 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 18, 2012
In a lengthy report to the Budget and Corporate Services committee we got a look at what was a rather messy and less than collaborative working relationship between the city and hospital officials. The sticking point was the details behind what is called the “Contribution Agreement” which is the document that will set out when, and under what circumstances, the city will send funds to the hospital for the re-development of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital (JBMH).
The city was not about to just write out million dollar cheques and blithely send money collected from taxpayers to the hospital. They wanted to know what the money would be used for.
 Getting a contribution agreement in place between the JBMH and the city is proving to be very difficult - are egos getting in the way? When the province decided back in 2008 that the community had to put up $120 million to pay for the re-development, the city said it would put up $60 million and the hospital Foundation would raise $60 million. The redevelopment project includes a new tower on the hospital site, new operating rooms and in-patient beds, a new intensive care unit, as well as renovations to diagnostic services and to the emergency department. That “tower” will be part parking garage, several floors for the Halton McMaster Family Medicine unit and offices for the hospital foundation. Expect them to get the top floor of the building with a fabulous view out over the lake.
Burlington is putting up $5 million additional dollars for the Family Medical space – that was part of the agreement that included the School of Business which was supposed to be in the downtown core but ended up on the South Service Road.
At a city council meeting last year, JBMH President and CEO Eric Vandewall said the hospital would match the city’s money “dollar for dollar”, which at the time seemed to satisfy city council. But then it became less than clear as to just what the city’s money was going to be used for. The hospital had not raised its share of the $120 million but it had an urgent need to put up a parking garage and the city got the sense that its money was going to pay for the building of that garage. The city began to see a situation where it would pay for the building of a parking garage and then see the province plead poverty and cancel the re-development.
At that time there was no iron clad guarantee from the provincial government that the hospital re-development was really going to be fully funded. Everyone was saying it was going to be funded – but there was nothing definitive from the province.
 Councillor Craven chaired the meeting that had to manage a motion that drew three amendments - the motion from Meed Ward eventually lost. The city put together a “working group” that consisted of the Mayor, Councillors Craven and Meed Ward. It later added the Mayors adviser, Frank McKeown to the team. Problem with the working group was that it just didn’t work and people on the city side of things realized there had to be a structural change. The mayor was increasingly being drawn into administrative level matters and it had the potential to do significant political damage.
The city began to realize that they needed some help as well, and decided to bring in two levels of support. A lawyer with the skill set and experience needed to deal with hospital construction contracts and a consulting firm that would advise the city on how to deal with Infrastructure Ontario, which is the organization that is actually going to handle the construction.
Burlington had learned some very valuable lessons from the construction of the Pier. They did not have the talent or people with the very specific experience in putting together complex contracts on staff full time. With the Pier they learned to bring in the outside help for the period of time it was needed.
The new organizational arrangement the city has put in place is designed to overcome the difficulties the city has had with the people on the hospital side. On too many occasions the hospital cancelled meetings which, from the city’s perspective, were critical. It was all about money, taxpayers money and Mayor Goldring was just not prepared to see the money roll out of city hall without knowing what was going to be done with taxpayers dollars .
 It was Councillor Sharman who asked the tough question: Was every member of the "working" group working independently and in the best interests of the city? It wasn't and was disbanded with a new organizational structure put in place. Councillor Sharman put things in perspective when he put a direct question to Goldring and Meed Ward asking: “Are you satisfied that the working group provided objective independent representation that was in the best interests of the city and its taxpayers”. Sharman clearly thought that the information that came out of the working group was not as objective or independent as it should have been. Councillor Meed Ward blanched when the question was put to her. The Mayor said that the new alignment between the city and the hospital was designed to overcome the problems. Councillor Craven who was chairing the meeting didn’t say a word.
The working group developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was sent to JBMH last December. A draft Contribution Agreement was received by the city from JBMH shortly after that. City staff scheduled a series of meetings for January and February 2012 to begin negotiations with the hospital.
Prior to the first formal negotiation meetings, city staff met informally with JBMH staff to discuss the overall project time line, expectations of the parties and to identify if there were any significant areas of concern for JBMH. City staff were advised that there were no major issues. The city advised the hospital that it was fully behind the redevelopment, but that a thorough due diligence process was necessary prior to signing a contribution agreement in order to protect the taxpayers investment.
Shortly after JBMH staff advised that they had significant concerns with the draft MOU. Specifically they were uncomfortable with any conditions related to the release of funds, given that not all factors related to project timing were within their control. JBMH asked that the scheduled negotiation meetings in January be cancelled.
None of this was made public at the time. The city continued to salt away taxpayers money and put out press releases saying all was well.
The city took the draft MOU and turned it into a Letter of Understanding (LOU), a document that endeavored to clarify the roles and responsibilities of both parties and sent that along to the hospital. JBMH then cancelled the negotiation meetings that were planned for February and didn’t respond to the LOU.
This is all very confusing to the average citizen who just wants to know that there will be a bed for them should they require medical attention – the average citizen would ask – “does all this really matter to me. Let the people we hire work all this out.”
One can take that attitude, but had the Jackson administration and the one before it insisted on the hard nosed due diligence the Goldring administration is demanding – of the hospital now, the city wouldn’t have the mess it has had to go through with the Pier. There is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things.
Thus when Councillor Meed Ward put forward motion to take out the strategic consultants and cut back the amount for legal fees by more than half – the only vote she got was her own. It was embarrassing and was pretty clear, look at what was wrong with the working group.
 Councillor Meed Ward was in the very awkward position of being a member of city council and a member of the JBMH board and thinking the interests of both were the same. What adds to the confusion in all this is that Meed Ward is a member of the hospital board. It is difficult to see how she can be true to the interests of the hospital and true to the interests of the city at the same time. She might say that the two are the same, which is a very naive view of the way different organizations work together. City manager Jeff Fielding pointed out to Council that in his 15 years as a city manager he had not handled deals at the $60 million level. This is big stuff and we need to be very careful.
The original working group was tasked with seeking public input on the municipal contribution to the redevelopment of the hospital, coordinate communications with the public and ensure regular dialogue between the hospital and the city. What transpired wasn’t so much dialogue but rather turf wars and consistent misunderstandings between the hospital and the city with the public being told next to nothing
The public didn’t get very many chances to say what it felt – other than they wanted a newer hospital. The city fell down a little on letting its taxpayers know just how messy things had gotten. The Mayor just kept putting out statements that the city was 100% behind the re-development of the hospital. His office still has some things to learn about communicating.
However, the report that went to the city’s Budget and Corporate Services committee laid everything out, and while less than fully transparent, it does indicate that things were messy and getting worse so they put in a new organizational structure and asked for the technical and legal support they needed.
It was while this was being discussed that Councillor Meed Ward then proceeded to figuratively blow her brains out publicly when she chose to oppose two of the recommendations staff had come forward with.
While doing so she managed to create a situation where there were four different amendments in play and a chair that really wasn’t sure just where the proceedings were as he worked with his Clerk who slowly untangled the knot the committee had gotten itself into. Meed Ward had a motion, Councillor Taylor had an amendment and Sharman had an amendment to the Taylor amendment. It was beginning to look like a high school debating club.
The issues that were being debated were on the four recommendations set out in the report which were:
Retain a lead negotiator to draft the contribution agreement. The negotiator would have experience in provincial funding and would understand the role of Infrastructure Ontario and alternative finance projects.
Hire a strategic consultant to ensure a transparent, accountable and rigorous process for signing an agreement with the hospital.
Bring the planning portion of the hospital redevelopment—site plan approval—to City Council for discussion.
Disband the city’s hospital redevelopment working group.
The costs involved for the legal counsel and strategic counsel amounted to $50,000, which Meed Ward thought was far too much money. She didn’t think the city needed anyone to tell then how to deal with Infrastructure Ontario but that if there were questions to be answered then Infrastructure Ontario would send some people out to talk to Council.
Scott Stewart did point out the Infrastructure was not exactly a neutral party in all this. He got that right. Infrastructure Ontario is going to spend the $60 million taxpayers are going to come up with and the city wants their own expert helping them through this. No more pier type mistakes.
Meed Ward wanted to do away with the strategic council that was recommended and wanted to cut back by much more than half the amount staff felt was needed for the legal help.
 Mayor Goldring was beginning to be damaged politically by the differences with the executive level at the hospital. He wasn't able to say there were problems that were not being resolved without sounding as if he was not 100% for the hospital re-development. Politically it was getting awkward for the Mayor. Publicly he had to always be seen as being very positive. The difficulty was that he was being drawn into day to day problems which were certainly serious enough but these were not battles he should be fighting. The Mayor needed to be seen as the General in all this, directing able troops.
