Northern Bruce Peninsula Mayor Milt McIver looks back on the accomplishments made in 2022 and their plans for the new year.
McIver says over the past year, the municipality completed a number of reports and master plans, ranging from water and wastewater, climate and attainable housing.
“We completed our attainable housing report and during the upcoming year we are going to be looking at some things hopefully that will assist us in improving that situation,” says McIver.
He adds with the completion of water and wastewater master plan, they recognize a deficiency and says it will help support future growth and identify key improvements for new and potential developments in mainly Tobermory and Lion’s Head.
“We know if we are to proceed with any infrastructure like this, we will need help from the province and federal government. I think what we want to do as well is we want to meet with the province and the federal government and just have them recognize the important role that we play providing recreational opportunities for southern Ontario,” says McIver.
McIver adds with their recreation master plan, they identified the need to rehabilitate the Lion’s Head Recreation Centre and develop space to address various issues, with the hope of taking it to tender soon.
Despite the number of studies, reports and master plans completed, McIver identified several challenges the municipality faced over the past year.
One such challenge was registering all short-term rentals with the municipality. McIver says they plan to work hard in 2023 to bring the short-term accommodations into compliance.
“One thing that affected us, and everyone else involved, is inflation and we really saw this happen in our contracts with regards to public works and aggregate fuel and oil prices,” says McIver. “That certainly is going to be a challenge going forward.”
He adds the municipality also struggled with a work force shortage.
“Everyone seems to be lacking staff, whether it be the accommodation industry or services industry or whether it’s construction industry, they are all looking for qualified staff,” says McIver.
Looking to the new year, McIver says council had already met to identify some priorities, including attainable housing, water and wastewater, the arena project, and the lack of cell service.
“We are working with providers to try and get some solutions to internet service, looking at improving that as well. Lion’s Head is in the midst of having fibre installed right now,” says McIver. “What we would like to try and concentrate on, is finding a new location for the boat ramp in Tobermory. It’s right in the middle of Little Tub Harbour downtown, and it is just a congested area there during the summer, so we are going to try and find another location that would be better suited for both motorists and the general public,” says McIver.