Wasaga Beach Discussion 311 of 365; Wasaga Council deliberatly opaque Municipal Election October 2026! Why keep reminding everyone about this? Well my reasons have never been a secret. I do not support most things our present Council is doing. I have dedicated much of my personal time this year to following their actions and commenting as I see fit. [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 310 of 365; Beachfront RFP discussed in secret So, this is why we need to watch our Council meetings and it is also why interested public should be aware of the procedural rules that our Council must adhere to. I watched the meeting of our Council for November 14, 2024. I turned it on while [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 309 of 365; McNeil rides the Magic bus Well I finally took some time to watch the Council meeting that took place yesterday. The first important thing that caught my attention was the update that CAO McNeil gave about their field trip to Queens Park. He boasted that they got some great FaceTime with key [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 308 of 365; Smith selling Wasaga Beachfront to his Friend Well today’s Council meeting was interesting… apparently. For the first time this year, I didn’t actually watch it. I’m sure hearing a lot though. The big news for everyone today is Stonebridge apparently winning the RFP to develop Beach One. Lol…. OK, the comments I [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 307 of 365; “In Camera” Some people complain that there is nothing to do in the winter months. I disagree! We have all kinds of great opportunities and we now have a casino as well. I wonder if the Casino could set up a wager system with residents taking an over/under or possibly selecting a time [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 306 of 365; Questionable Items in the 2025 Draft Budget Go to the link in this discussion. If it doesn’t work, go to the engage Wasaga section of the towns website and search budget 2025 draft. There are some eye openers…. Shared facility- Theatre: Budget- $100,000.00 So, two issues with this. First, I thought we [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 305 of 365; Wasaga Council, November 14th 294 Pages. Lots of interesting environmental concerns will probably be discussed after all of Council prepare for this meeting. Thursday 14th… yep, a few “in camera” issues! https://pub-wasagabeach.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=10510&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR26dGi2quubVHIcOnWTqwRwlT1-XNgV7h13ojHIGkUgxbsUeQg6ZTMzMt4_aem_qM3gah4MMWRtUzi-Cx94PA

Wasaga Beach Discussion 319 of 365; The REAL budget in Wasaga Beach Here is the cover letter from Thursdays Council meeting, saying they have achieved a tax increase of merely 3.96% for this year. https://pub-wasagabeach.escribemeetings.com/filestream... Second link- here is the entire budget, draft two: https://pub-wasagabeach.escribemeetings.com/filestream... It seems the Town still does not want us to know the true [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 303 of 365; THANK YOU What a great day! Sylvia had a table at the vendors market at the Silver Stick tournament today. It was in the Remax room of the Twin Pad Arena/ Library. I had the honour of helping her today and it was my first day truly experiencing the facility for more [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 302 of 365; Leaf pick up Whoops, I missed #302. I have a whole file of discussions that were abandoned simply because something more pressing happened to pop up. But the other day, I was out removing leaves from the corners of our property. What a chore this is for many Wasaga Beach residents. With [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 301 of 365; Wasaga Beach Magic bus So Brian Smith took the bus to Queens park today, or at least that is the image they want us to retain. The Towns Facebook Page has some posts covering the big trip. One is the Mayor and others meeting with Brian Saunderson, our MPP. The other is [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 300 of 365; Wasaga Party Corporation Discussion Three Hundred, WOW! That’s a lot of topics and certainly a lot of pecking away at the screen of my phone while I lay in bed. 65 more this year and then January 1 will see a launch of a special year two! Recently, my discussion posts have [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 298 of 365; Why not a Wasaga Beach museum? Ok… so we are closing the archives and there is no plan to display our important history and the heritage of Wasaga Beach. Why not re-open a proper “Museum” and capitalize on the tourism that Brian Smith and his flock claim is our only industry. In a [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 297 of 365; September Cheque Register I will just share that this is the September Cheque Register. Glad to see it posted. What stands out to you as excessive during times where large tax increases are imminent? https://www.wasagabeach.com/en/town-and-government/resources/Documents%20-%20Treasury/Council%20Cheque%20Register%20-%20Sept.pdf?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR02yYGjNbIgF7XGvLkZJDoX2KasBKAT8eUyUJcP4BRQJle57RbwqlFCZaQ_aem_Ob00tzkbFzrqBKYgfe8zQw

Wasaga Beach Discussion 295 of 365; Where is all the money going? https://pub-wasagabeach.escribemeetings.com/FileStream... During the Special Budget meeting of October 14, I was entertained by a very pretty Power Point presentation. It was filled with all kinds of nice photographs and images that visually painted a really cool, happy budget presentation. Go to YouTube to watch the presentation…. [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 305 of 365; Council meeting November 14 294 Pages. Lots of interesting environmental concerns will probably be discussed after all of Council prepare for this meeting. Thursday 14th… yep, a few “in camera” issues! https://pub-wasagabeach.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=10510&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1uA3-LluKJFDfHH7w1grSf1uDXYMaqh-thiMTs9aueYBufGpQDnwc4tOw_aem_SWIc1RhbJ-N44NPtqxC_uQ

