Tag Archives: Finance Committee

The Parry Sound Finance Calculator

09 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound

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The Town of Parry Sound unveiled an online budget survey a couple of weeks ago to solicit public input as to where residents and businesses would like to see their tax dollars apportioned, and where there should be more, or less, invested.

You can access the calculator through this link.

I have completed the survey and submitted my results. There have been very few responses to date and I would encourage you to take a few minutes, less than ten, to look at the site and submit your thoughts. I think there are opportunities to improve the survey methodology, but it still offers Staff and Council some sense of what people are thinking.

Once you complete and submit your survey results, you will be presented with the results to date. A survey of this sort shouldn’t be a black hole where only the insiders see the results so I’m happy that the public is getting realtime access.

Take a few minutes between innings, or at half time, to check out, and fill out, the survey.

 

 

Council Agenda Preview – September 2, 2014

01 Monday Sep 2014

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It’s time for another meeting of Council. There are a couple of things that should be of interest to the general public, and one that is a big ‘disappointment’ for me.

Let’s start with the disappointment – the new ‘rules and regulations’ for official Parry Sound committees and boards. This is an item that arose because the Integrity Commissioner’s chastised Council regarding the unilateral dismissal of the Chair of the Downtown Business Association earlier this year. If you remember the incumbent was dismissed from the position without any real discussion or opportunity for the individual to refute what ‘complaints’ underlay the dismissal. This led the Integrity Commissioner to find that the dismissal by Council was not improper because there were no rules or regulations covering committee and board volunteers. The recommendation was that these rules and regulations be developed.

Well here they are, a mash up of other municipality rules and regulations with a Parry Sound tweak. It’s interesting to note that these rules and regulations are being presented for Council approval and adoption without any community input. Typically governments offer the public the opportunity to comment on new regulations before they are finalized and approved. But apparently not in this case.

A review of the proposed rules and regulations reveal lots of words and relatively little content. The one theme that seems to pervade the document is that as a community volunteer serving on a board and committee you are privileged to be donating your time and effort. You serve at the pleasure of Council (a variation of one of my favourite expressions from the TV show, West Wing). Should you be booted off a committee you have no recourse to contest the action (as would have been valuable for the past head of the Downtown Business Association).

It sure seems like committees are expect to serve as no more than a rubberstamp for the wishes of Council. Have you ever seen a full committee report presented to Council? My experience is that Staff and Council just cherry pick what they want from any particular committee and run with it. Or not!

Why would a resident of Parry Sound ever want to be a member of any committee organized by Council? You never get the full background on situations (because they are considered confidential), you are basically gagged (according to the new guidelines) from expressing a contrary public opinion, and you are not getting compensated for your time and effort as are members of Staff and Council.

A couple of practical solutions do come to mind. The first is to set aside the proposed rules and regulations for committees and hold a public discussion/forum on the issues and see what better ideas arise. Committees are intended to provide the public with the opportunity to participate in the formulating of strategies and tactics for the better management of the town. Why not start with involving them in developing the committee rules and regulations? How many committees does the Town currently operate? Not as many as you think. For the most part they have simply disappeared because the volunteers realized that their participation was simply a sham with no real chance for implementing change.

The second solution is the formation of committees by the residents of Parry Sound that don’t involve Council and Staff. It may require a little more organization but it would not have the same range of restrictions as being proposed. And once a position or recommendations have been developed they can be delivered to Council, Staff and the public by means of a deputation. No longer are recommendations buried in committee reports that are somewhere on the Town’s website, if they even get posted. (Speaking of which, aren’t we supposed to be developing a new user friendly website of the Town? I guess that falls under the same list of priorities as the review of the public transportation system.)

Personally I prefer this second approach because it is much more likely to make something happen. The deputation, if provided in a timely manner, would be included in the Council Agenda package and available to all. Council would be obliged to respond to whatever recommendations or proposals were advanced in the deputation. They could of course refuse to accept any and all suggestions but they would be held to account for their decision.

The downside of an ex-officio committee process is that the Town wouldn’t provide any resources to the committee, primarily secretarial, and in some cases an operating budget as has been provided to the Waterfront Committee. But budget is usually not an issue for most committees; all you need is a room. And taking notes is a not so demanding activity.