The new alignment has the Mayor dealing with the top person on the hospital side, board chair Susan Busby
The hospital’s working team now has to align with Scott Stewart and the people with him as well as the legal talent that has been brought in.
A team consisting of Scott Stewart, general manager community services, Joan Ford, acting executive director of finance and Cathy Robertson, Director Roads and Parks Maintenance. This is the team that will handle the negotiations for the city.
And then came the announcement from the province that it had confirmed a contribution of $22.5 million to the re-development of JBMH. While the city is pleased with that news, it doesn’t lessen the need to complete the due diligence process and get the details of the Contribution Agreement worked out.
The city has its negotiating team in place and the Mayor has asked the chair of the hospital board to have her people meet with the negotiating team as soon as possible.
Two additional steps were taken. The Working Group was disbanded – which takes Councillors Craven and Meed Ward out of that loop and gets the Mayor out of the middle of all this messiness. The other decision was to un-delegate this file. Traditionally city council makes decisions and hands the file over to staff to get the job done. That is called delegating.
Un-delegating means that it now sits with Council to whom staff will provide regular updates, just the way they did with the Pier project.
Mayor Goldring summed up the city`s position very well when he said: . “As stewards of Burlington property taxpayer dollars, we want to ensure we are both transparent and accountable as we make that vision a reality.”
The city and the hospital have relied heavily on provincial cabinet member Ted McMeekin who operates to the west of Burlington in the constituency of Ancaster – Dundas – Flamborough – Westdale. While Burlington has an MPP she hasn’t bee very visible.
 Burlinggton MPP is target of Robo Calls claiming her decision not to vote for the Liberal budget could result in the JBMH re-development being held up. A set or Robo Calls Wednesday evening (Robo Calls are telephone calls made automatically to a list of telephone numbers which in this instance were to the homes of Burlington residents). The calls, from an unidentified source advise the listener that the provincial government was funding the JBMH to the tune of $22.5 million but that Jane McKenna, the Burlington MPP, was going to vote against the Liberal governments budget which would bring down the government, force an election and maybe cause delays in the re-development of the JBMH. Listeners were told on a number of occasions during the call that all they had to do was press 3 on the telephone and they would get put directly through to Jane McKenna’s office. When a listener pressed 3 the call was put through and Jane McKenna’s voice came on line. Her office was closed – leave a message please. The calls put McKenna in an awkward position. She does have options.
Who sponsored the Robo Calls? Want to guess?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 18, 2012 They couldn’t approve the proposed Staff Direction quickly enough. There was a friendly amendment that was just fine – that was to take out the word coffee shop and put in the word “pub” and with that a good idea that came out of the Waterfront Access Advisory Committee was in the hands of staff.
 The plaque tells the story - has the Waterfront Advisory Committee done what is needed to give the building a new life? The Staff Direction was to put out a Request for Expressions of Interest to commercial people who might be interested in taking the Pump House on the Beach way and turning it into a pub. The Waterfront Advisory Committee had thought of a pub but didn’t think that was possible even though Donna Mae Ankrett thought that’s what they should go for. The Council Committee had no reservations and immedisately supported Councillor Dennison’s comment thsat he wanted to be able to have a beer out on a patio down there.
The downer there was that staff is swamped and wouldn’t get to this one until the fall – but what the heck, a step forward is a step forward – and this was most certainly a positive step forward.
No one on the Council committee made any mention of what the Conservation Authority may have had to say – they committee liked the idea and wanted to move it along. The property actually belongs to the Conservation Authority and they have the last say on what can and can’t be done on the property but given that the Pump House has been there since 1906 – it`s going to be tough to argue that it can’t be put to public use and goodness knows that part of the city needs all the help it can get.
 Members of the Waterfront Advisory Access Committee inspecting the Pump House on the Beachway. From the left Chair Nick Leblovic, Michael O'Sullivan, Ken Martin, Jeff Martin, Donna Mae Ankrett and Gary Scobie. Will they be around when the pub opens to share a brew and will the Committee pay for that first round? Good work on the part of the members of the Beachway sub-committee of the Waterfront Advisory gang that pushed to get this past their chair and on to Council where things get done.
Community Services General Manager Scott Stewart advised the committee that there was some renovation –” fix things up a bit” work to be done and Councillor Dennison suggested that any work done should be minimal. “Let whoever comes forward with a strong proposal cover the cost of bringing the space up to code and do it on their dime”, was his comment.
This one is going to happen. Before the Pier opens?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 18, 2012 Ahem – this gets a little embarrassing. Our Burlington is a great fan of one of the city’s best general managers – Scott Stewart. He is direct, forceful at times and he lays out all the information he has in a way that makes everything clear. He’s a little impatient at times but that is usually because he just wants to get the job done
Stewart spends a lot of his time in meetings – a lot of his time. When he attends Waterfront Access Advisory meetings he is often in “eye ball” rolling mode – but he perseveres and hopes that at some point they will get their act together.
At that Advisory Committee`s last meeting mention was made by Les Armstrong, a committee member, that an inquiry had been made to the Historical Society about some background information on the Pump House out along the Beachway that was getting special attention from the committee. The building has been vacant for more than a decade and while still in good shape it did need some repair work.
 The building served as the water pumping station and was then used as a residence for a number of years. In this view one can see the railway tracks running outside the building. The tracks are gone and is now a walking path. Will the Pump House become a coffee shop or a pub? Stewart made a mental note of inquiry to the Historical Society and in his usual manner followed up. Well much to his surprise the inquiry was the result of some work Stewart’s people were doing on repairing the roof of the Pump House, replacing fascia and down spouts. The building is a historical site and city staff needed permission to make any changes even though the city owns the property.
This was one of those rare occasions when Stewart was not fully on top of his team. The upside to this little technical glitch is that the building the Waterfront Advisory people would like to see turned into a coffee shop or perhaps even a pub will be in much better shape for anyone who chooses to respond to the Request for an Expression of Interest on developing the building into a place that will draw traffic to the area.
Councillor Craven will be bringing a Staff Direction to a Council committee asking that a Request for Expressions of Interest be put out to determine if there is any commercial interest in putting the building to good use.
Whatever gets done will be historically correct and if done well the city will have put some of its heritage to good use.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON – April 18, 2012 – It’s a start – but a web site isn’t going to get me on my bicycle to pedal down to city hall – not when I have to cycle through that war zone on Guelph Line between Mainway and Fairview. That is just a dangerous place to be and a large, very large part of Burlington lives north of the QEW.
A press release the city released said: “One of the goals city council identified in Burlington, Our Future was to increase the number of people who cycle, walk, and use public transit for recreation and transportation,” said Mayor Rick Goldring. “We are providing the facilities and encourage the community to take action and use them.” Sorry your worship – but I`m not buying that one. I see far too many parking lots full and your administration has a policy that pays for staff parking. Need to be quite a bit tougher if you want real change.
The addition to the city web site of an environmental section isn’t going to do much to bring about change – but take a look at what the city is trying to do. City of Burlington is launching a new and improved environment section on the city’s website www.burlington.ca/environment.
There are bike lanes on Guelph Line and there will be lines painted on Walkers Line and Appleby Line later this year but as I travel those streets I don’t see very many bicycles being used. A few though and it does all has to start somewhere.
Getting Burlingtonians out of their cars is not going to be easy – some very creative and imaginative thinking is going to have to be done to come up with alternatives that offer an alternative people can live with.
One of the events that will make a change in both attitude and the climate we are going to have in the future is the 300 trees that will be planted out along North Shore Road opposite LaSalle Park and down along the waterfront near the marina.
 Thousands of people will be out in the community picking up trash. Now if we can teach people to look for places other than the streets and trails to toss the cans and the coffee cups there will be less to clean up. The Burlington Green Youth Network will be out early Saturday morning, Earth day preparing the site and laying out the trees that will be planted. They expect some 60 people to show up to plant the trees.
Burlington is hosting their big annual Community Clean Up, Green Up Event Saturday April 21st run by BurlingtonGreen. This annual citywide event provides an important (and fun) opportunity for citizens, schools, groups and businesses to come together and take pride in our City by cleaning it up.
Literally thousands of people will be out gathering up trash that has accumulated around the city. Last year a record number of participants (more than 5000) signed up to participate and cleaned up Burlington by collecting: 2800 kg’s of garbage, 25 tires, 85 kg of metal that was recycled, 200 kg recyclables, 2 Green totes with compostable paper coffee cups & dirty newspapers, 12 bags of yard waste plus LOTS more litter collected by schools & businesses.
