 By Pepper Parr
November 24th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
When a new tax is created more than one department at city hall gets involved.
The Finance department is gathering data to determine how a tax to cover the cost of managing storm water is justified; what the tax should amount to and how it should be administered.
The Capital Works department works at determining what has to be done to protect people and property from storm water damage in the future.
The Engineering department is costing out the work that has to be done and creating time lines for construction and repair.
 Our flood – as seen on a radar screen. It is now understood that climate change is going to result in much different weather patterns. We are now paying the price for all the carbon we let into the atmosphere.
The three departments will prepare a staff report that will be a complete review and detailed plan including significant public engagement for the potential implementation of a user fee.
Municipalities tax property and use that revenue to run the city. The higher the value of the property – the higher the tax.
Storm water management taxes will be based on the size of the property and how much ground there is – people in condominiums will pay less than those with large yards and extensive driveways.
Figuring all this out will be the task of the Finance department.
 The yellow shading is the highly vulnerable part of the city Allan Magi, Executive Director of Capital Works uses the often precise language engineers bring to their work. “We need to determine the ‘conveyance capacity’ of the creeks and many of the culverts” he explains.
Tuck Creek is going to get a lot of attention with Roseland, Shore Acres – just about everything in the east end of the city getting a very close review.
 Burlington’s creeks in the east end of the city. The city had a policy of not grooming the banks of the creeks all that much – the policy was to let small vegetation take a natural process and work its way into the soil bed. Under normal circumstances that was a good policy – but with thousands of gallons of water rushing through the creeks towards the lake all that vegetation got pushed forward and in some cases became damns that produced floods.
Culverts that had been in place for years and thought to be the right size proved to be far too small – they needed upgrading. Bridges have to be rebuilt and water pipes up graded.
The city hired a consulting group to prepare a detailed report on what happened and why. The Conservation Authority reported on what happened at the watershed level. The city had to focus on the many creeks that run from the edge of the escarpment through the city and into the lake.
 The fifteen projects that have to be completed are part of the phase two remediation plan. The consulting firm, AMEC, produced a report that set out what had to be done to prevent the flooding and the engineers began to work through the costs.
The AMEC report, which is a document that is not easily read or understood and hasn’t been given the circulation it deserves. The consulting firm that did the work chose not to be available for any interviews which made it difficult to gain a solid understanding of the magnitude of what happened and what has to be done.
Both Finance, Capital works and Engineering are planning on holding a Workshop for Council that will set out what the issues are and discuss some of the options. There hope is that the full report can go to council sometime next summer.
 Culverts broke down – and water went wherever it could. Included in the thinking being done at this point is a closer look at the “asset management plan”. Everything the city has is considered an asset – front end loaders, building – city hall itself is an asset and pipes in the ground – these are all assets that have to be managed. They each have a life span and the city keeps track of what has to be repaired, upgraded or replaced. There is some thought being given to creating a reserve fund that would set aside monies needed to maintain these assets. A portion of any storm water fee might include funds that would get put into the reserve.
Burlington is currently struggling to get its roads up to a standard – have you driven down Guelph Line south of the QEW recently – and has chosen to use gas tax funds which it gets from the province that are normally used to fund transit – but has used some of it to get caught up with the huge infrastructure deficit.
The thinking is that creating a reserve now will prevent that kind of problem in the future.
 The system of pipes were unable to handle the volume of water and so up it came through the sewer system. Overland flooding, the way the insurance industry is looking at the problem, a closer look at the flood plains in the city and housing that sits on those flood plains are all part of the work that is being done.
There is a lot more to report on this subject. City council has a significant task ahead of it.
 By Pepper Parr
November 23, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Storm water management began getting all kinds of attention soon after the floods of 2014 but it had been on the city’s radar screen well before that.
Former city manager Jeff Fielding had some ideas that would have resulted in a separate corporate entity that would have managed storm water and create a new revenue opportunity for the city – but that didn’t even get off the ground.
 The plaza and mall operators can expect to see a significant tax added to their operating costs – the smarter ones will begin looking for remedies. While Burlington was spending millions getting an understanding on why so much damage was done –other municipalities were developing plans to collect revenue for a problem that was now being looked at by everyone.
At the Budget review meeting held last week Councillor Lancaster asked how Waterloo handled storm water and was told that they had done a lot of public engagement and had a program that offers a credit of up to 45% of the stormwater utility fee for properties that manage their stormwater.
Residential stormwater management techniques can include rain barrels, trees, cisterns, infiltration measures or rain gardens.
Burlington has yet to create a program to collect any revenue but it is very clear that such a fee is coming our way.
Lancaster wanted to see incentives for people and a program that was easy to administer.
On Friday a group of insurance executives and senior people from Ontario municipalities met at the Royal Botanical Gardens to hear what the insurance industry was thinking and learn what some municipalities were doing.
 A storm water management tax is going to hit the bottom line of the malls – might result in significantly different parking lost designs as well. Could Burlington have become a leader in this field.  The mall operators will never put in parking meters but they will be thinking through how to redesign their parking lots to limit the damage storm water does on large space with no effective way for water to run off. There is certainly going to be a fee. The figure of $50 to $100 was mentioned for the average household with everything being based on how much ground there was.
The focus was not on just what a homeowner would have to pay- those with large parking lots are the ones going to take the hardest hit.
That includes the large malls who will have to build the tax into their cost of doing business. Places of worship that have large parking lots are going to have to find a way to pay a tax as well. Traditionally churches have been exempt from taxes. Those days appear to be coming to an end.
The stormwater credit program in Waterloo is available for commercial, industrial, institutional and multi-residential properties, based on the stormwater quality, quantity and education measures in place.
The good people of Burlington can expect to see something come out of city hall on how storm water management is going to be paid for early in the New Year.