Given the mass resignation of the Parry Sound Finance Committee members this seems to be an ideal area of focus for an ex-officio public committee. With the reduction in policing costs there will be more money than ever for Council and Staff to ‘play’ with. It’s worth keeping an eye on the process. Let me know if you are interested in participating (parrysounds at gmail.com). If necessary I will be a committee of one.

Let’s take a look at what else is on the agenda.

4.4, 5.3 – Letter and Deputation regarding infrastructure (sewer) issues at 33 Hillcrest Avenue. Oh boy – more sewer and storm water issues related in part to crumbling infrastructure. I can only empathize with the residents who face not only the cost, but also the challenge of dealing with these issues. I know Town Staff is actively addressing the situation but what’s to be done for those who get nailed before the upgrades/repairs are made? This is a problem that is impacting people’s ability to get home insurance. We had a similar issue from a different homeowner last month.

5.1 – Deputation regarding Council’s recent approval of a second driveway at 47 Marion Street. The individual feels they have been misled by Council and Staff with respect to the timing and process for this matter and would like to have their input properly noted prior to any final decision. Wait, Council made a final decision at the last meeting didn’t they?

5.2, 9.2.1 – Deputation and Resolution. Amendment to Site Approval Plan for Hands the Family Help Network. This was previously scheduled for the last meeting of Council and withdrawn. I sit on the Board of this not-for-profit organization helping the young and old with mental challenges so will not offer further comment.

5.4 – Deputation regarding accessible pedestrian signals at the intersection of Seguin and James Street.

9.1.1 – Resolution. Approval of a Sewers technologies Inc. quotation to flush and clean 17,000+ meters of sanitary sewer for $16,675.60. More infrastructure investment. I love the nickels and dimes of these quotes for service. “No sir/ma’am, we don’t round up or down to the next dollar”.

9.1.2 – Resolution. Council prioritize William Street from Mill Lake Road to Annie Street for potential Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund support. More potential infrastructure investment. I’m glad to see it is being addressed. Late is still better than later. Other communities are much ‘deeper in the hole’ with respect to their infrastructure needs. This is a case of when you find yourself in a ‘hole’ you should start digging.

9.5.1 – Resolution. A 2015 budget preparation schedule. It starts September 30th, with public input permitted. Thereafter it is not obvious that the public will be able to review the draft budgets. I’ll ask for clarification on what information will be made available to the public and when.

10.1.1 – By-law. Updates and revisions to the Town’s Cemetery By-Laws. I didn’t study this to any extent but among other things it seems Staff is being challenged by classifying who is and isn’t a Parry Sound resident for the purposes of determining internment fees. Arghh!

10.4.1 – By-law, Resolution and Direction. The amendment of By-law 2012-6138 to incorporate Boards and Committees. A Resolution to adopt the proposed Committee Rights and Responsibilities Policy. A Direction to forgo having the Integrity Commissioner present a governance and procedural information and education session for Council, staff, and Town board and committee members. A further Direction to have the Clerk and/or Deputy Clerk to provide the appropriate training to the new Council, boards and committees following the upcoming election. My sense is that participating on a Town Committee or Board is likely to be an exercise in futility, but I hope to be proved wrong. If you want to set up an effective committee process you should engage the community in the process of defining roles and responsibilities. Or you could just tell them ‘this is how it’s gonna be’ and accept the consequences. And still there is no process for an individual to contest their removal from a board or committee. At least we don’t have gulags to worry about.

Please be sure to check out the full Council package. There is more than I can realistically summarize, and you may think issues I’ve skipped are important. But it’s most fun to read the details of the letters and Staff Reports and Recommendations. There is always something that surprises and informs.

See you Tuesday night.

It’s like they were never gone. (Parry Sound in Black & White)

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2014 Municipal Assistance Programs Allocation

24 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound, Town Council

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The Town of Parry Sound provides a total of $15,000 annually to support local charitable and non-profit groups and their community work. I think the amount is too low considering the value these organizations deliver, but nonetheless here is the allocation of funds for 2014 as ‘voted’ on by Town Council and approved at the June 17th meeting of council.

