Council Preview
By John Swartz
Orillia council meets at 2 p.m., Monday, October 6. Despite having a special meeting of council at the top of the agenda, the item is informational requiring no action on the part of council, so the start time was not moved up.
The special item is entitled, Encampment Supports During a State of Emergency, and consists of details about the County of Simcoe’s resources and role should an emergency be declared. This report is not asking for an emergency to be declared.
There has been considerable discussion online about other communities following Barrie’s lead declaring an emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and apparently there have been questions asked around City Hall if this is a course of action the City should take.
The County’s policy starts with a direction no one should live outside, and everyone should have access to services that accommodate their specific needs. The County says it will take a coordinating role with the City matching people to housing (the County has an extensive system of housing policy and locations). There are also several local agencies which provide temporary shelter to coordinate with as well.
That the extent of the information being presented. At some point the province and the feds have to recognize many of the people on the streets did not choose to be there and policy regarding jobs, housing, mental health and addiction services have been inadequate for decades; the chickens are coming home to roost. Treating the symptom of inaction, people in the streets, by busting up their encampments containing all their possessions does not solve a problem; it just changes it to something else.
There are two deputations. The first is by Ian Gordon and Dave Dunn of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 34 requesting the City re-examine alcohol sales and consumption at Rotary Place.
The issue is not that they can’t sell beer at hockey games (a major fundraiser for the legion), it’s where it can be drunk. When they started, people were allowed to take their beer into the seats, but apparently, the reading of the permit was interpreted two different ways, and guess which way the City came down on weeks after beer sales had occurred. So, beer in the stands was out, but then were allowed in the standing area at the end of the arena. This necessitated changing the point of sale, which presented some costly problems for the legion.
It’s not like the legion does not know how to run beer sales in public places, they do it many times during the summer in Couchiching Beach Park without issue. So they are asking council to get involved and designate the seating and standing areas and the Tournament room (where the beer is sold) as places to drink beer
Next Michael McMurter, Doug Sexsmith, and Kelly Lassaline of Information Orillia have an update on the services and plans to strengthen the sustainability of Info Orillia.
They have a new board and are taking a different direction and have partners involved. Info Orillia has been chronically underfunded over the years, and they want to stabilize the organization. The documentation does not include specifics of how they plan to do that, other than they are rebuilding their website.
The public forum is next, followed by a closed session.
There is only one item, a legal response and strategy regarding capital project # 25080. One would think this would be fairly easy to look up, however searching through budget documents for 2025 and 2026 turned up nothing (the 25 in the project number indicates it is something from 2025) and a search of the City’s website for that project number also turned up nothing.
It certainly sounds like someone is suing the City and how it can be construed knowing which project and what the statement of claim is should not be secret and be pertinent public information. Keeping the response and strategy quite is a given.
Reports
Councillor Jay Fallis has a report asking the City petition the province to undertake a mandatory greenbelt review. The key word is mandatory. The province has not started a review of the ten-year-old legislation and looking at the calendar, there does not seem to be much time left to do so.
The motion also includes the words: “Orillia supports initiating dialogue with the Province, Indigenous Nations, and community members to explore opportunities for expanding Greenbelt boundaries and strengthening its policies in alignment with local planning goals and environmental needs.”
Beer
Next is a report from Parks and Rec about the City’s alcohol policy as it pertains to our parks. Staff was asked last January to report on the feasibility of allowing alcohol in our parks.
Of course we do allow for it during events, this is about bringing your own. The province allowed municipalities to do their own thing and Toronto and Ottawa have started pilot projects to allow alcohol in some parks. Oddly, Toronto’s does not permit alcohol in parks on the waterfront, which is likely the most obvious place people might like a cold one on a hot day. Staff say they did a survey and 473 people responded with 197 in favour and 276 against. They also noted the highest percentage of people against were older than 55.
