By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Cobourg council voted at Monday’s committee-of-the-whole meeting to fill the vacant position of Senior/Principal Planner (Development Review).
Director of Planning and Development Anne Taylor Scott said the position had been vacant since the end of February.
The annual salary of the position (including benefits) is up to $120,000 – which, Taylor Scott pointed out, should be offset to some degree by the post being vacant for the past few months (saving approximately $8,000 per month).
On the other hand, there is the new provincial planning legislation that forces municipalities to refund development fees when approvals are not granted within a prescribed time frame coinciding with the town being short-staffed. Also offsetting potential savings is the fact that the town has had to contract out some planning work just to keep on top of the demands.
“We have upwards of 30 new development applications this year alone, and 53 open and active development files,” Taylor Scott said.
While development is not likely to slow down, she noted several considerations such as recruitment and retention challenges that are not unique to Cobourg.
The motion passed by council envisions a hiring date of Oct. 1, “funded by any remaining unused salary dollars from the vacant planning position, with the balance funded by the Human Resources Personnel Contingency in the amount of $30,000 in addition to any associated onboarding costs.”
