It’s amazing the difference a little rain will bring! Everything is much greener in Vulcan County.
There were two meetings of the County Council this month, as well as an all-day Governance and Priorities meeting to work on our strategic plan for the next four years. All councillors were provided the opportunity to identify key priorities and staff provided input from each of their departments. It was a long but insightful day. We plan to review a draft document with staff at the next Governance and Priorities meeting.
The month of May was relatively quiet for County Council; both regular meetings were only half-day. I was, however, invited to the Spring meeting of the Lake McGregor Country Estates Community Association on May 22nd. This meet was very well attended by the membership and provided a two hour “information session” on all business items of the community, as well as Social Club matters. The meeting was well-organized and the volunteer board of directors each took turns speaking to a different item on the agenda. I was greatly impressed by the thoroughness of the presentation (over 1 hour, 50 minutes), as well as the quality of the questions asked and answers provided. While the community does have significant challenges, being only phase one of a development that was initially foreseen to have three phases, the board is diligent about infrastructure and facility maintenance, as well as working toward a longer-term agreement with the developer for these installations. Longer-term viability requires that the planned three phases of development are realized, especially when provincial and federal infrastructure grants are not available for a private community of both permanent and seasonal residents.
A budget meeting kicked-off a busy month of county business on April 5th. All of council sits on the Budget Committee and this provided a second opportunity to review the budget since we first did in November. We reviewed required modifications from the interim budget with Administration.
The following is a fascinating interview by Viva Frei (David Freiheit) with the last living Canadian First Minister from the patriation of the constitution in 1982, including the negotiations that lead up to this moment in history. The former Premier of Newfoundland, the Hon. Brian Peckford, puts the Covid-19 pandemic into context, especially as we consider constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms. The interview ends with Mr. Peckford reminding us that the health of any country’s constitution relies on the ongoing engagement of its citizens.
March started off with our regular meeting on the 9th where we heard a presentation from STARS air ambulance providing an overview of their 2021 operations. We were able to finalize loan arrangements for the Carmangay Curling Association and the capital improvements that they are making to their facility. Also addressed was a minor land use bylaw amendment to rezone a parcel near Travers. We discussed the new draft recreation agreement with the Town of Vulcan as well.
