REPORT ON COUNCIL
Oct. 14, 2015
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:00 a.m. – 2:38 p.m.
Regular Meeting of Council: 1:30 p.m. – 1:48 p.m.
All members of Council Present: Mayor George Cornell, Deputy Mayor Steffan Walma (arrived at 10:15 a.m.), and Councillors Cindy Hastings, Richard Hinton and Gibb Wishart
DRAFT STRATEGIC PLAN: Council reviewed the draft Strategic Plan. To the Vision Statement that has been in force for close to a decade, they added the phrase that appears in bold, namely: An environmentally focused diverse family of communities providing an economically sustainable and healthy lifestyle. For the Mission Statement, they opted for “A committed team providing extraordinary municipal services” in preference to three wordier versions.
They also made several minor changes to the detailed exposition of five strategic goals and priorities, namely
- Deliver Efficient & Exceptional Municipal Services,
- Build Prosperity,
- Healthy Environment & Sustainable Community Planning,
- Promote Community Healthy, Safety & Well-Being, and
- A Well-Connected & Engaged Community.
The current draft of the Strategic Plan is available on the Township’s website. Search for “Strategic Plan.”
EMERGENCY SERVICES RESPONSE-TIME EXPECTED TO IMPROVE: Two things are expected to improve emergency services response time in Tiny Township, a new rapid response unit in Ramara, and an ambulance to be based in Penetangishene, since both should decrease response time elsewhere.
BILL 73 – PROPOSED SMART GROWTH FOR OUR COMMUNITIES ACT: According to the Minutes of Council, “Bill 73 is intended to give residents more say in how their communities grow, set out clearer rules for land use planning; give municipalities more independence to make local decisions and to make it easier to resolve. Through Bill 73, municipalities would need to set out in their officlal plans how and when the public would be consulted and would also need to explain how the public input affected their planning decisions.”
However, the Municipality of Clearview was concerned about “the potential impact of restrictions on the ability to amend planning documents and the two year moratorium on amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law.” Council decided to support Clearview’s resolution regarding these matters, and to advise the Minister of Municipal Affairs accordingly.
