Oct 27, 2014 - The One with the Dobson Landing Presentation

Hello all. We've got lots of things on the go. Here are the Council highlights from October 27. Since then, we've also had a public presentation from a variety of groups who receive town funding including the Library, Boys & Girls Club (I had to vacate my seat for the entirely of this presentation as it would have been a conflict of interest), RCMP, Riverview Arts Center, Captiol Theatre, TransAqua & Codiac Transpo. I also attended a great Codiac Transpo Board meeting this past week, discussing some new marketing pieces. Now, moving all the back to October 27.... For this past month, I’m borrowing the highlights from Jill Edwards, the Town’s Community Engagement Coordinator, who also posts highlights on the our website (I may have added some of my own bias in parts)

Mayor Welcomes New CAO
Mayor Ann Seamans welcomed new CAO Colin Smith to staff. Smith will take over the position of CAO from Dave Muir, who is officially retiring in January, 2015.

Public Presentation on Proposed Changes to Municipal Development Plan and Zoning By-Law
Urban Planner Sebastien Arcand gave a presentation on the proposed changes to the Municipal Development Plan and Zoning By-Law. The Town of Riverview has received a development application by a developer seeking to create a new subdivision that would be unique to Riverview for its smaller lot sizes. In order to allow for single unit dwellings on compact lots, the Town is considering changes to its Municipal Development Plan and the creation of a new residential zone. As well a portion of the development needs to be rezoned from residential to commercial. Council and members of the public had an opportunity to ask questions before the Public Hearing, scheduled on Monday, November 24 at 6:30 p.m. 
The proposed amendments to the by-law can be viewed weekdays at Town Hall between 8:30 a.m. and 
4:30 p.m. and on our website.

Presentation by TransAqua Riverview
Council heard a presentation by TransAqua, which outlined its proposed budget for the upcoming year.

Presentation by Codiac Transpo
Council heard a presentation by Codiac Transpo, which outlined its proposed budget for the upcoming year.

Presentation of Fire Service Medals
Mayor Ann Seamans and Fire Chief Denis Pleau awarded Fire Service medals at the Council meeting Monday evening. 
Captain/Paramedic Gilles Allard received his 40 year Federal Service Bar
Firefighter/ Paramedic Dennis Woods received his 20 year Federal Service Medal
Deputy Chief Training Mitchell Short received his 25 year Provincial Service Medal
Firefighter/Paramedic Joshua McKinnon received his Riverview Fire & Rescue 5 year Service Bar
Firefighter/Paramedic Jordan Maxwell received his Riverview Fire & Rescue 5 year Service Bar

P.R.O. Kids
One hundred and eighty-seven children have been placed into programs this fall through the program. The total number of placements made in 2014 is 580.

Cat Licensing
During further discussion on the licensing of cats, Council requested the development of a public education program for 2015 and will revisit the idea of fee discounts during the 2016 budget process. You may remember in our last Council meeting that Council had voted (I was the lone nay vote) to accept recommendations to keep licensing. Now that we are moving on, our Town Clerk, Annette Crummey, does have some great suggestions including an education piece on licensing and possible discounts for early registrations. We have a lot of things to iron out with that one though. I also need to thank Annette for putting in a lot of research into what other communities do. She is very thorough and a great asset to us!

Appointments
The Mayor appointed Tammy Johnston and Andrea Best to the Town Advisory Committee on Disabilities and David Muir was appointed to the Greater Moncton Waste Water Treatment Commission (TransAqua) Board.

Movember
Town staff will be taking part in Movember, a month long fundraiser to promote prostate cancer awareness and prevention. Ladies on staff will be participating in a Miss Movember 5km run on November 22. I have attempted to participate in Movember in years past but it appears as though my upper lip has not hit puberty yet and I am incapable of growing a moustache. (Jill didn't write that part)

Next Meeting
The next Council meeting will take place on November 10, 2014 beginning at 7 p.m. The agenda will be available online on Thursday prior to the meeting.

We are very close to budget deliberations and all of Council is very much interested in hearing feedback from residents on what your priorities are for the town. We would love to be able to invest in everything but alas, we have limited funds and aim to invest according to priorities of residents and in projects that will continue to move our town forward, toward growth and prosperity.

As always, leave a comment below, send me a message, give me a call and let me know what you think! You can check out previous highlights on my website www.andrewjleblanc.com.