| Mayor focuses on growth and strength |
| Geddes gives 'state of the community'
address at council |
| By Morgan Ian Adams |
| Enterprise-Bulletin (Tue, January 30, 2000) |
| COLLINGWOOD - Growth and the strength of the community were
expected to be the main themes of the mayor's state of the community
address, Monday night. |
| "Collingwood is strong, the town is strong, and we
have to take that strength and use it to g into areas we haven't been
before," Terry Geddes told the newspaper before Monday' council
meeting. |
| The privatization of the town's hydro system is one area
where the town has not gone before, the mayor has high hopes for the
future of Collingwood Utility Services, otherwise known as Collus.
However, the mayor said the privatization of hydro is also an area for
cautiousness, given the problems being experienced in California. |
| He did assure, though, that the utility - which under Bill
35, is now a private corporation with the sole shareholder being the
municipal council - continue to "provide (its customers) with good
competitive rates." |
| And through the process of dealing with privatization, the
mayor noted the utility has become "active in its entrepreneurial
spirit." |
| Development was to figure strongly in his speech, and the
mayor noted all of the vacant land within the boundaries of town is
designated for development - including the western commercial node. |
| "There is every opportunity provided for council to
see box stores (in that area, by the end of the term)," he
said. "It's good competition." |
| Geddes was also to address the town's transportation
system, including the ongoing redevelopment of Highway 26, the upcoming
Georgian Triangle Area Transportation Study, and the potential for a
southerly route around Collingwood. |
| "There is great support for a bypass in the community,
and that's something council will have to consider," he said. |
| The mayor also gave a glimpse of what's to come for council
in the coming months, including implementing a restructuring process - a
process spurred by the KPMG report - and the drive to be a 'paperless
council. |
| The mayor was also to provide an outline for a new mayor's
council. |
| Other issues to be dealt with by the mayor in his 'state of
the community' address included the expansion of the library, the
multi-use facility, education and a second post-secondary facility, Vision
20/20, economic development and finance. |
| "There has to be pride in the community," he
said, adding he would like to see the development of a town song.
"We have an image in the province." |
| "People continue to compare us to the Aspens of the
world, because we have arrived there in some sense in people's minds. |
| "We have a lot of growth issues, and a lot is based on
consensus building. |
