- Deputation: Council heard a deputation from Grace Willows, Windmill Bakery & Bistro, regarding a request to have a Business License for a Refreshment Vehicle at Public Beach (Port Sydney Beach and Hutcheson Beach).
- OUTCOME: Some council members expressed concern over allowing refreshment vehicles on public property and the potential that temporary operations may have a negative effect on year-round businesses. In addition to this, some concern was also raised regarding lack of parking and potential safety issues at the Port Sydney Beach. Council voted to approve a pilot project for this summer allowing Windmill Bakery & Bistro a Business License for a Refreshment Vehicle on public lands at Hutcheson Beach. Staff have been requested to prepare a policy for refreshment vehicles on public lands for Council’s consideration in advance of summer 2025.
- Council will consider a proposed Physician Recruitment Incentive Package to create an incentive program to attract family physicians as follows: signing incentive of $60,000 per physician taking over an existing practice and up to a maximum of $80,000 per physician establishing a new family practice, to a maximum of ten (10) physicians in total; the waiving of fees for ten (10) Muskoka Heritage Place and Pioneer Village one (1) year family membership and Family Skate and Swim one (1) year membership. The funds for these incentives would be drawn from the Municipal Accommodation Tax reserve and the parameters would be outlined in an agreement to the satisfaction of the CAO.
- Community Supported Incentives: It was noted that Council and Staff have spoken to many businesses and individuals regarding community supported incentives. Thank you for the generous outpouring of support from our community. If you are interested in getting involved/contributing visit www.huntsville.ca/DoctorsWanted.
- OUTCOME: This is a priority for Council as a result of doctors retiring. It is anticipated that up to one third of Huntsville residents will not have a family doctor in the near future; this would be harmful to our community in terms of health issues going undetected and puts strain on our emergency room. Council voted to approve the Physician Recruitment Incentive Package as follows: signing incentive of $60,000 per physician taking over an existing practice and up to a maximum of $80,000 per physician establishing a new family practice, to a maximum of ten (10) physicians in total; the waiving of fees for ten (10) Muskoka Heritage Place and Pioneer Village one (1) year family memberships and Family Skate and Swim one (1) year memberships. The funds for physician recruitment would be drawn from the Municipal Accommodation Tax reserve. Council also voted to add an additional Healthcare Attraction incentive spend of $1,000 per physician, for up to ten (10) new doctors, for the Town’s Economic Development Officer to purchase incentives that are not able to be donated by the community, such as passes for Arrowhead Park; this is in addition to the $10,000 already budgeted, for a total of $20,000.
- Council received the final Three (3) Committees of Council Update with the implementation plans from the Active Transportation and Public Transit, Environment and Climate Change, and Community Services Master Plan and Waterfront Strategy Committees, which met for one year as per their terms of reference (February 2023-February 2024). The next step will be for staff to determine how to integrate these outcomes into the Strategic Corporate Action Planning process and/or budgeting.
- Council received a staff report regarding a proposed IT Architecture Upgrade. A number of systems have been impacted by the cyber security incident and require changes to support a new architecture. The new architecture has removed features and functions that some applications used, which require us to implement scheduled changes earlier than originally planned, which would result in a cost of $49,592 to be funded through the Corporate Information Reserve. The applications affected are: Laserfiche (holds many of the Town’s official records), Cities Digital (integration between Laserfiche and GIS systems), and PastPerfect (records management system for over 65,000 items of historical significance and public art).
- OUTCOME: Council voted to approve $49,592 for the proposed IT Architecture Upgrade for systems impacted by the recent cyber security incident.
- Council received a Heritage Follow-up report with a proposal to delegate the task of reviewing the listed properties on the Town’s Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value to provide recommendations on designations to Council, to HAAHS, along with a member of Council to act as liaison, and directing staff to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with HAAHS to set out the terms and conditions.
- OUTCOME: Council voted to approve the delegation of reviewing the listed properties on the Town’s Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value to provide recommendations on designations to Council, to the Huntsville and Area Historical Society (HAAHS), along with Councilor Renwick as liaison.
- By-laws: Council voted to approve a revised Parking Control By-law; Council increased the fee for parking in a fire zone to $250 due to the safety considerations and repeated problems with violations, especially on Dara Howell Way; the fee increase would have to be approved by the Attorney General of Ontario before coming into effect.
Huntsville Town Council -May 27, 2024 (Town of Huntsville YouTube)