Mayor's Open House

Barrie Mayor Dave Aspden hosts his monthly open house Friday, May 15 at City Hall.

Taking place in the Rotunda from 10:30 a.m. to noon, the mayor and certain city staff will be available for questions and concerns. The format is informal.

Real sportsmen show spirit

The Barrie Colts Minor Atom AE won not only their division's silver title, but made community organizations winners too.

The team donated 2,400 pounds of food to the food bank, raised $1,250 for Kidsport (which helps underprivileged kids with sports and recreation fees and expenses), $850 for the cancer society, $400 for a local family that lost their mom to breast cancer, and $50 for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

"I truly believe these are absolutely fantastic accomplishments and this team has embraced sportsmanship on and off the ice," said Ward 9 Coun. Andrew Prince, as he introduced them to council.

Marking their calendars

City council approved who will attend what conference and set a $15,000 budget for the two annual networking conferences.

Attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference June 5 to 8 in Whistler, B.C. are Barry Ward, Michael Prowse and John Brassard.

Attending the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference Aug. 16 to 19 in Ottawa are Mayor Dave Aspden and councillors Mike Ramsay, Jeff Lehman, Rod Jackson and Andrew Prince.

The city will cover all related expenses including registration, travel, accommodation and meals. The conferences feature workshops as well as opportunities to discuss issues and network with not only municipal leaders, but provincial and federal ministers and bureaucrats.

More eyes on buses

Barrie is installing and testing security cameras at its downtown bus terminal. The cameras should be operational next week. Meanwhile, installation of new bus shelters continues throughout the city. The glass structures will also feature a system map.