Brighton Mayor Mark Walas reads from a proclamation to retiring Planning Assistant Pat Johnston, during the June.19, 2017 council meeting. (Photo: David Foot / Quinte News)
Building fees could be waived for flood repair work
The town of Brighton will be looking to help out residents who have suffered extensive property damage due to the recent flooding.
Councillor Steven Baker tabled a motion to have the municipality waive building permit fees for repairs needed to affected properties and to ask electrical, plumbing and other authorities to consider waiving their fees as well.
CAO Bill Watson says staff will look into the plan, but with some conditions, after the motion passed with an amendment that applicants demonstrate a need.
While there was some concern about the price of funding the waived fees, Councillor Baker noted that the 30 or so homes that may be affected, wouldn’t add up to a substantial cost to the municipality.
Residents concerned about rat infestation
It appears there’s a bit of a rat problem in an area of Brighton.
Forty-four citizens have signed a petition asking the municipality to look into the issue and at least two residents spoke to council Monday night, after the recent rodent troubles, which have been traced to a composter on Ward Drive.
CAO Bill Watson says they’ll take a look at what can be done, but it’s a complicated issue, especially with residents being encouraged to find different ways to dispose of waste, without throwing it in the garbage.
Watson adds the problem is originating on private property as well, which has municipal officials wary about getting involved.
Long-time planning assistant retires
A long-time member of the Brighton municipal staff was officially sent off into retirement Monday.
Mayor Mark Walas presented former planning assistant Pat Johnston with a certificate recognizing her for her many years of friendly and professional service.
Johnston thanked the people in the Planning and Building Department for all of their help over the years and said her work colleagues had become like family.
Prior to her time with Brighton, Johnston spent 19 years working for the former Percy Township and for the Municipality of Trent Hills.
EA consultant asked to make special visit
Brighton councillors feel they haven’t been kept in the loop as far as the ongoing environmental assessment goes, on the water pollution and control plant and they want to hear more by the end of the month.
Despite a recent public meeting with the consultant on the EA, JL Richards and Associates, many councillors still have more questions and have requested a special visit to Alice Street.
Council passed a motion Monday directing staff to ask JL Richards representatives to come to a special meeting next week, so they can address concerns they have, as the town continues to try to get the plant up to standard.
CAO Bill Watson tells Quinte News JL Richards has been receptive to a meeting and he’s sent them an email to see if they can fit the visit into their schedule.
Air Force museum asks for funding
Representatives from the National Air Force Museum of Canada are making the rounds to local councils asking for funding support, as they look to add a state-of-the-art theatre to the facility.
Theatre Committee head Fred Blair led a delegation asking for $15,000 towards the 110 seat theatre, as either a lump sum donation, or split up over two years.
Blair says lending support would be a good investment, since our area is one of the hottest tourist destinations in the province and the museum is also a staple in the local elementary curriculum.
Most of the planning for the theatre is already underway and council decided to look over the funding request during budget deliberations for 2018, which begin this fall.
Will Brighton help another hospital?
The group of hospitals in Kingston has made a pitch for some funding help to the town of Brighton.
Brighton resident and cancer care patient Paul Crane led the discussion, along with President of the University Hospitals of Kingston Foundation Denise Cummings.
They’ve asked the municipality for about $100,000 towards the foundation’s fundraising campaign to make upgrades at all three hospitals in Kingston, noting Brighton residents made just over 4,000 patient visits there in 2015.
Council received the presentation and deferred any funding commitments to the 2018 budget discussions this fall.
New website almost ready for launch
Brighton’s new website is almost ready to be unveiled, with a soft-launch slated for next month.
E-Solutions was contracted to revamp the site last year, at a cost of about $20,000 and after weekly meetings, municipal staff say they’re ready to show the site to councillors at the regular July meeting.
Once it’s complete and launched, the site will have a new look and will make accessing meeting agendas, minutes and other important information much easier for residents.
The site will also give council the ability to live-stream meetings, hopefully by August, once staff settle on the right camera to use for that service.
