We have a very busy week coming up this week, and I hope there will be enough interest for people to attend 3 important meetings, as well as the Mayor's Levee.
January 7 (Sunday) - This is the day of our Mayor's Levee.
The Levee will take place on Sunday, January 7, from 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM. As the year 2007 marks the 175th anniversary of Orono, this years Levee will be held in the historic Orono Town Hall, Main Street Orono. "Mayor Jim Abernethy & his wife Cathy invite you to join them and other members of Council at the Mayor's Levee."January 8 (Monday) - 9:30 a.m. in Council Chambers, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville. GPA (GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE) Meeting. You can find the agenda for this meeting here. The "GPA" meetings are held every other Monday morning at 9:30 am. Decisions made at these meetings are ratified or discussed at a regular Council meeting the following Monday (7:pm). This is the protocol for regular meetings. The General Purpose and Administration Committee is made up of our Council and Mayor as well as municipal heads of departments. The Agendas for meetings (GPA or Council meetings) are posted each Friday preceding the Monday (am or pm) meeting at the link I posted above. You can also get copies of the reports by contacting the municipal department in charge of any of these issues brought forward at the meetings (planning, operations, clerks, etc). Because the GPA meetings are on Monday mornings, it can be difficult for many people to attend, but if possible do try.
January 9 (Tuesday) - 9:30 a.m. Durham Region Planning Committee meeting (open to the public) at Regional Headquarters Building (LLC - Lower Level Boardroom), 605 Rossland
Road East, Whitby. You can find the agenda for this meeting here. One of the Commissioner's Reports to be presented and discussed is 2007 -P-4 Motions Referred to Planning Committee by Council on September 13, 2006 - Approach to Addressing Region’s Request for Greenbelt Plan Changes in the Regional Official Plan Review, File: L14-03-06. This is important for residents of Clarington and especially Courtice as Durham Region wants to remove parts of the Courtice Greenbelt so that the land can be developed. The Province has said no, but that hasn't stopped the Region from trying to find a way around it. Clarington Council voted against the Region's attempts to amend the boundaries of the Provincial Greenbelt in Clarington and that report and result of the vote was sent to John Gerretsen, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; the Municipal Affairs and Housing, Greenbelt Group; the Greenbelt Council; and of course the Region of Durham Planning Department and area municipalities. Still, Durham Region has ignored Clarington's decision on this CLARINGTON land, and continues to try to back-door changes to the Plan. Anyone who has an interest at all in this issue should try to attend this meeting. It would also be helpful to contact our municipal Council, and especially our Regional Councillor Mary Novak, who is our representative on the Regional Planning Committee. Mary has not been on Council for the last 6 years so may not be completely up to speed on this, and it is up to us to help her dig through all the political-speak going on at the Region to get around Clarington's and the Province's wishes on this subject. We do hope Mary will concur with the previous Clarington Council's vote and the Clarington Planning Department Report # PSD-061-06.January 10 (Wednesday) - 7 - 9 p.m. in Clarington Council Chambers, 40 Temperance
Street, Bowmanville - an information session on Pesticide Use in Clarington. "In an effort to allow the Municipality of Clarington to develop a program to preserve human health, and environment quality, at the same time respecting the concerns of the residents of Clarington, the Municipality of Clarington is hosting a Lawn and Garden Care Information Night and has developed a short questionnaire for residents to submit. Also see Metroland News Article for more information.
Well "Dawg" what did I say? Just like the infamous Brittany S our regional councillor from Ward 1 did it again. She declared a conflict of interest on one of the mopst important issues to our area. And, just as a reporter asked "why is she on the planning committee". Maybe King Roger needs to re-shuffle his court and put Mary on finace and and Mr. Parish back on planning. But, that would mean he would have to admit to a mistake. I see the planning committee has the usual suspects including the "Irish Comic. There is no doubt the planning committee for the region is the biggest group of jesters in King Roger's court.
ReplyDeleteMs. Novak could always find a way to discover a conflict if she wanted to stay out of things. Even though it had been pointed out to her many times in the past, the last time she was on council she would continually declare a conflict because her husband's parents lived near something. In-laws do not count for conflict of interest. Conflict of interest also should only be used when there is a direct pecuniary interest involved. Unfortunately it is not up to the Chair of Council or Committee to rule whether a conflict is valid. She may not be the master of much, but she sure knows how to hide behind this. Glad to see she is the same old Mary.
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