Donald McArthur

The public school board unveiled in Amherstburg Thursday night plans for a $25-million, 106,000-square-foot High School that will house more than 800 students and replace General Amherst High School and Western Secondary School.

My council colleagues and I passed a budget with a 0.56 per cent tax increase that sets aside $500,000 for the Great Spaces, Great Places project and includes nearly $4 million for roads, more than $2.2 million for culverts and bridges and more than $700,000 for paved shoulders in a crucial active transportation corridor I’ve often described as a “death trap.”

The public school board will unveil in Amherstburg Thursday night plans for the new High School that will replace General Amherst High School and Western Secondary School.

I voted in favour of zoning changes for a proposed new greenhouse development and I voted in favour of moving to a one-and-done fire permit fee system, which provides a break to existing permit holders and long-term savings to new permit applicants.

Here's how I voted on Dec. 9th:

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.