Tillsonburg council briefs

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Consent granted for high-rise apartment buildings

Tillsonburg council supported an application by Harvest Ave. Inc. to severe a property containing four high-density residential lots into four separate parcels at 1 Simcoe St. The application was to sever three lots and retain one.

Updated naming policy

The Town of Tillsonburg has a new naming policy for municipal parks, and other assets.

The new policy has an evaluation framework for the process. It adds sponsorship levels, a length of time associated with a name and the requirement for an annual 10 per cent reinvestment. The policy applies to new municipal parks or assets, re-opening of facilities following renovations, renaming of facilities to recognize past contributions. The policy is not intended for park bench or tree memorials.

Hiring of new museum curator coming soon

Former Tillsonburg Mayor John Armstrong weighed in on the vacancy of an Annandale House curator in a letter to council.

Armstrong wrote the letter after attending the mayor’s New Year’s levee. While he had good things to say about the mayor’s remarks and the event, he encouraged council to fill the vacancy for the curator since Patti Phelps’ retirement in March 2024.

Andrea Greenway, Director of Culture, Recreation and Parks, updated council, saying the hiring process is underway.

New rates and fees

As part of an annual update, most rates and fees charges by the town increased by less than five per cent with a couple of exceptions. Included in the fee update were a $50 NSF fee in all town departments, a new fee for the recently-constructed Deep End meeting room in the complex addition at $31.30 per hour or $82.80 per day, and the fee for brass plaques at the cemetery jumped from $774 to $950 due to increased cost from the supplier.

One exception to the small changes was the planning fee was in the planning department where fee increases varied from 3 per cent to 44 per cent. For instance, a planning application for a zone change went from $1,793 to $2,590.

“Some are items that were in previous bylaw, some were slight changes and some were new additions,” said Renato Pullia, Director of Finance/Treasurer.

“I’d like to thank the finance department for essentially going with the cost of living on all of these,” said Deputy Mayor Dave Beres, adding gradual increases will be better accepted than a huge increase after three or four years of no increase.

Cemetary issues

A report on decorations placed on cemetery stones requested by council to alleviate confusion was sent back to staff for further clarification.

Council requested the report at the Dec. 9 meeting after there was confusion resulting from a Facebook post about removing “seasonal toppers”. While the report outlined care of stones and placement of flowers and lights, it didn’t address seasonal toppers on stones.

“Nowhere in here did I see seasonal toppers mentioned,” said Mayor Deb Gilvesy, raising the issue of why toppers need to be removed.

Greenway admitted the information could be clearer.

Coun. Chris Rosehart said the advertisement she saw said the toppers need to be removed by Nov. 1. She said the report says toppers must be securely fastened between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 or staff will remove.

“We don’t have the staffing; we are the keepers. I think we need to look at being more efficient,” Rosehart said.

The report was sent back to find more efficiencies.

New rental fee waiver policy

A new rental fee policy for Tillsonburg town facilities was endorsed by council.

Previously, groups seeking a fee waiver needed to make a deputation to council to request the exemption. The new policy provides a set of guidelines for local non-profit organizations to apply and for the decision to be made by staff if criteria are met.