Councillors debate one-way McMurray Street

 

There are no traffic problems in front of Bracebridge Public School as far as the school board is concerned.

That was the message relayed to Bracebridge councillors by public works staff during their latest general committee meeting.

Councillors were looking over a report on the possibility of converting McMurry Street, where the school is located, into a one-way street.

Councillors have received many complaints over the years regarding congestion on the narrow street, specifically at times when students are dropped off or picked up from school.

However, Walt Schmid, the town’s director of public works, said school board trustees said they hadn’t had a single complaint about the situation. He said further that the board doesn’t see the area as a safety concern and have no plans to change the current situation.

Coun. Mark Quemby said there is a problem and the school board has created it by having virtually no parking at the school. He said the board should be paying the full cost of any new parking spots and not the Town.

Coun. Lori-Lynn Giaschi-Pacini said she had a big problem with any plans that might lead to the cutting down of the old trees that line the street.

Coun. Barb McMurray said more parents should be using the Town parking lots and walking with their kids to school.

The committee decided to wait until next week’s council meeting to discuss the matter further, as the council rep for the area was not in attendance.

Councillors debate the use of alternates

 

Bracebridge councillors went back and forth on the issue of alternate councillors during the latest Bracebridge general committee meeting.

New rules from the province will allow members of lower tier municipalities to have an alternate stand in for them when they cannot attend District council.

Coun. Lori-Lynn Giaschi-Pacini said the province just wants a warm body to fill the seat, but that alternative might not know the issues and might not vote in the Town’s interest. She said Bracebridge should put off a decision until after the next election at least.

Coun. Rick Maloney said he was somewhat offended at comments that a Bracebridge councillor might not stand up for Bracebridge interests. He said the track record of the current councillors speaks for itself and to say they might not be committed was not a respectful comment.

Coun. Archie Buie said most people feel there’s already too many councillors at the District level, and adding alternatives on top of that wasn’t going to make anyone happy.

Coun. Mark Quemby said Bracebridge needs all the votes at District council it can get and they should appoint someone immediately.

Ultimately, the committee decided to put off the vote for a month until they can gather more information.

Fishing trash to be cleaned up

 

The Town of Bracebridge is making a push to control all of the excess fishing line that frequently ends up in Muskoka’s lakes and rivers.

During the latest general committee meeting, councillors agreed that they would put 10 new fishing line recycling units up for consideration during the 2018 budget deliberations. The units are expected to be installed at the Town’s boat launches at a cost of $2,500.

Coun. Mark Quemby said the idea would be a huge a huge enhancement that would benefit the local environment.

While Coun. Barb McMurray wasn’t opposed to the idea, she said it was a sad day for the Town when they were forced to provide a service for people who lacked the common decency to take their garbage home with them.

Bridge problems on the rise

 

The bridges of Bracebridge need at least $4.4 million in repairs over the next 10 years.

That was the message delivered in a report to the Town’s general committee earlier this week.

When compared to the 2014 bridge report, the number of performance deficiencies and maintenance needs has increased from 63 to 95.

However, Coun. Mark Quemby said he found the report to be alarmist. He pointed out that items like end cap replacements and the installation of signs were deemed as urgent, but he questioned exactly how urgent those items really were.

Coun. Barb McMurray pointed to repairs on a bridge at the end of Purbrook Road. She said the area in question was an old pioneer road that now only services a single property.

Walt Schmid, the Town’s director of public works, said the problem is that the Town built the bridge in the first place so it remains a public bridge.

Band leader gets downtown plaque

 

Bracebridge general committee agreed to allow the construction of a plaque near the bandshell in Memorial Park to commemorate the Bracebridge Citizen’s Band and bandleader John Morra.

Morra was the bandmaster of the Bracebridge Citizens’ Band between 1929 and 1956.

In a 1972 article on the passing of Morra at the age of 83, the Bracebridge Herald Gazette stated that: “The Bracebridge Citizens’ Band lead by Mr. Morra was forefront in the cultural life of Bracebridge and was the community’s principal musical organization. A barber by trade, Mr. Morra’s real vocation was music. He appeared to regard the Band as a way of serving the people, of bringing them the best and most attractive in musical composition, including many pieces of his own.”

The full cost of the memorial and installation will be paid for by the family of Anna Granger – John Morra’s daughter.

Councillor beadte one way McMurray Street

 

There are no problems with traffic in front of Bracebridge Public School, as far as the school board is concerned.

