South Bruce Peninsula Regular Council — Tuesday, September 16, 2026
Shore road allowance sale approved. Council passed By-law 60-2026 and By-law 61-2026 on third reading, closing and authorizing the sale of surplus land comprising part of the original shore road allowance in front of Part Lot 17, Plan 278 (Reference Plan 3R-11129). Both by-laws were moved by Councillor Deacon, seconded by Deputy Mayor Hall, and carried.
Budget season underway. Up to 18 public budget deliberation dates have been scheduled for the upcoming cycle. First-round departmental submissions are due for internal review after October 2nd; council presentation and the statutory public meeting are both set for December 1st. All sessions are open to the public — dates are posted on the town website.
Paid parking revenue ahead of budget. A partial-year update on Sauble Beach paid parking showed total revenue running $34,552 above budget, driven largely by fines and offences coming in $29,869 over target. Staff attributed the spike to visitors using the standard Passport Parking app rather than the Canadian version, triggering licence-plate scans that recorded non-payment. Season passes outpaced projections by $8,149, while machine and cloud payments trailed by $3,466. Vehicle counts along Lakeshore were consistently lower than prior years, with only one day of full-lot capacity all season.
Fire department recruiting and training. A recruitment session for approximately 8–10 firefighter positions was scheduled for the evening of the meeting at Sauble Station. Fire Chief Terry outlined plans to form a dedicated fire prevention team for smoke alarm checks and public education, and confirmed two mandatory certification courses must be completed by 2028, with hybrid in-person/online delivery alternating between Sauble and Wiarton stations.
Sauble Beach Chamber seeks equal programming funding. The Sauble Beach Chamber of Commerce submitted a written request for equal programming dollars in 2027, citing buskers and outdoor film screenings as examples. The CAO was attending the Chamber meeting the same evening; the item will be carried to budget deliberations.
Connectivity gap flagged. Councillor Kathy Durst raised ongoing Wi-Fi inadequacy in the Wiarton park area. Staff confirmed discussions with Shared Tower are underway, and that Infrastructure Ontario has been notified of broader data and dropped-call gaps throughout Wiarton.
Holiday closure. Council approved closing the town office at noon December 24th, 2026, reopening January 4th, 2027, with staff using accrued time to cover non-statutory-holiday days.