 By Staff
January 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
There is an opportunity to get your habit of giving back to the community that has been so good to you back into gear – The Canadian Blood Service is holding their first Blood Drive for 2015.
 January 3, from 8:00 am to noon. Book an appointment at 1-888-236-6283
Besides booking an appointment to donate blood you can also register to donate stem cells and learn about donating cord blood.
Making that appointment for January 3rd is a little more important this time around; the Blood Service employees are set to strike January 8th. The 13 blood service workers in Burlington, part of the 800 workers that could go on strike will resume negations January 5th.
OPSEU, the union representing the workers warn that concession sought by management pose a serious risk to the safety of the blood system. The concessions are said to include the layoff of skilled professionals and replacement with lower cost, casual part time employees and a changing workplace climate that demands faster processing of blood products and unreasonable production targets.
The consistent flow of blood products is vital to hospitals
 By Pepper Parr
January 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Gazette got a call from a reader about some work being done on the lot that is the east of Emma’s Back Porch. Huge concrete blocks were being moved around and every tree on the property had been cut down.
 The property is accessed from Old LAkeshore Road. It was once the location of an gas station. Might that mean there are environmental clean up issues? There were a lot of stumps left – they were apparently going to be coming out later.
The work was being done at a time when city hall was closed – convenient?
Our first guess was that the ADI Group saw an opportunity to put a sales office on that piece of land; I would be in a direct line of site from where they plan to build a 28 story condominium.
 There was some speculation that the property next to Emma’s Back Porch might be the site for a possible sales office for the ADI Group that has an application in for both an Official Plan Amendment and a significant upgrade to the zoning for the site. The circle indicates where the proposed ADI Group project is to be built. ADI managed to get a zoning variance to set up their sales office on Brant Street but they are limited to three years at that location – and they are going to need more than three years to sell out a project that doesn’t yet have a name.
A comment from a city hall staffer said: “The property belongs to Mr. Vranich, who also owns the Waterfront Hotel. We met with him last week on another matter and he mentioned to us that he would be “cleaning up this site” and referenced tree removal from private property.
 The Conservation Authority is going to want to have a conversation with the owner of the property – and perhaps explain what “top of bank” actually means. “He also explained that he and Mr. Jackman owner of the Emma’s property plan to clear the brush and trees along their shared property line. We advised him that he can clear trees from his private property, but should speak to the conservation Authority about trees near the stable top of bank. We also advised that he cannot remove trees from City property without a permit.”
“He does not have a building permit so he should not be excavating and has no site plan approval or (to my knowledge) site alteration permit, so he should not be altering the grades on the site. I will visit the site and see what he is doing, and will provide you with an update.”
The “top of bank” issue – which falls into Conservation Authority will fall into one of those “I didn’t know that” or “the workers did more than they should have”.
All kinds of tree trunks and brush have been pushed over the top of the bank. It was that need to set back any structure a specific number of metres from the top of the bank – a definition every planners knows about – that made any plans Tim Horton’s had for any construction on the site.
It was also the issue that basically ended what IKEA wanted to do on that North Service Road site. Tuck Creek ran down the east side of that property and that limited what IKEA could do.
 This is what the site looked like a few years ago – before the pier was completed. The Gazette got out to the site and took some pictures and talked to a couple of sources and were told that the owners of the property had cleared the site and planned to create a parking lot – which they hoped to be able to rent out to the trades that will be working on the Bridgewater project.
Plausible – the concern is – why was all this being done at a time when there was no one at city hall that could slip on over to the site and check out what was being done.
When the Conservation Authority people get back to their desks on Monday – they will have a lot of questions to ask.
Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward said she wasn’t aware of any development plans for the property – those things are always run by the ward Councillor
This is a small story worth following.
 By Staff
January 1, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
During holiday periods the gremlins that make the wheels of web sites go around get inside the engines and tinkers with the parts to make them run more smoothly.
 Look upon the Gazette as the strongest source of news and news analysis in the city. Our techie is beavering away with the web site – which is why the masthead doesn’t appear.
We are still the Burlington Gazette gearing up for an even stronger year than 2014.
By Pepper Parr
December 30, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
The city is taking a different approach to the way they present their budget to the public and a significantly different approach to how staff work with the funds they are given to use.
In an effort to show tax payers where the money is going and the value gotten from the spending the city is now setting up budgets based on the service delivered rather than on just the department that that does the spending.
 This approach has introduced a significantly different business process management and brings forward a phrase you are going to hear a lot of from your council member: Results Based Accountability – the city wants you to know that staff will be accountable for the results they deliver.
Not quite sure how that phrase would be applied to the pier. Several council members expressed concern and surprise over how many people in their wards had not ever been to the pier. Yet we spent more than twice the original price of $6 million – and I’ve yet to hear any Council member even mention the word accountability let along accept any responsibility for the thing – which the public appears not to care all that much about.
The city has released a draft budget that will call for a tax increase of 3.55% in 2015 – a little higher than inflation isn’t it?
Included in that budget are nine business cases for new, or improved or upgraded services. Each business case sets out the argument for the expenditure.
One of the nine business cases is about transit – a service expansion, an upgraded Community Connection will cost $337,000, add three Full time employees (FTE’s) and tack on one quarter of one percent to the tax levy.
This service is designed to connect the places where seniors live to the places seniors want to travel to. The Seniors’ Centre would be the hub for this service.
 There is nothing fancy about the place. It’s simple, serves the purpose with a bus stop almost outside the door and plenty of parking. The site will become a bit of a mobility hub for the Community Connection the city proposes to upgrade. There is a Community Connection service that runs just two days a week – the proposal is to make this a Monday to Friday service running from 10am to 3 pm with additional links added to the service.
The Business Plan approach requires that the potential benefits and risks be spelled out and that what the metric for success will be. Smaller buses will mean lower fuel costs (lower gas prices aren’t going to hurt either) – the risk at this level is defined as low.
The Business Plan approach requires staff to explain “How Success will be measured”. Here they set the bar so low that they can’t possibly fail. Transit staff talk in terms of an additional 8 boarding’s each hour on the route. The service, if approved, will run for five hours each day –and they call success a total of 40 boarding’s during the week. That seems like an almost incredibly low number. It gets taken up to 14 boardings an hour in 2016.
Included in the nine new business cases is an $84,000 expenditure for 3D Visualization software – which the city should have bought five years ago. It’s a minor expense but the business case doesn’t tell the full story. There doesn’t appear to be any allocation for staff training nor is there any mention of ongoing upgrades to the software – and with software there are always upgrades.
 The terminal on John Street where many of the bus service transfers are made is to be made one of the mobility hubs in the city. Still a lot of thinking to be done on how the parking lot gets integrated into the plan. The benefit to the city is they will have a tool that will allow them to create images of the growth of the community. “Building on existing models” the business case made adds that “the downtown will be completed first with other mobility hub areas and intensification corridors to follow”. Mobility hubs are points in the city where different transportation modes come together: the GO stations at Aldershot, Burlington and Appleby Line are the prime identified bubs at the moment with the John street terminal added. There are many that believe there should be an additional hub somewhere near the top of Appleby Line.