Exactly who will manage the program and where the leadership will come from isn’t at all clear.
 City General Manager Scott Stewart will be taking his smile and his skill sets to Guelph. we are losing a good one. Earlier this month general manager Scott Stewart gave his resignation to the city manager and will take up the job of Deputy CAO of Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise Services in Guelph; he begins that job December 7th.
Stewart had been in the running for the job of city manager for Burlington twice – he was passed over both times and decided it was time to move on. There was a time when Burlington had three general managers – come December we will not have any – everything will land on the desk of James Ridge who took up the job late in March.
The management team below General manager has also seen a number of changes.
That roster currently includes:
Mike Spicer – Director of Transit
Cathy Robertson – Director Roads and Parks Maintenance
Nancy Shea Nicol – Director of Legal Services and city solicitor.
Joan Ford – Director of Finance
Bruce Zvaniga was the Director of Transportation – Vito Tolone is currently serving as the interim Director.
Chris Glenn – Director Parks and Recreation
Sheila Jones – City Auditor
Christine Swenor – Director of Information |Technology Services
Bruce Krushelnicki was Director Planning and Building – he has been replaced by Mary Lou Tanner.
Alan Magi runs Capital Works
Roy Male ran Human Resources for years – he retired and was replaced by Laura Boyd.
 Joan Ford, the city’s Director of Finance knows where every dollar comes from and where every dollar gets spent. The only person who could move into the role of a General Manager would be Joan Ford who does a superb job at finance. She is backed up by a solid team.
James Ridge has his work cut out for him. He has a number of messy files on his desk – none that he created – just past problems that are not going to go away. He has a Strategic Plan that has to be completed; his work plan has about 50 blank spots in it – no reflection on his management ability – he needs to know what Council is going to approve in the way of a Strategic Plan before he can know what he has to do.
Ridge’s biggest task is going to be creating the team that will work with him to move the city forward. The completion of the Official Plan Review is also in the wings. That work was progressing quite well – it has been moved to the back burner while Council focused on the Strategic Plan.
Then it got brought forward again – to the surprise of the Planner working on the file who was left with the impression that it had to be done quick quick quick.
Official Plans don’t lend themselves to quick quick quick.
Andrea Smith has been doing a superb job – better guidance on time lines and where the development of the plan fits into the bigger picture is what she needs most.
If you’re getting the impression that there is a little disarray at the most senior level at city hall you are more right than wrong.
 Municipal^pal civil servants are for the most part dedicated innovative people who work hard. They need an environment in which they can excel. The municipal world works at a pace that is significantly different than the private sector. There are some exceptional people who work within the municipal sector – they are creative, innovative and genuinely want to make the cities they work for better places to live. But they have to be led and Burlington has had some challenges at this level.
The current city council is not of one mind. There are very distinct differences between members of Council; there are council members who have been at the table far too long and solid strong leadership from the person who wears the chain of office just isn’t there.
 City Council – This is not a team that pulls together and it certainly is not of one mind. Every member of the current Council was re-elected in 2014. The taxpayers now have to settle for what they chose. And get used to the idea of an additional tax they will have to pay.
 By Pepper Parr
November 12, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
This story and its headline have been revised since the initial publication.
Sometime in the very near future city hall will announce who has been selected to become the Director of Transportation. Vito Tolone has been serving as the interim for a short period of time.
The Gazette erroneously reported that Tolone had been appointed. We have been asked to publish the clarification that the this vacancy is going to be filled by competition, not by appointment. “You can imagine that reading the information in this article could make potential candidates quite uncomfortable” said the city communications department.
 Scott Stewart – his sweater says it all.  Vito Tolone – now Director of Transportation Scott Stewart, General Manager of Development and Infrastructure nurtured Tolone for a number of years as he did with Chris Glenn and Alan Magi.
Stewart is the last man standing of the team that Jeff Fielding had to work with when he took on the job of city manager.
When Fielding left for Calgary many thought Stewart would fill that roll. That didn’t happen.
 Many thought Scott Stewart, on the left would succeed Jeff Fielding, on the right as City Manager. That didn’t happen. Has Stewart found a place where his skill set will be used and appreciated? Has Stewart found greener grass somewhere?
The Gazette has picked up comment from two sources – not sure yet if it is common chatter or do they know something the rest of us don’t yet know.
Losing Scott Stewart would be a serious blow to the city which at this point has just the one General Manager and a city manager who is getting a feel for the job.
 By Pepper Parr
October 28, 2105
BURLINGTON, ON
After a long summer break when meetings with more than 70 groups or individuals were held by KPMG, the consultants working with the city to create the Strategic Plan that will guide the city for the balance of this term of office the public finally got to see where the city is going with its Strategic Plan
The 2014 – 2018 Strategic Plan is being done in a significantly different way than the 2010 – 2013 plan. This time the consultants are doing much more of the early work; in the previous plan members of Council and staff met on more than eight occasions and debated a lot of the issues that were being put forward.
In the 2010 to 2013 Strategic Plan, the Mayors Chief of Staff was a major participant – so much so that more than one member of Council to Frank McKeown as the “seventh” council member, not always in a positive tone of voice.
At a meeting in July staff, Council and the consultants laid out what had to be collected in terms of data and how it was to be presented in the fall.
 Councillor Craven on the far left chaired the meeting – Councillor Dennison was out of the city. Mayor Goldring, his city manager is out of sight to his right. City General Manager Scott Stewart was surprisingly quiet during the first day of discussion and debate The meetings held last week didn’t see all that much data – what Council and far fewer staff than in the previous plan saw was an early draft of what will become what the public gets to see.
The document will go through more “wordsmithing” and the addition of some data along with the comments members of Council made as the consultants went through the four “pillars” that the Strategic Plan will rest on. Each of the “pillars” has a rationale WORD that everything else flows from.
