By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  July 3^rd, 2013.  They went into closed session and stayed there for well over an hour while media cooled their heals in the foyer.

This was the first time city council members got a chance to talk one on one with the legal hired guns the city has hired to steer them through a very sticky set of situations related to the Air Park problem.

Ian Blue, a lawyer with an expensive pedigree that will serve the city well in a critical fight.

Ian Blue of the firm Gardiner Roberts is said to have significant experience in constitutional law matters, including experience in airport fill disputes in Ontario and was involved in the New Tecumseth and Scugog disputes.  These two were situations where land fill on airport lands were part of the difference of opinions that brought the lawyers into the room.

Blue is a Queen’s Counsel, an appointment he was given in 1985 when the honorific mattered, and a senior counsel and advisor on complex energy, electricity and environmental law matters that have administrative-law, business-law and constitutional-law issues.

He has acted for both private sector and public sector clients. He has appeared before all levels of courts in Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia and the Yukon and before both levels of the Federal Court. He also has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada. In addition, he has appeared before the National Energy Board, the Ontario Energy Board, the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board, before arbitration panels and other regulatory bodies.

Blue has been a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and as a past Chair of the Administrative Law and Environmental Law Sub-Sections of the Ontario Bar Association.  These are significant positions within the legal profession.  This lawyer would have run circles around Glenn Grenier, the lawyer Vince Rossi has hired to spin tales of what the city can and cannot do in terms of regulating what happens to land in the Escarpment.

Blue is also a prolific legal writer and speaker on practice and legal topics and is a contributor to various lawyers’ publications.  He has also assisted in drafting federal legislation and Ontario legislation and was the draftsman of the Gas Distribution Act, 1999, as well as regulations made under that act, for the Province of New Brunswick.

Ian Blue studied at Dalhousie University – one of the very best law schools in the country.

This guy writes the law that the rest of us have to follow.

He is costing the city a very pretty penny but they would appear to have gotten the right guy to steer council through very complex matters.

Now – why does all this matter?  After all – there are really not that many people impacted by what Vince Rossi is doing with his Air Park.  If that is your thought – re-think.

What Vince Rossi is attempting to do is completely circumvent the city’s authority to determine how the community grows and what kind of community Burlington wants to be.

If there is an Air Park along the lines of what Vince Rossi wants – that decision gets made by the community.

If Burlington is going to have the kind of air port Vince Rossi wants to develop – Vince Rossi is going to have to do that development in concert with the city and follow the by-laws the city has in place. economic development is a city and Regional domain – not that of an individual entrepreneur. Mr Rossi has some expensive lessons to learn.

This city did not want a highway rammed through the Escarpment and it fought to ensure the provincial government listened to what we had to say.

Burlington had grown to the point where they no longer wanted to be an extraction site for the aggregate industry and fought to ensure that Nelson Aggregates was not given another permit to pen up a second quarry.  That fight cost the city millions but there will not be another quarry.

Now the city has to fight again to prevent an entrepreneur from deciding, by himself, how this city is to develop.

If there is to be an airport of any significant side – that decision will be made by city council and the Regional Council who will inform and educate its citizens will decide what kind of development takes place.

Vince Rossi, owner of the Burlington Executive Air Park at a meeting with members of the Rural Burlington Green Coalition

The public is not yet fully aware of just what the ramifications are should an airport that is anywhere near what Vince Rossi wants to build.  Mr. Rossi has to learn that the “community” makes these decisions – not a single entrepreneur who has managed to convince a bank to loan him $4.5 million.  The TD Bank, the people who put the $4.5 million mortgage on the property, has some explaining to do and in the fullness of time they will pay a price for their decision.

For the immediate future, the city can take some comfort in know they have someone with the depth and the experience to take on this task.  The man is also incredibly well-connected.  He served as Legislative Counsel to a former President of the Privy Council, the Honourable Alan J. MacEachen, P.C. who was Government House Leader.  THAT is impressive.  It would seem evident that Ian Blue sees merit in the battle Burlington has on its hands and has decided to bring his talent to bear on that problem.  Lawyers of this calibre get their pick of what they choose to do; that Blue decided to take this one on over many others that would have come his way speaks volumes.

