A changing of the guard

Hello everyone.

A reminder that Election Day for the Town of Shelburne is October 22/2018.  Advance voting will start on October 9th at 10:00 a.m., and will continue right up until election day.  A big change this time around is the method of voting.  We will vote online or by telephone (cell or land line).  In early October, you will receive a voter information letter in the mail, which will provide you with a unique PIN, to be used as your identifier when you vote.  There will be a voter help centre located at the town hall, or by calling 519-925-2600, extension 223.  It will operate Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 4:30 during the voting period.

As you may know, we will have a new Mayor, by acclamation, in the person of Mr. Wade Mills.

I have spoken, through email, to several of the candidates for Council. 

They have brought forth some issues which will be familiar to many of you, some of which are:

• Increased financial pressure on our town in dealing with the needs of a rapidly growing population.  Infrastructure- including roads, sewer, water, education- needs to keep pace for now, and be adequate for growth projections.

• The desire of many to keep our Emergency Services locally run, balanced against possible cost savings to be had by contracting it out (e.g.  O.P.P. vs. Shelburne Police, still in the costing stage)

• The encouragement of industry to locate within Shelburne, bolstering our local employment prospects.

• The increasing need for locally available health care services such as X-Ray and Ultrasound.

• The need for public transit, connecting with Orangeville via GO bus, for those who must work out of the community.

• The preservation of Fiddle Park for the long term, to house town events and act as recreation/parkland/cultural/entertainment area.

• The enablement of headline entertainers to come to Shelburne, which could help to promote tourism.

• The preservation of the historical aspects of the downtown area, and improvements to same.

With the defeat of the Fiddle Park sale, that looked-for revenue must come from other sources, and property taxes will almost certainly be one of them.  It's a conundrum in the sense that officials are often wary of unpopular moves such as hefty tax increases.  Some say the growth of the town itself will add the needed revenue, but I think that's putting the cart before the horse.  Present developments, both in progress and on the books, will need expensive infrastructure to proceed, and yes, a good portion of that will be paid by the developers themselves.  There are still, however, significant costs to be borne by the town.

On the lighter side, it's cheery news that we will be seeing an improvement to the intersection of highways 10/89/124 in the form of advanced green lights.  Long hoped for and overdue.  Although I can't see how it will improve traffic flow into town.  The backup of westbound traffic from 124 across Main Street to Owen Sound Street seems to be worsening every week.  A revival of the by-pass discussions, anyone?