The village of Granisle is getting ready to bid adieu to 2020. The council has also issued their annual Christmas newsletter in a bid to update the community about the year that was and some of the project in the community. Several of these issues have also been discussed in the recent council meetings.
Logging issue
The village has been faced with an influx in logging trucks raising concerns around safety, and impact on the village streets. The Mayor and the council are now in the process of reviewing steps to proceed and to amend bylaw 55 which addresses traffic components including permits and fee structure. “It is basically a traffic by-law and yes, it can be amended and is currently under review,” said Mayor Linda McGuire, adding, that the council is also working with the logging company “to ensure safety while maintaining the integrity of our municipal streets.”
Celebrating 10 years of grant writing
The village is this year celebrating 10 years of grant writing by their grant writers Sharon of SL Consulting and Brenda of BJ Anderson & Associates. According to the village’s Christmas newsletter, in the past 10 years, 158 grants were written and submitted with 123 of those successful. Over $13,878,088 have come in to the community for various projects through these grants, throughout the 10 years.
Council meeting survey
Recently, the village conducted a survey to find out how many of its residents preferred the quarterly updates and how many would like to have a video link posted on the website, for the council meeting.
”We had a 10 per cent overall return of the survey with strong support of our quarterly newsletter and about half of the results supporting they would listen to our meetings on the website,” said McGuire.
Based on the survey outcome, the village has decided to continue with their quarterly newsletters and will be looking at options to setup online meetings in 2021.
Community Energy Association participation
The village of Granisle will be extending their membership with the Community Energy Association for 2021. In 2020, the village received a one-year introductory membership upon winning the 2019 Climate and Energy Action Award in Corporate Operations. The question before the council was whether to renew this membership at $1,300 or not.
”Council has decided to renew our membership for another year. With this membership it will now give our community a participant presence on upcoming Clean Energy initiatives, including our continued involvement and installation of a charging station in our community,” said McGuire.
Ditching project commences
The village’s ditching project has finally started and will continue into 2021.
”Ditching throughout our community is needed to ensure the culverts flow freely when there are substantial rains and runoff after winter when the snow melts. Our local PW crew have been doing minor ditching as needed, however, we will be looking to a contractor to do the major work,” said McGuire, adding that the council would be monitoring closely the amount of ditching that can be done in 2021 depending on the budget funds.
“The benefit to the community is to bring comfort in knowing this will prevent water backup and plugged culverts,” she said.
Gas station back in operation
The gas station and the grocery store that was a constant in the community for the past 15 years, was on the verge of shutting down. The mayor had even expressed her concern over how a closure of an essential service would affect the village. The gas station and store owner was however able to find a new face to take over.
The village’s Christmas newsletter welcomed the new owner, Leslie Monteith, and indicated that the store will be potentially opening in December.