Trent Lakes will ask the government of Ontario to maintain local independent, municipally governed watershed-based conservation authorities.
Councillor Peter Franzen introduced a notice of motion responding to the Ontario Government’s proposal (Bill 63) to create an Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, a Crown corporation that would assume governance responsibilities and consolidate Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into seven regional authorities.
Franzen’s notice stated that local municipalities currently provide between 25 and 50 per cent of total conservation authority funding, while the Province of Ontario provides approximately 3 per cent.
“Whereas municipalities have governed their respective conservation authorities for decades, tailoring programs and services to local watershed needs, maintaining accountable service standards, and ensuring fair and predictable costs for ratepayers, the notice stated.
The Lakefield Herald staff collected food donations throughout December 2025 to donated to the Bridgenorth Food Bank on December 19. Pictured above is reporter Vanessa Stark (left) handing off the collected goods to Patty Latour (right) of the Bridgenorth Food Bank.
Selwyn Township has entered into the process of finding a new Chief Administrative Officer as current CAO Janice Lavalley has given notice of retirement next June.
At the Dec. 9 regular township meeting, HR coordinator, Kim Berry, presented council with the options of moving forward with finding a replacement
Berry told council that the CAO is the only Township position that reports directly to Council, making this recruitment one of the most significant responsibilities Council will undertake.
She said that the CAO is responsible for implementing Council’s decisions and sets the tone for the entire management team at the township.
Selwyn Township and the County of Peterborough have entered into a new contact for the rental of 12 Queen Street (the Old Post Office) in Lakefield.
On November 24, the County of Peterborough informed the township that they would no longer need use of the second floor at the Old Post Office.
In 2024, the County entered a pilot lease with the township set at a rental rate of $28,800 annually or $2,400 monthly for the bottom level and two offices on the second level. The County used the space for Economic Development and Tourism teams.
This short documentary is a portrait of a tiny town, Lakefield, Ontario, and its independent weekly, the Herald. Across North America, newspapers are dying, but in Lakefield, Terry McQuitty, the town paper’s publisher, carries on a rich, 150-year-old tradition. Set to the pace of small-town life, Unheralded is a testament to the vital role newspapers can still play, and the close bond between reporter and reader.
