Tiny to explore ‘exciting’ special events through grant application
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: MidlandToday.ca, Sep 29, 2025
Big events are on the horizon for Tiny Township, whether a successful grant application is approved or not.
At the recent regular meeting of council, Mayor Dave Evans teased residents with a glimpse of special events for the municipality by saying he would make an announcement at the next meeting of council.
The comments followed a question for Evans to chime in on a committee of the whole decision earlier in the month regarding the potential renaming of charity golf and pickleball events, as Evans had not been present for that discussion.
Instead, Evans deflected by hinting at what the Mayor’s Charity Golf Tournament working committee had discussed the day prior. “And not just pickleball, but there’s a number of things that our parks and recreation director and special events (Josh Pallas) are working on, and I think you will be very excited once you see it at the next meeting.”
The next agenda item involved a request by Pallas to access $25,000 for a grant application to the Rural Economic Development Program, Community Development Stream as a matching donation for a potential $50,000 development, if successful, toward a special events strategy for Tiny Township.
“Working with those (business, community, and third-party) groups, I get to hear the challenges first hand that they’re going through, and some of the successes as well,” said Pallas.
“I think it’s important that from a feasibility perspective, if we wish to include more special events for the township, that we start looking at how we recruit third-party events; whether that be cycling tours, craft beer festivals – there’s all sorts of things we can look at.”
Within the report, a 30 per cent increase to local business participation was targeted by 2027; the Farm Crawl / Taste of Tiny event was cited as just one example with a target of at least 18 participating farms and attraction of 250 attendees minimum. The strategy would look to bring in new third-party events for tourism, hospitality and seasonal employment opportunities, while establishing key performance indicators.
The request for $25,000 was to access an economic development reserve which had been established during last year’s budget deliberations, when Tiny pulled support from the four-municipality Economic Development Corporation of North Simcoe (since rebranded as Route 93) to use for their own purposes.
Said CAO Robert Lamb: “This (Rural Economic Development) program was put out by the province of Ontario, and it’s a wonderful program actually for municipalities just like ours, to be able to try to put in place new strategies that we’ve never had before.
“My understanding is that we should probably hear sometime in the first quarter of next year if we were successful,” said Lamb, “so then if we weren’t, council would still have time before we ratified the final budget to look at that $25,000 in reserve – whether there’s something else they wished for us to do with it.”
To conclude the discussion, Evans shared he was in favour of the request and added that it would tie into the unknown announcement he would introduce at the next meeting. The $25,000 request was approved by council shortly after.
The Rural Economic Development application report 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.
Drainage study planned after erosion, runoff complaints in Tiny
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: MidlandToday.ca, Sep 24, 2025
A drainage study is in the cards for the Cawaja Beach area of Tiny Township, following resident concerns that man-made development and climate change have unfavourably altered the natural landscape.
Resident deputations to Tiny council were made at the recent regular meeting, with Janet Marks of the Cawaja Property Owners Association providing an overview of excess water over the past five years in the Concession 11 West area, west of County Road 6 North and draining into Georgian Bay.
“Today I am requesting that council support a drainage study on the spring runoff creek that flows between 390 Beauremi Road down to 210 Tiny Beaches Road North and onto Cawaja Beach,” said Marks. “We hope this study can be scheduled for the spring of 2026 when the water is flowing.”
Marks provided a slideshow which included photos, videos, and anecdotes from residents, along with a map highlighting a watercourse with origins of several low-lying and wet areas converging at higher elevations before streaming down through properties on Beaumont Court, Lefaive Road.
A satellite photo of a private property was included in the presentation, highlighting a corridor of removed trees. Marks expanded on the importance of forestation for absorbing water, stabilizing soil, and supporting natural drainage patterns, and noted that removal of those elements could increase surface runoff.
“While we respect property rights, we also believe it’s important to balance individual choices with the awareness of potential impacts on the surrounding community and environment,” said Marks.
Annual repairs to Beauremi Road from excess water damage were cited as another reason how a drainage study could aid the township, providing data which could lead to cost savings if a solution were implemented.
Andrew Milligan also provided a deputation where he shared his concerns regarding “(pretty well) a 25-foot… cliff now right on our property” which he felt was a danger for his and other neighbourhood children. He suggested that following the drainage study, municipal storm water management could mitigate the issue.
“We need to address this before something catastrophic happens,” said Milligan.
During a question period of the deputations, Coun. Dave Brunelle focused on a photo of the Church in the Pines bridge, which had been closed for safety reasons due to bank erosion.
Public works director Tim Leitch explained that despite flood plain restrictions on a natural water course, “what it’s demonstrating is that natural rivers don’t always run straight; they will meander, they will change, and that’s just a reality”.
Further discussioncentred around the bridge until Coun. Kelly Helowka spoke up. “This is just not the bridge though; we’ve got Mr Milligan’s property which is basically wasting away before our very eyes,” said Helowka. “We’ve got to come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with the whole works.”
Council approved a staff report on the drainage study matter.
During the later committee of the whole meeting, a public works report for clay removal on the Lefaive Road for a watermain and paving project was discussed.
Both Helowka and Mayor Dave Evans asked Leitch if the drainage study would be related, with Leitch replying it would be dealt with as a separate matter.
The drainage study presentation from the Cawaja Property Owners Association 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.