Vigilante rule
County planning staff have spent five years examining a proposal to add 337 more trailer sites to Quinte’s Isle Campground. They’ve studied the plans, made revisions, and assessed the impact on this community’s environment, roads, community, water, and character. They’ve ensured that these assessments were peer-reviewed and bulletproof. They’ve consulted with neighbours, Indigenous communities, and […]
Boiling frogs
Ever had the dream in which you suddenly found yourself naked in public—school, work, the bus? I don’t attach much weight to the significance of dreams, so the naked-in-public scenario doesn’t arouse much curiosity about a deeper meaning. But I will admit there is one bit I do puzzle over: How it happened. How might […]
Exceptionalism
Happy new year to you, our readers, and let us look ahead with optimism— despite the upheaval and fear that defined much of 2020 and has spilled unbidden into 2021. While your correspondent aims each week to burrow into decidedly local and parochial matters, the events of last week in Washington compel those with pen […]
Structural
We are well represented by our municipal council in Prince Edward County. They are a diverse lot—reflecting well the changing make-up of the County. Each brings a unique blend of insight, curiosity and diligence. And passion. Each is determined to do the best for their constituents and those struggling on the edges. It is evident […]
Incomprehensible
They don’t speak the same language. There are no interpreters. Shire Hall finance folks and council members spend budget deliberations time mostly talking past each other. They pick up snippets of the other’s dialect—but rarely enough to fully grasp the meaning. The County’s finance director, unsurprisingly, speaks finance. Her presentations are laden with numbers, ratios, […]
Not their money
It’s a special time of year. It’s the season when we curl up before the fire with a pencil, a calculator and the County’s draft budget. Like other December celebrations, the County budget can inspire both joy and sorrow—depending on circumstances. For the wealthy, it is but a minor imposition and the opportunity to express […]
Muddling through
It was a fleeting yet revealing glimpse behind the curtain, to the frail human being contorted by overwhelming pressure and disoriented by the swirling winds that obscure a clear and decisive way forward. During a COVID-19 briefing last week, Premier Doug Ford was being pelted with questions on the rationale of his government’s decision to […]
Citizen diligence
Who owns your land? Who decides what shall be done on it? What should be built? How big or how small? Many folks assume land-use planning meetings to be dull affairs—bureaucrats and politicians poring over maps and legal definitions. Certainly, they can be all this. But some are anything but. Rarely have I witnessed such […]
Unnatural creatures
Had Frankenstein created the County’s waterworks system, it would have been less freakishly assembled. Six different water systems, from six different sources. Two wastewater plants. Few of the bits are interchangeable. Knowledge of one system informs you not-at-all about another. Operators require technical training and expertise in each of these wee and arcane plants and […]
Problem definition
Affordability is dead. The dream of owning a modest or starter home no longer exists in Prince Edward County. It wasn’t so long ago that one could find a home for $200,000 or $250,000. At that level, homeownership was within reach for these folks. But those days are gone now, and unlikely to return. The […]