The District of Muskoka launched a strategic planning process earlier this year. The process involves updating the District’s Vision, Mission and Value statements and identifying the top priorities to address in this term of council.
Community members are encouraged to review the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan draft and complete a short survey at www.engagemuskoka.ca/strategicplan.
“Council and staff took part in several workshops this spring to reflect on what residents, customers, and clients have told us about the challenges facing Muskoka’s communities,” said District Chair, Jeff Lehman. “This draft plan outlines the top priorities that we identified, and we want to reach back out to the community to make sure we have captured the things that matter most before staff develop action plans. This survey is a way for us to say “This is what we heard was most important to you. Did we get it right?”
Having a Strategic Plan is crucial for this term of Muskoka District Council – it sets the direction and priorities for the municipality. It provides a roadmap for decision-making and ensures that resources and efforts are directed toward achieving specific goals and outcomes. The Strategic Plan Steering Committee highlighted the importance of continued engagement and ongoing opportunities for feedback. By moving the Strategic Plan forward and advancing the action plans over the next four years, District Council can demonstrate its commitment to our community.
The survey is open until July 3, 2023. Following the consultation phase, the plan will be considered by council in July.
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As Hugh Mackenzie said the District is “top-heavy, there are unnecessary duplications of service, there is very little accountability at the District level, the payroll is huge and there is little excuse for Muskoka to have more elected municipal councillors than many of Ontario’s larger cities.”
The District of Muskoka needs to be disbanded like Peel.
Smugly wasting taxpayer money needs to stop.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/ready-or-not/
Lowering taxes.
Cutting bureaucratic positions.
Delivering better services with lower taxes. Finding efficiencies.
Ending any and all Climate Change/ Woke/Land Aknowledgements and any other far left political nonsense.
Top priority?
Reopening the existing grass runway at the airport. For now and for the future of the airport.
Closure is based on misinformation from a few individuals.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/massively-over-budget-district-cans-grass-runway-project/
In fact the alternate new grass runway, 12-30, was dead in the water as of July last year.
It doesn’t matter what the cost is/was.
Why was airport management still talking about the cost in May this year when 12-30 was dead last year?
In July 2022 council was told airport neighbours won’t allow their trees to be cut down for 12-30 so that project was dead.
Councillors were annoyed that 12-30 presented to them in Jan 2020 was never viable.
Years of discussion by councillors was wasted.
Airport management suggested the neighbour’s trees would be cut down without their permission which annoyed councillors even more.
That was called a flippant suggestion.
Video of July 2022 is here: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/784981370/3e538e4e18
Did councillors forget that exchange last year?
New councillors and the new chair were not present.
Reopening the grass runway seemed imminent. For the second time last year.
Councillors understood the value of a second runway, so if 12-30 was dead, reopening the existing grass runway seemed the next step.
First time reopening the grass runway seemed imminent was in March last year when the report council asked for, recommended maintaining the existing grass runway and building beside instead of on top of it.
Councillors were reminded of that recommendation in an email May 15, 2022.
Was 12-30 always a ruse to close the existing grass runway?
Or was it just lack of due diligence and incompetence?
Just like there is no reason the existing grass runway is closed right now.
Incompetence.
Transport Canada confirmed airport management misinterpreted their suggestions for grass runways.
Council was told that in 2020 in a delegation as well.
Also reminded in further emails.
Airport property goes far beyond the grass runway to the east so it makes no sense councillors were told neighbouring trees also have to be cut down for the existing grass runway.
After 80 years of operation the historic grass runway doesn’t suddenly need to be crowned either.
Absurd claims.
Councillors were manipulated into making a very serious mistake with misinformation/incompetence.
All those with aviation competence were ignored.
Are all District decisions based on misinformation?
Anyone with even a modicum of aviation competence knows 2 runways at 90 degrees makes any airport safer and more usable and protects the airport’s future.
It’s dangerously incompetent to argue otherwise as the CEO and airport chair told council.
It’s absurd to suggest going backwards to a single runway does not affect safety or usability.
It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic for the airport’s future.
Other nearby airports are flourishing and expanding and investing millions of dollars in their airport asset.
Muskoka airport continues to languish under very poor management while our asset is trashed.
But then the airport CEO and chair have no aviation competence.
Airport management also demonstrated a dangerous lack of aviation competence in response to my safety concerns in an email regarding the takeoff length of small aircraft.
Pilots are killed making basic, basic aviation errors as I received from airport management.
In Muskoka the grass runway is the one aligned with the wind most often.
90 degrees crosswind on the main paved runway is now very common. Worst direction possible.
3 accidents have already occurred due to the closures at Muskoka airport. For no valid reason at all.
Accident descriptions directly from the pilots involved were sent to all councillors.
How much does it cost to reopen the grass runway? ZERO dollars.
Council was told that Jan 2020 in a delegation. Nothing has changed.
Simply a NOTAM issued for a rough strip exactly the same as 2019 when it was open.
Just pick up a few rocks with volunteers if that’s what it takes.
Video of the Jan 2020 delegation is here:
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/711738306/af9d151e20
Ron Brent is a very experienced commercial pilot and owns and operates many grass and gravel airstrips.
He ran the airshow at Muskoka which included the Snowbirds in the past.
He is advising on Parry Sound’s airport expansion which will take lucrative jet business from Muskoka.
Ron labelled Muskoka as the most unfriendly airport he’s ever been to.
He also described how the grass runway saved a female pilot’s life in the past.
Here is Ron’s whole delegation.
At the time, 2 of the 3 accidents had occurred. He described them at the end of this clip.
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/711730946/ddea1bdc08
It’s a matter of time before there is a fatal accident due to strong crosswinds on the main paved runway that would have been averted if the existing grass runway was open.
Proper airport development has been delayed for years by current airport management.
If airport management had simply told council the new hangar should go beside the existing grass runway, not on top, it would have been completed years ago.
That was the recommendation from the latest and earlier consultants as well as local pilots and everyone else with any aviation competence..
Only a few individuals disagree.
Why is council favouring a new airport tenant at the expense of Lake Central Air Services who have operated at Muskoka for 50+ years? As well as at the expense of other existing tenants?
Why the animosity towards local pilots who are responsible for most of the takeoffs and landings here?
All of the above has been stated to District Council multiple times since Jan 2020.
Response? Crickets.
“It takes a big man to admit his mistake”
Is District Council big enough?
A few of the many similar comments from other pilots are here:
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/massively-over-budget-district-cans-grass-runway-project/#comment-125214
https://southmuskoka.doppleronline.ca/massively-over-budget-district-cans-grass-runway-project/#comment-67612
John Whitty
Retired P.Eng. and Muskoka pilot