December 14, 2011
Council welcomes two
new members
by Vance Gutzman
There are some happy faces now that there are no longer any blank
spaces around the Deep River council table.
Katie Robertson and Ian Ingram were sworn in last week as town's newest
councillors, filling the void created by the departures of Chris
Carroll and Mary MacCafferty.
Robertson and Ingram were chosen as their replacements by voters in the
municipal by-election of November 28.
"We're not here because our names were drawn out of a hat," Mayor David
Thompson told Ingram and Robertson after they took their oaths of
office.
"You were chosen to be leaders of your community. Take comfort in the
knowledge that you have the support of the citizens of your community."
Councillor Terry Myers welcomed the new councillors on board with an
update on the status of some of the issues which arose from the
all-candidates meeting that was held in the run-up to the by-election -
one of those being the need for a property standards bylaw in town.
Staff will be bringing a draft property standards bylaw forward early
in the new year, Myers said, and some form of legislation should be in
place by next spring.
As for the topic of Deep River's fire service (another issue that was
raised at the all-candidates meeting) Myers said the town will be
having contract negotiations with the firefighters association early in
the new year as well.
"I'm confident we can come to an agreement that serves the best
interests of everyone."
The need for seniors' housing was also raised at the all-candidates
meeting, and Myers said council continues to work on that issue.
"It's a nebulous thing. You can't just make it happen," he said.
"I wish we had more concrete results to show for our efforts, but
efforts are ongoing."
As part of those efforts, council and staff will be taking a tour of
the Fairfields senior housing complex in Eganville in the very near
future to see how that community project, owned by the Eganville and
Area Long Term Care Corporation, go off the ground.
Committees
With the addition of two new members to its ranks, council also used
last week's meeting to juggle its committee structure accordingly,
including the five standing committees which were formed just recently.
The finance and administration committee will be comprised of Deputy
Mayor Daniel Banks and Councillors Myers and Ron Desrochers, with Banks
serving as chair of that committee.
Desrochers, meanwhile, will chair the public works committee, and will
be joined there by both Ingram and Robertson.
Myers will helm the development and planning committee, with Banks and
Desrochers bringing up the quorum, while Councillor Ruth Syme, joined
by Ingram and Robertson, will chair the recreation committee.
Banks and Syme, meanwhile will join chair Myers on the protection to
persons and property committee.
"To me it sounds like a good way of deploying the new councillors and
using their skills," Syme said of the new arrangements.
In January the town will try to recruit five members of the public to
serve as non-voting members on each of the five standing committees.
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