Sign up today and show pride in your city at https://www.burlingtongreen.org/
The following is a list of places where clean up crews will be working: Centennial Bikeway from Martha to Sherwood Forest. ( could be done in 10 sections) ie 1 group from Guelph Line to Walker’s Line Beaches, Prospect Walkway across from Canadian Tire., Nelson Bike Park Dirtjumps, Kerncliff Park, Fairview & Maple s.e.corner, Ontario Street pathway to Richmond, Sheldon Creek, Sherwoord Forest and Tuck Creek
When the trash has been collected everyone is invited to join the Eco-Celebration that will take place outside city hall from noon to mid-afternoon. There will be a BBQ on site and a chance to win great eco-prizes.
Raw Materials will have a booth where you can bring along your used household batteries to be properly disposed.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON April 18, 2012 Look upon it as Burlington’ version of the Dragon’s Den – the prize, or the investment in your company, is a $2000 creative branding package to be done by one of the best branders in the business.
Gerry Visca runs creative workshops – he refers to them as TANKS . The next one, at which you will be inspired, get ignited and be with fellow entrepreneurs enjoying cocktails and great people, takes place April 26th.
 What Gerry Visca does is inspire. He does move a room and there are people out thee who swear by the changes he has made in their lives. Twenty bucks gets you in the door. That sounds like a pretty good deal – it’s happening at 3310 South Service Road Suite 300, The Coffee Office, 6:00 – 9:00pm. You have to register with Visca beforehand – he needs to know how much hooch he has to bring in.
Visca swears it’s going to be a blast – a Dragon’s Den style night with entrepreneurs pitching to a panel of my brand ambassadors.
Just listening to Gerry Visca talk about branding and how you can make it work for you is worth the $20.
Here is the way Visca explains his event: Every last Thursday of the month – Canada’s Creative Coach Gerry Visca hosts an exclusive event series known as [Thursday TANKS]. These consistent events are Gerry Visca’s creative vehicle to connecting recently ignited entrepreneurs with the world. It also provides individuals access to one of Canada’s Top Inspirational Speakers. “These are inspirational and intimate get social gatherings that allow people to connect in a very meaningful way” notes Visca. Gerry Visca is a master at helping people be ‘in-spirit’ with their life purpose. He connects like-minded people at his Thursday TANKS in a ‘fun, high-energy and thought provoking way’. Gerry Visca typically highlights several recently ignited entrepreneurs providing them with a platform to showcase their intentions/creations. Thursday TANKS also include one of Gerry Visca’s 10 Creative Laws/Teachings – a question is tabled to each delegate and facilitated by one of Gerry Visca’s brand ambassadors who have become quite skilled at working within the group.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 17, 2012 They think they have a home –even if it’s an interim one – but a Council Committee wanted to look the gift horse in the mouth and at the request of the chair of the Friends of the Freeman Station (FOF) the committee went into a closed session – and stayed there for more than an hour.
When it was over James Smith chair of FOF looked particularly drawn and all Councillor Lancaster was prepared to report when the committee came out of closed session was that the committee would “pursue they information we were given”.
 It might be on the move again - this time to an interim home where it can be renovated and set down on a permanent base somewhere on the Beachway. There was one kind of surprising bit of news and also a look at the way the city managed the funds they are entrusted with.
No one seems to know just how much there is in the way of money available to the Save the Freeman project.
There were funds that were saved by an early Save Freeman committee – and the thinking was that the amount was in the $20,000 range.
Then there was an additional $24,000, give or take a couple of thousand, that the city had budgeted for either the moving or demolition of the station.
The Friends of the Freeman Station have pulled in $30,000 – so we have a potential $74,000 available.
Then Marianne Meed Ward pulled a rabbit out of a hat and quietly mentioned that there was about $25,000 in Section 37 money from the Strada development on Maple Avenue that hasn’t been put to any good use yet. Meed Ward said her understanding was that the Strada Section 37 money could be applied to the project providing it was within the “downtown” – but given the way the city let the hospital stretch the definition of downtown – a way could surely be found to get the Strada money into the Freeman Station bank account.
If that could be done the Friends of Freeman would have $100,000 in hand. James Smith said they felt they needed $350,000 to complete as total renovation of the structure. So the financial side looks promising.
Smith added that the committee had eased up on their fund raising activities and were focused on working through the interim home opportunity. Now that the FOF have charity status and can hand out tax receipts for anything over $20, they have every reason to believe they will be able to raise the $250,000 needed to complete the renovation.
But then they need to find a permanent home – and given the way city council has handled this file in the past there is no guarantee they will step up to the table and do the right thing and work with the FOF to find a location on the Beachway, where the station belongs and then work with the FOF people to overcome whatever opposition Conservation Halton comes up with.
The Pump House is on the Beachway now and no one would ever even suggest it be removed. That building has a full basement that is dry. And there is water service to the building as well as sewage service. The Waterfront Access Advisory Committee has asked the city to put out a Request for Expressions of Interest on getting some kind of commercial operation into that building. The Freeman Station would fit into that area very well.
And that’s where the challenge the FOF people face comes into play. The structure is sitting beside the Fire Station on Plains Road and it can’t stay there much longer. The fire department needs the space for other equipment while they do the renovations that have been approved to the building.
 Currently parked beside the fire station on Plains Road, the Freeman Station has to be moved. Private property owner has come forward with an offer. Will it be too good to be true? Friends of the Freeman Station either found or were approached by a property owner who was prepared to rent them space they could use to store and renovate the building. No one was prepared to say exactly who the private property owner was in public. Apparently the property owner didn’t want to make the offer publicly and then get turned down. If renovation work is going to be done in the cold weather that would suggest a place that is big enough to hold the building. Our source at city hall suggested all we had to do was Google a bit and we would be able to figure out where the rather dilapidated structure was going to go. Try that – see what you come up with.
The deal, if there was to be one, would have the Friends of Freeman Station, the private property owner and the city enter into a lease agreement. Did I just hear the tap, tap of Nancy Shea Nicol’s high heels come into the room? Nicol is the city solicitor and any lease agreement will have to go through her hands – not always the easiest things to get through.
There were clearly all kinds of questions put to Smith – and while he will tell his Board, he isn’t going to say anything publicly because he doesn’t want to damage the opportunity for getting a place where work can be done on the structure.
Councillor Sharman asked the critical question before the meeting went into closed session. “How long will the new host be a good host.” And because the public doesn’t know what was said behind those closed doors and the private property owner doesn’t want to go public until he knows his offer is going to be accepted – the public is shut out.
And so that is where things stand. As Councillor Lancaster put it : “we will pursue the information we have been given”. Exactly how much money there is in capital accounts and trust accounts will get cleared up at the city Council meeting on April 30th.
 By Staff
Bicycle lanes will be painted on Appleby Line and Walkers Line and on- street parking on those two streets south of New Street will be prohibited. It was a struggle to get this through both a committee and a council meeting but they got it done.
Despite Councillor Sharman’s concern over the lack of any measurement on the traffic flows before the lanes got painted he should not be seen as opposed to cycling. He just wants to have some data on hand before and after the lanes are painted so that the city will know if they did the right thing.
 Some of the "old timers" on city council need to take a rest from time to time. Councillor Jack Dennison takes a break while riding the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure last year. No data – but much more bicycle use this summer. During two weekends streets will be closed to vehicles and the roads available only to cyclists. During Ken Greenburg’s Inspire lecture at the Performing Arts Centre the mayor announced that parts of Appleby Line will be closed the weekend of June 10th and on July 15th streets in the city will be closed in conjunction with a festival taking place.
More details as we get closer to the event.
Expect to see Councillors Sharman and Dennison out on the street with their bicycles. Councillor Meed Ward is game for this type of thing so expect to see her there with her girls. Will Councillor Lancaster be seen at a community event? Will Councillor Craven lighten up just enough to get out and have some fun? Councillor Taylor has a bicycle and if he feels his dog needs some exercise – he might well be there.
The Mayor will most certainly be out on the street. Interesting question is what kind of a bicycle will he ride and how many people will he draw. Are we going to be looking at some interesting T-shirts?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 16, 2012
Well the good folks over at Carriage Gate – the people who are behind the Medica One project planned for the intersection of Caroline and James, do have a problem on their hands. After being given the zoning changes they wanted in 2009 on the properties they had assembled, they then had eighteen months to get a handful of documents signed and they were on their way to construction.
 The developer had approval in principle for the zoning he wanted - then he lost it. How did that happen? But that didn’t happen. For reasons which are not yet clear, Nick Carnacelli seemed to have lost his ballpoint pen or his banker’s telephone number, and the documents the city had to have in hand – weren’t in hand and so what Carnacelli had in the way of a zoning change – he no longer has.
Carnacelli pushed very hard to get the project approved back in 2009. A number of people in the Planning Department put in long hours to get all the reports in place so that Council could approve the development in principle back then.
After that, all it took was for the developer to sign the development agreement, pay funds into the Section 37 agreement account, pay the rezoning fees required and after that it was a case of “Bob’s your uncle”. The developer had 18 months to get all this done – and once it was done the Planning Department would report to Council that everything was A – OK and the rezoning the developer had asked for, which had been approved in principle, would be made legal.