 Six properties were assembled in a part of the city that is to some degree isolated – they’ve basically nothing in the way of parks – and crossing the railway tracks is one way this community gets its daily exercise.  Those six properties in the Queensway shown above were assembled, houses demolished and 54 units built. would 3D modelling have let the public know how massive the change was going to be? The 3D models will be used for public engagement, council meetings and visioning exercises. “One of the central elements of the project will be the ability to build the model by requiring builders and developers to submit images of proposed and completed development projects for import to the model.
 An example of 3D rendering. The software used to create the image allows the image to be seen at different angles and elevations. Creatively used it can be a very effective tool. The Capital Works department says “success will be measured by” Customer satisfaction but it isn’t clear just who the customer is. The developers are not going to like the additional expense. They might want access to the model – will the city give it to them?
Heck – the Gazette would like access to that model.
The other two success criteria are “Model Utilization” and the “% of Complaint submissions”. So they have thought of the complaints that will come in. Interesting.
Each business case is required to set out the potential risks and benefits and what the probabilities of each actually are. The benefit/risk probability for the project is high if the project proves to provide an effective tool to assist Council and the public to visualize alternate development proposals.
Not implementing the service is given a medium probability due to the “lack of community support and understanding of intensification”.
 And that is what this $84,000 expenditure is really all about – showing the public what intensification will look like before it gets shoved down their throats.
 By Staff
December 29, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Roy Brooke is an avid cyclist who lives in Victoria BC. On a trip to Copenhagen Denmark he experienced physically separated bikes and cars with a dedicated cycle tracks.
Brooke tells his story: “Visitors to Copenhagen tend to notice that it is tough to take a photograph without a cyclist or bicycle in it. Cyclists seem to be everywhere, and statistics bear out the impression — 55 per cent of Copenhagers’ use bicycles each day and 41 per cent of people arrive to work or school by bike in the Danish capital.
 In Copenhagen cycling is not limited. any any one demographic “On a visit to Denmark I started to notice who was actually doing the cycling as much as their sheer numbers — old, middle-aged and young people, families with children, women in high heels, people doing chores, people just getting around; every possible segment of society seemed to travel by bike.
“As a parent, what surprised me were the many mothers and fathers in the downtown core with children on their bikes.
“At home in Victoria, I bike on quiet residential streets with my four-year old on the back in his carrier. However, I never venture downtown with him on my bike. In my judgment as a parent, neither the core of our city or the roads that lead to it are safe enough for me to travel by bicycle with my son.
“Yet in Copenhagen, a much larger and more bustling city than Victoria, families ventured into the busy core at all hours with children.
“I rented a three-speed cruiser at my hotel and set forth to find out why. After a few hours biking around Copenhagen, I had several clear impressions. Foremost, during the entire time I biked around town, I never once felt like I was running a gauntlet of death between parked cars on one side and speeding traffic on the other. Almost every route physically separated bikes and cars with a dedicated cycle track.
“In some areas, this was a bike lane on raised pavement. In others, simply but ingeniously, parked cars rather than people were the ones in the road nearest the traffic. This let bikers and pedestrians use the calm, safe space between parked cars and buildings.
 Lanes created for bicycles where they don’t put riders in harms way and pedestrians have the sidewalks to themselves. In Copenhagen it isn’t a “them” and “us” – cars and bikes each have their place.  Traffic management includes instructions for cyclists. “In places without physical barriers between cyclists and car traffic, thick lines painted on the pavement and wide cycle tracks kept cars at a distance, and all intersections were marked to prioritize cyclists.
“In a word, I felt safe.
“I also didn’t need to think much to bike. It was clear where I had to go because cycle routes were clearly delineated. It was clear when I had to go or stop because there were usually stoplights just for bicycles. And, it was clear where I could park or rent bicycles: just about anywhere.
“In short, things were designed not only for motorists but cyclists also.
“My overall impression is that Copenhagen’s physical separation of bike and car routes and having fully integrated design takes the “us versus them” out of cycling. I never felt irritated by motorists because I never came near them. I assume that I never bothered motorists, for the same reason. Pedestrians, motorists and cyclists thrived side by side because the urban system was built with everyone in mind.
“Above all, I understood why parents took their children into Copenhagen’s core on bikes. If Victoria had similarly modern cycling infrastructure, I would do the same here.
“Many other cities — Barcelona, Paris, Dublin for example — have made similarly large and fast leaps. Separated bike lanes, bike-share systems and lowered speed limits were common denominators in their success.”
 Burlington has recently marked lanes to alert car drivers to merging bicycle traffic. Is the time right for Burlington to make a similar leap? A start has been made. We have the chevron markers and there are now several bike lanes clearly marked with green paint alerting drivers to the merging of bicycle tragic,
During the recent municipal elections very little was heard from the cyclist lobby and as close to nothing from any of the candidates. Mayor Goldring seems to have assumed that he has learned a lesson after his flip flop on bicycle lanes along Lakeshore Road.
Burlington could join the ranks of leading, livable cities, not through a dialogue that is about cars versus bikes, but one based on the actual evidence: that proper, modern biking (and pedestrian) infrastructure makes life better for everyone.
New Street is scheduled to have some major infrastructure work done in the next few years. There was a proposal that dedicated bike lanes be part of that infrastructure upgrade – it wasn’t going to be cheap. The argument was to add the dedicated lanes while an upgrade was being done.
That item will come up during the budget debates in February.
By Pepper Parr
December 29, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There are people in the Burlington Community Foundation offices plowing through piles of paperwork during the holiday as the 310 applications for funding under the ODRAP program are reviewed.
The Foundation was given the task of managing the claims process and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars locally to qualify for “two for one” matching funds from the province.
 Claims Committee member Nancy Swietek, Dan Lawrie Insurance listens to a resident whose home was flooded Monday of last week the claims committee, made up of Nancy Swietek, Dan Lawrie Insurance, Rick Burgess, a local lawyer, Mark Preston of Preston Insurance Services and Bruce Russell of Wardell Insurance, went through 22 applications and sent a couple back to the insurance adjuster hired by the Foundation, to give the applications a professional review.
The committee spent two hours clearing 22 claims. Using that as an average, the 310 claims are going to eat up an additional 28 hours of their time – and these people are all volunteers – they don’t get as much as a dime for their efforts; they probably don’t even get mileage.
Funds for those approved should work their way through the cheque requisition process and be in the hands of the applicants very close to the 15th of January.
Those who were late filing their applications will not see any funds until sometime in March. What surprised many, stunned would be a better word, was the more than 100 claims that came in the two days before the deadline.
