Weds Feb 7: Multi-Year Capital Plan Presented in Special Council Meeting (But Why Now?)
Plus: The Short-Term Rentals licensing application deadline is fast approaching
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The City of Owen Sound held a special council meeting on Monday to review the 2023 Capital Plan Report Card and Multi-Year Capital Plan for 2024-2028.
It seems an odd time to review 150+ pages of capital project financials, given that Council and staff are elbows-deep in trying to balance the 2024 budget. The Public Budget Meeting was just a week ago and won’t pass until the February 26 council meeting.
Is this timeline normal? I’m not sure. One has to wonder why we’re trying to cram all of this into a few short months versus having more thoughtful, substantial financial discussions with opportunities for real consultation year-round.
Speaking of the 2024 budget, reader Elizabeth Willmott is not sold on Jim Hutton’s most recent expense reduction suggestions.
“The Conservation Authority’s Inglis Falls area and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery were PRIME REASONS why my husband and I retired to Owen Sound from Toronto 30 years ago,” she writes in this new letter to the editor:
In her most recent column, Cathy Hird takes us to a happier place with a wander through a misty Grey County morning:
“The chickadees think it is a worthy day to sing about. Sparrows and nuthatches are telling stories. Startled by the dog’s passing, three grouse noisily rise from the ground, moving deeper into the underbrush.
It is winter though, and the gulls, raucous the rest of the year, are silent. One glides along the shoreline, wings not moving. If I were not looking, I would not know of its passing.
We will not hear their voices again until spring comes, a fact that took me completely by surprise my first winter by the shore.”
Full subscribers, there’s plenty more for you below, including:
A call for volunteers to help with simple tax returns;
Info on Meaford’s ‘Community Builder’ award and how to nominate someone you feel deserving;
A reminder from the City about the looming short-term rentals (STR) license deadline;
A cool new climate change education resource in over 60 local schools, thanks to the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre, Saugeen Ojibway Nation Coastal Waters Monitoring Program, and Nuclear Waste Management Organization;
The City’s $165,000 plan to replace playground equipment at Comm-R-ette, Bill Inglis, and Owen Heights parks; and more.
~ Miranda
P.S. Before you go, we’re curious…
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