Council Preview
By John Swartz
Orillia council has its 2nd summer meeting Monday August 11 at 2 p.m. there are no deputations or presentations, so other than opening the meeting formalities it will go right to the public forum, and then a closed session.
In the closed session there is only one item relating to the City’s renewal of its outside insurance coverage. Up to a limit, the City self-insures.
When they are back in public they have a report from councillors Jay Fallis and Jeff Czetwerzuk about the City-Wide Garage Sale Day held in June.
The ideas is for people to donate part of their sales receipts for the day to the City’s affordable housing reserve. 160 garage sales raised $4,600. This is the second year for the project and combined with last year’s sale $9,100 has been donated.
The motion to accept the report also includes a direction to transfer the program for the waste management advisory committee to the affordable housing working group and get a budget of $1,700 for advertising.
Transit
Among a number of changes recommended by transit study is a reduction of the monthly seniors pass from $68.50 to $56.20. this is to keep the discount from per trip fares comparable to other passes available for Orillia Transit.
Another recommendation is do an 18-month trial of software for on demand service for Orillia Wheelchair Limousine Service users. It is hoped this will reduce the number of unable to serve calls for service, and allow scheduling to include picking up and discharging passengers several at a time, rather than picking up and delivering a passenger per run.
Also included in the report is removal of 28 underused stops on the 6 routes, which should improve run times. If these pass the mayor’s budget litmus test the operating budget will go up $58K and add $14K to the 2026 capital budget.
Recommendations for the transit study to extend Sunday evening service by 2 hours and start Saturday service two hours earlier, as well as add a new West Ridge route were not recommended.
Another report related to getting around from last October – which did not recommend a 4 way stop, or creating a traffic roundabout at the intersection of Orion Boulevard and Monarch Drive – was deferred and its back on the agenda.
The recommendation has not changed, there is not enough traffic and there have been no accidents to justify doing either.
Going To The Dogs
In June staff was asked to report on the cost of establishing dog parks in Foundry Park and wards 2 and 4. They came back with a recommendation to create a dog park at Foundry Park and in ward two. The one for Foundry Park cold be included in the 2026 budget and one for Morningstar Park in the master plan for the park.
The City has a checklist of requirements for dog parks and staff say there are no parks in ward four ticking all the boxes, so they don’t have a recommendation for ward four.
Staff say the cost for Foundry Park is estimated to be between $50K and $100K with annual maintenance costs of $5K to $7K. Foundry Park has treatments related to what is in the soil which make it difficult, but not impossible, to erect fencing. For that reason they will have to have consultants from Cambium Inc. on hand when post hole installation is happening.
Take Note
A letter from the Kiwanis Club of Orillia dated June 25 has generated a report from staff to go ahead with a proposal to install a musical instrument play area in Tudhope Park near Moose Beach. The club will pay for the hardware and installation and then donate it to the City.
Rats
Representatives from Mariposa Ecological Initiative and Rodenticide Free Ontario made a deputation to council in April asking council to stop using pesticides for rodent control and to ban sales in the City.
The issue is other animals eat rats and mice and if those rodents have ingested pesticides then it affects the other animals. For a rat’s den in a fairly open building like a barn or abandoned structure this is in an issue, but for many who have experienced an infestation, once inside, rats and mice don’t go outside, if at all.
On one hand, staff say they could stop using pesticides, but it would require a fair amount of modifications to buildings and habits. As to banning the sale, staff say they have reason, “without an evidentiary basis to conclude that prohibition of the sale and use of rodenticides would address the concerns identified in the deputation. Such regulation appears more appropriate at the Federal or Provincial level…”
In other words banning the sale in the City does not mean people can’t get it at stores in the surrounding townships. The problem is, banning means residents have to take extra steps, which many don’t and where bans have been enacted rat populations have increased.
The report’s motion is for information only, so unless council comes up with a plan, there will be no change with how the City uses pesticides for this purpose.
“I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree” – Joyce Kilmer
A report from staff outlines a plan to plant trees in light of the erasure of hundreds of trees in the City because of the ice storm. In May council authorized $500K for replacing trees and clean up on City property (700 lost just in parks). The City already had an annual $37K budget to plant 60 trees annually, which they increased by $20K for 2025 and 2026. In May 200 saplings were given away to residents.
