Government All « Burlington Gazette - Local News, Politics, Community

And now we would like your opinion - new polling feature in the Gazette

By Pepper Parr

June 24th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

Another way for the public to express their views of what happens in Burlington.

The Gazette has created a poll that will run frequently – asking readers for their views on matters of public interest and concern.

The first was published yesterday asking people if they felt the Mayor owed Councillor Stolte an apology for the way she attempted to force the Councillor to read out an apology.

The polling questions will be inserted into stories that are relevant and related.

This is a bit of an experiment on our part – let’s see how it goes.

Mayor presses councillor to apologize.

Why is the webcast of the Tuesday Council meeting not available to the public? Because the Mayor doesn't want you to hear what she said?

By Pepper Parr

June 23rd, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

On Tuesday of this week there were two public meetings that involved city council.

One was a meeting of the Audit Committee – which is a Standing Committee of Council which took place at 10:30 am. There were some problems with the sound and the meeting was cut short with everything deferred until the July meeting.

The other was a meeting of Council which took place at 1:00 pm and was over shortly before 5:00 pm.

Both were public meetings delivered to the public as a web cast.

For people who were not able to watch the web cast as it was being broadcast there is an opportunity to go to the city web site and watch the meeting later.

Note the word live. You can click on that and watch the meeting.

Here is what you will see for the Audit Committee on the City Calendar. Notice that there is a link that you can click on – the word LIVE in green lettering.

Now look at what is on the city calendar for the meeting of Council.

You can’t watch a rebroadcast.

Why not – the Audit Committee met at 10:30 and their meeting is available.

Note that the word lice does not appear. That is because the city technical people have not yet loaded the webcast. The big questions is – why has it not been loaded?

We may get told that there were technical difficulties and the broadcast is not available and may never be available.

The Gazette has a transcript of who said what when.

At one point the Mayor said she wanted remarks that were made by Councillor Stolte, as the two bickered back and forth, be “stricken from the record”.

Our transcript can be converted to an MP3 file which means you can hears the words for yourself.

It just might come to that.

Gloves came off and a very very nasty meeting took place with the Mayor trying to bend a council member to her will.

By Pepper Parr

June 22nd, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

The gloves were off when Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Councillor Stolte took at it during a City Council meeting Tuesday afternoon..

Several months ago there was a complaint made by a staff member to the Integrity Commissioner about a statement Councillor Stolte had made when being interviewed by the Gazette.

The comment had to do with the difficulty Stolte was having getting an administrative assistant.

Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte

When Stolte made the statement during a long interview she did not say who the staff member was who had decided that she did not want to work as an assistant to a member of council but wanted to return to the Clerk’s Office to further her career.

The staff member, Georgi Gartside was not identified in the article – I didn’t know who the person was who didn’t want to work with Stolte.

Apparently Gartside believed that anyone who was familiar with what goes on at city hall would have been able to figure out who it was that quit the job.

Personally I thought that was a bit of a stretch and apparently so did the Integrity Commissioner who decided there was no public interest in proceeding with an investigation – providing Stolte made a public apology.

There was a lot of back and forth between Stolte, Gartside and the Integrity Commissioner on the content of an apology – when all that was worked out Stolte advised the Clerk that she would read her apology during the Councillor Comments at the end of the meeting. Gartsdie was fully aware of this.

The Mayor took it upon herself to revise the agenda, which she has the right to do, and put the apology at the top of the agenda. Stolte was not aware of the agenda change until the Mayor announced it at the beginning of the meeting.

And that is when things got ugly – very ugly.

The Mayor, who was not in the Council Chamber, she was at Western University watching her daughter graduate, took part virtually.

Weird as it was Councillor Stolte was the Deputy Mayor who would take over chairing the meeting when the Mayor excused herself to take part in the graduation event.

As the Mayor was proceeding with the meeting she made a comment about “All questions will be stated succinctly and not used as a means of making statements or assertions. That is section 49.3 of our procedure bylaw.”

It would appear that the Mayor was getting ready for a contentious meeting – which she certainly got.

Mayor Marianne who is close to the end of her first term as Mayor: Will there be a second term?

The Mayor then announced that there was some “… agenda management to deal with this morning.

“There are four items on today’s agenda that we are going to bring forward and deal with at the top of our agenda in accordance with our procedure bylaw section 32 which covers agenda changes.

“So as I introduce each item that we will deal with I’ll provide the rationale for bringing it forward.

“The first item is an Integrity Commissioner matter.

“A member of staff filed a complaint with the Integrity Commissioner against councillor Stolte that she violated several provisions of the council code of good governance. The recommended resolution to that complaint by the Integrity Commissioner was a public apology by the counselor. The Apology had been agreed to by the staff member and the councillor. The details of the complaint and resolution are included in a disposition letter from the Integrity Commissioner.”

At this point there was a point of order raised by counselor Stolte

The Mayor said: “I will finish my remarks and then I will take the point of order. Typically these disposition letters are not made public by the Integrity Commissioner. ”

Stolte interrupted saying “there’s a point of order” which the Mayor did not appear to want to recognize.

The Clerk appeared to agree saying “I would recommend just hearing the point of order read by the member.’

Stolte then said: “Mayor, I do believe that you understand protocol that a point of order, which has now turned into a point of privilege is to be dealt with before you continue with your remarks. I was really hoping to not have to say this today but I actually have prepared a statement because unfortunately I was expecting this.

Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte who has yet to file nomination paper for the October election.

“This is entirely unprofessional and inappropriate for you to be discussing this matter. While there was a complaint made to the commissioner the Integrity Commissioner deemed that it was not appropriate to come before Council in the form of a report which it sounds as though you have taken it upon yourself to do of your own accord.

“That’s entirely unprofessional. The only reason this is being made public is because of a private agreement that I made a promise to a staff member that I wanted to rectify. It’s a private agreement and a promise I made to a staff member that has been agreed upon. I will be dealing with it during statements by members as you were already informed. As I said it’s entirely inappropriate that you make an attempt to bring that forward now and turn it into yet another political circus for your own selfish gain.

“I think you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Thank you, counselor,” said the Mayor “I will ask that all those remarks, especially attacking my integrity be struck from the record as violating the code of good governance.

