City Council LIVE BLOG June 22, 2015

A traffic review on Algonquin and a sidewalk to Walmart are coming up for council discussion.

Also on the agenda this Monday is a change to the Ward system, hiring freezes and the Spring Bear Hunt.

Follow our live blog beginning at 6pm for all the details.

(Keep refreshing the page as the night goes along for updates.)

Dubeau is asking for a report from the Golden Manor.

Campbell is asking for a report on the Waste Water Plant audit.

Black is making a few announcements to start off with.

Dave Laneville received a lifetime membership award, and Black also congratulated the Timmins Police and the OPP for their work last Wednesday at Canadian Tire.

Black also talked about Saturday, and their participation in the Timmins Sports Heritage Hall of Fame.

“It was a learning experience,” he said.

“You can see the pride in their faces,” he added, with Doody naming off each of the inductees.

First up is a five-year review on the official plan and zoning by-law.

This allows the public to come ahead with their ideas to change the Official Plan in any way they think would be plausible.

No member of the public came by.

Mark Jensen says this is not the only time people can come forward to give ideas.

Bamford mentions the Official Plan was looked at last week, with the parking at apartment complexes.

Rinaldo says she hopes to receive some input from the public, as they are vital in the process.

Next up is James Lefebvre, with a presentation on passport parking software.

In lamens terms, he is presenting a new application for your cell phone to pay for parking in the City of Timmins.  It comes at no cost to the city.

In mid-July, the city plans to partner with Passport Parking, who will provide the advertising, social media presence and signage at no charge.

People will be charged an additional 35 cents to use the program, but won’t be charged to top up the meter.

The city will also restrict access to the parking if there is no parking available.

All major credit cards are accepted, as well as PayPal.

You’ll also be able to view things on the app like payment history and you can also receive email alerts.

View the full presentation HERE.

Rinaldo says this is a well-kept secret, and a great step forward.

“It’s a very simple app,” she added.

She points out that people who don’t want to use the app can still pay with the original method.

Campbell asks if this is in other centres.  Lefebvre says yes, most recently in Toronto.

Dubeau asks about the convenience fee, if it’s the standard charge everywhere.  Lefebvre says the lowest he’s seen is 30 cents.

Grzela says he just downloaded the app.

“It took seven seconds,” he says, adding if the option to put ticket payments could be put on.

Right now, Passport would be separate to it, but Lefebvre didn’t rule it out in the future.

Lefebvre says he’ll be back for a full roll out in the near future.

For your reference, the program is Passport Parking, and is available on the Apple App Store, and on Google Play for Android users.  (I already downloaded it myself to be ready for when the city rolls the program out locally.)

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Up next is the secondment agreement for the Golden Manor.

Dr. Julie Auger has been recruited to be the Clinical Lead on a one-year Long Term Care project.

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Encroachment request on 205 Third Avenue.  The request is in the council package and pretty self-explanatory.

It will come back.

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To changes to the Fire Department By-law.

Chief Mike Pintar says they needed the changes, such as qualifications, removal of psychological testing and a revised fitness assessment.

Dubeau asks about a passing rate for the psychological testing.  Pintar says everyone passed it.

He says PTSD is recognized, and is a concern.  He says it’s important that people have a strong psychological background.

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Next up is the replacement of IT Storage Infrastructure.

Laneville says the technology is out of date, and storage is running out of room.  The cost is $558,000 before taxes.

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Next up is an update on the Golden Manor meeting recently.

Doody says it was a productive meeting with Zabonski of the Timmins Taxpayers Association.

He says it’d be fair to say the members of the committee feel they’re providing the type of service wanted in the community, although there is always room for improvement.

Doody adds they’re open to any ideas on cost savings, and will await the results from the core services review before going further with anything.

Dubeau asks about the TTA’s recent visit to council, when council decided not to let them present and have them talk with the Golden Manor board instead.

He wants to know what the committee findings were, which is what Doody mentioned on waiting on the KPMG report.

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Now to the audit on the Mattagami Waste Water plant.

City CAO Joe Torlone says they sent information, and had auditors from around the province visit the site, but don’t have any details on that yet.

Deloitte LLP will meet with city staff by the end of the month.

Campbell says they committed a lot of money to the audit, and opportunities are being lost right now.

