Notes from the regular Council meeting, which was held on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
Bright Accessible Playground Donation Delegation
Two representatives from North Blenheim Mutual Insurance Company attended the meeting to donate $15,000 to the municipality in support of the Bright Accessible Playground project.
The municipality has been working to upgrade several local playgrounds throughout the township, with projects already completed in Princeton, Plattsville and most recently in Drumbo, to make them more inclusive, accessible, and welcoming for children of all ages and abilities.
North Blenheim Mutual Insurance Company’s donation for the Bright Accessible Playground project will ultimately go towards helping to modernize the existing playground.
Mayor Mark Peterson thanked the company for its generous donation during the meeting, saying it was nice to local businesses supporting the community.
“I know the residents of Bright, and our whole Township, will really enjoy the different things we’re going to do,” he said. “We are not 100 per cent sure what all this will be used for, but I’m looking forward to seeing that in the future.”
Staff Reports
Sparks Drain Tender Report
Council has awarded the tender for the Sparks Drain project to Cassidy Construction London Ltd.
Adam Degier, the Township’s Drainage Superintendent/Building Inspector, told Council the Request for Tender (RFT) was published on Tuesday, September 22, and closed on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
The Township received a total of three bids, ranging from $216,713 to $259,844 (excluding HST), with Cassidy Construction London Ltd. being the lowest bidder.
According to Degier, “The estimated cost for construction in the drainage report was $220,200. The engineer has reviewed the tenders for accuracy and completeness, and is recommending that the contract be awarded to Cassidy Construction London Limited.”
Music in the Park Agreements
Council voted in favour of renewing the contracts for both the Plattsville and Princeton Music in the Park agreements for the 2027 season.
Trevor Baer, the Township’s Manager of Community Services, came to Council to recommend the renewal, saying both programs benefit the community by providing free live entertainment for residents.
“Plattsville sees about 100 people come to the park once a week, while Princeton sees about 75 people come. They take place on Thursday nights in the parks, and it’s a free program for the community and local musicians to come to,” said Baer. “The two coordinators book the music and they would like to renew their contract with the Township to waive the fees for the summer of 2027.
“It would go from June until the end of October again and it would be the same agreement we had last year. …They get the pavilion for free and we waive the fees. It’s a free program. We administrate it on our website, what’s happening, and our social media page, and help promote it, and they promote it as well through the community.”
As part of the contracts, the agreements also provide access to indoor facilities during inclement weather. Princeton Music in the Park will have access to Princeton Centennial Hall, while Plattsville Music in the Park will have access to the Plattsville Memorial Community Arena.
Peterson said the programs were great to have and that it was nice to see the parks being used by the residents before calling the vote for approvals.
Drumbo Agricultural Society Agreement with EarlyON
Baer brought forward a report recommending the renewal of the partnership with the Drumbo Agricultural Society to support EarlyON programming out of the Drumbo Hall for the 2027 season. The program started last November.
According to his report, “All parties expressed satisfaction with how the arrangement has worked and were supportive of continuing the partnership for another year. As part of the agreement, the Township will continue to provide grass cutting services at the Drumbo Agricultural Hall, requiring approximately 30 minutes of staff time per occurrence. This work can be incorporated into regular maintenance operations with minimal additional costs. The continuation of this partnership will allow the EarlyON Program to remain in Drumbo, providing valuable early childhood programming and social opportunities for local families and caregivers while making effective use of community facilities and Township resources.”
Council ultimately voted in favour of renewing the partnership.
Request for Information for Summer Programming
It was discussed in June of this year that with only two known day camp options within the municipality, including one in Plattsville and another near Wolverton, staff would be looking to expand programming options.
Staff eventually put out a community survey to engage with the public to see what residents were looking for in a day camp.
A Request for Information (RFI) was later put to explore opportunities for external organizations to operate summer day camps at the Plattsville Memorial Community Arena, Princeton Centennial Hall, and their associated parks.
According to Baer’s report, “Staff contacted four day camp providers and included the community survey information in the RFI to help organizations understand local programming needs. Feedback indicated concerns regarding existing day camp availability, insufficient registration numbers, and the potential impact on camps already operating in surrounding communities.”
While the RFI deadline was extended by one week to accommodate an interested organization, no formal submissions were received.
“Staff would like to continue pursuing this, but as of now, the RFI closed on October 23, and we did not get any response back,” said Baer. “We had a lot of conversations with groups about it, and some would maybe consider in the future maybe expanding to our facilities as a satellite, but right now nobody’s interested in running that.”
During the meeting, both Deputy Mayor Tina Young and Councillor Nancy Demarest wondered what if they could see the responses from the survey, noting there were about 88 that came in, so they could narrow down the community’s wants and needs and figure out what to aim for in the future.
“I wonder if we dig into the responses a little bit more from residents, if we’ll be able to sort of glean what they’re looking for,” said Demarest. “I know we shared that information on some level in the RFI, but I wonder if we need to take it a step further and say ‘residents are looking for these three specific things’ as opposed to something that’s more general.”
After a few more comments from Council, the report was received for information only.
Farewell to Councillor Daryl Barnes
Before the meeting ended, Peterson took the opportunity to thank Barnes for his commitment to Council.
“I want to thank you, Daryl, for putting your name forward and being a Councillor for four years. You’ve done a great job. It is not an easy job and I just want to commend you on it,” said Peterson. “You’ve done an absolutely fantastic job. The one thing I will really miss is your expertise on the roads, and I still may reach out to you every once in a while to ask your opinion. I hope you don’t disappear from the political world altogether, and I hope to see you at lots of functions in the future. On behalf of myself, Council and staff, thank you very much.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
