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Grey Highlands deputy mayor Dane Nielsen is seeking a position on the Rural Ontario Municipal Association board of directors.
Grey Highlands council at its meeting on Dec. 7, passed a resolution endorsing Nielsen’s candidacy for the position.
“I’m grateful if council does pass this motion,” said Nielsen before the vote. “Hopefully there will be lots of Grey representation at ROMA when the vote takes place.”
The board of directors for the association’s 2023 - 2027 term will be selected at the annual conference in Toronto on Jan. 23.
The association is an organization that engages with upper levels of government on issues concerning rural municipalities in Ontario.
Nielsen said in the past the association has been involved in asking for more funding to expand rural broadband internet services and has been active on the affordable housing issue.
Council unanimously passed the resolution.
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At the same meeting, council approved a $784,270 tender for a new pumper fire truck.
The contract was awarded to Fort Garry Fire Trucks.
The truck was approved in the 2022 budget and staff said the total cost, when the non-refundable portion of HST is included, would be approximately $798,000. Grey Highlands has $100,000 in reserve for the truck and the remainder will be financed through a debenture.
This was the third time the municipality tendered for the vehicle. Previous tenders in April and June resulted in a single bid. The third attempt in August saw five bids submitted, although two were taken out of consideration due to cost and delivery concerns.
The new pumper will be used at Station 2 in Markdale.
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With the new bin/cart system being implemented for garbage and recycling collection, Grey Highlands is bringing its long-standing bag tag program to an end.
At the Dec. 7 meeting, council approved a resolution and staff report to implement a phase-out of the bag tag system. The municipality will provide refunds to distributors of bag tags. In addition, tags will be accepted for bagged household waste at all three municipal landfills from Jan. 1 to June 30 in lieu of current fees and charges.
For the past several months, municipal staff have been advising local residents who come into the office to purchase bag tags that the program would be ending at the end of 2022.
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Grey Highlands municipal staff would like to hear what successful candidates in the recent municipal election heard from residents when they were campaigning.
At the meeting, council approved a staff report that recommended setting aside some time at a future committee of the whole meeting for councillors to brief staff about what they heard from local residents and voters during the recent campaign.
CAO Karen Govan said for strategic planning reasons it was important for staff to hear directly about the “burning issues” in the community.
“Often staff don’t get to hear what you hear on the campaign trail,” she said.
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Grey Highlands council has to go into overtime.
Mayor Paul McQueen recessed the Dec. 7 meeting before the agenda was completed due to the late hour. Council had begun meeting at 9 a.m. and the meeting stretched to after 7 p.m., when the mayor finally put the brakes on the proceedings.
The meeting featured a substantial agenda and a number of items were still pending when McQueen wound down the proceedings. The mayor said it wasn’t fair to members of council and staff to continue after such a long day.
Council will resume on Monday, Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. to complete the agenda.