Those four “pillars” that are creating Burlington as a city for the balance of this term of office are
A city that grows
A city that moves
A city that is healthier and greener,
and a city that leads.
Appreciate that these are draft concepts and might see some changes
 Council members and staff were arranged around a rectangle with the consultants facilitating most of the discussion. The Regional CAO, Jane MacCaskill and Regional Chair Gary Carr took part in the discussions – they were not participants in the 2010-2013 Strategic Plan. The 2014-2018 Strategic Plan is being led to a considerable degree by a consulting team from KPMG. They have done most of the research and put together draft versions of the Strategic Plan which council members and some staff comment on and debate. The debates get prickly at times.
By growing they mean that Burlington will continue to grow as an independent community by increasing its population in targeted intensification areas and by becoming a magnet for talent and economic opportunity.
By a city that moves they mean: People and goods will move throughout the city more efficiently and safely. Regional flows of traffic inbound and outbound will increase in efficiency. A variety of convenient, affordable and green forms of transportation that that align with transportation patterns will be developed.
A fair amount of gobbledegook in that statement – it is a draft so perhaps some clarity will works its way into future versions of the document.
The focus on a “healthier and greener” city was not something that we saw much of in the previous Strategic Plan. The vision this time is that the city be a responsible steward of municipal air, land and water while encouraging healthier lifestyles.
To become a city that leads Council wants to be seen as a leader in governance, citizen engagement, excellence and innovation in service delivery.
So far what we have heard is a lot of high flying rhetoric with statements that may not connect very well with the average Burlingtonian on the GO train or stuck on the QEW.
 Intense to the point of making delegations uncomfortable ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman does know how to drill down into the data and look for results. The winner for the most ludicrous remark was Councillor Paul Sharman when he said: “We have to get the best bang for our buck right from the get go.”
The meeting, which took place during two half day meetings at LaSalle Park, was billed as a “Strategic Facility Check In” during which the first draft, written entirely by the consultants was reviewed.
The review included the strategic directions and supporting initiatives and the proposed performance indicators.
Each of the pillars –
Growth
Moves
Greener
Leading
had a rational statement attached to it with a number of Strategic actions and preliminary initiatives.
For growth these were:
Accelerate economic growth:
“Establish employment land targets that drive economic growth and create an employment lands vision that drives investment and growth in the highway corridor.”
 Upper Middle Road looking east towards Burloak – designated as Employment lands. At least one member of Council would like to see this converted to residential. There are a number of developers who have property classified as Employment Lands which they would love to see converted to residential where the return is much higher.
The city is required to ensure it has the Employment land it needs for future growth. One of the more lucrative pieces of property is along Upper Middle Road and Burloak owned by one of the larger property owners.
Expect the arm wrestling between Council and the development community to get interesting.
“Build one brand for the city that reflects the city’s vision.”
“The city will continue to promote and explore post-secondary partnerships including further developing an educational cluster around the DeGroote site and attracting a major educational facility to the Urban Core.”
There are conversations taking place between two community colleges and McMaster University that Councillor Craven didn’t want anything said about. Serving as chair of the Committee of the Whole that was discussing the Strategic Plan he reminded his colleagues that there was media in the room.
“The city will develop a holistic strategy for Burlington’s rural area. This strategy will consider economic and social and environmental factors support of the rural community, agricultural industry, natural heritage and water resources.”
 Is the Air Park an opportunity the city is going to take a pass on because it is too toxic legally? What was both interesting and to some degree amazing was that not a single word was said about the Air Park property in the rural north. Properly developed with an owner that a conversation can be had with outside a court room, Burlington could be a city with a small air park that would make us a very desirable location for a large number of commercial operations.
Promote intensification:
“The city will focus intensification to key mixed use nodes and employment corridors by updating intensification targets and coordinating infrastructure to achieve growth objectives and will incorporate revised intensification targets through its Official Plan.”
“The city will demonstrate its commitment to growth management by preparing an intensification plan to manage projected growth and its related impacts.”
“This will be complete within two years.”
You can bet the barn that that statement will come back to bite someone’s rear end.
“The city will develop aging plazas and transform them into mixed use neighbourhood hubs.”
Smart population growth.
“Future development will be higher density, walkable, accessible and transit orientated. The city will become a leader in walkability measures in the province and will be fully aligned with provincial strategies and goals.”
“The city will prioritize one or two mobility hubs and use mechanisms to fast track the process using land use planning tools, public private partnerships and innovative funding, financing and delivery.”
“The prioritized hub will be incorporated into the Official Plan via a Master Plan for the hub within two years.
Another rash statement.”
“Within three years the city will develop a young family strategy, in cooperation with other levels of government that focuses on: (a) housing supply so that young families and newcomers can locate in Burlington and (b) provide social and economic infrastructure that supports youth, young family and newcomer economic, social and community goals.”
A process will be established to consult stakeholders to help gain consensus around a developable vision.
“The Strategic Plan discussions on a city that moves, is greener and leads will follow. This is complex stuff; it ties into intensification and the revision of the Official Plan that is also ongoing.”
There are at least two more meetings: a stakeholder’s review session and a review by city Council.
There was mention of a possible third meeting. And of course – the public will want to have a say. There wasn’t a lot of discussion about running all of this by the public. Not healthy.
 KPMG consultants J. C Bourque and Mark MacDonald led council and senior staff through a detailed facilitated discussion during which changes to the early draft were made. There is a lot more to be said about the Strategic Plan that is being put together – stay tuned!
 By Staff
October 26, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Every couple of days one can see the re-developed Joseph Brant Hospital reach higher and higher. They are at the point now where the bridge that will lead people from their cars to the hospital is now having its pillars put in place – 2018 is not that far off.
