 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON August 2, 2012 Every organization goes through a process of social change. The Boy Scouts are not what they once were. The Legions are either ceasing to exist or have changed significantly.
Watching that process of change take place can be fascinating.
Burlington has watched a small group form and suddenly grow topsy turvey. It got to the point where Mayor Goldring thought it significant enough to pay a visit.
 Each meeting Brant Florist donates a bouquet – which James Burchill, founder of Business in Burlington is seen giving to Janet Cockburn The group Business in Burlington was formed electronically and meets once a month, usually at the Waterfront Hotel, where they occupied part of one room and then found they needed all of the room and then the whole floor.
“We were at the point where more than 300 people were showing up for what was basically a networking event”, said James Burchill, a Burlington social media guru.
The participants were those people who don’t feel they fit into the Chamber of Commerce mould. They are, for the most part, all independent operators, looking to expand their network. The events are always packed; they last a bit longer than an hour and are always overbooked.
“People just go on line and tell me they are going to attend – and I then put the total on the web site” explained Burchill, who developed the concept as an experiment that took on a life of its own.
There is now a Business in Oakville that is developing the same way.
People create what they need in terms of social organization. Formal, top down organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, with a bureaucracy that has to be paid for, results in membership fees that many smaller independents don’t feel they need.
“We don’t charge anything; people just show up. If they want to buy a drink, they can buy a drink. We don’t sell raffle tickets, we don’t hold an annual golf game and we don’t have political action groups – just people getting together to make connections and do business”, is the way Burchill explains the organization that has formed.
There are now 550 + people who attend and another 750 who are part of the network through LinkedIn, another social media. Combined the two are greater than the 1100 the Chamber boasts about.
 Donnie on the left and Craig Denby on the right exchanging ideas – maybe Denby is trying to sell him that watch. All part of Business in Burlington meetings at the Waterfront Hotel. By linking together electronically and also being able to make direct contact, members of the BiB (Business in Burlington) get the benefits of both worlds – the older stodgy Chamber of Commerce model and the faster more direct channel.
With the electronic bulletin board they use, BiB members can asked questions and anyone who can help answers.
One woman needed T-shirts made up for a non-profit and asked if there was anyone in the network who could recommend a supplier. Within half a day there were six responses, several from T-shirt suppliers, many from people who recommended a T-shirt supplier.
Of real interest was the recommendation for a supplier who had offered his services. All within a working day.
That is one of the benefits of social networking – the ability to move quickly.
Burchill sees several opportunities to monetize his social experiment. At future events members will be able to set up a table to display what they have to offer. At most events there are door prizes. There was a business card draw for the use of a very high end sports car provided by a car rental company.
It’s all sort of like the old saying: One hand washes the other until they both come clean.
Burchill is having the time of his life – he is at his core an educator and a writer who has learned to do things electronically that pull people together. He handles the technology well and certainly know how to write copy that catches the attention of the reader.
“But it always comes down to people” explains Burchill. “not organizational structure, not social stature – just one person talking to another and exchanging ideas.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 26, 2012 Nothing yet – unless learning that a `tele-handler is on the site. That’s it? A tele-handler is a boom that zooms out and is used to offload material. Problem with the Pier is that there isn’t anything to off load.
How come – and what’s the problem this time? We were told that steel girders would be rolling into the city the week of the 23rd of July.
The large 40 x 10 foot steel plates arrived and went through several levels of testing.
This most recent round of testing – there are three levels of testing done in each piece of steel as it goes through the fabrication process. The problems with the girders being fabricated appears to be at the welding level. The work gets past stages 1 and 2 but doesn`t make it past test / 3 – which means – it gets done again.
 The current contractor isn’t the first company to have problems with steel not passing tests. Original contractor, Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd. has beams in his yard that he was ordered to take out by the city because they did not pass tests. The city is doing much more rigorous testing and ensuring steel beams pass tests before they get to the construction site. The city put out a press release with a date line of 2:01 am – that suggests someone was at a keyboard well past midnight crafting words that would give this mess the best possible look. In the world of politics they call this the optics`. There is a lot to be concerned about at the political level. Many in Burlington want this problem solved – and there is no one who wants this done more than the senior levels of the city administration. But they are, as General Manager Scott Stewart put it in an email to council members last night updating them, we are not going to let expediency get in the way of quality. And quality appears to be taking time.
I should add here that Stewart doesn’t have Our Burlington on his email list – that information came to us from another source.
There are 39 steel girders that have to be cut from the steel plate and then bent and welded. They get tested at the bending stage – three times – and then tested again at the welding stage – three times.
 Getting the welds done right so that the pier holds up and lasts its 75 year life span is critical. Welding at this level is not all that easy. When the welds testing is complete they move on to galvanization – which is a process of coating the steel in zinc. There is little likelihood of problems at that level – but with this project – one never knows.
There is a lot of teeth grinding and many trips from Burlington to Kitchener by city staff. Craig Stevens, Project Manager Corporate Strategic Initiatives, was at the welding plant on Wednesday for a first-hand look at the problem. Stevens and Stewart work hand in hand on this project and bring all the experience necessary to ensure there are no embarrassing mistakes made. For these two professionals this project, which started before they became employees of the city, this is all very aggravating and embarrassing.
 Foggy day and foggy view on just what is happening at the pier construction site. Object on the right is not the pier, it is a trestle used to drive equipment along to complete the construction of the pier – which isn’t going to happen this month. Completion in 2013 is the target – let’s hope the weather cooperates. While it is a city project it is really in the hands of the general contractor who has sent the work out to different sub-contractors. Graham Infrastructure, whose head office is in Calgary, is the general contractor. The city has insisted on being in close to daily contact with the president of Graham Infrastructure who recently met with city staff to review and see what could be done to the construction time line.
The city learned a month or so ago that weather could create problems with the pouring of the cement – that kind of work cannot be done if the weather is very cold.
Weather is now another very real concern. There was nothing of note done in June; we have now lost all of July and there is no date set for the delivery of the steel girders. And the city is not going to give out any dates other than to say – sometime in August – which is a smart move on their part. The public just doesn`t believe what comes out of city hall because they have been misled so often in the past. It was only at very recent meeting of Council that the Mayor finally moved from his Sound of Music official opening date. Senior staff are saying it will open when it opens and they want to be left alone to manage the project and make sure that no one cuts corners or looks for a fast way to get something done.
For those of us who live in Burlington and hear news reports of chunks of concrete falling onto the roadway underneath the Gardiner Expressway we can take some satisfaction that the pier is being built with a minimum life span of 75 years. The Gardiner isn’t fifty years old and it’s falling apart.
The Pier will get built, there will be little hiccups and maybe even more delays but when that ribbon is cut and the deck is open to the public there will be immense civic pride and the Mayor will wear a smile that stretches from ear to ear – assuming of course that he is in office when the pier does open.
The city is now talking of a late fall 2013 opening date – next municipal election is December 2014. That kind of calendar would cause anyone to look at the possible election scenarios.
In their press release the city, in its all is well language said: “Construction work continues on the Brant Street Pier while awaiting the arrival of main steel girders that are undergoing quality testing to ensure they meet specifications.”
There are several steps to producing the steel girders, which pass through three levels of quality testing. The steel plate used to produce the 39 main steel girders needed for the pier project has passed quality testing, however, the first four main steel girders did not meet rigid quality control when tested after welding. Seven more steel girders have now been made and are being tested.
“This is the only responsible way to manage this project,” said City Manager Jeff Fielding. “Time is important, but it is not as critical as the quality of the steel.”
“The city is working closely with its contractor, Graham Infrastructure, and other members of the project team to ensure the steel quality meets the city’s stringent specifications through the fabrication and welding processes. The main steel girders that were to be delivered this week will be delivered and installed in August.”
“Work is progressing on the Brant Street Pier. Construction continues on the ramp leading to the sandy beach beside the pier. A piece of equipment called a tele-handler, or zoom boom, is on site this week to help install a temporary steel platform to assist in the construction of the pier node.”
“It is important that the pier management team communicates updates in a timely way,” said Scott Stewart, General Manager of Development and Infrastructure. “We will continue to keep the community posted and share the good news once the steel girders are ready for installation.”
The city does have to be given credit for being much more transparent that it was under both the former city manager and the former Mayor. That is a plus and the taxpayers should respect and appreciate this new approach to keeping them informed.