“However, the reason I wished to continue with my remarks was to provide the basis for why they were being made in the first place. So it’s really important and helpful to be allowed to finish what we are doing here and I think once you hear the balance of my remarks you will understand.

“A point of order” said Stolte interrupting the Mayor who was not going to be interrupted saying “… to finish my remarks that the statement that has been made will be explained if I’m permitted to finish.

“The staff member has asked for this to be made public. The staff member has asked for this to be dealt with at the top of the meeting and it is the mayor’s prerogative to do that. So we will proceed with this I’m going to proceed.”

Councillor Nisan interrupts “your worship may I make a point of order?”

The Mayor responds “Sure. Counselor thank you

Nisan continues: “I’m gonna try to be helpful as well. there’s a lot of emotions in the various rooms – I want to take the opportunity to have the floor on the point of order and suggest Councillor Stolte if she does not wish to proceed this way that she requests a vote on the matter. That will require a two thirds majority and then we can we can move forward with a mutual understanding and put the point of orders to bed.”

Stolte responds: “I’m having issue with the fact that I asked for a point of order and a point of privilege and was denied and instead councillor Nisan was granted a point of order.

Stolte continues: “This is not a matter for public discussion. This is not a matter for public debate. This is not the business of counsel to be dealing with what has already been determined. The process where it is to be given was determined is not your place to decide, it’s going to be a publicly debated matter whether you like it or not that is not your place to do.

“I will leave this meeting if required to do so because I am not going to compelled to partake in a political circus for a private matter that is between myself and employee of the city. We had come to a mutual agreement on how to best deal with that. It is not the business of Council.

“It is not the business of the mayor to make it a public spectacle. Do I need to leave the meeting?”

Mayor: Thank you, councillor. Do I now have the floor the Mayor asks the Clerk who responds: “Yes, as presiding officer you do.

Mayor “Thank you. Am I permitted to complete my comments?

City Clerk Kevin Arjoon at a council meeting

Clerk: Well, there was a point of order though. So if you want to just like determine the point of order and then kind of then you can proceed on to your comments.

Bedlam takes over with the Clerk saying: “hold on, hold on one at a time please one person at a time … if we need to take a recess we will do so. The fact of the matter is a staff member has requested that this be put on the public agenda for a public apology and as requested the item be heard at the beginning of the council meeting.

Stolte: Yes. And there has been an explanation as to why that is not appropriate.

Mayor: Okay. Counselor Stolte You do not have the floor. Please do not interrupt.

Stolte: “Well, what I’m asking is a privilege to cease this conversation. Are you marching ahead and refusing to seize this topic? Is that what I’m understanding?”

Mayor: I’m trying to complete the comments around why this item is appropriate and I am telling you it is inappropriate? Are you refusing to do that?

Stolte: “Okay, so I just want to know who has the floor.”

Clerk: ” So I just want to jump in just to give some clarity here. So the point of order will be taking precedence over any other matter and a member will not be permitted to enter into debate or introduce any motion not related to the point of privilege.

“Section2.3 of the Procedural bylaw is the Chair will decide upon the point of privilege and advise the members of the decision, than section 2.4 is the chairs decision is final unless a member immediately appealed the decision. And then section 2.5 is if the decision of the chair is appealed. The chair will immediately call a vote on the decision. The vote will occur without debate and the results will be final based on a two thirds vote.

“So that’s in the procedure by law.”

Stolte: sir. “I’m requesting clarification from the mayor whether it was her decision on my point of privilege and if she’s refusing to acknowledge my request to cease this conversation until the appropriate time during statements of members later today?

Mayor: “So my decision in respect of the staff member who is here to hear the apology from you, that the apology be heard at the beginning of the meeting. That is the way we have ordered the agenda so I can turn it to you to make your apology now if you wish. And that’s how we will proceed.”

Stolte: “I will be making any statement that I need to make during statements by members as you were made well aware of.”

Mayor Meed Ward chair a city council meeting

Mayor: “So the staff member who brought the original complaint is on the line now. The staff member has requested that the apology agreed to by the counselor be heard at the top of the council meeting that is now so that they can be present to hear the apology if so the staff members on the line and they would like to be present to hear the apology rather than wait till the end of the meeting. So I will turn it to you counselor Stolte to read the agreed upon apology.”

Hands began to be raised by different Councillors who wanted to speak.

Mayor: “I have a couple of hands as well as Councillor Kearns and then I have Councillor Stolte

Okay. Going to Councillor Kearns go ahead”

Kearns: “The question perhaps to the clerk. Can you confirm that the statement that was read out previously was in fact part of the council script or not? Was this reviewed by the clerk’s and or city manager in order to be presented in this forum?”

Much of what members of Council say when they are chairing a meeting is prepared for them by either the Clerk or the Director of Communications.

Clerk: “through you Counselor to the chair to the committee to council. We didn’t write this in the script. This is the mayor’s remarks and the mayor is doing this as the chair of Council and the presiding officer”

Kearns: “Okay, so just as a follow up, I’m not sure I needed that information whatsoever from a third party. Is there a way to this now part of public record and something that was just brought forward solely by the chair.”

Clerk: “through you, counselor to the council in terms of By law section 32.2 it states that the mayor, the clerk or a member of council can bring forward an amendment to the order of the agenda. So that’s the rule that the Mayor stated when she started the remarks. There was a request from the staff member of the complainant that this matter be held at the beginning of the meeting.”

Mayor: “To be clear the remarks were pre circulated to the complainant, the director of HR the city clerk Kevin Arjoon, the city manager. So everyone was aware that we were reordering the agenda. All of this was discussed by all parties in advance (apparently Stolte was not aware of the plan to re-order the agenda) as the way to deal with the matter.

“In respect of the city staff members desire to have the item publicly disclosed and to have the public apology made at the beginning of the council meeting. So all we are discussing right now is that this item be heard at the beginning of the meeting which is the chair of the meetings prerogative to reorder.

“The agenda item would otherwise have been held during statements by members. If I had been permitted to finish my statement that would have been made clear to everyone that typically if there is no other provision provided for in the procedure bylaw the matter will be dealt with during statements by members.”

Stolte begins to speak.

Mayor cuts in: “you don’t have the floor. It’s really important for the balance of this meeting that people do not unmute and speak unless they have the floor.