Wasaga Beach Discussion 293 of 365; Richard White This is a public response to Wasaga Beach Councillor, Richard White. There are days when you just look at what’s happening and say, is he really that brazen? Wasaga Beach Councilor Richard White has typed out a Social Media comment and accompanied it with a short reel, calling my wife [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 292 of 365; Missed Targets Honestly, I never have to worry about content if Mayor Smith is going to speak at the meeting of his support group, the “WBRPA Inc.” It looks like their meeting at Marlwood was a little less attended than some of his previous speaking engagements. Honestly, I don’t know that I [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 291 of 365; Fake ID’s For years, I have attempted to address the use of Fake ID’s on Facebook. As more and more people are reading my daily discussions, the use of these fake ID’s to simply attack, are ramping up. Honestly, it would be an embarrassingly long list to display them here, so consider [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 290 of 365; Wasaga Shell Game It’s sad to me that following politics in Wasaga Beach is like playing a shell game. There seems to be this ongoing attempt to have everyone watching forget where the ball is. Just when you think it is under one shell, Mayor Smith moves the shells. There are so [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 289 of 365; Wasaga Beach High School Please don’t get bored with posts about Wasaga Beach getting a high school. This is a CRITICAL time in the SCDSB’s quest to attain funding for a high school here in town. The Ministry is considering applications for funding from School Boards across the Province. What happened the last [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 288 of 365; “In Camera” “Closed Session” “Behind Closed doors.” “Secret” No matter what you call it, the Municipal Act is very restrictive about when public meetings can be hidden from public scrutiny. There are 7 specific criteria. I have watched a lot of Wasaga Beaches Council meetings and I have a few observations; This [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 287 of 365; “unexpected” increase in Police Costs? Please, take the few minutes (20 at the most) to listen to the attached video. Our Mayor and his Council have decided to add specific out-takes to their You-Tube account. Yes, you could watch the whole meeting and see the same thing, but this new practice of [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 286 of 365; Is the beachfront sold or not? Ok…. Have I read this wrong? It sounds like we have sold land to Sunray. I think I must have missed that vote. Any “word on the street?” https://renx.ca/sunray-develop-hotel-residential-4-acres-beachfront-wasaga-beach?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2c6SmtMNGtkPAWKtc3CYnKRCHta84YMEDTDesVAVl7lQzrZdzKGhetIzQ_aem_enZPmzEUEAWYFd3GHIE0eA Quote from article; “Sunray Group president and chief operating officer Kenny Gibson told RENX a confidentiality agreement prevented [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 285 of 365; Mayor Brian Smith votes himself massive pay rise Earlier this year people were upset that our Mayor Brian Smith gave himself a 40% pay increase while upping the municipal portion of our taxes by more than 17.5%. (With more to come.) Note: All members of Council voted their own raises. The Mayors [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 284 of 365; Budget Crunch! The increase in OPP costs alone will account for 2-3% that our Council has not even accounted for in the first draft of the budget. With everyone worrying about what our tax increase will be this year, THREE people have sent me this screen shot or a mention of it. [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 283 of 365; Will we get a Beach front Hotel? I hadn’t really asked the question because like most things started by Brian Smith, I expected it to simply cancel at the 11th hour. However, tonight I bumped into one of the Beach One vendors. He has been here for 25 years and tomorrow, he [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 282 of 365; Piping Plovers and politics! There is a rarely discussed issue in Wasaga Beach that I think deserves more attention. Our much loved, protected Piping Plovers are a missed opportunity for Eco-Tourism. There are only a few communities in Canada fortunate enough to host these wonderful birds during nesting / breeding season and [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 281 of 365; Wasaga Budget Shenanigans On Sept 30, 2024 Barrietoday.com reported that the Simcoe County Budget would likely be between a 1.5 and 2.5 percent increase. Now, THIS Wasaga Beach Council started a new practice of only reporting the “blended” rate. Why would they do that? Well if my memory serves me right they claim [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 280 of 365; SIX HUNDRED, FORTY-SIX! That is the number of listings you find when you search “Wasaga Beach” in Realtor.ca. Why? Years ago, there was a rush of people flooding up here to call Wasaga Beach Home. This number (646) is only the listings on their website. I would imagine the true number is significantly [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 278 of 365; Waste, Waste, Waste! Sometimes I think our Council and CAO ignore their own decisions simply because they want something different a week later. The attached agenda item was voted on and passed in March of 2024. Sure, many of us laughed when they said they were going to build a new town hall, [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 277 of 365; Understanding our town Every day, more and more people reach out to me to provide information that may facilitate a deeper understanding of issues affecting our Municipality. Today was no exception. A report was forwarded to me today, and anyone truly interested in planning issues and the roles of our Council and Staff [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 276 of 365; Yesterday I suggested keeping Beach Two public. Today I have the SAME suggestion for the Beach One area identified in the recent RFP for development. Why not leave it be? Clean up the strip along the beach and work on plans to put up a permanent stage with other public facilities and keep [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 275 of 365; Beach Two Municipal Property! Why not just go back to what works? Water fun on the water. I encourage everyone to forward their opinions to Council, but why not forget developers and start our redevelopment of our Beach areas with a truly fantastic water park/ splash pad. Build it right and convert it [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 274 of 365; Just some of the reasons Wasaga taxes go up This was a list submitted to me by someone last year around this time. It’s amazing as we look to the next big tax rates that some of these older issues now appear to have been wasted spending. Biggest Tax increases in history. (The [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 273 of 365; Cheque Register shenanigans OK, I’m just going to put this out there. My only comment is that I now understand why the may have changed to policy of reporting WHAT the Town Credit Cards were paying for… now, just an entry of $$$$. https://www.wasagabeach.com/en/town-and-government/resources/Documents%20-%20Treasury/Council%20Cheque%20Register%20-%20August%202024.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawGPTkBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHUsEPXTV9PqdDncx9svX2KIjE8rP_GMzWX-MHjv5LP_AL19Xjae_Kp-oNQ_aem_TXNuAksl_FcPXuYcLiui1g