Finally Ian Blue studied at Dalhousie University where Constitutional law is taught better than anywhere else in the country.  Blue also served in the Canadian Army.  The information in his profile suggests that he is a Maritimer as well – and that never hurts.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON. June 26, 2013.  Economic development in the city has stalled.  Part of the reason is that no one knows how to give the people who are supposed to make economic development happen the enema they so badly need.  Burlington hasn’t seen a piece of good economic news for some time.

That may change but it won’t be because the Economic Development Corporation has done anything.  They have yet to get past setting out their governance standards and as a result have some members around the table more focused on their individual economic interests rather than those of the community at large.

Serving on the board of an economic development corporation means you leave your personal or employer related interests outside the room; that apparently is not yet the case in Burlington.

Head of the Economic development Corporation in Burlington, Kyle Benham hasn’t move the dial very much during his tenure.

Quite why the city’s banker or the local cable company are on that board is beyond me.  The banker’s marching orders are to make sure they don’t lose the city banking business and the cable company wants to be sure it gets the brownie points it needs to maintain the federal government license they have to operate their business.

There are more than a couple of people on that Board who know what has to be done and in the fullness of time they will succeed in totally reorganizing the Burlington Economic Development Corporation and getting it to the point where it is effective and fully focused on the job that has to be done.

That process seems to be taking quite a bit of time.  There are some timelines the most significant of which is the AGM next April at which time expect to see a new chair in place.

Burlington city manager Jeff Fielding came to us from London, Ontario where he was able to maintain development growth. Here he is seen at a London Council meeting where he moved things along rather smartly. He’s in the process of doing the same thing in Burlington. Fielding sits on the BEDC board.

The city can`t afford to continue experiencing the current state of economic affairs.  City manager Jeff Fielding advised council recently that he expect ICI (Industrial, Commercial, Institutional) tax revenue to be less in 2013 than it was in 2012; not a sustainable situation for the city.

Currently the Economic Development Corporation is a stand-alone operation that gets some of its funding from the city but had to do a significant amount of funding on its own – at which they did rather well by the way, but that funding work took the focus off the really important stuff – getting new business into Burlington.

The governance  discussion is believed to be revolving around dissolving the existing structure and bringing economic development back into city hall, where it used to be when Don Baxter headed up that work.  He is now a consultant working with corporate clients in the Fort McMurray, Alberta part of the country as well as serving on the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.

Parking lot # 3 on the corner of Caroline and John Street will be re-developed as a structure that has several levels of public parking.  The city will look for an organization to partner with on this.  Is there revenue is selling the naming rights to the building?

The city for its part is pushing on a number of levels. They have decided to work towards getting better use out of parking lots 3, 7 and 8.  The thinking is that the city would look for a partner to build an above ground parking lot on #3, at the corner of John and Caroline, that will serve the shopping plaza just north of Caroline – which should soon be given a major make-over, as well as some of the overflow from Brant Street.

The MedicaOne project, on the corner of Caroline and John Street,  which expects to break ground soon will have some underground parking – something in the order of 100 spaces but that will get used by the traffic to the medical offices and the condo owners in that project.

Situated on the corner of Caroline and Locust any structure on this lot would certainly crowd the Different Drummer bookstore.

Lot 8, on Caroline immediately west of Brant, snuggled up to the Different Drummer bookstore and lot  7, on Locust south of Caroline will be made “marketing ready” with the city looking for potential partners.  There is a property right beside lot # 7, to the south, that is up for sale and could become part of a land assembly.

Lot 8 on Locust Street is closest to city hall. It serves people who meet at the Upper Canada location where Regus has been located for years.

The city is hoping that if it puts its property in play developers will take up the opportunity and do some building.  The problem is that there has in the past been no one at the BEDC that knows how to bring players to the table and close deals.  That is a very specialized skill; a combination of hustle, diplomacy and the capacity to schmooze, bundled up with a person who has contacts or knows how to make contacts.  There have been some new people added to the BEDC staff but that corporation has chosen not to say anything about these new additions.  Not a good sign.

