By John Francis, Bruce Peninsula Press
Responding to a request from business owners, the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula has delayed implementation of the expanded Municipal Accommodation Tax. The MAT currently levies a 4% charge on all non-commercial Short-Term Accommodations. That was slated to expand to include hotels, motels, B&Bs etc on July 1, but staff and council agreed that this placed an unfair burden on the businesses. CAO Peggy Van Mierlo-West told Council that a roll-out date of Jan 1, 2024 would give the businesses time to get ready for next season. A detailed plan will be presented to Council well before that date.
www.northbrucepeninsula.ca Website Upgrade
MNBP’s website had not changed much in several years and needed a serious upgrade. It’s here. It’s worth checking out.
GIS/IT Coordinator Kara Smith showed her handiwork to Council at the June 12 Meeting; the official launch date was June 13. The new website will be a lot more useful and a lot easier to navigate. It has many new features built in; for example you can fill out many forms online, you can pay your MAT online and you can find video recordings of Council Meetings online.
Lion’s Head Arena Upgrade — What Will $10million Buy?
Parks and Facilities Manager Mark Coleman updated Council on the plans for the new arena/community centre complex in Lion’s Head. Primary Consultant Salter Pilon meets with staff bi-weekly. Geotechnical and Archeological reports are underway, as is a “Designated Substances Survey”. All are expected to be finished by mid-August. Tenders for a Construction Management firm closed on June 23.
Once the Construction Management firm is in place, it will be possible to have meaningful discussions of costs and design features.
Councillor Todd Dowd, a longtime hockey dad and coach, expressed concern that the main entrance needs to be more than just a standard entrance. It should be designed so that four teams — two arriving, two leaving — can move in opposite directions without the space being overcrowded.
Councillor Smokey Golden wondered how much of a gym is needed, given the likelihood of cost overruns and the fact that there’s already a full gym at Bruce Peninsula District School. Coleman noted that the community centre exercise room would not need a full-height gym ceiling, which would substantially reduce costs. Mayor Milt McIver pointed out that the school facilities are often unavailable.
Coleman noted that when the Construction Management firm is hired, “we can have that ten-million-dollar discussion”.
How Big a Raise for Council?
“Let the show begin,” suggested Mayor McIver when the subject of Council Remuneration came up on the Agenda. MNBP Council members are among the lowest paid in the comparator group (a group of municipalities of similar size and complexity). It should be noted that municipal staff aim for the 50th percentile in the comparator group, while council’s pay is languishing well below the 20th percentile.
Council members agreed that they are seriously underpaid and they agreed that bringing themselves up to the 50th percentile should be a long-term goal. They just couldn’t agree on how fast to get there or the details of when a per-diem should be paid. Deputy Mayor Rod Anderson was all for jumping to the 50th percentile; Councillor Smokey Golden was disturbed by the optics of Council members voting to double their own pay; she was uncomfortable going above the 30th percentile in a single jump. After a lengthy period of debate, Mayor McIver summed it up: “We’re all over the map here…” Deputy Mayor Anderson suggested they “split the difference”. A few minutes later the CAO read out a motion to raise Council’s pay to the 40th percentile and institute a $50 per month allowance for cell and internet service. The motion passed unanimously on the explicit understanding that Council pay will be revisited in 2024.
As Mayor McIver noted, past councils have kicked this down the road for years, preferring to avoid controversy by making only incremental changes. “We brought this on ourselves,” was the Mayor’s summary.
Gap Encroachment “False”
Two letters in Correspondence for the June 12 Meeting demanded action to rectify encroachments by Bruce Anchor Cruises at The Gap road allowance in Tobermory. The CAO stated that the property had been re-surveyed and the results matched previous surveys. They proved that the “discussion and comments are essentially false”. There are two encroachments — one is 20cm (8 inches) the other is 10cm (4 inches). She went on to explain that the encroachment theories are probably based on the “parcel fabric” description of the Gap property. A parcel fabric is not a legal survey, she continued, and this one was “fairly off”.
With Council’s permission, the CAO proposed to write back to the complainants explaining that a resurvey had been completed and “their concerns are closed”.
The entire June 12 meeting was videotaped. You can see it (and other recent meetings) online. Select “Council and Committees” in the Government drop-down menu, then click the blue tab for the municipal YouTube channel. It’s that easy.
