In marking the first regular meeting of the North Bay City Council of the new year, Mayor Peter Chirico took the opportunity to speak about the past year's triumphs and challenges, and what lies ahead, focusing on capital projects, infrastructure improvements, and community safety and well-being initiatives.
"Over the past year, we have been directly involved in projects that directly impact our community and align with our priorities as a council, the City's strategic plan, and other guiding documents," said Chirico from the mayor's seat in council chambers at the onset of Tuesday's meeting.
"Our efforts have certainly focused on community safety and well-being, identifying areas to improve, making sure we're spending public funds wisely, and bringing City Hall into the 21st century so that our day-to-day operations are more efficient," he continued.
The first-term mayor touched on "two key projects," the municipality's operational review and enterprise resource planning (ERP). He deemed them "well underway," with a report on the operational review expected by the end of March.
"We are a big operation," stated Chirico, "and these are significant projects — and change does take time. We are all committed to doing it right and making the improvements we all want to see."
Chirico mentions a "new direction" in the ongoing arena and community centre saga.
"We'll soon issue a progressive design-build request for proposal. This way, we'll be able to adjust the design to stay flexible with the costs."
Mayor Chirico thanked council members and city staff and concluded, "We have laid the groundwork for positive change and look forward to continued collaboration with our community and look forward to further results over this coming year."
See North Bay Mayor Peter Chirico's full address below:
