Scugog January eNewsletter

March Break Camp Registration is Now Open!

2024 Meeting Schedule, Proclamations and Appointments

• Council Meeting: Monday, January 29 @ 6:30pm

For all Council & Committee schedules, minutes and agendas, please visit scugog.ca/council. Comments / questions regarding agenda items can be directed to the department, to our general email: mail@scugog.ca or call 905-985-7346.

News

Reserve Your Timeslot for Scugog's Family Day Fun Event this February

The Township of Scugog is happy to welcome back the Family Day Fun event Monday, February 19, 2024, at the Scugog Community Recreation Centre.

The recreation team, in partnership with community sponsors, offers free activities for families including crafts, games, inflatables, balloon making, face painting, a magic show, fire truck tours, FREE public skating and more!

Participants will use their “Passport to Fun” to check off all the activities they can which is then entered into a draw for a chance to win a free summer camp registration.

Due to the large success of our 2023 event, families are required to pre-register for a timeslot to allow for full participation in the activities. Timeslots are available from 9:00-11:00 am, 11:15-1:15 pm and 1:30-3:30 pm. Visit our Family Day page to reserve your timeslot. Please have your confirmation ready when you arrive.

A special thank you goes out to Scugog Mechanical and Taylor Forder Insurance for sponsoring the free public skates this year!

For more information visit scugog.ca/familyday or contact:

Community Services
Parks, Recreation & Culture
recreation@scugog.ca
905-985-8698 

We Want Your Help to Choose the New Splash Pad for Palmer Park

The Township of Scugog is looking for your input into the replacement of the splash pad at Palmer Park on Water Street in Port Perry.

Input can be submitted through our Palmer Park Splash Pad project page on MyScugog. Simply review the concept options for the splash pad replacement and provide your input through the survey. The survey will be available until February 11, 2024.

For general inquiries about this project, please email works@scugog.ca.

Township of Scugog’s New Lakefront Skate and Market

This winter season, Scugog will introduce a new outdoor, on-land skating rink thanks to generous funding from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).

"The new skating rink provides a wonderful opportunity for residents and visitors to embrace and enjoy fun winter activities in the Durham Region,” said the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario. “Canadians know the value tourism plays in strengthening southern Ontario’s communities, and our government is committed to supporting a multitude of projects across Ontario to create all-season fun for everyone.”

Located in the Joe Fowler north ball diamond, the new outdoor rink and vendor village will provide a unique and extended pleasure skating experience with food and artisan market right in the heart of downtown. The objective is to attract visitors with an exhilarating skating experience from early December to mid-March, highlighting the lakefront and the downtown this winter season. Skating will be available seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with vendor kiosks anticipated to be open most weekends.

“The Township is always looking at opportunities to support tourism in our community especially with the tourism sector still on the road to recovery,” said Township of Scugog Mayor Wilma Wotten. “We are thankful to the Government of Canada for its support of Scugog Tourism to extend the tourism season throughout the winter.”

We would like to extend a huge thank you to our partners for this initiative!

Platinum

• Ashlea Jones Athletes in Training

Silver

• Green Tractors

Bronze

• All-Risks Insurance
• M. Welding
• Beavertails
• Corey Hulowski
• Holmes Insurance Agency
• Larocque Electric

Community partnerships, future sponsorship and vendor opportunities are available to offset the future operations of the outdoor rink. The Joe Fowler north ball diamond provides wide-open space for specialty artisans and merchants. The proximity to the newly built Joe Fowler picnic shelter also provides a picturesque setting to enjoy a skate, a hot chocolate and a view.

Learn more at scugog.ca/lakefrontskate

February 23 and April 23: Tax Due Dates

The next 2023 tax installment due dates are fast approaching. Bills have been sent through Canada Post Monday, January 22. The first payment is due February 23 and the second April 23.

Payments can be made at the Municipal Office (181 Perry St.), via online/telephone banking, or at your financial institution. The Township of Scugog also offers a monthly or installment-based pre authorized payment plan to ensure payments are received on time.

Under Township of Scugog By-laws, late payment charges of 1.25% are applicable after the noted due dates, along with a $6.00 fee for reminder notices.