 Pearl Street Cafe was a recent Carnacelli property acquisition - part of a small land assembly that reaches down to Lakeshore Road. But the developer either forgot – or couldn’t deliver on his part of the deal. With deadlines passed, the developer, according to everyone who can speak with any authority on this, has to go back to square one. The developer doesn’t see it quite that way. Carnacelli thinks it is just a matter of clearing up some paper work. Was Tony Millington on vacation or did Carnacelli lose his phone number?
City Hall wants downtown development and has expressed some anxiety at the rate at which developers actually put shovels into the ground. Carnacelli holds four prime downtown property assemblies and other than some Ontario Municipal Board hearings on what density is permissible – nothing has happened.
 The Carnacelli interests own the property that currently houses a Bank of Montreal Wealth Management office - prime development spot. He holds the piece of land at what is sometimes referred to as the “football” that area where Old Lakeshore Road and Lakeshore Road converge at the east end. He owns the buildings that were once the Pearl Street Café plus the single story medical building at the foot of Pearl Street.
Add to that the property at the intersection of John Street and Brant and the property he assembled for the Medica One project.
The Mayor’s office would send a case of single malt scotch to Nick Carnacelli if he were to put a shovel in the ground on any of the properties and probably personally nominate the man for the Citizen of the Year Award. Burlington needs office space that is at least Class B. There was a strong case for a medical centre in that part of town along with affordable apartments.
The developer has to return to a Council that is quite a bit different than the one he was before last time. During the debate at Council committee in 2009, the development was opposed by then citizen Marianne Meed Ward, who of course went on to get herself elected as the council member for ward two which is where the development is taking place.
 Marianne Meed Ward was just a citizen when this picture was taken - now she is on the other side of the podium, sitting as a Council member. Should make for great political theatre when the Medica One zoning matter comes before committee. There are people arguing that Meed Ward didn’t have quite the community support she claims to have had back in 2009 – but that is rather moot at this point in time. She has developed a strong following within her ward and has perhaps the best relationship with her constituents of any other council member. She is certainly active. Now she has an issue that she fought against as a citizen – expect her to be just as dogged this time out.
The question however is this – will Meed Ward manage to get the support of her fellow Council members in forcing the Medica One people to make changes or accept changes in what was given several years ago? Or does Burlington want development in the downtown core so badly that Carnacelli will promise whatever he has to promise to get back the zoning he once had?
Will Council follow the Meed Ward approach and be very hard-nosed or will the city fold with the hope that they will see a shovel in the ground?
You can bet the telephone calls are being made to all the Council members. The Planning department people had many conversations with Carnacelli during the months leading up to the point at which the zoning was lost. The Mayor has had a conversation with the developer.
We have not had a conversation with the developer however, we did learn just over a month ago that the developer was fully committed to the housing development he has going in Stoney Creek and that they were “working” on some promotional material for Medica One. We were not able to actually talk to Nick Carnacelli.
Something’s not quite right here.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON April 16, 2012 –The best of Burlington’s finest civic-minded volunteers, advocates and community leaders will be announced on Thursday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Burlington Convention Centre. This is a celebratory evening to honour Burlington’s most outstanding citizens.
Tickets to this event are $35 per person or a table of 10 for $280, which includes a light buffet and cocktail reception. Tickets are available from the clerks department at City Hall, 426 Brant St. or by contacting Lisa Palermo at 905-335-7600, ext. 7458 or palermol@burlington.ca.
All award winners will be announced at the event. This year’s award nominees are:
Citizen of the Year (Award sponsored by Burlington Lions Clubs and Rotary Clubs of Burlington): Recognizes an individual who has provided volunteer service to the community over the past calendar year and in previous years.
Nominated for the 2011 Award are:
Marilyn Heintz, Wendy Hager, Bev Jacobs, Crystal McNerney
Senior Person of the Year (Award sponsored by Heritage Place Retirement Community): A Burlington resident, 60 years or older, who has made a significant community contribution.
Nominated for the 2011 award are:
Donald Jervis, Mary Plows, Jim Frizzle, Dr. Salem Rao
Junior Person of the Year (Award sponsored by B’Nai Brith): Recognizes a secondary school student under 18 years of age who has made a significant contribution in their community.
Nominated for the 2011 award are:
Amy Stringer, Dan Taylor, Bo Chen Han
Arts Person of the Year (Award sponsored by The K.W. Irmisch Arts Award):
A resident who contributed to the Burlington arts community— either professionally or as an amateur artist—a patron or a sponsor in any discipline of the visual or performing arts.
Nominated for the 2011 award are:
Myles Erlick, Trevor Copp
Environmental Award (Award sponsored by Newalta):
A group or individual who has worked to improve and protect Burlington’s environment.
Nominated for the award in 2011 are:
Michelle Bennett, Barbara Frensch, Susan Fraser
Community Service Award (Award sponsored by Cogeco Cable Inc.):
A resident who volunteers his or her time and talent in the areas of public relations; marketing; communications; or special events, promoting Burlington as a community.
Nominated for the 2011 award:
Sam Kawazoye
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 14, 2012 At last, finally – they are going to do something and the troops in the trenches are delighted with themselves – pumped up if you will, but that might be too much of a pun. The Waterfront Access Advisory Committee passed a motion asking the city to let someone in the private sector look at the Pump House on the Beachway and turn it into a coffee shop
Ward 2 Councillor Rick Craven, whose ward the Pump House is in, is very much for this project – so much so that he thought the building could serve as the Official Residence for the Ward Councillor. Donna Mae Ankrett thinks it will make a great pub, others on the Waterfront Committee just want to see something happen along the Beachway but more importantly for all of them – them, they just want to see something done by their committee.
 Members of the Waterfront Advisory Access Committee inspecting the Pump House on the Beachway. From the left Chair Nick Leblovic, Michael O'Sullivan, Ken Martin, Jeff Martin, Donna Mae Ankrett and Gary Scobie. Smiles here but in reality not the happiest crew. This is a committee that has struggled finding itself and finding its mission and purpose. It has yet to take an real advice to city council. For the past two years it has struggled with figuring out what it wants to be and why it is there. The mandate it was given is not one they fully understand and it has suffered by very poor leadership.
While discussing the motion, the meeting, that was made up of 12 committee members, the chair and the clerk along with two city staffers, got noisier than I have heard it since its inception. But this was positive noise, they wanted to see this project take place or at least move forward and out of the Advisory Committee.
Committee chair Nicholas Leblovic hesitated and continually wanted to talk about all the things that could go wrong; that no one would invest the amount needed to fix up the building, that the kitchen needed too much work. His committee members just wanted to get the idea out of the committee and into the real world where someone could express some interest and know where to go if they wanted to follow up on the idea.
 Turning the Pump House on the Beachway into either a coffee shop or a pub may be the only useful thing the Waterfront Access Advisory Committee gets done before Council decides to disband it. The Windows on the Lake work the Committee did, is going nowhere at City Hall. The committee wanted to get some life on the Beachway and create something that will draw people to the area which many on the committee believe is a hidden gem a five minute drive from city hall.
The members of the committee have struggled for some time with the style Leblovic has used as chair. Documents go round and round with review after review. While there is the appearance of a group of people working towards a common goal that is far from the case with this committee that thirsts for leadership and direction.
The Advisory committee put a ton of work and time into the idea for a design competition for the Old Lakeshore Road precinct. They got the idea from former Toronto Mayor David Crombie but couldn’t manage to get it off the ground even though a city council committee was prepared to support them.
When Gary Scobie, a member of the committee, appeared before a city council committee asking for funding to proceed with the idea, the committee liked what he was talking about but needed more detail before they would let any city money get used for an idea that wasn’t as well formulated as it needed to be.
 Councillor Craven inspecting the Pump House on the Beachway - thinks the place could serve as the Official Residence for the Ward Councillor The presentation of the idea was a little like one of those things you see a technology start up taking to venture capitalists and getting turned down because all the vital and necessary supportive data just wasn’t in place.. Council committee nevertheless was supportive.
There was more support at a city council committee than there appeared to be within the Advisory Committee when then committee member Sarah Banks worked hard to pull together the information on an idea she was very passionate about. Banks just didn’t have the support that was needed to make it work, and when she resigned from the Advisory Committee, the idea died and shortly after the Waterfront people decided to give up on it.
Banks and her family moved to Ottawa where one can be absolutely certain that Sarah Banks will be involved. She was a fish out of the kind of water she needed in Burlington. She brought charm and grace and a gritty determination to most of what she did. The soil in this city may have been great for apples and other fruit but it wasn’t the kind of ground Banks needed. The famed Burlington orchards are gone and so is Sarah Banks. I’m not sure her committee members even thanked her for her efforts.
