A Thanksgiving Message from the Reeve

A Thanksgiving Message from the Reeve – Rob Rainer

Thanksgiving – one of my favorite times of the year – is almost here. So, too, is Tay Valley Township’s volunteer appreciation dinner on October 16, when the Township will thank our 100+ volunteers for their time within the past four years in support of various municipal programs and services.

And so it is timely today to express further gratitude to not only our volunteers but also our hard-working municipal staff, and to my fellow Council members who are nearing the end of their current 4-year term: Deputy Reeve Fred Dobbie, and ward councillors Wayne Baker, Greg Hallam, Korrine Jordan, Keith Kerr, Angela Pierman, and Marilyn Thomas. It has been a pleasure serving alongside you since November 2022!

Much has been accomplished by the Township over the past four years. Below I list 12 examples. For more information and detail on these or other highlights please visit the Township website to access our Municipal Report Card, first issued in 2022, or contact our CAO/Clerk, Amanda Mabo (cao@tayvalleytwp.ca). Amanda would be pleased to respond or direct your inquiry to the most appropriate staff member.

• Substantial updates to the Township’s Official Plan and Zoning By-Law were completed to address outdated provisions and to help the Township be abreast of various best practices in land use planning and zoning.
  
  
• The Township secured many grants to be able to offer a wide range of recreation, health, and other programs and services to countless Township citizens. These have included our popular, free, and twice-monthly Diner’s Club lunches at the Maberly Community Hall, and activities such as Alzheimer’s care, bereavement care, foot care, and memory care sessions, arts and crafts courses, birdwatching outings, pickleball, tai chi, yoga, and more, including our longer-term programs in hockey, karate, and soccer.
  
  
• Supported primarily with grant funding and the rest in donations, the Township created the Forest Trail Park, in Stanleyville, a beautiful, 25-acre oasis of mixed forest with a wide, accessible trail, exercise stations, and a timber-framed pavilion. The Park is a delight for birdwatching, tree and plant identification, and enjoyment amidst the peace of nature.
  
  
• Tay Valley realized its first multi-unit housing developments since the Township was formed through amalgamation in 1998: a 3-unit complex on 4^th Concession Road, in Bathurst ward, and a 5-unit complex in Stanleyville, in Burgess ward, both built to offer more affordable housing for tenants.
  
  
• Financed by a Special Capital Charge which applies to around 50 property owners in the Maberly Pines Subdivision (off Bolingbroke Road in Sherbrooke ward), the Township is upgrading and assuming, into its road network, the roads in that subdivision. As the roads will be to municipal standards, the Township expects that over time the 40+ undeveloped lots in the subdivision will finally be developed – as they were intended when the subdivision was created in the 1980s.
  
  
• The Township worked with the Town of Perth and Arch Corporation to ensure the necessary approvals enabling construction (underway) of a new long-term care facility next to the existing Perth Community Care Centre (PCCC), off Christie Lake Road. Once complete, in late 2027, the complex will house residents currently at the PCCC, with approximately 30 additional beds.
  
  
• The Township undertook many initiatives related to reducing municipal greenhouse gas emissions, for example installation of energy efficiency lighting at the Township’s Municipal Office, and the Township’s first purchase of an electric vehicle. As well, the Township is a partner in the popular Better Homes Lanark program through which homeowners can access low-cost financing for significant, cost-saving upgrades in home energy efficiency and home heating and cooling.
  
  
• The Township negotiated the purchase of land adjacent to the Glen Tay Waste Site, thus enabling substantial advancement of the Township’s waste management plan, including further extension of the lifespan of the waste site. This will include, in 2027, the relocation of the popular ReUse Centre and of the recycling operation to the newly purchased land, while making improvements to waste handling overall.
  
  
• By unanimous vote Township Council, in 2025, strongly rejected using the so-called “strong mayor powers” given to it by the Province. If utilized, these powers can undermine sound democratic practice and risk the politicization of municipal administration, while being only weakly linked to housing creation – the reason why the Province introduced them in the first place.
  
  
• By unanimous vote Township Council, in 2026, strongly rejected the proposed Alto high-speed rail line running through any part of Tay Valley.
  
  
• In early 2026 the Township introduced livestreaming of all Public, Committee of the Whole, and Council meetings, thus enabling the proceedings of these meetings to be viewed by citizens without them having to travel to the Municipal Office. This is perhaps especially welcome by seasonal Township residents.
  
  
• The Township is in sound financial health, as attested through annual financial auditing. For the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements, click here.

For all of the above and more, I am grateful to my Council colleagues and to Tay Valley Township staff and volunteers. To them, thank you once again, and to the citizens of Tay Valley – all the best for enjoying what I hope will be a very pleasant, special Thanksgiving weekend!