As we come to the end of the first quarter of 2019 (how did that happen so quickly?!), here is the preview for Middlesex Centre’s next Council meeting. You can find the full agenda here.
Delegations, Presentations & Petitions
- Bill Rayburn, County CAO will come before council to give us an update on the Middlesex Centre CAO Selection process.
- Jackie Muller & Dale LeBritton, from Ontario Clean Water Agency, looks to be doing a sales pitch to have OCWA manage our water and wastewater operations.
- Graeme Lowry, President of St. John Woods Development Limited, and John Hawley of NewArk Niagara Corporation are coming before Council to present their development plans for lands in Arva (southwest corner of Richmond St and Medway Rd), and to request the reinstatement of the Arva WWTF Phase 3 EA Budget line item that Council removed from the 2019 budget earlier this year.
Consent Agenda
- As required, the Clerk has a reported on the accessibility measures taken during the last municipal election like the voting location, accessible routes, making staff available for assistance, and so on.
- The 2019 financials are looking good as of the end of January.
- And the 2018 Council remuneration report is out.
- For a variety of reasons, I had the lowest expenses of any existing or outgoing Councillor. You can expect me to claim some mileage in 2019, though.
- I won’t likely be attending any significant conferences this year, but look to attend one or two in 2020 (e.g. ROMA, OGRA, AMO, etc.)
Staff Reports
- Staff are recommending switch from La Capitale to Great-West Life as the municipality’s life and long-term disability carrier. If approved, this will reduce 2019’s costs by $20,880 and will bring this line item back below the amount spent in 2008.
- Staff are also bringing forward 2019’s Development Charges Treasurer Statement, which illustrates what we already know. Since DCs are funded by development, Council approved taking out a loan to fund the items that DCs will eventually pay for. DCs also cover the interest on the loan, ensuring existing residents do not pay for these costs.
- Finally, as a result of the Council approved motion at the last meeting in February, staff are recommending that the new salary range for the CAO position be increased to a range of $152,334 to $165,418.50 to help keep MXC in the middle of the pack for salaries, and to ensure we can attract a high quality CAO. If approved, the top rate payable would increase by 8.24%.
Correspondence
The provincial government has made some news lately by announcing the following items:
- A substantial overhaul of the healthcare system. On the surface it all sounds positive, especially (FINALLY) having access to your own medical records anywhere in the province. The implementation, though, is going to be critical to the success of this plan, and whether it truly results in better outcomes for patients remains to be seen over the next few years.
- The provincial government is shutting down the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre. While that may be a positive for items denied by Councils that we would rather not see challenged, ultimately I feel this is a blow to residents who needed help navigating the planning process.
- In good news, the Ministry of Finance has confirmed that the OMPF will stay in place as-is for 2019! That means we won’t need to pull roughly $1,000,000 out of reserves this year. Whether we can finally use some funds from the Tax Rate Stabilization Fund to reduce the impacts on residents in 2020 though remains to be seen. We should know more later this year, as promised by the MoF, once we know the structure and fate of the OMPF.
- If you have time, please attend one of the Stormwater Master Plan Public Info Centres tonight in Komoka, tomorrow in Ilderton, or Wednesday in Bryanston! This may be your last chance to provide input before the final recommendations are made.
And that’s that! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please let me know.