 By Pepper Parr
November 5th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Some thoughts and observations on the Committee of the Whole meeting that took place on Monday.
The number of city hall employees who quit increased by more than 80% during January to October 31st, 2019 when measured against the 2018 numbers for the same period.
 Councillor Sharman explaining his Father. Councillor Sharman told the world that his 98 year old father still drives a car, has a new girlfriend and is moving into a condo.
The difference in salary for people holding senior jobs who have decided to work somewhere else was reported to be as high as $15k to $20k
Retirements are up 67% over last year.
Council went into a closed session to discuss an Appendix to a report from Human Resources Director Laura Boyd who has told the city that there are some serious problems with the city’s pay rate.
 City manager Tim Commisso spoke about the The Evolution of the Customer Experience. They also went into Closed Session to discuss The Evolution of the Customer Experience. The report came from the hands of the City Manager who delivered it to Council late in the evening. That customer being you.
Mayor Meed Ward made it clear that she wanted to see more action and less waiting for reports from outside consultants.
Centurions are going to get a lot more attention in the months and years ahead. There are plans in the works to pay much more attention to those who have lived for 100 years. The city has literally dozens of them.
 Lining up for a Brown Bag lunch – annual Seniors’ Centre event held at Central Park this year. The Seniors’ Centre is said to be busting at the seams – but there are no plans to build another one elsewhere in the city. Councillor Stolte didn’t see it that way and let the meeting know that she thought it was time to look for a location north of the QEW.
Councillor Sharman let it be known that he thinks Freeman Station should be operated by the Museums group.
There is a longish list of projects the city has been asked to take on – but they aren’t funded. Shortfall is $720,000 in 2020 alone.
 Mayor wants the city to be “nimble, agile and to move quickly Mayor Meed Ward told her colleagues that she is a little jaded on “plans”. She said she thinks she has seen four or five on transit alone.
She added that “we know we are going to plant thousands of trees – why do we need to wait until a plan is written?”
She wants city staff to be “nimble, agile and to move quickly”
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Lawson Hunter
November 5th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The deafening silence that followed my delegation to Council of the Whole on Nov. 4th spoke volumes. I was there to urge Council to back up their claim of a ‘Climate Emergency’ as they pondered the Proposed 2020 Budget.
 The agenda item, “2018-2022 Burlington’s Plan Vision to Focus Financial Plan” was no doubt expected to be ‘received and filed’. However, as this would be Council’s (and the public’s) first glance at the new Budget – I jumped right on it and registered to delegate. I don’t think anyone expected that to happen. After all, a fuller report goes to Council November 18 after three closed Council Workshops to discuss in detail what is being proposed. Staff would like all this Budget stuff wrapped up by year’s end. Note: the 2019 Budget wasn’t finalized until March 26th of this year.
I visited the City’s GetInvolvedBurlington.ca website to gather some background and see what had been proposed. I clicked on Budget 2020 and there revealed was my first dilemma – the budget listed was for 2019.
Nevertheless, I had the 2019-2028 Approved Capital Budget and the latest version of ‘Vision to Focus’ (V2F) the guiding document that grew out of Burlington’s 25-Year Strategic Plan. Ambitious goals but no Operational budget numbers.
After an admittedly lame attempt at humour, I painted a nightmare scenario where the City took no action to address Climate Change (I called it a Climate Crisis). I asked, “What would people think of Council’s inaction 20, 30, 40 years from now?”.
In the Staff Report it stated:
It is important to note the V2F work plan is not being implemented in a vacuum, but rather aligned with organizational objectives and work plans and being cascaded down and linked into service plans.
If this is true, how is it that Council is being asked to approve a Budget without a Mobility Hub Plan; an Integrated Mobility Plan; a Climate Action Plan; an Urban Forestry Management Plan; a Green Fleet Plan; not to mention an official Official Plan?
The budget process provides a venue in which decisions are made to ensure the appropriate balance between affordability, service levels and financial sustainability are maintained.
There’s no balance to be had. We must act on all fronts and start the process today. Enough with studies. There are plenty of examples as to what other cities are doing to fight climate change. In fact, I gave various Council members a list of 103 actionable items that others cities in Canada have already put in place. Grab those concepts with both hands and start putting them into this Budget, I pleaded.
On the day before my delegation I stumbled upon the Proposed Budget 2020, all 686 pages of it. (www.burlington.ca/budget)
Approve the 2020 Operating Budget including any budget amendments approved by the Committee of the Whole -Budget to be applied against the proposed net tax levy amount of $173,597,452;
Capital Budget for the City of Burlington, with a gross amount of $85,791,551
Property taxes represent 65.5% of income for the City. The rest of the $264.9 million the City expends come from various revenues sources (think recreation fees, fines & debentures). However, the Budget default is already set at a 4% increase. Why look for any extras?
One thing that popped out at me was:
Business cases to address climate change impacts of $921K result in an additional tax increase of 0.55%
So what are we saying here? If you want to do something about climate change it’s going to go over-budget?
And:
Additional Items for consideration (not included in the proposed budget)
I think says a lot when you dangle nice concepts such as ‘Free transit for children under the age of 12”, and ‘Additional Forestry staff to implement a City-wide Tree By-law’ out on a limb, easy to chop off so you can say, “At least we kept the Budget increase at 4%”.
I also turned to the proposed Capital Budget to get a flavour of how the City viewed long-term actions. Even though it’s a bit of ‘apples to oranges’ the ‘Vision to Focus’ listed one of its 5 Focus Areas, “Supporting Sustainable Infrastructure and a Resilient Environment” the Budget lists many of the same items as “A Healthy and Greener City”. Say it quickly – it sounds very ‘environmental’. But including Cemeteries, Parks & Rec, and Organized Sport Support are a bit of a stretch for me.
When looking at the Capital Budget, I focused on things that could possibly relate to Climate Change: Tree Management – OK, Environment and Energy – yep, Storage Water Drainage – well, maybe. And where was Transit? That came under ‘A City that Moves’ along with Parking, Roads and Transportation.
So I tallied up the 324 Infrastructure spending items in the ‘Adopted Capital Budget 2019-2028’ and organized them as: Transportation, Roads, Bridges & Streetlights = 56.5% (of budget); Parks, Community Centres, Splashpads = 29%; Erosion, Culverts, Cycling & Trails = 10%; and finally, Transit = 4.5%.
I’ll leave it up to you what you consider Climate Change adaptation, and how much emphasis the City places on my motivating concern.
 Lawson Hunter wanted maps which he finds don’t exist. This is the best the Gazette has. With a minute to spare, I concluded by noting some of the shoreline clean-ups that I, and many others have done. I mentioned the Repair Café (next one on Nov. 16), my weekly environmental podcast, and the fact that I took the bus to City Hall. I’ve asked the City for floodplain maps and ‘buried creek’ and culvert maps – apparently, they don’t exist! This was not to put myself on a pedestal but to merely observe that I, and others in Burlington, are doing their best to combat Climate Change, often without much in the way of thanks.
Now it was time for City Council to do their part come Budget 2020.
 By Staff
November 5th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
TechPlace LaunchPad Company Kidictive was in Toronto recently for the 2019 Startup Canada Awards hosted at the MaRS Discovery District. During this award ceremony, Kidictive co-founders Michelle Gorman and Laura McLaughlin were one of five recipients of the Women Founders Fund.
The fund provides micro-grants to women-led companies in Canada to help them start and grow their businesses while accelerating gender parity.
Kidictive took occupancy in the LaunchPad program in August 2019 and are in early stages of the launch of their first product KIDICTED™, the app that helps kids put down their devices and get ‘addicted’ to the real world.