Economic Development Allocation

The Business Centre
– $1773

Parry Sound Chamber of Commerce
– $1327

Parry Sound Area CB&DC Inc.
– $3123

Parry Sound Downtown Business Association
– $1413

Non-Profit

Parry Sound Volunteer Network
– $706

Algonquin Regiment Veterans Association
– $921

International Festival of Authors
– $535

Parry Sound District Horticultural Society
– $1597

Artists Round the Sound
– $635

SOAR Rope Skipping Team
– $390

Festival of the Sound
– $870

Parry Sound EMS
– $263

Opportunities to Sit and Reflect (Parry Sound in Black & White)

ParrySights-1357

Committees – Dead or Castrated?

09 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in Parry Sound, Reflections, Town Council

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I’m still bummed by the Finance Committee’s request to go on a hiatus, in the middle of budget season, and asking Town Staff to look into policies and procedures for how a finance committee should operate. It also brings to the forefront issues the Town has with committees. Let me share my experience and thoughts with committees.

At this point, according to the town’s website we have a total of 18 committees as listed below. Here’s a link to the page that provides more information on the individual committees and links to their minutes. (My understanding of their current status is provided in italics.)

  • Bobby Orr Hall of Fame Advisory Committee [Active, no minutes published]
  • Boulevard Maintenance Committee [Unknown, no minutes published]
  • Citizens’ Finance Advisory Committee [Active, minutes published]
  • Civic Pride Committee [Unknown, no minutes published]
  • Committee of Adjustment [Active, minutes published]
  • Community Emergency Planning Committee [Unknown, no minutes published]
  • Community Rail Safety Committee [Currently inactive, minutes published]
  • Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts Advisory Committee [Active, no minutes published]
  • Facade Improvement Committee [Not formed]
  • Fence Viewers Committee [As required only, no minutes published]
  • Municipal Heritage Committee [Not formed]
  • Town / Algonquin Regiment Veterans Assoc. Heritage Committee [Active, minutes published]
  • Property Standards Committee [As required only, no minutes published]
  • Provincial Offences Advisory Committee
 [Active, no minutes published]
  • Public Transportation Committee [Active, regular deputations, no minutes published]
  • Specialized Transportation Committee [Unknown, no minutes published]
  • Waterfront Advisory Committee [Active, minutes published]
  • Youth Action Committee [Unknown, no minutes published]

I sit on two of these committees, the Community Rail Safety Committee and the Stockey Advisory Committee, let me share my experiences. In the case of the Rail Safety Committee we met over the period of about a year. The citizens on the committee met separately and worked through issues for discussion with the full committee which include two members of Council and four members of Staff. The citizen’s group provided the full committee with its recommendations more than a year ago. What has become of the recommendations? Well actually nothing as far as I can tell. Hmm, interesting outcome.

The Stockey Advisory Committee is also interesting. It was made very clear to me when I requested information about the Stockey Centre that the committee was not a board. We would look at what was presented to us and offer comments and suggestions. Well we have looked and we have commented, but only on issues that have been presented to us. Okay, I get it. I am reminded of the comment, “Beware of those requesting feedback they are seeking validation’.

So the committees I have been sitting on have had little more than zero impact. But if you are required to have a committee by statute you had better have a committee if you want to at least meet expectations.

The Waterfront Committee has been busy and is moving things forward bit by bit. Their minutes are a wealth of information and suggest a committee that is quite active, meetings are frequent and minuted. They even have a budget to work with. Perhaps that’s why I’m confused by the recent proposals to Council concerning a new logo and slogan. Both items were presented with little or no detail to explain their intent and benefits. There was no deputation, and little written support in the R&R,  to provide Council and the public with the necessary background on the proposed changes. There are very capable people serving on the Waterfront Committee. You can’t just toss out this type of proposal before Council and hope they ‘get it’ on first look. Somewhere there is a disconnect.

And there is the Finance Committee. I have been going through the minutes of this committee and perhaps have some idea of what’s going on. I’ll provide my thoughts in a separate post. There seem to be issues that are not well disguised by the committee’s request for a hiatus and help in understanding their responsibilities.

And why have some committees just ‘disappeared’. What happened to the Façade Improvement Committee and the Heritage Committee? Well if you don’t get the support of Council and Staff perhaps you start to think you are part of a charade. Why go through the motions if Council and Staff don’t want to ‘play’.