 Pillars are not in place to hold the bridge that will lead from the garage to the hospital. The photo above shows a view of construction from the roof of our parking garage. If you take a look in front of Level 1 of the new patient tower there are 6 large columns leading to the garage. These columns will one day support the bridge connecting Level 1 of the parking garage to Level 1 of the new tower.
The construction of the Level 4 deck will continue over the next couple of weeks. You might be wondering why there is no Level 3. To facilitate the needs of the operating rooms, which will be located on Level 2, high ceilings are required for lights and an extensive amount of mechanical work. There is however, a small Level 3 section for an elevator bank that will connect the existing hospital to the new patient tower.
The columns from Level 2 to Level 4 are complete.
The pouring of concrete for the first half of Level 4 is complete. The second half will be completed by November 6.
Construction of columns and the pouring of concrete for Level 5 continues.
8 elevator shafts and 3 main stairways from Level 4 to 5 are currently being built.
The loading dock is nearing completion.
In our existing hospital, demolition, mechanical and electrical decommissioning has started to make way for the new engineering department. The department will be located in the basement of the hospital where the finance department was once located.
The Operational Readiness team has formed five Integrated Working Groups; these are subject matter experts from across the hospital working together to achieve specified goals around defined issues, and to ensure alignment with the hospital’s objectives for Opening Day View.
Opening Day View identifies the major changes that will be in place at Joseph Brant on the opening day of our new hospital. As the project progresses there will be 15 groups in total; the five formed so far are:
Alcove Management – new, starting in December 2015
Transition Budget – ongoing
Bed Mapping & Bed Management – ongoing
Move Planning – ongoing
Medication Management – new, starting in December 2015
The Gazette was not able to reach anyone at the hospital re-development office to learn just what Alcove management is all about.
 A portion of the fourth floor of the hospital be swung into position by a crane and lowered into place where construction crews secure it. This is better than side walk superintending. To see the pace of construction day by day – CLICK HERE and watch the crews build your hospital.
By Pepper Parr
October 22, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
If you are a regular reader of the Gazette published by the federal government you would know that it is Official – Karina Gould is the Burlington member of the House of Commons.
When an election is called the Governor General instructs the Chief Electoral Officer to issue a Writ to the Returning Officer in each of the 338 constituencies. That Returning officer is the person who causes the election to be held in each constituency. The Returning Officer, Pat Barr in Burlington, writes the results of the election on the back of the Writ she was given to hold the election and sends it to the Chief Returning Officer by Priority Post.
 Karina Gould – Burlington’s member of the House of Commons. The Chief Electoral Officer has those results published in the Gazette which is the publication the government uses to make official announcement. At that point Karina Gould becomes the member of the House of Commons for the Burlington constituency.
She has a job.
Next week she will be in Ottawa for several days of Orientation. These are formal classes given to all new members who take five or six classes designed to teach them everything they need to know to get themselves to the point where they at least don’t get lost in the House of Commons.
The Gazette interviewed Karina Gould Thursday afternoon and asked when she would be setting up her Burlington office. “I don’t know” she said. She did say that she expects to take over the space at the Burlington Mall that Mike Wallace used for her constituency office.
When will you have an Ottawa office? “I don’t know” she said.
She thinks she will get a phone call from the Liberal party who will tell her where she is to be and what she is to do as a member of the government. One of the first things that has to happen is the swearing in ceremony – that might take place sometime after the Cabinet has been sworn in. Members are sworn in by the Clerk of the House of Commons.
Where will you sit in the House of Commons? “I don’t know” replied Gould.
It is rare for Karina Gould to say more than once that she does not know something.
For the immediate future her time and energy are going to be spent on getting herself organized and learning all the procedural rules and finding her way around the House of Commons and getting all the security passes she will need.
Samantha Nadler is handling some of the transition tasks from a campaign organization to the office of a member of Parliament.
What do you plan to do during the first month you are in Ottawa? “I don’t know” she replied.
At some point in the near future she will take part in her first Liberal Caucus meeting – which will be the start of the political part of her role as an MP for the next four years. Caucus is where the Liberals get brought up to date on what the leader of the government plans and where individual members get to ask political questions of the Prime Minister and to make their own comments about what they think of the direction the government is taking
Where will Gould live in Ottawa? “I don’t know” she said.
Are you excited? “Yes, I am excited” she said.
 Which of these seats in the House of Commons will be assigned to Karina Gould? Burlington now gets to see what a 28 year old with a good education, a quick mind, a sense of humour and a desire to make this country the kind of place she believes most people want it to be, can do for her constituents.
Campaign manager Claire LaRocca, who the Gazette thought was going to be a critical part of the team Gould puts together to serve the community, left Burlington for the UK where she starts a new job. During several conversations with LaRocca the Gazette talked about how she would manage the Ottawa office and the Burlington office for Gould once she was elected. She didn’t say a word about taking up a job the day after the election ended – so not quite the transparency we thought. Something to keep in mind as we track and report on the Member of the House of Commons for Burlington.
We have learned to probe a little deeper and to not assume that we are being given the full story. Such is the game of politics – it is seldom what it seems on the surface.
By Pepper Parr
October 22, 2105
BURLINGTON, ON
The photograph shown in an earlier version of this story was the wrong building. The photograph shown now is of the Aldershot branch of the Public Library. Our apologies and thank you to the reader who pointed out the error to us.
While he might be a little on the brittle side and a sense of humour is not the dominant part of his personality – ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven usually finds the facts that makes the point and drives it home.
 Rick Craven: Best committee chair the city has; not big on the warm fuzzy stuff through. Needs a hug badly.  The library works for the public; the library parking lot doesn’t work all that well – which doesn’t bother the ward council member – he wants people to get out of their cars and walk as much as they can. Parking and transit at times dominate discussion in this city – usually in the form of complaints.