The city also has to make a major decision as to what it wants to do about its own space requirements.  The lease it has on the space in the Simms building, right across the street from city hall, is due for renewal – does the city continue to rent or do they build and own?

Does the city expand on the space it has on Brant Street by adding to the back of the building or putting office space on Civic Square? Or is there a new city hall in the cards for us?

Councillor Jack Dennison, who certainly knows about this kind of stuff, believes the city could have paid for an addition to city hall with the money they have paid in rent to the owners of the Simms building.

The city could, some think, build onto the back of the existing building or perhaps build into the current Civic Square space.  Or – and this would seem to be the preference of city manager Jeff Fielding, the city could build a brand new structure that would be designed for the city that is now a much different place than it was when city hall was first built.

Parking lots 4 and 5 on Brant and John Streets get all kinds of attention when conversations like this take place.

The last time Council took part in a ground-breaking event it was for a park in the Alton Village part of town. No tax revenue there.

What we are seeing is all kinds of buzz and chatter but there haven’t been any announcements.  The property that International Harvest is currently located on at Guelph Line and Harvester, will be vacated soon as they move their operation to Hamilton.  We are not only not bringing in new business but we are losing the good ones we had.

This situation has been ongoing for some time – more than a year.  Changes needs to be made when there is a situation that has our ICI tax revenue facing negative growth relative to last year.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  June 25, 2013.  The banking business has changed.  There was a time when they wanted rights to your first-born and they would loan you a reasonable amount of money.  Now securing everything that is near and dear to you isn’t quite enough – the banks want to know what you are going to do with the money and if they feel you are making a contribution to society then they will lend you some money with the understanding that they still have a lien on your first-born.

Banks now have a second level CEO – this one is a little softer with not quite the same number of stock options that the real Chief Executive Officer has but it is seen as a socially responsible position while the real CEO had better improve the assets on the books and keep the costs down – even if that means throwing the well qualified Canadian technical workers under the bus and outsourcing all that code crunching work to some guy in a cubicle somewhere in Mumbai where there isn’t a Labour Standards Board because there are no standards.

This second level CEO is the Chief Environmental Officer.  TD Bank has one and she had quite a bit to say for herself in a Globe & Mail interview she gave awhile back.

Karen Clarke-Whistler is Toronto-Dominion Bank’s other CEO – its chief environment officer. The role doesn’t exist in any other large North American bank, and gives her unique power to influence TD decisions in every aspect of its business. Ms. Clarke-Whistler, who spent most of her career as an environmental consultant, joined the bank in the newly created role in 2008 and has helped turn TD into an environmental leader.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  June 24, 2013.  They will apparently meet in a barn – during one of the hottest days so far this year.  The barn is in a direct line with the north-south runway the Air Park wants to extend once it has acquired the land to the north of the existing Air Park.  That land will become a runway ending at the edge of Vanessa Warren’s property where she expects to develop an equestrian facility.  Vanessa is not pleased nor are the members of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition, which is made up in part of LARA, Lowville Area Residents Association, PERL Protect Escarpment and Rural Lands and  CONE , Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment.

Landfill from the Air Park crowds the fence of the Cousin’s property on Appleby Line.

The meeting is the first event since the Regional government heard delegations last week from both the Coalition and Tim Crawford who was representing Vince Rossi, owner of the Air Park.

Barbara Sheldon walks to the south side of her property – only to look up at a 30 foot + hill of landfill that touches the edge of her property and there is apparently nothing she can do about what a commercial operation has done.

At that Regional Council meeting Burlington Councillor John Taylor pulled five undertakings from Crawford, who admitted that while he was speaking on behalf of the Air Park he had no authority to actually bind the corporation.

The five undertakings Taylor believes he has from the Air Park are:

1.      “Shave” the earth piles back on Cousins and Sheldon properties to improve views;

2.      Conduct well and surface water testing under MOE supervision of the surrounding properties for contamination;

3.      Provide verification that the 58 soil samples provided are a complete set of all sources for the last five years and are fully representative of each source; if not complete provide other samples;

4.      Provide a drawing where each fill source is located on property; and

5.      Agree to provide a site development plan for review by City and Regional Planning Departments; and conduct a public meeting to get public input on the plan and review results.

