«I want to make sure this is something we get done,» said Bogue, during a September 15 interview, regarding the state of negotiations between Hawkesbury and Champlain over a water supply agreement.
Bogue noted that the agreement is close to complete and means a secure source of drinking water for the township as part of Hawkesbury’s municipal water system. Bogue and other members of the present council have been working with Hawkesbury administration on getting the final details of the agreement in order.
«It’s a complex matter,» Bogue said, adding that he wants a second term on council so he can help see the agreement to completion. «We need to have people (on council) who know about all about it.»
Bogue, 68, sought election to Hawkesbury council in 2018. The local businessman, who is also involved in Hawkesbury’s Business Improvement Area organization, sees continued economic development as a long-term concern for the next council and those that follow after.
During his term on council, he was an advocate for creating the municipality’s own economic economic director position. He would like to see the town take more advantage of its proximity to Québec and also to the U.S. border.
«We have a lot of good things we can promote out there,» he said, adding that the next council needs to take advantage of all the consultant reports that were done and never followed up on a variety of issues related to economic development and other matters.
«There are lists of reports that been sitting on the shelves for years,» he said, citing as an example a report on future improvements to Confederation Park.
One report, Bogue noted, that did see some follow-up concerns an energy management plan for the municipality. The report prompted council’s approval for ongoing replacement of old sodium-bulb electric streetlights with more energy-efficient and longer-lasting light-emitting-diode (LED) streetlights. The LED streetlight project will help save the municipality money in its annual budget.
«There’s a big part of that (energy) report still not done,» said Bogue, adding he wants to be involved in «seeing it through.»
Bogue noted that the provincial government’s plans to shut down the Pickering nuclear power plant within the two few years and also plans changes in the operation of its other two nuclear power plants near Toronto. That could mean more potential «brown out» or even «black out» situations in future for some municipalities.
Hawkesbury Hydro looks after the municipal eletricity system. Bogue would like the next council to look getting «green energy» support grants from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities or senior government to help finance projects like installing solar panels on selected municipal buildings to help reduce costs for lighting and other electrical equipment in those facilities.
«There are all kinds of possibilities in that report» said Bogue.
He would also like to see some new and younger members of council after the October election «to help provide new vision» for the municipality.
