By John Francis, Bruce Peninsula Press
Northern Bruce Peninsula’s Municipal Council held a regular Meeting on April 11. There was a very light agenda and Council went through it quickly.
A few items piqued Council’s interest.
Dominik Franken appeared as a delegation on behalf of the Lion’s Head classical music summer program, asking for Council’s support. Council agreed to support the program and also noted that the Recreational Master Plan should consider events like this when designing facilities at Lion’s Head Beach Park. Mayor Milt McIver told Council he had attended a couple of the performances in 2022 and they were excellent and very popular among attendees.
A staff report about Tobermory’s sewage lagoon reassured Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson. He was, he said, delighted to see that the lagoon is operating at 21.8% of capacity. He has heard kitchen table rumours that the lagoon is maxed out and unable to handle further volume.
Council had a lively discussion about the proposed job description for the new position of Deputy Treasurer. Councillor Smokey Golden questioned the need for a CPA designation for a Deputy Treasurer. “Isn’t that a bit heavy?” she wondered, concerned that this would narrow the field too much by discouraging otherwise qualified people who don’t have a CPA from applying. Mayor McIver said that he likes the idea of having someone with that qualification — that way they can aspire to be Treasurer. He stressed the importance of succession planning. CAO Peggy Van Mierlo-West noted that staff’s rationale for the recommendation was that having a CPA on staff would allow the municipality to in-house a lot of programs which are currently out-sourced. For example, using a third party to handle MAT tax collections is unpopular; having a CPA on staff would permit MNBP to handle its own collections. Council voted to leave the requirement in.
The Agenda for Council’s April 24 Meeting is very light but includes the CAO’s Quarterly Report, which is a comprehensive summary of everything that went on in the first quarter of the year. The Agenda can be found online: go to northbrucepeninsula.ca then select Agendas and Minutes in the bottom right corner.
