Tiny council pushing for fibre connectivity for inland residents
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Midlandtoday.ca
Nov 22, 2024
The only thing faster than fibre-connectivity in Tiny Township is municipal staff putting together a request on why the township hasn’t received full high-speed internet installation as of yet.
During the recent committee of the whole meeting, Coun. Dave Brunelle raised the topic of attending the 2025 Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference in January as a delegate, but wanted fellow council members to put together a reason to ask the province to help Tiny Township. “I know we did a delegation at AMO; it was quite successful and productive,” said Brunelle, referencing a joint-meeting with Midland which resulted in a potential solution to septage issues the township faced.
When asked by Mayor Dave Evans what the timeline would be to craft a delegation proposal, members of council replied five business days which resulted in muted laughter from many in the room. Evans asked CAO Robert Lamb if it would be feasible have something within that period, which Lamb affirmed.
Conversation went to various topics that the township could address to provincial ministers in attendance, but Brunelle cautioned that their suggestions were on a higher provincial level such as municipal insurance, increased OPP billing costs, reduced infrastructure funding and others; Brunelle asked that something tailored more to Tiny specifically be considered.
After further consideration, Lamb proposed that Tiny could request an update on the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (or SWIFT) project introduced in 2022, a non-profit, municipally-led broadband expansion project aimed at bringing high-speed internet to rural communities across Ontario. Many locations along the Georgian Bay shoreline received fibre installation in recent years, but not many interior areas of Tiny Township. “There are large portions of our community still that we have been waiting, for I think almost three years now,” said Lamb, “…for applications that were submitted to bring a form of high-speed (internet) to all of our concession roads.” He added: “The provincial government has just made a big deal out of a $100-million deal with Elon Musk with his satellite stuff, yet there are very easy wins that wouldn’t cost nearly that much to be getting – even if it’s fibre on the poles rather than buried on the ground on a lot of our concession roads.
Lamb stated that a request could be submitted within the timeframe, which the committee of the whole accepted.
Following the meeting, MidlandToday asked Lamb about the importance of high-speed internet in rural areas. Lamb replied that the Simcoe County Access Network was an early form of high-speed that connected municipal offices with libraries, schools and hospitals, and it was time to fill remaining gaps.
“One of the largest adopters of technologies that you have out there is actually the agricultural community,” said Lamb. “When you see the large production farming that takes place now, the technology those farms are utilizing – and then not having the ability to potentially download that information and get it as quickly as they would – it has productivity means to it as well.”
The 2025 ROMA conference delegation correspondence can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the township’s YouTube channel.
Future Tiny municipal building gets more scrutiny by councillor
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Midlandtoday.ca
Nov 25, 2024
In most municipalities, the minutes of committee meetings are passed along to a committee of the whole with little to no comments, while larger discussions are centred around thoroughly researched staff reports.
However, Tiny Township is preparing for an upcoming multi-million dollar municipal building to replace seven of their outdated or obsolete facilities, and opposition to the build has taken to scrutinizing details that go well above standard municipal discussions. At the recent committee of the whole meeting, the mid-September minutes for council and several committees were provided with the usual intent to adopt the items as distributed. However, Coun. Dave Brunelle requested that the Tiny Township administrative centre committee meeting minutes be pulled; when asked if he wanted to amend the minutes, he replied it was for discussion purposes. Over the span of 15 minutes, Brunelle fired seven delving questions with additional side questions at staff that had senior management scrambling through documents and websites to keep up for response.
Deputy CAO and corporate services director Haley Leblond clarified that financial information returns were annual requirements to receive Ontario Municipal Infrastructure Fund operating grants; and that a 300-page report from April contained estimates prior to a Class D cost update, with future building costs to be forthcoming.
Public works director Tim Leitch clarified that a project roadmap on the township website contained Phase 1 and Phase 2 steps toward the goal, adding that the hiring of a construction manager at risk would also include a timeline for the project’s checkpoints.
Brunelle prompted his final question, causing members of the gallery to get excited as they whispered in preparation to each other. “Should we not wait until council gets the results of the site studies and assessments, in particular the Endangered Species Act assessment, before we hire a construction manager?” asked Brunelle. Ice age grass had been a sticking point for opposition to the project. Once the go-ahead was given by council to green-light the project, ice age grass was frequently cited as the primary reason why no administration centre should be constructed in “Stop the Build” protests.
Leitch explained that the natural heritage study (for the entire subject property) and environmental impact study (specific to the administration centre construction), would be a component which the future construction manager would utilize to know where to develop the site; he added that the studies were currently in review with the committee to be released in early January for the public. “For the record,” said Leitch, “this is not the only location in the township of Tiny that does have ice age grass; it’s probably in about 8 or 10 different locations noted on the national site and the airport. “Through all the three public information centres, it’s been very clear that the township will be celebrating the fact of finding these. This property has been used for many, many years. It’s been – for decades if not 100 years – clear cut, it’s been farmed, all sorts of activities happened on this property over the last over-100 years, and the ice age grass is there, it’s healthy and alive.” He added that the township would celebrate discovery of the grass with the new build.
