The Council of the Township of Whitewater received a report for
information purposes as it relates to delegation requests at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) Conference to be held January 22-24, 2023.
CAO Ivan Burton highlighted these three ministers.
Minister of Seniors and Accessibility
To provide the Minister with an update on the Township’s Whitewater
Seniors Home Support & Active Living pilot project and to secure sustaining funding. And to express our gratitude to the Hon. Raymond Sung Joon Cho for his recent contribution to the pilot program through the 2022 Seniors Community Grant issued on September 19, 2022.
Minister of Infrastructure
To seek support from the Minister of Infrastructure for any future application-based or alternative funding opportunities to support the rehabilitation of Grants Settlement Road which services Ontario’s premier location for whitewater rafting and other recreational industries. This road sees approximately 50,000 visitors a years from around the world from
Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry
To support the rehabilitation of the Westmeath Boat launch by engaging the Minister on funding opportunities and approvals. Establishing working
relationships to achieve Federal, Provincial and municipal funding sources.
CAO Burton reported that they planned to request several funding enterprises, including the restoration of Grant Settlement Road and the restoration of the Westmeath Boat Launch.
He said they would communicate their recommendations to MPP John Yakabuskie so that he could attend their delegations with the municipality.
Councillor Tabbert asked if they were widening Grant Settlement Road.
CAO Burton said that “at this stage, I don’t have an answer for that, but going forward we’ll be going
Councillor Olmstead encouraged new Councillors to “get into some of these conferences early on. You get a lot of good connections with other municipalities. For the first year or two, I really would recommend attending as many as you can.”
Councillor Moore recommended that the Council ‘not lose sight’ of the Lepasse Boat Launch and the work needed to be done, which CAO Burton said he would take into account.
“We need to get a full sense of how are we gonna support these assets.” CAO Burton said. “Looking at these grants at a whole would probably necessitate a full-time position.”
