View this email in your browser

What we ask of this Council’s last few months

With the period for candidate nominations having started on May 1, it will not be long until we reach summer, and our current Council's "lame duck" period will kick in.

While they will still be able to conduct some town business, it is unlikely that anything truly substantive will be addressed. In other words, the window for our current Council - in particular those Councillors who may choose to run in the upcoming election (only our Mayor has declared that she is definitely not going to seek another term) - to burnish their list of accomplishments prior to the election is limited.

So what does the BMRA believe should be the areas of focus for their efforts? Realistically, the list can't be very long, as time really is short.

We would propose the following items:

1) Get clarity on the state of Town finances & financial management.

There are two issues requiring attention.

First, we need to finally get a handle on the Town's long term financial health.

While we recognize there are some unknowns that complicate the matter, in particular changes to Development Charge policies by the Province, town ratepayers must be given an understanding of what financial headwinds the Town is facing, and how our capital spending and funding are to be managed in light of the economic environment. TBM’s budget challenges will be exacerbated by the need to repay some amount of DCs to developers in light of recent regulatory rulings.

Second, ever since the KPMG report was produced a few years ago, we have been waiting for evidence of its findings being applied to drive greater efficiency in Town operations. Questions regarding whether Town Staff are focused on the appropriate service delivery priorities, and if we have the correct management structure and staffing levels to optimally meet mandates and deliverables, must be answered.

2) Get a handle on our infrastructure

We are all painfully aware of the $19 million overrun on the Bay Street / Mill Street / Craigleith water systems project. Analysis of root causes and remedies is in process. Among other concerns and considerations, we believe two particular issues must be investigated.

1) Is our Asset Management Plan (AMP), conducted a few years ago and intended to give us a clear picture on the status of our current infrastructure viable?

Not having a handle on the condition of some of our water infrastructure was a big contributor to the scale of the budget overage, and it being such a surprise. The AMP must be reviewed and updated. That process can't be carried out in a few months, but the need for the review can be established and the review exercise scoped.

2) The concept of public Municipal Service Corporations has recently been getting much more attention.

Those who attended the recent BMRA Annual General Meeting would have been introduced to the idea of an MSC.

In simple terms, it allows for a regional approach to be taken to planning, constructing and running municipal infrastructure, such as water and wastewater. It is run by a third party organization, but is not a private entity.  An MSC can follow natural systems, like water sources and actual settlement patterns, instead of municipal boundries.

It allows for economies of scale, longer financing terms and non-political infrastructure planning decisions. The appropriateness of an MSC for our town would have to be determined, but the Province is currently evaluating the introduction of one for Simcoe County, including Collingwood. Our Council should state its interest in being included in the analysis of the Simcoe MSC, so that the Town would be in a position to determine its potential role in the future of TBM infrastructure.

3) Workforce / Rental Housing

The Gateway site in Thornbury, purchased for the express purpose of creating affordable housing that is desperately needed to fix our skewed housing mix, provides silent testimony to the Town's failure to make progress in meeting the challenge.

Council acknowledged the problem when they voted to declare a housing crisis in August 2024. That declaration has not spurred any particular action, and we still face a severe lack of housing that workers required by area businesses can afford. So what can be done in the limited time available?

We know that Town Staff is in the process of forming a Housing Action Team (HAT) to create a more comprehensive and unified approach to deal with workforce housing opportunities. That initiative will be presented to Council later in May. It should endorse the HAT and request a specific set of priorities and deliverables for the remainder of 2026.

There is a proposal for a workforce housing development on the property beside the Tees Please site on Grey Road 19.  There remain environmental and servicing issues to be resolved with the proposal, and Council should engage with this project to ensure that its review can be expedited.

Also, as stated, the Gateway site remains a Town asset without a plan. Isn't this an embarrassment to Council? It should be. Let's spend the next few months conducting a public exercise that looks at the viable options for use of the site, and at least chart some path for the next Council to pick up and move to a decision.

We offer up these thoughts for consideration by our Council.

What do you think?