The motion to ask Council to consider the idea appeared to pass unanimously but the Waterfront Access Advisory Committee does things a little differently and you never know quite who is doing what. What was unmistakable was the energy and enthusiasm that rushed through the room when it was passed and is now in the hands of Councillor Craven, who will take it to a Council committee meeting next week. Ward 1 Councillor Meed Ward was onside and the city general manager who will have to handle the file once Council pronounces on it was in the room and very much onside.
Finally, there was movement and then a hiccup.
Les Armstrong quietly mentioned that the Historical Society had received a letter from a group of Toronto architects asking for as much information as the Society could give on the Pump House. Armstrong thought they had been commissioned to do a renovation on the property – but he wasn’t sure. No one within the city had heard anything about this one – and no one seemed to follow up on it at the meeting. City general manager of Community Services, Scott Stewart, will have made a note of it though.
What wasn’t all that clear at the end of the meeting was just how much life there is left in the Waterfront Access Advisory Committee which is sending an exhaustive document to city council Committee on both its terms of reference, to which it wants to make some changes and its mandate which isn’t all that clear to the committee. There is also a suggestion that the name of the committee be changed. There are many who are wagering that the committee will be wound up by the end of the year – unless some of the more courageous members do something drastic and get themselves a new chair and show council that they know how to advise and understand what their job is.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 14, 2012 Leadership and the ability to see the big picture and the long term goal is the heart and soul of every organization – be it a multi-national corporation, a large metropolis or a social organization. There have to be people with an idea and the energy and willingness to go forward with it.
Thursday evening many of Burlington finest business people gathered at the Convention Centre to recognize the best in each of six categories – all well deserved.
There were other awards given out as well for different kinds of leadership. Two joint awards in particular were given out that deserve additional recognition beyond the 450 people in the Convention Centre.
 Keith Strong took the big cheques that came in and used his unique way of getting people to do things to get the Performing Arts Centre built on time and under budget. Keith Strong and Gary DeGroote were awarded the Tourism Ambassador Award for their tireless efforts to get the Burlington Performing Arts Centre off the paper plans and to the point where there were shovels in the ground and construction cranes putting steel beams into place. DeGroote wrote big cheques and Strong made sure the money got added to and was then used in such a way that they could say the building was on time and under budget. Not something seen all that often in the municipal world and certainly not something Burlington sees that much of – the city still suffers the pain and looks at the scars of a waterfront pier project not yet completed and millions over budget but now under control and on track.
The people who are part of the crowd that is in the know and at the centre of much that happens in Burlington know what DeGroote and Strong managed to pull off but the larger community, the citizens that will benefit from the building, haven’t a clue as to who these two men are or what they did.
 Walter Mulkewich with his best smile, was awarded the Tourism Ambassador Award for his early and untiring efforts in getting the Performing Arts Centre to the point where it was a building and not just an idea. Two other very public figures – former Mayor Walter Mulkewich and former city council member Mike Wallace shared the Tourism Builder Award. These two men aren’t joined at the hip, certainly not politically, but they have run side by side and kept the embers at least glowing until the city was ready to commit to building a Performing Arts Centre. Mulkewich, a lifelong socialist and Wallace who came to realize he is a conservative as blue as the waters of Lake Ontario.
Mulkewich and Wallace were part of the group that saw the need and did the low level community committee work to get the idea fixed in the minds of the community and kept fanning those embers that grew into flames that produced the heat and energy that got a community to get behind the project.
Wallace went on to higher office while Mulkewich went on to retirement but the two of them worked closely in the very early years, as far back as the 70’s, to grow the idea that Burlington was big enough to handle a centre for the performing arts.
 You always know when Mike Wallace is in the room - you hear him. He brought his inherent energy and humour to getting the Performing Arts Centre off pieces of paper and feasibility reports and to the point where it could become a reality. Wallace was then able to finagle things in Ottawa and got the Prime Minister’s office to include a trip to Burlington to inspect a high tech research operation on, Ecosynthetix Mainway and spend some time at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre where Wallace preceded him on taking to “the boards” and then forgetting his lines.
What many will not fully appreciate for some time was that while the Prime Minister was in Burlington (the first time a Prime Minister had ever visited the city) he also made a policy statement on the arts and the role they play in the health of a community and the economy of a country. That sort of got lost with the crowd that was very busy having their picture taken with the Prime Minister.
That event would not have taken place has Mulkewich and Wallace not done the very early work and the building would not have gone up the way it did without DeGroote’ s financial contribution and Keith Strong’s unique way of convincing someone they really can do what he has asked of them.
We are fortunate to have all four men in this community. Although I don’t think we always have to send one of them to Ottawa.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 14, 2012 We don’t know if the cheque just arrived in the mail or if hospital CEO Eric Vandewall got a phone call telling him to slip into Toronto and pick it – what we do know is that the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital now has $22.5 million to spend on the redevelopment plan.
The hospital had previously been given $1.5 million, which in the hospital building business is truly “chump change”. The hospital had asked for an additional $9 million for design purposes about 6-8 months ago but learned on Friday that the $22.5 million to cover the total cost of planning and design was on the way. For a provincial government that is close to broke, this is truly astounding – but no one in this city is going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
 The hospital will become a site that looks out over the lake rather than have its back to the water. It will look a lot different and be a lot different when construction is completed. Funds for the next phase are now in hand. With these funds in hand the close to intense conversations between the city and the hospital might become a little more relaxed. Burlington had committed itself to raising $60 million as its share of the cost of redeveloping a building that was long past its best before date. The definitive agreement between the city and the hospital had yet to be defined and the hospital needed funds to pay the people doing all the prep work that has to be done before construction actually starts.
Mayor Rick Goldring has had intensive conversations with provincial minister of agriculture, Ted McMeekin, who has served as Burlington’s link to the provincial government. There have been detailed conversations with the minister of infrastructure Bob Chiarelli and conference calls with Deb Matthews, the minister of health and long term care. Burlington has had to go to its taxpayers and add to their tax bill to save up the $60 million it was told it had to come up with. Goldring felt he had to be absolutely sure the hospital re-development was not going to be cancelled. He wasn’t prepared to rely on what he was hearing from the hospital’s leadership.
The city felt it didn’t know enough about just what the funds were going to be used for – at one point all they knew was that a parking garage had to be built so that there was a place to put cars that were now in the parking lot – which is the land the hospital was going to be built on.
 The expected view of the JBMH expansion seen looking from the east. The city was not comfortable with the working arrangement with the hospital and was looking for an alignment of that would serve the interest of the people of Burlington more effectively. They aren’t there yet.
No one is exactly sure where the $22.5 million came from. The view out of city hall is that these funds are basically an advance that will convey to the people of Burlington that the province is serious about this re-development. And serious they should be – JBMH is a hospital in trouble and in very, very bad shape. It apparently does not have the capacity to effectively quarantine anyone should such a situation arise. It is just a very old hospital that has to be redeveloped.
All hospitals are required to have their accreditations certified regularly. JBMH has said nothing in the past two years about its various certifications being in order. Bureaucrats tend to beat their own drums when they have the least thing positive to say. This hospital has certainly had its challenges and significant crisis in the past. When Vandewall was appointed there was a major house cleaning of senior people on the medical side. Cleaning a wound, and make no mistake about this, JBMH was a very wounded institution, is just the first step. Now the institution has to be nursed back to health. It will take time.
 It was a sunny summer day and a provincial government minister was on her way to Burlington with what everyone thought was going to be a cheque for the hospital in her purse. She didn't arrive - then there was an election and that Minister lost her seat - still no money. But the cheque did arrive on Friday and the smile hospital CEO Eric Vandewall was wearing this sunny summer day, is the smile he is wearing today. These things take time. Lurking in the background of all this was an announcement, that hadn’t been made that McMaster wanted to put their Family Medicine Practice in that “parking lot” building which certainly changed that picture. Along with the Halton McMaster Family Medicine Practice would go the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital Foundation’s offices. What we were now looking at was a large building that was much more than a place to park cars.
Vandewall now has the funds he needs to get the place to the point where the tender can be issued, then awarded and construction can begin. In the meantime Burlington will continue to set aside funds so that it can meet its obligation when the time comes to pay for the construction. And the hospital can now ramp up its fund raising efforts and come up with its $60. Burlington has $8 million sitting in its back account.
The city does not expect to have to turn over any funds until the 2014 fiscal year. By that time a new funds flow schedule will be in place and the city can plan for its capital spending.
While no one knows exactly where the money came from and what kind of an agreement came with it – everyone believes these are real dollars that can be spent. Might be a good idea however to get the cheque certified when it is in hand. What if Andrea pulls the plug before the end of the month and plunges us into another election. Is that why the money just arrived?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 14, 2012 For some, a Friday the 13th would be looked at a little askance and those who deal with the public or are expected to deal with the public, might ask themselves if this is a good time to make a statement.
