County Considers Re-use of old Golden Plough

John Draper

In discussions about the homeless, there is often a suggestion to house them in the old Golden Plough Lodge (GPL) building once it is no longer used as a retirement home.  Last October, County Council asked staff to look at options for that idea and at the County Council meeting on 21 January they reported on three options with costs.  Retaining and fully renovating the building is the most expensive option at $35 to $55M but other options are less expensive – details below.  Currently, the plan is to demolish the building, and develop entry/exit roads but perhaps it could be partly demolished and repurposed (option 2) or maybe after the GPL is demolished, a new smaller building could be… Read complete articleCounty Considers Re-use of old Golden Plough

Day-time Warming Room in Cobourg

John Draper

At the next Council meeting on 28 January, Mayor Cleveland is planning to ask Council to approve a day-time warming room and respite centre for the homeless to “bookend” the County’s space in the County building.  With the County space only available at nights, and the Rotary Park washrooms closed to them, many homeless are using the lobby of Victoria Hall to keep warm during the day since as Lucas notes, a day-time warming space is not provided by the service manager (the county).  Lucas points to the need to provide a safe workplace for municipal staff but also recognises that “vulnerable individuals deserve access to a dignified space that creates the opportunity for visiting social services and (the) health… Read complete articleDay-time Warming Room in Cobourg

New Year’s Levee – 2026

John Draper

Every Year, Cobourg has a “Levee” to mark the new year and it gives the Mayor the chance to speak directly to residents – at least those who are interested enough to attend.  This year, Mayor Lucas Cleveland was effusive in his praise for the community and Town staff.  He listed a few highlights of 2025 (list below) and hinted at more to come in 2026 without being specific.  All councillors were there to greet guests plus MPP David Piccini and County Warden Mandy Martin attended. As usual, speeches were kicked off by Town Crier Mandy Robinson – she also read out a poem after remarking that we no longer have a Poet Laureate – Maybe she can do both… Read complete articleNew Year’s Levee – 2026

Predictions for 2026

John Draper

This is the time of year when I review last year’s predictions and make new ones for the coming year.  But despite watching what’s happening, I’m only fair at predictions since forecasting the future is not a precise art.  Last year I made 17 predictions and got 12 right – and this year, most of the same predictions apply!  Instead of just one set of predictions, I am dividing it into “Happenings” and “Non-Events”. Apart from the election in October, I don’t see anything much happening in 2026 so my predictions have more non-events than happenings.   In your comments, feel free to disagree with my predictions or make your own.  Hopefully, Cobourg residents will be happy with the Town no… Read complete articlePredictions for 2026

A Review of 2025 in Cobourg

John Draper

It’s almost the end of the year and time for a review of what has happened in Cobourg over the past year.  A Federal election saw the incumbent MP Philip Lawrence returned and a Provincial election saw the incumbent MPP David Piccini returned.  There was turnover of senior staff at the Town: in August 2021 long time Planning Director Glenn McGlashon left, Anne Taylor Scott was hired January 2022 but left in March 2024 to be replaced by Cristal Laanstra who left in August 2025.  Using his strong mayor power, Mayor Cleveland quickly promoted Chris Challenger to the new position of Director of Development which includes the Planning function. Chris was hired in April 2024 as “Manager of the Office… Read complete articleA Review of 2025 in Cobourg

Council Approves Security for Transit Shelter

John Draper

When the building on Albert Street adjacent to the Rotary Park rink was built, it was intended for use as a Transit shelter complete with washrooms and also as a place for people using the rink to put on skates.   But over the past few years, it “has unintentionally become a refuge from the elements and a private escape from public oversight.” Or put bluntly, the homeless and drug addicts took it over. Bylaw and Police Officers have observed “bylaw infractions involving trespass, public intoxication, public indecency/nudity, consumption of controlled substances, nuisance activity, noise, vandalism etc., in the immediate vicinity and the area surrounding the transit shelter”.  At Wednesday’s Council meeting, a motion was passed to authorize spending up to… Read complete articleCouncil Approves Security for Transit Shelter

Council Approves Revised Budget

John Draper

Cobourg Council had an all-day meeting on Monday to review the 2026 budgets – primarily the Operating budget. Since the Province has mandated that at Towns designated with Strong Mayor Powers (which includes Cobourg), the Mayor should present the budget, Mayor Lucas Cleveland did just that. He used Police Reserves to reduce the Police budget down from their 20.5% increase to 6.31% and made other changes so that the total tax levy increase would be 2.7%. But at today’s Council meeting, these changes were reviewed. The meeting had a strong focus on reserves with considerable discussion on how to keep the tax increase down. In the process, we heard from David Dexter, leader of the Community Budgetary Task Force and… Read complete articleCouncil Approves Revised Budget

Police Association Supports Chief’s Budget

John Draper

Sergeant Rich Ferguson is the President of the Cobourg Police Association (Union) and in his letter in a Press Release on December 12, he supported Chief VandeGraaf’s budget with its increase of 20.5%.  Apart from his arguments in favour of the budget, I would note three things:  1) The budget is described as “put forward by Chief Paul VandeGraaf” and not by the people who are responsible for it – the Police Services Board. 2) There is no reasoning provided as to why the increase is so large this year when the changes did not all happen this year. 3) Completely ignored are suggestions by the Public that the Board look into re-thinking Policing in Cobourg: Why not OPP or… Read complete articlePolice Association Supports Chief’s Budget

Q3 Operational Status Report Released

John Draper

In mid 2024, CAO Tracey Vaughan implemented Operational plans and KPIs to document actions taken to follow Cobourg Council’s Strategic Plan.  Progress is shown on a page on the Town’s web site but the best updates come with reports each quarter from Kara Euale, Manager, Office of the CAO.  At the Corporate, Finance, and Legislative Standing Committee Standing Committee meeting on December 4, the Q3 report was released and it was a useful update on what Town Staff have been doing this year.  Not everything planned was done but there is good progress on most items.  As well as reporting on “Strategic Actions”, a report on 8 KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) was provided.  Download the full report below although I… Read complete articleQ3 Operational Status Report Released