The Claims committee is handing out funds that were raised by the community and matching funds that given to them by the province – they have a responsibility to ensure that those monies are distributed within the ODRAP guidelines – which, in the minds of many are a little on the stringent side.
 There wasn’t a microphone or a telephone Burlington Community Foundation president Collen Mulholland would get her hands on as she drove the organization that raised very close to $1 million for flood relief victims – she then made sure the province made good on the two-for-one matching grant. While there is no formal process for appealing the finical support given, Collen Mulholland did say that the Claims Committee will listen to anyone who has a concern about what they were given or if their application was denied.
The ODRAP rules are strict. Funds are available to people who were uninsured or under-insured; if the applicant does not meet that criteria there claim will not get processed.
The Burlington Community Foundation hired an independent insurance adjuster who goes over the claim and ensures that the numbers and other data given are correct, fair and reasonable.
 Keven Reimer the insurance adjuster working for the Claims Committee talking to resident at a public meeting explaining the ODRAP program Keven Reimer, the insurance adjuster, made it clear at a public meeting that the objective was to help people get back on their feet. A furnace that was damaged by the flood will get replaced – that Persian rug that was in front of the 60 inch HD TV set – is probably not going to be replaced. You will get funding for a carpet and a decent sized TV set – but the new Persian rug is something you will have to save up for.
The drive to help people in Burlington who were very hard hit by the flood damage August 4th is now coming to a close. Burlington raised close to $1 million in less than 100 days – a remarkable feat that in due course will be properly recognized and celebrated.
All the recognition does not go to the politicians – Mayor Goldring made two critical phone calls and showed the kind of leadership his citizens expect of him when he called Colleen Mulholland at the Burlington Community Foundation and asked if they would take on the task of putting together the team that would deal with the provinces ODRAP program and raise funds locally. The Mayor placed a second call to Ron Foxcroft asking him to head up the fund raising drive.
The people who know Foxcroft knew he was going to put the squeeze on them – and squeeze he did. There wasn’t a banker in the city that didn’t get a call; several got more than one phone call.
There were some local retailers that came through big time for their customers and there were large suppliers of the kind of thing thousands of homes in this city bought to repair their homes that were not heard from.
When the final list is published you will see who showed up and who didn’t.
There were people who did some extraordinary work. Recently elected MPP Elanor McMahon jumped into the trenches and made numerous critical phone calls. When the province at first said no to the request from the city that it be seen as a disaster area and was entitled to the matching funding McMahon was one of the people getting back to the Premier and Minister Ted McMeekin.
There were two members of council who now know more about the basements of houses in the eastern
 There was hardly a basement in ward 5 that had been flooded that Paul Sharman didn’t look at closely. During the early stages of the fund raising he was one of the more passionate speakers.  Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison spends a lot of time at community events – more so than some other council members. During the early days of the flood his staff had him crawling through more than 1000 basements. Here he works with residents on community planning half of the city. Paul Sharman and Jack Dennison went into hundreds of basements to see first hand how bad the damage was. Both handed out hundreds of forms and handled even more phone calls from worried residents.
Burlington has a to to be proud of – the people and the commercial sector of the city pulled together in many marvelous ways.
 By Staff
December 29, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Do you remember this time last year?
It was snow, on snow, on snow with dozens of senior staff members out in the field on Christmas Day.
 Millar Road was blocked solid – for several days  That was a live wire when it came down.  This tree actually survived – picture could go on a post card  Hydro crews worked around the clock and late into the night to get power lines back up. In several places new cable had to be strung.  Burlington Hydro CEO Gerry Smallegange explaining to a community meting in Kilbride that work was progressing but it was just going to take time. A little photo feature to remind you what it was like.
Maybe the August 4th flood is Burlington’s bad weather for the year?
Burlington asked the province for some financial relief due to the storm – the claim was for $1.8 million – we haven’t seen that money yet.
 By Pepper Parr
December 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
During the 2014 budget deliberations council wasn’t able to find the funding needed to cover the cost of a person to be named as manager of culture for the city.
 The first Culture week for Burlington had a great turnout in Civic Square. Then city manager Jeff Fielding said at the time that while he couldn’t promise anything he would do his very best to find some savings somewhere and crate the position of Manager of Culture for the city.
In 2013 and 2014 the city began to see a different cultural community; the Art Community Collective was formed, the first No Vacancy was put on at the Waterfront to critical acclaim to be followed by a second much larger presentation at the Village Square.
The city held its first Cultural week; the Performing Arts Centre was under stronger management and was making time and space for the smaller community groups – and they weren’t asking for an increase in funding.
The Burlington Art centre underwent a name change and then a change in its leadership.
 Angela Paparizo, now the Manager Art and Culture with Trevor Copp whose delegation brought about a shift in city council’s thinking in 2013 Things on the cultural side of the city were getting more attention and more funding.
General Manager Scott Stewart announced to staff that Angela Paparizo was the successful candidate for the position of Manager of Arts and Culture.
The internal announcement went on to say that “Angela brings more than 10 years of experience in Public Administration, a Master’s Degree in History and Bachelor Degree in Journalism. Angela is continuing her education in Cultural Planning with the University of British Columbia.
“As a Cultural Planner for the City, Angela’s work has been focused on the development of the Cultural Action Plan, Public Art Program, Cultural Mapping, Relationship with Cultural Joint Ventures and Support for cultural community through Community Development and Facility Fee Waiver fund.
“Angela’s experience and passion for arts and culture has helped her successfully develop and deliver Culture Days 2014 in collaboration with artists and cultural organizations.
 Performing Arts Centre – a key cultural stakeholder – where do they fit into the Cultural Plan and how much input will they have? will they be truly an arm’s length organization? “While working in various management positions in the past, Angela’s extensive experience in project management including proposal writing and budgeting has helped her strategically plan highly creative and impactful arts and culture programs that inspire public involvement and provide value to the community.
“As a Manager of Arts and Culture, she hopes to continue her rewarding work in advancing collaborative, community-based programs and services, developing cultural opportunities in Burlington and enhancing the quality of life.”
 With a new name and a brand that is being developed and some bright people running the show – where will the Art Gallery fit into the Cultural Action Plan. The challenge now is to put energy and financial resources into the job as it has been outlined. It is a significant step for the city. In the past culture has resided within the Parks and Recreation department where the focus was on sports and recreational activities.
With new, and hopefully more focused management, culture and the arts will have a chance. The trick is to ensure that we get beyond “Elvis on Velvet” and that the community understands it will take time to pull all the stakeholders together and get them singing from the same sheet music.
There is a very delicate balancing act to be done; diplomacy is going to be a key element and the prime stakeholders will have to be brought on side. Avoiding turf wars will be a challenge.
How avoiding a lineup of artists with their hands out gets pulled off will be interesting to watch.
By Pepper Parr
December 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
It was pretty close to a ten year project but John Taylor, Councillor for Ward 3 knew that he would eventually be able to deliver for the residents of the Mountainside Community – and he has.