Friday came and went and if you are into “art” you might have slipped over to Hamilton and taken in the Art Crawl along James Street North. Your chances are much better than even that you would bump into someone you know from Burlington as you strolled along the street. And “bumped into” was the operative word – the streets were packed and there was a really nice buzz.
I fully expected to jump into Jeremy Freiburger, who is the man behind much of what is happening in the art world in these parts. He is a major force in Hamilton art circles and is doing almost all of the art business in Burlington that is being paid for with public funds.
His Cobalt Connects has the contract to oversee the juried selection for public art that will go in front of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Closing date for submissions was yesterday – no word yet on how many artists sent in their ideas.
- Sometime in the not too distant future, before the Pier is completed perhaps, there will be a piece of public art in front of this building. Will it be something that people actually come to Burlington to see? Do we have it within us to choose art that is superb or will we get stuck with something provincial and dull. There are some very good people on the selection committee but the public isn’t hearing very much about the project. Maybe soon.
Freiburger said recently that there were 15 submissions and that he expected close to 50 submissions from artists as far away as Europe and South America by the April 13th deadline.
Cobalt Connect also has a contract to develop a Cultural Master Plan for Burlington. That group is beavering away but not much has been heard – they’ve yet to settle on their communications plan – which in the language of bureaucrats means deciding how they will release and manage the flow of information. Some call that “spin” – making the news work for the person putting out the news rather than seeing your role as a responsibility to inform. Answering direct questions and being available to media doesn’t appear to be part of the communications plan at this point in time.
We’ve exchanged emails with Freiburger during the past ten days. He tells us that he is “media friendly” but he isn’t ready to talk about his “communications plan” until it has been approved and the day it is approved he isn’t going to be available. He’s having lunch with the Governor General of Canada, which is a private event.
 While the art itself was interesting the placement was a mistake. The BPAC patio is a great location - now to see what we get in the way of submissions. It's kind of exciting - let's keep the public in this loop. Burlington isn’t comfortable with public art. The city’s experience with the “orchids” on Upper Middle Road was not a pleasant one. While the art itself has merit – the location was just plain stupid. The decision to put the art in that location was made by people who used public money (actually it was Section 37 money) with almost no public input. When the decision was announced on the location there wasn’t much of a public outcry. The words “what?” or “are you kidding?” weren’t heard. Part of the reason for that is Burlington citizens are still learning to use their voices.
LINK https://www.burlingtongazette.ca/?p=5203
The Shape Burlington report was very clear in its comment that the city suffers from an information deficit. The public just doesn’t know what is being done – because the people doing the doing are not saying very much.
The BPAC people will use very close to $750,000 of public money during 2012. We are into the second quarter of the year but the public has heard nothing on how many tickets have been sold and where things stand financially. Heatherington did say that more than 30,000 tickets had been sold when she was at a city council committee pleading for additional funds for her 2012 program. She got what she asked for.
The city of Burlington put a Strategic Plan in place last year and said they would review that plan and discuss progress – and guess what – they did. There was a city council session that was devoted to reporting on what was working and what wasn’t working. That’s the way people who are given funds by the public are supposed to behave.
Dan Lawrie, the CEO of an insurance company, put up a large part of the money being used to pay for the art that will go outside the BPAC, said recently that both he and Brenda Heatherington, Executive Director of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre (BPAC) feel a little awkward while they wait for the decision the jury will make on which submission will be chosen.
For Lawrie, one gets the sense that this is very much his baby and he wants to see something stupendous get selected. But it isn’t his baby – the decision gets made by a group selected to do that job. Those placed on the jury are well qualified people – one would hope.
 Jeremy Freiburger, Chief Content and Cultural Strategist at Cobalt Connects heading up two major art projects in Burlington. Still learning how to communicate with us. What’s missing from this dance is some music. We have what we are told are very good people selecting what will get placed outside the BPAC – but at this point in time we’ve no idea what that will be, which is the whole idea behind an open juried competition. We announce to the world what we want and let the artists out there decide if they think they can do something for us. In a previous story we explained how all that will work.
It would just be nice, and the responsible thing for the people we have entrusted to do this work for us, to see a steady stream of information. In a world with more than 1,000 television channels that carry mostly junk it would be nice to know who sent in some ideas.
Stay tuned while Cobalt Connects decides what kind of spin they want to put on the story.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 13, 2012 More than 450 people walk the red carpet at the Burlington Convention Centre where the Chamber of Commerce puts on its annual celebration and recognition of people and companies who were chosen as the best amongst us for 2011.
The event has taken place since 1986 and has gone through improvements and upgrades along the way. The celebration is for those that were deemed to be the best during the 2011 calendar year. The best were chosen in six categories with three finalists given a thorough, rigorous review by members of the Chamber Task Force that did all the heavy lifting.
While the spotlight and the actual awards went to others – it was the Business Awards Task Force that deserves gobs of credit for the hours they put in meeting and discussing the finalists in a way that neither their lawyers or their accountants look them over.
The Task Force is headed up by Peter John VanDyk who is joined by Lynn Ferguson, Scott Henderson, Irene Lis, Penny MacKenzie, Bruce PAyn, Rosalene Phillips, Michael Scime, Rod wright, John Doyle, Chantal Copithorn, Gaetan Chabot, Lynn Beechey, Sharon Jackman, the Board Liason and Diana Tuszynski, the vice chair.
The Chamber labels the event the Business Awards Gala and for 2011 had finalists in six categories:
Manufacturer; Capo Industries Ltd., Heron Instruments Inc., Kontek Ecology Systems Inc.
Retail / Wholesale: Brant Florist, Snuggle Bugz,
Services: Deloitte, Global Mobility Products, O.C. Tanner Recognition Company Limited
Small Business: Onward Computer Systems, Poolscape Inc., Sold Right Away
Young Entrepreneur: Ryan Barichello of LinxSmart, Trevor Bouchard of QuickContractors.com Inc.
Employer of the Year: AXYZ International, Pink Elephant.
The winners in each category were:
Trevor Bouchard in the Young Entrepreneur category.
O.C. Tanner Recognition Company Limited in the Service Category
Konteck Ecology Systems Inc. in the Manufacturer category
Snugle Bugz in the Retail/wholesale category.
Sold Right Away on the Small Business category.
Employer of the Year, which is a new category for the Chamber of Commerce, went to AXYZ International.
The Heritage Award went to Capo Industries Ltd for staying in business for 119 years. The firm started out in Hamilton and moved to Burlington where they settled on Fairview Street when it was just a dirt road.
Who are these people and what do the companies do and why were they recognized The story was different for each and early next week we will come back to you with more depth and detail on each winner. For this morning just a quick comment from the Task Force that did the selection.
Trevor Bouchard: The Task Force was impressed with how Trevor led Quick Contractors innovative and progressive growth and his ability to adapt his business to the growing needs of its customers, clients and employees.
OC Tanner: The Task Force was impressed with their evolution from a recognition hardware company to becoming consultants to large business on how employee recognition can be a catalyst for achieving corporate goals and aligning vision.
Kontek Ecology: The Task force was impressed with their focus on preserving one of our scarcest resources through management and redeployment of waste water using local suppliers for most parts, materials and labour. Kontek is a small company with clients that stretch across the globe in a market where their competitors are very large multi-national companies.
Snuggle Bugz: The Task Force was impressed with Snuggle Bugz disciplined and savvy approach to marketing, HR and operations, that in a few short years has made them a leading retailer as well as a national online supplier of everything baby.
Sold Right Away: The Task Force was impressed with the way Sold Right Away created, through technology, an innovative collection of tools that have proven results in the real estate market helping sell homes faster, with less effort and attract new clients.
AXYZ International: The Task Force was impressed with this company’s genuinely inclusive and authentic culture that, not surprisingly, was reflected in high ratings for employee engagement, teamwork and overall satisfaction by the employees in the survey of the company.
Additional awards were presented and will be reported on later in the week.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 12, 2012 Literally hundreds of people continue to register for the Business in Burlington MeetUps that are currently being held at the Waterfront Hotel in Burlington. But no one, not even the man that made it all happen, is really certain where this is all going to go.
It’s clear that the people who take part have decided against organizations like the Chamber of Commerce; they don’t see any value in the $400 membership fee. The Chamber argues that there is a lot of value for that membership fee. We will let the different opinions stand.
James Burchill is delighted with the growth in his membership which has reached more than 1,000 individuals following his grouping. That’s pretty close to what the Chamber has.