Staff recently suggested Council turn down a suggestion to form a Parks Committee. I applaud the staff member for that recommendation. There is no reason to form committees if Staff and Council have no interest in their recommendations. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. No need to bluff.

Council and Staff can bemoan the fact that there is little public attendance and input at public meetings. But if the Town isn’t why bother to speak? It seems to be more effective to buttonhole a member of Council at work or home rather than stand up and express an opinion at a public meeting.

Dead or Castrated? Perhaps more like neglected, ignored and a little ‘managed’. But what’s the solution?

Let’s work through some ideas in a separate post. Something needs to be done.

Sometimes the Right Door Isn’t the Front Door (Parry Sound in B&W)

ParrySights-

Council Meeting Summary – February 19, 2013

01 Friday Mar 2013

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Well I missed the meeting on the 19th and these notes are based on the council meeting minutes prepared by Parry Sound staff, as well as the North Star’s news coverage. I had intended to attend but needed to catch a flight the next day and decided to leave Tuesday evening rather than chance the heavy snow promised for the next day. And as I have discovered council and staff don’t give you any special privileges for perfect attendance.

Not attending the council meeting reminds me of how much you miss by not attending the meeting or having access to the Cogeco broadcast. While the basic decisions are summarized in the minutes there is no summary of the councillors reports and only a brief summary of the the questions asked of staff. From reading the North Star, it appears that one councillor took the Public works department to task with regards to snow removal. My comment to the councillor and the public on this issue is, get used to it. It’s one of the tradeoffs of keeping taxes low. Remember the saying: “You can have any two of – service quality, service cost and service timeliness, but not all three.”? In this case cost is lowered by having reduced staff and equipment, and the quality is actually quite good. It’s the timeliness that is left to suffer. Since quality is not negotiable, it’s a safety issue, it means that we will need to pay more if we want faster service. So we just need to wait a little longer to go for that cup of coffee at Tim’s, or we’ll need to pay more. I can wait. There were also questions to staff related to credit cards and Family Day events.

Correspondence and Deputations:

4.1 – the letter from the Ontario Ministry of Education in response to council’s letter asking for provincial involvement in the Near North School Board decision to move the Grade 7 and 8 students was read and filed. It reminded the town this is a local rather than provincial issue and that everybody needs to pay attention to good communication regarding decisions. I can agree with that.

5.1, 5.2 – two deputations were made related to engineering projects and water meters. I would urge the town be cautious about installing water meters at all customer locations, I suspect it will open a can of worm with respect to usage and the corresponding charges. But this seemed to be related to replacing the existing meters with units that can be read remotely.

Agenda Highlights:

2.1.1 – a public meeting to review the proposed rezoning for the ‘Age in Place’ facility was held with no objections recorded. It will be approved sooner rather than later.

7.1 – another individual was added to the Citizen’s Finance Committee. Let’s see if we get better attendance from the committee at the open meetings of council related to budget. For that matter it would be good for the committee members to attend all meetings of council to understand the issues that council and staff have to wrestle with as they review budgets.

9.2.1 – council approved a direction to provide public notice of higher fees (10%) for cemetery services.

9.4.1 – the town’s official plan will be on the agenda for the March 19th meeting.

9.6.1 – a resolution arising from the Mayors-Chiefs-Reeves meeting held on February 6th regarding the low water levels in the Great Lakes was carried. It basically requests action be taken to study and address the problem. It’s a start. The council package contains a report of the actual meeting that is worth reviewing. I have separately posted copies of the meeting documents at the website of the Parry sound Power and sail Squadron.

9.6.2 – a resolution was passed requesting Canada Post continue the sorting of mail in Parry Sound to minimize delays in local mail delivery.

9.6.3 – a direction was carried requesting staff to investigate opportunities for greater use of the Bobby Orr Community Centre.

9.6.4 – council approved the direction that a letter be drafted to the Near North School Board with regards to the academic issues being experienced by the local elementary schools. This is a big issue in my opinion. The quality of schools is one of the first considerations for businesses and families as they consider locating to a new area. It’s not an issue of course if we are happy to have the town grow old and be serviced by the surrounding communities. This is one of the issues the town needs to consider as it increasingly positions itself as a ‘retirement’ community.

