Part 1: CAO Appointment, Firefighter Recognition, and Bloomfield Road – 03/10/2026

The County Council’s March 10, 2026 regular council meeting covered a mix of staffing, public recognition, infrastructure decisions, road work planning, policing costs, and fire service updates. Mayor Steve Ferguson chaired the meeting, which began after an earlier closed session and stretched late into the evening.

The meeting opened with routine business, including a disclosed pecuniary interest from Councillor David Harrison related to the Bloomfield Main Street rehabilitation tender. Council then moved briefly into closed session to deal with employment-related matters.

When open session resumed, one of the first major decisions of the night was the formal approval of Adam Goheen’s employment agreement as Chief Administrative Officer. Council also directed the mayor and clerk to execute the agreement and adopted the bylaw appointing Goheen to the role. It was a short item, but an important one. The CAO is the municipality’s top staff official, responsible for overall administration and for helping carry out council’s direction.

© PEC Council (YouTube)

View the entire PEC Council meeting, or continue to speaker comments and councillor votes.

Fire recruits recognized in a packed chamber

One of the most celebratory parts of the evening came next, as council welcomed a large group from Prince Edward County Fire and Rescue into Shire Hall. Ferguson noted the strong turnout from firefighters, family members, and recruits before the county recognized its first fully in-house volunteer firefighter recruit class.

Interim Fire Chief Tim Harrison told council the new recruits had completed a major milestone by earning firefighter certification through the county’s own internally delivered program. Acting Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Howell described the scale of the training effort, saying the class began with a recruitment drive in September 2024 and later completed Firefighter 1, Firefighter 2, and Hazmat Operations training, adding up to more than 3,000 hours of training time.

The recruits were called forward one by one by ward and formally recognized. Harrison then told them they were being promoted to the rank of probationary firefighter. The moment mattered beyond ceremony. It showed council’s support for local emergency preparedness and for a volunteer fire service that remains a major part of public safety across the County.

A presentation on ageism and respectful language

Later, council heard a deputation from Anne VanVlack on behalf of Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association about the “Don’t Call Me Dear” project. The initiative focuses on ageism, especially the way older adults are spoken to and spoken about.

Van Black explained that the project challenges stereotypes around aging and encourages more respectful, age-inclusive language. She described ageism as something that can show up in service settings, workplaces, healthcare, media, and everyday conversation. She also stressed that the County has a large senior population, with more than a third of residents aged 65 and older.

She highlighted the project’s website, downloadable business and educator resources, intergenerational programming, and podcast work involving local students and seniors. Council members responded positively, with several discussing aging, perception, and how attitudes toward age affect both older and younger people.

Bloomfield construction dominated public discussion

The biggest and most emotional part of the meeting centered on the proposed Bloomfield Main Street rehabilitation project.

During a deputation, Jade Leadbetter, speaking on behalf of Bloomfield’s business community, said local businesses were not opposing infrastructure improvements themselves. The concern was the timing. She told council that the proposed April to June construction window would directly affect the months many businesses rely on to survive the year. Ledbetter and others argued that either a deferral or a split-season construction schedule would be less harmful.

That same concern carried through the long comments from the audience section, where speaker after speaker described how road work during spring and early summer could affect shops, restaurants, tourism businesses, accommodations, wellness services, and local hiring. Several speakers said June is no longer a quiet shoulder season for Bloomfield. Others raised concerns about uncertainty, weather delays, parking loss, and whether provincial funding could be pushed to another year.

When the item came up for council debate, staff explained that the county had secured more than $2 million in provincial Connecting Links funding, covering roughly 90 percent of the project cost, and that the work had to be completed by December 31, 2026. Staff said the project included storm sewer replacement, curb and sidewalk panel repairs, and full resurfacing, and stressed that it was a like-for-like rehabilitation project, not a redesign.

Staff also said the chosen April to June schedule was considered the shortest and most efficient option and that the contractor expected the work could be substantially complete within eight to ten weeks, with the downtown section prioritized first. Councillors debated whether to proceed, defer, or consider another option. A proposed motion to defer the project by a year did not receive a seconder. A later attempt to pursue the split option also failed. Council then voted to award the contract and move ahead with the recommended plan.

Roads, policing pressure, and fire service updates

Council also approved tender awards for the county’s 2026 surface treatment and microsurfacing program, including work on roads like Victoria Road, which prompted discussion about road base conditions and long-term durability.

Later in the meeting, Councillor Bill Roberts introduced a resolution asking the province for more financial support to help municipalities cover rising OPP and policing-related costs linked to provincial requirements. Council supported it.

The meeting also included a new-style department update from Fire and Rescue. Harrison reported that the department had already responded to about 108 incidents so far in 2026 and said firefighter certification, technology upgrades, public education, and long-term planning remain active priorities.

Key Takeaways

1. Council officially approved Adam Goheen as Chief Administrative Officer, a major leadership decision for county administration.

   
   

2. Council moved ahead with the Bloomfield Main Street rehabilitation project despite strong public concern about timing and business disruption.

   
   

3. The county publicly recognized its new volunteer firefighter recruits, while also showing how much work is underway behind the scenes in emergency services, road planning, and municipal operations.

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Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 5:29:05. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.