 Left to right: Kidictive Co-founder and COO Laura McLaughlin; David Souaid, Chief Revenue Officer at OnDeck; Kidictive Co-founder and CEO Michelle Gorman. “We were so humbled and inspired to receive this award in the company of so many exceptional Canadian Entrepreneurs and Supporters at the Startup Canada Awards,” said co-founder and CEO Michelle Gorman. “
As part of the TechPlace LaunchPad Program we have been able to accelerate our progress and strengthen our application for this grant. We truly appreciate the support from the Burlington Economic Development team.”
Co-founder and COO Laura McLaughlin echo’s this sentiment saying, “TechPlace has given us access to so many amazing resources to help advance our business.” She continued, “We are excited to use the proceeds from the grant to ensure KIDICTED™ is helping kids develop positive, self-directed behaviours around their engagement with devices.”
Since they moved in, Kidictive has been leveraging a number of TechPlace resources including Haltech’s programming and mentorship. “Kidictive’s growth in the LaunchPad program is already very apparent,” said Burlington Economic Development Acting Executive Director Anita Cassidy.
“Receiving this grant will help propel their growth further as they get closer to taking KIDICTED™ to market.”
 Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward. Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward was thrilled to hear about the news, saying, “the Women Founders Fund is an incredible resource for female-led STEM businesses positioned for growth. Having one of only five national recipients being located in Burlington demonstrates our community’s value to young companies looking to scale, to getting gender parity in the workplace and promoting the business successes of women.
Although women in Canada now represent 47 percent of Canadian business owners and contribute $148 billion in economic activity, they continuously face barriers to accessing capital to start and scale their businesses. This gap is particularly evident when looking at women entrepreneurs in STEM fields.
Through the Women Founders Fund, Startup Canada and OnDeck Canada aim to alleviate some of the financial barriers women in the STEM industry face when starting and accessing opportunities for business and professional growth. The recipients are funded with grants of up to $5,000 to support business operations or business growth opportunities.
STEM – stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
About Startup Canada
Startup Canada promotes and supports the success and growth of Canada’s 3.5 million entrepreneurs, with a mandate to foster economic growth, competitiveness, and prosperity through entrepreneurship.
Since launching, Startup Canada’s programming has directly supported more than 200,000 entrepreneurs and 50 grassroots Startup Community organizations. Working with over 750 ecosystem partners, including accelerators, incubators, research parks, educational institutions, economic development agencies, associations, and government programs, Startup Canada serves entrepreneurs from all backgrounds, industries, and stages of development, with a network reflective of Canada’s diverse population. Learn more at startupcan.ca.
About Kidictive Inc
Kidictive Inc. was founded in September 2017 to help parents create a tech balanced life for their families. Kidictive Inc.’s first product KIDICTED™ launched earlier in the month on the Apple App Store.
KIDICTED™ helps kids put down their devices and get ‘addicted’ to the real world by inspiring them to PLAY, CREATE, IMAGINE, DISCOVER and CONNECT.
Kidictive Inc., a Tech Place LaunchPad client, is a member of the Haltech Regional Innovation Centre and are recent recipients of Ontario Creates and OCE SmartStart grants which have helped fund their concept development.
 Burlington Economic Development Corporation Interim Executive Director Anita Cassidy. About TechPlace
TechPlace is a one-stop destination for new and growing technology companies. With the support of partners from across the public and private sectors, it is dedicated to connecting, developing, and advancing entrepreneurs at all stages. This means providing access to space, programming, mentorship, networking, and resources that are fundamental to growing a business in today’s technology-driven marketplace.
Led by Burlington Economic Development, TechPlace exists to help technology, talent and ideas come together under one roof to create and promote opportunities for economic growth.
About Burlington Economic Development
Burlington Economic Development has a mandate to enhance the growth prospects of existing companies and bring new high-value firms to the community. Burlington Economic Development ’s focus is on growing the economic base to sustain Burlington’s competitive and prosperous community. Burlington Economic Development is the first point of contact for companies looking to expand, start-up or locate in Burlington.
By Pepper Parr
November 5th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington Transit has great cred.
Council members love the job that Director of Transit Sue Connor is doing.
The Mayor keeps urging Connor to do even more than she does – and there is nothing shy about the woman.
Bfast love the women.
 Burlington Transit Director Sue Connor at a Bfast meeting. She is the transit champion they have been waiting years to arrive.
Yesterday evening Sue and a consultant from Dillon were giving Council an overview of their five year business plan. They were expecting the city to approve it in principle so they could go away and begin the detail work that had yet to be done.
Monday evening was the day the transit balloon was burst.
Councillor Sharman had read the report carefully and he had major problems with some of the number.
 Councillor Sharman didn’t like the math. “The numbers are all completely wrong.” During committee meetings council members get to ask two questions and then have to wait until all the other members of Council had a chance to ask their questions. Paul Sharman went through three rounds of questions – and he was scathing.
There are he said “a number of things where the numbers don’t make sense”
“The numbers are all completely wrong.”
 Table 5 “Table 5 is completely wrong” – it didn’t get any better.
A number of other Councillors had concerns but none was as probing or direct as Sharman.
Reports to Committee usually get approved – not this one. Sharman would not move the report – he said he wanted it to be referred to Council.
 Director Connor – does not appear to be very happy with her consultant. Sue Connor was not happy with her consultant. During much of the discussion he was hovering over a device re-working his numbers.
The vote to refer the report to Council where new, hopefully supportable data will be put forward was not unanimous.
Councillors Nisan and Stolte were prepared to go with the report. Galbraith, Sharman, the Mayor Kearns and Bentivegna wanted it to be referred to council
Connors got many complimentary remarks about her work; Councillor Sharman said his comments were not personal – but the numbers didn’t add up and they were going to have to add up if the Business Plan was to be adopted.
 By Staff
November 4th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Sometime later in the month, we assume, the Mayor is going to give a full report on her trip to Japan. So far all the public has seen is what the Mayor put up on her web site – where you can influence outcomes for a Better Burlington.
The link to that collection of pictures is informative.
The reason for the trip was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the twinning relationship Burlington has with Itabashi, a city that is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis
Here is what the Mayor adds on her web site
DAY 1
“After a full day of official meetings and ceremonies, some of the highlights from our first day in Itabashi included a visit to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo (about a 20-minute car ride from Itabashi) and a meeting with JETRO — Japan’s External Trade Organization — to talk economic exchange.”
Not a word on what might have come out of those talks.
“We then toured Tokyo starting with a visit to the Sensoji Temple where you can read your fortune and incense is burned outside for people to wave good fortune. We next headed to Ueno urban park that features many stones and historic markers, a shrine, and a giant lake with massive water lilies.
“We also toured famous commercial streets in Tokyo, including the largest intersection in the world — Shibuya Crossing — where approximately 2,500 people cross at a time.”
 A cultural deep dive. DAY 2
“To start off Day 2 of our official visit, we headed to Itabashi City Hall where our hosts literally rolled out the red carpet to welcome us.
“There is a subway stop right in City Hall — the rail lines are privately owned, earning revenue from development around stations.
“Itabashi City Hall was filled with displays commemorating the 30-year anniversary of our twinning relationship. There was even a paper “maple tree” where people could write messages to Burlington and our citizens. One million people are served at Itabashi City Hall each year and the city has a population of about 550,000 citizens.
“I was honoured to bring greetings from Burlington and on behalf of our Official Delegation that included Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan, who is Council’s representative on the Mundialization Committee (the committee that maintains our twin city relationships).
“Children at the on-site day care made us paper frogs. The frog is considered a Japanese lucky animal, seen as good fortune in things returning.
