By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
The Municipality of Port Hope has reported on its Jan. 18 regular and committee-of-the-whole council sessions – held electronically via videoconference due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In regular session, council approved the renaming of the Community Development department to the Planning and Development department, reflecting a modernized naming convention that aligns with best practice and similar municipal-government organizational structures. Municipal department names are review periodically to ensure they clearly reflect the responsibilities of the portfolio, and that they are modern and consistent with other Ontario municipalities.
The committee-of-the-whole session followed, highlights of which include a delegation regarding the preliminary design study for Highway 401 through Port Hope. Presented by McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers Vice-President of Transportation Structures Laura Donaldson, the study also included Choate Road, the Ganaraska River and Cranberry Road bridges.
Council also heard more on the Port Hope Area Initiative clean-up project following a 2021 review relative to municipal participation. It identified multiple action items and points for consideration.
A staff report outlined the history of the municipality’s role and important action items moving forward. These include:
Integrating PHAI municipal participation into the regular business operations of the municipality for added effectiveness.
Focusing the municipality’s efforts on facilitation rather than oversight.
Clarifying council’s participation in decision making to ensure a consistent approach.
Implementing shifts in approach so that the project’s reasonable and timely conclusion will not be at risk.
Staff recommended the repeal of Bylaw 08/2016 and its replacement by a new bylaw that will align new municipal roles and responsibilities to facilitate the PHAI project, to be presented to council at a later date.
Marianne Love of ML Consulting presented her findings from a comprehensive remuneration review. The consultant gathered information from 11 comparator municipalities on such matters as compensation, benefits, per diem rates and expense reimbursements to elected officials. Recommendations included no change to base pay rates for mayor, deputy mayor or councillor, and no change to such ancillary compensation items as per diem rates or technology, meal and travel expenses. Following a detailed discussion, the report was referred to staff for further review. A report back to the committee of the whole will come at a later date.
The Jan. 18 agendas and staff reports are available on the Agendas and Minutes page of the municipal website, and recordings of the meeting can be found at //porthope.ca/council. Meeting minutes will be available pending approval at the Feb. 1 council meeting, at which point they will become the official record of the meeting.