“We have to speed things up,” he said, adding someone needs to take ownership and we’re missing a golden opportunity.

 

Black says if council is in favour of scheduling a meeting with the auditor, he’s all for it.

Rinaldo says she’s a bit confused on the questioning.

Black has council vote on getting Deloitte to come to council with an update, which is voted on unanimously.

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Now to other matters, with a bulk of them tabled by the Mayor himself.

Rinaldo now in the Mayor’s chair.  Black starting off with reducing the speed limit on Lakeshore Road near Gillies Lake.

He says it’s a popular area, and there were some concerns.  Black mentions how on Lakeshore, there is no barrier, and only a slight shoulder separating the road and the lake.

He says we’re in the numbers of over 10,000 walkers annually around the lake.

Marks says he agrees, and as an MRCA board member, would like to have a discussion on at their next meeting this week.

He says there should be a barrier.

“Safety should be our number one concern,” he said.

Doody says it’s a great idea.

He says as part of their discussions with Wintergreen, they’ve talked about extending the boardwalk and enhancing the area overall.

He has no objections in lowering the speed limit.

Bamford says people will speed anyway, citing examples in South Porcupine.

He says he is in favour of looking at a speed limit, but we have to have an education for people to honour speed limit signs.

“Our signs seem to be suggestions,” he added.

“Your heart is in the right place…we’ll look for a miracle.”

Dubeau agrees about people disobeying signs.  He says enforcement will be key, adding making an example on a couple people would help remind people.

Torlone says speed bumps are tough on their graders, and to keep that in mind when looking into this.

Black says even if the traffic numbers aren’t up enough, he would like to see a change.

He wants to see this done by the end of the summer, to move the limit down from 50km/hour to 40km/hour.

Council voted unanimously to have this changed.

Marks asks if there are any barriers that can be put up to separate the walking path to the road.

Black says it shouldn’t take long to look into the idea.

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Black on for the Spring Bear Hunt, in correspondence with the Anglers and Hunters group.

There is a two-year pilot project that has just finished this year.

There will be a review by government, and the possibility of it being cancelled in 2016.

Black says the hunt should still go on, as it pumps millions of dollars into the economy.

Campbell asks Chief John Gauthier on numbers with nuisance bears.

Gauthier says 52 for June, and seeing more in the Fourth Avenue area in Schumacher.

Doody asks the Chief to explain the protocol between Timmins Police and MNR on calls, as some in the community aren’t in agreement with who should draw their fire arm.

Gauthier says there is an agreement in place if there is a danger to the public, or to public property.

If it’s a nuisance bear, call the Bear-Wise hotline and if not, call Timmins Police at 264-1201.

“We are not trained to tranquillize,” says Gauthier.

The last option is always the safe dispatching of the animal.

A resolution is coming back next week, which looks as if it will pass.

There is a NOLUM meeting soon, and this will come up.

Wawrzaszek says he expects the police to get the calls if the MNR isn’t on 24-hour shifts.

Black says the most they can do is scare it into the woods, and police can take things further if needed.

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Next is a traffic review on Algonquin Boulevard.

Black says this is an item that’s come up a number of times, adding it will take a while for any changes to come.

Black says there are some intersections that could have no left turns, to improve the flow of traffic.

Red light cameras is another thing they want to look at.  Black says cameras have helped improve the rates of people running red lights, which also reduced the number of injuries.

Black says he saw five people run reds today.

Pedestrian crossing timing, Black says they’ve had a number of discussions on this, and adds it would benefit those who walk slower due to age, as well as those with disabilities and with baby strollers.

He doesn’t want this back in July, as it is quite comprehensive and something they should look at.

Grzela says it would be interesting to see if anyone interested in trying something for a month, where the timing would increase by five seconds each way.

Duval says traffic movement is complex, adding the current 90 second cycle came into effect in the early ’90s.

He says he doesn’t know what impact it would have to extend, and would have to look into the cost.  Duval says it will impact the flow in the BIA, with people looking to get away from the lights.

Dubeau says he asked for this report over two months ago.  He says we should go forward with this.

Bamford says why wait three months for something they all clearly want.

Marks says he’s listened to the reports, and agrees.

Grzela asks about the process in last year’s downtown traffic light pilot project.