 Mayor Meed Ward in the Itabashi Assembly Hall with Mayor Sakamoto. “We also had a tour of the Assembly Hall where I had an opportunity to sit Mayor Sakamoto’s chair and the large elevated chair reserved for the Chairman, who presides over the meetings. There are 46 Assembly Members, seated by parties or affiliations, similar to a parliament.”
The Mayor brought back a box of cookies that were shaped in a crest – wasn’t clear just what the crest was – but they were shared with people taking part in the Committee of the Whole.
We learned as well that the Mayor brought back some sake and some sake glasses.
 Mayor Meed Ward took every advantage to immerse herself into Japanese culture. “We then had a spectacular traditional lunch of sushi, soup, rice and sweets, served in a traditional-style Bento Box. These lunch boxes were used by Samarais when they would visit the Sakura trees in the spring.
“After lunch, we toured City Hall and got a glimpse into the City’s disaster operations room. They have two high-altitude cameras in Itabashi that are used to detect fires or floods. They also have 7 rivers through the city with rain gauges. In one rainfall, more than 3 metres fell in 30 minutes.
“Itabashi aims to be very environmentally sustainable. The tiny tiles on a street they named “wine block” is made with recycled wine glass bottles. Silver seats for seniors and the disabled are also made with recycled wine bottle glass. Itabashi aims to be “green” with planted medians on their streets.”
DAY 3
“This was a day to learn about and immerse ourselves in Japanese culture.”
 Fushimi-Inari-Shrine DAY 4
“This day was one to learn more of the history of Japan and visit sites of historical significance.
“Our first stop was a bullet train ride to Sendai (about a two-hour train ride from Itabashi) to visit the Yuriage Port Market Cooperative in nearby city Natori. The market there was hit by a devastating tsunami in 2011 that caused by an earthquake under the sea.
 The tsunami that struck the city of xx was devastating – close to the worst this world has experienced. “It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that may have reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 foot) and that travelled, in the Sendai area, at 700 km/h for up to 10 km inland. Residents of Sendai had only eight to ten minutes warning, and more than 19,000 were killed, many at the evacuation sites — more than 100 of which were washed away.”
Of note – when that tsunami hit that city Burlington didn’t offer a dime in the way of financial support. Sendai was not the city we were twinned with however there is a citizen in Itabashi who send Burlington a reasonable sum of money every year. He is the gentlemen who sent us the cherry trees in Spencer Smith Park many years ago.
Today, we learned that during the trip Lisa Palermo, the Mundialization Committee clerk was searched at some point and got left on a train platform.
Palermo is a very effective, efficient member of city hall staff; no reason was given as to why she was searched or quite how she got left on a train station platform. Her role appears to have been the person who set things up for the Burlington visitors. Her effective efficiency would have been put to good use.
This trip belongs in that “nice to have” category the mayor used effectively in her three Burlington election campaigns.
By Pepper Parr
November 4th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Change only happens instantly on television.
The people in the Goodram – Lakeshore Road community are putting up with noise that would drive anyone bonkers – this at 2 am.
They have been asking for help for more than 18 months.
 The Monster Mansion that is being rented out via Air BnB was finally shut down by police – albeit well after midnight.. The efforts of their member of Council and a reach out to the police to step in has shut down the Air BnB operation that was the cause of all the concern.
Ward 4 Shawna Stolte said she has been pushing hard for relief for the residents in the area in regard to the troublesome AirBnB.
Saturday night was another big party with the police intervening multiple times and shutting the place down by 2am.
Councillor Stolte explains that: “The immensely frustrating challenge is that we have no jurisdiction to shut them down or enforce ceasing to operate as an AirBnB as we have no bylaw that speaks to this yet.
One option may have been to try to enact an immediate ban on all Short Term Accommodations in Burlington in order to catch this one…but that would have unfairly impacted the 160 other AirBnB’s in the city who are abiding by the rules and offering a great service.
Licensing will take a bit of time, it is being implemented by the Planning Department, who are so “under water” with the dramatically shortened timelines due to Bill 108 as well as the Official Plan and the Interim Control ByLaw timelines. Councillor Stolte said she “could have demanded something sooner but I know we would have ended up with an incomplete, not well thought out licensing bylaw.
“The property in question never would be granted a license to operate as they are anyhow…this situation is a matter of them using the guise of AirBnB to skirt the zoning bylaw and rent out a residential property as a commercial event venue.
“The fastest way to shut down this property is to take the legal approach re: residential zoning infraction which is what has been happening these last 6-8 weeks. We are well into this process and should see an impact any day now.
 Shawna Stolte: Rookie Councillor who took on a defeated a double decade incumbent is proving to be very effective. The Gazette had asked why the MAT (Municipal Accommodation Tax), was being considered at this time; she explained that “this is a completely separate issue that coincidentally just happens to include Short Term Accommodations. It is being spearheaded by the City Managers Office, not the Planning Dept. “Believe me, if I thought for one second that the Planning Department was taking time to implement the MAT instead of dealing with the Licensing Bylaw, well let me leave it at that.” She added that “I am holding the Planning Department’s feet to the fire as much as I can without running the risk of damaging things for a department that is struggling with the workload.
“The ultimate result is to get this AirBnB shut down by whatever means possible. As of Friday the advertisement for the offending property is gone from the AirBnB website. I had had contact with the AirBnB company as had a number of residents. Now AirBnB has banned all “party houses” after the shooting last week at a “party house” in California.
The residents may now finally have some peace and quiet on their street. Give the Councillor a kudos on this one.
Related news story:
City Council vows to take action
 By Staff
November 3rd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
 As the colours change they mark the days to the leaves falling – get ready to rake them up. Getting close to that time of year when all those coloured leaves give it up and fall to the ground. They then have to be raked up and put in piles at the side of the road.
The loose-leaf collection program starts on Monday, November 4th. Residents are encouraged to check the leaf collection schedule and rake leaves to the curb or edge of pavement if there are no curbs, as close as possible to their pickup date.
To ensure the safety of collection crews and avoid damaging equipment, please keep the loose-leaf piles free of debris and sticks. Leaves mixed with debris and waste will not be collected. Please help prevent flooding, by keeping catch basins and ditches clear of leaves.
To ensure a successful pick-up, residents can:
• Rake leaves to the edge of the curb or roadway in a loose pile
• Remove basketball nets, cars and other obstructions from the road during pick-up dates
• Clear leaves from sidewalks and walkways
• Avoid placing garbage bags, bins, Blue Boxes or GreenCarts on top of loose-leaf piles
• Give crews distance to remove the leaves when driving
After the collection program is complete, any remaining leaves should be placed in yard-waste bags for curbside collection by Halton Region.
As a greener alternative, residents can mulch their leaves with their lawnmower to help feed the soil for the spring.
Mark Adam, Manager of Road Operations asks you to: “Please ensure your leaves are at the curb by the start of your zone collection date and ensure there is nothing but leaves in your piles. Sticks, garbage, toys, rocks and anything other than leaves will damage the equipment.”
 By Staff
November 4th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The federal election is over and the country got the leadership it wanted.
What many didn’t realize until Elections Canada released more detail on that vote was that 70% of the people in Halton cast a ballot.
The Advance polls were much higher this election.
 Burlington – 12,989 advance ballots in 2015 – 20,143 advance ballots in 2019.
Oakville North Burlington 14,501 advance ballots in 2015 – 22,344 in 2019
Total advance ballots for Halton in 2015 was 52,088 – 77994 in 2019
The voter turn out for each municipality was better than the national average.
