Time for surveys and pilots
Municipality seeks views on bridges, books, and meetings
On its Facebook page the municipality posted a flyer this week telling drivers to move over and get out of the way when they see the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle.
On the surface, this appears like a regular reminder to follow the law and make life a bit easier for emergency responders.
But in fact, in this case the reminder has a personal touch. Fire Chief Shawn Jamieson was recently in a collision in his department pickup while he was responding to a fire call. Luckily, he wasn’t seriously injured but his truck was totalled. Hence, the Facebook warning.
So, as it says: Move Over, Save Lives (and trucks).
Summer survey season
The municipality is going survey crazy this summer. It recently wrapped up an online survey seeking comments about the parks and recreation department plan that is being developed. I wrote about that a while back.
Now, it has a survey on the possibility of removing the Balaclava Street bridge, which was recently closed to all traffic, including pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge has been closed to vehicles for 25 years but is now in such decay that even pedestrians are at risk.
The questionnaire asks whether you’d like to see the bridge replaced with a pedestrian-only bridge, replaced with a bridge that could carry vehicles, or simply removed.
And Trent Hills Public Library has also caught the survey bug. It is asking residents to help it update its strategic plan for 2026 to 2029.
It doesn’t ask simple questions such as what books would you like to see, but it asks:
If the library was filled with things to meet the goal of making your life better, what would those things be?
If the library could offer services, programs or events that were of specific interest to you and your family, what would they be?
What words come to mind when you think of the library?
Council to test fewer, longer meetings
At its meeting on July 8, council approved a pilot project that will reduce the number of council meetings this fall. Instead of the usual two meetings a month it will hold just one in September, October, and November on the fourth Tuesday of each month.
“The objective is to determine whether concentrating business into fewer, slightly longer meetings improves efficiency for members of council and staff while maintaining service levels, particularly for Planning Act matters,” says a report by Karen Frigault, Director of Corporate Services/Clerk.
Frigault said a report on the test will come to council on Dec. 9 so it can set a schedule for 2026.
She said last year most council meetings were less than 90 minutes and so far in 2025 the average has been about 75 minutes.
“This indicates that council has considerable capacity to absorb a combined monthly agenda without exceeding the generally accepted three-to-four-hour window for effective deliberation.”
Frigault checked with 14 similar-sized municipalities and found that 10 of them only meet once as month, as Trent Hills does in the summer.
“Senior management has noted that the fourth-Tuesday meeting dovetails more smoothly with statutory planning timelines,” her report says. “Circulation deadlines, notice periods, and the scheduling of public meetings align better when the council meeting date falls later in the month, thereby reducing deferrals and enabling faster processing of applications.’
In case you’re wondering, the move won’t cut councillors’ pay. They don’t get paid per council meeting.
As someone who has been watching council meetings for the past 18 months, I know there have been times when it seems a councillor may not have read the entire 100-300 page agenda. Or at least not read it clearly enough to comprehend everything. If that turns into 500-page agendas staff may have to get them prepared further in advance for those of us who are slow readers.
Display bylaw delayed
A report to council recommended that the municipality proceed with a bylaw that would force retailers who put merchandise on the sidewalk to pay a $50 annual fee and have $5 million in liability insurance.
But the report was deferred to be reworked after Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalf had issues with some of the wording and Councillor Rick English said he couldn’t support a $50 annual fee.
The report had recommended the bylaw establish the fee but not charge in until January 2027 to give retailers a chance to get accustomed to the idea. The insurance requirement would also be delayed.
Planning Director Jim Peters said a check with local retailers found many only have $2 million in insurance and it would cost $100-300 a year more to increase to the $5 million level.
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