 Project Manager Jennifer Johnson point out a detail in the entrance area of the rebuilt Mountainside Recreation Centre that is now open to the public. Last week the marvelously renovated Mountainside Recreation Centre was quietly opened for people in the community. Early in January there will be a public opening – but Jennifer Johnson, city Project Co-ordinator already knows how well the place is going to work.
While she was checking on some last day details she put on her figure skates and tested the rink. It has been some time since Jennifer has skated and gone up on her toes and used the picks to twist and turn on the ice. She had the sheet of ice all to herself – and made the best of it. She did not tell us if she took even one small fall on that perfect sheet of ice.
 The corridor that integrates the swimming – splash pad areas with reception and the ice rink is finished in material that has the look and feel of wood. Johnson was Project Manager for the Haber Recreational Centre in Alton where she worked with the Board of Education to bring in one of the few fully integrated collection of a high school, a recreational centre and a public library in a community that is in the process of finding itself. There are those in Alton who refer to that part of the city as the NEW Burlington.
After 18 months of construction, the newly renovated Mountainside Recreation Centre is completed. It is not your typical recreation centre with that cinder block look to it.
 There are parking lots at the bottom of the slight grade leading to the entrance of the Recreation Centre; a drop off bay and a small parking lot at the top of the site. The architects chose a very fitting blend of stone, brick and paneling that fits in with the wooded location. ZAS Architects did the design work and produced something that looks and feel a little more like a mid-level resort location than a community centre with both outdoor pools and an ice rink.
The use of building material that has a finish resembling natural wood gives one the impression, and a look and feel of natural wood is everywhere.
The contract to build was awarded to Bondfield Construction Company Limited in May 2013. The cost for the project totaled $9.3 million, which included all the hard costs (construction) and soft costs, architect fees, permits, project administration, contingency and furnishings.
 The concession area is set up so that hockey players and those using the pools and splash pad outside have access. The job amounted to a complete revitalization and connection of the existing arena and pool house buildings into one integrated recreational complex that has two community rooms with screens and projection equipment, refrigerators and micro-wave ovens. These are rooms that small dances could be held in.
The customer service area is very pleasing – the concession is set up so that it can serve the people using the pools and splash pad area in the summer and the people using the ice rink in the winter.
 Change rooms on the left and a brand new sheet of ice. The change rooms in the ice arena are as upscale as most of the golf clubs in the community. Hockey referees have their own change room with lockers.
The centre is built into the side of a small mountain. Tree planting, re-forestation, trail installations were part of the revitalization.
The facility is now open for ice rentals and community room rentals. The grand opening will take place on January 2, 2015.
The Mountainside community now has the recreation centre it has waited for – Councillor Taylor just might burst with pride when the place is officially opened.
 Entrance to the Mountainside Recreation Centre. Public art is being done.
It was not an easy project to bring to fruition. Parks and Recreation wasn’t all that keen on the idea and a former city manager tried to kill the project at one point. They don’t call John Taylor the dean of city council because he has a pretty face. He slugged away to keep the project in the budget – next week his constituents can celebrate his perseverance with him.
In the months ahead, work on the public art that Simon Frank, the Hamilton artist selected, will be going forward – it will be interesting to see how this addition to the city’s bank of public art works out.
There have been some clunkers in the past.
By Staff
December 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Artists want to be artists – they aren’t bean counters – there is seldom enough money coming in to actually count.
For many – the art should speak for itself – so what’s to market.
Artists are seldom “business people” the really successful artists have managers who take care of that stuff.
 The art work sold at the Art Gallery earlier this month does well when it is displayed – the trick for artists is to get their work shown. For those artists who are not at that rung on the success ladder the Art Gallery of Burlington is putting on a series of workshops to give artists a bit if a leg up.
If you are an artist looking to promote your work – Check out these AGB workshops to help increase your visibility to potential clients.
Your Digital Projects (4 weeks)
Tues Feb 3 – 24, 1-4 pm OR
Tues Apr 7-28, 1-4 pm
This four-week workshop will provide entrepreneurs a digital design skill set for creating practical documents using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and maybe even some of your own images and fonts. After an introduction to our Adobe software’s essential design tools and panels we will begin to construct and customize layouts such as greeting cards, advertisements, posters. With the aid of an instructor, a Mac-lab and your creativity let’s digitally stitch your ideas and images together. For beginners or those with some experience. Instructor: Kevin Willson
 This work was shown during the Art in Action event last November. Using Social Media (3 weeks)
Sun Feb 1-15, 1-4 pm OR
Wed Apr 1-15, 1-4 pm
This three week workshop provides a summary of the major developments in social media such as Facebook, YouTube, WordPress, and Twitter. We will examine how social media can be used to stay current about art trends and news, as well as how to self-promote and conduct business online. Participants will be introduced to a variety of social media environments and will gain hands-on experience with many of the leading social media applications. *This course requires active participation of students and a willingness to immerse in social media practices. Instructor: K. Jennifer Bedford
 Burlington has a number of venues for the sale of art. Local artists are looking for ways to break out of this market. Photographing Your Merchandise (4 weeks)
Tues Mar 3-31 (no class Mar 17), 1-4 pm
Students will learn and practice photography and lighting techniques of small objects
such as plants or pottery and larger subjects such as paintings or fashion. This is ideal
for crafts people and artisans who wish to expand the photographic portfolio of their
creations or collection for either print or web. Instructor: Jorj Takacs
We are advised by the AGB that there will be a fee for the courses – they were not able to advise us as to what the fee will actually be.
When we get the data we will pass it along to you.
By Pepper Parr
December 17, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Strategic Plan was introduced to a Council Stranding Committee.
There is a revised policy or service standard.
The updated Strategic Plan incorporates the principles of the BEDC which they believe will deliver the outcomes the City desires or, in some cases, will redefine achievable results envisioned by the economic Development Corporation.
The updated Strategy includes clear and specific key performance indicators (KPI’s) for all areas as well as defined tactics to achieve these results.
 Zoned commercial, spitting distance to the QEW, minutes from downtown – owner wants to rezone and make it residential. The BEDC has had a difficult four years. Under the direction of the former Executive Director, it was never able to get beyond commissioning report after report. Significant Burlington companies chose to leave the city – at least one was taken from us right under our noses.
The Board decided that it had had enough and dismissed the Executive Director in 2013 – on All Hallow’s Eve – and began taking a look at what was needed. A high powered group of executives was brought in as advisors and with all kinds of input from former city manager Jeff Fielding they looked as if there wasn’t a business they didn’t want to get into.
When Fielding bought a one way ticket to Calgary some of the high flying ideas were given a reality check and a new board was installed; they appointed Frank McKeown, formerly Mayor Goldring’s chief of staff, as the Executive Director.
It is amazing what sensible, proven executives will think of when they feel they have their hands on the public purse and not all that much in the way of genuine oversight. A one point they were going to create close to half a dozen corporations to get into property acquisition and development. Some sanity prevailed.
