Community Care’s Big Northumberland Foot Print — 600 volunteers — 42,000 hrs service — 5,000 people helped
Article by Bill Hornbostel
At the June 7 session of Port Hope’s Council, Trish Baird, CEO of Community Care Northumberland (CCN), marked Seniors’ Month detailing CCN’s engagement with the community.
Baird first provided an overview of Community Care Northumberland. “We have grown quite a bit over the last five years,” said Baird. “We are now over seventy full- and part-time staff members working out of our offices in Northumberland, we have close to 600 volunteers that provide services, and in the past year, they provided close to 42,000 hours of service. And so, we do deliver services to close to 5,000 people across Northumberland County.”
The services CCN provides include meals on wheels, transportation services, home help and maintenance, virtual exercise classes, social and safety visits, and hospice services through Ed’s House.
Baird also thanked Council for the support it has provided to CCN. “You were the first Council on our capital campaign funding for Ed’s House,” she said, adding, “You provide an annual grant for a rural transportation program …. We really get a sense of partnership through some of the recreation opportunities through the Ruth Clark Centre and the Jack Burger Sports Complex.”
For more information on Community Care Northumberland and its services, visit their Web site, commcare.ca, or call 1-866-514-5774.
The Committee of the Whole received a report from Planning and Development on 65 Ward Street. The report, noting that the deadline for Southbridge to file all permits and approvals lapsed on May 31, 2022, recommended that Council designate 65 Ward Street a heritage property at the next Council meeting on June 21. The report that there is “some urgency” to do so because of a Provincial regulation passed last year: “the regulation outlines that in the cases of an outstanding NOID [Notice of Intent to Designate], municipalities have until June 30, 2022 to pass the by-law, after which the notice is deemed withdrawn.”
After an extensive discussion, Council voted in favour of moving forward with the proposal to designate 65 Ward Street.
David Smith, Chief Administrative Officer, gave a short update on the Welcome school property. “We did issue an RFP, we did not get any responses,” he said. “Since that time, we’ve had a number of interested parties expressed some desire in purchasing it. So, we’ll have no problem selling that property. We haven’t advanced it, because in June, actually, we’re scheduled to receive the Fire Master Plan, and that property, we’ve identified that there may be… some potential to locate a fire station on that.”
Councillors discussed the merits of in-person and hybrid Council meetings. Mayor Bob Sanderson stated that he would take the matter back to the CAO and the Clerk. Smith noted that pre-COVID, there was a single camera in the Council chamber to record.
“When we think about the experience that we had tonight… we can see the presenter, we can see the presentation much more clearly than a single camera in the council chambers,” he said. “That’s the experience that that our citizens will be having, and that’s probably not meeting the expectation, although it seemed fine prior to COVID.”
Smith also said, “With some time with some investment staff can develop a plan and a budget and installation of something that gives a better experience than what we had previously, and potentially include some of the experience that we’re now getting where you can see people that are speaking, you can see presentations, you can hear presentations.”
Council passed four resolutions: adopting a Disconnecting from Work policy, granting a Condo Exemption to development at Thompson Drive, confirming support for nookFEST, and supporting the staff recommendation to build a pickleball court at the Town Park Recreation Centre.
Council also passed five by-laws: a Subdivision Agreement and a Site Plan Approval for Thompson Drive, an agreement with the Raquet Club of Port Hope to operate the tennis facilities at the Town Agricultural Park, a Prescribed Fees for Services Amendment, and the appointment of Jeff Ogden as Acting Fire Chief after Dan Smith’s departure.
The Committee of the Whole received reports from Planning and Development, Parks Recreation and Culture, and Works and Engineering.
Planning and Development presented a second report, recommended staff prepare for public notification and public meetings on a proposed subdivision in Garden Hill, which would create forty-three detached homes and a 10–21-unit apartment building.
Parks, Recreation and Culture produced an update on fishing, which noted that the Ganaraska River is one of the premier fisheries along the north shore of Lake Ontario.
Works and Engineering produced two reports; one report proposed the installation of a rainbow crosswalk (with a budget of up to $15,000), the other proposed a resolution to approve elements of an Asset Management Plan (Drinking Water, Wastewater, Stormwater, and Transportation).
Garden Hill proposed subdivision location
To watch the full video of the Council and Committee of the Whole meetings (including virtual meetings), you may visit the Port Hope YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/MunicipalityPortHope. Zoom meetings are now also being livestreamed on the same YouTube channel.
For agendas, minutes, and a calendar of meetings, you may visit Port Hope’s Council Portal, porthope.ca/agendas-and-minutes. PDFs of resolutions, by-laws, reports and presentations are available through links in the meetings in which they were presented.
