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A $125,000 staff member and upset waterfront homeowners on this week's council agenda

Midland councillors asked to address various "eyesores" causing angst for Tiffin residents
2020-06-16-Midland
Town of Midland will be looking at property taxes, council composition and a possible increase to the King Street rejuvenation project budget. Mehreen Shahid/MidlandToday

Midland could soon add another cog to its wheel, only this one could cost them an arm and a leg. 

As part of Wednesday's council meeting agenda, staff are asking councillors to approve up to $250,000 for a two-year contract position in the finance department.

The staff report says the need for the position comes from a number of foundational issues within the town’s financial systems, processes, policies and practices. Broadly speaking, the issues identified pertain to "timely, reliable, and comprehensive internal reporting; process inefficiencies and cross-departmental touchpoints;  Core financial systems and sub-systems; and financial planning and support functions."

Coun. Bill Gordon said he hopes this will "fix our finance department mayhem," adding he plans on inquiring about the salary figure.

On a related note, Coun. Carole McGinn has put forward a motion asking staff to provide an explanation for staff pay-stub errors, pay grade, net deposited income and time invested in correcting T4 form mistakes. She is also asking for a permanent solution to the problem and a timeline for when the solution will be implemented.

McGinn is also asking for an update on the legal settlement in the town's case against Coun. Gordon. 

She is also under scrutiny for failing to declare a possible conflict of interest while attending a closed-session meeting earlier this year.

Among the deputations are two groups from the Tiffin Bay area talking about unrelated issues. 

The first deputation, being led by John Colussi and John McHardy will address council around the various "eyesores" in the Tiffin Pond.

The residents want to know when the dredging tarps and sand dunes in the area will be dealt with. Colussi and McHardy state in their presentation that the dredging work should be completed or cleared up if there's still delay in completion. They are further asking the town to look at removing the sand piles along Taylor Drive.

"Find another remediation for the blowing sand, as we cannot sit outside or open windows when the wind blows," write the two in their presentation to council.

They're also asking the town to find a solution to flooding on Davenport Street, which is inundated by run-off coming down from the subdivision at the top of the hill after heavy rains.

George Dixon, representing the Tiffin Bay Action Committee, will ask council to object to the trailer park development at Wye Heritage Marina in Tay Township.

As well, there are two public meetings, one of which is around a zoning bylaw amendment being sought around property on 743 Midland Point Rd. The amendment is seeking creation of three new lots zoned residential and reduction in lot frontage for one lot being retained.

The second public meeting will give people a chance to voice their opinion around the severance of the lot on 611 Midland Point Rd. into two new residential building lots. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on Rogers TV.