 They shouldn't have worked - but they are most certainly working. For how long - no one knows.. Until they no longer serve a purpose says James Burchill. So what’s going on? Why do people want to be part of this and why do they register for MeetUps that are taking place more than two months later? Well they want to be certain they can get in, space at the MeetUps is limited, mostly because the size of the room they use.
Burchill thinks there is more to it than that. “I’m meeting a need. These people have chosen what I have to offer over what organizations like the Chamber offers. Burchill doesn’t have a membership fee and he doesn’t make a dime out of what he has created.
He is also very quick to tell you that when he started this – less than four months ago he “didn’t know what he didn’t know”. This has been like flying in the dark with no instruments and as you listen to Burchill you get the impression he just loves it that way.
“We are all in this together” claims Burchill – he just wants to mobilize people and thinks social media, which means different things to different people, is a tool that can be used. At this point everyone is dipping their toes into social media. The big brand corporations are pretty sure there is something going on out there – but they really don’t know – have decided to throw some marketing dollars at it anyway.
Burchill is putting time and energy into this because he thinks there is a group of people who want to be part of something – even if they aren’t sure what it is they are becoming a part of. There is no membership, they aren’t asked to be on a committee – it’s all quite loose. And yet every month a couple of hundred people arrive at the same place, spend a couple of hours together and go their own way when it’s over. The cash bar is open but you can walk in and not spend a dime – and throw back some of the nibbles that are set out by the hotel. They love the traffic – they fill a space that is close to empty on a Wednesday between five and seven.
 It's 50% business and 50% social - and that's about all I can tell you, says Burchill Burchill did little to no research on this project. “They shouldn’t have worked he will tell you. They aren’t a “will I manage to make out” evening – even though there is a bit of that evident. Burchill thinks his MeetUps are 50% business and 50% social and behaving like the “benevolent dictator” he describes himself as – he thinks he can guide this in a direction that will become a service to people who aren’t part of any of the mainline social groupings. A MeetUp is certainly not a Rotary meeting, nor is it a country club. There are no rules – you just show up and be who you are.
He does think that in the not too distant future he might be able to offer this crowd services and information that they need and can opt into if they wish. Burchill who has a publishing background thinks the people who attend his events have a need for information but don’t want to spend a fortune on accountants or lawyers.
Take the HST rules – Burchill thinks he could put together a document that would sell for a couple of bucks – would have everything you needed to know without all the “what does this mean” words that the bureaucrats drop into what they write.
Less than the cost of a beer for the report – but something that would produce revenue for Burchill who strives to make the point that he isn’t in partnership with anyone and is not working his way through some grand plan.
There is a vision but it isn’t crystal clear. The vision is being shaped by what he sees from the people that turn up for his events. “There’s something going on here, that much I know” says Burchill. Other than that – he’s just riding the wave and having fun along the way.
Having fun – that could be the vision.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON,ON April 12, 2012 They were all just a little cranky Tuesday evening. City Council meetings often go that way in Burlington. They all believe that the really heavy lifting is done at the committee level where delegations have ten minutes to speak and the staff who can talk authoritatively are on hand.
At the actual Council meeting they tend to rush through the agenda – almost as if there was a hockey game they want to get home to watch – which I could never understand – they are all Leaf’s fans – what’s to watch, but I digress.
The meeting started out on the wrong foot with a delegation on the pilot project to use vans to transport as many as 12 people at a time to different destinations and out of the downtown core. The view from the Media table was of a Council that just didn’t want to listen to Peter Pellier. He got cut off when he got to the five minute point and kept getting cut short when he gave what were admittedly long winded answers to questions. Pellier was complaining that Gem Taxi had not been advised of the plans for a pilot project. It was pretty clear that Council wasn’t really listening – they had made up their minds to go forward with Burlington Taxi – that was the heavy lifting stuff they always say they do at the Committee level. Tough for Gem if they didn’t know about the plan or had not been advised by staff when they were putting together the report that the decisions were based on.
It didn’t get much better as the meeting progressed. The painting of cycling lanes on Appleby Line came back for what most expected to be a simple yes, let’s get on with this, but Councillor Sharman wasn’t prepared to give up the fight he waged at the Committee level that easily. Nor was Councillor Taylor, who had now been bitten by the “performance measurement” bug that city manager Jeff Fielding let loose. He had convinced both senior staff and the Council members that performance based budgeting was the way to effectively run a city and that you measure to learn what the performance has been. They all loved it when Fielding explained it t them – but now they had to deal with the reality from their side of the Council chamber, which is where the voters make their views felt.
Taylor felt that if the measurement of performance had been adopted as a procedure by the city, then this was one of those opportunities to try it out – so he had an amendment that asked for measurements before bike lanes were painted on Walkers Line and Appleby Line. The amendment was to a committee decision to put 1.5-metre wide bike-lane lines along Appleby and Walker’s lines between New and Lakeshore. The lines would decrease the vehicle road lanes from four to three making the resulting middle lane a two-way left-turn lane. The committee decision also takes away on-street parking along Walker’s and Appleby lines.
 Your council spent untold hours debating whether or not to measure traffic before putting in bicycle lanes to determine what difference if any the installation of the lanes would have on traffic flows. The amendment would have involved spending $6,000 to conduct resident polling and collect transportation data including collision data, cycling volume, vehicular flow and other indicators over the next two years to determine the effectiveness of the bike lanes.
Sharman jumped on that band wagon and everyone else followed. If we are going to measure, piped in Councillor Dennison, do we want opinions from just the people who live in the immediate area or do we get opinions from everyone who might have something to say about bicycle lanes on Walkers Line and Appleby. One Our Burlington reader who was watching the Council meeting live on Cogeco later commented on the Dennison remarks with: I almost fell off my chair when I heard the Ward 4 Councillor repeatedly talk about “the greater good” (in regards to bike lanes). That would make a good headline, “Jack D is fighting for the greater good.”
Councillor Lancaster added this bit of wisdom: “One thing to understand about measurements, not everything is effective when measured and you can’t always make the correct decision when measured. Counting the number of riders on any given day on any given road is not going to help the process” explained Lancaster. “At the end of the day, you make a decision like this without measurements, you make a decision like this because it’s the right thing for the citizens.” All right – so much for performance budgeting.
Sharman, who tends to the numbers side of things – he’s an accountant, it’s not his fault that he thinks that way, wanted to measure the traffic on Appleby Line BEFORE cycling lanes were painted on the road and then measure traffic AFTER the trial period.
That made sense to Councillor Taylor who was pleased with how well Council had taken to the thinking about measuring performance that Fielding had taught them. The discussion went back and forth with everyone now getting their two cents worth in.
 Councillor Taylor thought he was following the new approach to performance management - turns out he, along with Councillors Sharman and Meed Ward were the only ones who had really learned the lesson. Taylor finds himself facing a Council that is clearly divided on the issue: Dennison, the Mayor and Lancaster just wanting to get on with the painting of the bike lanes and Sharman wanting to see measurements taken before the lanes are put in. Meed Ward sees the sense in all that. So there you have the three “for” and the three “against”. And the one thing this Council is very uncomfortable with is those split 4/3 votes – reminds them too much of the Jackson days which the public clearly did not appreciate.
Sitting on the fence during all this, or so it appeared, was Councillor Craven, who one would have thought would be all for counting and measuring. But Craven voted with the Mayor, Lancaster and Dennison which meant that the vote was defeated and the bike lanes will get painted in and the cyclists will have a space to ride in, that is exclusive to them.
Craven later added that Sharman’s resistance to having the bicycle lanes painted in without any measurement was not really about measuring but more about stalling as long as possible because the voters in his Ward – and Appleby Line is the Ward 5 boundary line – were going to be really upset about losing their ability to park on the road.
 Mayor Goldring who is a keen advocate for getting people out on bicycles, didn’t want to fuss around with the issue and said it was time to “shoot the puck, we’ve been ragging it for too long, you’ve gotta shoot the puck, we’ve gotta move on, and if this is what we want, we just have to do it.” Another whack at that performance budgeting and measuring stuff.
Taylor said he thought this was the actual council meeting where we actually got to choose on this matter. I would suggest we’re actually doing what we’re expected to do. Rather strange comment, especially since we have a divided council. “On the one hand, some of us want to do the right thing and paint lines on roads. On the other hand, some of us want to do the right thing and measure. Oh my goodness, what a dilemma,” he said.
They vote – the amendment loses and that should have been it but the Mayor commented that “It’s just unfortunate that after we made a decision in committee, it’s gotta come back again. It’s just unfortunate after we’ve had all sorts of discussion without new information. Anyways, we’ll move on.”
Taylor who sits to the right of the Mayor at Council meetings wasn’t putting up with that kind of comment and came back with: “I take exception to your comments, Mr. Mayor. This is a council where decisions are made. Committee only makes recommendations to council. Now, just because you’re in favour of on-road bike lanes and you don’t want to measure it, that’s fine, but don’t belittle other people who have another opinion.”