Mayor Meed Ward during better days.

“So we we will proceed. The item was to be dealt with under statements by members exactly as it unfolded just now. At the request of the staff member who is present and on the line right now. The request was made to have it at the beginning of the meeting while she can be present and tune in and not have to wait till the end of the meeting to hear the apology that was directed towards her.

“So that is why we reordered the agenda and all of that was discussed in advance by all parties at the pre-meeting this morning. So there are no other items of business. I will turn the floor to Councillor Stolte to offer the apology to the staff member. Is Councillor Stolte in chambers

Perhaps city manager can advise whether Councillor Stolte is present in chambers to offer her apology.

Meed Ward was not in the Council Chamber and was not aware that Stolte had left her seat.

Meed Ward, seeing that there is no one present. said “We will now turn to and I do apologize to the staff member who’s on the line you will have to watch the balance of the meeting. We don’t know when we’ll get to it but it will come up later in the meeting.”

It was a brazen use of power on the part of the Mayor who was determined to force Councillor Stolte to do what the Mayor wanted and not what had been determined previously as an acceptable way to handle this matter.

It was not a pretty picture.

Is this the issue that former Mayor Rick Goldring will use to run again?

Not mentioned at the meeting is the fact that Georgie Gartside was Meed Ward’s assistant when she was a Councillor.

At that time none of the people working as councillor assistants wanted to work with Meed Ward. Gartside accepted the job on the understanding that she could leave if things did not work out.

They did work with the Council member and Gartside worked with Meed Ward for eight years.

Quite why Gartside needed a public apology is not clear. Insisting that the apology be read out at the beginning of the Council meeting so she could hear what she had already read suggests a level of vengeance that has taken hold in the office of the Mayor.

Stolte did not reveal who it was who quite the job as assistant. The Integrity Commissioner decided that while it was not a matter for Council – they would not issue a report providing Stolte apologized.

This is the second time the Integrity Commissioner has come forward with a decision that is at best questionable.

Finally - the apology - and a comment about a head of counsel who continually seeks out opportunities to cause quarrels and distress'

By Pepper Parr

June 21^st, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

Finally, with the Mayor away – her daughter graduates from Western University and Momma wants to be there for that event, Councillor Shawna Stolte, serving as the Deputy Mayor and Chair of the city council meeting got to read out her apology to staff member Georgie Gartside.

Stolte began:

“ I’m going to start with a comment to say that it really saddens and distresses me that we have a head of counsel who continually seeks out opportunities to cause quarrels and distress at the expense of honest and genuine work of councillors. The statement I’d prepared for today is an apology to a staff member named Georgie Gartside for comments made by myself that she was concerned had impugned her professionalism.

“I’m not sure how the mayor came to know the details of the issue which were a private matter.

Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte

“I had come to a genuine and heartfelt resolution that had resulted in the Integrity Commissioner determining that a public report and discussion was not necessary, as Ms Gartside and myself had reached a satisfactory resolution to her concerns. I’m concerned that the mayor’s behaviour has only served to taint and cheapen what was meant to be a positive and collaborative closure for Ms Gartside and myself. Having said that, I’d like to take the time now to read the statement that I’d prepared and I hope that she’s listening and that I hope that her experience has not been too tainted by the display earlier today.

“The statement I’d like to make is that creating and maintaining positive and productive relationships with staff at the City of Burlington is very important in our role as counsellors. It came to my attention, that a direct quote of mine in an article in the Burlington Gazette resulted in a city staff member feeling as though their character or reputation had been affected and this is not something I take lightly.

“I’d like to express my sincere regret that my involvement in an article in the Burlington Gazette on April 11 of 2020 caused distress to a staff member, Ms Georgie Gartside, as this was certainly not my intention. The nature of my interview for that article was very casual regarding the first year of being a new counsellor. And my answer to the general open ended question of what was the first few months like was described in a casual storytelling manner, which was intended to be only background material for what I assumed would be an edited article.

“Had I understood that my general and casual comments were be going to be printed verbatim in a series of articles, I certainly would have taken greater care to ensure that the explanation of my own experiences did not have any potential to negatively impact others. While I did not mention Ms Gartside specifically by name, I can certainly appreciate that she felt as though she’d be too easily identified by the comments in the article. It came to my attention that Ms Gartside felt that the comments made it sound like she had spoken to myself in a rude manner and that she did not want to be a counsellor assistant or that she planned to leave the counsellor’s office as soon as she could or that we did not work well together.

“I absolutely acknowledge Ms Gartside is concerned that my comments could have been misinterpreted in this manner. I want to state without hesitation that was certainly not in any way what I intended to communicate, and I regret any misunderstanding that caused Ms Gartside distress. Ms Gartside was very professional, upfront and honest and advising me during the first week of this term of counsel that her preference would have been to have stayed in the clerk’s department to further her career objectives. And I appreciated that honesty and I supported her desire to continue her career path.

This is the paragraph in the April 11th, 2020 interview that led Georgie Gartside to think that she was the staff member. The Gazette was not told who the person was.

“Ms Gartside remained my ward for assistant for a period of seven months in 2018 and 2019, before being requested to fill a temporary vacancy in the mayor’s office. And during those seven months, Ms Gartside was always highly professional, collaborative, polite and helping to navigate the steep learning curve at City Hall.

Upon learning of Ms Gartside’s concern I immediately sent her a private apology as I would never intentionally cause a respected colleague distress. Miss Gartside indicated it was important to her that her colleagues and the public hear directly from me that I have nothing but the utmost respect for her work and her commitment to her career. And I was more than willing to clear up this misinterpretation. If it brings comfort and resolution to a colleague for whom I have nothing but respect for.

“I want to conclude by stressing that positive and respectful relationships between staff and council are important to accomplishing the good work of the city. And I truly hope that this apology brings Miss Gartside, some peace of mind.”

The complete story of how this disturbing situation came about will follow.

Related news:

The interview that started it all.

The Mayor sets out to squash a city councillor – it backfires.

Mayor slammed by Councillor for turning something into yet another political circus for your own selfish gain.

By Pepper Parr

June 21st, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

The following are excerpt from a story the Gazette is doing on a vicious, vile debate between a member of Council and the Mayor.

