpedstorage.com.
Thank you to all who attended and provided input and comments. Your participation is extremely important and I encourage everyone to keep informed on the development of the project. John Wright stated that this is not a “one and done” information session. There will be more information sessions and there is always the opportunity to contact them through the web site.
December 18th
I attended a reception on the invitation of Shelby Kramp Neiman, MP Hastings Lennox and Addington in Napanee.
December 20th
today at 2:00, I presided over the special Meeting of Council to introduce the 2023 Budget Direction Report. Staff did a great job in preparing the report and providing previous year’s background information and presenting projects and recommendations established through the strategic plan, asset management study, facilities study, etc. Council can now start the hard work of passing the 2023 Budget. The budget document is probably the most important decision made on an annual basis. We must be diligent in maintaining our levels of service and most importantly protecting the health and safety of our residents, staff and visitors. We have an obligation to ensure that the investment in our assets is sustainable and maximizes the life span of our equipment, the infrastructure, and minimizes risk and exposure to liability.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff for their dedicated work over the past year. It has been an extremely difficult year – the pandemic and transition to recovery from Covid, two tornadoes, the municipal election and the impact of inflation on our resources. You managed to continue to provide good customer service and deal with the additional demands for service especially during and immediately following the storms and performed the cleanup operations efficiently and cost effective. Thank you.
This is the regular meeting of Council.
Since this is the last meeting of 2022, on behalf of myself and Council, I want to extend a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our residents, families and friends.