He says he’s still interested in increasing the light times from 90 to 100 seconds, and doesn’t want to wait on the reports.

Black says he’ll bring something to the police board after it comes to council.

He says he doesn’t want to vote in favour of big changes on Algonquin without reports.

Black says the review on traffic flow on Algonquin be looked at in the 2016 budget.

They will also look at the intersection of Mountjoy, Wilson and Third Avenue, and implement it as an official four-way stop.  (Most people do use it as a four-way as it is.)

Marks wants to know what’s going on with the asphalt, and the new mix from Miller Paving.

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Next is off-road vehicles and snowmobile roads.

Black encourages we join the rest of the north and opening streets that have a close trail point to a residence.

Bamford says he has an issue with opening it up, as most people break the rules.

He says most people have trailers, and should keep going with what we’re doing now.

Doody says there is no problem, but feels there are people that act like they’re on the 500 Speedway and need to get to a trail as fast as they can.

He adds there are good people as well, but those that abuse it ruin it for the rest.

Dubeau says when this was first brought forward, the reception wasn’t in favour of opening it up.  Mostly due to the noise the machines make.

Campbell says he has three neighbours with snowmachines, and all of them have trailers and show no issue in using them to get to the closest trail.

Black says the initial request is to look at certain areas, and agrees that places like the downtown core is definitely not one they would look at opening up.

Palmateer says they haven’t done a review at this point.

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Now to Canada Post.

Black mentions that Hamilton lost their bid.

He says the by-law should make sure anyone vandalizing it, there be a timeline to make sure it’s all cleaned up.

He adds he has a community mailbox where he is, and garbage isn’t an issue, but it could be an issue as more pops up.

Other things like snow removal and clean up should be considered.

This is if they lose the bid to keeping door-to-door delivery, adding they look at what happens in Hamilton before they spend the money on legal costs.

Grzela says there is a meeting Wednesday, July 8th at 7pm at St. Dominiques Hall for postal workers and the community to have a discussion.

Bamford says we should also consider the federal election, as the opposition are both against this route.

He says staff feels overworked, and doesn’t want to do things based on speculation.

Black says it’s important to know what is on the table, no matter what direction that Canada Post goes.

He says we can’t wait for the changes to fully be finalized and begin implementation before putting through by-laws to go along with it.

Grzela says if we wait for Hamilton, his comment in response is the more voices, the better.

Doody suggests having two readings, and not have a third reading that waits for the ruling.

This will come back at the next meeting.

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To the Hollinger Park Improvement Plan.

Black says there should be some public input on what they want to have happen at the park.

Council voted to allocate $500,000 from the parking lot repairs to go towards other things in the city.

He wants to see money spent in the future on the bandstand area, have a covered picnic area and upgraded playing surfaces.

Doody says Hollinger is the centralized park for the entire community, and add people tend to forget that it’s a big family area with events, and not just a baseball field.

“Anything we can do to beautify the area…we’ve come a long way,” he says, mentioning the flower beds and that it’s an area of priority.

“It’s just not acceptable the way it is,” he said, “It’s become quite a hurdle.”

Marks says the Hollinger is a magnificent facility, that needs upgrades.  He mentions there’s a great opportunity at the Summer Concert Series to get public input on what they’d like to see.

Torlone says he wants to do a survey a little more formal.  Black says we don’t have to start the survey right away, and there are plenty of opportunities this summer to engage the public.

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Now a review on yard maintenance, illegal dumping and animal manure in the garbage.

Black says if council has any objections in looking at the by-laws at this point.  He wants to look more at the animal manure by-law in the garbage.  He says a resident was refused to have his garbage picked up because he had dog waste inside of it.

He adds he’s always thrown out cat litter in the garbage.

Duval says the reason the by-law is there is because of having to clean the vehicles.

Bamford says we don’t know what’s going to be done on this, and agrees the by-law be revised based on common sense.

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Now to line painting.

Black says his parents visited recently, and was asked where the lines on the roads were.

He says they looked at options for long-lasting paint.

Black says it’s a safety concern with out-of-town guests, and was asked numerous times this past weekend about it.

Black says they should come up with a timeline and policy for line painting for highways, community safety zones and other areas in town.  This way, if things aren’t painted, a company can come forward to explain why.

