Council remuneration
Hastings County Council has passed a by-law guiding its own remuneration for next year but not all of the details have been worked out pending budget discussions.
What is included in the by-law is that the warden’s salary has been set at $62,285 plus a 2027 cost-of-living adjustment. There would be no per-meeting payment.
Councillors would receive a base salary which has yet to be determined plus a per-meeting rate for certain boards and committees of $487 a meeting.
This year a councillor receives $12,146.00 annually in base salary.
The new council compensation puts Hastings County in the middle of the pack when compared to the pay in other counties of similar makeup.
Previously the pay was near the bottom of the scale.
RN contract
A long-running labour contract negotiation between Hastings County and the Ontario Nurses Association has come to an end.
On Thursday, county council signed off on a two-year agreement running from 2023 to 2025
that sees registered nurses working at Hastings Manor and Centennial Manor receive pay increases of 3.5% in 2023 and 3% in 2025.
that sees registered nurses working at Hastings Manor and Centennial Manor receive pay increases of 3.5% in 2023 and 3% in 2025.
A top wage after eight years of service has been set at $54.37 an hour.
The contract was arrived at through arbitration.
Population count
Planning is underway for a major undertaking by several community organizations in Hastings County.
On the night of October 6, groups will attempt to count the number of homeless people in what is a national program known as a Point-in-Time enumeration.
At last report well over 200 people were considered homeless in Hastings County.
Planning for the future
Hastings County Council has approved a plan for the addition of new affordable and/or social-housing units over the next 10 years.
Fifty-nine units would be located in Belleville, 31 in Quinte West, 15 in Centre Hastings, and 12 in north Hastings County for a total of 236 residences.
Staff will now provide options for locations of affordable or social housing in the five communities.
New scholarship
Hastings County is creating a scholarship program in partnership with two community colleges to increase local job opportunities in the early childhood education sector.
The colleges involved are Kingston’s St. Lawrence and Peterborough’s Fleming College.
Director of Hastings County’s Community and Human Services Department Jamie Lynne Osmond describes the scholarship:
“The purpose of the scholarship is to help reduce financial barriers to students enrolled in early childhood education programs while also encouraging graduates to seek employment in licensed childcare and early years settings in Hastings County.”
The county will grant each college $68,500 to implement the scholarship.
The program is the same as one currently in effect at Loyalist College.