Crawford’s apparent willingness to provide this information and to have the Air Park make the changes set out – is a significant step away from the position that corporation has been maintaining for the past five years and that was that the Air Park is a federally regulated operation which does not have to respond to the wishes, by-laws or rules of either the province, the Regional government or a municipality.  They have maintained they are responsible to the federal minister of transportation only and for the past five years they have managed to get away with that story.

Oakville Mayor Rob Burton advised Vanessa Williams that she had rights that had been trampled upon and that there is jurisprudence and precedent in place that suggests her property and that of any other resident can be returned to its pristine condition if damage is proven.

The Warren property has not yet been damaged, just threatened,  but the Sheldon and the Cousins property has certain been severely damaged.

This evening Vince Rossi is expected to meet face to face with the steering committee of the coalition.  The meeting is being held in a private home and will be chaired by city of Burlington General Manager Scott Stewart who knows how to manage a meeting with any number of hot-heads in the room.

Many don’t expect the meeting to last much more than fifteen minutes before Vince Rossi blows a gasket and storms out.  Others don’t think he will bother to show up but send the hapless Tim Crawford again.

The Regional council meeting certainly, as Mayor Goldring put it,” left Rossi badly overdrawn on his public relations account.”

The attempt at a meeting with the community was to be a first step on the part of the city to begin a dialogue with Rossi.  The hope was that if a first meeting could take place then possibly there would be an opportunity for a larger community wide meeting.

Meanwhile the city’s legal department is working through its options and expects to report to a city council meeting with recommendations as to what the city can do.  Given the way the legal department in Burlington operates they will ask to hold the discussions in a closed session.  This might be one of those instances where the lawyers will be right.  Get council approval on a direction, file the papers at the Court House in Milton and have them served on the Air Park and then advise the public on what has been done.

Air Park Counsel Glen Grenier wasn’t prepared for a city manager like Jeff Fielding who supported his legal team to the hilt and basically suggested the Mayor send the lawyer packing – which he did. Here Fielding and Grenier spar verbally while city lawyers Blake Hurley and city solicitor Nancy Shea Nicol look on.

What is abundantly clear is that the different political jurisdictions have Vince Rossi on the run.  He can no longer maintain that he is responsible only to the federal government.  That position was lost when Burlington’s city council balked at the Glenn Grenier, the Air Park’s legal counsel of the day,  tried to push past them when he delegated.  Rossi appears to have parted ways with that lawyer.  There will be others.

While the city works on two fronts: determining what their legal options are and what they can develop in terms of a strategy, while at the same time doing their best to work with the people most impacted by the damage being done as a result of thousands of tonnes of landfill being dumped on Air Park property, there is a much bigger question the city and the Region as well as the provincial government has to ask and answer and that is: should there be an airport in north Burlington.

Do we want a “Buttonville” West?  There are those who think that would be a super idea and great for economic development for the Region.  Oakville’s Mayor Rob Burton tried to draw those for the idea of an airport out of the bushes at the Regional meeting but they chose to stay hidden.  Make no mistake – there are those who think an airport would be great.

Rossi certainly has his supporters who have helped him get away with his antics for the past five years.  That gig of Rossi’s is over – but the bigger question has yet to be asked publicly and then answered.

We will return to that question.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  June 12, 2013.  Tracy Burrows, the city’s by-law enforcement office got a “heads up” phone call from Milt Farrow, who works with Vince Rossi, owner of the Burlington Executive Air Park, who wanted to advise her that trucks would be trucking in asphalt from highway 407 at night and on to the grounds of the air park.

It is not clear if Farrow is an officer of the Air Park corporation or working in some executive capacity or just some guy on the payroll but it is clear that he is a pipeline from the Air Park corporation to the city.

In a follow-up Memorandum to the city, dated June 7, Farrow sets out what they are going to do:

“The Ontario Ministry of Transport is resurfacing part of the 407 in or near Burlington.  Some of the old asphalt material to be removed from the 407 is suitable for use as the sub base for the runways, taxiways and aprons being constructed.  Further, the ability to reuse this material as part of the permanent finished product of the airport construction is also general beneficial as it will not other wise need to be disposed.

