Meaford councillors returned to the council chamber on Monday for their first meeting after their annual August break.
Council’s last meeting before their summer break was held on July 21. During that meeting council received some good news regarding the costly future expansion of the municipal wastewater treatment plant, which could be delayed by several years thanks to sewer relining initiatives that had been undertaken to reduce inflow and infiltration into the system. Those efforts have seen the average daily flows decreased from 80.4 percent of the plant’s capacity to 52 percent, which was certainly welcome news as council was heading into their summer break.
When it is said that councillors were enjoying their annual August break, that break is from council meetings only. The job of a councillor doesn’t pause for a summer break. There are still committee meetings held throughout the summer, community events to attend, and the communications from ratepayers don’t necessarily come to a halt because council is on break.
All seven of our members of council, from the regular councillors to the mayor, have busy schedules and heavy workloads. Even with some of the council-related responsibilities to maintain during their summer ‘break’, the absence of council meetings and their agendas, which typically include hundreds of pages of reports to absorb for the month of August, was surely refreshing for members of council. I know it was for me.
On Monday however, it was back to work for council, and back to covering and reporting on their meetings for me. And while the break was welcome, I was pleased to see councillors back in the council chamber with a full agenda to tackle.
The agenda for council’s first meeting after the break covered a wide range of topics and interests.
During Monday’s meeting council heard that the municipal website is in need of a major overhaul and upgrade, a project anticipated to cost approximately $215,000.
Council was also advised of an offer to donate land in the harbour area to the municipality valued at roughly $425,000 (more on that in the weeks to come).
Along with the standard planning matters that are included in most council agendas, such as removing holding symbols from development properties, council also approved a heritage permit for the replacement of a balcony on a residential home.
Council also appointed a new Clerk on Monday, Margaret Wilton-Siegel, who has worked for the municipality since 2013, first as an executive assistant to the CAO, and later serving as Deputy Clerk beginning in 2019.
Wilton-Siegel’s appointment to the position of Clerk is a wise decision from this scribe’s perspective as she has always been an asset to the municipality in all the years that I have interacted with her. For someone that reports on council, the municipal Clerk is often the first point of contact when questions arise, and Wilton-Siegel has always been professional, and quick to respond, and that is always very much appreciated.
During Monday’s meeting, council also reviewed a report outlining the setting of principles for drafting a new facilities use agreement with the Meaford Cultural Foundation, which led to a discussion of municipal subsidies for use of municipal facilities generally, a conversation we will hear more of in the months to come.
As was reported in late August, councillors returned to the council chamber after their summer break missing one member, Steve Bartley, who has resigned his position as a result of a move outside of the municipality. All members of council expressed thanks to Bartley for his 11 years of service on council, and they all offered praise for the work that he had done during his time on council. And rightly so, as after spending time in council chambers in three municipalities over the past 35 years, including the past 17 years of reporting on Meaford’s council, Bartley is one of the best I have ever seen. He was direct and to the point, he did his research, always arriving at council well prepared, and though he had firm beliefs and convictions, he was always open to have his mind changed.
To quote Councillor Harley Greenfield, Meaford’s longest serving member of the current council, Bartley was ‘solid’. Greenfield would know a solid councillor when he sees one, as he is one himself. While he and I haven’t always agreed on issues, he is another stand-out councillor for whom I have enormous respect for his dedication and hard work, not to mention his vast knowledge of this community’s history, which has served him well over his nearly three decades in municipal politics after having been first elected in 1997 (before amalgamation) to St. Vincent’s council.
Bartley will be missed on council, particularly at budget time where he always delved deeply into not just Meaford’s budgets, but all of the other municipal budgets in the county as well.
During Monday’s meeting council officially declared Bartley’s seat at the council table vacant, starting the ball rolling for replacing him. Council has two options, they can appoint someone to fill the seat for the remainder of the term (the next municipal election will be held on October 26, 2026), or hold a by-election, an unlikely option given that there is just over a year left in the term.
Staff will soon bring a report to council outlining the process and options, and Bartley’s vacant seat will be filled in the coming weeks. Council will move on to the final stretch of their term, before shifting into election mode next summer.
As you can see from the range of items included in Monday’s council agenda, there is never a shortage of issues for councillors to address. While some issues are perhaps more interesting or exciting than others, they are all important, and all must be considered and decided upon by our elected members of council.
Council’s summer break is over, and it’s back to the grind. There will be some very busy months ahead with some important tasks for council to tackle including the upcoming budget season, where this council will debate and approve the final municipal budget of their term, knowing that when voters begin assessing candidates for next year’s election, this final budget will be fresh in voters’ minds.
Welcome back councillors, there is a busy year to come, with many important decisions to be made.
