Minden Hills has taken steps towards moving a short-term rental bylaw forward. Council awarded the contract for monitoring and compliance to Granicus Canada Holdings, and is reassigning one staff member for a year to quarterback the township side of things.

While the bylaw has been spearheaded by County council, the four lower-tier municipalities will now take it on going forward. They are all in the process of signing off on the third-party contractor and figuring out what resources they will need for when the bylaw is finally passed. It is coming back to Minden Hills council Feb. 29.

CAO Cynthia Fletcher told a Feb. 8 regular council meeting, Granicus would use software to scan vacation home rental websites to determine numbers. They can identify addresses, track compliance, revenue and trends, and develop a database for the township.

Further, Fletcher said they can notify operators of registration and permit requirements, provide an online portal, notify noncompliant operators, and staff, of infractions and consequences, and provide education. They would have a 24/7 hotline where residents can report, prove, and resolve non-emergency STR-related problems.

If the County and its townships also give the green-light to a municipal accommodation tax, Fletcher said Granicus would also head that up.

“Granicus is a major player in the short-term rental sector, helping communities to address STR monitoring and compliance needs. The firm provides services to over 500 cities and counties across North America, including Huntsville, Lake of Bays, Ramara, Orillia, Georgian Bay, Tiny, Collingwood, and Penetanguishene. Staff have no concerns awarding the service contract to Granicus,” Fletcher said.

She noted the cost of the service, for both Granicus (estimated at just over $60,000 for three years) and the township, would be fully recovered through STR license fees.

Fletcher said they would also need a dedicated staff person for enforcement and inspections. She said this person would be the point of contact with Granicus, help build the Minden Hills program, administer the program, act as the point of communication with operators, and lead the enforcement of STR bylaws. Fletcher suggested a 12-month secondment of a municipal staff member to focus on the development of the program. They’ll look to a permanent position in future.

Coun. Bob Sisson queried the staff ask, saying the STR program has not even begun. However, Fletcher replied, “if we do not dedicate a resource to this, I have nobody to run this program.” She said other townships with STR programs have staff.

She added, “there is no shortage of work around us, and it’s not the type of program, if we want it to be successful, that people can do off the side of their desks.” She emphasized the person will oversee enforcement of complaints.

Fletcher said the target for starting applications and licensing is August.

She reminded staff and the public the license fee is $500-a-year. With Minden Hills conservatively estimated to have 297 rentals, that would mean $148,500 in revenue. For now, township costs for initial set-up are pegged at $90,588.

Mayor Bob Carter said the program was never meant to be a revenue-generator, but to cover costs. “We wanted to ensure that not one taxpayer dollar was spent on this.”

Coun. Ivan Ingram said he thinks there will be more than 297 short-term rentals, and Carter agreed.

Coun. Pam Sayne expressed hope the seconded employee might be able to monitor “how short-term rentals generally are affecting our long-term full-time housing.”

Dysart has also signed off on Granicus, while Algonquin Highlands and Highlands East have yet to do so.

A new $3.1 billion joint federal and provincial investment in Ontario’s health care system should be welcome news to everyone in Haliburton County, according to Haliburton Highlands Health Services executives.

On Feb. 9, prime minister Justin Trudeau and premier Doug Ford said the money will help increase access to family doctors, reduce wait times for appointments and emergency response, and allow hospitals to hire more healthcare workers.

It’s part of a wider, $200 billion 10-year commitment, including $46.2 billion in new money, the federal government made in 2023 to address funding shortfalls across provincial and territorial health systems.

Jennifer Burns-West, vice president of clinical and community programs and chief nursing executive at HHHS, said HHHS will use the extra funding to support frontline care, place resources where patients need it most, and support staffing pressures. It was not disclosed how much the organization would receive.

“Optimizing health and wellbeing in Haliburton County is our primary objective. Every day, our staff, physicians and volunteers go above and beyond to care for the needs of our patients, so this funding will help provide them with the resources they need to continue,” Burns-West said.

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott’s office did not respond to questions submitted by The Highlander, instead forwarding the request to health minister Sylvia Jones. Hannah Jensen, ministry spokesperson, said the province’s contribution is being split over three years and will build on initiatives the Ontario government is already working on through its Your Health: A Plan for Connection and Convenient Care initiative.

Jensen noted new primary care teams will be established to allow Ontarians without a family doctor to connect with one. There will also be money to hire more nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, and social workers.

“This will help reduce backlogs for surgeries and wait times in emergency rooms, while improving access to care for patients without a family doctor, especially in rural, remote and underserved areas,” a Feb. 9 press release states.

Scott has previously told The Highlander she considers Haliburton County to be a remote and underserved area.

Enrollment in health care education programs is also being expanded, with more than 700 spots – including over 70 in northern Ontario, expected in 2024. The agreement will also make it easier for internationally trained doctors and health professionals to practise in Ontario, removing barriers to foreign credential recognition, simplifying licensing processes, and increasing program access for highly educated and skilled professionals.

Kimberly Moran, Ontario Medical Association CEO, noted approximately 2.3 million people in Ontario don’t have a family doctor in 2024, with that number expected to nearly double over the next two years. “Everyone in Ontario deserves to have access to a family doctor,” Moran said.

HHHS ‘faces pressure’

Martin Mazza, interin chief financial officer at HHHS, said specific details over funding amounts the local hospital expects to receive will be known later this year. He noted the organization was still in a hole financially.

“All of us in our day-to-day lives see the impact of rising costs… HHHS faces considerable inflationary pressure with its ongoing budgetary responsibilities,” Mazza said.