In Burlington 70,888 of the 99,972 registered voters cast a ballot – 70.91%
In Milton 59,005 of the 84,807 registered voters cast a ballot – 69.58%
In Oakville, 61,882 of the 90.144 registered voters cast a ballot – 68.65%
In Oakville North Burlington 68,452 of the 97,439 registers voters cast a ballot – 70.25%
Canada wide the numbers were 17,890,264 of the 27,126,166 registered voters cast a ballot – 65.95%
Now if we could only get that kind of a turn out for the municipal election we would have a very engaged communities who would hold those elected accountable which would result in better government.
Wouldn’t that be nice.
By Staff
November 1st, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
This time THEY are coming to YOU.
You are not going to have to spend time staring at the computer monitor thinking about your answer to a question that might not be that clear or make that much sense.
The 2019 Community Survey; that opportunity for you to add your wisdom to that of 750 people so that the city can confidently move forward with what it has decided to do.
 750 citizens will get the call. Stand By The Survey is scheduled to begin Monday, November 4th to provide the City with information about the opinions of the public as it relates to services provided by the City.
There will be 750 telephone surveys completed; 125 households in each ward. A combination of land and cell phone numbers will be contacted by random selection. The caller ID for the survey will show the phone number: 1-866-415-0012 and “TSP”. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
An online version of the survey will also be made available on Get Involved Burlington. This online survey gives residents whose telephone numbers were not chosen an opportunity to provide input.
The survey results will indicate how the community would like to receive information from the City, the methods of public involvement they prefer (and if they feel they are part of the decision-making process), value for taxes, identification of the most important issues in Burlington and questions about transit.
How survey results will be used
Information gathered in the survey will be used in updating City business plans, guide the development of communication initiatives, and public involvement programs on City issues and provide benchmarking and performance indicators. Council may also use the information to influence budget and spending decisions.
Kwab Ako-Adjei, Director of Corporate Communications & Government Relations wants people to know that: “This survey will provide Council and City staff with important community feedback to help shape the City’s services, communication initiatives and business plans.
Input from all wards will be included to ensure all corners of the city are heard. These survey results will help the City better understand resident opinions and needs to inform future City planning.”
By Pepper Parr
November 1st, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
About 50% of the non-union staff at city hall are not paid all that well.
Laura Boyd, Director of Human Resources, delivered that news in one of the most frank and direct reports the Gazettes seen come from a senior staff person at city hall. It was refreshing.
Boyd’s report was delivered to city council in July. She was instructed to return to council with “more detailed information and specific recommendations regarding non-union salary market competitiveness.”
 Director of Human Resources Laura Boyd Boyd talked about the culture at city hall – it was about as bleak as the pay rates.
Human Resources undertook to “re-surveying staff this year to take a pulse on if, as an organization, there has been improvement on our workplace culture scores.”
What wasn’t made clear was – who was going to be doing the re-surveying. Having HR do it would be close to a conflict of interest.
While, compensation in and of itself does not motivate people, “if employees are compensated poorly in relation to the marketplace, it will lead to higher turnover and less engagement.” The Boyd report outlined “the current experiences with staff turnover, especially related to compensation, our current retirement outlook and our capacity to deliver on Council’s work plan.”
Boyd refers to a report from Mercer, a leading consultant on matters of salary matters in the public sector.
“Most companies align themselves with a market position of the 50th percentile – however in the highly competitive GTA, companies align with the 60th to 75th percentile to compete for employee resources.
 The policy is to give staff a better deal. Will the public go along with what that is going to cost? “The City’s current Council approved market position is mid third quartile, between the 50th and 75th percentile. Here is what comparable municipalities are offering:
 Burlington does not compare all that well with comparable communities – the Region offers a much better deal salary wise. “Actual salaries are aligned appropriately to our current job rates (the 50th percentile).
“Our market competitiveness varies across the salary grades and this could be an indication of challenges with our job evaluations system not being robust and up to date.
Given the current challenges the City is having in attracting and retaining talent, the following will outline options for Council to consider moving forward.
A compensation system comprises of the following elements:
1) Alignment with corporate strategy;
2) External competitiveness;
a. Market comparators
b. Market position/Pay philosophy
3) Internal consistency;
a. Job Evaluation System
1. Alignment with Corporate Strategy
Compensation strategy must be in line with corporate strategy.
Private Sector Comparators: Based on information provided by Mercer, municipalities within the GTHA do not typically lose employees to the private sector. Private sector compensation systems and philosophies can be very different from the public sector.
While the public sector provides base salaries, pension and a benefit package it is not uncommon for large private sector employers to offer this plus incentives and bonus programs which are not typically provided within the public sector and therefore from a total compensation approach do not provide a good match.
Conversely, smaller private sector firms are not able to provide some of the benefits afforded to the public sector and therefore, do not compare well from a total compensation perspective. Private sector compensation approaches are different from municipal practices and as such do not provide a good basis for comparison.
The Broader Public Sector: The broader public sector was also considered especially in the areas of hospital and academic employers. The size of employers in these two areas tends to be much larger and the core business or service delivery very different. In addition, employers in these areas tend to be more heavily unionized. Compensation approaches between non-union and unionized staff is quite different.
Finding good matches with these employers to positions across our entire organization is difficult and as such these employers do not provide a good match.
 Great weather to be outside, enjoy a burger and contribute to the United Way Campaign and be part of a team that pulls a fire truck down Brant Street. Regional Governments: In the past the City has compared its positions to those found both within municipalities and regional governments. Regional governments and municipalities have both similar and dissimilar governance areas. Regional governments also tend to be much larger in size from both an FTE and operating budget perspective. However, as we have lost staff to regional governments, they are a potential source for comparison and should be considered when determining market comparators.
A business case of $180,000 (one-time funding) has been included in the 2020 operating budget to secure the services of a consultant to source, design and re-write job descriptions and develop a rating system against which all current and future non-union positions will be rated. Implementation of the salary impacts of a new job evaluation system will be included if required as a business case on the 2021 operating budget.
$450,000 has also been included in the proposed 2020 operating budget to initiate a multi-year phased implementation which will result in a renewed competitive market position.
The consultants have put forward a number of options and recommendations. Thought was given to creating one salary policy for Managers and another for Director level people. The Burlington salary schedule doesn’t attract much in the way of Director level talent.
 The Mayor is having fun: photo ops are close to a daily event. Is city staff as happy? Missing in the deep dive look at how the city pays its staff is this: who is responsible for the culture of city hall? It isn’t about just money. People have to be proud of the work they do and see that what they do is making a difference. That stuff works its way down from the top. Burlington has gone through so many City Managers that it is difficult for young people to see the city as a stable place to develop a career.
The people in the Planning department have been whip-sawed back and forth with all the changes.
 Is City Hall a fun place to work? In the 2014 municipal election there was a well qualified candidate for the Office of Mayor who said it was far too toxic – he took a pass. Related news story:
Boyd lays it all out on the table: there is trouble in paradise
By Pepper Parr
November 1st, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
During the federal election we heard members of the Liberal government comment frequently that people want to see something done on climate change but were not prepared to pay that much to bring about a change.
They certainly weren’t prepared to give up the gas guzzling pickup trucks.
The 2020 proposed budget attempts to strike a balance between identifying efficiencies, leveraging non-tax based revenue sources, revising service levels, and continuing to build towards long-term financial sustainability through additional investment in infrastructure renewal.
That’s what comes from the bureaucrats. The politicians have their agenda and for the current council climate change is a big issue – is it THE issue? The Mayor would like to think so but she may not have enough of her council colleagues on side with her.
 Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman is usually very direct, tends to want to see data that is verifiable and expects to get his way. Councillor Sharman read a well prepared statement into the record. He said:
1. I love trees and do not want to see them cut down unnecessarily
2. The people of Burlington feel the same way; based on the statistically accurate survey prepared by Forum Research in June 2013 for the City Burlington the evidence is clear:
I. The people of Burlington love trees and do not wish to remove them
II. Many Ward 5 and 6 residents felt there are insufficient trees, so do I
III. People agree that City oversight of the tree canopy is desirable
IV. Two out of three respondents also agreed that “a landowner should be able to remove a healthy tree if it is no longer wanted by the property owner without permission from the city.”
a) The big question in 2013 was and remains, is there a significant tree loss problem?
Staff reported at the time:
A total of 21 tree care companies were contacted. The following are key findings of the
survey:
I. In 2012, approximately 1,813 trees were removed by all tree care companies combined.
II. 78% of trees removed were dead, diseased or dying, followed by natural death due to age. 1414 trees
III. 17% of trees were removed due to landscaping modifications (presumably development), poor planting location or damage to property caused by the tree. 308 trees
IV. 5% of removals were a result of home improvements (e.g. additions, decks, etc.) 91 trees
b) What we believe is that the Urban tree canopy is insufficient and at, 15-17% coverage falls short of the 30-40% recommended.
c) What we know today:
 These trees were on private property. I. The City is going to cut down about 15,000 Ash Trees on municipal property in 2019. That suggests the number of diseased trees on private property is multiple times greater.
I have heard that it could be in the order of 300,000 trees in the City. Disease is the single biggest cause of canopy loss and will continue to be so for several years to come.
II. Trees on property subject to site plan approval in the development application process do not need to comply with a municipal private tree bylaw.
III. That clear cutting of development sites is known to happen, but it is not known how many.
IV. Roseland has had perhaps 4 applicable tree cutting permits issued under the bylaw
V. The suggested City private tree bylaw will not actually stop trees from being cut down, it is only designed to create a 2nd thought
VI. Trees do not provide significant climate change mitigation. Trees provide us with significant benefits, including carbon sequestration (storage), however, net carbon neutral can be achieved only by reducing dependence on fossil fuels. **
d) What we do not know today:
I. We do not know how many trees are cut down on private property
II. We do not know how many sites are clear cut by developers to avoid site plan control.
III. We do not know if trees are being cutting down unnecessarily*
IV. We do not know how many trees are needed to increase the urban tree canopy to 30 or 40%
V. We do not have a tree inventory of Burlington
VI. We have not identified alternative costed strategies that might be more effective than the Roseland bylaw or a derivative thereof.
e) Conclusions:
 Will the city create working parties to plant the tens of thousands of trees needed? • As much as I would like to support a valid and properly justified extended tree protection bylaw, we are not ready to have one because we have no adequate information to suggest we should.
• The data we do have suggests that we need to plant trees, a lot of them. I am told that we need in the order of 300,000 trees to increase the canopy to 40%. In the scheme of things, spending $100,000’s to stop people cutting down a very small number of trees, according to the 2013 research, is not the best use of money.
• I would rather use a carrot than a stick by providing a $250 grant to property owners for every tree they plant on their own property.
• Finally, for now and until we have a properly thought out tree strategy based on real supportable data, I will continue to only support the option to continue the existing Roseland private tree bylaw.
• Let’s plant 10,000 5cm trees a year, that could be 20-30cm in 20 years time, in order to recover the canopy. Of course, we need to make sure they are watered. That will give us the best ROI.
There is a reason for calling Councillor Sharman Dr. Data.
• His after thoughts:
 Councillor Sharman: Data. data, data – there is never enough! o I appreciate that some people think that people who willingly cut trees for their own reasons should be caused to pay for the greater good of the community. Considering that the larger community loss is due to disease and simple old age (78% in 2013, possibly 95% currently re Emerald Ash Borer). It would be more equitable for all home owners to pay a progressive tax to pay for administration and execution of a properly justified and constructed tree strategy.
o Surely, we can figure out another way to get the few people to report that they are cutting trees than charge them in excess of $1000 per tree.
o Surely, we can figure out how to ensure that when trees are cut to facilitate development that the applicant ends up complying with site plan regulations.
o We need to figure out what the real problem is that is being addressed in this discussion?
* Note, we asked the Town of Oakville for data on how many trees were cut down and for what reasons since they introduced their bylaw. Oakville staff were not able to provide the data. The Oakville Green website does not have relevant statistics. City of Burlington staff acknowledge they have no data.
 These trees are in ward 5. They will probably have to come down if a high rise residential tower goes up. ** Climate change mitigation impact of trees. There are a wide range of sequestration rates in Canadian urban forests, from 0.2 to 1.2 Mg (megagrams; 1 Mg = tonne) of C per hectare per year. It likely depends on tree species and health of trees. If we planted trees across the whole land mass of Burlington (18,200 ha), it would only sequester around 79,000 tonnes of CO2e. Burlington’s community emissions are currently estimated at 1.2 million tonnes of CO2e.
This is based on using the highest rate of 1.2 tonnes of C per hectare per year (very high). (1 tonne of carbon = 3.67 tonnes of C02e; 3.67 x 1.2 = 4.4 tonnes of CO2e/ha) 4.4 tonnes of CO2e/ha x 18,200 = 79,000 tonnes.
Perhaps, if we replaced buildings, roads and traffic with trees, we wouldn’t have a carbon problem anymore.
Trees provide us with significant benefits, particularly to improve community resilience by providing cooling for the urban area and reducing the urban heat island effect, as well as reducing erosion with flooding events. However, we will only achieve our goal of being a net carbon neutral community by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. We will put more emphasis on the benefits of urban forestry in part 2 of the Climate Action Plan (the climate adaptation strategy
Councilor Nisan was less verbose but was clear – “it is about the climate” was the position he took.
The basics of the 2020-2021 budget are:
a proposed base amount of $172,060,655 plus recommended business cases of $1,574,524 for a total proposed net tax levy of $173,635,179.
This net tax levy represents 65.5% of total operating revenues in 2020. The 2020 proposed capital projects are approximately $85.8 million, with a ten-year program of $809.7 million.
The budget review process included:
• A line-by-line review of the base operating budget by the Chief Financial Officer and Service Owners (budget reductions of $1.02 million).
• The Corporate Infrastructure Committee conducted an in-depth review of the 10- year capital program.
• A corporate / strategic review by the Operating Budget Leadership Team. This team is comprised of the City Manager, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Director of Human Resources, Chief Information Officer (rotating member) and the Director of Transit (rotating member).
• A corporate / strategic review by the Capital Budget Leadership Team. This team is comprised of the Executive Director of Environmental, Infrastructure and Community Services, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Roads, Parks and Forestry (rotating member) and the Executive Director of Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility (rotating member).
• Alignment to strategic objectives and review of operating business cases.
 Joan Ford, the city’s Director of Finance knows where every dollar comes from and where every dollar gets spent. The recommendation?
Receive and file the proposed 2020 budget book; and Direct staff to present the recommendations, that is what is going to occupy much of the months of November and December.
The city Finance department hopes to have this budget wrapped up before the end of the year. That is probably not something you want to be very much money on.
An added note. The Director of Human Resources has a report suggesting to Council that they might want to increase what they are paying the non-union staff – Burlington is no longer competitive and we are not getting the staffing quality we need.
How much higher will the 2020 tax increase be over what it was in 2019? Council is going to struggle to keep it below 5%. That isn’t going to be easy.
Related news stories.
The 2019 budget
How much was that tax increase?
 By Ray Rivers
October 31st, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Part 1 of a 2 part column.
There is no better way to determine the winner in horse races or athletic track events than first-past-the-post (FPP). It is crude and simple but very effective. However an election is not a horse race.