Much of city council is away on vacation. Councillors Craven and Meed Ward are out of the country. The Mayor is due to head to Newfoundland for a vacation. Councillor Dennison is around, Sharman is believed to
 With no steel to work with construction workers do the small jobs that would normally get done at the end of the project. The pathway that leads to a beach that was formed on the western side of the pier wasn’t even part of the original plan. No one knew the beach would get formed the way it did.. be at his cottage. Taylor and Lancaster are unaccounted for but just look for Taylor’s dog and John will be close by.
The City Manager has a firm grip on the process and is well backed by Scott Stewart who is backed up by Craig Stevens.
Now if we can get the welders to produce welds that pass the tests – we will see flat bed trucks wheeling into town with four or five beams on each load. That’s going to mean more than eight trucks. The city might want to have the Burlington Teen Tour Band on hand to welcome the caravan.
Stay tuned – there will certainly be more on this story.
 HSS continues to operate his construction company while dealing with the legal problems that came out of his decision to walk away from the project and turn the keys for the construction site over to the city. On the legal front, the city is now in the discovery stage of those proceedings – we get to look at their documents and they get to look at what the city has. Henry Schilthuis and Sons Ltd., (HSS) is understood to be using some pretty tough legal counsel to defend himself against the law suit the city filed seeking damages in the millions. Many thought, maybe even hoped, that HSS would declare bankruptcy and that would solve the problem. Those who harboured those thoughts didn’t understand Henry SS.
While senior city hall staff struggle with the problem welders are having, the people over at the Simms building where the legal people do their thing, get daily updates from the outside counsel the city has hired. One can imagine the frustration the construction people are going through – it is nothing compared to what the legal people are agonizing over.
Think of the possibilities here. The Pier doesn’t open until sometime late in the Spring of 2014 and the legal people realize they didn’t have the case they thought they had and they settle out of court. Imagine that happening. There are a number of people doing just that – and trying to figure out how best to approach such a situation.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 25, 2012 Well the price of cherries went through the roof and the peaches aren’t exactly being given away – pears are going to be a bit on the pricey side as well – all due to the nasty little trick nature played on the fruit crops with warm weather and then a dash of cold air thrown around.
 Fresh produce, fresh meats, new customers. Every Friday new faces show up, asking questions, buying fresh from the farm products. Friday 11- 2 on John Street north of James – back in behind Centro Gardens But the Farmer’s Market on John Street – back in behind Centro Garden – adds new offerings each week.
Tree and Twig Heirloom farm that is doing preserves this Friday at the market which is open from 11-2. The Heirloom Vegetable Farm focuses on foods linked to our past which is an exciting way to try new and unusual tastes, shapes and colours. In the last century, we have lost 90 per cent of our vegetable varieties — a tragic loss of diversity and a threat to our food security. It is important to stop this trend and, as growers and consumers, look for alternatives. These vegetables are grown for taste. Sounds interesting
Casteleyn, the Belgian Chocolatier located on Brant will be serving espresso coffee at the market. If you’re not wide awake by the middle of the day – a double espresso will do it for you. Nine year old Andres, son of the Casteleyn proprietor will be doing the serving. Barry Imber, one of the organizing forces behind the market is “ very excited about having these young people be involved – they are the future of our entrepreneurial town.”
Damian Wills, he runs the Farm to Table Meats, will be at the Market again and is offering game sausage on top of his regular fare.
 The current offerings from Featherstone Farms does not include foul or eggs but the pork and bacon they have is superb. Featherstone Farms will also be at the market again – they are regulars, with their pork offerings.
These fresh meat producers can take custom orders and have them on hand for you to pick up. From time to time I like to poach really thick pork chops in orange juice and then lay them on a bed of rice with a ginger sauce I make and pour over the food. That with side dishes of green beans and asparagus and a bottle of chilled Chardonnay – makes a meal for me.
The Cheese Gypsy will be foraging for new and exciting local and regional cheeses and offering tasting notes along with the cheese for folks to take home and share the knowledge with friends. She will be at the market for the first time on August 3rd.
As we get into the fall, Gibbs Honey will be back with the next batch of his product – it sold out in a flash last time. The next batch, his second harvest; will be a lighter but more floral flavored local honey. You might want to go on line and reserve a jar.
The Farmer’s Market exists so that people can connect directly with the people who grow and produce some of the food we eat. Meeting and talking to these vendors gives you an opportunity to create a one-on-one relationship. Featherstone Farms – (289) 337-3375 and Farm to Table Meats could become your personal butcher. Something to think about.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 23, 2012 It came up on the agenda as an employment lands issue but it really is a significant issue for the development of the mid-section of the city and keeping some of the larger business operations in Burlington.
IKEA announced in March of 2011 – that they wanted out of the location they are at in Aldershot. They wanted more store space and they needed additional head office space. They also wanted prime visibility and they really liked the look of the QEW with all that traffic going by. The way you keep an iconic brand alive is to never let people forget it is there – thus setting up shop on the North Service Road west of Walkers Line made all kinds of marketing sense.
 All of the land along the North Service Road between Walkers Line and Guelph Line was described as under utilized.. The two lane road could not possibly handle the traffic IKEA would attract if they were to locate on the land that is adjacent to Walkers Line on the west end. IKEA kept the city up to date on what they were doing in terms of the way the site on North Service Road would be developed, how many parking spots there would be, where the trees would be planted and a look at what the buildings would look like on the lot that is located west of Walkers Line between the North Service Road (NSR) and the railway line that crosses Mainway. It’s a 25 acre piece of land that needed some fixing up.
 Is there enough land in this set back for an additional two lanes of road? The view is just outside the Leon’s warehouse looking west. If there isn’t then IKEA may have to look elsewhere for a new location. Outside Burlington? How did we ever let ourselves get into this kind of a mess? Ask the Economic Development Corporation The project file was on the desk of a General Manager who is no longer with the city and was put in the hands of General Manager Community Services Scott Stewart, who had it on his desk for less than ten days. He didn’t have much in the way of good news for anyone.
 This is the view from the Leon’s warehouse looking west. Is there enough land for an additional two lanes of traffic – and if there is – is four lanes enough for the size of the operation IKEA wants to set up in this part of Burlington. It’s a great opportunity for the city – can we make it happen? Not with some of the thinking some people are doing. Stewart set out in his typical blunt, direct manner just what the problems were. The biggest problem is traffic – the North Service Road is a two lane road. It sits right up beside the QEW so there is no room to expand that way – and while IKEA could use some of the frontage for the property they want to build on for the widening of the NSR – which would allow for a widening of North Service – there are other companies on that stretch of land that wouldn’t be as keen and maybe not even able to give up frontage.
So – there is your first problem.
Add to that mix the fact that Walkers Line will reach its current capacity sometime in 2021 which isn’t all that far out.
Then look at the documents coming out of the Niagara GTA discussions. Among the options is to widen the QEW to eight lanes and a possible ten lane. Where would that widening take place? Not that much room on the south side – unless you got rid of the South Service Road.
Add to the mix some problems with Tuck Creek which is at the eastern edge of the property.
The cost of widening North Service and doing what has to be done to Walkers Line was put at “somewhere between $10 and $20 million – which is a really wide range but as Stewart put it – “we are really ball parking here” – we have nothing to work with in terms of either data or design.
And, the final piece is that the option IKEA has on what is called the Hopewell property expires at the end of August.
There are some serious problems for the parties involved in all this to take a long hard look at. A lot of money is going to be needed to make all this happen and IKEA can only justify so much capital for the move they want to make. The Ministry of Transport people – which is you and I – aren’t going to want to pay for everything.
It was suggested that Hopewell, the owners of the property that is to be developed, might be able to bring some money to the table.
The most interesting comment made during these very, very early stage discussions was that many of the properties to the west of the Hopewell property are very under-utilized and that perhaps developers could be enticed to do some land assembly. Medium rise office towers love sitting alongside roads like the QEW where they have great signage potential, excellent access to the highway.
So – who calls who to make that kind of thing happen? Does our Economic Development Corporation have the kind of lines into the development community that would allow for a conversation? Most people don’t think so. It isn’t believed to have the capacity to work at quite that level. There has to be an economic animator in this play somewhere and because Burlington stands to gain the most – one would assume the initiative would come from somewhere within the civic administration.
