Here are your latest Brockville and area headlines:
- Prescott council members will be getting a pay increase. In a vote of 4-3, council approved a nearly 9 per cent pay hike for the mayor and 15 per cent for council members. Mayor Gauri Shankar’s wage will go from $31,273 to $34,006 while pay for attending meetings will come down slightly. Council pay goes from $23,195 to $26,685. (Editor’s note: This bullet has been corrected from an earlier version in which the salaries of the mayor and council had been switched)
- Leeds-Grenville Green Party Association President Steve Gabell has openly criticized MPP Steve Clark on his funding announcement for local hospitals. In an open letter, Gabell took issue with Clark’s statement the funding is “building upon some of these successes that we’ve been able to do over the last five years.” Gabell says rural emergency room closures, long wait times, staff shortages and more people without a family doctor are not successes. Gabell says the government needs to stop limiting wages for nursing staff.
- The United Counties of Leeds-Grenville is going through a mapping study to identify all prime agricultural land in the region. The Draft Land Evaluation and Area Review (LEAR) Report is currently in a public consultation phase with public comment accepted until the end of the month. The study will try to identify any additional agricultural land that should be added to the county official plan.