Parry Sounds ~ Ideas and Opinions, In and Around Parry Sound

Posted below is my take on the council meeting Tuesday night. More detailed coverage can be found at the North Star, Moose-FM and the official Town of Parry Sound council minutes that should be out today or Friday.

Meeting Highlights:

4.2, 9.6.2, 9.6.3, 9.6.4 – what was listed on the agenda as a letter from the RoseWater Management Group requesting Seguin Township consider a boundary adjustment to allow their property in Seguin become part of the Town of Parry Sound became a multiparty request for the same. It appears there are now three separate parties interested in being annexed to Parry Sound in addition to the Georgian Greens request of the previous council meeting. Council expressed interest in the request but defined some of the conditions that would be required for the discussion to proceed. Stay tuned, this issue will be warming up over the weeks and months to come. Council does not seem to be too interested in generating the same kind of drama as there was earlier this year with the property owner vote. Here’s a mockup of where I ‘guesstimate’ two of the properties are located.

9.1.1 – the town approved moving forward with preconstruction work on the much needed improvements to water and waste water services for Wakefield and Dufferin Streets after gaining assurances that the lower priced bid was from a quality engineering firm.

9.3.1 – the taxi issue was pushed back to the October 2nd council meeting.

10.3.1 – council approved the rezoning of a portion of Williams Street Park to permit the sale and development on three residential lots. There was discussion of the loss of park space and the future impact it might have. In the end council made a tough, split decision to go forward with the rezoning and likely sale of the properties. There was a suggestion that the town could capture on the order of $200,000 for the three lots combined.

10.5.1 – Mr. Chips will be operating the BOCC Canteen for the next two years.

It was a shorty meeting that ended at 8:30. I’m not sure if some members of council had other plans for the evening but they too quickly dismissed item 9.4.1 – Delegation of Authority By-Law. This by-law, which was not perfect by any means, addressed certain by-law approvals including road closures and such, that would be left to town staff to deal with, rather than making it a matter for council approval. I’m not sure whether council likes taking the time to review and approve such trivial matters, or perhaps they think these issues makes them look decisive. In my opinion it makes them look as though they are more interested in spending their limited council time avoiding the tough issues by taking time for these trivial issues.

To the credit of the mayor he did ask council if they wanted to go through and review the sixteen items and see which ones were appropriate for consideration and approval. But council dismissed the suggestion unanimously and the item was shelved without any discussion. That’s a real shame and I wonder why. Was “The Voice” starting at 9:00, does council really feel their time is best spent approving ‘busking in the downtown’, or do they not trust staff to make good decisions on behalf of council and the town residents? I think council owes town staff an apology for the too curt dismissal of the issue. If you ask staff for creative ideas on process improvements you don’t shoot them down without some review.

Bridge Art – Twist