Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Greater Napanee council returned to meeting in-person on Sept. 14, holding their regular council meeting at the Selby Community Hall, which was streamed live on the town’s YouTube channel.
Among the issued discussed were:
-Council voted to form a committee to work with Lennox and Addington Seniors Outreach Services to determine how to assist them through a difficult financial time.SOS board members Liz Cook and Mary Woods appeared before council requesting help to recover from financial losses related to COVID-19. Cook says ideally they’d like $35,000 from the town, which represents 20 per cent of the SOS budget.“Our fundraising is still at a stand still,” said Woods. “Like many, many non-profit organizations, a large percentage of our income is derived from fundraising and we’re just not able to do it.”Due to the COVID-19 shutdown, SOS brought in $12,700 from membership fees, down from $26,000 in a typical year. Unable to run their popular home tours fundraiser, the charity was only able to fundraise $10,000 or the usual $20,000 they’d bring in during a normal year.“We are operating with not a lot of money in our bank accounts,” added Cook.Councillor John McCormack made a successful motion to form a committee to work out a plan for assistance.“I think its very important to support our seniors and I’d be in support of getting a committee together of some sort with staff and council to have some more conversation to see if we can help,” said McCormack.
Mayor Marg Isbester agreed, noting they’d need a cohesive budget as the first step.
-Council voted to officially recognize three upcoming events, starting with Legion Week, which runs Sept. 19-25.
Council also added its support to recognize Sept. 30 as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as National Orange Shirt Day by sharing stories of residential school survivors, their families and communities.
The third was to proclaim October as Canadian Autism Awareness Month, which will include lighting the Strathcona Paper Centre sign in blue as well as the lights that shine on the waterfall at Springside Park. Signs will also be displayed at Springside.
-Council has passed its 2022 budget planning schedule, approving three all-day meetings with the goal to approve the budget by Dec. 14 of this year.
Following a public consultation on Sept. 21, council will meet Oct. 20 (to discuss operating budget), Nov. 17 (capital and operating updates) and Dec. 1 (water/sewer, operating and capital updates), with each meeting running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Council has also voiced a preference to have the meetings in person. A report from the Sept. 21 public consultation will be presented during Sept. 28’s regular council meeting.
The final budget approval is scheduled for Dec. 14 from 7 to 9m p.m.