With questions concluded, Mayor Dave Evans thanked Brunelle with appreciation for asking them.
The meeting minutes of the mid-September Tiny Township administrative centre committee can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Tiny racing to revise friendly e-bike bylaw for trail system
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, MidlandToday.ca
Nov 21, 2024
The tires were spinning at Tiny Township committee of the whole as a potential bylaw amendment to allow certain e-bikes on the Tiny Trail system gained some traction with council members.
From a recommendation by the parks and recreation advisory committee, e-bikes up to 32 kilometres per hour were requested to be included into the Tiny Trail bylaw regulations for allowable activity.
Members of council were wary on the topic with concerns on 32 kilometres per hour as a top speed.
Public works director Tim Leitch explained that the proposed amendment would remove two of the four e-bike classes from the trail, leaving Class 1 and 2 power-assisted bicycles, or e-bikes. “What this gets rid of is the scooters and those types of bikes, and that’s what we’re really concerned about on the trails,” said Leitch, citing the Vespa brand as an example. “32 kilometres per hour; that sounds fast but when you go down the trails people are riding on their bikes faster than 32 kilometres per hour.”
The primary reason Leitch initiated the conversation, he said, was due to an interaction he’d had with visiting seniors over the summer who were travelling from Wasaga Beach to Penetanguishene for lunch by using e-bikes. “It struck me at that moment, I thought this is really what’s going to get our seniors active, get them out,” said Leitch, who jokingly admitted he had difficulty pedalling to the top of Concession 9 under his own power. “We have such a large seniors population in Tiny, and this is what’s going to get our seniors out.”
Further questions involved liability risks and definitions of e-bikes. From his perspective on the parks and recreation committee, Coun. Dave Brunelle explained that the reason the committee waited nearly a year before bringing the recommendation to council was due to waiting on the province for that definition; the group finally decided instead to simply lift wording from the provincial website regarding riding an e-bike.
Leitch added that council approval would allow the parks and recreation committee to look at everything and report back early in the new year.
Mayor Dave Evans stated he was in favour of the recommendation, agreeing with increased mobility for Tiny residents around the township. In his comments, Evans made reference to Midland Mayor Bill Gordon utilizing an e-bike during the recent Terry Fox Run, as well as the speed of snowmobiles on the trail exceeding 32 kilometres at times. On the visitors from Wasaga Beach, Evans said: “I think that’s incredibly liberating, and why wouldn’t we try to find a way for people to do that, (to) get outside and get fresh air? I think that far outweighs the safety concerns; those can be updated and monitored on an ongoing basis.”
Given the thorough discussion, a unanimous vote was given to have staff investigate further and report back at a future meeting.
The Tiny Trails e-bike provisions bylaw amendment recommendation can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Township of Tiny’s Mayor and Deputy Mayor elected to chair and vice-chair of County committees
Date: November 27, 2024
(Tiny, Ontario) On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Township of Tiny’s Mayor David Evans and Deputy Mayor Sean Miskimins were elected to be chair and vice-chair respectively of two different County of Simcoe committees. The mid-term business section election occurred at the County Council and Committee of the Whole meeting.
The County of Simcoe’s Committee of the Whole reports to County Council, and has three business sections: Performance Management, Human Services, and Corporate Services. Each business section committee has sub-committees that report through them to County Council. The committees provide guidance to County Council to make informed decisions and work to better the Simcoe community.
Mayor Evans was elected to the position of Chair of the Performance Management business section that has the following reporting committees: Accessibility Advisory Committee and the Audit and Finance Committee.
“I am honoured to accept the nomination for the Chair of Performance Management,” said Mayor David Evans. “I look forward to working with Vice-Chair Richard Norcross, Mayor of New Tecumseth, as we find new and innovative ways to improve accessibility across the County and help to ensure we are financially responsible as Simcoe’s population and need for resources both continue to grow.”
Deputy Mayor Miskimins was elected to the position of Vice-Chair of the Corporate Services section that has the following reporting committees: Agricultural Liaison Committee, Economic Development Sub-committee, Planning Advisory Committee, and the Grant Task Force.
“It is my absolute honour to accept the Vice-Chair position for Corporate Services,” said Deputy Mayor Miskimins. “I am thrilled to work with Town of Innisfil’s Mayor Lynn Dollin on all of the exciting initiatives surrounding agriculture, economic development, planning, and grants, and also to apply all of the best practices learned from these committees on a local level in Tiny as well.”
For more information about the County of Simcoe’s Council and Committees, visit www.simcoe.ca/government/clk/aboutcc.