Through the plan development process,  nor did it conclude that BEDC should compete as land developers with the private sector. The decisions were based on the following:
The City has very little surplus land. Land Development models in other cities are usually based on significant surplus land or considerable land available at very low cost. The Board and City will continue to evaluate the opportunity in this area.
The scale of potential property available does not justify immediate investment in corporate restructure. Other alternatives exist to achieve the desired results with lower risk.
A Strategic Plan was developed to address the key economic community needs which were defined as:
a) Investment and assessment growth; b) Growing local employment opportunity and c) Accessible Industrial Commercial Institutional (ICI).
The BEDC has adopted key strategies to pull this off:
Develop an Economic Vision for Burlington that will fit into the City’s Strategic Plan. The plan will have very specific goals and tactics that are well researched and can be executed.
Develop and maintain critical economic data, reports and policy; this will require an upgrade in capacity but will form a long-term basis for better insight and decision-making.
It is vital that Burlington increase the investment at the Industrial, Commercial Institutional level – relying on the residential portion of the tax base is a recipe for a financial disaster. To make this happen McKeown will be bringing a tighter focus and process to market attraction.
He will develop new partnerships and strategies to work with land owners, developers and the commercial real estate sector. This includes the development, in coordination with land owners and developers, of a 5 year investment profile around potential development and a proactive approach to local development opportunities.
The BEDC is being restructured around services. We must be able, said McKeown to answer the question – How can BEDC help grow our business?
Services being evaluated include access to senior government funding, accessibility to McMaster research for Small Medium Enterprises (SME’s), export growth support, support for start-ups, and key peer networking opportunities. These will be largely partner driven.
A surplus land marketing pilot with the City will be given a go. BEDC will begin marketing identified surplus lands under a pilot model. The City and BEDC will establish principles around land development opportunities that will allow BEDC to develop land development/marketing competencies in a low risk focused way. Surplus lands will remain under City ownership in this process until the transaction is completed.
 The property IKEA chosen for their new location was quite deep but problems with the Ministry of Transportation and difficulties with the Conservation Authority killed the plans. Will the BEDC be able to overcome this kind of problem? There is a reason for the BEDC being located outside city hall – they want to operate at the Speed of Business. Culturally, BEDC will re-tool its processes and activities to respond at the Speed of Business to business and opportunities. McKeown always had a problem with the molasses that seemed to be attached to every document that circulates through the building.
The Burlington Chamber of Commerce will take over the networking events the BEDC used to hold. They were always very well attended but the new BEDC doesn’t see that as a part of their core business. They will work with the Chamber on the events but not be in bed with them – at least not at the networking level.
The BEDC’s 2015 Expectations: 1 Surplus Land Marketing/Sale Pilot, 2 Annual Economic Report established and published, 3 Targeted Market Attraction Established, 4 Stakeholder Process established with land owners and developers – QEW Corridor, 5 Five Year Development Profile, 6 Economic Vision and targeted activity in defined re-development areas. Lakeside Plaza was given as an example.
That is one impressive list. If McKeown wrote it – then it is doable. Memo to the BEDC board – think bonus for the lad.
The proof is in the pudding isn’t it? Many of the areas of focus for BEDC are new or currently unmeasured. The organization has identified how we will measure the organization and will begin immediately to track, measure, and report on these identified measurements. Over a short period of time we will have benchmarks established and performance results published. McKeown didn’t say how often.
 The BEDC needs help telling its story. The one thing it has never had is a commitment to be open with the information they collect. Some of it is sensitive – but certainly not all of it. They have tended to take a proprietary approach – not unusual in the business world.
A dose of retail thinking would serve the BEDC well – and a little less clubbiness wouldn’t hurt. There is a tendency to think they have all the answers – they don’t.
For once we have an agency that isn’t pushing its snout into the public trough and asking for more money. The BEDC proposes to operate in 2015 at the existing base budget level. As we evaluate the pilot land marketing activities we will have a revenue measurement which we will use for future evaluation. In addition, the development of the Economic Vision will include an evaluation of other revenue opportunities including strategic development opportunities.
When McKeown got into involving the public in economic development his report said: “Earlier discussions regarding BEDC reorganization identified some public engagement requirements. BEDC is not reorganizing the corporation at a level to trigger this requirement. BEDC will be actively engaging stakeholders and the public during their development of the Economic Vision.
Not exactly an invitation for the public to voice an informed opinion is it?
The Strategic plan says is has a new Board is in place and fully engaged. BEDC has quickly established an operating plan to address the economic needs of the community and will continue to measure performance and report to Committee on its economic achievements.
 Current BEDC Executive director Frank McKeown tended to have to battle with ward 5 council member Paul Sharman who brought experience as a consultant to the table. Not much in the way of proven operational experience which McKeown does have. The Burlington Economic Development Corporation 2014 – 2015 Board of Directors
Gary Graham, Chairman, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP – Partner; Rick Goldring , Mayor; Paul Sharman, Burlington Council member; Jack Dennison, Burlington Council member; Ruta Stauskas, Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. – Vice President, Human Resources; Bonnie Prior Appraisal Institute of Canada – Ontario – Executive Director; Randall Smallbone, Portland Investment Counsel – Dealing Representative; J. Michael Hanna, Kylin Developments Inc. – President; Gordon Kack, MHPM Project Managers Inc. – Vice President – Operations; Dr. David Conrath, Conrath Communications Ltd. – President; Scott Stewart, City of Burlington – General Manager, Development and Infrastructure.
This time around there is a board that is in place to get a job done; no longer are there a bunch of people who sat at the BEDC board table to protect the interest of the organization they represented. A welcome change.
The ball is now in McKeown’s hands – that assumes the Board he reports to acts as a Board and not a group of people with personal agendas. McKeown has a proven track record – he can pull this off if he is given the room and the resources. He is financially prudent and knows what risk is and how to measure it.
The biggest unknown for McKeown is what his former boss is likely to do. City Council has to create a vision that is real and compelling. They need to provide the sizzle – Frank McKeown will sell the steak.
 By Staff
December 16, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Burlington Community Foundation announced early this morning that they have received a total of 310 applications for financial support from the August the 4th Flood Victims.
A total of $905,000 has been raised which will result in $2.9 million available for distribution.
By Pepper Parr
December 16, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
City Council met for the first time as a Standing Committee since they were all re-elected.
One of the first tasks they complete is selecting the chairs and vice chairs of the four Standing Committees.
Last night Paul Sharman was chosen as chair of the Development and Infrastructure Committee with Blair Lancaster as the vice chair.
The Committee of the Whole will have Councillor Craven as the vice chair and Councillor Jack Dennison as the Chair. Craven said he would accept the vice chair of the COW with some conditions. He wanted there to be a half day workshop for Council members on the use of the Procedural bylaw and how Standing Committees should be run.
