Council Preview
By John Swartz
Only 21 pages long, Orillia council has one of the slimmest agendas of this term. There are only three reports listed, two of them related to the ice storm.
The first of those is a report from Mayor Don McIsaac, who was granted strong mayor powers by the province on April 3 and expiring June 30, 2025, related to matters of clean up following the storm.
User fees for the landfill are being waived until April 26 for items defined in the municipal coed as:
- Regular Garbage
- Construction and Demolition Waste
- Mixed Loads
- Certification of Refrigerators, Freezers, Air Conditioners and Dehumidifiers
- Mattresses and Box Springs
Also tags will not need to be used to set out garbage between April 7 to April 19.
Previously at a special meeting of council March 31, for which SUNonline/Orillia was not notified was taking place, the fees for brush, tree wood and stumps, and compostable material including woodchips, but excluding sawdust and loose or bundled brush of any size were waived until April 28.
It is estimated there will be lost fees of $85,000 and lost garbage tag revenue of $15,000.
Next, the environment and infrastructure services department has an informational report regarding the storm.
It outlines what is involved with the declaration of an emergency on March 30. The declaration gives the municipality certain leeway from regular business and municipal policies, such as:
- Direct work to be done immediately on municipal infrastructure in direct response to the emergency
- Overlook municipal purchasing policies to obtain equipment or services in response to the emergency
- Enact special authority under municipal by-laws, such as a delegation of authority by-law
- Restrict access to or close municipal buildings and offices
- Use volunteers and protect them under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act
- Request Federal support and resources, such as military support
- Request support through municipal mutual support agreements if they have them in place
- Could be a requirement for Provincial or Federal funding
Staff estimate costs so far are $750K to $1 million, with removal of damaged trees to take several weeks. Staff say there may be reimbursement of expenses from the province’s Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance program. Up to $2 million has cost recovery of up to 75%, and over $2 million at 95%.
The last report is from corporate services about a project called the artificial turf scoreboard. That is a bit of a misnomer which does not mean the City is installing a scoreboard at the West Orillia Sports Complex made of artificial turf. A scoreboard is being installed at the field that has artificial turf.
The budgeted amount was $100K, with Lakehead University kicking in 50% of the cost.
The tenders are in and that amount was not enough, so staff are asking for a $17K increase to the budget, of which Lakehead will contribute 50% of the increase.
There are no other motions or reports other than by-laws on the agenda
Special Powers
Not on this agenda, but as further information to the granting of strong mayor powers to Orillia, among the elevation of Mayor McIsaac’s abilities are:
- Choosing to appoint the municipality’s chief administrative officer.
- Hiring certain municipal department heads and establishing and re-organizing departments.
- Creating committees of council, assigning their functions and appointing the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of committees of council.
- Vetoing certain by-laws if they are of the opinion that all or part of the by-law could potentially interfere with a provincial priority, such as housing, transit and infrastructure.
- Bringing forward matters for council consideration if they are of the opinion that considering the matter could potentially advance a provincial priority.
- Proposing certain municipal by-laws if they are of the opinion that the proposed by-law could potentially advance a provincial priority. Council can pass these by-laws if more than one-third of council members vote in favour.
Council meetings are open to the public or can be watched on the City’s Youtube channel.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia)
