Shelburne’s Polar Plunge the 5th top fundraiser in Ontario

May 2, 2019 · 0 Comments

Written By PETER RICHARDSON

Shelburne police officer Jeff McLean reported that this years Polar Plunge had raised $35,000, thus placing Shelburne in 5th place in the Province for monies raised.

The four municipalities ahead of us, were all larger municipalities such as Kingston, Windsor and Toronto, some of which barely raised more than Shelburne. Jeff noted that next up will be the Torch Run itself, slated for Fiddle Park, in June. Another aside, was that the World Youth Games will be held in Toronto, May 14 to 17 and a team from Shelburne will be competing.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Monday’s meeting saw Council proclaim May as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, following a letter from OPP Constable Lori Mournahan, requesting Council’s recognition.

Currently, one in three women and one in six men experience sexual assault in their lifetime. The majority, are under the age of 25 and know their assailant, but do not report it to police.

County Sign presentation

Council next heard from Darrell Keenie and Karisa Downey, from Dufferin County, who outlined the newly designed Dufferin County signage. With a distinctive shape and a backlit logo, the new signs include everything from Gateway signs to County Directional Signs, Advertising signs, both with and without accompanying logos, Trail Blazer signs and Urban directional signage.

It was the County’s hope, that all municipalities would adopt and use these new signs, in conjunction with their own needs for signage. One offer proffered by the representatives was that the County was prepared to pay for and install the Gateway signs, thus allowing the municipalities to use any monies they may have budgeted for these, to be used elsewhere in the community.

It was noted by Mayor Wade Mills, that Shelburne had entered into an agreement with Headwaters Tourism to install new gateway signs. The County representatives pointed out that they too were partnered with the Tourism people and could work amicably with them to adapt the program to include Dufferin County signage as well.

CAO Denyse Morrissey requested that the County provide the Town with a written presentation, which could be evaluated more readily. It was agreed that this would be done.

Soccer club investment

Next up, Dan Sample made a presentation from the local soccer club, asking a reallocation of funds previously set aside for a tennis court, back to the soccer club to facilitate the purchase and installation of barrier netting to prevent soccer balls from landing in the sewage treatment plant beside Greenwood Park.

These nets, are removable and can be stored out of the elements in the off season. Dan also requested help in purchasing a second C-can storage unit for the soccer club.

Council approved a motion to ask staff to investigate where the money could come from and report back by May 27. The estimated cost of theses nets is $2,750, while that of the C-can is $5,000, for a total of $7,750, which the soccer club is willing to pay half of. In addition to this, would be the cost of installation for both.

Council Inquiries

Councillor Shane Hall reported on his recent invitation to attend an automotive industry meeting, in Ottawa, and his meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Abe of Japan.

As a delegate from KTH, Shane was honoured to be included in the meetings and noted that a major initiative with Japan would be forthcoming. He said it will deepen the commercial import/export commitments as well as that of military vehicles.

Councillor Walter Benotto reported that the Provincial government’s recent program cancellations would mean the loss of $995 to the Nottawasaga Conservation Authority tree planting programs. The 50 Million Trees Program has been officially cancelled by the PC Government, who labelled it a “frivolous waste of taxpayers money.” He also noted that as the flood control budget had been cut in half, municipalities will be expected topic up the slack here as well.

Mayor Mills took the opportunity to thank Councillor Lindsay Wegener, for her work in arranging the town Easter Egg Hunt. Without her valiant efforts, this event would have been cancelled, instead of being the huge success that it was.

Proposed commercial development

Town Planner Steve Wever presented a report to Council on a proposed commercial development to go in at the corner of Hwy.#10 and Col. Phillips Drive.

The project will be anchored by a second Tim Horton’s and will have a total of three buildings, the Tim’s, a longer strip mall type multi tenant building and a third structure that will hopefully house a Pharmacy and a doctor’s office.

The development will involve major renovations to the intersection, providing turning lanes in both directions on Hwy. 10, traffic signals, and road widening to facilitate the turning lanes. The MTO has said that once approval has been granted for the preliminary design, a conditional permit may be issued for the site works to commence.

This development will be a welcome addition to the existing Summerhill subdivision and a welcome commercial addition to the Town. The developers have said that they have a timeline of nine to twelve months for completion of the project.

Motions and Bylaws

Council moved on to the Consideration of Motions and Bylaws section of the agenda where the issue of the reallocation of the soccer barrier net funds was again discussed.

A motion by Councillors Wegener and Kyle Fegen to reallocate the $10,000 was set aside by the two councillors and on the advice of the CAO, Council decided to purchase and maintain the nets outright, while leaving the matter of the C-can entirely in the hands of the soccer club.

Ms. Morrissey pointed out that ownership and care of the nets was best handled by the Town and Councillor Benotto stated that the C-can was an internal issue for the club to fund and that, as the club would not be paying for the nets, they would have the necessary funds to do so. The Town would also install the nets.

Town flagpole

Council voted to allocate funds for a third flagpole for the Town but in the 2020 budget, not the current one.

This pole would be used to fly the flags of third party organizations, as requested of Council and at other times could fly the Provincial flag, or a County flag.

Other business

In other business, Council agreed to once again support the eighth grade graduation ceremonies at Hyland Heights School, by purchasing the graduation awards for Art and for Science and to present these awards at the graduation ceremony.

Council also voted to re-issue a temporary business licence to Dan Sample for driveway re-sealing.