Their opinion begins with three reasons why to not allow and 2 ½ reasons to allow, the half being initially an argument for because housing is becoming more dense and there is no space for people to be outdoors and have a drink by themselves or with friends, but concluded with a mystifying, “…can also have a negative impact on equity and diversity as it may create a space where people do not feel safe or welcome.” How equity and diversity relates is not clear.
Staff’s first option is for council to receive the report as information (do nothing) and they have a second option to change the by-law for a pilot to allow alcohol between the hours of 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. from May to October in a park to be named. This of course will cause confusion because many will miss the point it’s only for one park and assume all parks are included.
Staff also say if allowed the operating budget will need to be increased by $10k to $33k for by-law officers, park operations staff as well as signage (they mean signs) and advertising. If this flies, it is likely the advertising budget will be pretty low since people probably won’t need to be told twice it’s OK.
Staff also say the costs are not part of the 2026 budget and someone from council will have to submit a budget amendment.
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, the OPP, and the chamber of commerce are against allowing alcohol for the usual reasons. The chamber though, does bring up an interesting point. They say there is the possibility allowing alcohol could affect sales at licensed events in the waterfront parks.
Shades of Skydome
Staff have a report recommending repealing three policies and creating an amalgamated new policy regarding naming buildings and things in the City.
Council asked staff in July 2024 to report on the commercialization (naming rights) to public assets.
The result is one policy for all, but staff did not go as far as suggesting which buildings, facilities or parks should be open to being sold to the highest bidder. The new policy outlines the criteria for doing so.
It would be nice if council remembered the O’Keefe/Hummingbird/Sony/Meridian Centre/Hall – the what? Where? And corporate claims tend to only last for so long, while Fenway, Lambeau, Soldier, Commonwealth, Olympic and Barton Street tend to have longevity, and we still don’t have anything named for Charles Harold Hale.
This Takes the Wind Out Of Their Sails
Another report about parks recommends ending vehicle access in Tudhope Park to the wind surfing launch. This comes with keys to the park gates. Apparently only two permits were issued in 2025 and there has been some abuse of the privilege.
Garbage Out
The City had a free large item pick up in 2018. They learned from that there’s a limit to what could be done and the time of year one was held was not ideal. Also people’s perception of the definition of large was not the same as the City’s with many smaller items left at the curb. Almost everything on the list of items for large pick up can be brought to the landfill anyway. The project was under budget, but the City lost about $40K in tipping fees.
Staff are proposing a new system for residents to make appointments and only allow 5 items for a $100 fee (extra for mattresses and things containing Freon. The proposal is for such a program to happen in 2027.
A second report is about recycling pick up for businesses. The province changed the system and put the cost on producers of recyclable material. That means the City does not cover the cost any longer. Staff recommend discontinuing curbside pickup of recyclables from businesses effective January 1, 2026. Or, businesses can register with the City to continue pickup and the cost would fall on the tax levy. Staff say residential taxpayers will be paying the cost, but that may be a point of illustration because the residential class is the largest – all property owners contribute to the tax levy.
2024 Year End
Staff are reporting to council there was a $2.5 million surplus from the operating budget in 2024. That will go to reserves, 90% to the asset management reserve, 10% to the tax rate stabilization reserve.
There was a $1.8 million surplus from rate based revenue (water, parking) and 56 capital projects ended with a $1.2 million surplus; that money goes back to the reserve accounts initially tagged to cover the costs.
Of note, staff say there is already a $6.4 million cost for the ice storm and will like go to $7 million. They expect all but $1million will come from City’s funds and the remainder from provincial grants.
The total reserve funds balance is $85 million, which is down from the previous year’s total ($87.8 million), but a lot better than 2020’s balance of $5.1 million.
Motions
There are no motions, but an item in by-laws is of interest. There is one to ratify the purchase of part of 351 West Street South. This is the Morton Metals property and there is no dollar figure attached to the by-law.
Council meetings are open to the public or can be watched on the City’s Youtube channel.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia)