And as for gambling, there is a kind of gaming we employ in our politics – something we call strategic voting. In this last federal election over a third of voters claimed that they had voted strategically, switching their vote from their preferred party to another one. Almost 40% of those switches went to the Conservatives, likely in the west, where the Liberals were deliberately shut out from Winnipeg to Vancouver. And almost half of those who ultimately voted Liberal did so even though the NDP was their first preference.
 Canadians lining up to vote – do they have a chance of getting the representation they deserve? Clearly something is wrong with our system. If not broken, it could at least be made better because politics should be a serious business, not a crap shoot. And like a crap shoot so many voters are playing the game blind – looking at the polls and making strategic decisions they can only guess will work out for them. A lottery might be a better metaphor.
I’d like to vote for the party whose platform, and perhaps even leader, most appeals to me – doesn’t everyone? Instead we play this game of second guessing the outcome. We vote for a party we may not really want, just to make sure that the one we really don’t want doesn’t get in. Crazy huh? A casualty resulting from relying on a very imperfect and outdated voting system which was never intended for a multi-party democracy.
In fact what voters are doing is playing the odds. It is a kind of intuitive preferential voting in a FPP system. But a real preferential or ranked ballot allows electors to prioritize their selection of candidates, and thus parties. If no candidate gets at least 50% of the vote then second and third choices are counted until somebody gets at least half the voters. That winner is a first, second or third choice of the majority of the voters.
Preferential balloting is a variation on the theme of FPP, since everything but the ballots and counting remain the same. The political parties use preferential balloting in their leadership contests and municipalities are jumping in with at least one foot. It better reflects the public’s wishes and is more democratic. So why not move this approach to, arguably, the most important political contest of all – federal elections?
Mr. Trudeau understands this, or at least did when he was campaigning and promising, in 2015, to get rid of our archaic FPP system. Why he just didn’t implement this system following his 2015 election win is a good question. He decided to follow parliamentary procedures and create a committee. But the committee was dominated by the opposition and they outwitted him, recommending proportional representation, but demanding a national referendum. And ranked ballots never got past the idea stage.
 Doomed to perpetual opposition under a preferential voting system. The Conservatives likely have a larger and more loyal base than the Liberals and they certainly raise far more money. Half of those voting Tory had made up their minds before the campaign had even started compared with less than a third for the Liberals. But over 60% of Canada’s electorate prefer liberal-type to conservative policies. So the Conservatives, having become even more anti-progressive in the last couple of decades, would be doomed to perpetual opposition under a preferential voting system.
Yet, as we see, the Tories can and do win under the unranked FPP. For example Mr. Ford won Ontario’s last election with a majority of seats and only 40% of the total vote. And yes many of the party’s candidates failed to get 50% of the vote but slipped up the middle. It is little wonder some voters cannot be bothered voting, the odds are stacked against them unless they are fans of either of the two main parties.
And then there is the hope of political reconciliation. Since a preferential ballot more accurately represents the wishes of the majority of the voters, the main parties on the right and the left would be forced to move more to where the bulk of the voters are if they want to win. Political reality rather than abject ideology should end up playing a greater role in policy. And the third and fringe parties could continue to offer ideas, even though they would face the prospect of fewer elected members themselves, and possibly an eventual demise.
 Had the Liberals decided to use a preferential ballot they might easily have landed a majority. It was a horse race you could they’d have won. That is the downside. That Canada under a preferential balloting system might devolve into a two party system. It would be nice to think that Trudeau was dissuaded from changing our balloting system for that reason – that he was primarily concerned about the consequences for the third parties. After all given the outcome of October’s election, a preferential ballot might easily have landed him a majority. A horse race you could bet he’d have won.
 Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Federal Election Results – Strategic Voting –
By Pepper Parr
October 31st, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
It is a nasty, sneaky, dishonest way of explaining to tax payers how much of a tax increase they are going to be hit with.
The tax bill people get includes taxes levied by the school boards, taxes levied by the Regional government and taxes levied by the city of Burlington.
It was found to be more efficient to put all the taxes on the one bill – it also made it easier to collect.
 The Board of Education determines how much money they need in the way of taxes; all the city does is collect it for them. The city has zip influence on what the school board levy in the way of taxes to pay for the operation of our school system. All the city does is collect the money and pass it along to the school board.
 Burlington has seven votes on the 24 member Regional Council – input on the tax levy – nothing more than that. The city has some (not very much) influence on what the Region decides they need in the way of tax money to operate the services they provide: police, the water system, waste management along with health and social services.
The only tax level the city controls is what they spend on delivering the services they provide.
In the 2020-2021 budget that is to go before Council in November reference is made to “unfunded service enhancements which if added to the budget brings the city tax increase to 4.73% (2.76% when combined with the Region and Education taxes).
The public is looking at a tax increase of more than 4% – probably close to 5% once they decide just how much they want to spend on climate control matters.
What Council does when they play around with the numbers is akin to the 17 year old, single daughter who says to her Father: Daddy I am just a little bit pregnant.
Taxes are inevitable. Treat the public with the respect they deserve and tell them the truth. Stop the pussyfooting around.
 This city council has an opportunity to teach the bureaucrats to be more open and honest with the tax payers.
 By Staff
October 31st, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
It was the best decision that came out of the PAR (Program Accommodation Review) of 2017 – an event that shut down two of the city’s seven high schools.
There were some issues at the time about the amount of unused space at the Aldershot High School, which was threatened with closure.
A trustee who failed to get re-elected came up with the idea and staff got a grip on it and created what came to be known as i STEM – Innovation, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics program that takes a project approach to learning that requires students to solve problems with the subjects they are learning.
 Superintendent Terri Blackwell with Director of Education Stuart Miller the night parents showed up to learn more about the iSTEM program. The program started in September with a grade 9 class that has students from across the Region.
The response to the creation of the STEM program surpassed the Board’s most optimistic projections.
There will be a presentation on November 12th at the high school – the public will get a chance to see how well the program is working.
The grade 9 students will move on to grade 10 – when they graduate there will be a full high school program.
Available to students in Halton and beyond, I-STEM (Innovation – Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) enables students to develop innovation skills related to engineering design and design thinking, entrepreneurial thinking skills and global competencies. Students will have enhanced learning opportunities through community and post-secondary partnerships.
“I-STEM has been designed to prepare students for future trends in the workforce and help students solve complex economic, social and environmental problems,” says Terri Blackwell, Superintendent of Education for the HDSB. “We are fortunate to work with an extensive group of advisors on program development, opportunities and learning.”
 Superintendent Terri Blackwell “I-STEM has been designed to prepare students for future trends in the workforce and help students solve complex economic, social and environmental problems,” says Terri Blackwell, Superintendent of Education for the HDSB. “We are fortunate to work with an extensive group of advisors on program development, opportunities and learning.”
“We look forward to sharing with families and the community what current I-STEM students and faculty are accomplishing in the program’s inaugural year, as well as showcase the new and innovative learning spaces.”
I-STEM Open House, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Aldershot School (50 Fairwood Place W, Burlington)
A presentation will be held in the auditorium at 7 p.m. and repeated at 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Overflow parking is available at LaSalle Park.
By Pepper Parr
October 31st, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
This is the second of a six part series on how the city is revising the adopted but not yet approved city plan.
The Taking a Closer look report was prepared by SGL, a consulting group and delivered to the city last August.
The public didn’t become aware of the document until earlier this week. So much for “meaningful engagement”.
The report is the first step in the re-examination of the Official Plan. It is intended to provide a guide to the background to the City’s Official Plan (OP) Policies for the Downtown and the process the City is currently undertaking to re-examine the Downtown OP Policies.
 Planning Staff met with citizens during an Action Plan meeting where the participants had workbooks to record their thoughts. A companion piece to this report is the Public Engagement Plan. It provides a roadmap of the engagement activities that were to take place over the next few months, highlighting at which points in the process engagement will take place, who will be engaged and the level of engagement. The plan also clearly defines which aspects of the process the City and public can influence throughout the discussion.