Craven, who understand the Procedural bylaw better than anyone else on Council and has used it to his advantage on more than one occasion, want to see more discipline on how Standing Committees are run. He also wants Council members to deal with their own wards and not butt into what takes place in other wards.
Councilor Meed Ward sees her self as a Councillor for the city with specific responsibilities in ward 2. Easy to see why those two don’t get along.
Expect some very messy debate on this issue. Councillors Craven and Meed Ward don’t get along all that well personally and each has a decidedly different view as to what a Council member should do.
Meed Ward tends to run her ward with a very wide open approach – Councillor Craven is more comfortable with everything buttoned down and under control.
 Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman can be smooth as silk and tough as nails – he chooses which he wants to be to suit his purpose. The original bluster we saw during his first year in office has moderated a bit. In 2011 Sharman was exceptionally vocal on the budget that was passed that year. With a number of important development applications coming before Council we can expect Sharman to voice some strong opinions.
This Council is very frustrated over what they feel they are not able to do with development applications that get presented to the Planning department.
A meeting in November on the application to build two towers on Pinedale in the Appleby Mall on New Street drew 300 people who were very unhappy at this kind of development in their community. Sharman said both he and many of his colleagues were frustrated about the procedure they had to live with.
There are several issues at play here. The province has said Burlington must grow. Councillor Craven pointed out that with the urban boundary ending at Dundas – the growth can only happen with intensification. That’s the price we have to pay said Craven if we want to keep that rural part of the city.
Councillor Meed Ward told her fellow council members that “people want to be part of the vision casting” which she added could be very exciting. Right now she said Council is battling the one offs that get brought to the Council Chamber. “Community should be at the centre of what we are doing – Council are the enablers”, John Taylor broke into one of his mile wide smiles and said he supported Meed Ward’s thinking “whole heartedly”.
The biggest issue he heard at the door during the election, said Taylor, was intensification. “They don’t understand it and they fear it.”
The province has said Burlington must grow. The projection is for the city to grow to 220,000 people between 2031 and 20141 with an additional 55,000 people shortly after that.
 Councillor Meed Ward wants the public deeply involved in creating the vision for the city. Councillor Taylor supports that view. No clear yet where the Mayor stands on this – he does want the public to fully understand what intensification will mean to the city. Mayor Goldring said “we have to engage the public in this issue”. He put forward a Staff Direction “… for a “fully defined and integrated communications program to provide community engagement, dialogue and participation with Burlington residents as to how and why we will transition development in urban areas of the community.”
Expect some heavy debate on this one as well. Council doesn’t yet have a cohesive vision and they are far from agreement as to how they should go about working with the public to create one.
With neither a vision or a clear understanding and deeply rooted commitment to engaging the community, Burlington has four interesting years ahead.
By Pepper Parr
December 16, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
For some reason getting application forms for funding under the province’s ODRAP program became a mad dash to the finish line on Monday. Some people said they didn’t even know about the program that made funds available for victims of the august 4th flood that dumped 191 mm of rain on the city during a single day.
Where have they been?
 Burlington Community staff worked through the pile of applications to get everything entered into the data base the Claims Committee will work form as the approximately $2.7 million is now distributed to the flood victims. At the close of business yesterday the Burlington Community Foundation sent an email to members of Council saying they had received 305 applications. That number may get revised when a reconciliation is done.
On Monday close to 100 applications arrived – some consisted of a box with a collection of receipts.
Forms that were complex and confusing were still being picked up on the Monday.
With $2.7 million available for distribution and 305 people applying there would be just a little under $9000 for each applicant. That is a rough approximation. The available funds will be distributed based on the merits of each application which will now be reviewed by the Claims Committee made up of Mark Preston, Preston Insurance Services; Bruce Russell, Wardell Insurance; Nancy Swietek, Dan Lawrie Insurance and Rick Burgess, Burgess Law Office. It is their job to approve a claim.
The Claims Committee now has to buckle down and basically adjudicate on each application.
Eight weeks from now they will have to have completed their task and distributed all the funds.
Colleen Mulholland, president and CEO of the BCF will be in a position to distribute some of the funds before the end of the year. Those who got their applications in early will be processed quickly.
There are still a few formal cheque presentations to be done but anything that comes in after the close of business will not get matched by the province.
The ODRAP program required a community to raise funds locally which the province agreed to match on a two for one basis.
 Completing the forms was an exhaustive task. The BCF had staff on hand to help people work their way through the document. More than 300 applications were received. To date, the people and business of Burlington raised very close to $900,000 which when matched by the provincial contribution produces $2.7 million that will now be distributed to those who filed applications before the close of business on Monday.
The funds raised locally was a mammoth effort by individuals and large corporations. Burlington’s banks came through for its customers.
There are some in the retail side that seemed to forget just who their customers are. Those selling the washers and dryers and the new furnaces perhaps didn’t know where to send their cheques.
By Pepper Parr
December 15, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Is there a developer in town with a small, small zoning problem? Wants to use some retail space on Brant Street as a sales office for a forthcoming, high end 28 storey structure that has yet to get past the Planning Department.
 The corner of Brant and Pine could be a sterling location for a property sales office for planned high end units looking over the lake. The city has apparently taken the view that the purpose is for use of the space as an office which the current zoning doesn’t permit.
If there was ever an argument the developer should win – this is one of them. Sure there will be some clerical administrative work done but the purpose is to sell those units in the building they want to put up at Lakeshore Road.
Hard to find anyone on Council that loves this development idea very much but is it not a bit of a stretch to say the space will be an “office” when it is clearly a sales office.
Forcing the developer to go to the Committee of Adjustment for the variance is pushing it a bit.
Looking at who is sitting on the Committee of Adjustment this session is interesting.
We will update this story when the good folks at the Committee of Adjustment at city hall are at their desks.
By Pepper Parr
December 14, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Burlington Community Foundation office on the South Service Road will be open until 5:00 pm on Monday which is the last day that applications for financial support under the province’s ODRAP – Ontario Disaster Relief and Assistance Program.
The application is not short; Governments don’t give money away easily, although they have been known to spend it wastefully.
 There were streets in Burlington that had a bin in front of almost every house. The financial assistance is for those who either had no insurance or were under insured. Many people in Burlington live in a part of the city where they cannot buy insurance at any price. Those in the Regal Road area who are close to Tuck and Roseland Creeks were hard hit – and not for the first time.
There are still people who qualify for support who apparently don’t know about the program. There is a family that chose to pay cash for much of the labour they used to repair their home. How they paid for the repairs is not that big a concern; was the work done and is there evidence to show that the work was done?
The Burlington Community Foundation hired an insurance adjustor to guide them through the process. The adjuster works for the Foundation – not some insurance company. They are there to help people work their way through the forms and complete the application.