10.2.1 – a by-law to enter into an agreement with a provider to supply family assistance services for town employees was carried.

10.2.2 – another by-law, this one to increase fees for certain services provided by the town was carried. This will help close the budget gap a teeny tiny bit.

I’m sorry that I missed the meeting but it’s not clear I missed all that much. I urge town residents to attend the upcoming budget meeting this Wednesday, starting at 6:00. It’d open to the public. It’s a chance to see how ‘budget sausage’ is made.

Here’s an image I took over the Family Day weekend on the Rose Point Trail. Our local trails are a real benefit for the community. I hope council can approve the 2013 budget item that supports connecting the Rotary Algonquin Regiment Fitness Trail with the Rose Point Trail in Seguin. (Despite the heavy snow machine traffic on the trail there was no problem walking along it, the operators of the machines were cautious and considerate.)

ParrySights-4290

Council Meeting Summary – February 5, 2013

08 Friday Feb 2013

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Well my request for media privileges was denied. I have already posted on this, no need to discuss it further. Here’s a link to my earlier post, or just scroll down this page past this article to find it. Oh, just as I was getting a link for the item below I see that the North Star has put together their overview of the matter. Here’s the link although I expect it’s in the Beacon Star today (their free Friday publication).

The North Star has done a very nice article on the senior staff reorganization in town hall I mentioned in my council meeting preview. I won’t discuss it further and just point you to their online article. (I recommend a subscription to the North Star, there’s something nice about reading things in print. And it ensures we continue to get local news coverage like this.)

Meeting Highlights

Councillors and Mayor Reports:

Seguin Township will provide $10,000 in support of the Stockey Centre for 2013. That’s great, but it doesn’t go very far in covering the centre’s 2013 budgeted shortfall of $275,000.

There was a mention that many Ontario municipalities are facing major investments in aging infrastructure, with little hope for provincial support. Belleville is preparing to take on $80 million dollars of bonds and loans to meet its infrastructure expanses. That’s for a town with a population about eight times that of Parry Sound. Previous councils in Parry Sound were able to take advantage of matching provincial grants to replace and update our infrastructure, so we are a bit better off than other municipalities, albeit with some debt on the books.

Correspondence and Deputations:

Of the three letters received one, concerning an animal shelter, was put on the meeting agenda as item 9.1.1 and received extensive discussion.

There were four deputations, two of them primarily of an update nature from Georgian Bay Country Tourism, and the West Parry Sound Health Centre and Lakeland Long Term Care. The other two were my request for media privileges (agenda item 9.2.2), and another requesting a by-law to permit the limited use of all-terrain vehicles in town.

9.1.1 – a resolution to advise the community that Parry Sound cannot support an animal shelter was postponed pending further research and inquiry with neighbouring communities regarding their interest and support for such an initiative. Apparently there is an offer of $50,000 in private support for a local animal shelter. A second resolution regarding a $3,5000 budget item for the spaying and neutering of feral cats was also postponed.

9.1.2, 9.1.3 – resolutions related to fines and new parking meters were approved although there were two dissenting votes. The objections were largely related to the fact that the approval for a new parking machine should not be accepted in the absence of an approved budget.

Question to staff and council – why isn’t the 2013 budget ready for January 1st? Isn’t that when the budget year starts? I am aware of some collective bargaining issues and funding issues impacting the budget that will only be available later, but 80% of the budget could be reviewed, agreed, and ‘in the can’ by year end. Much of this silly ‘we can’t agree to this now’ language could then be eliminated. It sounds very bureaucratic. “I’m sorry M’am the hospital staff couldn’t attend to your son’s injuries because his accident isn’t in the current budget and we haven’t finalized the new one.” Come on council, roll with it, or get that 80% of the budget done by Christmas so you have the ability to make decisions. Council, you will still need to make the tough decisions, which it seems are more determined by personal philosophy than the budget. But the ‘crush’ of a final budget discussion can provide cover for unpopular decisions. “There was so much to review I guess it just was missed. Sorry about that.”

9.2.1 – the 2012 Annual Report of the Integrity Commissioner was approved without discussion. Yes, I will request a copy and let you know if anything of interest is included.

