The County of Peterborough has been renting office space in Lakefield at the Old Post Office building for a year now, and with that comes an evaluation of the space and how it is used.
According to a report presented to the Peterborough County Economic Development Advisory Committee in late September, a new lease agreement between the County and Township of Selwyn may change how the space is occupied.
Changes may be coming sooner rather than later to the way the office space is utilized as both the Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Peterborough, who sublet the space from the County, have given notice they will not be continuing their lease agreements.
The Old Post Office, located at 12 Queen Street, was closed in 2022 for renovations with the help of a federal grant in the form of $750,000 with a total renovation cost of $1.6M which included installing an elevator to make it accessible. A grand opening was held in 2024 with the County taking over the main floor space and a few offices upstairs while the township retained two offices for their staff as well.
The original idea behind the renovation of the building was to create a business incubation space for entrepreneurs and small businesses to be able to rent office space for a day, week or month, with the Peterborough & Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce operating as the primary tenant and lease organizer for potential business to rent the space.
The Abbyfield House Society of Lakefield unveiled the design for their new building which will be located at 93 Ermatinger Street in Lakefield. The design was unveiled on Saturday October 18 at the Marshland Centre during a short presentation by Board Chair Ron Black (right) and founder Dewi Jones (left). During the meeting it was stated the family style affordable seniors home will be about 180000 square feet with a budget of about $350 a square foot. Fundraising efforts are underway and the organization is looking into grants to help fund the build.
Douro-Dummer council got their first look at the 2026 budget last Thursday as there was a special meeting where staff presented the details.
Managers from each department appeared before council to explain their portion of the budget and answer any questions council had.
CAO Todd Davis commented that the municipality was getting an early start on the budget as 2026 is a municipal election year.
Davis said that he believes the proposed budget fits well within the principles of the township’s strategic plan which is based on three pillars.
The pillars include;1. Service Modernization and Innovation 2. Business Attraction, Expansion, and Retention3. Infrastructure Renewal
he first draft of the 2026 budget proposes a 4.8 per cent increase to the tax rate.
Council expressed disappointment in a long-awaited sign strategy for the Municipality of Trent Lakes which was presented at this week’s regular council meeting.
Council had budgeted for a sign strategy in 2023.
Sean Kelly of pl.ural, a design planning practice, reviewed a report that included 33 pages of research and analysis done by the company and an 81 page signage strategy that included sign concepts, an implementation plan and estimated costs of different types of signs.
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.