The full story will appear later in the day.

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward

The Mayor : “A member of staff filed a complaint with the Integrity Commissioner against Councillor Stolte that she violated several provisions of the council code of good governance. The recommended resolution to that complaint by the Integrity Commissioner was a public apology by the Councillor. The Apology has been agreed to by the staff member and the Councillor. The details of the complaint and resolution are included in a disposition letter from the Integrity Commissioner.

Councillor Shawna Stolte

While there was a complaint made to the commissioner the Integrity Commissioner deemed that it was not appropriate to come before Council in the form of a report which it sounds as though you have taken it upon yourself to do of your own accord. That’s entirely unprofessional. The only reason why this is being made public is because of a private agreement that I made a promise to a staff member that I wanted to rectify.

It’s a private agreement between a staff member and myself that has been agreed upon. I will be dealing with it during statements by members as you were already informed. As I said it’s entirely inappropriate that you make an attempt to bring that forward now and turn it into yet another political circus for your own selfish gain. And I think you should be ashamed of yourself.

“Thank you, Councillor,” said the Mayor.

The balance of this very sad day for city council will be published later today.

Stolte did not read out her apology – she instead walked out of the Council Chamber.

Just what is there in the city for seniors who need to get out to meet people where there is air conditioning

By Pepper Parr

June 21st, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

In the past few days we have published extreme heat notices from both the Region and the city.

Not exactly a senior’s destination – just what does the city have for the seniors?

Libraries are open for those who want to get out of the house and be in a cool place.

There really aren’t that many places that are cool that people can spend time at.

Not sure what the Seniors’ Centre is offering – the malls are always open and the Food Courts are kept busy.

But sitting in a Food Court is not really “programming”.

Haven’t seen anything from Parks & Recreation on what they have planned.

City Council is meeting this afternoon – will someone on Council ask Parks & Recreation what they have in mind for the senior set.

Excessive heat is a killer for that demographic.

Renamed and now known as the Burlington Centre – still has one of the nicer Food Courts.

Some very pointed questions from well informed people on the Bateman High School property. Why is city hall making this so difficult?

By Pepper Parr

June 21st, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

The Procedural Bylaw determines what you can say and how you must say it when you are delegating before city council.

They like it that way. I will come back to that Bylaw later.

It’s a little different when citizens can put what they are thinking and feeling about the plans to purchase Bateman emails/questions posed

The following are questions that were sent to the city by residents.

Why is the business of purchasing this property proving to be so difficult – it is really about one pocket of public money being put into a different pocket of public money.

1. Hi there,
I would like to give feedback on the project. Hope this is the correct forum.

I have lived in Burlington my entire life, I have been a volunteer in various areas from
sports to mental health.

My family [Greg/Andrea] Howard has been recognized for work in the community.

Today I am 45 years old – the last two ice arenas that have opened were Mainway in
the 1980’s / then Appleby in the 2000’s.

Our population continues to grow, our recreational infrastructure for ice sports / indoor
events does not.

Youth hockey is growing, girls and women’s hockey continues to grow, adult programs
are growing.

Arena’s are destinations, and I would bet besides the sound of music festival and
soccer fields – more visitors come to these arena’s / rec. centers than other place in
Burlington.

The “Skyway” rec center project is now used to hold city arborists equipment. We have
now reduced arenas, not grown them

The city of Burlington needs to look at this project with the inclusion of an arena. The
youth deserve it.

Hope someone can acknowledge this.
I’m happy to discuss more.
Thanks, Justin Howard

2. Turn the available land into a much needed full ice and training facility for our
youth. Ice availability in our City is not sufficient for the demand. Our youth are
shortchanged when it comes to ice sports!

Do something to make our residents proud without turning it into another pier
disaster! Dave Guluche

3. Why did the city not have a public engagement plan in place from when it decided
to pursue the acquisition of the property? Jim Thompson

4. When will the traffic studies be complete?

5. What is the plan for removing the asbestos on the site?

6. What is the plan for removing the asbestos on the site? (see above, in the
FAQs)

7. When will the traffic studies be complete?
CM-17-22

8. “What regulation prevents the release of the cost information? The city offer was
accepted by the school board so why the need for secrecy?”

9. Good Morning, I’m glad to see and very much support the proposed adaptive
reuse of Robert Bateman High School by the City of Burlington for a combination
of community and educational uses. I am particularly happy to see the relocation
of the New Appleby public library branch to a more appropriate long term home.
Thank you to city staff and council for your leadership in making this happen.

10. Why is the city rushing engagement – how much is this going to cost the city
taxpayer?

11. Why is the city not answering any questions regarding this project – who wrote
the FAQ.

12. How can a survey that was only up for one day and an information that only
lasted 90 minutes be considered as adequate public engagement?

13. There are outstanding questions that needs to be answered.
• who provided the money to purchase the property in question?
• who provided the money to build the school sitting on the property?
• In both cases it was the TAXPAYER. Therefore the TAXPAYER should receive
the money back, NOT have to “PAY AGAIN” for the City to obtain the property &
building.

• We TAXPAYERS would like these questions answered!!!

Some additional questions from the Gazette.

Why is this engagement business being handled so badly?

Is anyone in the Communications department even listening?

And that Procedural Bylaw – it gets written for Council based on what they want the bylaw to be – why isn’t this an election issue?

Why isn’t there a group people (10 or so is all it would take) to go over the document, re-write and then lobby the members of Council and put together a petition and press council until they make changes to the document.

What do the people of Burlington want the provincial government to do for them.

By Pepper Parr

June 19th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

At this point we don’t have a government in Ontario.

None of those elected earlier this month have been sworn in but 36 of the newly elected were taken on a tour last week to be shown what is where at Queen’s Park.

The Premier is still the Premier and the Cabinet is still the Cabinet – they are the government until the new Cabinet is sown in.

Those who did not run again or were defeated had 10 day to pack up their stuff and move out of the offices they had.

Not sure if Natalie Pierre has moved into the space that Jane McKenna had.

Natalie Pierre – elected to represent the people of Burlington at Queen’s Park

Ted Arnott, who will continue to be the member for Wellington – Halton wrote the Premier setting out what he wanted for his constituency. Natalie Pierre will have some personal ideas as to what she would like to see – she has yet to become fully informed as to what the city needs – although she has had at least one conversation with Mayor Meed Ward.

