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

A longer meeting that seemed to drag at points but the various issues were properly reviewed in my opinion. Notes are below.

Candidates for Parry Sound Council office attending last night’s meeting included all of the currently elected Councillors and Mayor along with hopefuls Ted Knight, Doug McCann and Mark Aman.

Key decisions and points of interest.

4.4 – Correspondence. Resignation from Waterfront Committee. ACCEPTED.

5.1 – Deputation. Cascade generation station. As was suspected the final concept designs for the new power station were presented. My opinion is that the two concepts, the same except for colour, are attractive and will reflect positively on the community. I hope the Town will post the artist renderings on the Town’s website for all to see. The existing facility will be decommissioned starting later this year.

5.2 – Deputation. All Ontario Native Fastball Tournament – Kinsmen Park. In the end this turned out to be a non-issue. Once again it seems that it’s a matter of expectations. The organizers of the event, who were aware of the terms of the rental, were happy with the services that were provided. Certain volunteers were not, but perhaps they thought the Town should have done more. It all depends on the nature of the agreement and the price. This issue is being closed but I imagine the Economic Development and Public Works departments will pay even closer attention to managing expectations in the future.

8.4 – Resolution. Provincial Land Tax Reform. CARRIED.

9.1.1 – Resolution. James Street and Mary Street Intersection. CARRIED. A recommendation that James and Mary Streets be converted to a 4-way stop. One point of interest was the remark that the Province is moving away from crosswalks in favour of more meaningful traffic management systems. Remember when you were supposed to put you arm out in a crosswalk and the traffic was required to stop to let you cross? Yeah – that didn’t work to well for quite a few people. Stop means stop, and so does red, it’s not optional.

9.1.3 – Resolution. Public Transit System. CARRIED. Town Council discussed the issue and also agreed to continue the current service until the new plan can be implemented, likely June 2015 at the earliest. The new service will provide for 5-day per week service and for longer hours. I imagine the North Star will provide a more detailed overview of the new arrangements.

9.2.1 – Resolution. Request for Proposals (RFP): Trails Master Plan. CARRIED.

9.2.2, 9.2.3, 9.2.4 – Resolutions. CARRIED. A series of Stockey Centre facility upgrades amounting to about $56,000.

9.6.2 – Direction. Fluoride in Municipal Drinking Water Systems. CARRIED. Staff was requested to prepare a report and recommendation on this issue. My sense is let’s take it out, not because it’s dangerous, because it probably no longer really matters in terms of dental health as people have the option to use fluoride supplemented toothpastes and mouthwashes. Terminating the addition of fluoride will save money for the Town. It may well be that we already have a higher than recommended level of fluoride in our water without fluoridation which is common in areas with granite and gneiss geology. (See page 17 of this linked report.)

9.6.1 – Discussion. Digital Petitions. Resolution, CARRIED. The Town will now accept paper and electronic petitions. I’m not sure what this means or how it will be accomplished. Does it mean you do a paper petition and then scan and submit it? Do you do a Mail Chimp survey and submit the results? How about a Facebook questionnaire? But the hour was getting late and there seemed little interest in further discussion.

9.6.3 – Discussion. Feral Cats. Direction. Council requested Staff to return with an update on the situation and a recommendation. There seemed to be a change in Council attitude and they are perhaps ready to consider and approve more ‘permanent’ solutions.

There was more, check the Town’s website for the formal meeting minutes and all of the decisions.

Know the Code! Where is it? It’s not Fluoride. (Parry Sound in Black & White)