That was the message relayed to Bracebridge councillors by public works staff during their latest general committee meeting.

Councillors were looking over a report on the possibility of converting McMurry Street, where the school is located, into a one-way street.

Councillors have received many complaints over the years regarding congestion on the narrow street, specifically at times when students are dropped off or picked up from school.

However, Walt Schmid, the town’s director of public works, said school board trustees said they hadn’t had a single complaint about the situation. He said further that the board doesn;t see the area as a safety issue and have no plans to change to alter the current situation.

Coun. Mark Quemby said there is a problem and the school board has created it by having virtually no parking at the school. He said they should be paying the full cost of any new parking spots and not the town.

Coun. Lori-Lynn Giaschi-Pacini said she had a big problem with nay plans that might lead to the cutting down of the old trees that line the street.

Coun. Barb McMurray said more parents should be using the town parking lots and walking with their kids to school.

The committee decided to wait until next week’s council meeting to discuss the meeting further, as the council rep for the area was not in attendance.

 

Council debates the use of alternatives

 

Bracebridge councillors went back and forth on the issue of alternate councillors during the latest Bracebridge general committee meeting.

New rules from the province will allow members of the lower tier municipalities to have an alternate stand in for them when they cannot attend district council.

Coun. Lori-Lynn Giaschi-Pacini said the province just wants a warm body to fill the seat, but that alternative might not know the issues all that well and might not vote the same way they would want them to vote. She said Bracebridge should put off a decision until after the next election at least.

Coun. Rick Maloney said he was somewhat offended at comments that a Bracebridge councillor might not stand up for Bracebridge interests. He said the track record of the current councillors speaks for itself and to say they might not be committed was not a respectful comment.

Coun. Archie Buie said most people feel there’s already too many councillors at the District level, and adding alternatives on top of that wasn’t going to make anyone happy.

Coun. Mark Quemby said Bracebridge needs all the votes at District it can get and they should appoint someone immediately.

Ultimately, the committee decided to put off the vote for a month until they can gather more information.

 

Fishing trash to be cleaned up

 

The Town of Bracebridge is making a push to control all of the excess fishing line that frequently ends up in Muskoka’s lakes and rivers.

During the latest general committee meeting, councillors agreed that they would put 10 new fishing line recycling units up for consideration during the 2018 budget deliberations. Teh units are expected to be installed at the Town’s boat launches at a cost of $2,500.

Coun. Mark Quemby said the idea would be a huge a huge enhancement that would benefit the local environment,

While Coun. Barb McMurray wasn’t opposed to the idea, she said it was a sad day for the town when they were forced to provide the service for people who lacked the common decency to take their garbage home with them.

 

Bridge problems on the rise

 

The bridges of Bracebridge need at least $4.4 million in repairs over the next 10 years.

That was the message delivered in a report to the Towns general committee earlier this week.

When compared to the 2014 bridge report, the number of performance deficiencies and maintenance needs has increased from 63 to 95.

However, Coun. Mark Quemby said he found the report to be alarmist. He pointed out that items like end cap replacements and the installation of signs was deemed as urgent, and he questioned exactly how urgent those item really were.

Coun. Barb McMurray pointed to repairs on the a specific bridge at the end of Purbrook Road. She said it the area in question was an old pioneer road that now only services a signal property.

Walt Schmid, the Town’s director of public works, said the problem is that the Town built the bridge in the first place so it remains a public bridge.

 

Band leader gets downtown plaque

 

Bracebridge general committee agreed to allow the construction of a plaque near the bandshell in memorial park to commemorate the Bracebridge Citizen’s Band and bandleader John Morra.

Morra was the bandmaster of the Bracebridge Citizens’ Band between 1929 and 1956. He is credited with providing musical entertainment to the community throughout the year and in the park itself on Monday nights during summer months.

In a 1972 article on the passing of Morra at the age of 83, the Bracebridge Herald Gazette stated that: “The Bracebridge Citizens’ Band lead by Mr. Morra was forefront in the cultural life of Bracebridge and was the community’s principal musical organization. A barber by trade, Mr. Morra’s real vocation was music. He appeared to regard the Band as a way of serving the people, of bringing them the best and most attractive in musical composition, including many pieces of his own.”

The full cost of the memorial and installation will be paid for by the family of Anna Granger – John Morra’s daughter.