The original position of the Air Park people was that they could do what they wanted when they wanted – which meant they could use construction equipment around the clock. While not admitting that the city might have some rights in enforcing their by-laws the Air park is believed to have said they will not use heavy equipment at night.

“As you can appreciate” Farrell goes on to say, “most, but not all of the 407 re-surfacing is done at night.  WE are required to accept the materials as it is removed from the 407.  The timing is not something under our control, but it is obviously under the control of the MTO.  While we anticipate some of the materials will be made available during the daylight hours, we understand that much of it must be done at night when traffic on the 407 is light.

“To minimize the noise at night, we are told by the contractor that the following measures will be observed:

a)      The trucks to be used will not have banging tail gates

b)      Work flow will be arranged so the drivers can deliver and deposit loads while driving forward without the need to stop and back up.  As a result, the beeping back up alarms will not be sounded, and

c)      To the extent possible, the night-time work will ne conducted on those areas of the site furthest from neighbours.  Areas of work closer to the neighbours will be planned for the daylight hours.

d)      We anticipate the work will commence on June 10^th but we have no end date as it depends on weather but it will take two to three months on an intermittent basis.

Again, the airport takes the position that our construction activities are not subject to municipal by-laws because of the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government over aeronautics, including the construction of permanent facilities at the Airport.  Further, we are advised by our counsel that there is a specific case wherein it was held that a Toronto noise by-law did not apply to activities at the Downsview airport.

It was going to be close to around the clock truck traffic because of a highway 407 asphalt removal contract – but there seems to be some common sense and decency creeping into the behaviour of the Air Park owners.

Notwithstanding, we want to be a good neighbour.  We understand that in some cases exemptions are given further to the Burlington noise by-law and thus, the City must have some experience in minimizing the noise impact of night-time construction activities, when same are necessary.  As explained above, it is necessary in this case.  We would be pleased to receive and consider implementing any other noise abatement measures you care to offer

All this was BEFORE the city Council meeting where the Mayor said that the Air Park people may be good at hiring lawyers and constructing airports but that they know nothing about “public” relations.  Councillor Craven prefaced his questions to the Air Park lawyer with the question: “why are your clients such lousy neighbours”.

It  is close to standard practice for the city to give professionals delegating to Council the time they need to state their case and engage in plenty of Q&A.  Glenn Grenier, counsel for the Air Park and a resident of Burlington didn’t get much of that courtesy.

Some of the ire of the city appears to have gotten through to the airport people.  While they have consistently maintained they can operate outside city by-laws they are said to have advised the city they will follow the noise by-law and NOT truck in fill after 11 pm nor will they do any construction on the site outside the hours of 7 am to 7 pm.

A usually reliable city hall source said it was good news – but “we have had all kinds of problems with these guys broken before so we will just have to wait and see”.

Maybe just a trickle of civility.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  June 10, 2013.  It`s a grind. There are so many levels of jurisdiction that it gets difficult to figure out who is responsible for what, but the city of Burlington is on the case and they are ferreting out information at a pace that is indeed remarkable for a municipal administration.  Kudo`s to them for that.

Now to figure out what they have gathered in the way of information and what potential action there is for the city to take. 

The city got into this when city council heard complaints about landfill operations that were taking place at the Burlington Executive Air Park.  The work has been taking place since around 2008 but no one seems to have taken their complaints to the city until Dr. Teri Jaklin wrote a letter to the Council member for Ward 6, Blair Lancaster, who didn`t do much for the Dr. Jaklin wither response. Barbara Sheldon, the Appleby Line resident who has suffered the most damage, then wrote Lancaster a scathing letter

When Vanessa Warren created the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition and made a delegation to city hall the wheels started moving.  Up until that point no one had been on Barbara Sheldon`s property to see the amount of landfill that had been dumped.  Lancaster has yet to see the property.  Councillors Meed Ward, Taylor and Sharman have visited as has the Mayor who was appalled at what he saw.

The is the view of the south side of the Sheldon property on Appleby Line. Trucks were dumping the day the pictures were taken.