The money approved in May was earmarked for Couchiching Beach, Centennial and Tudhope Parks. Staff want to expand that to include other parks and also give away 500 saplings to residents.
During the downpour at the Mariposa Folk Festival this writer noted the lack of great swaths of waterlogged land in comparison to other times it rained at Mariposa. It turns out that was because of tree loss in the wooded areas which improved drainage. Staff say the tree loss in the wooded areas may actually help the remaining trees flourish.
The targets for replacement ere: 100 trees for Tudhope; 20 for Couchiching Beach and Centennial Parks; 200 at other parks, trails and City streets; 500 for the giveaway.
Snow Day
Council has a report to make some changes to the City’s snow clearing policy. The main one is to change the overnight parking ban in downtown City lots and on the street to restrict parking from 3 to 7 a.m. this allows people who work downtown to not worry about their cars being towed when they work late since plowing lots will not be scheduled until after 3 a.m.
The major change affecting the budget is a recommendation to add two more plows to the fleet. This could cost $1.8 million, or they could hire contractors for $160,000.
A request from Downtown Orillia to have snow removed was not addressed in the report. Orillia is unique in leaving so much snow piled up for days and weeks following major storms. Many other cities remove snow within 48 hours of a major storm or when banks build up such as to prevent decent parking and access from cars to sidewalks. This also applies to other high traffic areas/intersections of the City. The report says changing the removal criteria would increase the downtown levy by 25%.
It seems odd to think merchants bear the cost of snow removal downton when the entire city benefits. One is reminded of a winter during Angelo Oris’s term when banks were allowed to get to 4 and 5 feet high downtown during the Christmas shopping season when the shopping centers were cleared out much more quickly.
Bonded
Staff are recommending council change policy regarding security deposits for development projects. These are used to ensure developers do what they are supposed to do and if the City has to step in to correct deficiencies the developer pays.
Typically these were covered by cash or lines of credit and municipalities like Orillia would not take surety bonds, since payment was not guaranteed and there was ability to dispute charges.
The province is now requiring municipalities to accept a new type of bond called a payment on demand surety bond which guarantees municipalities get paid first before any dispute is dealt with. These are essentially insurance policies paid for by developers. The idea is the insurance is less costly than parking, sometimes, hundreds of thousands of dollars that may not be used, or adding the cost of lines of credit to balance sheets (which ultimately affects borrowing power for developers).
You Pay For Development
The province shifted some of the costs of development from developers to taxpayers when they passed Bills 23 and 185. Developers get a sweet deal when developments put more load on municipal services, which development charges were meant to cover.
Part of the report is a statement on the status of the development charges reserve fund. It is currently overdrawn by $27.4 million. This is considered internal borrowing and the balance has been in the negative for many years. The balance has more than doubled since 2020. In addition, the amount collected in 2024 ($3.1 million) was $2.7 million less than 2023.
Staff say this is because, “spending on construction projects before growth materialized and related to roads, water/wastewater servicing, parks, library, recreation facilities, and etc.” and that development charges collected have been less than previously forecast prior to the passage of the above noted bills.
That said, staff expect the balance to become positive in 2029 for a brief while before going into the red again according to the 10-year capital forecast.
Notice of Motion
Councillor Smith intends to introduce a motion at the September 8 meeting to reconsider resolution number 2025-23 from the special meeting regarding the boundary expansion and Official Plan review held February 4 regarding the amount of land needed because of the municipal restructuring process.
Councillors Fallis and Czetwerzuk intend to introduce a motion at the September 8 meeting to reconsider resolution number 2024-205 from the regular meeting held on November 18 regarding Atlantis Drive parking restrictions.
Councillors Fallis and Czetwerzuk intend to introduce a motion at the September 8 meeting to reconsider resolution number 2025-130 from the regular meeting held on June 23 regarding a no parking zone on Atlantis Drive
Council meetings are open to the public or can be watched on the City’s Youtube channel.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia)
