Monday’s council meeting tackled procedures, planning, litter
Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Regional councillor Bruce Garrod once again raised the question of council procedures during Monday's council meeting.
Discussing an application for an event at the Music Hall to be declared "a municipally significant event" (used by applicants who wish to serve alcohol to patrons) Garrod suggested such applications should be handled by staff rather than being placed on the council agenda. Mayor Dave Barton moved that staff should deal with such applications when they are approved. If not approved by staff, then the application could come before council.
A couple of weeks ago, Garrod suggested changes to council procedures when general purpose and committee are held. At such meetings, each council committee, chaired by a different councillor, has an agenda. Garrod said when any committee has nothing to discuss, they should be taken off the agenda to provide more efficiency.
In response to a question from the Cosmos, clerk Debbie Leroux reiterated that council has the authority to change the rules of procedure when it wants, but added that staff is working on Garrod's suggestion and should have a report to council early next year.
"It's a work in progress," Leroux said.
Barton added that sometimes a staff approach can be more effective than council.
Planning changes no problem for Uxbridge: After council reviewed correspondence from the province and the region regarding Bill 23 and proposed changes to planning responsibilities, Barton said the bill has no negative effect for Uxbridge.
The province said that, as of Jan. 1, 2025, the Region of Durham will be removed from planning responsibilities, as has already happened to regional governments in York and Peel. Barton said that will give more planning control to Uxbridge.
"I'm confident in our staff," he said. "Creativity allows more flexibility in planning. We'll pivot through this."
When it was pointed out that treasurer Tobi Lee had reported earlier in a budget update that the department of development services had so far realized only 53 per cent of its forecast revenues for 2024, Barton opined that was because the real estate market is down
Litter a big problem: Council received a resolution from the city of Pickering which calls for the establishment of an anti-littering campaign in that municipality complete with "a clever tagline or slogan."
Councillor Willie Popp, speaking in support of a motion to receive the correspondence, said he was in favour of such a campaign. He noted that the township spends a great deal of money cleaning up litter from its roadways and litter collection takes a lot of time for the trail committees in town.