Sheldon is a major piece of business: direct, no-nonsense, no crap – do not speak to this lady with a forked tongue.  Not a woman to be trifled with.  The only relief she has had is a small reduction in her tax assessment – which at least has one government organization saying something has been done to change the value of this property.

On May 21^st City Council issued a Staff Direction to the General Manager of Development & Infrastructure to contract with an aviation consultant to report on: The standards, processes and requirements of Transport Canada and other Federal departments for the development and expansion of aeronautical facilities; and to identify any opportunities for individual, municipal or provincial involvement and input in said Federal processes, and to expedite the presentation of recommendations to address the immediate issues of land fill, noise and expansion at the Burlington Airpark.  Those were the marching orders.

So – what do we know?

A lot of information has been gathered and in the report General Manager of Development and Infrastructure Scott Stewart will make to Council this evening we learn of what has been done and what has not been done.

To put it mildly – Stewart didn’t manage to pull many teeth from a hen.

Information is being made available to the city by people who represent Vince Rossi, owner of the airport.  Meetings have taken place between the City and Airport representatives (Mr. Milt Farrow and Mr. Tim Crawford) to facilitate a cooperative approach to addressing the City’s request for information regarding the past and current filling operations at the Airport site.  Information is being delivered in dribs and drabs but at least there is some movement.

During all this jabber,  jabber the airport people maintain that their operation – the Burlington Executive Air Park, comes under federal Department of Transport jurisdiction and so the city can just take a hike, legally.

We have been seeking an interview with airport owner Vince Rossi – he used to email us – we don’t hear from him anymore.  He has learned what media people now call the “Rob Ford approach” – say nothing no matter how bad it looks.  Stonewall, obfuscate, put out platitudes but don’t say anything direct.  Send others to represent your interests; helps if one of them is a lawyer.

Rossi’s people did communicate with the city through the office of Councillor Lancaster,  who many in the community feel is far too close to the airport owners.  The email, sent to city staff May 27, 2013 by Councillor Lancaster advised that the airpark informed her that the city would receive a letter with soil test samples and they will work with the City on the esthetics of the berm. To date a letter has not been received.

Councillor Lancaster would be well advised to direct the airport owners to communicate directly with the city.

While all the jabber, jabber goes on Barbara Sheldon watches as the pile of landfill on the north and south side of her home gets higher and higher. More than 32 feet on the north side and no one knows how much higher on the south because they are still dumping.

The city wants data on past and current filling operations at the site.  They have also  requested a grading and drainage plan, current and past soil test reports, the continued maintenance of silt fencing around the work area, securities to ensure contractor performance and permission for City staff to access the site.

The city argues this information would be required for review by City staff  to reach a conclusion that a site alteration permit could be issued if one was applied for.  Rossi and his people have taken the position that they don’t need permission from the city – they are federally regulated.

King Paving, the company that is hauling in the bulk of the landfill these days, has the majority of the original soil reports.  Milt Farrow followed up with King to organize the reports and to have them photocopied.  The first batch of the photocopying of the reports was not completed until May 31st.   Mr. Farrow delivered 5 reports to the City on May 31, 2013 at 4:15 pm.  An additional 15 reports were delivered on June 5, 2013 at 1:30 pm.

The city points out that soil test reports undertaken years prior are unacceptable because the City has no knowledge of what has occurred on the source site since the tests were undertaken.

There is not a lot of trust between the city and the air park operators.

Whenever changes are made to property a process called Environmental Assessments come into play.  There are phase 1 assessments and phase 2 assessments; it’s all kind of arcane and difficult for parents who want to get the kids to soccer on time,  but a process fully understood by planners and lawyers who know how to exploit these processes to the fullest.

Milt Farrow advised the City that last year, as part of a potential financing arrangement, the Toronto Dominion bank was provided with additional soil test reports and a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment (ESA). 

The air park position is that the city has no jurisdiction and is not entitled to stick their noses in and ask for data and Environmental Assessments but if you want financing from the bank – guess what – the required documents appear.

In the criminal world investigators always tell you to “follow the money”.   In times past it was “follow the babe” but times have changed.

Mr. Farrow has apparently agreed to try and get the soil reports back from the bank and provide them to the City.  He would also ask Mr. Vince Rossi (Airport Owner) for permission to provide the Phase 2 ESA.