Getting people out of their cars and walking the short distances to services they use has been a consistent thread through all the Strategic Plan debates. Councillor Craven explained how it has been made to work in his ward.
The new city library in Aldershot is part of a mixed use structure that works quite well. Parking is at the rear of the building, there is retail and services on the ground levels and the library.
People will complain about the lack of parking said Councillor Craven adding that the library is a very short walk for thousands of residents. Complaints about the lack of parking – there are 24 parking spaces at the rear of the building at Plans Road and Waterdown.
Craven makes a very solid point when he said that library registration is up by more than 400%.
It is a new library – so all it could do was grow – and if Craven’s numbers are right – the lack of parking space has not hurt library usage – and it has gotten people out of their cars.
A candidate in the municipal election didn’t see it quite the same way – he complained loudly that there wasn’t nearly enough parking and that it was difficult for his wife to get to the library pushing a three year old in a stroller.
It is going to take the city some time to break the “use the car” habit.
 By Pepper Parr
October 16, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Let’s dig a little deeper into the Work Plan city manager James Ridge presented to a Standing Committee earlier this week.
 City Manager James Ridge Ridge set his intentions out into groups, just the way any Army captain would and then delved into the groupings and what Ridge hoped to get done. We have added a few comments to expand on the tasks. which were:
STRATEGIC PLAN, OFFICIAL PLAN, AND OTHER SUPPORTING PLANS:
City Strategic Plan: While many many months late Council and staff are now meeting to nail this down and move on to the Official Plan Review and the city budget.
Official Plan: On hold until the Strategic Plan has been struck. With a new planner due to start in November there may be a little lag time while she figures out what is where at city hall and gets to know her staff.
Transportation Master Plan: A work in progress
Corporate/ SMT Work Plan: 12-24 month detailed work plan addressing all Strategic and Official Plan work items. Develop master SMT work plan to deliver strategic objectives.
Each Director, General Manager and Service Owner to have a personal work plan, which will be a central element of their ongoing performance evaluation
 How will citizens take to multi year strategic budgets? Multi-Year Strategic Plan budget: Ensure that high level budgeting is undertaken to accompany the Strategic Plan and supporting multi-year work plan to guide priority setting and annual budget discussions. Multi-year budget projections for implementation of the Strategic and Official Plans and associated Work Plans.
The city’s finance department is probably the best run shop in the city – they don’t need to be told what to do – they do need other departments to work as efficiently and as effectively as the Joan Ford crew works.
City Manager Work Plan: Set out in detail below.
Work Plan management and reporting systems
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
Ridge wasn’t able to say much about initiatives – other than he thought there might be as many as 50 of them.
EXCELLENCE IN STRATEGIC GOVERNANCE
City Performance Indicators: Working with BEDC, Burlington Community Foundation and others, develop a macro set of performance measures that taken together are a reasonable proxy for the general wellbeing of the City. A clear set of key performance measures to measure the health, quality of life, and economic performance of the City tracked longitudinally.
Some very good data was released at a Standing Committee meeting earlier in the week. The Gazette is pulling that information together and will publish later this month – you won’t see this data anywhere else.
Workshop on Excellence in Strategic Governance: To support Strategic Plan implementation, have a facilitated workshop(s) to consider strategic governance principles and the appropriate governance/management relationship needed for successful implementation of the strategic plan.
Strategic governance workshop with Council and appropriate senior staff, to develop general principles of strategic governance and management.
Excellence in Governance Charter: City Council is widely seen as an exemplar of excellence in strategic governance. Develop with Council an “Excellence in Governance Charter.” Adopt as Council policy a series of best practices and decision tools that reflect accepted best practices in strategic governance for public and private sector organizations.
Watch this one carefully – it looks as if it might be what gets put in place of the Code of Conduct that most of this council does not want. The Code of Conduct is something this council needs and the public deserves.
 Councillor John Taylor wants better agenda and council meeting planning – dislikes the way Clerk’s office manages the flow of paper – city manager wants to get rid of the paper. Agenda Planning: Through regular reviews of the City Manager’s work plan, allow for better longer and medium term agenda planning. Several members of Council have complained about poor agenda planning and want material they are to discuss earlier in the process. When the calendar for 2016 was being discussed Councillor Dennison suggested a number of changes which the Clerk’s office wasn’t happy with. Mayor Goldring brought this up giving the Clerk an opportunity to explain what the problems were. Dennison wanted to know why he had not heard of the Clerk’s concerns. Now we know why there are problems with agenda planning – these people don’t talk to each other.
Council Agendas: Structure Council agendas to clearly identify strategic and good-governance agenda items. A proposal for a new model for Committee and Council agendas. Set for 2Q of 2016. Don’t bet the barn on that date.
EXCELLENCE IN MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION:
Customer Service
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tool
One Stop Business Startup Centre
Service Management
Enterprise Risk Management
Enterprise Performance Measurement
Business Analytics Capability/Research and Data analysis: If possible, fast track the implementation of a business analytics tool to permit robust data analysis. As an interim measure, create a temporary new role to do data analysis, quantitative research, and coordinate surveys.
A suite of applications, tools and process that when implemented and operational support performance measurement, data analytics and corporate reporting.
One position (perhaps .5 FTE) to undertake quantitative analysis and detailed data analysis in support of Council and corporate initiatives.
During a presentation made by former Director of Planning Bruce Krushelnicki we learned that the city has absolutely no demographic capacity and that there is some statistical capacity but the person doing the job could not tell a Director how many homes there are in Alton Village. That staffer is apparently still cashing a pay cheque.
Revenue and Grant Coordinator: Create a role with an explicit focus, and dedicated time, to undertake grant requests, stay abreast of new funding opportunities, and seek other revenue opportunities. Create a new (likely .5 FTE position) in the City Manager’s office to coordinate City grant applications, research new and existing funding opportunities, and consider other municipal revenue opportunities.