City Manager Jeff Fielding now sits on the Executive of the BEDC and will no doubt bring a brighter spark and higher level of experience to this situation. It’s another one that got dropped on his desk which he has managed to slide over to Stewart. Fielding’s experience in London with the university there had him deeply involved in some very sophisticated cross partnership agreements with developers.
 The IKEA problem set out in a single picture – not enough roadway for the traffic that would be generated if IKEA did choose to locate on the North Service Road. Is there enough land to the north of the North Service road to get in two additional lanes of traffic? That was the first question that should have been asked. We know what went wrong, we know who made the mistake – now competent people have to scramble to save a major commercial enterprise. This photograph was taken on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Quite why this problem was allowed to fester the way it has for more than a year is surprising and for the people at IKEA must be very disappointing. The project sits right in the middle of Councillor Dennison’s ward. Quite why he wasn’t riding this one is surprising. He tends to be all over anything that has to do with economic development; it’s almost as if he was asleep at the switch. Councillor Craven took much better care of his best commercial operation in Ward 1; something IKEA must miss deeply.
Stewart set out the issues in a paragraph that had less than 20 words. “Development of a long term transportation solution with MTO (Ministry of Transportation) and IKEA are estimated to require 12 months.” I’m pretty sure Stewart’s fingers and legs were crossed when he made that statement.
This is going to be an interesting one to follow. There is within all this the very real opportunity that IKEA will find a location that meets all their needs – you know they have been looking.
Burlington needs to shape up in a number of areas – quickly.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 19, 2012 We never really were heavy hitters. We aren’t a slick, fast community. Pretty sensible people who prefer not to take risks. Back in 1983, the city got itself twisted into knots to keep the Playboy Channel off cable as a pay per view feature, so when the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) sent the city a letter asking if we were interested in being on a list of possible locations for slot machines or a Casino – the city council didn’t even bother to ask its citizens how they felt about it.
 City took a pass on slot machines – we could have put a dozen in the Seniors’ centre and solved a lot of the problems over there and then another dozen at the Legion – opportunities missed They instructed the city manager to write back and say thanks, but no thanks – which may have reflected the views of most of the people in Burlington. We will never know. A casino could have been built beside the Pier – that would have been one way to pay for the thing.
On the Pier by the way – steel beams are expected to be trucked into the city next week.
There was a bit of an opportunity missed in the communication with the OLG. The rural part of Burlington does have a couple of farms that raise and train trotters for racing tracks in the western part of the province. We might have said no to the slot machines but we could have put in a plug for the racing people to have the province restore the funding they used to get from slot machine revenues.
Perhaps we can now add “Slot machine free and the second best city in the country to live in” to some of the literature the economic development people send out.
There were less than five words of discussion on the letter being sent to the lottery people.
There was even less than that on the Burlington Hydro item that was on the agenda. Council approved an amount of not more than $100,000 to be spent on legal counsel and or financial expertise to assist in reviewing significant Burlington Hydro Electric Incorporated matters as needed.
$100,000 is not exactly chump change. The public transit advocates would love to have seen that much money put into transit service. There was no discussion on the “significant” matters – which turn out to be pretty good stewardship on the part of the finance people.
Burlington Hydro is owned by the city and it pays a very substantial amount in dividends to the city which reduces the tax levy.
 All that raw power has to be transformed into electricity, homes and office buildings can use. Transformers are not cheap – so Burlington Hydro has to borrow some money to pay for the transformer that will get placed along Tremaine Road. Burlington Hydro created a major mess with the way they failed to adequately inform the city on just what the issues were with feeding wind turbine energy into the electrical grid. Hydro certainly gave Director of Engineering Tom Eichenbaum heart burn, if not ulcers, in the way they jerked him around on the differences between net metering and the Feed in Tariff related to the plans for a wind turbine on the pier.
Given that the city owns the hydro operation one would like to think they would provide the city with excellent technical service and support. Instead they told the city so little that we came away looking like fools. Will $100,000 in legal fees fix that kind of problem?
In a report to council staff said: In order to accommodate growth in Burlington, Burlington Hydro Inc. (BHI) has entered into a capital agreement with Hydro One for a new Hydro One owned transformer station on Tremaine Road. The additional energy capacity made available through this facility will accommodate Burlington’s growth for the next 20 to 25 years. BHI is financing the capital contribution through a 25 year loan of $8 million from Infrastructure Ontario.
Infrastructure Ontario has requested that the City sign a subordination agreement for the $8 million. The purpose of the agreement is to recognize the “subordination” of the City’s position as a debt holder to that of Infrastructure Ontario.
If BHI were to default on the loan payments, Infrastructure Ontario could stop the payment of dividends to the shareholder. Interest payments on the existing promissory note that the City has with BHI could also be stopped if BHI defaults.
 Hydro produces significant dividends for the city. Few people fully realize the relationship between Burlington Hydro and the city. If they knew they might want some of that dividend to come to them in the way of lower hydro rates. Dividends and interest payments received by the City over the past ten years, including proceeds from the sale of the FibreWired division in 2008, total $74.4 million as illustrated in the above chart:
Through the Hydro Liaison team, City and Hydro staff have continued an excellent working relationship, identifying and discussing complex issues important to both the City and the Utility. However, City staff feel that in the interest of protecting the shareholder’s investment it may be prudent for the City as shareholder to have financial and legal expertise available to assist them in dealing with Hydro matters.
And so the city has asked for $100,000 to have our lawyers in the room when they work out loan agreements and possible acquisitions in the future. As can be seen from the bar chart Hydro throws off a lot of cash and the city depends on that money. The agreement to pay for the construction of a new transformer on Tremaine Road means that if Burlington Hydro defaults on that loan the dividends the city has been enjoying can be taken and applied to the loan.
It`s sort of like getting your Mother-in-Law to co-sign your loan, which she does but then puts a lien on the car.
The people who do the deep financial thinking for the city realize that the days of fat revenue flows from development charges on new housing developments are very close to ending for Burlington. We are very close to being built out. New revenue sources are going to have to be found and with an aging population on fixed incomes tax increases aren`t going to be possible – not if you want to stay in office.
Using wholly owned subsidiaries that are not bound quite the way a municipality is when it comes to borrowing and taking financial risks is one possible way of developing new revenue streams. Burlington Hydro could become something of an economic engine for the city.
Some suggest the selling of the fibre optic cable – Fibre Wired – that the city once owned to Cogeco Cable back in 2008 was an opportunity lost. To own the cable that is going to send most if not all the data and information into Burlington homes is a better long range bet than a Casino.
It will be interesting to learn who gets the legal business for papering the agreements Burlington Hydro gets into – will it go to a local firm or to pricier talent out of Toronto?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 17, 2012 Everyone thought it was going to be bigger and better than the Car Free Sunday on Appleby Line back in June but the crowd, if that is what you can call it, on Brant Street and Locust Streets for the second Car Free Sunday was not as large – something was missing.
 Interest group and services tents set up on Brant north of Caroline drew traffic – it was much quieter south of Caroline. Was it too hot; were people away at their cottages, kids off to camp? There was no reason to walk over to Brant Street – other than to be able to walk about with no traffic.
 Bus service was rerouted an cars kept off the street for most of the afternoon. Should it be an annual event? There was no focus to the event – but then there was no focus to the Appleby Line event and it had better participation than last Sunday’s event on Brant Street.
There was live music at the Civic Square but it drew very poor audiences. There was a Country and Western Music event at Spencer Smith Park and some of its traffic made its way up Brant – but there just wasn’t any sense that there was something going on.
The organizers did arrange for various interests groups to have tents on Brant north of Caroline – and they were busy and gave that part of the street the sense that there was something going on.
 There are retailers that get it – and they are the one’s that succeed. The shopping bag that lady is carrying isn’t empty. The folks that run Joelle’s understand retail. There were far too many stores closed. Far too many of the Brant Street merchants were not open – not a good sign. The Downtown Business association needs to get a bit of a burr under the saddles of some of its members. Those that were open did continuous business.
This was the first year the event took place. It’s worth doing the same thing next year, but there clearly has to be some brain storming if there are ever going to be people out on the street for large parts of a day.
