By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Land use restrictions
In light of the opening of trout-fishing season, council authorized the closure of all lands and parks under municipal ownership that border the Ganaraska River, effective through May 12, in an effort to limit group gatherings. The closure include all green spaces and trails from Molson Street South to Lake Ontario, and prohibits access to the river through municipal properties.
Council reminds citizens that the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority owns a significant number of properties along this stretch of the river. A GRCA board meeting on April 16 supported this initiative.
Failure to comply with this land-use restriction can result in a $150 fine per Bylaw 54/2017 section 3(a). This information is being communicated to the public through various communications tools, including online, social media and signage posted along the river and at the community-entry locations along the Highway 401 corridor.
Suspension of parking and transit fees
Council authorized an amendment to the Prescribed Fees and Charges Bylaw 81/2019 that includes the exemption of some municipal parking and transit fees.
The amendment includes the waiver of fees associated with transit (which was communicated to the public March 19), as well as fees associated with parking (communicated March 25).
Transit-fee suspensions include daily tickets and monthly passes as well as fees for the shuttle to Cobourg. The suspension to the parking fees includes all parking-meter fees and the Mill Street launch/Mill Street parking lots – please note that the boat launch is currently closed to the public.
This amendment formalizes the temporary suspension of certain parking and transit fees until the provincial Declaration of Emergency is lifted, or until council provides direction to begin imposing the fees again at such time as normal operations are phased in.
Animal control bylaw
Council authorized Bylaw 20/2020, a bylaw for the regulation, registration, keeping and licensing of dogs, prohibiting their running at large and prohibiting cruelty to domestic animals. This repeals Bylaw 10/2014.
In February, a draft of this bylaw was posted as a community consultation to receive public feedback on the proposed changes.
GIS service agreement
Council approved the appointment of Northumberland County as the Geographic Information Systems service provider. This will help meet the municipality’s GIS needs by providing efficient and effective operations, and substantially enhance the mapping of spatial data and analysis capabilities for the entire organization.
This initiative supports the Corporate Efficiencies priority in Port Hope’s Strategic Play by establishing a new service-delivery partner, which will support the recently approved Asset Management/GIS Co-ordinator position and further enhance asset-management planning, optimize service delivery and achieve efficiencies through technological advancement.
Minutes from this meeting will be available, pending approval at the next county meeting on May 5, at which point they will become the official record of the meeting.
Recordings of the April 21 regular-council and committee-of-the-whole meetings are available at //porthope.ca/council-communications.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
