Originally written for Port Rowan Good News during Noel Haydt’s 2014–2018 term as Ward 1 Councillor. Published here from the original archived document; spelling and wording have been preserved.
I hope everyone has had a great summer.
Norfolk County has been full of events and there has been something for everyone. I am very proud of all of our community groups for working hard to ensure everyone has a great time.
There was a public meeting scheduled at the Port Rowan Community centre regarding the Causeway Rebuild Project. There was a great turnout and a lot of ideas and concerns put forward. I would like to thank everyone who had the time to attend the meeting, listen and participate. Public inputs on projects are very important considering the magnitude and environmental aspects of the rebuild. It was a great day and your assistance was appreciated. This is a very large scale project and it being the only road into Long Point will complicate the construction process. The proposed design does incorporate bicycle lanes on both sides of the road. In speaking with the engineering firm in charge of the project they expect it to take 18 months to 2 years to complete. The Big Creek Bridge will be a complete rebuild so a temporary bridge will need to be erected beside the current location to ensure traffic will still be able to get through.
We are heading into the Labour Day weekend and Bayfest will be soon upon us. I hope to see everyone out and about having fun, playing games and taking in the entertainment and dinners this weekend. Bayfest brochures are in the local stores, so please stop by and pick one up to see the complete schedule.
If you did not get the opportunity to attend Norfolk Tales at Backus Conservation Authority, you missed a great show. The performers did a fantastic job. I hope to see more of these presentations in the future.
There are quite a few pressing issues that will be dealt with in council very shortly. One of the largest is the Robinson Street Administration Building where our Building / Bylaw and Planning departments are located. That building and the Wood Side Golf course are listed at realtor.ca under a power of sale agreement for $25 million. Norfolk County is the largest tenant of the RAB and the rental cost is around $900,000 per year for the first 5 years before climbing up to $1.5 million in the near future. With rental costs totally over $18,000,000 it makes sense to purchase the building outright. Financing the purchase isn’t such an easy decision as this would likely be entirely purchase through debentured and the County is taking on massive amounts of debt right now just trying to maintain the assets that they currently have. There is $67-million in the Legacy Fund (from the Norfolk Power sale) which could be borrowed against and repaid. These figures will all have to be looked at and hopefully this discussion is done in the public view.
Children and grand children will be back to school in the next few days and I would just like to remind everyone that the busses will be back on the road and kids will be excited. Please be extra cautious during bussing hours as children may be more focused on friends and back to school than traffic.