This might be a good opportunity for the readers of the Gazette to set out what they would like to see the provincial government do in the months ahead.

They have a strong majority and can do pretty much whatever they want to do.

Their first two years during the last government were pretty wild – with all kinds of decisions that no one expected – the decision to cut the number of councillors for Toronto was one memorable example.

This new government is said to be much different than the last.

So – what do you want to see?

Put your thoughts into the comments section and we will go through them all and see what our readers have to say.

And please – have the courage of your convictions and put your real name on the comments.

The plan to create more urban canopy is underway - contribute to it

By Staff

June 18th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

There are three issues that the people of Burlington break out into a sweat when they are discussed:
Parking, fireworks and the urban canopy.

Let me focus on the urban canopy. Does it get much better than the picture below?

This is what most people in Burlington want; a gorgeous urban tree canopy that shades our streets, improves property values and gets some of the pollutants out of the air. But at the same time people want to be able to cut down a tree on their property if they don’t like them. We can’t have it both ways.

You can do this in Burlington.

There are those who understand that a tree is not your property – it is something that exists on your property and you are asked to be the steward of that tree while you are with it.

The tree is probably going to last longer than you will.

There are others who want to be able to cut down a tree on their property because they are tired of raking up the leaves in the fall.

The city is currently working on an Urban Forest Master Plan and like most of the planning decisions the city has a survey – yup another one.

The City of Burlington is seeking community input to help develop an Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP). The Urban Forest Master Plan will update and replace the Urban Forest Management Plan created in 2010. The new Master Plan will provide the strategic direction to manage the urban forest in response to new challenges related to urban development, climate change and extreme weather, and invasive pests. Specifically, the UFMP will provide:

Take the Burlington Urban Forest Master Plan survey to help shape the urban forest vision and strategic directions for the Urban Forest Master Plan. The survey is approximately 15 minutes in length, and we will be open until June 29, 2022.

You are then asked to slip over to the GET INVOLVED page (provide the link) and tell the city where the places are that you would like to see it improved along with a photo of the location.

Find out what other people think by clicking the points on the map.

Parking in the Beachway is now something you pay for - Halton residents get a break

By Pepper Parr

June 17th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

This is summer.

Road construction takes place in the summer – traffic snarls

Gas prices have a habit of going up just before long weekends, driver snarls.

And, you gotta pay for parking in the Beachway.

Fees will be charged from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends – until the last weekend in September: Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022.

Sign covers all the bases

Parking fees can be paid through the HONK mobile app. Users do not have to download the app – they scan the QR code on parking lot signage to pay for parking.

The hourly rate of $2.50 or a daily flat rate of $20. Users can scan the QR Code or download the HonkMobile app. There is a transaction fee of $0.35 for each payment. Dashboard tickets are not needed as every payment is linked to a license plate number. Parking ambassadors are onsite to assist visitors with this process.

The Beachway has become more popular over time and the past few summers during the pandemic saw record demand for parking resulting in the City having to use barricades, a drop-off zone and parking ambassadors to help manage the demand for parking.

Illegally parked vehicles will be issued tickets and/or towed. Drivers are reminded not to park illegally, especially on Lakeshore Road shoulders and the grass boulevard over the pipeline as they will be towed.

Lots of work for the parking police

Parking is free in Downtown Burlington on weekends and holidays. Beachway visitors are encouraged to extend their walk or use the drop-off zone, park for free in the downtown and meet their household members at the beach. For parking downtown, visit burlington.ca/downtownparking.

Visitors are also encouraged to consider taking Burlington Transit, cycling, walking or rolling to the beach and leaving their cars at home.

Also starting May 21, Halton residents can take advantage of 10 free days of parking per year at Beachway Park. It is recommended that residents wait to fill out the parking exemption form once they’ve arrived at the beach and parked in a legal parking spot. The exemption doesn’t guarantee a spot, but it does give residents free parking for the day.

Libraries open during current heat wave

By Staff

June 16th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

At 2:52 this afternoon the city released a statement advising the public that Cooling Centres Open –

A heat warning is in effect. Residents can stay cool at all open Burlington Public Library branches.

There was no mention as to how long the hear warning was to be in effect.

Central Branch

2331 New St.
905-639-3611

Aldershot Branch

550 Plains Rd. E.
905-333-9995

Alton Branch

3040 Tim Dobbie Dr.
905-634-3686

Brant Hills Branch

2255 Brant St.
905-335-2209

Kilbride Branch

6611 Panton St. Kilbride
905-335-4011

New Appleby Branch

676 Appleby Line
905-639-6373

Tansley Woods Branch

1996 Itabashi Way
905-336-5583

Update on the offer to sell Fairview Development - Councillor reports just a portion of the land is on offer

By Pepper Parr

June 16th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

Earlier in the day we reported that the Holland Park development was up for sale.

This is the development with seven towers and no height restrictions.

Because the development proposal met all the zoning and Official Plan rules there was no nee for them to make an application development.

The first time the city would get a chance to say anything would be at Site Plan approval – for which there is no set date.

We asked the ward Councillor Lisa Kearns for a comment. She said:

“It is quite routine in situations such as this for the advertised sale of the condominium portion of the site only. We know that the partnership with CLV, in the Fairview Limited Partnership (Brookfield Properties, InterRent REIT, and CLV Group) specialize in multi-family residential rental buildings, not condominiums. As such, by offering the condominium portion of the site for sale, the group will bring the right ownership to the development.

“CLV’s commitment is to provide and operate the 4 residential rental towers on the site as planned to help increase the rental inventory in the City. CLV Group has been working with the City to obtain the appropriate approvals and permits to construct the first phase consisting of two mixed use towers with 774 residential rental units.

“This is a customary process and as Councillor, I have expressed to the group that it is important to select a condominium partner that respects our community and its future residents.”

There is no mention of CLV and the operation of the rental units.

No word on shovels in the ground.

Much more to be worked out on this site. Making space for a fire station would be one thing to be included.

The plan is for a phased development with the rental units going in first – closer to the rail line and the condo units at a later date.

