During Monday evening’s town council meeting in Smiths Falls, council members shared reports from their recent activities. 

Councilor Jennifer Miller recently attended the Downtown Business Association’s board meeting, the inaugural meeting with a new board. “The DBA plans to build on the success of previous marketing initiatives,” Miller reported, “with four initiatives in the works for this upcoming year.”

Miller also reported that the Arts Council is currently working on Smiths Falls’ arts master plan. Station Theatre has a very busy year planned, with plenty of new shows coming to Smiths Falls. 

Councilor Peter McKenna, the municipality’s appointee to the LGLDHU and the current board chair, noted that the Health Unit has recently completed their budget.  “The levy to the town of Smiths Falls has increased by approximately 3.5%,” he explained. He also noted that the town’s Ambulance and Paramedic services is a very active place, “the busiest in the county.”

Councilor McKenna, Councilor Stephen Robinson, and Mayor Pankow recently attended the ROMA conference in Toronto. “I was very impressed by the informative sessions,” said Robinson, who related that he attended a session on “bluebox transition and the circular economy.” He explained that the municipality is going to transition away from municipally-funded recycling to producer-funded recycling instead.

Article by Janelle Labelle