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New Collingwood mayor set to lead town into new era

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The new mayor of Collingwood is looking to start off strong as she gets set to lead the town into a new era.

Yvonne Hamlin will carry more responsibility in her new role as Collingwood's mayor when sworn in on Tuesday after the previous council voted to make the position full-time this summer.

The change also comes with a pay increase for Hamlin, whose new mayoral position now garners a $60,900 annual salary.

"I've got an inauguration speech ready to go. I've got a wonderful community member ready to do the charge to council," Hamlin told CTV News on Monday. "I know that our town needs a lot right now. We have a lot happening, and being a full-time mayor really just fits what's required right now."

Hamlin said the town has more out-of-town large developers interested in building in the city than ever before. With that comes the challenge of navigating those talks.

"They haven't been here before and operate in a very sophisticated manner and expect things to go smoothly," she said. "I've worked with a lot of developers in my private practice days, and I know how that system works. It takes more than just shuffling them off to senior staff."

Hamlin anticipates negotiations will be critical for the rapidly growing community. Finding a balance between desirable homes and affordable living will be her top priority when entering into discussions for new development.

"Another key aspect of that is upgrades to our infrastructure, particularly the hospital," she added. "It's well recognized as being very small, very old and doesn't have any of the modern building formats that you need to have an acceptable hospital in our community."

Hamlin's outlook for the future is building a new community hospital.

"We just need a building," she said. "The existing site won't fit a new hospital that will serve the needs of our community because we have intake from our surrounding communities as well, Wasaga, Blue Mountains and further."

Hamlin will be looking for a funding commitment from the province to build a new hospital when she enters her new role.

Collingwood's town council will be sworn in on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

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