Ian Mcardle of Pesce & Associates (centre table) speaks to Brighton Council on July 18, 2016. (Photo: David Foot / Quinte News)
Council addressing “tenor and tone” of relationship with staff
Brighton’s Mayor says he’s looking ahead, after an independent consulting firm report was released, which says there is a tense relationship between Brighton Council and town staff.
Pesce & Associates was brought on in the spring, to look into how council and staff had been interacting, after staff members raised concern about the “tenor and tone of the working relationship” between the two sides.
The report listed 15 findings and five recommendations, which came from a series of interviews with people involved and suggests that councillors don’t always understand their roles, or the roles of staff, leading to a stressful environment on Alice Street.
Mayor Mark Walas says there are lots of positives to take from the report.
The report also echoed Walas’ sentiment that a number of the issues arose because of a lack of CAO, which the municipality was without for 15 months, until Bill Watson was brought on a month ago.
Watson tells Quinte News, even though he hasn’t been around long, he’s noted a shift in the culture.
Report author Ian McArdle agreed with Watson and says things do seem to be getting better.
You can click here to read the report summary, findings and recommendations, which begin on page 35.
Doctor Recruitment Committee moves forward
Brighton Council is moving forward with creating a Doctor Recruitment and Retention Committee, which will be made up of community members and councillors.
The committee will include two councillors, as well as five community members, preferably with medical experience, one of whom is a Brighton doctor already.
Councillors went over the applications last night and narrowed down the names, but say more people could be added as the process moves ahead.
The committee will be getting support from municipal staff, as well as the Brighton and Quinte West Family Health Team.
We’ll have the names posted here on Tuesday morning.
Tons of tenders awarded
Brighton Councillors awarded a number of tenders at last night’s meeting, including tapping a Norwood company to build an accessible trail extension.
Drain Brothers, the lowest bidder of six tenders, will do just under $49,000 of work along Butler Creek, between Monck and Main Streets, as an extension of the Stalwood Trail Link.
Research for the extension included consultations with the municipality’s trails working group, as well as local environmental agencies like Lower Trent Conservation and Northumberland County’s Forestry Department.
According to the deal, Drain Brothers has to start the work within 10 days of signing the contract and finish it by October 28th of this year.
Also last night, contracts were awarded for the following projects:
- Street brushing (various locations) to Cooney Excavating at approx $84,000
- Ditching to Cooney Excavating at approx $93,500
- Street brushing to Cooney Excavating at approx $84,000
- Guiderail work to McIver Enterprises at approx $23,500
- Purchase of new 2016 or 2017 snow plow-ready pick-up from Fraser Ford in Cobourg at approx $41, 500
Mayor Walas Makes School Visit
Brighton Mayor Mark Walas says the town’s economic development future seems to be in good hands, after a recent visit to Spring Valley Public School.
As part of a class project, students wrote letters to town hall with ideas about things they’d like to see in town in the future and the mayor responded with a surprise visit.
Mayor Walas tells Quinte News, he heard a lot of great ideas.
Chief Administrative Officer Bill Watson joked that they would start working head on fitting that roller coaster into the 2017 budget discussions.