In a virtual presentation the public got to see what appeared to be a very sophisticated development with all the signs of a big urban development back by investment from major real estate players.

Related news stories:

Councillor sticks her finger into a development pie

An illustrated look at what the election results mean -

By Staff

June 14th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

Dave Meslin has been working tirelessly to “Unlock Democracy” and change the way we elect our leaders.

He champions ranked ballots and thinks that is the way the public will get the kind of representation they deserve.

First past the post keeps the small less established political parties of the House of Commons and the provincial legislatures.

There was a time when Justin Trudeau that it was an idea worth trying – then changed his mind and put Burlington’s MP Karina Gould in front of a microphone to explain what wasn’t going to happen.

And it will never happen until the public votes the New Democrats or the Green Party into office and they “might” stand behind their promises.

Politics is about power and those who have it don’t trifle with it – they hold very tightly in their hands.

Nevertheless Meslin soldiers on. He sent us two illustrations and asked that we share them.

For those who didn’t vote – you know who you are – you get to live with what Doug Ford is going to do to this province. Those two donuts are about as healthy as Crispy Cream donuts.

Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.

Related background:

What does Dave Meslin mean when he talks about ranked ballots?

Meslin offers a free course on the first day of every month – Click here for the link

City sets out how it plans to Celebrate Canada’s birthday at Spencer Smith Park

By Staff

June 14th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

The City of Burlington is excited to return to an in-person Canada Day celebration in Spencer Smith Park on July 1.

Fire works on the waterfront with the pier in the background.

This year’s event will start with an opening ceremony at 4 p.m. followed by evening entertainment on the main stage and the grand finale of a spectacular firework display presented by Bunzl over the lake at 10 p.m.

The event will also feature food and market place vendors.

For our early risers and active residents, a Canada Day Run and Yoga in the park will be held in the morning in Spencer Smith Park.

Other Canada Day Activities

There are plenty of fun options for the family this Canada Day throughout the city, such as splash pads and pools. All nine of the City’s splash pad locations are open and always free.

Nelson Outdoor Pool & Splash Park and LaSalle Wading Pool are open for swimming on Canada day (weather permitting). If you prefer to swim indoors visit Angela Coughlan Pool. For times of swims at all locations, visit burlington.ca/dropinandplay.

Canada Day is a great time to get outside, explore Burlington and get active. Take our Get Outside and Play Challenge, and complete 90 activities in 90 days. The challenge is on now until Aug. 29, 2022. Win great prizes!

“It’s been two long years since we’ve had the Canada Day celebrations in-person and we are excited to bring this very popular, award winning event to our community. We are looking forward to a great evening with some spectacular fireworks” said a city spokesperson.

Links

burlington.ca/canadaday

burlington.ca/playoutside

burlington.ca/splashpads

Halton Small Business Centre is hosting A Back to Business Webinar Series

By Staff

June 14th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

Halton Small Business Centre is hosting A Back to Business Webinar Series: How to Hire & Retain Employees session on June 22nd, from 9:30am – 11:00am.

What will be covered:

The delicate art of interviewing

· How to attract the right person for the job

· What you need to know about recruiting

· Hiring through an agency

· Tips on interviewing & what to consider when hiring

· How to retain employees & how to create a great employee experience

· Employment Halton Services (Job board, additional services for employers)

What will it take to handle fires in high rise buildings - firefighters and equipment - which Burlington doesn't have at this point.

By Pepper Parr

June 13th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

Dan VanderLelie, President, Burlington Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 1552 and Director Zone 3, Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association, is an Acting Platoon Chief in the Burlington Fire department. He delegated to city coumcil last week.

Dan VanderLelie, President, Burlington Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 1552 and Director Zone 3, Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association.

It was one of the lengthier and drill down deep delegations this writer has ever heard in Burlington . Dan was before Council for more than an hour.

As head of the Fireman’s union it has been suggested that he puts the interests of the union members before the public interest. Our experience with Dan, covers a period of ten years and in that time I have come to the conclusion that Dan is very concerned about public safety and the safety of the men and women who fight fires. He does argue that if the firefighters are not properly taken care of – you don’t have an effective fire department

Here is what else VanderLelie had to say:

When responding to fires in high rise buildings, firefighting crews of four to five members instead of two or three are significantly faster in putting out fires and completing search and rescue operations. The Fire Department Master Plan report (which was also discussed at Council on the same day) made it clear that the Burlington Fire Department is not currently able to assemble the fire fighting teams that are needed to fight high rise situations.

What the city has and what it is going to need in terms of equipment and staff -including two new fire stations.

The minimum required is 39 firefighters at the location within 10 minutes and 10 seconds. It has to be noted that the department currently only deploys 35 firefighters per shift which includes a platoon chief

VanderLelie adds that one high rise fire will pull multiple resources from different parts of the city – which doesn’t leave much to answer another fire call in the same time period.

This graphic shows where the current fire departments are located and what each has in the way of equipment.. When there is a major fire that requires a lot of equipment the dispatch people will move equipment around so that there is the kind of coverage needed on an hour by hour basis.

The Burlington fire department should add resources to the waterfront downtown area, which contains many high rise high rises and large future developments. Building a station nine (which would be a new station) and stuffing it with a truck with four firefighters provides better coverage for the downtown core.

Increasing ladder 342 (which is a fire fighting unit – not a piece of equipment) with a daily minimum staffing of four would allow for more efficient deployment of aerial apparatus and protect existing and proposed high rise structures and occupants.

Increasing daily minimum staffing on rescue 312 and 372 (these are also units) will allow for timely assembly of effective response force. This will better protect the citizens structures and firefighters. The purpose of the National Firefighting Professional Association (NFPA) 1710 standard is to specify the minimum criteria addressing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Career (as opposed to volunteer) public fire suppression operations, emergency medical service and special operations delivery and protecting the citizens of the jurisdiction and the occupational safety and health of the fire department employees.

Each red dot is a development application that is working its way through the approval process.

So I don’t want to say imagine this because you already aware of the intensification and density we are faced with in the very near future. When we requested the IAFF International Association of Firefighters do a GIS study for us which you all received a copy of – they were astonished at the speed and rate of the vertical growth in the city.

