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Referral items from Penetanguishene council are meant to direct staff for reports, and some finance and corporate service items were noted in the recent committee of the whole meeting.
An item which remained on the list for a future agenda was regarding paper ballots as a consideration for the 2026 municipal election in Penetanguishene, with a report anticipated for the first quarter of 2025.
Two other items listed on the section were requested to be removed by Mayor Doug Rawson, who explained his reasoning for the committee’s consideration.
A report on a non-resident fee review update had been requested by Rawson in October of 2023.
“I think we’ve had a lot of discussions about non-resident fees and the like,” said Rawson in the recent meeting. “We did add to our budget this year to look to a third party to help us through this process.
“I think this one doesn’t provide enough depth and clarity for staff, and I think they’re kind of hung up on the report process, and I think that budget item we talked about will help that process.”
Rawson’s recommendation to remove the referral item until further clarity could be obtained was approved.
His second item was a request by Coun. Doug Leroux in July of 2024 to have staff explore options for warming/cooling centres, including policies, support and resources; a report to council was projected to be ready for year-end.
Rawson requested its removal as well, noting he had spoken with CAO Jeff Lees and fire chief Richard Renaud, and the consensus was that further data would be brought back to council pertaining to warming/cooling centres; the removal request was also approved by the committee.
Culture Alliance representative Coun. Bonita Desroches noted the announcements of Midland and Tay Township councils to leave the program in the near future.
“I would like to add this as a referral item so that we can gather some information,” said Desroches, “and maybe decide what we will do as a town, moving forward with culture.”
Another addition was made by Coun. George Vadeboncoeur, who addressed an electronic sign installed earlier in the year as per staff recommendations from a list of locations.
“I’d like to see a program developed that could be implemented over several years through the capital budget for the implementation of electronic signs at various locations around town,” requested Vadeboncoeur.
Amendments to the referral item list become ratified at the following regular meeting of council, with an anticipated timeframe provided by staff.
Meetings of Penetanguishene council are held on the second Wednesday of each month, and can be watched live on Rogers TV cable 53 when available, or on the Rogers TV website.
Archives of council meetings are located on the Town of Penetanguishene YouTube channel.