Clearly a pressure point is at the bank level.  Drag them into this and let them feel the ire of the community.  Banks just can’t loan money with no concern as to what the funds are going to be used for and what good or harm they will do to the community.  The days of loaning money and getting the best return are over – there is now a social responsibility element to all this.  Being socially responsible is also good business.  For all of those who live in north Burlington and have accounts with the TD Bank – mention your concern to your branch manager and write the head office.

A “DRAFT” Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) was provided by Rossi yesterday to city hall as opposed to the Phase 2 ESA previously discussed.  A formal request for the Phase 2 ESA report has been made by the city.  If this were a typical Site Alteration Permit process, the City would not be in a position to issue a permit because the typically required information has not all been provided.

Rossi and his representatives argue they are federally regulated.  Well are they?

Transport Canada is being co-operative.  The city was in contact with them May 14, before the Williams delegation was made, to pose some basic questions regarding jurisdiction over the fill operations at the airpark and the approval process should the airpark expand. 

On the issue of fill, the city was advised that there were no specific rules or legislation pertaining to fill, but made it clear that anything integral to aviation was under federal jurisdiction.  Transport Canada indicated that importing fill to an aerodrome to build aeronautics facilities would be subject to federal jurisdiction.  However, they Transport people,  also indicated that fill could be subject to other authorities (local, provincial, conservation authority), citing specifically the ability to regulate the quality of fill.  Transport advised that fill could fall within federal jurisdiction if it pertained to aeronautics, giving the example that if fill contained magnetic material, Transport Canada would have an interest as this could impair aeronautics.  

Transport Canada, advised that on the matter of expansion and approvals required there are different rules for the different types of operations. Burlington Airpark is a registered aerodrome, and that there is a distinction between registered and certified aerodromes. 

Registered aerodromes are registered with Transport Canada, which publishes the Canada Flight Supplement.  Aerodromes are required to comply with Part 301 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations.  Transport Canada does not typically inspect these facilities, unless there is a need to do so.  In terms of expanding or modifying the airpark, Transport Canada advised that there is no process that the owner would have to follow, except to notify Transport Canada and change the published information in the flight supplement. 

Gets complex. People who want to make changes that others don’t want exploit these complexities and get away with it.  Something one wants to know and never forget – don’t mess with city hall.  They have long arms and even longer memories.

Certified aerodromes must comply with document TP-312 – Aerodrome Standards and Recommended Practices.  Transport Canada requires an aerodrome to become certified under the following circumstances: .  Aerodrome has regular passenger service; Aerodrome is within a “built up area” – no hard rules on this, but opinion is usually there is “built up area” on 3 sides minimum.  Deemed to be necessary in the public interest by the Minister.

Burlington Airpark used to be certified. It is believed the certification was removed around the time the airpark was sold in 2006-07.

This exchange of information led the city to asking:  Is there a functional or regulatory difference between “airport” and “aerodrome” as defined by Transport Canada?   The city also wanted to know if calling themselves the “Burlington Executive Airport” signifies anything from a legislative or regulatory perspective. 

The city also wants to know if there is anything in the Transport Canada rules that outlines Transport Canada’s position with respect to the City’s ability to enforce its own by-laws? 

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  June 5, 2013  If you haven’t seen the Mayor around town that’s because he left town – spending a couple of days in Germany on city business.  That should bring howls from those that think the politicians do nothing but spend public money and provide little in return.  They do that in Toronto.

Mayor rick Goldring delivered an address on water to an organization that develops strategies on how to better manage water around the world.  Burlington with its abundance of water will provide a significantly different perspective. 

Mayor Rick Goldring and Kyle Benham, Executive Director of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation, have been hopping across Germany and dropping into Berlin, Munich and Frankfort.

The Mayor was invited to give an address to the German Water Partnership (GWP); a central coordination and contact office of the German water sector serving foreign partners and clients.

Kyle Benham, Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation joined the Mayor on a three day trip to Germany to develop interest in Burlington as a Canadian base for German companies in the water business.