9.2.2 –a direction to deny my request for media privileges was carried. My blog was scurrilously impugned as an ‘information and opinion website’. I’d like to think of it as an ‘information and analysis website’. But you can only provide ‘analysis’ if you are provided the requested public domain information. I’ll keep asking for it. I’m sure the response of council would be the same, regardless of any label of opinion or analysis. At the same time council approved a resolution to extend media privileges solely to journalists employed by media outlets. I don’t believe they defined a media outlet.

9.2.3 – a direction to advise the public of amendments to the Fees and Services By-laws was approved.

9.2.4 –a resolution to approve the 2013 Key Performance Objectives Departmental Summary was carried. I’ll review it and provide details.

9.4.1 – a resolution to accept two offers for the purchase of property in town was carried.

9.4.2 – a direction to offer an additional two lots for sales by tender on MacFarlane Street was approved.

9.4.3 – revisions to the draft Official Plan were postponed until the next meeting of council.

9.6.1 – a resolution for council to endorse pre-budget approval of $5,000 to sponsor the Festival of the Sound’s opening weekend this summer was defeated even though this was a time sensitive issue. Because there isn’t an approved budget a decision to discuss the merits of the request could not even be entered into. I’m starting to think the role of this blog is less analysis than performing the role of the Greek chorus. For the lack of a budget a council was paralyzed. This whole budget process seems more a topic for a play by Aristophanes than Sophocles or Euripides, that is comedy rather than tragedy.

10.4.1 – an agreement with MasterCard to sponsor the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame and the associated golf tournament was approved. For 2013 MasterCard will pay $35,000 for this privilege.

10.4.2 – a by-law to update fees and charges for planning services was carried.

A couple of late agenda items were added. These included the granting of a 6-month temporary taxi license, and the addition of another individual to the Citizen’s Finance Committee. A closed meeting reorganization included a change in the status of a Stockey Centre employee from permanent full-time to permanent part-time. This will save $25,000 per year and help close the Stockey Centre’s 2013 funding gap.

The next meeting of council is February 19th. See you there.

Note: this is the last of the ‘official’ images painted on the fitness trail bridge and brings an end to the photos that have been included in posts related to official town business. To the students, parents and teachers of Parry Sound, especially Victory School, I offer congratulations and thanks for sharing your art and your vision.

Bridge Art – So long and thanks for the images.

BridgeArt - Learn

Council Agenda Preview – November 6, 2012

05 Monday Nov 2012

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Wow, I was asleep at the switch and missed last week’s special meeting of council. While it certainly is my responsibility to keep on top of ‘special’ meetings of council I really wish that the town would ‘push’ announcements like this using an RSS feed or Twitter. I regularly get RSS feeds with timely announcements from many organizations. Heck, you can get updates from this site using an RSS feed. There is also the option to get updates through Facebook. And I’m just ‘Jo Public’, not a municipality with staff and IT expertise. I guess it all comes down to having a ‘real’ social media policy for Parry Sound. Council has passed rules on what can’t be done. How about a policy on what should be done to proactively keep residents informed of late changes to important meetings? If we are sophisticated enough to institute online voting we should be able to use push media to keep the public informed of changes to council meetings, the issues to be covered, and what will be voted on.

I have a question that I hope someone can answer. Does Cogeco record and rebroadcast these ‘special’ open meetings of council? If not, do these meetings effectively become ‘closed’ meetings of council where we need to depend on the official meeting minutes for the outcomes and the North Star for ‘colour commentary’? If you know drop me a note at parrysounds@gmail.com. I’ll also be at Tuesday’s council meeting and will ask the Cogeco technicians directly.

Agenda Highlights:

4.3 – the old pump house is the subject of a citizen letter. There is interest within the community to ensure the old pump house, which was originally built in 1892 to provide fire protection to the town, is not demolished. Ideally it would be purchased with the intent of adaptive reuse. There are many options for a purchaser to retain the character of the building while updating it to 21st century amenities. This pump house is also the subject of agenda items 9.5.2 and 10.3.2.

4.5 – there is a petition to keep Parry Sound transit on the road. It seems about time for council and staff to renew that discussion. It seems to have been quietly pushed back because there is no easy answer. But like budget discussions, this is an issue that will benefit from earlier and more discussion, not being left to the point where there is only one option; generally a poor one. Let’s get going on this. Parry Sound is interested in seeing some leadership on this issue.

