The Newmarket Food Pantry is presenting a vision for a new community fridge to town council Monday, Jan. 10, according to the agenda. The food bank will ask council for some support for a new initiative to have spaces freely available for people to immediately take and donate food.
Council will also be reviewing its strategic priorities and how to get benefits out of a development proposed for the Shining Hill area.
Here is what NewmarketToday will be following:
Community fridge
The Newmarket Food Pantry is pitching a new way to provide food for the community.
Executive director Adrian Bain is seeking support for a new community fridge initiative to provide fresh food people can take for free at any time. The fridge would be stocked by the food bank, as well as individuals and organizations. All donated items must be unopened and unused.
"Everyone is welcome to take food from the fridge, in any amount, and at any time,” the pantry said in a pre-submitted presentation. “The general idea is to take what you need and leave what you can.”
The non-profit seeks to address points such as construction, parking, locations, security and risk mitigation with the town.
Shining Hill
Newmarket council will meet in private to discuss a municipal capital facilities agreement with Shining Hill in the northwest corner of town.
The town agreed to hold off in November on rezoning approval for new development on environmentally protected land. The municipality hopes to secure concessions like affordability and environmental friendliness as a condition.
The proposal for new development in the area has received opposition from neighbours and environmental groups. But environmentalists have recently pushed for concessions instead of outright denial of the proposal.
Strategic priorities
As the council embarks on the last year of its term, it will review its strategic priority dashboard.
Initiatives underway include the final design of the Mulock park, corridor development, increasing downtown parking, implementing a private tree bylaw and more.
Information on the town’s strategic priorities is available through a municipal website.
The town will stream the meeting Jan. 10 at 1 p.m. You can view the stream through newmarket.ca/meetings or email [email protected] to arrange a deputation. After several weeks of broadcasting from the municipal office and allowing in-person attendance, this meeting will be held virtually due to COVID-19 protocols.
