Essex District High School opens the doors for annual open house and pathways night

by Garrett Fodor

Looking ahead to the new school year, Essex District High School (EDHS) opened its doors and invited potential and current students from across the county to learn more about educational opportunities offered within the school.

On Tuesday, EDHS hosted its annual open house. The event allows grade 8 students as well as their families to come to the school, explore facilities, discuss education options and programs as well as talk to fellow students and staff. This night was not just an opportunity for the Grade Eights however. EDHS also had booths lined up throughout the grounds providing resources and information to the students and their families.

There were a number of Grade Eight students, transitioning into Grade Nine that came through the school to explore their options of study, explained Matthew Baggio a Guidance Counselor at EDHS. “We had student leaders providing tours, the band performed, so many staff was available to answer questions, as well as providing pathway information for our current students to explore from community partners.”

In total, Baggio notes that there were over 24 different booths throughout the school on Tuesday, ranging from post secondary institutions to community organizations as well as skilled trades and apprenticeship programs.

For Baggio, it is his first year at EDHS, he notes he is extremely proud to see so many people and past alumni bringing their kids through the school. In terms of attendance both he and his colleagues estimate over 400 people attending the evening.

“Overall I think we are just excited to be able to do this again and have so many people here checking out the school again,” describes EDHS Guidance Counselor Deb McAiney, who has been at the school for over 10 years. “To me there is something special with EDHS. The staff, the student ambassadors and alumni are always so willing to come back and volunteer, helping organize and make this event so successful. It is so rewarding to see so many students involved and just seeing and hearing the interactions between current and future Red Raiders is special and brings a smile to my face.”

McAiney notes that it was nice to be able to host the event and see everyone walking the halls again.

Both McAiney and Baggio thank students and their families for attending the event as well as the community partners, staff and everyone who helped to put together the event, noting that it takes a team to put on and plan a day like Tuesday.

“We are just so excited to welcome these future Red Raiders along with their families to the school in the coming months ahead,” describes McAiney. “We truly try to make it fun, its not a structured event, there’s food and drinks, a scavenger hunt, giveaways and other things for the children attending. I think having this opportunity helps to get the group of kids comfortable with oneanother and gives them something to be excited for. I encourage all of the incumbent students to get out there and join a club or a team, make an impact with your time as a Red Raider.”

Over the next few weeks, the Essex Free Press will connect with senior staff members with the Town of Essex to learn about their plans, goals, and all-round vision for 2023.

by Sylene Argent

The coming months will be busy in maintaining existing playgrounds, sports fields, recreation facilities, and parks within the Town of Essex, in addition to planning for the future.

Beneath the Community Services umbrella, three master plans will be conducted this year to lay out the framework for the future.

The Community Services Master Plan will update the

2015 Parks and Recreation Master Plan that has guided past Councils and staff in fulfilling the vision as it relates to needs and wants of the community. Most of the goals laid out in the 2015 documents were accomplished.

The new Community Services Master Plan will pave the pathway over the next decade or so, and prepare those needs and wants for future Town of Essex budgets, Jake Morassut said, who is the Director of

Community Services.

“It will be a huge accomplishment for the Town to get this Master Plan approved by Council,” Morassut said. “We are essentially taking all the feedback we get from the public, stakeholders, municipal staff, and Council and compiling [that information into a] document. It will be huge for us to get that finalized.”

The feedback process includes a survey residents can fill out by January 30 at www. essex.ca/MasterPlan. Once the consultants on the project develop a draft plan, a public open house will be hosted as a feedback session.

In the 2023 Budget, which has yet to be approved, is a request for funds to support a Fire Master Plan, which would include a Community Risk Assessment and will put a process in place to identify the future location for Fire Station 3. Essex Fire & Rescue is eagerly awaiting a new fire truck to arrive sometime this year. In 2022, Council approved a new tandem axle rear mount aerial platform truck, in the total amount of $1,552,847,42. It will be located at Station #2.

The Essex Sports Fields, located on the southside of

Highway 3, is slated to open in 2024, after grass has had a year to germinate. The Community Services Department is working to ensure it has the proper nets in place. Morassut said he is working with user groups currently to determine what size fields are required.

The Town has built four senior soccer fields and two junior fields. The senior fields can be split up into intermediate or junior size as well.