On February 7, 2019 the new City Council voted to re-examine the policies in the adopted Official Plan. The Council motion directs Burlington’s Director of City Building to commence a process to re-examine the policies of the Official Plan in their entirety as they relate to matters of height and intensity and conformity with provincial density targets.
A Council workshop was held on March 18, 2019 to obtain further Council feedback on this direction. Council’s further feedback resulted in focusing the work on the Downtown and on refinements to the Neighbourhood Centres policies.
A work plan for re-examining the Official Plan policies was presented by City Staff to Planning and Development Committee on May 21, 2019 and approved on May 27, 2019.
The outcome of this work will be a set of modified policies for the Downtown supported by a Final Report prepared by SGL – the consulting firm the city hired to produce the study and manage a large part of the public engagement.
It is amazing how many people do not fully understand what the purpose of an Official Plan is; what it does and how it gets revised.
An Official Plan is a statutory document that describes the City’s long-term, land-use strategy for the next 20 years. It is prepared with input from the public and helps to ensure future planning and development will meet the specific needs of the community.
An official plan deals mainly with issues such as:
• the location and form of new housing, industry, offices and shops;
• the anticipated needs for services such as roads, watermains, sewers, parks, schools and community amenities;
• where future growth will happen in the City and how to make effective use of land;
• opportunities for community improvement initiatives; and
• community identity, place-making and urban design.
The over-rising issue during the October 2018 municipal election was the matter of height – and where the tall buildings would be located. Most people did not object to tall 25 storeys + buildings – they just didn’t want them in the downtown core – south of Caroline. At this point in time the citizens are looking at three that have been approved (one has shovels in the ground) with three others working their way towards the planners at city hall.
 Once they were sworn in they got down to business – the day after this was taken they fired the city manager. An Official Plan is typically intended to plan for a 20-year time frame but could provide direction beyond that time period. The Re-examination of the OP is intended to guide planning to 2031.
The Official Plan Burlington is working under today was approved in 2006.
The City commenced an Official Plan Review in 2011. The review included preparation of numerous studies, analysis and public engagement over an 8 year period including preparation of a Mobility Hubs Opportunities and Constraints Study, Employment Land Studies, and a Commercial Strategy Study. This review was intended to conform with and implement the Region’s Official Plan and conform to the new Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
This is how we got to where we are. The next installment is about the process being used.
 How we got to where we are – it is not a pretty picture. Mobility hubs were to be one of the planning approaches Burlington would use to accommodate the growth that was to take place.
 The Molinaro Group were the first to develop around a GO station – one of the three mobility hubs in Burlington. A Mobility Hub, as defined by Metrolinx, is a major transit station area that has the potential to accommodate a range of employment, housing, recreation and shopping around it. Mobility Hubs are intended to be mixed-use neighbourhoods that are walkable, bikeable and transit-oriented and to be a focus for intensification. The Hubs will also take advantage of Metrolinx’s planned Regional Express Rail, which will feature two-way, all-day service every 15 minutes along the Lakeshore West line. The four areas included in the Mobility Hubs Study were Aldershot, Burlington, and Appleby GO Stations, as well as Downtown Burlington.
A major transit station area (MTSA) is an area around a higher order transit station or the area around a bus depot in an urban core or downtown. Higher order transit includes subways, GO lines, streetcars and buses in dedicated rights of way. An MTSA is generally the area within a 10-minute walk (500 to 800 metres) of the transit stations. However, the Region is required to delineate the specific boundary of the MTSA, which will be done as part of their current Official Plan review. Lands within an MTSA are required to provide a diverse mix of uses, support transit, be a focus for growth, and in certain cases achieve a minimum density.
The Halton Region Official Plan recommends that Mobility Hubs receive a higher level of development intensity and design consideration to support transit than what may be applied in other MTSAs.
Following the identification of Mobility Hubs by Metrolinx, the City’s long term 2015 – 2040 Strategic Plan identified the importance of Mobility Hubs near the City’s GO Stations and in the downtown.
 The original view was that there would be four mobility hubs – the one in the downtown core was little more than a bus station. It is expected to be removed from the list. In July 2016, Burlington City Council approved a staff report, which outlined a work plan, allocation of staff resources and required funding to simultaneously develop four Area Specific Plans, one for each of Burlington’s Mobility Hubs. An Area Specific Plan, also sometimes called a Secondary Plan, is a plan that is more detailed than an Official Plan and guides future development in a specific geographic area. An Area Specific Plan can include a variety of studies and contains specific policies to guide future development.
City Council unanimously approved the project, with the goal of completing all four Area Specific Plans no later than June 2018. In April 2017, the Mobility Hubs Team began a comprehensive public consultation program around the future vision for each of the Mobility Hubs as shown in the timeline for the Downtown Mobility Hub work.
 Downtown Mobility Hub Study Timeline. The work on the Mobility hubs was put on hold when the city realized that the number of developments in the downtown core were overwhelming the planning staff and except for the Molinaro Group and the Adi Development Group, no one was doing anything within the hub boundaries. Staff began working on the Downtown Mobility Hub Area Specific Plan in advance of the other three Mobility Hubs with the objective of including a vision for the downtown in the draft New Official Plan in late 2017. The New Official Plan provided an opportunity to strengthen the existing policy framework for the downtown.
The boundary for the Downtown Mobility Hub included both the existing “Downtown Mixed Use Centre” boundary in the current Official Plan as well as the Urban Growth Centre (UGC) boundary. The Downtown Area Specific Plan was developed with a long term, full build-out perspective which extended well beyond 2031.
The City of Burlington Official Plan 2018 was adopted by Burlington City Council on April 26, 2018.
A new city council was sworn in on December 3rd, 2018.
On December 4, 2018, the Region of Halton provided a notice to the City advising that the adopted Official Plan does not conform with the Regional Official Plan in a number of respects including issues related to agricultural, employment, transportation and natural heritage. The Region did not identify any issues of conformity with the Downtown Precinct policies.
The Region informed the City that the City can make additional modifications before the plan is approved by the Region with appropriate planning justification and public consultation. Today, the adopted Official Plan is still under review by the Region for regional approval.
City Council together with the direction to re-examine the Official Plan also passed an Interim Control By-law (ICBL) and put the Mobility Hub Area Specific Planning on hold.
Part 1
Next installment: The Process.
By Pepper Parr
October 30th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Mayor has a “dashboard”; a place where you can see everything you wanted to know about her Red Tape Red Carpet initiative, a personal project she dragged ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith into.
The initiative came out of the Mayor’s State of the City initiative to the Chamber of Commerce on January 30, 2019, when she announced a new initiative being launched from the Mayor’s Office in partnership with Councillor Kelvin Galbraith: the Red Tape Red Carpet Task Force (RTRC).
 They all wanted a piece of her; it was the first time the business community got to see her up close. “The initiative’s goal:” said the Mayor was to “ identify and eliminate barriers to growth and new business attraction in Burlington so that new and existing businesses can locate here, expand and thrive.”
You couldn’t go wrong with a statement to the business leaders in the city.
On Monday, September 23,the Mayor proudly announced that the “22 recommendations were unanimously approved by council, and implementation is now underway. Our new City Manager, Tim Commisso will lead this implementation and city council will be updated on progress on a monthly basis.”
You get to see just what was achieved. The link is HERE.
 You can scroll through the “dashboard” and read what has been done with each of the 22 recommendations. The dashboard with all 22 recommendations looks like this:
.
A break out of just one of the recommendations appears on the right.