Those who were lined up in their cars at Brant and Caroline to get through the intersection didn’t think very much of the idea of people taking over the streets of the city – even if it was only for a couple of hours.
There seemed to be more police presence than was necessary – lots of overtime booked by the HRPS.
 The pavement didn’t seem to be a problem. Get a dozen kids and a soccer ball plus two nets and you’ve got a game. It was pleasant to watch – some benches would have kept people around longer. The Burlington Teen Tour Band was out – they always draw a crowd but the idea was to have people out on the street for a large part of the 2pm to 7pm time frame. The barriers were taken up on Locust close to 6 pm and Brant was wide open to vehicles at 7 pm
During Sound of Music there were different attractions on the street that drew people and kept them around for a while. There were precious few places to get out of the sun and nowhere to sit and have a drink.
There were nets for kids to play soccer at the John and Brant intersection but there was no seating for anyone who wanted to watch the kids play.
 Brian Dean, top toff at the Downtown Business Association was out drumming up business for those of his members that took part in the Red Bag Sale. Too many of his members let the community down last Sunday. Keeping the doors closed while the city works at getting people out on the street isn’t the way the game is played.  There is a soccer player in there somewhere It was suggested that a focus was needed and there are a number of opportunities to bring in close to cost free events that would attract people and keep them around for a while. The antique car club people will show off their vehicles any chance they get. Inviting them to the city and asking if the owners of the cars would drive up along one of the rural roads with a guest passenger in their car – and then choose the guests from raffle ticket winners would certainly draw attention and participation.
A chance to sit in an MG or a Corvette with the top down would keep me hanging around hoping I got a chance for a ride. It would beat being on one of those nasty little ponies that were walking around the cenotaph at the side of city hall.
It is going to take some imagination to make this an event that people want to participate in and one that justifies closing down street for a period of time.
Good effort, they got the idea right now to add some ginger and make it more fun because there wasn’t much fun on Brant Street last Sunday afternoon.
There are a bunch of volunteers – more than 25 of them, that deserve more than the car free Sunday T-shirt they got. There were also half a dozen staff members who gave up half a nice day to make the event happen.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 13, 2012 Burlington is going to pull out all the stop for this second car free Sunday. The first car free day was in the east end of the city where large parts of Appleby Line were closed to cars. Turnout was good – could have been more but it was far from a disaster.
Now that the city administration knows the public can be gotten out of the houses and onto the streets to have fun and mingle – this second effort in the downtown core will leave officials know if this kind of thing can be done more frequently.
There wasn’t all that much opportunity for the retail market to experience all that much of a boost on Appleby Line – but Brant Street has a much different commercial makeup. Merchants can take advantage of larger crowds and perhaps even see more in the way of traffic than they see on a good Saturday with cars on the street. It’s a gamble but something has to be done to get people out on the streets.
 Streets that will be car free Sunday July 15th. Read the detail carefully. Full lane closure on Brant Street between Blenheim Street and Lakeshore Road.The north two lanes on Lakeshore Road between Brant Street and Locust Street will be closed and the northbound lane on Locust between Lakeshore Road and Blenheim Street will be closed.
The stretch of city streets that will be closed on Sunday between 2 and 7 pm will include: full lane closure on Brant Street between Blenheim Street and Lakeshore Road.
The north two lanes on Lakeshore Road between Brant Street and Locust Street will be closed and the northbound lane on Locust between Lakeshore Road and Blenheim Street will be closed.
The initiative came about when Councillors Dennison and Sharman took the idea to Council where the Mayor who is an environmental advocate bought into it and while Councillor Meed Ward didn’t buy into the idea at first she was big enough to admit that she hadn’t gotten it right the first time but knew a good thing when she saw one and dug out her blades and joined the parade.
The Downtown event will feature different groups with their tents out on the street one of which will be the Community Engagement Charter crowd – and they need help. This is a group that has the right idea but has not managed to attract nearly enough people to their cause. If things continue the way they are going this city might find itself with a Community Engagement Charter written by a group of less than 50 people.
The group will have a table and a tent at Caroline and Brant – drop in and hear what they have to say. They are talking about your city and how it can work better.
The Country & Blues BBQ Festival will be taking place in Spencer Smith Park
The Burlington Teen Tour Band will parade during the event.
There will be food and drink vendors out on the street, there will be a Marketplace and Pony rides.
There will be live music from Tori Sutherland, Harrison Kennedy, Michelle Titian, Mary Simon and the Hill Brothers.
One of the Mayors favourite city’s, Portland Oregon, has been doing things like this for years and our Mayor is convinced events like this can work and are good for the city. Let’s see if he is right. What matters most with this event is this – will is draw people from Aldershot and the communities north of the QEW hump? If it does, it will be a great success.
Getting people from all over the city, not just those who live in the core and can ride safely to the stretch of streets that will be closed.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 11, 2012 The first harvest is ready!!! The jars have been readied, the tags are printed and the product is now on sale. There will be between 60 and 70 lbs. available. It will be on sale at the new farmer’s market held every Friday from 11 – 2 on John Street just north of James Street back in behind Centro Gardens.
Of course there is more than just natural honey on sale but let’s let Russell Gibbs tell the story about the honey; it’s quite a tale.
 Russell Gibbs – a beekeeper and a graphic designer – with a sweet tooth. “This harvest is the first bloom of the 2012 season, our bees forage on a variety of plants and this early summer harvest is full-bodied and rich – some of the best honey I’ve had in a while if I do say so myself. It’s a true Southern Ontario wildflower honey. It’s also packaged quite beautifully
 The real thing – from the hive to you in a re-usable Mason jar. Honey is available now through the beekeeper (me) for $10 per 500 g jar. We have 60 jars and this will be available until it’s sold out. There will also be a late summer harvest which will be available in September 2012.
A couple of notes about our honey;
– Our honey is as “straight from the hive” as it gets. We extract the frames, filter, then bottle it.
– All real honey will crystallize over time, if that happens just place the jar in warm water (without the lid) until it softens up – don’t boil or put it in the microwave.
– Our honey is more expensive than others, why? For starters its not mass produced. We’re a small batch/small operation and not only are we focused on the quality of the product we also believe in quality packaging.”
 Russell Gibbs comes from a long line of bee keepers. The family “beeyard” around 1950. Gibbs Honey has been around since the 40′s, maybe even before the 40′s? in various iterations and incarnations. The first beekeeper in my family was my great grandfather Albert Gibbs. He kept a couple of colonies on the farm, which is what most farmers did back then. When my grandfather Michael took over the farm he decided to expand the operation and sell honey. He kept close to 100 hives, that number went up and down throughout his career as a hobbyist beekeeper. My uncles eventually took it over from him and grew it into a commercial operation, they own and operate Gibbs Honey in Dalkeith, Ontario on the family farm. My cousin Jason is researching Sweat bees with Cornell University, last year he discovered 19 new species.
Gibbs Honey in Dundas, Ontario is operated by Russell Gibbs, a 4th generation beekeeper and graphic designer. Russell got into beekeeping, while searching for a deeper connection to his family history and nature. It all started when his Dad gave him his old beekeeping veil and a copy of “The Hive and the Honey Bee” by L.L. Langstroth. After reading lots of other books, taking courses and finding a beekeeping mentor he decided to go out on his own. Russell kept two hives in 2011 and is expanding to 8 for the 2012 season.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 3, 2012 Following the rules and convincing your customers you can be relied upon is part of running a business. Produce Planet did all the things a small independent is supposed to do – except for that following the rules part.
Alex Iabs needed to let people know he had fresh fruit and vegetable from local farms available on his shelves and he put out almost as many signs as an election candidate would along the sides of Guelph Line south of Upper Middle Road to draw traffic to his store on Mount Forest.
One of the bigger supermarkets called the city’s bylaw office to complain. The bylaw office called Alex Iabs and said the signs could not be set up on the side of the road. The city could have fined Alex Iabs but instead just explained the rules and expected him to follow those rules. Alex Iabs then hired young boys to hold up the signs. That was legal.
So far so good.
 City hall told the merchant signs like this were a no, no. Why then would a merchant break the rules? what else would this merchant do? But over the weekend Alex Iabs put the signs back out on the road side with no one holding them up.
Alex Iabs knew that was against the bylaw but he also knew that there was no one at city hall on the holiday Monday to take a complaint call.
Slick you might say.
