By John Francis, Bruce Peninsula Press
As the 2022-2026 Municipal Council term gets underway, there are a lot of issues that need decision and direction. Council’s overall priorities need to be fine-tuned and published; there’s a budget that needs to be fine-tuned and approved; there are a number of initiatives, policies and programs that need to be adjusted, approved and implemented. Nor will the hectic pace let up anytime soon.
One of the new initiatives is called the Website Refresh Project. It will be funded out the Municipal Accommodations Tax on Short-Term Accommodations. Over an extended period, the website refresh will include improving the information hub for residents and visitors, public engagement, streamlining complaint processes, calculating and collecting MAT revenues and offering an online portal to payment of property taxes and other municipal charges.
The first inkling of this ambitious process is already in place. Using a utility called “Bang the Table”, municipal reports and proposals are posted on a page called “Let’s Talk NBP” (letstalknbp.ca) in a way that permits public comments. You can go to the page directly or click a link on the municipality’s home page. The “Public Comment Corner” at the bottom of the page offers links to two reports — the year end paid parking report and the Council Prioritization Session Report — and an opportunity to record a comment.
The pdf reports were posted on Jan 4. No end date is posted for the Council Prioritization; comments on the Parking Report will close on Feb 4.
Paid Parking Report
The 19-page Parking Report addresses each area individually: the village of Tobermory, Big Tub Road, The Gap, Grant Watson Drive, Dunks Bay, Little Cove, Dorcas Bay Road, Dyers Bay, Borchardt Road, Carter Road, the village of Lion’s Head and McCurdy Drive. The Report states that 2022’s paid parking program was successful and well-received. It recommends maintaining the status quo at all locations in 2023, but suggests that on weekends in July and August, attendants be placed at three locations: Dunks Bay, Grant Watson Drive and Dorcas Bay Road. (This is in addition to the attendants already in place at Little Cove Road, Big Tub Road and McCurdy Drive.)
Only one comment has been recorded at this writing (Jan 8).
Strategic Plan Report
Council held a Strategic Planning Workshop on Nov 30, facilitated by Peter Politis of Evergreen Innovative Solutions. Politis led a day of brainstorming, debate and SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).
His very thoughtful 17-page report is posted on letstalkNBP. Spoiler: the highest priority identified was modernizing the water/wastewater infrastructure in Tobermory and Lion’s Head, followed by implementing the Housing Action Plan and finishing the arena/community centre upgrade in Lion’s Head.
Only one comment has been posted at Jan 8.
MPP Byers Attends Council
Member of Provincial Parliament Rick Byers attended the Dec 19 Council Meeting in person. This was his first visit to an MNBP Council Meeting since he was elected last spring, replacing longtime MPP Bill Walker.
Mayor Milt McIver kicked off the discussion, explaining that MNBP needs to have our politicians at the senior levels of government understand the importance of MNBP to Southern Ontario. We are their playground. As a result of that annual influx of visitors, we have needs that are beyond the ability of our ratepayers to meet. We have been struggling with drinking water and wastewater in Tobermory for years; we’re in the midst of a wastewater master plan exercise. But we need to obtain funding — we need help with this project because it is beyond the capabilities of a small municipality.
Councillor Smokey Golden jumped in with some numbers. We only keep $7 million of municipal property taxes to run our municipality; way over half the tax revenue goes to the county and the province. Out of the $7 million we get to keep, we pay $1.3 million for the OPP, another half a million for the Fire Department and we need new gear to keep people safe, including in national and provincial parks and other provincial lands. “Our little ratepayer base is covering a lot of people from a lot of places; we get a small grant in lieu from the feds but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the expense of catering to people from away — it’s a joke compared to what we provide.” That $7 million is really spread too thin, with garbage, roads, bylaw enforcement for all those people. And now we have to put in a water system? It’s really difficult to plan when you don’t know what the political climate will be. Our community centre well keeps going dry and we have to contract to truck in water. A deeper well is no help — there’s no more water down there, it’s all the same aquifer.
“Our ratepayers can’t fund what’s being required of us to keep residents and visitors safe,” she summarized, then asked “Have you been to Tobermory in the summer?”
“And MTO needs to wake up,” she continued. “They’ve taken a huge nap on public service. Highway 6 is a major tourist route and we have thousands of people taking their chances, dashing across the highway. It’s an accident waiting to happen, we’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop.” People know to cross at the light but there isn’t one. People from the city are stunned to hear we don’t have a public water system. We’ve dodged the bullets so far by being conscious and careful but going forward? With properties being bought by speculators, something’s gonna happen. And when the national parks get to capacity, they just shut the gates and we are left to fend off/deal with how many hundreds of thousands of people? “Everyone who goes to the park comes to town, looking for washrooms and a bite to eat. It is not hyperbole to say we’re almost in a crisis — we’ve got a third of the country’s population within an easy drive.”
Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson agreed: “the water system will be crucial; it is a crisis”.
Councillor Aman Sohrab spoke of his experience as a volunteer firefighter — a third of the calls to the department this summer were from the parks. This places too much stress on a volunteer fire department.
Councillor Todd Dowd noted that because it is surrounded on three sides by water, MNBP and its residents are often on their own, with no adjacent municipalities or business communities to call on. That increases our costs on everything.
Over the next hour or so, the conversation explored a number of areas of concern. MPP Byers promised to initiate conversations with ministers and departments on several issues: finding a way to fund water and wastewater systems for Tobermory, Lion’s Head and Ferndale; exploring funding possibilities for Golden Dawn, the need for stoplights on Highway 6.
Federal Member of Parliament Alex Ruff will appear as a delegation at Council’s January 9 Meeting. Another lively discussion is expected.