How was that for a smack on the hand? – the Mayor did not have a response.
Several days later – at the Mayor’s Inspire Series address given by noted urban planning consultant Ken Greenberg, Mayor Goldring closed the event with these comments. “As we go forward into the review of the Official Plan, I hope everyone can move away from their fixed positions and be prepared to give a bit and come prepared to listen to some other person’s point of view.”
That statement and the behavior at the Council meeting just two days before – well that’s what politics is all about – isn’t it?
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 12, 2012 Has it been THAT long? Thirty six years? Just to remind us that the things really do work the Halton Regional Police announced today that they will be on the prowl the week of April 14 – 22nd with their Spring Seat belt Campaign.
While, apparently, 95% of us “buckle up” sadly, motor vehicle collisions are still the leading cause of injury-related deaths among children and youth and it is mandatory for anyone who transports children to ensure they are properly secured in an infant seat, child car seat, or booster seat.
When installed correctly, child car seats can dramatically reduce the risk of death for infants under age one, and children aged one to four.
The Halton Regional Police Service will utilize a multi-faceted approach during the campaign, assigning all three District Response Units, uniform patrol officers and volunteers to the task of catching those who don’t “buckle up” and reminding us or perhaps ticketing us..
 Deputy Chief Bob Percy wants you to know he is overseeing a multi-faceted program to remind you to "buckle up". He is arranging to have those who don't to be ticketed. Deputy Chief Bob Percy remarked, “Despite traditionally high compliance rates, our Service will continue to educate motorists and enforce seat belt legislation to serve as a reminder the importance of proper use of restraints, child car seats and booster seats.”
My personal experience with seat belts got very “up front and personal” when a car swerved in front of the van I was in – the air bag protected the driver, the seat belt kept me in the car – but did crack my sternum. Without that seat belt I would have gone through the windshield. Want to thank that nurse at the York Regional Hospital for the great care as she watched over me in the their Intensive Care Unit.
The things do work – so “buckle up”.
 Motel balcony is in a dangerous state of repair, decides to close down rather than do repairs. By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 11, 2012 We didn’t “do it” but Our Burlington did get the ball rolling when we took a complaint to the Burlington Bylaw enforcement Officer asking her to investigate the state of the Riviera Motel on Lakeshore Road.
Burlington responds to complaints from the public when it comes to the state of a property – they are proactive when it comes to signs. They don’t have people driving up and down the streets of the city looking for problems. But when they get a complaint – they take action.
The Riviera Motel is one of the motliest looking things in the city from the outside – we had no idea what it looked like from the inside but it was an eyesore from the street side and from the walkway along the lake’s edge.
It took a while to get enforcement people out to the property. They had to pull together a team from the building code department and people from the fire department but eventually city staff served a notice on the owners of the property to either bring the building up to building code standards or the place would be shut down.
The owners decided to shut the place down and we are advised that they expect an application for a demolition permit to be made in the very near future. That will clear the site and get rid of an ugly, ugly and probably unsafe building. Then what?
The property is owned by a group of European investors whose interests are represented by Mayrose Tyco who have the right at this point to put up a structure that will soar 22 storeys high. When the height and density were given to the property developer more than 15 years ago the idea was to end up with a “landmark” structure that would define the city. Define certainly didn’t expand into definite now did it.
Were a developer to approach the city today and ask for height of 22 storeys, the uproar from the Save Our Waterfront crowd would be heard in downtown Toronto. All we hear right now about this project is – WHEN? City hall is having close to conniptions with the pace at which developers get shovels into the ground.
The Medica One project on John Street at Caroline is in “going nowhere” mode and may have been turned into “dead in its tracks” if the city requires Nick Carnacelli’ s Carriage Gate organization to re-apply for the zoning they were given in 2009.
When the zoning for a 17 storey structure was given, then citizen Marianne Meed Ward delegated to city council several times demanding better transparency for the community. She wanted to see a smaller building and a better street-scape. Carnacelli won that battle but has apparently not met with all the undertakings he agreed to in 2009. Meed Ward is now the Council member for the ward the development is located in – it will be a different conversation at Council when this one comes up next.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON April 11, 2012 The Fraud Unit of the Halton Regional Police Service, with the assistance of the Ontario Securities Commission, has completed an 18 month investigation into the following companies, North American Carrier Services, Hillcorp International Services, Hillcorp Wealth Management, Suncorp Holdings (no relation to Suncor Energy), Exxon Holdings (no relation to Exxon Mobil) and Petro Properties (no relation to Petro Holdings).
The investigation resulted in the arrest of four individuals in relation to a $16 million investment scam that duped approximately 150 investors who were led to believe the investments they made were poised to generate large profits over a short period of time. The loss to investors has reached $8 million.
 Money doesn't grow on trees and fabulous returns are rare - ask questions and try to stifle the greed. The investigation into the investment companies revealed that investors were told the companies were investing in offshore oil securities. Using names very similar to well know multi-nationals, investors were probably thinking they were with a solid organization.
Financial Planners are required to file documents showing that they know their clients and fully understand their clients financial needs and their tolerance for risk. Investors need to make sure they know who they are dealing with – and if the deal they are offered sounds to good to be true – that’s because it was too good to be true.
The following individuals have been charged:
Paul DiNardo (52 yrs) of Burlington, charged with Fraud Over $5000 (two counts); Money Laundering (two counts); Possession of Proceeds of Crime (two counts). Presently in custody next court date April 13th 2012
Rita DiNardo (64 yrs) of Milton is charged with Fraud Over $5000; Money Laundering, Possession of Proceeds of Crime. Next court date April 23rd 2012
Danny DeMelo (43 yrs) of Milton is charged with Fraud Over $5000, Money Laundering, Possession of Proceeds of Crime, Next Court date April 23rd 2012
Steven John Hill (52 yrs) of Burlington is charged with Fraud Over $5000, Money Laundering, Possession of Proceeds of Crime. He is presently in custody next court date April 12th 2012
Anyone with information that would assist in this investigation or other persons who may have been victimized are asked to contact Detective Constable Mallinson, Regional Fraud Unit, 905 825-4747 x8740, Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes).
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON April 11, 2012 There will be a four month pilot taxi service in Burlington to see if there is a way to get the rowdies off the streets and safely home as they flood out of the downtown bars and clubs at 2:00 am in the morning.
Burlington Taxi took the idea to a city council committee where it was approved and got final approval at a Council meeting but not without a bit of a dust up when Peter Pellier, speaking on behalf of GEM Taxi, wanted to know why GEM wasn’t invited to take part in the pilot project. Good point. Pellier told Council that Gem Taxi didn’t even know about the idea until they read something in the paper.
Pellier was upset at Gem Taxi not being advised; but he also thought the idea was bad for the taxi business and said getting people home when the bars close putting several hundred people on the street at the same time, was really a taxi problem that needed a taxi solution – which he claimed could be solved if more taxi licenses were issued in Burlington.
Pellier explained that Oakville, which is not unlike Burlington in its taxi needs, has 107 cabs and six wheel chair accessible vehicles licensed, while Burlington has just 58. More taxi’s – better service – explained Pellier.
 Vans like these will be on the streets of Burlington on weekends to help get patrons of downtown bars and clubs home faster. That wasn’t quite the way Scott Wallace, owner of Burlington Taxi, and the man who came up with the idea for the pilot project saw things. As he explained to Council, Burlington has corporate taxi companies and it is those corporations that own the licenses. “Those taxi drivers are our employees and we can ensure that there are enough cabs out on the streets to meet the need.”
In Oakville the licenses are held by individuals and as Wallace explained “there is no guarantee that the taxis are going to be on the road. Many drivers” Wallace explained, “earn what they feel they need and then book off.” So while Oakville has more licenses – that doesn’t translate into enough taxi’s available for service.
While Gem should have been invited to take part in the pilot project, the reality is that they probably could not have participated because they don’t have any 15 passenger vans.
 One of the prime spots for downtown bar patrons to gather after the 2 am closing is the Charcoal Pit - makes for a lot of noise. Multi passenger vans will be used in a pilot to see if people can get transported out of the downtown core faster. Every vehicle on the road that is carrying passengers for a fee must be licensed by the city. Another of the rules in Burlington is that the driver cannot pick up people going to different destinations and are not part of a single party.
With the pilot project approved, Burlington Bylaw Enforcement Officer Tracey Burrows, can now overlook a van picking up multiple passengers and charging each one the flat rate of $7. which will not actually have a license. Burrows will be overseeing the pilot project and be part of the team that does the analysis and decides if this is something the city will want to do on a regular basis and make licenses available for that type of service. Gem Taxi would presumably be able to apply for such a license.
The pilot project is expected to start in May.
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