Council Preview
By John Swartz
Orillia council has the first of its monthly summer meetings July 21. It will start at 1 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. in order to hold a public meeting about the 2026 budget.
There is one item for discussion and that is a proposal from the Stephen Leacock Associates regarding the maintenance of the museum.
They ask the City to include $100K annually for the next three years to do what some might call regular maintenance – the kinds of things that get shunted off to next year for years until they become real problems.
Their attention list includes: repairing the glass sunroom roof, refinish floors, fix water leaks and resulting damage in the house; replace the railings and deck of the boathouse; and paint the exterior of Swanmore Hall.
Other items include rehiring a groundskeeper/maintenance person to keep up with the gardening and some maintenance tasks and to conduct an archaeological survey previously recommended by Parks Canada in the 90s as part of the National Heritage Site designation (concern was expressed about three mounds on the point (boathouse area) may be burial grounds).
The items would be part of the capital budget with the exception of the staff position.
Regular Meeting
When the regular meeting starts at 2 p.m. an award will be presented to the winners of the Great Orillia Flag Challenge. There are no deputations and the meeting will move to the public forum and then to a closed session. The closed portion has two items, and update on property the City is interested in buying and appointments to boards and/or committees.
Back in public, councillors Janet-Lynne Durnford, Jay Fallis and Jeff Czetwerzuk have a report regarding the Lighthouse outreach program and to have staff report on the disappearance of benches from the downtown.
The Lighthouse and Biminaawzogin Regional Aboriginal Women’s Circle, in addition to the Salvation Army have been doing outreach in parking lot #1 (Colborne Street opposite Tim Horton’s). The Salvation Army has an agreement with the City to use the parking lot in the early afternoon on weekdays and late morning on Saturdays. The Lighthouse and the women’s circle have been joining them for one day per week. Both the Lighthouse and women’s circle have been getting parking tickets for their efforts.
The councillors want the City to come to some agreement, presumably similar to the one with the Salvation Army, for those two groups to use the parking lot at no coast.
There has been discussion on various online forums about benches being removed for the downtown and these councillors want staff to report on:
- Which public benches have been removed downtown;
- Where those public benches have been relocated to;
- The reasons for removal of the public benches including any specific complaints received regarding the public benches;
- Comments from the Downtown BIA Board regarding the removal of the public benches;
- All relevant city policies that pertain to the placement of public benches.
Nice Home You Had There
Staff have a report asking council to change the license fee for short-term rentals from an annual fee of $2,040 to a fee of $680. This is because those with only one room to rent complained they were paying the same rate as some operators with 4 or more rooms to rent.
The report also details 6 property owners have been charged with operating without a license since the by-law was made in 2024.
Short-term rentals are one side of a two headed cancerous blight on the availability and cost of housing in Canada and maybe council should have been the vanguard in actually trying to make some corrections by banning them in the City. Instead the reports notes the economic department is favourable to this type of thing as part of its goal of promoting tourism.
Thanks For Coming
A report from environment and infrastructure services, where parks and rec has been parked, outlines a case for raising the cost of user and permit fees charged to those who are not residents of Orillia.
It is interesting to note the mindset of administration which has developed in recent years from providing services we all expect our tax levy to support, to being a business charging every nickel and dime on a per use basis to pay to operate those things.
This is illustrated by the use of the words deficit and loss in the following:
“… the annual deficit is $3.6M ($8.3M in expenses and $4.7M in revenue). Based on the annual loss, $2M could be attributed to non-resident participation (56% of users are non-residents).”
And:
“… parks and recreation facilities in Orillia have an abysmal cost recovery rate of less than 50% of the expenses”
As an example, who thinks the city should not have parks, or arenas, or ball diamonds, or garbage pickup? Who thinks these thing should not be provided to all and paid for by property taxes? Who thinks those things should only be available to those who can afford to pay each time they use a service? Imagine if staff were of the opinion taxpayers should pay for paving streets, and then pay again every time they drive on them.
Non-residents currently pay 30% more for user fees and staff want this to be either 50% or 40% depending on what council chooses.
The City does organize and operate some recreation activities, but it is likely the bulk of the use of facilities is organized and operated by those who run things like hockey and baseball leagues and other group sport activities (the leagues do all the work, the City unlocks the doors and turns on the lights). Taxpayers determined we’d build and operate these things for our use, but staff have determined we should pay over and over again to enjoy them.
If council raises rates to 50% staff expect revenue to gain $413,000.
The report also refers to a new facility user fee going into effect January 1, 2026 also being charged. SUNonline/Orillia was unable to find reference to this new fee, or who it applies to (unless they are referring to the increase being sought and worded it poorly).
Vote (But Not Like In Chicago)
Staff have a report outlining options for conducting the vote for the next municipal election. The central issue is whether to allow online voting, or stick with the current method (show up to a polling station).
An online survey was conducted in October last year. Those two options along with mail in and voting by telephone were presented. The latter two did not get enough support to warrant inclusion in this discussion.
588 people responded (2% of 30K eligible voters) and going in online got 260 votes to keeping things as is at 289 votes.
Staff’s number one option to council is to receive the report, which means nothing changes. Normally the first option is staff’s preferred outcome, which in this case is refreshing. The 2nd option is to go with online voting only, and the 3rd to allow both online and in-person voting.
Based on reading the tables and responses to the survey, many people do not read the news. There is significant question south of the border with how voting has been electronically manipulated (don’t hold your breath waiting for a public inquiry – one legal action is underway – because republicans – who benefitted – hold both the house and senate, and the presidency and they don’t want to further air what independent investigation has revealed). So the question is, why would anyone favour voting online, or by phone, in light of the demonstrated issues?
Enquiries
Councillor Tim Lauer has one for staff to report on changing two parking spaces on Peter Street in front of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church to accessible parking spaces
Councillors Fallis, Czetwerzuk and Luke Leatherdale want staff to report by February 2026 on reducing the charge for on-street parking in the downtown core and add parking meters to spaces on Lightfoot Drive, and to return free parking during the Christmas season, and for signs informing people parking on the street the rates are cheaper if they use parking lots.
Council meetings are open to the public or can be watched on the City’s Youtube channel.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia; Image Supplied)
