Donald McArthur

I’m never going to pay another fire permit fee in Amherstburg unless I buy a new house or move my fire pit to a new location.  And if you’re like me and the hundreds of other Amherstburg residents who obtained fire permits over the past two years, you shouldn’t have to pay again either.

A proposal to develop a large greenhouse operation complete with accommodations for seasonal workers is coming to a Town of Amherstburg planning meeting Monday night.

I was absent for the Open Mic session and the regular Council meeting on Nov. 25 because I was in Toronto for work at the 14th Annual Municipal Communications Conference. My colleagues approved several policies and amended the Zoning By-Law and the Official Plan to allow for Secondary Dwelling Units.

Amherstburg firefighters stepped up this weekend for a brave boy battling cancer. And then they climbed – to the top of an aerial truck ladder so they could snake blue and white Christmas lights down that towering tree at the southwest corner of Simcoe and Victoria Streets.

I was happy to support opening the door to developing the south end of Boblo Island and voted unanimously with my colleagues to join more than 450 other Canadian municipalities and declare a Climate Emergency in the Town of Amherstburg. 

My council colleagues and I unanimously declared a climate emergency modeled after the resolution passed by the Windsor Essex County Environment Committee, which has been endorsed by ERCA and will soon go to the Councils of Windsor and Essex County.

I was impressed with the presentation on tiny houses by the Stella Maris robotics team and I supported the vision and funding request laid out in the Great Spaces, Great Places project proposal. Here's how I voted on Oct. 28th:

Amherstburg CAO John Miceli has unveiled a draft budget calling for a 4.55 per cent tax increase that includes funding for the Great Spaces-Great Places initiative and a capital works program, including more than $7.2 million for road and bridge projects, that is financed without any debt. 

I was very happy to proclaim Nov. 1 to 11 as Veteran's Week in Amherstburg and was very happy to support a recommendation by the Accessibility Advisory Committee to use money from the AODA Compliance Fund for trail improvements in a revamped Beaudoin Park in River Canard. I also voted with my colleagues to engage a consultant for $9,375 to conduct a performance appraisal of the CAO.

My daughter and her friends sure had a blast at the Uncommon Festival. They loved the buskers and the wandering magician and storyteller who would start a trick or a story and watch as the crowd gathered 'round. 

Kudos to the Town's Tourism Department and all the volunteers for the work they did organizing and running the festival in the face pretty grim weather conditions.