Wasaga Beach Discussion 272 of 365; Wasaga Beach access private property Time to consider stepping up. The issue of Beach access and even ownership of properties that are important both access paths AND properties that are also part of our beachfront are being studied by the Town right now. The Town has recently issued letters to some residents that [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 271 of 365; Wasaga Budget Time This is when it gets real for the seven men and women who are elected to oversee OUR community for four years. Budget Time- Let’s see the starting point. If this had been year one, I would have no issue. But I think there needs to be some staffing [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 270 of 365; Happy Thanksgiving. Today’s discussions are mostly being conducted over the kitchen table. As family gathers to give thanks, I will be mindful of an old saying; Be thankful for what you have and you will always end up having more. Be mindful of what you don’t have and you will never have enough. [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 269 of 365; Wasaga Beach for sale by owner? Our Beach One “world class” developer walked away, so now we start a new process, or… did it start long ago and we are just being presented the public version? More on that later, for now let’s focus on the MANY properties declared surplus by this [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 268 of 365; Wasaga Council cutting beach access People are getting “Private Property” warnings again apparently. I was sent the attached page with a message saying a resident received it in their mailbox today. Apparently page 2 reminds them to abide by private property signs. Anyone else that has one please share page 2. So… [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 267 of 365; This may be a golden opportunity! FRAM and The Town of Wasaga Beach have parted ways. Let’s look at the questionable decisions our Council has made to get us here: First, they never truly looked at why FRAM walked away in the 2018-22 term. Oh sure, the standard- there were conditions that [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 266 of 365; Sincere apologies to the king of Wasaga Beach Well, today’s Council meeting certainly had plenty to talk about over the next week or so. I wanted to start by sharing my observations about the control issues that appear to be in play. In the attached 4 second clip from Deputy Mayor Snell, [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 265 of 365; Selling property to pay for development? Instead, we should be looking to the future and setting property aside for parks and things like emergency services. When will the new Paramedic Station at the TPAL get built? Now that Brian and Tanya are our County Reps, has the plan just been shelved or simply [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 264 of 365; Well, it’s only 136 pages today. Have a look at this Thursdays current agenda. Stay tuned as a modified or “amended” agenda is always possible. Don’t forget, despite the mayor saying it is no different that previous Council’s, if you want to speak on any of these issues, you need to apply to [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 263 of 365; the last time Wasaga ran the beach Today let’s discuss the last time the Town of Wasaga Beach offered to take over the operation of part of the Provincial Park. That was quite the show. Of course the Province allowed it. After all it reduced their costs and increased ours. Yes… that [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 262 of 365; Allenwood Beach Vesting Order! So much going on. lol! For almost a year now I have been trying to post an intriguing political post every day. These last few weeks, life has been so busy I have missed a few days. No problem, I will certainly catch up. Why? Well, I truly [...]

Wasaga Beach Discussion 261 of 365; Wasaga Budget anticipation I can’t imagine what the various department heads are thinking at this point. In a little over two weeks, the process of budgets is supposed to move to the next step. Three things will affect the 2025 budget. 1) The operating and capital budgets. Anticipate cuts cuts cuts! 2) [...]