Want to go paperless? The Township of Scugog is now offering eSend. To receive your property tax billing and notice information via email, please visit our Property Taxes page or the Municipal Office to complete the authorization form.

New Kent Farndale Gallery Exhibit

The Kent Farndale Gallery is pleased to present the upcoming exhibit “Spontaneous Strokes” by Cai Kui. The Opening Reception will begin Saturday, February 17th at 2 pm and the show will run February 17th to March 21st, 2024 in the Kent Farndale Gallery in the Scugog Memorial Public Library at 231 Water Street in Port Perry.

The Kent Farndale Gallery is open 7 days a week during library hours. Please call 905-985-7686 for more information.

Public Notices

Winter Road and Sidewalk Maintenance

With the recent winter weather, it is a great time to share some information about how the Township provides road maintenance during and after storms.

The Township of Scugog provides winter maintenance for 826 lane kilometers of road.  Most of the service is provided by a day shift that works 7:00 am to 3:30 pm but usually begins work at 4:00 am when there is a winter weather event. There are 15 operators working on the day shift and each is assigned a plow route. The timing to complete a salting/sanding operation is 5 to 6 hours. The timing to complete a full plowing operation is 8 to 12 hours depending on the amount of snow. There is also an evening shift with two operators that patrol the roads and treat the high priority roads. These staff work from 6:30 pm to 3:00 am. On weekends and holidays, roads are patrolled by two part-time staff and when necessary, operators are called in to work to plow or sand/salt roads.

The Township of Scugog also clears select sidewalks within the community. The standard level of service for sanding/plowing is at least once within 24 hours after a typical winter storm event. You can view the sidewalks that the Township clears here; any sidewalks not included in this route are up to the property owner to clear. Service levels for sidewalks will also be enhanced this year to include plowing for the sidewalks beside Palmer Park as well as the new Lakefront Skate and Market.

For safety reasons, it is important when clearing sidewalks not to place the snow/ice immediately beside or blocking access to a fire hydrant, anywhere that would block drainage to any catchbasin, ditch, or culvert, or on the roads. You can also help keep sidewalks clear of ice and snow by parking vehicles away from sidewalks, removing items or structures close to the sidewalk (e.g. planters, bins, etc.), and blowing or pushing snow onto your own property and not on the sidewalk or road.

While every winter storm is different, during a winter snow event our crews will plow roads during the day and evenings and then after the snow has stopped, crews will come in the next morning at 4:00 am to clear all roads.

More information can be found at scugog.ca/news

Gravel Road Maintenance

The Township of Scugog is responsible for the maintenance of 192 km of gravel roads. Full re-grading of our roads occurs twice a year, once in late May/ early June when the frost comes out of the ground and then again in late October/ early November before the frost sets in.

The condition of gravel roads this time of year depends mostly on the weather. Unfortunately, this year’s mild temperatures and wet conditions in November and December have caused problems on some of our roads. As a result, staff have been out completing minor surface repairs to minimize further disruption to the gravel surface. However, we need to be careful as too many touch ups on our roads will create further damage by depleting the gravel. Continued mild temperatures will cause more rutting on our roads as vehicles pass by.  Staff can only provide further touch ups when the weather conditions allow. 

As always, we ask residents for their patience this time of year as we schedule work based on the weather conditions. 

On a positive note, the continued increased investments in the rehabilitation of Township roads, especially gravel roads, is showing good results. In 2022, the Township invested $1,000,000 on the resurfacing of 26 km of gravel roads. And in the past 5 years, a total of $4.2 million has been put towards resurfacing 115 km of gravel roads. This means that 60% of our gravel roads have been improved in the last 5 years.

Additional information on Road Maintenance is available on the Township’s ‘Road Maintenance’ page, by emailing works@scugog.ca or calling 905-985-7346 Ext. 112.

Winter Parking

Reminder that there is NO parking on Township Roads between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m. Until April 15.

Employment Opportunities

The following employment opportunities are available with the Township of Scugog!

• March Break Camp Counsellor
• March Break Skate Patroller
• Various Summer Student Positions

Information about Township of Scugog employment opportunities can be found at scugog.ca/employment