Latest / North Shore News / October 22nd, 2025

Transcript

October 22nd, 2025 · North Shore News

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  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
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  Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
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  on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
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  that we've had with people in the local community
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  and beyond. Loyalist Township is notifying residents
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  that construction activity will begin soon on
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  Main Street in Bath as part of servicing for
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  a new subdivision. Work will involve tie -in
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  of new sanitary and water services for housing
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  in the area. There will be lane reductions and
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  lane diversions in place, which may cause traffic
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  delays in the area. Motorists are encouraged
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  to allow a little extra time for travel, follow
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  posted signage, and use caution when driving
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  through the construction zone. Work is planned
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  to continue into November. For Amherst Island
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  Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative. I'm
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  Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Loyalist
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  Township has announced dates for their fall town
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  hall meetings. The first will take place in Wilton
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  Wednesday October 29th at 6 .30 p .m. This meeting
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  will take place at Wilton Hall 251 Simmons Road.
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  The meeting for Odessa will take place Tuesday
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  November 4th from 6 .30 to 8 p .m. at the Odessa
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  Municipal Office 263 Main Street in Odessa. There
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  will be a meeting in Bath Wednesday, November
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  5th at 6 .30 p .m. at the Bath Fire Hall, 241
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  Church Street in Bath. The meeting for Amherst
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  Island will take place Wednesday, November 12th
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  from 6 .30 to 8 p .m. at the Amherst Island Community
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  Center, 5955 Front Road on Amherst Island. To
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  submit questions in advance, residents can visit
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  engage .loyalist .ca slash town hall. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Residents
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  of Greater Napanee will see a change in their
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  recycling pickup on January 1st, 2026. Starting
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  in the new year, Circular Materials Ontario will
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  take over Greater Napanee's blue and gray bin
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  programs. M -Terra Environmental will be collecting
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  all recyclable materials. To help residents prepare
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  for the transition, the Town is holding information
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  sessions on October 23rd and November 4th from
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  6pm to 7 .30pm at 99 Advanced Avenue. These sessions
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  will provide an opportunity to learn about the
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  transition, how it may impact residents, and
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  how related concerns will be addressed in the
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  new year. Deputy Director of Environmental Services,
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  Growth and Infrastructure Services, Andrew Girouard,
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  spoke about the changes for 2026 and and the
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  possibility of more changes in the coming years.
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  2026, we shouldn't, residents should not see
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  a change in their collection dates, the streams
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  of recycling or what recyclables are collected.
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  Beyond 2026, Circular Materials Ontario and MTERA
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  can decide to change collection dates routes.
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  streams, how it's collected, so on and so forth.
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  CAO Matthew Grant explains challenges staff are
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  facing and how they're moving forward in the
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  new year. There's going to be some change management
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  challenges that will present themselves as this
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  rolls out. One of the things that will be important
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  for us is a pretty robust communications plan
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  combined with a pretty significant advertising
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  plan just to ensure that people understand what
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  we are and are not responsible for. You know,
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  we will need to make it clear for people what
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  we are and are not able to do, because I appreciate
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  some people will be coming to us to maybe look
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  for us to assist and make sense of this. And
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  unfortunately, we won't be in that position.
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  And so it'll just be really important that we
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  be clear with people about where they can go
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  for the right information. who is now in charge
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  of this recycling more generally. And that work
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  is already underway. I will give kudos to the
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  team. It's a bit of a moving target, but we're
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  staying on top of the changes which have been
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  numerous. Non -eligible sources such as industrial
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  and commercial properties, not -for -profit organizations,
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  municipal and government buildings, commercial
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  farms, daycares, places of worship, campgrounds
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  and trailer parks will no longer receive curbside
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  collection. Residents who live in mixed, commercial
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  and residential buildings will still receive
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  curbside collection, while the commercial section
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  of the building will not. The town will still
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  be responsible for collecting garbage. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Earlier
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  this year, Loyalist Township was named one of
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  169 Ontario municipalities to receive strong
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  mayor powers. Ontario's Ministry of Municipal
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  Affairs and Housing made a presentation to Loyalist
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  Township Council with a focus on how these powers
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  can help the province reach its goal of increasing