The message to me was that Alex Iabs would do whatever he had to do to drive traffic to his store. If putting signs out without young boys holding up the signs was something he thought he could get away with – that he would do.
The message to me was that this is a store that wants to sell me the food I am going to put in my stomach; I don’t feel as confident or as supportive as I used to about Produce Planet.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 30, 2012 Friday was the first day for the new fresh produce market in the downtown core. It was put together quickly; it was a little haphazard, it had a lemonade stand and there was value plus fresh vegetables all set out on the edge of a private parking lot steps away from a lush garden – it was Burlington’s latest downtown Farmer’s Market that will be known as Plan B.
 Fresh from the farm, one of the selections at the Farmers Market that will be open every Friday from 11-2 Barry Imber had been thinking about the idea for more than a year and decided it was time to stop thinking and time to just do it. And so there it was – the first of a planned program of having the market open every Friday from 11 – 2 and see what happens.
And they showed up. There were no line ups but there was a steady flow of people inquiring about the cheeses, the fresh pork that was wrapped and in a cooler. Those who are focused on “fresh from the farm” can place their orders by telephone (there will be a web site up soon where you can put in your order) and pick it up at the market on Friday.
For those of you who want a special cut of pork this is about as good as it is going to get. Featherstone Farm hopes to cultivate a clientele within the downtown core that wants that extra freshness and a chance to talk to the people who run the farm.
The market is called Plan B, which is part of a different way of feeding people. It is part of what is known as a CSA model – Community Shared Agriculture, that restores the link between the farmers and city dwellers. Successful in Japan and Western Europe since 1965, CSA today operates on approximately 1000 farms in North America.
With traditional CSA , local households purchase subscription “shares” of the year’s harvest from a local organic farm. CSA “shareholders” pay for their produce at the beginning of the growing season, providing the necessary start-up capital for farmers to purchase seeds, supplies and soil amendments, eliminating their reliance on expensive bank loans and helping to pay for the real cost of food.
 Lemonade stand with a great selection of potted plants as well. The place had a good family feel to it during the first Friday. The market on John Street, right behind Centro Gardens isn’t going to be a traditional CSA, at least not yet. For the immediate future people who live in the city will be able to slip over to a market that has fresh products, organically grown.
Where does the name Plan B come from and what does it mean – and who started it? Three people, working on an urban gardening project in 1996, came up with the wild idea of starting their own organic CSA farm! They convinced Alvaro’s brother Rodrigo to join in and in the spring of 1997 Plan B Organic Farms was born! ‘We thought the name “plan b” really conveyed our intention of providing our community with an “alternative” food source to foods produced through “conventional agriculture” aka plan a. In 1998 we moved to our beautiful 50 acre sandy and rocky piece of land in Flamborough Ontario. The first 5 years we worked the land by hand, learned that there was a lot to learn about growing vegetables, but with the support of family and the local community we made it work. We continue this work still with this mission in mind:
This means that we grow and source the best certified organic produce from 12 farms in Southern Ontario for your shares each week. For you, our shareholders, this means a greater variety of foods in your share each week from many of the best organic growers in the province!’
Plan B Organic Farms is a “multi-farm CSA”: Provides local farmers with an economically viable farm business; Consumers gain access to affordable, fresh, & local organic foods; Consumers learn about what grows in Ontario and how to “eat seasonally”; Strengthens the local economy and builds community and less transportation and packaging makes for a healthier local environment.
 Longer term, Barry Imber, the mind behind the Farmer's Market, has plans for dinner parties in this garden area right next to the market. Chinese lanterns, an Executive Chef preparing a meal using local fresh food. Sounds yummy. The group grows and sources the best certified organic produce from 12 farms in Southern Ontario which means a greater variety of foods from many of the best organic growers in the province!
It’s part of that 100 mile diet; everything you eat is produced within a 100 mile radius of where you live.
Burlington is a city with a significant rural element. That land north of Dundas is good farm land. Many see that location as the place to grow a lot of the food consumed in the city which comes down to fewer transport trucks bringing in lettuce and cucumbers from Mexico and creating a sustainable farm operation that isn’t part of the massive agribusiness approach we now have to feeding ourselves.
Will it work in Burlington? The people behind Plan B have put more than 10 years of their lives into this and Barry Imber has been at it for a year. Last Friday we saw the first short steps. It will take time, it needs nurturing – but when you put that fresh asparagus on the table you know you did something right.
 Cut line revised August 3, 2012
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 25, 2012 Donna Shepherd, Director of Transit, was quite prepared to ride off into the sunset but the city finds they need her skill set and understanding of how the bus system actually works and have asked Ms Shepherd to continue to work, part-time – three days each week, out of City Hall and the Transit Operations Centre for six months on select transit and corporate priority projects to assist the City in achieving its objectives.
Mike Spicer will be acting Director as of August 1st. The city expects a new Director will be in place by year-end.
Donna Shepherd joined the city in 1975 and since that time she has served the City well in leading the City in various roles, her most recent being Director of Transit & Traffic over a 12 year period from 1998 and Director of Transit over the last 2 years.
 Just where was the problems with transit? Senior levels at city hall want Shepherd to stay and help through the transition to a new Director. Was the relationship between the Council member and the Director part of the problem?
“ The really senior “poobahs” at city hall speak very positively and proudly of the contribution Shepherd made while running transit. Her “contributions will continue to have an enduring and positive impact on the City in areas such as the expansion and renovation of the Transit Operations Centre, the introduction of Transit Priority Measures and traffic safety programs, the implementation of the downtown parking financial strategy, various continuous improvement systems and programs, the PRESTO fare card and Metrolinx Joint Vehicle and Inventory Procurement projects and the creation of innovative transit promotion and ridership growth strategies.”
Donna’s leadership in excellence in customer service will provide a strong foundation for Burlington Transit going forward.” Sounds like a pretty strong reference letter to me.
What then was the problem at transit that brought Shepherd to the point where she decided she had had enough and was going to pack it in? Sexism is a very distinct possibility, being bullied a bit could go into the mix as well
The senior people at city hall weren’t cheap in their praise: General Manager Scott Stewart said: “On behalf of all staff and Council, I would like to thank Donna for her strong leadership and management in growing and operating the Burlington Transit system. She has provided persistent commitment to keeping Transit at the forefront of our discussions during the last decade as our City has grown almost to its limits. Council and senior staff truly appreciate the contributions that Donna has made over the years.
I think the city is going to have the steering wheel of a bus bronzed and presented to Donna at her retirement party.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 23, 2012 Shovels in the ground, cranes poking up into the skyline. You see that in Hamilton but in Burlington? We just might be seeing the beginning of a burst of growth in the commercial construction sector. In the last ten years there has been very little significant commercial construction in the city. Most of the construction has been residential but with “build out” approaching Burlington will not see another large housing project for some time. Eagle Heights in the western part of the city is the next big one coming our way. There is still some discussion as to what the Evergreen property at Tremaine and Dundas will eventually consist of – currently it is a mixed use development.
The re-development of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital re-development will begin before the end of the year. City council will get to see site specific drawings that staff will have gone over – so look for a quick rubber stamp on that one.
 The 22 storey structure that is due to be built on the waters edge will forever change the look of the city. For the better? There are signs that the city might see some major construction in the downtown core. The Seniors residence on Pine Street is well underway and if all goes according to plan work on what is now called Bridgewater – the three building structure planned for the old Riviera Motel site, which is now closed, may finally get underway.
That site is permitted to have a 22 story building, a seven story hotel and another seven story building.
The owners of the property – Mayrose Tycon, have gone to Committee of Adjustment for a variance, one of which is to add an eighth floor to the hotel structure that will be used for administrative purposes.
The public pathway along the edge of the lake has been in place for a number of years but is still in the hands of the property owners.
The hotel portion of the project is slated to be ready for occupancy during the Pan Am games in 2015. The plan is to have the Pier finished by that time as well. The rest of the project will follow – it might be some time before we see the 22 story tower rose over the city.
It will all begin to be real when the wrecking ball slams into the sides of the old Riviera Motel.
A four-star hotel partner has been confirmed; the builder is still being finalized. The Riviera Hotel will be demolished in coordination with the start of construction.
