Traffic congestion, affordable housing, taxes, cannabis retail stores — there are plenty of potential priorities for the newly elected Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury council to consider at a special meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Although council will not have its inauguration until Dec. 4, with its first regular council meeting Dec. 18, its members will meet today to lay out its priorities for the next four-year term.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the 1 p.m. meeting in the Zima Room of the BWG Public Library, at 425 Holland St. W.
Representatives from each Town of BWG department are expected to tell council about upcoming challenges, new programs, regulations, and anything that could affect their abilities to deliver service to residents, said the town’s CAO Geoff McKnight.
The meeting is also expected to include a strategic planning session with Erik Lockhart, associate director of the Executive Decision Centre at Queen’s University.
Council will then rank its priorities and come up with a consolidated list, McKnight said.
Council had a similar meeting after the last municipal election, and a document outlining what was discussed was posted on the town’s website to get public input, which McKnight said would likely happen again this time.
The legalization of marijuana and whether the Town of BWG will opt out of allowing cannabis retail stores is not guaranteed to come up at Wednesday’s meeting, but it will be discussed at the first regular council meeting Dec. 18, McKnight said.
Town staff are expected to present information to council about the Ontario government’s changes to the location and consumption of marijuana, possibly suggest revising the town’s smoke-free bylaw, and ask for direction on whether to opt out of cannabis retail stores, he said.