Wawrzaszek says the truck was out on Rae Hill painting lines.  He would like to see thicker lines painted, something around the area of 4-5 inches.

Duval says there is a delay in the equipment.  They’re behind their normal schedule by about two weeks.

Bamford agrees that there should be a deadline.

Black says they’ll bring a resolution at a later date.

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New assessment allocation for the 2016-2018 years.

Black says this is mostly due to the closure of Kidd Operations in 2021.

He says they will lose $3-million a year, that will have to be shifted to the taxpayers.

He says every year, they have new growth and is asking to take 50% of the new growth over the next few years to set it aside into a reserve.

This way, when 2021 rolls around, this money can offset some of the loss and they’re not hit as hard.

This is just on the table for discussions.

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Road budgets for future budgets.

Black wants to recommend increasing the road budget by $1-million a year going forward in the next three years.

He says they need to consider the Connecting Link costs, adding there are roads like Denise Street that are torn up.

Doody says he has no problem in what is being suggested.  He says he’d go further and even if they have to go out and borrow money to repair roads, people are not going to complain.

He says we’re at a point where people will understand that the money is going into something they see every day.

Doody adds tough decisions are ahead.

“We can’t continue to (just) talk about it,” he said.

Bamford adds $1-million in one swoop might be a little much, citing the increase to the winter maintenance budget.

He says one of the realities is we will never have the good roads we want to have.  He will buy into the idea, and should look at putting money into the recreational facilities that was talked about a few months ago.

Campbell says they need to be cautious in where they’re going.  He adds there are points in the Connecting Link that are undriveable.

Dubeau says the discussion is a little premature.  He says he wouldn’t mind starting discussions in the fall on the 2016 budget.

He adds of course this is an issue, but should look at the funding later on when they have a better idea on priorities.

Black says no time is premature to talk about where they’re going.

He says if we don’t look at this, they likely won’t be around after the next election in 2018.

Black mentions how many cities will be lobbying for roughly $15-billion in extra Ontario money, and they need to take opportunities to sit down with ministers and talk about the issue.

Rinaldo asks if they should set a date earlier to discuss the budget for the following year.  Torlone says he’ll be asking council and staff early this fall, adding they could be passing the expenditure budget by Christmas time.

Wawrzaszek asks about how much asphalt has been wasted.

Black says it is being looked into.

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Ward system changes is up now.

Black says we’re due for changes in the system.

He says Wards 1 to 4 have had less than 4,000 people, while Ward 5 had over 17,000 people.

The options are having it stay as is, or have some changes.

The new changes would have Ward 5 split in half.

Black says the new system he’s thinking of is a north-south, east-west format, with two councillors voted in each Ward.

• The east would be Ward 2 and 4 combined
• South would be anything South of Algonquin and Schumacher
• North would be anything North of Algonquin
• West would essentially be Mountjoy

Another suggestion is voting one councillor in each of these Wards, and then four more would be voted in an at-large ballot.

There’s benefits to balancing it, instead of having it the way it is now when everything amalgamated into one city.

Black says the only thing they want to look at is if there is an appetite to changing up the system.

He says they should look at it early, and have a referendum.

They can also get community members to get together in a group to look at the vote.

Grzela says this was something that came up on the campaign trail.  He says whatever system would work better in fairness to the city is great with him.

“The appetite is out there,” he said.

Campbell asks just how changing the system would help the services.  Black says it’s a democratic process, adding there are better options for fairness.

He says this current system is something that works, and questions why this is on the agenda.

“I’m not protecting my seat,” he said, adding “I know where I’m going in 2018.”

Spending limits in Schumacher are very low, compared to Ward 5.  Black says the limit is 80 cents per resident.

Campbell says there is real interest in Ward 3, with 53% of voters coming out.

Marks says he views Ward 5 as his neighbourhood.  He adds when it comes to votes at council, they’re voting on issues to benefit the city as a whole.

He adds that he likes representation by population, and that if it is an issue, the people should speak.

Bamford asks the costs of a referendum.  Palmateer says if they were to run one like they did in October, it would cost between $65,000 to $75,000.

He says the problem with the referendum is that councillors spend a lot of time on documents and gathering facts.  People in the community are focused on one or two facts and it’s up to the councillors to vote on researched facts.

“It’s a sloppy way to run a country…and a municipality,” he said.