 The medical building on the right will go up first followed by the parking garage and then the apartment building. The residents in the Caroline John Streets part of town can expect disruption for some time. Earlier this week at a Council meeting, committee staff brought back the application for a zoning change to the property bounded by Caroline, John, Elizabeth and Maria. The locals refer to this one as the Tudor Project. The development had a conditional zoning change subject to a bunch of provisions and an 18 month deadline to get them completed. They failed to do so – that meant going back to the city and asking for a bit more time.
The city could have required the developer to go through the whole re-zoning exercise but given that staff would have come forward with the some recommendation and given that there wasn’t any significant objection coming from the community – it went through committee quite quickly.
Prior to the 2010 municipal election Marianne Meed Ward, then a citizen, delegated a number of times on her dissatisfaction with the street-scape and the height on the apartment building – but she wasn’t able to keep that flame burning and didn’t say very much at committee.
This city Council just wants to see development and were prepared to go along with the design and the street-scape.
At the council committee meeting Carriage Gate representative assured the city they were in compliance now and the committee agreed to go along with a new date. The developer has requested a new lapsing date so the project can proceed. Councillor Meed Ward in her Ward newsletter explained that “the alternative would be to require a new rezoning application. Staff have recommended against that option, suggesting that it wouldn’t change anything – the project hasn’t changed, therefore the staff recommendation for approval would remain the same.”
This developer has had some difficulty in the past meeting the commitments they make – we shouldn’t expect a smooth ride on this one.
 Low level, service and residential structures will make way for the Medica One structures. The downtown core is slowly changing. The developer will start with the structure that will hold medical offices. They currently own a few buildings in the city that already serves as offices for the medical profession so they have a tenant base they can draw upon. The parking garage will probably follow and then the 17 storey apartment part of the project will follow. The developer assured council that all was well – they said the same thing 18 months ago.
This one will bear close watching – the Planning Department has good people in place monitoring what gets done.
Council has also received confidential legal advice on this matter but this Council has yet to learn that just because it comes from the city solicitor, it doesn’t have to be squirreled away on yellow paper. Our legal counsel has some growing to do in this regard. The Freedom of Information Act can be used to pry information out of them.
The development picture then looks something like this for the balance of this year and through 2013
Hospital will be underway by the end of the year
The newly named Bridgewater three structure complex will get underway.
Medica One, being developed by the Carriage Gate Group, should get underway as well
And of course the poor pier..
Is that a boom? By Burlington standards perhaps it is – it is certainly a start.
One interesting development in the Escarpment part of the city is an application to build a 20,000 square foot private residence. That is a BIG house that will have an indoor pool, a gymnasium and a five car garage. We understand the house is for the owner of Bond Construction.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 23, 2012 Alex Iabs can tell you that they do things that hurt the little guy.
Alex is the owner of a brand new produce store on Mount Forest that runs west off Guelph Line. It’s a small shop in one of those little strip plazas. His store, Produce Planet, faces Guelph Line.
Alex is in his second month of business and things are going good – so good that his larger corporate competitors are feeling a bit of a pinch. Food Basics called the city’s by law enforcement department saying Produce Planet had put signs on public property; a no, no in Burlington.
 Fresh fruit, some of it grown locally sold by a small independent grocer. Larger competitors complain to city about where he puts his signs. By law enforcement called the store and explained the rules. Iabs is an innovative marketer – so he hired students to walk up and down Guelph Line holding the signs – same impact but more cost to a guy who has to go up against Fortinos just a three minute drive away, Food Basics, a two minute drive away and No Frills which is about seven minutes away.
Going up against that kind of concentrated competition takes guts but Produce Planet is still there and expects to be there for some time.
He picks up fresh produce at the Ontario Food Terminal in Mississauga and buys as much product as he can locally. And it looks as if he can still stay in business using young students holding signs in the hot weather. “They can last for about an hour” said Iabs.
 Priced to sell - Produce Planet draws in new customers at the new store off Guelph Line “When I got the call from the city saying the dozen or so signs I had on the side of the road were illegal”, adds Iabs, “there was an immediate drop in business and I had to tell three part time people that I could no longer employ them”.
Iabs who has a background as a produce manager with a large corporate store decided he wanted to try and work for himself. The hours needed to run his own business are much longer but he has the satisfaction of seeing a response for his efforts. Produce Planet is open 8 to 8 – seven days a week.
“There were days when we had consistent line-ups at the cash register and that’s a good feeling”, said Iabs.
 Robert, days away from finishing school and looking forward to entering high school in the fall earns $8 an hour holding up a sign. He recently tried having flyers delivered door to door. They went out a day or so ago and it’s too early to measure the results. So in the meantime young Robert, who expect to enroll at M.M. Robinson in the fall to study drama and cooking, (that’s what’s called hedging your bets isn’t it?) will stand out in the hot sun for $8 an hour and hope to drive business to Produce Planet where the prices are lower and the produce as fresh as it can get.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 21, 2012 – There is something going on with Discovery Landing and Spencer’s Restaurant down on the waterfront.
The city went into one of their Closed Sessions to talk about some changes that had to do with the use of the Discovery Landing.
Both the restaurant and the Discovery Landing are on public property with the city getting rent from the operators of the restaurant. The Discovery Centre had not managed to develop an audience of its own when it was run out of city hall.
 Perhaps the finest restaurant in the city - with a balcony overlooking the lake that is THE place to be on a summer evening. An agreement was put in place between the Landmark group that operates the Ancaster Mill in Ancaster, Ontario and the city that had the restaurant acting as a booking agent for the Discovery Landing, which is one of the premium locations on the waterfront.
There now appears to be a request to change the agreement that includes the spending of public money on a publicly owned facility that will be used exclusively by a private company.
Councillor Taylor objected to going into Closed Session and said he would do so on the understanding that if the agreement in the confidential documents was approved it would be made public. Doors to the Council chamber were closed to the public and about 20 minutes later they were opened – and all they had to say was that the report would go to a city council meeting – and at that time the agreement would be made public.
Which might meet the letter of the law but certainly not the spirit of the law. If the public wants to delegate and give their views they need to know what the discussion and agreement was.
While we don’t know exactly what the discussion was about we do know this:
 Are there going to be new arrangements on the operation of the Discovery Landing? Will taxpayer's money be needed to make it happen? The Discovery Landing and the restaurant are located on public property
Councillor Taylor said “what started out as public is now becoming private but public money is being used to fund changes”.
We don’t know yet what the changes are. All we know is that they were discussed behind closed doors because some of the details, if made public, would damage the interests of the company that was asking for some kind of a change.
We always understood that Council and city staffs were in place to protect the interests of the taxpayers.
Councillor Dennison said that private enterprise in public places should not be funded with public money.
 Parking spaces exclusive to restaurant in the evenings. The restaurant has first call on 40 parking spaces to the west of the restaurant from 4 pm until midnight seven days a week.
We do know that former city manager Tim Dobbie, now a consultant with a reputation for being able to “fix it” if there is a problem at city hall delegated recently on behalf of the restaurant operators, the Landmark Group that operate the Ancaster Mill.
The revenue to the city from the leases of the restaurant with the 40 parking spaces is not insubstantial – it amounts to: The tenant lease revenue for the last three years is as follows:
2011 $308,553
2010 $301,088
2009 $246,453
Let’s see what they come up with at the city council meeting July 3rd.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 19, 2012 – It was supposed to be a response to a Staff Direction about changing the rules that applied to signs on Plains Road which was something Councillor Rick Craven had been wanting to get done for some time.
The Staff Direction asked that: Director of Planning “review the current sign bylaws as it relates to portable signs in the Plains Road Corridor. B) Look at the feasibility and appropriateness of reducing the permitted size of portable signs in the Plains Road Corridor to that of those permitted in the downtown. C) Provide for public consultation and D) Report back to Committee 4Q 2011.
Somehow it went badly off track, ruined Tracy Burrows’ day and had Councillor Taylor tied up in knots. It was only when Planning Director Bruce Krushelnicki stepped in and explained what was taking place that Council agreed to the staff recommendation on Plains Road that would allow mobile signs that related to the property they were to be in front of.
 Is this a legal sign? And does that dog not see the fire hydrant? Krushelnicki explained that the sign bylaw had not been reviewed in more than 20 years and that when a review is done staff bring forward all their thinking for a council committee to review.
