Category Archives: Southwold

10.18.25
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‘So 37 years later, it’s my opportunity to pass that hat to somebody else’ – Steve Peters steps away from city council

An announcement out of left field, but, in the final analysis, likely inevitable.
Steve Peters stood up as Monday’s city council meeting drew to a close to announce he was walking away from municipal politics, effective immediately.
Ironically, this year is Peters’ 30th anniversary of holding elected office.
You can read his announcement to council below.
Peters wants to spend more time in his position as chair of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, a position he was appointed to last year.
The organization represents 170 growers of over 4,300 acres of greenhouse vegetables.
“I’m a focused person, and I really want to focus on the greenhouse sector. We’ve got a lot of stuff on our plate.”

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06.21.25
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Future tourism signage: Come and enjoy the sun, sand and surf at the County of Elgin’s smoke-free beaches

With the blistering hot weather steamrolling into southwestern Ontario this weekend, Lake Erie beaches likely will prove a popular destination to seek relief from the heat and humidity.
However, is that quality outdoor time sprawled on a beach towel atop the sand negatively impacted by a blue haze of cigarette smoke wafting in the breeze?
The Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA) prohibits smoking in many public areas; however, municipal bylaws are still needed to cover the gaps in places like parks and beaches.
Many municipalities have smoke-free park bylaws, but beaches in the Southwestern Public Health region remain unregulated.
All of that could change by as early as next summer.

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12.21.24
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The incoming city manager is ‘an ideal fit’ for St. Thomas

St. Thomas has a new city manager and the hiring committee only had to turn their gaze slightly to the west.
Mayor Joe Preston announced Thursday (Dec. 19) morning that Southwold CAO Lisa Higgs will fill the void left by Michael Bradley’s departure in November.
He assumed the city manager post at city hall on May 15 of this year. Exactly five months later, a media release from Preston announced, “City to begin recruitment for new city manager.”
Bradley accepted the position of CAO with the City of Brantford – his hometown – and departed the city in mid-November.
Higgs has served as CAO and clerk in Southwold since 2017 and prior to that worked in SW Oxford, Tillsonburg and the Township of Malahide.

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12.14.24
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Is the 2025 City of St. Thomas municipal tax levy relief simply a case of delaying the inevitable?

Ratepayers await a definitive answer on the city’s 2025 operating and capital budgets, however at last Monday’s council meeting some serious pencil sharpening was evident.
The process began with a proposed 4.93 per cent hike to the municipal tax levy next year.
However, after more than two hours of deliberations, that hike has been whittled down to about a 3.8 per cent increase.
This was accomplished by dipping into reserves for an additional $650,000 to soften the hit on ratepayers next year.
Next year’s proposed levy is almost $74.5 million, up from just shy of $69 million this year, an 8.13 per cent increase.
Factor in the estimated additional growth-related tax of 3.2 per cent and ratepayers were looking at a 4.93 per cent hike.

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09.21.24
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The Elgin Community Health Hub fills a ‘crucial gap in healthcare’ for residents of St. Thomas and Elgin

There was positive healthcare news announced Friday (Sept. 20) for thousands of residents of St. Thomas and Elgin county.
A new primary care clinic is opening Monday in St. Thomas and appointments are now available.
The Elgin Community Health Hub at 230 First Avenue will fill a gap for about 10,000 individuals without a primary care provider, explained Jill Strong, executive director of the Thames Valley Family Health Team.
And provide an option for another 20,000 or so people who use the services of a healthcare provider located outside Elgin county.
“Starting Monday, Sept. 23, Elgin (and St. Thomas) residents seeking health care have a new option, the Elgin Community Health Hub.

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04.20.24
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Central Elgin and St. Thomas reach a settlement for boundary adjustment compensation, ‘now the heavy lifting begins’

city_scope_logo-cmykIt’s being referenced as a historic settlement.
An $80 million compensation package to the Municipality of Central Elgin for the hundreds of acres of land absorbed by St. Thomas for its new industrial park that is to be the home of the PowerCo EV battery plant.
The land was obtained by the city under provisions in Bill 63, St. Thomas – Central Elgin Boundary Adjustment Act, 2023.
The $80 million is made up of $15 million in monetary compensation and access to 7,700 cubic metres per day of wastewater treatment capacity at flow rates equal to City of St. Thomas rates.
This is projected to have a value of $75 to $85 million.
The question to ask is how will this impact water rates for Central Elgin residents?

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02.24.24
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‘Always leave the campsite better than you found it’ – St. Thomas developer Doug Tarry on his purchase of downtown railway lands

city_scope_logo-cmykProposed residential development on land currently owned by the Elgin County Railway Museum is an opportunity to revitalize that portion of downtown St. Thomas, stresses Doug Tarry.
The St. Thomas developer made that observation almost three years ago, and this past Tuesday (Feb. 20) city council unanimously agreed to declare certain parcels of land that partially comprise Jonas Park to be declared surplus to the city and those parcels will be sold to Doug Tarry Limited (DTL) for future residential development west of the Elgin Country Railway Museum.
Back in the summer of 2021, Tarry sought to purchase eight acres of railway land immediately west of the museum at $300,000 per acre for a low-rise residential development that would front onto a new street to be created off Ross Street and north of Jonas Street.

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02.17.24
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‘The year ahead represents, to me, a bridge to prosperity and a critical shift from past to present’ – Central Elgin Mayor Andrew Sloan

city_scope_logo-cmykThe St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce Lunch with the Mayors gathering is typically a non-controversial State of the Union-type event, more jovial than jousting.
That all changed with last year’s get-together which came on the heels of Bill-63, the St. Thomas Central Elgin Boundary Adjustment Act.
Central Elgin lost hundreds of acres of farmland to St. Thomas for that municipality to assemble 1,500 acres for what would become the Yarmouth Yards industrial park and ultimately the home of Volkswagen/PowerCo and the EV battery giga-plant.
Much of the question-and-answer time slot was put to good use by former Central Elgin Mayor Sally Martyn to hold St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston’s feet to the fire on her municipality’s lack of involvement in the land deal.

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02.03.24
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‘Snapshots’, another theatrical chapter in the history of Southwold Township

city_scope_logo-cmykSouthwold Township history comes alive again this spring with a collection of one-act plays and original songs presented at the Keystone Complex in Shedden.
Entitled Snapshots, the production focuses on the Second World War and the RCAF Bombing and Gunnery School near Fingal.
Written by Len Cuthbert, one of the plays mirrors the philosophy of long-time area resident Lorne Spicer, one of the founders of the Rosy Rhubarb Festival, a member of the Elgin Stewardship Council and the St. Thomas Field Naturalists.
He believed life is the train, not the station which is the title of one of the productions, notes Cuthbert.

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