8.5 – Lis McWalter and Jon Anderson will be added to the Citizen’s Finance Committee.

9.3.1 – an oops resolution. Apparently the Belvedere Heights people put in access gates at the parking lot without the required prior approval. A resolution of council is required to revise their site plan. I’m still wondering how a $5.00 parking fee will be accepted given the concern about a 25 cent increase in the town’s hourly parking rate. Will it effectively become staff parking? This really is a vulnerable population, the aged and their families. I hope that families will not be hesitant to visit family because of the charge. There is separately (Item 4.4 – letter) a request that Belvedere be reopened to two-way traffic. That would really ‘screw’ the option for free parking and force people into the lot. How about opening the lot to the public after 6:00 PM or so to permit visitors and residents to park and enjoy the views from Belvedere Hill?

9.5.1 – is a resolution that requests budget money to inspect the condition of the piers of the Imperial Wharf, that’s the one at the bottom of Champagne Street. It’s a bit annoying that the town is required to pay to ensure a major multibillion dollar corporation is meeting their obligations to maintain their properties and assets for the safety of the public and the environment. Don’t get me started on how I feel about Imperial Oil (Esso, Exxon) and their stewardship of their former oil storage property in town.

There are a number of additional issues on the agenda, but these are the bigger items as far as I’m concerned.

See you Tuesday night. There are several more items on the agenda. Check out the town website for the full agenda and head over to the library or town office to review the council package.

Bridge Art – Hoot, Chirp, Squawk

Updated – Council Agenda Preview – September 4, 2012 Meeting

03 Monday Sep 2012

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Update – I’ve had a chance to take a quick look at the meeting materials and have added in a few more comments [bracketed].

With the long weekend and other priorities I have not been able to see the full council meeting package, so this will be a short summary of what I see as the key meeting topics. I’ll fill in details before noon on Tuesday after I’ve had a chance to get to the library and review the full package. I’m looking forward to when the council package is available online. It will save me some time and spare a few trees.

Starting with this post I’ll be ‘featuring’ artwork from the Parry Sound pedestrian bridge. It’s pretty good and it’s worth recognizing. There is no particular order to the photos, it’s what seemed to fit at the moment.

Meeting Highlights:

2.1.2 – is a public meeting to consider rezoning part of the William Street Park. The town is moving forward with it’s plan to put up a number of town properties up for sale and eventual development. If you care you need to let council and staff know how you feel.

5.1 and 9.3.3 – these are agenda items related to complaints by Parry Sound Taxi about the Temporary Taxi Driver’s License process. There will be a deputation by the OPP regarding the screening process and a proposal from staff to revise the issuing of temporary licenses.

9.3.1 – relates to actions in support of the listing of the residence that formerly was the town’s water pumping station. This property will be going on the market and is the only house in Parry Sound that has a true waterfront view of the Sound. I assume there will be multiple parties interested in this property.

9.4.1 – is a continuation of the Service Delivery Review Program that was started at the last regularly scheduled council meeting.

9.4.2 – amends the terms of reference for the Citizens Finance Committee. [Adds more members.]

9.4.3 and 9.5.1 – requests approval/endorsement for the town’s Strategic Plan policies and procedures as well as the Waterfront Committee’s procedures and policies.

10.3.1 – this item seems to be moving town staff parking out of the paid parking lot beside St. Andrew’s Church. I’ll better understand this once I get a chance to see the council meeting package. [It seems to provide for more public (greater revenue) parking.]

10.3.2 – seems to be a series of by-laws, resolutions and directions to raise the parking fees and fines for parking violations. It’s about time in my estimation. This should free up parking for customers who won’t resent paying another couple of nickels for a closer spot, and the town could use the revenue for parking lot management, repair and snow removal. There is no free lunch. This is literally a nickels and dime issue for the average person who drives downtown, and is now paying $1.35 for a liter of gas. [This is a very nicely researched piece of work – my compliments. It raises the hourly parking fee to $1.00, in line with other communities. Fees have not been increased since 2000.]

10.3.3 – is a site plan approval request for 80 Bowes Street with I Fuels Ltd. I’m not at all sure what this is about. [Well it looks as though there will be another gas bar and convenience store in town (oh boy) at the site of the former Eckstein property.]