Craven’s issue is that Plains Road has changed and is no longer a highway but now a mixed use corridor and the sign bylaw no longer applies. Craven wanted the sign bylaw to reflect the new reality.
If the retail location is set back some distance from the street a large sign would be permitted. If the retail location was closer to the street a smaller sign would be required.
Was the confusion the result of bureaucracy run amuck or staff extending their reach and putting additional options on the table for Council to consider. Taylor didn’t see it as the latter and Craven just wanted to get the Plains Road problem fixed.
Craven wanted large signs where the retail outlet or business was some distance from the road and smaller signs for businesses that were close to the road. Craven has an image vision for his part of the city that has been developed through close collaboration with retailers and the Plains Road Village Vision crowd. Give him that and he was satisfied. In the end he got what he wanted and the rest of the report went back to staff for a rewrite.
 Sign at Guelph Line north of new street. Are their days numbered? There are signage concerns for Upper Middle Road, Harvester Road and added Councillor Sharman, “there are going to be problems along Appleby Line as well”.
The report from city staff had a lot of add-ons – sort of like a retailer adding value to the purchase just made with a free coupon.
 Are these signs about to become a revenue source for the city? Banners were going to be allowed and election signs were going to be given a closer look. And, if there are real estate agents amongst our thousands of readers, and we know you’re out there, get ready for this one. Staff was wondering if there was not an opportunity to enhance revenue by licensing real estate signs. That one should go over with a thud at every real estate office in this city.
 Is the city considering fees for election signs during the next municipal election? The thinking with the election signs was that any candidate running for office would give the city a deposit of $200 and get the money back if there were no infractions. Councillor Taylor came close to levitating when that one got to his ears. “It costs a candidate just $100 to file nomination papers and you want $200 so they can put up signs.”
How are you going to enforce this bylaw? How will you know that I put up the sign? Are you going to take my fingerprints?
 With 15 bylaws to be enforced and a staff of five Tracy Burrows, Manager Bylaw enforcement gave a council committee report they sent back for more work and a "cleanup". John Taylor was clearly on a roll here and Tracy Burrow, the city’s bylaw enforcement officer was having a tough time rolling with those punches. When she mentioned that each infraction would cost, say $80, Taylor reached for the juice he was drinking.
The fee for banners would be the same $46 that applies to portable signs now.
This staff report was going nowhere fast. Councillor Dennison was prepared to support the two changes that would apply to Aldershot and Plains Road but wanted “a better report with some clean up” done to it. When it came to voting on the recommendations Dennison did not vote for the revised recommendation.
The city’s sign bylaw had not been revised for more than 20 years and in that time the kind of signs available to retailers has increased dramatically. They now light up at night and can have visual images that are fed into the sign electronically.
The city has five bylaw enforcement officers with one dedicated to Aldershot.
The specifics on the sign sizes will be finalized at a city council meeting and we will publish those then.
The report is due to go to Council July 3rd – expect a significantly different document then.
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON June 14, 2012 The city we live in and enjoy today wasn’t always what we see as we walk the streets.
We all ooh and ahh about the Burlington Performing Arts Centre – and it is a very well designed building. It could use a little warmth here and there but the Family Room was a great idea that is working out very well.
There was a time when the site of the BPAC was once the Regional Police service Burlington detachment. In the picture set out below you can see the parking lot that is now a multi-storey structure with the Tourism office, Pane Fresca, the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development people along with a five level garage.
It wasn’t always that way.
 The old police station is shown in the upper left - now the location of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Poor Joe Brant – his house got torn down and then a replica built and then the replica got moved. When you’re in the Museum there, which is a bit on the shabby side, truth to tell, appreciate that it’s a remembrance of what used to be. It got shifted to the east about 400 yards so the hospital could have a larger parking lot. The actual ownership of the land to the east of the hospital has all kinds of strings attached to it.
 Brant House on wheels traveling east about 400 yards to provide space for a parking lot. The city’s legal department are probably the only people who fully understand the intricacies of the property that was given to Brant by the British for his service during the American Revolutionary War.
Later this month the Conservation Authority will be holding a design event for the Beachway which is now a long stretch of land from the western end of Spencer Smith Park to the Canal. They want to decide what should be done with that part of the city.
There was a time when a very vibrant community existed in that area. The houses, which were on land that was owned by the Canadian National Railway, were leased to people who built cottages on the lots. There was no street address as such for the property on the lake side of the railway line. Les Armstrong, a member of the Waterfront Advisory Committee and the Burlington Historical Society as well as the friends of Freeman Station explains to people that you would tell your visitors that you live by the “first tower” or the “second tower” which was a reference to the hydro towers that snake along the waterfront and then up through the city.
There is a small community – less than 30 homes – in the area now and they are fighting to remain there and ideally see the community built up now that the railway no longer runs along the edge of the lake.
 There was a time when Beachway was populated with hundreds of homes. All kinds of development talk – but a look at this aerial view of the downtown core on a late winter afternoon when everything is covered with a dusting of snow and the sun is getting ready to set. This was in 2000 – not much in the way of change since them.
 Downtown core area, winter of 2000 How many reports have there been about “economic development” and bringing in those high tech, high paying jobs that everyone talks about. The Simms Building, frequently known as City Hall South because of the number of city departments in the building: Legal, Human Resources and Purchasing are there now. Might be better to buy the place. Others are looking beyond adding to the space the city used in the downtown core. All kinds of discussion and city council workshops on putting parking lots # 4 and # 5 to better use. Councillor Jack Dennison was talking about this kind of change in 2000, didn’t get very far. Development change takes time.
We are indebted to Joseph Hollick for the photographs used in this story.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON May 29, 2012 She was added to the speakers list at the last minute – or so it appeared, but she may have had the idea most worth talking about at the Burlington TEDx, held at the Performing Arts Centre last Sunday. Deb Pickfield, head honcho of Thinkspot, a place on Locust Street, where ideas move forward, just a hop skip and a short jump from where she spoke to more than 100 people suggesting immigrants are the embodiment of innovation and that if we do not innovate, our economy cannot grow in a sustainable manner.
Using data and commentary from the Conference Board of Canada, Pickfield explained: “At every level of analysis, immigrants are shown to have an impact on innovation performance that is benefiting Canada.
Immigrants are by definition seekers of a better way—the very embodiment of innovation
To immigrate: to become established in a new environment
What can we learn from people who immigrate?
What would it take for us to behave and think like immigrants?
Can it happen when we simply learn the job of someone else or join a new network?
Why would someone immigrate?
How would they feel? Scared? Uncertain? Hopeful?
Why would the hope be worth the uncertainty and fear?
Why would people who immigrate be willing to risk everything and learn a whole new way of being in order to build a better future for themselves, their children, and their children’s children?
What can we learn from immigrants who RISK, SHARE, LEARN when they decide to leave their old environment?
 Deb Pickfield, TEDx Burlington speaker and president of Thinkspot, suggests to an audience that immigrants are the real innovators and that we have much to learn from them. Why are we afraid of RISK?
Why do we start to build walls around ourselves at age 9, Grade 4, when we realize others are better at certain things than us?
Why do we fear failure?
Why is it difficult to embrace failure as learning?
What would it take for us to share what we have and know with others?
What would we share to create a better future for generations we don’t even know yet?
Why is it difficult to give up in order to share?
Why are we likely uncomfortable with these gaps of silence?
Why do we do our best to fill periods of silence?
What if we are not listening to others if we are waiting to fill the gaps of silence?
What if immigrants listen well to understand and to LEARN?
What would we do if we could not be understood?
Would we listen deeper to understand more?
What if by living in a community like Burlington, in a country like Canada, we become too comfortable?
What if by being comfortable we become complacent?
What if by being complacent we seek to protect what we have?
What if to protect we focus on safety and security?
What if by building safety and security we risk less?
What if by risking less, we learn and contribute less?
What if we could RISK, SHARE, LEARN like an immigrant?
What if these are the key ingredients for creativity?
What if we need to RISK, SHARE, LEARN to be innovative?
Can we be that strong?
Can we try, stumble, fall and keep on going?
Can we afford not to?
What if we make a point of RISKING, SHARING, LEARNING something every day?
What’s stopping us from having the heart of an immigrant?
Those are ideas worth sharing – but the comfortable who have become complacent and have forgotten how to share risk and learn are the ones who will eventually lose out to the innovators who are probably going to be immigrants who are going to eat our lunch and take away our clients – because they know how to risk, share and learn.
