A few things to report on from the last Council meeting.

• Council Compensation: Staff reviewed the Municipal compensation for Mayor and Councillors and recommended a 10% increase effective immediately with a further 5% increase Jan 2009. In addition, to recognize the amount of time Mayor and Councillors spend on Committee meetings (excluding Council & Committee of the Whole), Staff recommended a per diem of $100 per meeting to a maximum of 2 meetings per day. And finally, staff recommended bringing our per diem expenses for out of town meetings in line with Treasury Board guidelines. Apparently, Council has not reviewed their compensation for more than 3 years, thus the “catch up” component to the package. Council was fairly split in discussions over this increase but approved it at the Council Meeting of August 19th. The total effect is ~ $2200 per year in salary for each Councillor and ~ $4500 per year for the Mayor. The effect of the Meeting per diem is dependant upon the number of Committees one sit on and the number of meeting held by those committees.
• The By-Law Department has tabled new “Clean Yards” and “Property Standards” By-Laws for discussion at the next Council Meeting, September 9th. These are available on the Township website for your review and comment.
• The East Bone Island / Palisades Bay Official Plan Amendment received final approval at the August 19th Council Meeting.

Jon Lett
Ward 3 Councillor
Township of Georgian Bay
705-756-2967 Home
705-733-6019 Cell
councilor.lett@sympatico.ca