 RTRC looks like it is being merged with the Economic Development Corporation. Prediction: Economic Development, currently an arms length operation will be brought into city hall. No word on what this initiative is costing. If you’ve nothing better to do scroll through the 22 recommendations and see if you can find any value.
The RTRC initiative however is more than a list of minor tasks – it is the device that Mayor Meed Ward has used to edge into the work that the Burlington Economic Development Corporation is doing.
One of the RTRC results was the creation of a job description for a person who would work within city hall to make sure that any new business organizations that were considering Burlington as their new corporate home would have someone inside city hall the making sure the the wrinkles were ironed out and get some wiggle into bureaucrats who were not moving at that brisk and efficient business pace the Chamber of Commerce likes to see.
By Pepper Parr
October 30th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
This is the first of a six part series on how the city is revising the adopted but not yet approved city plan.
It doesn’t carry the same weight as the Shape Burlington report but if we don’t manage what the Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown: What You Need to Know report sets out – there won’t be all that much left of the shape people who voted for the new city council wanted.
The report is lengthy and we aren’t going to set it all out for you in a single document. What we are going to do is publish the report in six pieces based on table of contents which read as follows.
Introduction
What is the Purpose of this Report?
Why is the City Re-examining the Adopted Official Plan?
What is the Purpose of an Official Plan?
How Did We Get Here?
 People who took part in the Walking Tour looking over the map. The Process
What were the Objectives of the Downtown Precinct Plan?
What Public Events were Held During the Official Plan Process?
What did the City Hear During the Official Plan Process?
What is Involved in Re-Examining the Downtown Policies?
Governing Policies and their Role in the Outcome
What is The Provincial Policy Statement?
What is A Place to Grow, Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe?
How does the Halton Region Official Plan Guide Planning in the Downtown?
What is the City’s Vision in the Adopted Official Plan?
What are the Key Policy Directions that Influence the Downtown?
Connections to Other Projects
What is the Timing of the Region’s Official Plan Review?
What’s the Status of the Area Specific Plan for the Downtown Mobility Hub?
What is an Interim Control By-Law?
What is an Interim Control By-Law?
The Engagement Plan and What You Should Know
What is an Engagement Plan?
What Does Meaningful Engagement Look Like?
What Does Meaningful Feedback/Input Look Like?
What You Should Know to get Involved
The work being done on the adopted but not yet approved Official Plan is referred to as a Scoped Re-examination. The next step is to finalize the background technical studies that were initiated during the Mobility Hub Area Specific Planning Study including, but not limited to, studies on cultural heritage, municipal servicing and transportation.
We will use these themes to guide the creation of two land-use and built form concepts for the downtown. We will also use the themes and principles developed with the public to create evaluation criteria, which will be used to evaluate the two concepts.
We will then share the two land-use and built form concepts to start a discussion with the public. Based on public and technical inputs and application of the evaluation criteria, a recommended concept will be developed and presented to Council for endorsement.
The concept endorsed by Council will be used to refine the Downtown Precinct Plan policies in the adopted Official Plan. Those refined policies will in turn be presented to Council for endorsement. The concept and policies endorsed by Council will then be sent to Halton Region for final approval.
The report was released to the public today – unfortunately it wasn’t given to the 150 people who took part in the Action Plan Workshops, nor was a copy given to the 40 some people who took part in the Walking Tour.
That was regrettable.
The Taking a Closer Look at the Downtown: What You Need to Know report is the first step in the re-examination of the Official Plan; it is intended to provide you with a guide to the background to the City’s Official Plan (OP) Policies for the Downtown and the process the City is currently undertaking to re-examine the Downtown OP Policies.
By Pepper Parr
October 29th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
 The land between Lakeshore Road and Old Lakeshore Road has been referred to as the football every since we started publishing. Why would the city want to name is the peanut? Is it a football or a peanut?
What most people know as the “football” was referred to as the peanut by Director of Planning Heather MacDonald at one of the Action Plan sessions last week.
 Is it a football ….  …or a peanut? It is probably the most significant piece of developable land left in the downtown core.
In time it might equal Spencer Smith Park in importance to the look, feel and public open space in the city.
Right now there are developers crawling all over the land with proposal for developments that will rise more than 25 storeys.
The Carriage Gate Group subsidiary Lakeshore Old Burlington gave a presentation to a very small group at a public meeting recently. No one has yet to explain why that meeting was so poorly promoted.
 Not much of that quaint, walk-able community in this 3d model of what the CORE Development group want to dump into the ‘football’. The CORE Development group gave the public a good look at what they have in mind for the properties to the west of the Burlington Old LAkeshore proposal.
They will be making the required Statutory presentation to city council on November 5th at city hall
 Lakeshore Mixed use precinct – on the north and south side of Lakeshore from Locust to Martha. Each property will have its own rules put in place. During the two Action Plan workshops the city held for residents some people wanted to know why the “football” and the Lakeshore Precinct were not included in the public think sessions.
They were told by the Director of Planning, Heather MacDonald that those precincts were to be the subject of separate studies once the revisions to the adopted but not yet approved Official Plan are in place.
One can sympathize with the workload the Planning department faces but the “football” and what has been defined as the Lakeshore precinct are just as important as the look and feel of Brant Street if not more so.
What makes Burlington the city it is – is the lake.
 At the eastern edge of the football – the tower will become the gateway to the downtown core.  This structure is to the immediate west of the latest Carriage Gate Development.
The millions spent on the Pier; the millions spent on getting public access to the lake at the foot of the Bridgewater development and public access to the lake through that development will be for naught if there are no rules that apply to the football and the Lakeshore precinct.
At this point there are two mammoth development applications for the “football” on the table
Let us not repeat the terrible mistake with that Anchor Hub – the label that got stuck on a tiny bus terminal.
Related news stories:
The stunning development planned for the “football”
Can high rise development be brought to an end?
By Pepper Parr
October 29, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
Yet another survey.
City of Burlington looking for feedback on Recreation Services Department’s priorities
This began with the creation of a “Draft Framework for Community Recreation in the City of Burlington.”
The draft framework will be the guiding document used by the Recreation Services Department (formerly the Parks and Recreation Department) in determining how tax dollars are invested in future programming, facility development and partnerships.
 Splash pads and pools are vital for many parents – are there enough of them? The framework will provide clarity, transparency and consistency in how we allocate resources for recreational services. This will lead to more efficient processes such as the facility allocation including scheduling of ice, pool, gym and sport field time.
Before the framework can be finalized, the City is looking for input on where the Recreation Services Department’s priorities should be.
As for that “draft” – wasn’t included. We have asked for a copy.
The online survey can be found at getinvolvedburlington.ca/recservices and will be open until Nov. 12, 2019.
Results of this survey will be shared with Council in an upcoming report in December.
The survey is quite short – not complex.
Chris Glenn, Director of Recreation Services explains: “We want to ensure we’re offering the type of programs and services that benefit the population at large. It’s good to check-in with our residents to make sure we’re focusing on the right areas of recreation. Your input is important to shape our Framework for Recreation for our City.”
Survey Link
 By Staff
October 28th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
We knew this was coming – that doesn’t make it any easier to cope with.
The intersection of Lakeshore Road and Brant Street is going to be a bit of a dog’s breakfast for the next couple of days.
The time frame is: October. 28th, today through to November 1, and then from the 4th to the 8th, 2019
Weather will determine just how long the roads will be closed
Brant Street will be fully closed at Lakeshore Road. There will be a road closure sign at Elgin Street and Pine Street with local access to businesses and residential buildings.
Lakeshore Road at Brant Street – Nov. 4 – 8
Lakeshore Road at Brant Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
This work is highly weather dependent, so dates will be changed if needed.
Full emergency access will be provided.
|
|