Their report discussed the development expected to take place and the need for additional fire station space and equipment in station 3’s and and more on station 1’s area. They were shocked at how quickly and how high we are going.

The intensification and vertical growth will create increased traffic congestion. It will also create longer emergency contact times whether it be for medical rescue or a fire. It must also be pointed out that this creates response time concerns for all of the other occurrences that we run within the city.

Our city has seen tremendous growth over the past 11 years, whether it be up in whether it be out and during that time our fire service has been stagnant. There has been no increase in staffing or deployment options. We’ve had zero growth. We’ve been asked to do more with the same or less – this model in practice cannot continue.

The fire chief made a presentation to you a couple of weeks ago regarding our staffing levels. I’m asking that the immediate needs to be addressed and met by this council and further requests be included in the 2023 budget.

That was the end of the VanderLelie delegation. The questions from members of Council began; it took the Acting Platoon Chief an hour to answer them all

After his formal delegation he was asked by Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns what was involved in fighting fires in high rise towers – buildings in the 30 floor plus range. Kearns: asked: can you explain the word high rise tome? And can you explain what a high rise response involves? And can you give us a better understanding of the resources required?

I’ll also ask you to weave in some conversations around what is a tall building? What is a high rise? I’m not quite sure recalling those two things, the same thing from a planning perspective and from a response perspective.

This is what is required in the way of a medium response force.

Dan: Okay. So if I may, I’m going to walk you through some of the the issues that we’re faced with including what a response looks like. And we’ll count through some of the individuals that respond.

So high rise fires are extremely labour intensive for us. There’s many factors that add so much complexity to it, Vertical Response – having to get to the floor. We talked about four minutes getting to the building – we could have up to two minutes in a vertical response if we’re in elevators. If we can’t take elevators we got to take stairs and therefore adding more time understanding that time means more fire growth. Fire conditions are amplified if, let’s say in the in the unit where the fire is, if the windows blow out. Obviously feeding more wind, wind driven fires, are extremely dangerous for firefighters.

The top of the list is the residents – we can have upwards of 400 residents in a building. So when you start factoring in the fire and the smoke migration to the other floors, which means more time and more taxing on the firefighters.

The manpower and equipment demands increase wit the height of the building.

These apartments are concrete. They’re ovens. They are concrete boxes, just radiating heat inside. Extreme heat makes things difficult.

I will use an apartment building with say 20 stories on Maple Crossing Boulevard. The first primary truck and when I say primary I mean a pump rescue which has four firefighters on it. When I say rescue, that’s two firefighters. A ladder truck is two firefighters. With the first primary truck on scene they will do an evaluation of what they have and report that back to dispatch and do a size up.

The annunciator panel is almost a map to the building with real time data essential to the firefighters who need to know what is happening where.

They firefighters will have made their way to the lobby. They’ll broadcast an initial report to our dispatch as to what they see on the annunciator panels and verify the incident location.

Every building has a panel that displays information – which floor a fire is on – which unit the fire is taking place in and determine if the building is equipped with a Chubb box, which is that little silver box which only firefighters have access to – it holds all the keys necessary to access every space in the building.

They open up the box pull out the appropriate keys they need; be it an elevator master key or a master key for the building.

They then move to take control of all the elevators and bring them to the ground floor. Then find the superintendent to gather as much information as we can.

That crew will then begin to initiate search and rescue operations and attempt confinement and extinguishment. The driver of the vehicle will be left with the elevator to operate the elevator. That’s if we can use the elevator. If we can’t use the elevator then we’ll take the driver with us. walking up the stairs

The firefighters will climb to one of two floors below the incident floor and that will be designated as incident control for our crews.

Then, as we are preparing we’re looking at what’s happening on that floor. The layout of the of the cabinets, the layout of where the elevator is the stairwells, the door numbering so then we’ll proceed to the operation stairwell and standby the standpipe connection.

We need two firefighters to hook up the standpipe, these are the pipes that carry the water to each floor – but we’ve only got one that can do it because the other two need to assist the captain going to the fire floor to begin rescue operations. So the crew will connect the high rise pack to the appliances in the standpipe and then we’ll begin to make our way down the hall into the onto the fire floor to the unit in question for fire containment, extinguishment or other measures that may be needed to mitigate the situation.

A team of firefighters carrying high rise packs of hose and an oxygen tank preparing to ascend a stairwell.

These crews will have with them so obviously their full PPE or personal protective equipment, their breathing apparatus, their hand lamps or portable radios. If we have a truck phone, we’ll take that with us. The high rise apartment packs, which is pretty much taking the truck up to the floor. So we have hoses, forcible entry tools, thermal imaging camera and other equipment that’s required.

So that’s the first truck. The second truck is going to arrive and they’re going to they’re going to support rescue operations as best as they can. So the second primary that arrives, they’re going to make their way to the incident control for and they’re going to set up a RAT team. The RAT team – rapid intervention team is there to protect the fire fighters.. If a firefighter goes down or firefighter needs rescue, that rapid intervention team is used for that so they bring all of their equipment. So that’s two guys off of that four man truck.

A pumper truck that will push water up through hoses and standpipes to get water to each level.

Then we need a second hose line. Realistically we need two people to take that second hose line. We’re only going to get one because of the people that we have there. And then the captain is going to act as a support role and an on deck role on that for so now we’ve got eight firefighters on scene eight firefighters on scene.

A third primary truck is in charge of water supply – locate a hydrant and then when you walk up to an apartment or the CFTC which means fire department connection, you see those brass fittings that stick out the side of the wall of the of the apartment those are we’re going to use those are the that’s FTC. That truck is tasked with water supply so they’re going to hook into the they’re going to use the crew that they have there to hook into that. And then once that’s hooked up, the driver remains with the truck. Those other three firefighters report to the incident control floor as more support.

The fourth primary that now shows up will report to the incident control for this out of all the trucks is one of the trucks that’s tasked with the most. The officer will be the incident safety officer will also be the could be the incident command for officer to have their people will formulate the RAT team which to set up an accountability board and know how to maintain accountability of all the firefighters that are involved in fire suppression operations or any firefighters that are on air on scene.

On air means those firefighters using oxygen. The rescue that showed up more than likely with the first primary they’ll still be in the lobby. They’ll be running lobby control and an accountability board in the lobby as well.