“It is definitely very exciting.

There has been a lack of soccer fields [in Essex Centre] for a number of years, so getting the ball rolling on this is extremely important,” he said, noting the Town is working to find grants and other funding models to work towards expanding the facility as there is a need for changerooms, washrooms, a canteen, and baseball fields.

Because it has a jointventure between Essex and Amherstburg, a multiyear Master Plan for CoAn Park is also being created this year. An open house and survey were hosted last fall to allow for public feedback.

The Town is still in the assessment phase for the former Harrow High School property it purchased in late 2021. Staff is still looking for options to present to Council on how to proceed. Once surveys are completed for the Community Service Master Plan, Town staff include demolishing, refurbishing, building new, or building off a different facility for identified community needs.

In the 2023 Budget, Morassut said Community Services is asking for an additional Horticultural Operator. In addition to having high standards for maintenance, there has been quite a bit of expansion to gardens and landscaping throughout the Town, including with the newly completed Harrow Streetscape and the Essex Centre Streetscape to come.

There have also been plans to do things, but they have not been done because the workload has been so heavy.

How much of an asset trees are can get overlooked, Morassut said. Council has

Most of what the Community Services Department requested in the 2023 Budget focuses on maintaining existing assets. There could be additional projects that come up over the next year, based on grant funding.

The Community Services Department is trying to expand special events, as well. Morassut is hopeful a few new activities will come to fruition this year. He said the Town does have to rely on community partners and user groups to help with events, and the Town tries to provide assistance in any way it can.

Volunteers are always being sought for the Essex Festival Committee. If anyone is interested in volunteering at events, including high school students needing to earn

by Sylene Argent

The Operations Department with the Town of Essex recently installed a three-way stop at the South Talbot/Reed Street intersection in an attempt to try and improve on some of the complaints the Town was receiving, Director of Infrastructure, Kevin Girard, explained during the 2023 Budget Walkthrough last Wednesday.

The three-way stop is temporary.

The intent, he said, is to keep that as a temporary measure as South Talbot Road is a collector road in Essex Centre.

“Its intent is to move traffic. So, if Council approves this Capital Budget, we intend to remove that temporary 3-way stop and improve the safety of the road through the approval of the project [presented through the 2023 Budget],” Girard said.

In the Capital Budget, $50,000 (half from Asset Management and half from taxation) is requested for intersection improvement road work for South Talbot Road at Reed Street.

During the Budget Walkthrough, it was explained the bend in the road is fairly sharp and it is sometimes approached with not enough care in consideration for that.

The Infrastructure Services Department is looking to realign the road to increase the radius on one side. This would increase the curve to make it gentler, David McBeth explained, who is the Manager of Capital Works and Asset Management. In addition, the asphalt would be extended and curb closer to the property line, the lines would be repainted, any needed signage would be added.

Councillor Katie McGuire-Blais asked if anything is being done about where the driveways meet on South Talbot for the existing McDonald’s and Tim Hortons plaza on the west side of the road, and the future Home Hardware location on the east.

As part of the Essex Town Centre subdivision development, a traffic impact study was conducted for that area and took into consideration the closure of access to Highway 3 from Victoria Avenue, Girard explained.

That study indicated that at some point improvements will be needed at the South Talbot and Maidstone Avenue intersection. With the future expansion of Essex Town Centre subdivision, the Town will study that further to determine what the trigger will be to implement those further improvements, once the Home Hardware is finished and other factors occur.

The Town has heard about traffic congestion, related to the two driveways on South Talbot, due to the services of McDonald’s and Tim Hortons, and how traffic can back up to that intersection.

“In light of the fact we know there is more to come on that intersection, it would be premature to try and implement any kind of measure and just rely more on drivers adhering to the law in terms of driving,” he said.

There will be more to come in the future, he said.

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Legal Notice

Notice To Creditors

Claims against the Estate of SHIRLEY CHRISTINE DICKER late of the Town of Essex, in the County of Essex and Province of Ontario, who died on December 26, 2022 , must be in my hands by March 17th 2023, after which date the estate will be distributed.

WILLIAM K. KENDRICK, Barrister & Solicitor, 903-500 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9A 1B3, Solicitor for the Estate Trustees.

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