Pickfield is on to something – are the rest of us?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON May 24, 2012 – I have for some time been looking for a real example of how social media actually did something for someone that was useful. I know that it is something you can spend hours of your time on and it is certainly the one place where every inanity can be observed.
What I wanted to see was something that produced something for someone. James Burchill and I pull a pint on occasion and we talk about the number of people who attend his Business in Burlington events – but did those events actually get anything done?
 The first Meet Up was on the small side - but then it grew and James Burchill now pulls in well over 200 people at the Waterfront Hotel in Burlington - next event - June 6th. (Photo credit Margaret Lindsay Holton) The Mayor of Burlington showed up at one of the Burlington events and the Mayor of Oakville made the scene at an event in that town – but other than handing out business cards and getting your face in front of someone else – what did you get?
We at Our Burlington did pull a number of news stories out of the event we attended and it was an opportunity for us to rub shoulders with people we might not have otherwise seen. But was there real value – did I get something that I probably couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.
We may have found an example.
Kim Neale, a woman who spent fifteen years in Call Centre management decided she wanted to get out on her own and developed a concept and began to market herself and the business she was building. We will tell you about that in a moment.
She was also involved in the development of a community hospice two people in Milton wanted to get started and she was loaning them her marketing skills. She wanted to have some T-shirts made up promoting the organization developing the hospice.
Neale does the “admin / executive asst. / social media strategy tasks for the Townsend Smith Hospice Foundation on a voluntary basis. The story of that organization is interesting in itself – if getting a hospice off the ground interest you at all – take a look at what this group is doing; it’s a rather touching story. They’ve not put up a web site yet – but they can be reached at: Townsend.Smith.House@gmail.com P. O. Box 489 – 420 Main street East Milton, Ontario L9T 5G3
 Business in Burlington is more than a place to hand out your business cards - exactly what it is though is not yet clear. It's certainly a nice piece of promotion - but to what end? Neale had been to one of the Business in Burlington events and decided to start a discussion group through which she asked – does anyone know where I can get quality T-shirts at a decent price. She was wowed by the response. People came back with strong referrals. Yes, others jumped in saying, they supplied T-shirts and they could help.
What Neale wanted was recommendations from people and some sense as to how much money she was going to need to buy her initial run of T-shirts Not only did she get names, with a specific person to call, but she found that several people recommended the same company. Getting multiple strong references is about as good as it gets when you are looking for a supplier.
It all started with Kimberly asking:
I’m looking for a local promotional product company. Need quotes for printed T-Shirts for The Townsend Smith Hospice Foundation – a great…
The responses rolled in:
You need to call Ralph at Battlefield 905 662-1199 ext. 221
Nancy Schreiner of Excel Advertising 905 335 9784 or nancy@exceladvertising.com you can mention my name, we live in the same neighbourhood in Burlington
Contact Garrett at Brash Avenues. His number is 905-637-1578. They are a local Burlington business which I have dealt with personally on many occasions.
I would highly recommend Battlefield Advertising – they do all our promotional stuff. great company and they go above and beyond. Ralph at Battlefield 905 662-1199 ext. 221
Kimberly I see you have a few companies to choose from. If you need 1 more quote contact Sandy Stevenson @ sandys@thecorporateclothier.com or Cell: 416-209-4073. He lives in Burlington, and they SPECIALIZE in T-shirts, golf shirts, etc. Good luck! 🙂
In less than three days Kimberly had what she needed and ended her conversation with: Very useful ! I spoke with some wonderful people and found the information I needed. Life is good! Thanks BiB!!
So it works – not quite sure why this particular query worked when others don’t seem to be able to get any traction. None of the companies that were referred were aware of what was being said about them.
 Kim Neale proved you can make social media work for you - now she has to focus on her business and make that work for her and her client base. So Neale will settle on one of the two T-shirt suppliers that came highly recommended. Prices from both were about the same which was important for Neale.
The Halton Hospice will soon have their first run of T-shirts and that community opportunity will work through its own destination. Meanwhile Kim Neale will get on with her own business – which has a name that says it all. Her web site is Im on it.biz
 The logo says it all - now all Kim Neale has to do is deliver on the brand. The name says it all doesn’t it. You know exactly what she does and you get the sense that she is efficient, quick and no nonsense. The proof of course will be in the pudding – but if the brand name matters – this woman nailed it.
Her target audience is quite specific. While she will work as a “personal assistant” for anyone, she sees a market within the affluent seniors community – those that live in the high end retirement homes who want and can afford to have someone handle small administrative matters where confidence and trust are important.
Neale describes herself as “a freelance personal assistant that helps busy people and / or small business owners with their excessive task list, on an “as-needed” basis.”
The developing of the relationship with the senior and linking into their families is the stuff of developing a solid customer base. Neale is developing relationships with several large residences where the residency costs are not cheap. These people have significant disposable income and they want to spend it and not be tied down with all the details of getting small things taken care of quickly, efficiently and confidentially.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON April 19, 2012 Can you be sustainable and profitable at the same time ?
Some organizations think of sustainability as philanthropy that they can afford when times are good. Leading companies are investing more into sustainability through the downturn because they have found that sustainability can expose rich veins of cost savings within inefficient buildings, processes and supply chains.
 Is sustainability a nice to have when you can afford it or does it work its way to your bottom line? Chamber Seminar offers some insight. Those companies have also found that the sustainability lens is an effective way to attract talent, appeal to green consumers and play an important part of your brand image improvement.
The Burlington Chamber of Commerce is hosting a special “Think Sustainable” seminar with James Gray-Donald, Vice-President & Sustainability Leader with Sears Canada, outlining real-life examples of how sound sustainability practices can improve your company’s bottom line.
There are Burlington businesses that understand how having environmentally sustainable business practices is good for the bottom line.
The seminar is being held at the Waterfront Hotel Downtown Burlington. Registration desk opens at 7:30 a.m. with a full buffet breakfast running from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. The presentation runs from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and is followed by a question and answer session. The price to attend is $25.00 (+HST) for Chamber members and $35.00 (+HST) for non-members. You must sign up in advance. The event is sponsored by the CMA Certified Management Accountants.
Check in with the Chamber of commerce at www.burlingtonchamber.com/
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 18, 2012 They couldn’t approve the proposed Staff Direction quickly enough. There was a friendly amendment that was just fine – that was to take out the word coffee shop and put in the word “pub” and with that a good idea that came out of the Waterfront Access Advisory Committee was in the hands of staff.
 The plaque tells the story - has the Waterfront Advisory Committee done what is needed to give the building a new life? The Staff Direction was to put out a Request for Expressions of Interest to commercial people who might be interested in taking the Pump House on the Beach way and turning it into a pub. The Waterfront Advisory Committee had thought of a pub but didn’t think that was possible even though Donna Mae Ankrett thought that’s what they should go for. The Council Committee had no reservations and immedisately supported Councillor Dennison’s comment thsat he wanted to be able to have a beer out on a patio down there.
The downer there was that staff is swamped and wouldn’t get to this one until the fall – but what the heck, a step forward is a step forward – and this was most certainly a positive step forward.
No one on the Council committee made any mention of what the Conservation Authority may have had to say – they committee liked the idea and wanted to move it along. The property actually belongs to the Conservation Authority and they have the last say on what can and can’t be done on the property but given that the Pump House has been there since 1906 – it`s going to be tough to argue that it can’t be put to public use and goodness knows that part of the city needs all the help it can get.
 Members of the Waterfront Advisory Access Committee inspecting the Pump House on the Beachway. From the left Chair Nick Leblovic, Michael O'Sullivan, Ken Martin, Jeff Martin, Donna Mae Ankrett and Gary Scobie. Will they be around when the pub opens to share a brew and will the Committee pay for that first round? Good work on the part of the members of the Beachway sub-committee of the Waterfront Advisory gang that pushed to get this past their chair and on to Council where things get done.
Community Services General Manager Scott Stewart advised the committee that there was some renovation –” fix things up a bit” work to be done and Councillor Dennison suggested that any work done should be minimal. “Let whoever comes forward with a strong proposal cover the cost of bringing the space up to code and do it on their dime”, was his comment.
This one is going to happen. Before the Pier opens?
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