Bamford says he spent roughly $6,000 of his own money on the 2014 election, adding he wanted to win.  He says a new candidate running in a big area couldn’t put enough time or money into it.

He says he’s open to ideas, but they better be very good ones as he sees flaws in some.

“I prefer the present system…as it’s the least controversial,” he said.

Wawrzaszek says he’s in agreement with the Ward system, as people get to know them.

Palmateer says the last referendum was deemed unconstitutional.

Rinaldo says it’s not something she’s comfortable with it, but says there is no doubt people would like to see them explore a change in the system.

Dubeau says he’s been biting his tongue.  He says looking at Bamford’s idea of eight councillors and eight Wards is a good idea.

Rinaldo says bringing this issue up early is a great idea, and Black says he will draft a report for a later date.

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Next is a 2016 referendum.

Black says it can even be done through the mail, among other ways.

It would tackle a number of issues, and asks what the cost and council would decide what the issues on the docket would be.

This won’t be brought back any time soon.

“This is a perfectly legal tool,”

Campbell asks what other referendums are held across the province.

Black says if Campbell doesn’t want to hear from the residents about certain issues, he can vote against it.

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Now to putting a sidewalk from the Timmins Square.

Black says a number of people use that road, adding this sidewalk would be put on the list for winter maintenance.

Marks says it’s unsafe in the winter time.  Duval says they did a cost estimate, and it would cost around $600,000.

Duval says it’s been postponed the last few years, as the Connecting Link has taken a number of the dollars.

Another location they’re looking at is connecting Lamminen and Riverpark Road.

Marks asks if this sidewalk would go on private property, and Duval confirms it wouldn’t.

Marks says this should be included in the 2016 budget.

Grzela asks about pedestrian signals between Walmart and the Giant Tiger location across the street.

Duval says it’s not budgeted in 2015, but there have been talks and they will get an estimate on dollars.

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Black now for the resolution on the Lord’s Prayer.

This, based on the letter from last week from resident Dave Witzel.  He asks council to draft a resolution to send to the Supreme Court of Canada, if they agree.

Marks says he already spoke in the past that another entity not modify the way they conduct meetings.

“It’s become a total mess across the province,” he said.

Marks adds the Supreme Court has over-stepped their boundaries.

Bamford disagrees with Marks.

He cites some examples from across the globe, including the ruling in Saguenay, Quebec, and the ideals of ISIS.

“To me, (this ruling) makes sense,” he said, adding his faith is his No. 1 priority.

Doody says if he stayed here long enough, he knew somewhere somebody would blame ISIS for something.

Grzela says there are many religions in our country than 50 years ago.

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Bamford now up, raising his pitch for a flagpole ceremonial mini-park.

He wants to have six flagpoles erected, each displaying the national and provincial flags, the municipal flag, the Franco-Ontarian flag, possibly a First Nations flag and a special occasion flags.

He also wants to see lighting for the flags at night time.

He says this is an opportunity to create something attractive, to show where we are as a culture in the city.

Palmateer says they’ve had discussions on this, and they talked about four flag poles (provincial, municipal, Franco-Ontarian and special occasions.)

Rinaldo says there is an opportunity to even use the front of the engineering building to showcase it is a part of city hall.

Campbell reminds us that there is already a flag park at the east end of Schumacher.

Rinaldo says the flag park goes through an organization, and they are countries that are representative in the city and go through a rotation.

“This is a little different…there’s nothing wrong with more flags,” she added.

Dubeau commends Bamford’s work on this suggestion.

Marks says it should be done in the front of the parking lot, and seems eager to get this done as quickly as possible.

This will come back.

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Hiring freeze is now up.

Dubeau says this was brought forward previously, and should be revisited with the core services review.

He says any new hires should be brought back to council until the review is done and recommendations are brought forward.

Doody says any new hires come to council already, but Black clarifies that new positions come to council.

The freeze would prevent anyone being replaced if someone quits.

The review would come forward with a finality around August.

Marks says he understands where Dubeau is coming from, but won’t be voting in favour of this.

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The final thing on the agenda is one on Canada Post mailboxes.

It says accessibility is an issue, and overall, is asking what can be done to protect citizens from people stealing mail.

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Dubeau bringing up an open house being done on solar panels.

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and council is adjourned!