Mayor's Corner - January 20, 2023
Mayor's message
This time of year is particularly busy with further orientation, training and budget sessions.
Today, Council is having a Special Session on strategic visioning and team building. I hope that some of you can join us as we begin discussions about steps, processes, and areas of focus for developing the priorities for the next Strategic Plan for Port Hope. If you can't make the in-person session, you can find the session our our YouTube channel.
I am very excited to be attending the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto from Sunday to Tuesday next week. ROMA is the rural voice of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). ROMA represents rural communities through its policy and advocacy and is committed to promoting, supporting and enhancing strong and effective rural governments and socially and economically sustainable rural communities.
The topic of this year’s conference is Breaking New Ground and features a range of topics from strengthening Council decision-making, welcoming newcomers, achieving truth and reconciliation, data driven decision making, attracting and retaining staff to rural municipalities, the circular economy, emergency planning, managing risk, supporting seniors, housing, and workforce development. I look forward to reporting back to Council on the highlights. My participation at the conference – including transportation, accommodation and conference fees - is paid for fully by Northumberland County.
Finally, a special thanks to all who attended the Celebrate and Skate Levee last Sunday. We welcomed over 200 people at the Jack Burger Sports complex and a great time was had by all, both on and off the ice! Here are a couple of pictures from the event and a link to the Global Peterborough News coverage.
Celebrate and Skate Levee
Celebrate and Skate Levee
Advancing municipal business
Fire Station 2 Community Open House
On Wednesday, January 18 we held a community open house for the proposed relocation of Fire Station 2. Staff provided an informative presentation and we were pleased to that many residents joined us for the session.
Staff have taken note of the comments and questions that were brought forward at the open house and will share with Council. A reminder that community engagement for the proposed relocation of Fire Station 2 is ongoing. Visit the My Port Hope project page to read the documents, review the presentation slide deck, and provide your feedback.
Did you know...?
I'm incorporating a new section into the Mayor's Corner publication called "Did you know..?" In this section, I'll highlight some of the basics of the municipal process. It may be a bit of a refresher for some, and perhaps new information for others.
This week, I'm featuring Open and Closed meetings of Council. As a general rule, Members of Council must meet in open sessions. This is to allow members of the public to attend and participate in meetings in person, or to watch the livestream on our YouTube channel. This ensures the exercise of municipal powers takes place in a transparent manner.
From time to time, we call a Closed Meeting of Council. This decision is made when the subject matter relates to certain topics that are confidential in nature. There are limited exceptions to when Council can call a Closed Meeting and those defined in the Municipal Act. For these meetings, the public are not allowed to attend and the meetings are not broadcast on YouTube. The purpose of these meetings is generally for Council to receive information that is confidential in nature or give specific direction to municipal staff or legal counsel.
You can find out more about the reasons for Closed meetings, and the procedures we use to remain as transparent as possible on our Closed Meeting webpage.
Upcoming meetings
- A Special Council Meeting is being held on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall as part of the ongoing Council Orientation. At the meeting, Council Members will be given a high-level overview of the Port Hope Area Initiative Project.
- The next Council and Committee of the Whole Meetings are on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
- Budget meetings for the capital and operating budgets are scheduled for January 31 and February 2, 2023. The meetings are open to the public and will also be live streamed via our YouTube channel.
Council around town
- I will be attending the Loyalist College Community Information Session on Wednesday, January 25 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Lion’s Club (29 Thomas Street). Loyalist College administration will be on hand to discuss the new Port Hope Campus, opening Fall 2023. Stop by to learn about the campus renovations, programs, and ask questions. To register for the session visit: loyalistcollege.com/porthope
- Next week I will be representing Port Hope Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto. The conference draws over 1,000 municipal, provincial, and federal elected officials. At the conference, we will discuss critical rural municipal issues front and centre, and work collaboratively to bring innovative solutions to our communities.
The next edition of Mayor's Corner News will be available on January 27. Subscribe to this news channel to receive an email notification when the weekly publication is published on our website. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram – the Mayor’s Corner News post will be available there, too!