Hospital president and CEO, Veronica Nelson, told The Highlander in a December 2023 interview HHHS had been focusing on its organizational deficit, which was down to around $1.7 million as of Sept. 30 last year compared to $4.2 million at the end of the 2022/23 fiscal year in April.

She attributed much of that to a decreased reliance on agency staff. The organization peaked in May, with 160 agency RN and RPN shifts, though that number had dropped to approximately 80 shifts per month by the end of the year.

Haliburton Highlands OPP said on Feb. 12 they’d made an arrest, and seized a firearm, in connection with a Feb. 7 assault and robbery on Floralan Park Drive in Minden.

Last Wednesday night, police said their crime, community street crime, tactics and rescue units, and emergency response team, executed an arrest warrant for a wanted person at a residence in Minden Hills.

“The individual was located and arrested without incident and a firearm was seized,” provincial constable Michael Melnychuk said.

He added the suspect was charged with two counts of assault, two counts of choking, careless storage of a firearm and possession of a firearm without a licence.

Melnychuk said the person was held for a bail hearing and no further details will be provided “in order to protect the identity of the victim.” Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Feb. 9, on Parkside Street in the village, an apartment building at the corner of Bobcaygeon Road was surrounded by police vehicles with caution tape around the entrance throughout the day.

Sources stated paramedics treated a man who had been stabbed, before transferring him to Haliburton hospital, though police have not confirmed those details.

OPP say incidents unrelated

They did say on Feb. 11 that a warrant for arrest had been issued for 28-year-old Michael Gunn of Minden. He is suspected of robbery using firearm, aggravated assault, and possession of a weapon for dangerous purposes in connection with the ongoing investigation in the township.

OPP said that last Friday, shortly after 4:30 a.m., they responded to an assault and residential robbery with a weapon on Parkside Street and the victim was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

They said Gunn “is believed to possess a weapon and is considered a potential threat to public safety. If seen, call 9-1-1 and do not approach.”

He is described as 6’1” (185 cm) with a thin build, short brown hair, light-brown partial beard, and blue eyes. He has a tattoo of the Canadian flag with a cross on the right forearm, and a tattoo of a female on the left forearm.

Business and residences in the area were being asked to check dashcam and security camera footage from early Friday morning for any suspicious activity.

Melnychuk indicated this incident had nothing to do with the police raid on Floralan Park Drive.

School in hold and secure

Meanwhile, Archie Stouffer Elementary School was in a hold and secure for much of the morning Feb. 9. Carolynne Bull, communications manager for Trillium Lakelands District School Board, sent an email to media at 10:36 a.m. confirming the school had been partially locked down as a precaution due to the robbery and assault.

In a hold and secure, exterior doors are locked, while students are not permitted to go outside and cannot be signed out, or picked up, by parents or guardians. Regular classroom routines and lessons continued through the hold and secure, which was lifted shortly after noon.

“A hold and secure is initiated when it is desirable to secure the school due to an ongoing situation outside the school and not necessarily related to the school,” Bull said.

She noted an email was sent to parents Friday afternoon informing them about the hold and secure and the protocols followed.

Melnychuk said investigators are asking anyone who has information on the incidents and has not yet reported it to police to contact Haliburton Highlands OPP at 705-286-1431, or the OPP provincial communications centre at 1-888-3101122. Information can also be provided anonymously by contacting Kawartha Haliburton Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477.

Allan Bagg’s mom worked with a young lady named Ellenor at a Bell Telephone office in Maple.

Allan had met her a couple of times and says with a cheeky grin, “and I thought, oh boy, because she was a looker then.” He didn’t think he stood a chance.

Allan’s mom invited the 17-year-old home for dinner one night. After eating, Allan, who was 21, and Ellenor were left alone on the verandah, chatting. When it came time for Ellenor to be driven home, Allan said “we stood up, and I don’t know what happened. We just kissed each other. That was it.” On the way home, he asked her out on a date that Saturday night and she said yes.

It was 1955, and they dressed up to visit Casa Loma. There was a big band playing, and dancing. After a short courtship, Allan said he knew he wanted to get married. He went to Ellenor’s mom and dad and asked for her hand. They said yes.

They married June 9, 1956 and have not looked back, celebrating 68 years in 2024.

“Allan’s been my only sweetheart,” Ellenor says.

The two lived in southern Ontario for years. They settled in Eagle Lake and are now at the Gardens of Haliburton. People would know them from the Eagle Lake Country Market.

The two waited four years to start a family, as they were renovating their home and enjoying summer at the lake.

“To me the secret of a good marriage is to honour your wedding, don’t be doing anything you shouldn’t do,” says Allan. “Be true to your partner and do things together.”

He adds, “everywhere we could, we went together. We always went to church together and any dances or anything like that. I was not the kind of man who went out with the boys and things like that. It wasn’t my thing.”

He says as a result “they have never had a hard word together, disagreements, but no hard words.”

For her part, Ellenor says it seems like her mother-in-law chose her for Allan. The couple think she was a matchmaker. Both families befriended each other. Despite the distance from Maple to Woodbridge, they made it work. Allan had a car and would go for Sunday dinners to Maple.

Ellenor believes “joining things together, going to church together, families getting along well together” contributed to their success. “I think the backbone of a marriage is being able to go to church together and feel comfortable. Have faith.”

The two were also active in the community. Allan added she was, and is, a good mother.

When Allan was in hospital in the New Year after a fall, and needed surgery, Ellenor said she missed snuggling with him. It was weird sleeping alone. She hadn’t done it since 1956.

“We’ve had a good marriage,” Allan says. “We couldn’t have asked for anything better in our marriage. And I love her today as much as I did when I got that first kiss.”