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  housing supply. Deputy Mayor Nathan Townand voiced
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  his concerns about the focus of the presentation.
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  I never think it's appropriate to score political
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  points by asking pointed questions to public
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  servants. But I will just note that consistently
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  in the last several years, housing starts are
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  down in Ontario. So the evidence that these stronger
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  powers are advancing that goal of increasing
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  housing supply is certainly suspect and this
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  is fairly complex. But one simple thing municipalities
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  have said consistently that will help build more
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  housing is to fund municipal infrastructure to
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  support that housing. The province originally
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  introduced strong mayor powers in 2022 for the
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  cities of Ottawa and Toronto. Through 2023, 44
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  additional municipalities received these powers
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  and as of May 1st this year, 216 of Ontario's
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  414 single and lower tier municipalities now
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  have this legislation. The presentation was part
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  of a series of outreach sessions province is
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  doing for municipalities who are new to the strong
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  mayor powers. It included an overview of what
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  strong mayor powers are as well as references
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  to other municipalities and how they're implementing
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  the powers. Mayor Jim Hagedorn spoke about the
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  work of staff as they move forward on the matter.
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  Still as we're proceeding through this, the new
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  strong mayor power, I keep coming up with more
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  questions and fortunately so far staff have always
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  been able to do some research and we've been
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  able to work to figure them out. It'll take a
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  little while before all the municipalities, I'm
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  sure, come to full terms with what it is. For
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  Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Prince Edward Lennox and Addington Social
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  Services are still looking to create 49 child
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  care spaces by December 31st, 2026 as part of
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  their expansion under the Canada Wide Early Learning
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  and Child Care System. The group is looking to
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  find an operator who can expand or open new child
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  care spaces in the area. The group are looking
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  for applications before October 31st. The Canada
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  Wide Early Learning and Child Care System gives
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  families access to more affordable and high quality
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  child care options, helps lower child care fees
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  for parents and of children under the age of
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  six, increases child care spaces, supports the
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  child care workforce, and supports inclusive
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  child care. As of March this year, the system
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  has created about 39 ,500 new affordable child
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  care spaces. This goes towards their goal of
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  creating 86 ,000 spaces by the end of 2026. As
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  of January 1st this year... The system capped
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  fees at $22 per day, bringing the provincial
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  average to $19 per day. By March 2026, the system
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  is looking to lower that average to $10 per day.
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  Families and individuals may be eligible for
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  reduced fees if their licensed child care provider
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  is enrolled in the system and charges more than
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  $12 per day for child care, with the child being
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  under the age of six or turns six years old and
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  is enrolled in a licensed preschool, kindergarten
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  or family age group or a licensed home child
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  care premises until June. 30th. Costs can depend
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  on a family's income and can be reduced by 50
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  % for eligible children in system enrolled programs.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Loyalist Township is once again partnering
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  with the Odessa Agricultural Society to bring
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  Halloween fun to families at the fourth annual
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  Trunk or Treat and Crafts event. On Sunday, October
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  26th, from 1 p .m. to 4 p .m. at the Odessa Fairgrounds,
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  located at 231 Main Street, Odessa, there will
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  be an afternoon of free, family -friendly festivities.
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  Local businesses and organizations will be showcasing
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  their creativity with decorated vehicles of all
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  shapes and sizes. Children are invited to trick
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  -or -treat from trunk to trunk in a safe, accessible
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  and spook -free outdoor environment. This event
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  takes place rain or shine. Inside, the Odessa
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  Agricultural Society will be hosting a variety
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  of festive activities including Halloween -themed
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  games, crafts, and a cash canteen. Loyalist Township
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  noted they're proud to collaborate with the Lenox
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  and Addington Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee
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  and Treat Accessibility to ensure the event is
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  inclusive and welcoming for everybody. For more
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  information, visit loyalist .ca slash trunk or
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  treat. For Amherst Island Radio and the Local
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  Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is
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  North Shore News. This has been North Shore News
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  and Interviews. If you have an idea for a story,
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  or want to create stories for the show, consider
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  joining our 100 % volunteer team. Contact Amherst
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  Island Radio for more details.