Council condensed: city may eat festival deficit

Here are the highlights of tonight's committee meeting of council:

Community Services Committee
The North Bay Heritage Festival's accumulated deficit could be absorbed by the city.

Council's Community Services Committee voted tonight to accept a staff recommendation that would see the $235,222 shortfall funded from the Completed Capital Works Reserve Fund.

Council votes on the item next week at its regular meeting.

The committee also received a copy of the 2006 festival budget, which comes in at $990,000, $89,000 less than last year.

As well the committee heard from festival co-chairman Scott Clark, who said discussions are in the works right now to bring the Country Singing Open back into the big summer event.

Engineering and Works Committee
The Engineering and Works Committee has voted to support a Ministry of Transportation plan for a grade-separated pedestrian cross of the Hwy 11/17 corridor in the vicinity of Frost and Chippewa Streets.

General Government Committee
A motion by Coun. Maureent Boldt, that council encourage the province to ensure the new North Bay Regional Health Centre is not built under the P3 model, has been put on hold.

The motion was noted and filed Monday night.

BayToday.ca will have more on these stories and more tomorrow morning.