The issue of the amalgamation of conservation authorities in Ontario made its way back to the Amherstburg council chambers. Councillor Molly Allaire, who chairs the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) board of directors, brought the matter forward at the April 13 town council meeting. “As the chair, I want to make sure our concerns are heard,” said Allaire.  The ERCA board met the previous week and resolved to support the province’s modernization objectives “provided t

A report on programming for the 2026 installment of Open Air Weekends turned into a debate on the event itself at the most recent economic development advisory committee meeting. The committee met April 16 with Open Air programming on the agenda. Local resident Bill Petruniak was a delegate at the meeting, and outlined concerns he had with the current format. Petruniak recalled in Nov. 2024, town council agreed to continue Open Air in its current format until 2027. Petruniak

An election sign bylaw has been approved and candidates will be able to put their signs up right from the start of the nomination period. Councillor Don McArthur sought the amendment for restoring the limit signs can be up right from the start of the nomination period, which is May 1. A report from manager of licensing and enforcement B.J. Wilder had recommended the period be reduced from 184 days to 71 days, meaning signs would not have been able to have been put up until af

An update business licensing bylaw has been passed by town council despite concerns over a local food truck operator. An update business licensing bylaw has been passed by town council despite concerns over a local food truck operator. Chris Garbutt, owner of The Oven Door food truck in Amherstburg, spoke to town council regarding the business licencing bylaw. His specific concern was the mobile food truck park permit. “I’m not here to oppose regulation. I understand the need

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing senior advisor Spencer Fitzpatrick speaks at an election education session in Essex last Wednesday. Michelle Casavecchia-Somers and Michelle Smibert (seated) from Clerks on Call followed Fitzpatrick’s presentation with one of their own. Those interested in running for office in the Oct. 26 municipal election got a chance to learn more about the process last week. The 2026 pre-election municipal candidates information session was held

Town council is looking at possibly bringing back emergency sirens, particularly in case of a nuclear event. (Town of Amherstburg image) A report will return to town council exploring an option to possibly install a pair of sirens (or more) in the town’s “Detailed Planning Zone” (DPZ) with one on Boblo Island and a second in the former Malden Township, in the zone that would be first impacted. Two delegations appeared before town council encouraging town council to go down th

Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles was in Windsor last week, with Diageo one of the topics she focused on. Stiles met with Diageo workers last Wednesday and she said workers voiced a lot of frustration with her on how they were treated. The company announced in August 2025 they would close the Amherstburg plant and followed through with that in late February. Stiles said many of the workers she spoke with were only months away from being able to retire and collect a pension. She

There was a round of applause in the Essex County council chambers last week from councillors, administration and staff as the long-awaited road rationalization study was presented and adopted. “It’s the report we’ve been waiting for for years,” said Warden Hilda MacDonald. Director of infrastructure and planning services Allan Botham presented the 75-page report that, over the next two to seven years will see the responsibility of 42.8 km of county roads either uploaded to t

Essex’s County’s County Wide Active Transportation System (CWATS) is going through a transformation that could see a division in who pays for new infrastructure. Manager of transportation, planning and development Jerry Behl outlined a new plan that would have the county assuming all CWATS infrastructure as part of Essex County council’s April 1 meeting. “Once infrastructure is built, we will finalize who owns, maintains and replaces the CWATS infrastructure,” said Behl. Sign