Council Preview
By John Swartz
Orillia council meets Monday, March 9 at 2 p.m. First up is a deputation by Sarah Patterson the president of Sustainable Orillia to update Council on the group’s activities.
Sustainable Orillia has been working on several projects which aim to reduce the march of climate change and it’s negative effects on Orillia including emission free transportation, renewable energy, improving energy efficiency of buildings, land and water use, and fostering a circular economy. The group also operates a repair café and an annual Green Innovations Weekend exhibition in Centennial Park in July.
The public forum follows and leads to a closed session which has one item on that agenda: a staff update on land acquisitions for the delayed Laclie Street reconstruction project.
Reports
Back in public, councillor Janet-Lynne Durnford has notes from her attendance at the National Conference on Ending Homelessness last October.
Another report from staff is about parking on Jarvis Street between Laclie and Parkview Avenue. This is adjacent to Victoria House Retirement Home. This writer raised a question in 2001 when the development was approved noting there was very little parking included in the development; “where are visitors going to park?”. This writer also predicted staff would be coming back to council after the home opened to asked for parking restrictions, and at the time council did change parking permissions.
This has proved to not be sufficient and now the transportation and parking working group is asking council to ban parking on that block. The Laclie Street bus travels that street and often has problems making the turn and then travelling the road.
Next, development and engineer has a report asking council to remove 320 Laclie from the City of Orillia municipal heritage register as an undesignated property of interest.
The property is a former motel at the corner of Laclie and North Streets. A letter sent to council by architectural designer Sahar Arfa, but signed by the property owner Toni Oraha, said there is no architectural significance of the Art Deco structure.
The letter is loaded with technical opinion and references which suggests it was actually written by Arfa, or someone with professional designation. An undesignated property is essentially a property of interest with no official restrictions regarding alteration of, or demolition of such buildings as would be with properties which are designated.
There are 14 properties on Orillia’s undesignated list. The only other Art Deco buildings left in Orillia are the house directly across the street at 319 Laclie, and the Geneva Theatre. The Ontario government changed the criteria for undesignated properties with Bill 23 such that properties on lists which do not become designated within two years must dropped from the list and cannot be added back in for 5 years. Since this is 2026 and the bill passed in 2022, it appears the whole list is in jeopardy of being vacated. Staff note the province changed legislation again with Bill 200 and extended the deadline for removals to the end of 2026. Staff say that several of the listed properties will be removed if steps are not taken to being the process of designating each property.
Staff defended the recommendation to remove the property from the list because of interior renovations, which oddly do not have any effect on the unique exterior appearance of the building (which is what attracts attention of most passersby).
Too Much Snow
Staff have a report on winter snow control activities for last season, and an update on activity for the current interminable season.
Of interest is the 2024/2025 season had 485 centimetres of snowfall, compared to the average of 280 cms – and only 5 cms short of the record. There were 4 significant events during that period. In February 2025 staff asked for and got $416K of extra funding for equipment and $530K for the operating budget.
The 2026 budget is just shy of $2 million and already there has been 400 cm of snowfall, and staff say an additional $385K is needed to be allocated from the winter stabilization reserve (note: the annual budget covers parts of two winters, so the budget may not be spent, but there needs to be something in the bank for next winter).
Garbage In, Garbage Out
The City’s environment and infrastructure department staff have three reports on the agenda. The first to make some changes to the municipal code to reflect changes resulting from the provinces blue box fiasco, and to tighten some definitions.
Next is a report asking for some changes to the code relating to drinking water. The changes are mostly to regulations for multi-unit residential properties and staff say they do not change services, but do clarify points to make inspections easier.
Next is a report asking for changes related to sewage discharges. Staff say the amendments are mostly housekeeping and relate to clarify definitions and strengthen enforcement language.
Motions
Councillor Tim Lauer served notice at the last meeting he had a motion to reconsider a motion from February 2023 regarding the Seymour Conservatory Greenhouse in Couchiching Beach Park, which would in turn open up a change in the 2026 budget.
If council approves the reconsideration, Lauer than has a motion to create a working group to follow up on a deputation by the Sharing Place Food Centre and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit regarding uses and upgrading of the greenhouse/conservatory.
Then there are four enquiry motions. Councillor Lauer has one for staff to report on the tree replacement plan for the boulevards along Colborne Street and West Street adjacent to City Hall. He also has one to report on the, “status of the recently expired Atherley Narrows Bridge Environmental Assessment, including an outline of the steps required, as well as the associated costs to renew, extend, or restart the environmental Assessment process.”
Councillor Whitney Smith has a motion to report on the, “feasibility of issuing a license of occupation to the Orillia District Snowmobile Club for a storage shed on City-owned lands adjacent to the trail network.”
Councillor Luke Leatherdale has a motion for staff to report on the, “feasibility, anticipated costs, resource needs, and operational considerations associated with achieving bare-pavement and bare-sidewalk conditions on all municipal roads and sidewalks during routine snow-plowing activities, as an alternative to the current snowpack standards applied to specific classifications.”
In by-laws there is one to accept a $3,270,106 grant from the province for rebuilding the Fittons Road West sewage pumping station; the total cost of the rebuild is $7.8 million.
There also is a by-law for council to approve a site plan for a new six storey, 112 room Hampton Inn Hotel on property that is also part of the Mariposa Inn on Memorial Avenue. Construction is expected to begin in spring
Council meetings are open to the public or can be watched on the City’s Youtube channel.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia; Images Supplied)
