Council Preview
Feb. 25, 2019 Meeting
By John Swartz
Orillia city council begins their Monday evening with a closed session meeting at 4:45 p.m. Councillor Mason Ainsworth chairs a 4 item agenda. They will discuss a lease agreement with Lakehead University; 150 Front Street South; retirement benefits for fire department staff; and make selections for boards and committees.
When the public session starts at 7 p.m. they will wade through 14 items. First the good news. Staff have a report and request regarding the Ontario Winter Games. The City needs to sign an agreement to host the 2020 games. If they do the province will start a series of payments (first is $150,000 this month) totaling $875,000 prior to the games, and $125,000 after the games.
The report includes an update on the 2018 games. Staff estimate the economic benefit was $4.2 million. The province gave the City $1 million to host the games and there was $170,000 left over, which the City is using to buy a video board for the Orillia Recreation Centre.
Mall Bus Service
The Orillia Transit north route has been in doubt since the owners of the Orillia Square Mall, Bentall Kennedy (Canada) Ltd., informed the City they would not be continuing to pay $15,000 similar to the amount they paid in 2018 to subsidize the route in 2019.
The City wants $47,500 and previously passed a motion to discontinue service to the mall Apr. 30 if an agreement was not reached. Bentall has since agreed to extend their $15,000 another year, and the Township of Severn agreed earlier this month to also provide $15,000.
Staff’s first recommendation is to stand by the original motion to discontinue service to the mall. The second option is take the money and continue service until May 2020, at which time service would end if a new agreement for the full amount is not reached. The north route ridership is 45,000 annually and the mall is the third most popular destination after Lakehead University and Georgian College.
The development services department has a report on the province’s Bill 66 and effects on Orillia. The current intensification target of 60% would be reduced to 50%. The target for the City’s designated greenfield area (west of Harvie Settlement Rd. and West Ridge Blvd.) would be reduced from 80 persons per hectare to 50.
The City would not be required to do housing and employment strategies, but staff say those would still have to be done for development, just not provided to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Staff also notes the province, as Jan. 23, is not moving ahead with any changes to the Planning Act by way of Bill 66.
Downtown Makeover
Development Services is also presenting to council the Draft Downtown Orillia Streetscape Improvement Plan and draft final report. The plan would transform the look of Mississaga and cross streets, most notably the part of Peter Street designated as the Arts District. The main way of doing so would be by doing away with traditional sidewalks and roads, creating an almost level surface from building edge to building edge. The purpose of doing so would be to create pedestrian environments from time to time.
Preliminary indications are, if council later adopts the sidewalk/roadway recommendations, 6 more on-street parking spaces could possibly be created; this is tempered by several recommendations received at public meetings to eliminate parking on Mississaga Street. Also included are improvements to Lakeview Ave., which may not proceed entirely as the report envisions because most people see it as an extension of Centennial Drive and it overlaps another desire to extend the road through to Forest Avenue.
There is a lot to digest and you can see the improvement plan here (the Monday night documents will be posted Tuesday after the meeting). Any work on Mississaga Street won’t be until after waterfront road reconstruction is finished, possibly 5 years from now.
The Rest Of The Agenda
Speaking of parking, staff are asking for direction to create a new parking advisory committee. Last fall council dissolved the parking working group and decided to create a permanent committee. They also recommended a single staff person be designated to deal with parking issues (Sydney Swan, 705-325-2299).
Staff however state there have been significant improvements in recent years without having a dedicated committee and the recommended option is to receive the report and not create a committee. The report states staff resources would be required and committee members would have to be remunerated. A second option is to create the committee with one council member, one member of the DOMB , two people eligible to be board members but not on the board and one citizen at large.
The City could have a new Tree Canopy and Natural Vegetation and Enhancement Policy by the end of Monday night. The environmental advisory committee’s recommended policy changes bring it into line with the previous provincial government’s Bill 68. Key recommendations relate to inventory and maintenance, but there is no budget to implement them this year. EAC is recommending those strategies be used in the future. The policy also outlines which departments, or EAC, are responsible for various aspects of the policy.
Parks and recreation staff are reporting the City will receive a $100,000 federal Enabling Accessibility Fund grant for accessible playground equipment for Couchiching Beach Park. The City already has a budget for playground improvements and if adopted, the new budget will be $210,000.
During budget meetings, council asked a number of questions about new entrance signs to the city, specifically ones for Highway 11. There was some question about public input and staff is responding there was public input into the new municipal logo and signs, so there will not be further input needed. A $200,00 budget is earmarked for 2020 to erect the signs.
The 2019 budget authorized a study of City Hall staffing and services. At council’s first official meeting in December council also wanted to create a strategic plan to guide council’s action this term. Staff are presenting two options how to accomplish all three. One is roll the strategic plan into the approved review with an additional $20,000 cost. The other is to keep the review and strategic plans separate, resulting in an additional $30,000 cost. There will be an opportunity for public input to the strategic plan.
Councillor Ralph Cipolla has two enquiry motions. One asks for a report to establish overnight parking spaces downtown for patrons of licensed establishments. The other asks for a report on the feasibility of moving the Farmers’ Market back to City Hall.
Councillor Pat Hehn has an enquiry motion as well. She wants a report investigating a 4-way stop at Peter and Tecumseh Streets.
All decisions made Monday night must be ratified at the regular council meeting March 4.
(Images Supplied)
