March 2015
It’s not too early to start planning a move in 2015. Call me today! Paul Cleary B.B.A., BROKER 705-327-6002 Direct 705-325-1373 Office paulcleary.com
Featured organization. . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Success in Washago. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Severn budget review. . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Bald eagles are back . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Township – What’s Up with the mayor and CAO? By Ellen Cohen Starting with this issue, and over the next several months, The Villager will meet with the mayor, councillors representing Ward 3, 4, and 5, and senior township staff. Our goal is to inform readers about their community. We’ll take a look at major projects and review the day-to-day issues that affect your life in Severn and how the township deals with those topics. Today we look at some of the work that Mayor Mike Burkett and CAO Henry Sander are involved in and bring you some insight into how they manage their responsibilities. In a February meeting with Mayor Mike Burkett and Henry Sander, the chief administrative officer and most senior staff member in Severn Township, we talked about what they believe is important to the township. It’s hard to choose when there is so much going on but clearly it’s important to both of them to balance new development in West Shore and other new projects with the vital day-to-day services so important to residents. Regarding development in West Shore, Mayor Mike said, “Who would have thought 20 years ago Cumberland Beach, now West Shore, would be experiencing such development.”
Decisions are made for your community in the Severn municipal offices at 1024 Hurlwood Lane at Burnside Line. Indeed, it doesn’t seem that many years ago Cumberland Beach was little known except to full-time residents or cottagers. It was a quiet area of Severn Township with mostly older homes. There was no reason for travelers or tourists to turn off the highway between Ardtrea and Goldstein Road unless they were stopping in at one of the businesses located directly on Highway 11. Today that landscape has changed. Hundreds of new homes are slated to be built in West Shore. Today cars do turn off the highway to get a good look at the area, survey new developments and drop into a new home sales office. The newly branded West Shore area is being marketed as far away as the GTA and can be found on builders’ websites. “Development is one of the things that we (council and staff) have to manage diligently, following municipal, county and provincial
guidelines and rules,” say Mayor Mike. “We also have to balance the needs of the entire township while being sensitive to those who live in any area being developed. He added that just like the council of 20 years ago, he doesn’t have a crystal ball. And, although not too many residents would expect council and staff could reasonably look that far into the future, the job of council is to do their best, resulting in thoughtful development that will stand the test of time. Council members are hopeful that new development will include a West Shore recreation centre, built this term and built in a way that will serve what is sure to be even more residents as years go by. Mayor Mike and Henry Sander explained that getting started with the recreation centre takes many steps. The first includes the completion of reports from both the planner Continued on page 15
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