This is the second mention of additional staff – Councillor Craven won’t let this happen – but Councillor Sharman might like to see someone who can gather data
Document Management: Multi-year project to reduce or eliminate use of paper, provide better access to information, and more transparent public access. First phase should be paperless meeting materials for those who wish to use. Paperless SMT meetings. Full transition is a major multi-year project.
City Marketing Cooperative: Explore the possibility of a marketing cooperative to share expertise and resources among City departments and City- funded agencies and boards. If agreement is reached among the parties, create a marketing cooperative to share expertise and mitigate duplication in marketing, print, web support activities.
This is one of those initiatives that is better not even attempted – bureaucrats are not marketers – this should be outsourced to a company that is given a strong, clear mandate.
 Burlington didn’t lead the way it could have led during the Via derailment a number of years ago – the city now how seasoned Emergency Management in place Emergency Management: Fully implement an emergency management plan, appropriate training, and develop and maintain business continuity plans.
This task is well underway – the Fire department brought in a season manager who explained what the department will be doing and how it will work – it is a very significant improvement over procedures that were in place previously.
Build Redevelopment Capacity in Planning Building and other relevant Departments: Evolve through hiring, professional development and resource allocation the Planning and Building department’s expertise and capacity from greenfield single family to infill and intensification.
Land Economist: Strengthen our planning and real estate management capability by tendering for a retainer for a municipal land economist to provide expert arms-length advice to City staff and Council on land economic issues, particularly independent assessments of development applications and the embedded assumptions around profitability at various densities and uses.
ORGANIZATION AND CULTURE
 Members of the team that run the finance department during a budget debate – they were updating data on the fly People Plan Team: There is a general need for a team of union and non-union staff from across the City to focus on and make recommendations about, workplace quality and cultural concerns.
Culture Survey: In Q1 2016 undertake the Dennison survey of organizational culture as a baseline.
Performance Evaluation System: Develop a new Performance Evaluation system. Fully implemented new PE system that is modular, with elements for individual contributors, service owners, and Directors. Ridge wants this to be 100% use. He sees this as quarterly structured but less formal conversations with staff on performance, not a once a year report
Succession Planning: Create a corporate succession plan and succession planning policies. Initial identification of high potential management staff for detailed career planning. Initial identification of high potential front line staff with leadership potential for detailed career planning.
Succession plans complete for all departments. Corporate policies in place. SMT has created a list of high potential middle managers for immediate development
MAJOR INITIATIVES
Storm Water Management: Implement the Council-approved program on expanded storm water management.
This program is going to have a very significant impact on the 2016 budget and will stun the owners of properties that have large parking areas. The city has done a very poor job of informing both residents and commercial property owners on the ramifications – they are significant.
Asset Management – Infrastructure Renewal
Conversion Reviews: In the context of the Official Plan review, develop (with BEDC) mechanisms to defensibly and consistently make recommendations on conversion requests.
Once the Strategic Plan is in place this will become a major matter for this Council. The development community does not believe the city needs all the Employment Land it has – and they want the opportunity to convert those lands to residential where the profits are much higher.
 Zoned commercial, spitting distance to the QEW, minutes from downtown – owner wants to rezone and make it residential. Major developers in this city have been sitting on land holdings for year – decades in some cases – waiting for the day when they can get a conversion. The province does not make it easy for any conversions to take place – but the developers have skilled planners who can make a donut look like a life saver.
Beachway Park: Negotiate with the Region cost sharing for Beachway Park, both Capital and Operating.
Sustainable Development Awards
Urban Design Review and Awards
INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Government Relations
Policies and Process: With the Mayor’s Office and Council develop formal policies, procedures for ongoing intergovernmental relations activities. Identify the first inventory of key intergovernmental issues and action plans.
This has always been a particularly weak area for this city administration. Having city managers move in and out of that office every two years didn’t help to develop strong working relationships. The city did hold a Burlington Day at Queen’s Park which amounted to everyone handing out business cards and getting 15 minutes with Ministers and some Deputy Ministers.
Burlington didn’t have a very effective MPP at the time which made it difficult to achieve very much.
The failure of the IKEA move to the North Service Road was due in no small measure to the lack of a deep understanding of how the Ministry of Transportation really works. The lead people on that file had not been properly mentored on how a city deals with a provincial ministry.
Redevelopment processes: Develop with Halton Region, a seamless process with known timelines for redevelopment applications. Done by 1Q 2017
 Our Building – on Hamilton’s land. LaSalle Park: Reach agreement and Council approval on the transfer of LaSalle park ownership to Burlington by 1Q 2017
Community Engagement: Continue and build on the work that has been done on community engagement, support the Engagement Charter
New Resident Outreach: The City administration takes steps to proactively reach out to and engage communities, including immigrants, who have a very low incidence of engaging with City
Partnerships. The city wants a tighter working relationship with Hamilton where there is real economic growth; it also wants to strengthen the relationship with the Region.
This is most of what city manager James Ridge put before city council. In a separate article we report on how council reacted
 By Ray Rivers
October 16, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The natural order of things has been restored. Tom Mulcair and his NDP were the team to beat when this election campaign first kicked off. He seemed unbeatable with a strong lead and growing support across the country. Yet, as we head into the final stretch of the campaign, the NDP has fallen into their time-honoured third place with virtually no hope of winning.
 Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair speaks to supporters at a rally in Quebec City, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz Some might say Mr. Mulcair’s party is just returning to its traditional place in the hearts and minds of Canadian voters. Others might speculate that the early polls were influenced by an artificial boost from the impressive NDP provincial win in the heart of Tory-land, Alberta. And everybody likes a winner.