10.4.1 – the social media behaviour policy is up for by-law approval.

Bridge Art – Welcome (Click photo for larger image)

The Budget Olympics Begin

29 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound, Town Council

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Last night’s meeting provided an interesting preview to what we can expect with the development of the 2013 budget. The actual discussion was a bit of a surprise based on the last council meeting. What I thought was going to be a discussion of the budget review process actually was a first look at expense items that had been identified as potential areas for budget savings. Revenue items were also up for discussion but time ran out. I’m sure they will be picked up a subsequent meeting.

I won’t go through the decisions reached, they were for the most part rather trivial and avoided anything approaching a tough decision. Rather I’ll offer some thoughts about the process from my seat in the peanut gallery. (By the way there are lots of empty seats up here.)

Councillors, please, please, please remove the word ‘creative’ from your vocabulary when directing staff. Too many times last night when a budget issue arose that might have benefited from a tough decision, council looked to staff and asked them to be ‘creative’ in finding a solution. Oh, and at the same time, why not ask staff to take a ‘creative’ look at transmuting lead into gold. Better yet, let’s turn rock into gold.

Too much of the discussion was spent on looking at options that might yield budget savings in the years to come, not 2013 and 2014. This is important to consider but once again distracts council’s focus from the 2013 and 2014 budget challenges. But I’ll give council a pass on this one, last night’s meeting from what I could tell was only a ‘warm up’ session.

In terms of the staff work in preparation for the meeting I feel the discussion would have benefited from some ‘ballpark’ figures for the amount of savings involved with some of the suggestions. A thousand here and a thousand there imply that council will need to find 900 ‘heres and theres’ to close the budget gap. The focus needs to be on the tens of thousands opportunities. Putting at least an order of magnitude on most of the items would have helped focus the discussion.

Staff certainly didn’t suggest any significant cuts in their own operations. There were a couple of delayed hirings offered, as well as opportunities to reduce overtime salary costs, but no realignment suggestions (involving staff cuts) were on the list. This may of course be an issue for a closed council meeting, but it is something that will need to be considered.

Last night’s meting provided no suggestion that we will see council win gold, silver or bronze in the budget marathon. But it’s early and I’m really happy to see that training has already started. Starting in September council needs to meet at least twice monthly to wrap their head around the many budget items, trade offs and tough decisions that will be required.

One last thought: there needs to be leadership. Unfortunately Ontario’s mayor and council system limits this, but an answer must be found. Too often one councilor heads off in a direction and to avoid conflict a majority of the other councillors follow even though their expression and body language suggests they really aren’t in agreement. It’s nice to see the teamwork, but without occasional disagreement and leadership the only solution we will see are last minute desperation budget cuts or a hefty tax rate increase. Perhaps the town’s citizen finance committee has a role to play in pushing council and staff to consider some politically tough decisions.

Council Meeting Summary – 2012-04-03 (Updated, names & links)

04 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound, Town Council

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Correction, last night’s meeting was not a ‘snooze’ as I suggested, it might better be labeled as ‘testy and tedious’. It seems that as agenda items get to be less ‘meaningful’ there is a greater tendency for council to pick over details. What could have been completed in an hour and a half took two and a half hours. But the time was entertaining with a little bit of irritation beginning to show. Here is a link to the town’s website that archives the meeting minutes.

The 2.5% rate increase seems as though it will go into effect. i was disappointed to hear that the Citizen’s Finance Committee (CFC) chose not to comment on the proposed budget. That is they neither offered any suggestions on the 2012 budget nor did they choose to endorse it. The statement from the CFC read at the meeting suggested that this year’s budget was an opportunity for them to understand the process and prepare them for next year. I had hoped for more. I will be offering my own analysis in this blog of the town budget, revenues and expenses, over the next few months that will give me the opportunity to understand what is in the budget and where there are opportunities to increase revenue and reduce expenses.

Attendance: All councilors and the mayor were present, town staff – 7, media – 4 (2 from Cogeco), audience – 8. The audience figure dropped to 2 after the discussion of the Belvedere rezoning was complete. I hope there are many more people catching the meeting on Cogeco.

Outcomes and Notable Decisions Continue reading →