Council also sets process to redesign town logo and tagline and details mining exploration procedures
Council approves appointments to the PAC
Council approved the appointment of members to the planning advisory committee during its April 16 council meeting.
CAO Allan Walker told council that the committee, composed of Planning and Development Director Andrew Garnett, Deputy Mayor Mark Rogers, Coun. Mike Martin, Clerk Laura Gadda and himself had plenty of “great applications” from which to choose.
Walker and Mayor Trina Jones said one goal in selecting committee members was to have representatives from as many of the five wards as possible.
Appointed PAC members include:
Garth McCrea – reappointed for a 1-year term
John Slipp – appointed for a 1-year term
Marlene Hassard – appointed for a 1-year term
John Morrison – current term expires in 2025
Peter Kavanaugh – current term expires in 2026
Kurt Young – reappointed for a 3-year term
Sara Leech – current term expires in 2025
Councillors Jeff Bradbury and Will Belyea will share their role as council representatives on the committee.
Mining companies plan further exploration this summer
Two firms notified Woodstock of plans to continue exploration of potential manganese mines within the town boundaries.
CAO Walker explained that the notifications are primarily meant to inform the town of the companies’ actions.
“We are not in a position to approve their work,” he said. “They are simply notifying us as a municipality.”
Walker said the town developed a form to confirm specific information, including a description of the purpose and nature of the planned work. The form also confirms PID numbers where the companies plan to explore and the time of their operations.
He said the form also asked the mining firms to state whether the explorations would involve blasting, cause disruptions, or require town resources and confirm that they obtained proper consent from property owners.
Town redesigning logo and branding
Council is looking to rebrand the Town of Woodstock with a new logo and tagline. During his report to council on April 30, CAO Walker said council members and staff will work together to redesign the logo, while they will seek public input for the town’s new tagline or motto.
Walker invited interested council members to meetings to provide input on the logo design. In previous council meetings, the CAO noted that the existing logo’s colour scheme of various shades of blue sometimes reprints poorly.
“It’s going to be in two parts,” Walker explained. “The logo itself, we will be finalizing that internally.”
He said the town will allow the public to weigh in on the tagline.
“Tell us your thoughts. It’s not a plebiscite. We’re not taking a vote,” Walker explained. “Give us your feedback.”
He explained that the town would lay out the “types of things we want the public to think about.”
The new tagline would replace “New Brunswick’s First Town. In its request for submissions, the town suggested the new tagline should be “short, memorable and differentiate this community from others in the region/province.”
The request said a tagline should apply to all wards, be six words or less and be easily understood.
The deadline to submit a tagline is May 25. Anyone submitting a chosen tagline would be eligible for a draw for a basket of swag featuring the town’s new branding look.
Changes to Library Board appointments
Council approved Mark Dykeman’s reappointment to the L.P. Fisher Public Library Board on the recommendation of Coun. Crista McCartney, the town’s representative on the board. However, they recommended future changes in the appointment process.
McCartney explained Dykeman, who also served on three provincial library boards, brings leadership and knowledge to the town’s library.
During the issue discussion, most council members agreed that future appointments should follow the process currently used for PAC appointments.
They agreed to work with the library board to develop criteria and include a board member on the town selection committee. Mayor Jones explained that current and former board members could reapply for a position when their terms end and acknowledged that many could be reappointed.