Then there was the niqab issue, which saw a principled Mulcair at odds with the majority of Quebecers, who simply object to people wearing that symbolic face covering. Mulcair’s ambiguity over the west-east energy pipeline, where he was accused of saying different things in different languages, didn’t help. And his vehement support for federalism, despite his party’s Sherbrooke Declaration (allowing a Quebec exit with a 51% vote), sullied his image among previous ardent-separatist supporters.
 The attack ads appear to not have worked – voters decide on Monday if Justin Trudeau is ready. In the beginning it looked like Trudeau had suffered irreparable damage from the Harper “not ready yet” attack ads. The Liberals had come out of the gate without much of a platform for voters to consider, and voters had responded by switching their ‘parked’ votes from the Libs to the NDP. If that trend were to have continued Mulcair would have won, become PM and maybe even got a majority.
So Tom Mulcair figured he could play it safe. He cast himself as the right-winger-on-the-left, hoping to bring conservative-minded voters over his new centrally positioned party. He essentially adopted Harper’s economic policies, fine tuned his last budget, and personalized it to include some NDP items – but promised the same Tory balanced budget program.
Though he’s not yet buried, it sure looks like Tom Mulcair became the architect of his own demise. For those who knew of his past, even changing the face of an ‘Angry Tom’ by wearing a forced smile didn’t help. You can’t have it both ways! You can’t be a social reformer and promise it won’t cost anything. There is no free lunch. Mulcair, by wanting to offer everything to the voters, has convinced them that he is really offering nothing new.
 The federal election is certainly not over – but there is some momentum – a tight race that the voters will have to figure out. Listen to the advertising and ask questions. Mr. Trudeau overcame those attack ads in the course of the debates. Then he went on the offensive, announcing a bold platform agenda. He went beyond the other leaders, promising the first major tax reform since Mulroney, reversing some of the tax burden the former PM had placed on the middle class. And Trudeau’s most exciting promise was to deliver a Canadian ‘new deal’ – a spending program to create employment improving transit and other infrastructure.
If anyone was concerned about his need to run deficits for the next couple of years, he had renowned deficit fighter Paul Martin at his side. His youth and dynamic presence in the debates, and at rallies, provided a contrast between him and the other leaders. So his poll numbers have moved forward, leaving the other parties in his dust. But there is not enough dust for a majority even if all the stars were all to align.
Still, Trudeau has emerged as the strongest of the two (three in Quebec) anti-Harper candidates, And that makes a Liberal candidate the strategic choice for those voting ‘anyone-but-Harper’.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran as a Liberal against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province. Rivers is no longer active with any political party.
Background links:
Polls Is Keynes Winning Liberal Platform
 By Pepper Parr
October 15th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Parking – that bug bear for almost everyone with a vehicle – is getting a close look by city hall
The Planning & Building Department,in conjunction with the Transportation Services Department will be retaining a consulting firm to complete a City Wide Parking Standards Review.
 It is surprising how often this parking lot on Locust street is nowhere near full. Burlington’s off-street parking requirements are set out in a zoning By-Law that is used to govern the supply of parking for all types of land use.
Over the past few years, the City has received frequent requests for parking reduction in areas such as seniors housing, intensification nodes, visitor parking, and mixed use developments. At the same time, the City has been experiencing parking shortfalls in areas such as medical office complexes, newer high density communities, and places of worship.
A review of the current Zoning regulations is necessary to develop a context-sensitive framework for updated parking requirements based on existing and desired land use and transportation characteristics.
 Parking offence revenue is significant for the city. This Parking Review will be the first step toward the completion of the comprehensive zoning review for the City of Burlington. The recommendation s of this study will be used as the basis for updated parking regulations and design standards for development in Burlington.
 Brant Street on a bad day? The objective is to adopt an approach that considers land use, built form, design standards, as well as proximity to transit and other alternative modes of travel.
The parking standards review ties into the Transportation Master Plan; the goal is to move towards managing parking in a responsible manner that promotes sustainable forms of development and provides an emphasis on travel demand management.
Once the consultants have been retained and the contract deliverables ironed out timelines will be put in place.
 The city would dearly love to see a structure on this John Street parking lot – can the parking demand get by without these parking spots? There is a supermarket parking lot 35 yards away. The city is about to move into some serious thinking and debating of what they want in the Strategic Plan – which is now many many months behind – the first year of the four year term of office has been completed – and the strategic Plan is still not in place.
There are those at city hall who think the plan may not get completed before the end of the year which would push its completion out even further because the budget has to be determined in January.
The city manager met with council on Wednesday to set out his work plan – he didn’t get a standing ovation. Several thought it was a bit on the ambitious side. There is a lot of work to be done. More on the city managers work plan in a separate article.
The Gazette will keep on top of this one for you.
 By Ray Rivers
October 11, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Each week between now and the day we all vote, October 19th, Ray Rivers is going to give Gazette readers his take on how the election is going. The week that was will appear every Monday morning.
Next Monday, the 19th, is election day in Canada and the polls are showing the Liberals trending upwards as the NDP decline. As readers who follow me already have guessed, I won’t be voting for Stephen Harper. Mr. Harper made this election about the economy, claiming he is the best economic manager for Canada’s future. So what is his record?
 They were called Bennett buggies – no one could afford gas and repairing a vehicle was out of the question. Canada was in the middle of a depression in the 1930’s It turns out that since Harper became PM in 2006, Canada’s growth rate has averaged 1.77 percent, the lowest rate of growth since R. B. Bennett took us for a ride in his Bennett Buggy during the 1930’s great depression, three generations ago.
Mr. Harper has blamed the recent oil price drop for Canada’s current malaise. In fact, during the period when oil was high, this so called fiscal conservative ran six straight deficit budgets in a row, adding $150 billion to the country’s debt load.