 Mark Preston on the left and Rick Burgess on the right; both are members of the Claims Committee that will oversee the distribution of funds to flood victims The adjuster passes the applications along to a Claims Committee made up of Mark Preston, Preston Insurance Services; Bruce Russell, Wardell Insurance; Nancy Swietek, Dan Lawrie Insurance and Rick Burgess, Burgess Law Office. It is their job to approve a claim.
The Claims Committee has a delicate task. They have to determine first just how much money is available for distribution. They take the amount that was raised by the community and get an additional $2 for every $1 raised by the community.
That will determine the amount that is available for distribution. Collen Mulholland reports t there were 115 applications in the office on Thursday and that applications were coming in at the rate of 10 a day. She expects something close to 200 applications to be received.
Some applications may not be complete – there are people at the Burlington Community Foundation who understand the forms and are in place to help. But they cannot help if they don’t have an application – and Monday December 15th is the close off date.
Mayor Rick Goldring commented that: “While it is invisible to most of us, there are still people rebuilding their homes and their lives all these months later.” He encourages everyone who is eligible to work through the Burlington Community Foundation to make a claim.”
To apply for funding, visit and click on Make a Claim. If you need help with the application process, call 905-639-0744.
 By Pepper Parr
December 13, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Vince Rossi had no idea that it was going to come to this.
For years he had been telling the Regional government and the city of Burlington that he was a federally regulated air park and that they had no jurisdiction on what he was doing – so take a hike.
No one at city hall or the region for that matter took the time to look into the matter. There wasn’t much going on at the air park – but then Rossi started trucking in tonnes of land fill.
 Trucks taking untested landfill onto the Air Park site. The trucks were creating all kinds of problems for the people along Appleby Line and they complained to city hall and then they began to ask questions. Where did that landfill come from? What was known about the quality of the landfill. Who signed off on all this?
The city did some digging, realized they were in way over their heads from a legal perspective ad went looking for outside help. They hired lawyer Ian Blue – who took on the case. The city sued the Air Park; the Air Park sued the city – the two cases were made into one. Justice John Murray found for Burlington and the Appeal Court backed him up.
Before the ink was dry on that decision the Air Park filed an appeal. There wasn’t much ink to on that document. The hearing was very short and the decision very clear. The Air Park did indeed have to adhere to municipal bylaws for that part of their operation that was not strictly aeronautic – runways and the like.
The Air Park eventually filed a site plan application that is now being reviewed by the city.
Then the federal government made a move and added a section to their second omnibus budget implementation bill that changed significant parts of the Aeronautics Act to allow municipalities to have much more impact and influence – let’s call it what it is – CLOUT on what gets done at the Air Park.
The City of Burlington was drawn into legal proceedings as a result of issues arising from increased truck traffic volumes onto the Airpark site; environmental concerns respecting the quality of fill being trucked onto the site, possible impacts on groundwater quality, and drainage impacts on surrounding lands; and the negative impact on the surrounding resident’s quality of life.
Back in June, 2014, the Mayor was directed to work with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to lobby the federal Minister of Transportation and other relevant Ministries to develop a process to allow municipalities to have input on airpark land filling operations and expansion plans.
The proposed amendments would provide the Minister with the legal authority to prohibit the development of an aerodrome, expansion or change to the nature of the aerodrome’s operations. The Minister’s authority to prohibit development would be used in circumstances where there is either a risk to aviation safety or if it is not in the public interest, in contrast to the current authority that requires both conditions to be met.
The proposed amendments would also permit the development of regulations requiring aerodrome proponents to consult local land use authorities, affected stakeholders.
This would introduce an obligation for proponents to engage stakeholders and provide an opportunity for those possibly affected by development to voice concerns and work with proponents to mitigate identified concerns.
 Vince Rossi – president of the Air Park. These proposals would bring to an end the consistent thumbing of the Rossi nose to city council. Rossi who has difficulty allowing for the views of others to enter into his plans will, if the legislation is passed have to meet with people, listen to people and make changes.
Vince Rossi’s life just got a little more difficult – and the people of rural Burlington can now have a seat at the table and put their views forward.
The amendments as proposed by the Government to the Aeronautics Act will give the Minister of Transport greater discretion to intervene and make orders prohibiting the development or expansion of aerodromes or any change to their operation, where such development or expansion or change in operations is likely to affect either aviation safety or is not in the public interest.
Current Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt appeared to be very close to Vince Rossi and appeared reluctant to take up the complaints of the Region and Burlington. Raitt is the federal member for Halton.
Burlington heard precious little from its MP Mike Wallace. As a back bencher he does what the Minister tells him to do –and Wallace isn’t one to get too far away from the party line.
The proposed changes give the Governor in Council the authority to make regulations requiring aerodrome proponents to consult land use authorities and affected stakeholders.
 This is the kind of development that will not be possible once the Aeronautics Act amendments are given Royal Assent. There was a time when Barbara Sheldon could see Rattle Snake Point from her kitchen window – today – she looks at a pile of landfill – that has never been tested,she can barely see the Escarpment.. The people of rural Burlington aren’t home free yet – but the lay of the land has changed significantly. The changes were in a government bill – they are not likely to be challenged all that much. It will be interesting to see if Burlington’s MP chooses to make a presentation at the committee hearing the bill will have to go to.
It is going to be even more interesting to see how the city of Burlington and the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition react to this change.
Vince Rossi could not have seen this coming. Here is what he is now faced with:
Amendment to the Aeronautics Act
Section 4.9 of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (k):
(k.1) the prohibition of the development or expansion of aerodromes or any change to the operation of aerodromes;
(k.2) the consultations that must be carried out by the proponent of an aerodrome before its development or by the operator of an aerodrome before its expansion or any change to its operation;
Ouch!
By Staff
December 14, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Time to figure out if you and that horn are ready for the big stage.
The Sound of Music Festival has announced that they will be accepting submissions until February 15, 2015 through Sonicbids.
 Small Town Pistols played in 2013
The Festival celebrates Canadian and local musical talent, with a preference to performances with a repertoire of original music.
Local submissions are defined as “at least one member must reside in Burlington full-time”. Please indicate if you are local in your submission.
Submissions will only be accepted from Canadian performers with a preference for performers who have not played at the Festival in the past 2-3 years. Artists’ EPKs must be complete and up-to-date, and the required questions must be fully answered. Compensation is provided and will be negotiated at the time of booking.
Due to the high volume of submissions, only those selected will be contacted.
For more detailed information CLICK here.
 By Staff
December 13, 2014
BURLINGTON 13, 2014
Here’s one for you.
 Developer plans to ask city council for permission to build 28 storey structure on land zoned for 8 storeys. In a tweet a developer said:
“This year we have supported so many deserving charities. It is imperative that we give back to the community that has given us so much.”
There are some people in the downtown core who would take issue with that tweet and suggest replacing the word “given” to “taken”.
Any guesses as to who the developer is?
Think Lakeshore and Martha.
By Pepper Parr
December 13, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It is a grind. Each step the city takes with the people who run the Air Park has a high level of frustration and often the sense that nothing is getting done.