Burlington realized that it has a cluster of some 60 organizations that are involved in the water business and that the Canada Centre for Inland Waters was a leading research institute on water.  The thinking was that there might be some synergies that could result in some much needed economic development.

While we in Ontario seldom think about water as a commodity or a problem other parts of the world are not nearly as fortunate.  Water is a very serious problem in large parts of Africa and the Middle East.  Wars are fought over water.

The GWP is involved in water projects in Palestine, Jordan and Beirut, Lebanon. They put together the umbrella organisation that is now the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association.

The GWP is seen as the leading organizational group focused on water.  They wanted a Canadian perspective and Mayor Goldrring was invited to speak and while there visit with organizations that might look on Burlington as a place to grow their North American operations.

This can be pretty heady stuff – something different for the Mayor who often finds himself bogged down in small local problems.

Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd., a major multi-national in the prescription drug field with a focus on products for the veterinary market has an operation on the South Service Road.  While in Germany the Mayor will be meeting with some of the head office people.

Centre for Inland Waters, a federal facility that may have the potential to spearhead some economic development.

Burlington is home to Canada Centre for Inland Waters where the National Laboratory for Environmental Testing, , a fully accredited environmental analysis capability for a wide range of organic and inorganic chemicals, including a specialization in low level metals and the analysis of organic contaminants.

In addition to laboratory research, work carried out at the National Laboratory for Environmental Testing involves engineering and technical operations, such as the planning and management of field sampling programs.

This is all pretty technical stuff but a vital part of the water business and something Burlington just might manage to build into something that could become an industrial and commercial focus for the city and perhaps put some of the “economic development” land we have for sale to use.

The decision to make the trip to Germany came out of the realization that Burlington has a number of companies that are in the water business. About 60 actually.  Economic development types call that a cluster – and clusters are very good for economic growth.

Burlington’s economic development corporation is in the middle of a re-development of its own – moving away from putting on events, retaining the companies that are doing business in Burlington and looking for newer opportunities for the city.

The change in focus bumped into a stunning surprise when the city realized that the income from Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) tax sources was going to be a negative number for 2013 – less than it was for 2012.  That was not a good sign for a city that has reached the build out point in terms of large new housing developments.  There is the Eagles Heights development in the north east and the Tremaine Road/Dundas development on the drawing boards and after that it is all infill.

Burlington does have a lot of land that is defined as “employment lands” but very little of that is shovel ready which in the minds of the economic development people means they can begin to build in a short period of time.  Some of the developers are not all that keen on seeing land used for ICI type construction when, in their minds, they can build houses which provide a significantly larger financial return.

These conflicting interests put Burlington in an awkward financial spot – we have the land for new business; the developers don’t want ICI type construction; the city faces a situation where the money needed to run the city for an aging population isn’t what it used to be; that population will need more in the way of services and the city faces a massive expense to repair the infrastructure.  The cost of getting our roads up to snuff is reported to be $18 – annually.

Pasquale (Pat) Paletta will be inducted as 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year Thursday evening at the Burlington Convention Centre

Given that kind of a scenario a Mayor might be forgiven for wanting to go to Germany and staying there.  Our Mayor is hoping that his trip to Germany will interest companies over there into coming here – and using some of that “economic development” land we have for sale.

International Harvester is in the process of getting ready to move out of the Harvester Road and Guelph Line property. Emshie Developments either has it on the market or is looking for an opportunity to get a new client into what is really industrial space on the corner of two of the busier streets in the city.  There is perhaps a better use for that land.

It will be interesting to hear what the Mayor has to say when he returns.  He will land in Toronto on Thursday and head directly to the Economic Development Corporation dinner to celebrate Pat Paletta, founder of the company that is the largest holder of economic development land in the city.

Pasquale (Pat) Paletta will be inducted as 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Paletta is the founder of what is known today as Paletta International Corporation. He started the company in 1964 with a 10,000 sq.ft meat packing plant, today the facility is over 200,000 sq.ft. They export to over 17 countries worldwide, in addition have developed 1000s of residential units, constructed over 500,000 sq.ft of buildings, developed 100s of acres of property for retail and employment, farm thousands of acres, and expanded in to film, media and entertainment. Burlington has always been home for the Paletta Corporation.