That accountability board tells the command people where every fire fighter is, how much oxygen they have left in their tanks if they are on air.

There are limits to just how high a ladder truck can rise.

The ladder when it shows up, will have two firefighters on will be charged with setting up aerial operations if required. They will be responsible for assisting and pressurizing of the stairwells with ventilation fans. They’ll provide ventilation through the through the roof, and they’ll also provide air monitoring.

Now a lot of the time what with all of this and all of these individuals that are working we haven’t factored in whether or not we find the victim yet whether or not we’ve had smoke migration or fire migration to another floor. We saw this in Toronto. I can’t remember the street but we saw in Toronto a few years back. The fire licked its way up and made its way to the next balcony.

At this point we have 20 people on scene with a Platoon Chief who is going to Command operations and move our resources.

With 20 or more on site it is more than likely that there will be a secondary call for a secondary unit to assist us with response. When we put all that together, the city has all those trucks – four of them – three primaries remaining with 12 firefighters and one rescue so we have 14 firefighters remaining in the city.

Like I said more than likely upgrading that department fire so now we’re going to have three trucks.

Dan VanderLelie was nearing the end of his explanation – added that it has been said before that while one fire is being battled there will always be another somewhere else that requires firefighters and resources .

And to meet those other fire calls the department needs both firefighters and equipment.

So, it’s been said before it’ll never happen, but every time we say it will never happen. It always happens.

Sorry. I should have told you it was going to be long.

Halton Regional Police Service Extends Station Hours

By Staff

June 13^th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has extended their service hours at the District stations effective today, Monday, June 13, 2022 as follows:

Burlington now open to the public 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Georgetown 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Milton now open to the public 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Oakville now open to the public 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

HRPS Headquarters is also open 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, closed on statutory holidays.

In addition to attending a HRPS facility in-person, there are a number of ways to contact the HRPS, depending on the assistance needed:

In an Emergency

If you have an emergency, please dial 9-1-1. It is an emergency if someone’s immediate health, safety, or property is in immediate danger or there is a crime in progress. For non-emergencies, dial 905-825-4777.

Collision Reporting

The HRPS has three Collision Reporting Centres. These centres are staffed and managed by Accident Support Services. Learn more here.

Record Checks

The HRPS provides Police Record Checks to residents of Halton region for employment or volunteer purposes. Police Record Checks are available online or in-person at the HRPS Headquarters.

Freedom of Information Services

Anyone needing to file a FOI request can now do so online, via our website at haltonpolice.ca/foi

Online Reporting

We have a number of online reporting tools available on our website. These tools can be used to report some crimes, or to report traffic concerns.

City manager suggests delegation on fire services not get into operations

By Pepper Parr

June 10^th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

The city manager sits in on every Standing Committee meeting as well as Council meetings.

The City manager is the only person that Council hires. The city manager runs the administrative side of the city delegating the authority he got from Council to his team.

Members of Council chair the Standing Committees – as Chair they make decisions on how the procedural manual is to be interpreted and remind speakers if they have run out of time or if they are wandering from the subject matter.

Earlier this week, for the first time in the ten years I have been covering city council Tim Commisso, the City Manager caught the eye of the Chair and said the following.

City manager Tim Commisso at Standing Committee earlier this week.

“I think it’s one of the things we’re very fortunate yo have which is a great relationship with the Chief, but I would just caution council, I don’t know if it’s fair for the delegation to be talking in depth about operations.

I’d be honest with you, I think certainly perspective on NFPA. You know, and that I just think you’re going to hear from the on the presentation on the master plan in front of the chief.

So I just suggest that the in depth nature of fire operations and I know, Mr. Vanderlelie is more than capable of speaking about it, but I think it’s really questions that are directed, I think in conjunction with the Master Fire Plan.

Finally, the other thing that raises and it’s a very good point is the growth intensification comes with certainly a set of questions is whether we need to be in a position to fund something like a new station downtown in advance or once we see that growth in the tech space so I just I would just suggest it through the chair. The questions really don’t focus on operations so much.

Thank you.”

For the City Manager to suggest that a Fire Service Captain should not delve into operations when he was specifically asked by a Council member to do just that is a bit more than surprising.

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.

Delegator, Jim Thompson blasts Council for what he saw as a patronizing introduction

By Pepper Parr

June 10th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

Every once in a while a delegation stands before council and says what many people feel.

Jim Thompson, who has delegated frequently in the past couple of months, usually on the LaSalle Park Marina, was ready to speak..

“Welcome Jim”, said Chair Galbraith, “I think you know the drill you will have 10 minutes whenever you’re ready.”

Before starting Thompson said:

Jim Thomson blasting Council at the start of his delegation earlier this week

Okay, I’m ready. Okay, first thing I want to say is that I find that your opening remarks are patronizing. If I don’t get any questions here, it doesn’t mean that the council understood me perfectly clearly.

It just means you don’t want to ask questions or engage. So with that, can I have the next slide please?

And Thompson got on with the delegation

That is not what Council was expecting.

Thompson did get a couple of questions from Councillor Sharman.

And he also got a look from Chair of the meeting, ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith – if looks could kill – Thompson was dead.

And Thompson was not wrong – too often Councillors sit mute and don’t engage delegations. That statement – “If there are no questions it just means that you have provided clear comments that don’t require clarification” is read out at every meeting when there are delegations. Many delegations find it offensive. Councillors might think in terms of asking for a rewrite of what they are required to read out.

It sounds like something that was prepared for the Chair of a meeting by the city’s Communications department

Boats will go into the water on the 16th: LPMA members happy campers

By Pepper Parr

June 9th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

There will be life at the marina.

The LaSalle Park Marina Association has secured the insurance they needed; a crane has been booked and the lift in is set for June 16th.

Boats will go into water on the 16th

The city hasn’t has had to put in as much as a dime. The LPMA paid for the services of a lawyer the city was going to bring in to oversee the joint venture loan agreements. The LPMA is paying for the use of the waterlots that are owned by Hamilton and the LPMA is continuing to pay the fees that are part of the agreement they have with the city.

The thought that the city would have to take over operation of the marina – won’t happen.

They will be hoisting the pewter mugs with tots of rum when the lift in is complete.

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