At the last meeting of the Development and Infrastructure Standing committee, staff provided an update. Gruesome is the best way to describe the progress.
 The dumping of landfill on the Air Park site without site plan approval has been on the city’s agenda for more than five years. Two court cases – both won by the city – and there still isn’t an approved site plan. What the city does have in its back pocket is a decision from Superior Court of Ontario saying they have the right to require the Air Park to adhere to the city’s site plan bylaw and a decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal confirming that right.
Along with those two court decisions the city has about $60,000 in costs recovered. That $60,000 by the way is going to look like chump change when the public learns about just how much the city has spent fighting these court cases. Ian Blue, QC, the lawyer who represented the city is good, but he is also expensive.
The staff report summarizes issues that have been addressed or are in the process of being addressed since the last Airpark Update on September 22, 2014. Molasses moves faster in the winter.
City staff continue to have discussions with the Airpark’s consultants regarding the submission of a Site Alteration Permit application. They met with representatives from S. Llewellyn & Associates, consultants for the Air Park and Pinchin Environmental Ltd., the city’s consultants to review the requirements of a Risk Assessment.
 Vince Rossi at a community meting held in a barn a couple of hundred yards from the end of one of the airport runways Middle of October 17, the city wrote Vince Rossi a letter expressing concern regarding the failure to submit an application for a Site Alteration Permit. The city advised Rossi that if a submission was not received by November 14, 2014, the city would proceed with enforcement its new site plan bylaw that was approved at City Council on September 22, 2014 and is now in effect.
Guess what? The application for a permit arrived the day of the deadline along with the cheque to cover the filing fee – thought to be in the $10,000 range.
Now the city and the consultants get to wrangle over how much of the application is going to be approved. We do know now that the city is not going to call for the hauling away of all the landfill. It is believed that some of the landfill on the Appleby Line side of the Air Park will have to be taken away so that the Sheldon property gets back some of the site lines it once had. It is likely to have enough of the landfill removed to allow the owner to see Rattle Snake point – something the owner hasn’t actually been able to see for more than five years.
 More than thirty feet of landfill rises from the edge of the Couzens property on Appleby Line. They want every cubic foot of it removed. The Couzen’s property owners, just up the road from the Sheldon property, are hanging tough – they are apparently not interested in half measures and they don’t want the city to pussy foot around. If the landfill was put there without a permit – then take it out.
That is not going to happen. Some of the landfill will get taken out but that site will never be what it was before the trucks started rolling in.
What isn’t at all clear is just what will the Air Park be in the future? It isn’t economically sustainable as a piddly little aerodrome.
The city now has the authority to enforce its bylaw. How effective and firm they will choose to be is unknown – the wider community is going to have to rely on community organizations to keep the feet of senior people at city hall as close to the flames as they can – without crippling them. The Rural Burlington green Coalition has its work cut out for them. Their challenge is to widen their circle of adherents and get people south of the QEW involved. Most people in Burlington don’t understand what the issue really is.
Getting information from different provincial government agencies has been like pulling teeth from a hen. In October 2014 the City received correspondence from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) in response to the City’s appeal to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request that the City made to the Ministry of the Environment (now the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC)) in 2013
 The city wants to know more about the measuring of the groundwater on the Air Park site. The Air Park doesn’t appear to want to share that information. The city wanted a copy of a groundwater monitoring program developed for the Burlington Executive Airport lands. Someone with an interest in what happens with the Air Park took the position that the information was “private” and could not be released to the public. It is believed that the “someone” was the Air Park.
The Information Privacy Commissioner indicated that the appeal is in the inquiry stage, and that representations had been received (as requested) from the MOECC and two affected parties.
The IPC correspondence provided the non-confidential portions of the MOECC submissions as well as a summary of the submissions made by the two affected parties. It was also outlined in the letter that the City had a deadline of November 13, 2014 in order to make submissions the City deemed relevant.
City staff got there submissions in by the deadline. Once the submission process is complete, the IPC will issue a decision with respect to the appeal, which may include an order to resolve the outstanding issues.
And if you understood much of the above the city might want to hire you. There are people in the Planning department who now know more about Privacy Information than they ever wanted to know. Several have hair that is much greyer than it used to and several have less hair.
The issue is getting a copy of the groundwater monitoring program developed for the Burlington Executive Airport. The city has a vital interest in how the groundwater that works its way through tonnes of landfill that they really don’t know where it came from. They want to ensure that the groundwater is effectively measured and analyzed. There is a lot of jerking around going on with this one; one wonders just whose side the provincial government is on with this one.
To muddy the waters even more the MOECC has told the city in an Oct 7, 2014 email, that a public meeting on this issue was not necessary.
One hopes that the MPP Eleanor McMahon will be all over this one. McMahon is a strong environmentalist and has a firm hand inside the velvet gloves she wears.
 The Air Park continued with the widening of the main north-south runway during the summer. King Paving, which does a lot of work for the city, sent a letter explaining in some detail that there was nothing done that wasn’t permitted in terms of hauling soil onto the site. King Paving did bring in hundreds of truckloads of landfill onto the site in the early stages. There was, at that time, some discussion about requiring King Paving to remove everything they brought in.
Something as small as a wheel barrow draws the attention of those who live next to the air park. When they saw windrows of soil along the west side of the runway alarms were raised . These piles were excavated soil from the runway widening base excavation. They were used to complete the grading of the lands adjacent to the runway and taxiway.
The material hauled into the site was recycled asphalt grindings and granular material for construction of the runway widening base. There was no “soil/fill” material hauled into the site and no “soil/fill” material was hauled off of the site.
Currently, the permanent installations of the runway lighting is being completed. The construction of the runway widening and its appurtenances (that is the city’s word – not ours) is not within the City’s jurisdiction and did not require any City-issued permits or approvals.
The Region seems to have left the room Air Park discussions take place in; there has been no correspondence at all from the Region on this file.
Conservation Halton staff have had discussions with the Air Park’s engineering consultant regarding permit submission requirements. City staff continue to communicate and coordinate with CH staff.
 Barbara Sheldon looks at 32 feet of landfill less than 50 feet from her kitchen window. How much of that landfill is the city going to require be moved before issuing a site plan permit? The installation of drainage and siltation control works will be required on the Airpark site. The Site Alteration Permit application is required to include these details. The delay in getting the site plan application into the planning department resulted in the city advising the Air Park’s consultant that these works are required immediately and must be installed to the satisfaction of the city.
The city is now coordinating its response to the problems with the Air Park owners with the other agencies and levels of government involved.
It took too long for the city to actually do something about the land fill that was being dumped without a permit – but to their credit – once they were made fully aware of the significance of the problem they moved quickly and effectively.
During the early stages of figuring out what was going on at the Air Park the city looked through the documentation they had – not much – but one report on file had been signed off on by a staff member who was involved in the first round of the construction of the pier.
|
|