As a result he increased Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio by almost a quarter, to over 85%, from where Paul Martin had left it in 2006. And in spite of this extra federal spending he was unable to get unemployment levels back to where it had been when he took over the reins of power. Today’s 7.1% unemployment rate is almost an entire percentage point higher than the 6.3% Paul Martin had bequeathed him in 2006.
Mr. Harper’s belief is that by cutting taxes the extra money in the taxpayers pockets will trickle-down and stimulate economic growth. But the tax revenues declined faster than expenditures, and with the economy stalled, that formula just rendered bigger deficits. The cuts to corporate taxes, rather than stimulating the economy, showed up in even fatter pay and bonus cheques for executives, or being hoarded. As a consequence, over the last decade of corporate tax cuts Canada’s manufacturing sector lost 400,000 jobs.
 Railway tank cars that were not as strong as they should have been were transporting oil to the east coast. Human error result in the deaths of several dozen people when rail cars rolled into a town with the brakes basically shut off. Mr. Harper put all of his faith and some healthy subsidies into oil exports, transitioning Canada into a Saudi Arabia of the north. And to get the oil to export markets, even before his government’s failed rail policies contributed to the disaster at Lac-Mégantic, pipelines were seen as the answer. Yet, despite having slashed historic environmental laws to expedite this goal, his government has failed to build even one pipeline.
Harper claims Canada’s economic future is tied to these so-called free-trade deals he’s been signing all over the world. Yet, the big one with the EU is stalled over the corporate right to sue governments – the ‘investor-state’ clause. And given recent protests in the UK and Germany against a similar agreement being negotiated with the Americans, there is reason to doubt an ultimate ratification.
In the USA, the leading Republican and Democrat presidential candidates have promised to kill the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement which was initialed just last week. That may turn out to be a blessing. Mr. Harper has set aside over $5 billion to compensate Canadians for economic losses which will ensue, but has failed to identify any direct benefits for this mother of all trade pacts.
 Scientists who were on the federal payroll found they were prevented from talking about their research – they risked losing their jobs if they protested. There are many more reasons which would keep me from voting for Mr. Harper. Canada’s sullied place in the world of foreign affairs, as the PM has replaced principled foreign policy with shameless pandering to domestic ethnic communities, is an example. Canada’s failure to address our growing contribution to climate change is another one. The muzzling of the public service by a government which came into office promising more transparency is still another.
Mr. Harper’s social policies, such as mandatory minimum sentencing, prostitution, immigration and drug legalization are part of an ideology he shares with a number of other Canadians. And his government’s style inevitably reflects his own personality, which may explain his reluctance to meet with his provincial partners. Though one can hardly be blamed for their personality, and should be accorded respect for their ideology, these are considerations for an informed electorate.
And not everything he has done is wrong-headed in my view. There are some economic policies which I applauded, particularly in his early years as PM, such as reducing the GST, introducing income-splitting for seniors and closing the income-trust loophole.
Nevertheless, Stephen Harper is the incumbent PM, having been in control of our economy for the last decade. He has made this election about the economy and put his record up as the reason to vote for him. Yet an objective assessment of that record shows increased national debt, higher unemployment and lower economic growth. By anyone’s measure that is a failure.
In conclusion, regardless of all his other policies which have mostly divided Canadians, Mr. Harper has shown himself to be an incompetent manager of our economy. For that reason alone, people in this election should vote for anyone but Harper.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran as a Liberal against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province. Rivers is no longer active with any political party.
Background links:
Jobs Economic Growth Debt to GDP Unemployment
Corporate Hoarding Oil Subsidies
TPP Clinton Opposed More Clinton opposed to TPP
US-EU Trade Protests
Polls
By Staff
September 23, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Most parents want to be involved in their children’s education and school community. The
province is providing 24 Parents Reaching Out (PRO) grants to school councils in Burlington’s three local school boards to help more parents connect and engage with their children’s learning.
The grants will support projects that help parents respond to important issues in their local communities, such as bullying, student nutrition, literacy and math. They also help address barriers parents may face to participate in their child’s education, such as language and transportation.
 The plan includes investing in people’s talents and skills. Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon says “The Parents Reaching Out grants are important investments to help Burlington parents get more involved in their children’s learning, helping our students succeed and our communities thrive. Each recipient school has identified a project based on their own interests and need. These grants will support projects like family math nights, online safety presentations and health and wellness sessions for parents.”
The province says studies show that when parents are more engaged in their children’s education, students are more likely to earn higher grades, develop better behaviour and social skills, and achieve higher levels of education. The province has provided more than 17,000 PRO grants to school councils.
The following schools in Burlington and the program they will offer received grants that averaged $1000.
 Bateman High School among Burlington schools that gets grant for parent involvement Information Evening for Parents, Canadian Martyrs School
Family Fitness, Holy Rosary Separate School
Descriptive Feedback Prompts, Lumen Christi Catholic Elementary School
Social Media Information Session, Brant Hills Public School
We all Belong, Clarksdale Public School
Online Safety Presentation, Glenview Public School
Parent Technology Initiative, Tom Thomson Public School
Everyone Can Succeed in Math with a Growth Mindset!, St. Patrick Separate School
Speaker Nights Topics for Parents Chosen by Parents, Bruce T. Lindley
Mental Health and Wellness, Dr. Charles Best Public School
Family Math Night, Frontenac Public School
Parent Engagement Presentations, John T. Tuck Public School
Welcoming New Families and Engaging All Families, Lakeshore Public School
Engaging Parents, Lester B. Pearson High School
Health and Wellness Sessions for Parents, Mohawk Gardens Public School
Reducing Stress and Anxiety in our Children, Pauline Johnson Public School
Individual Education Plans: Support and Education for Parents, Robert Bateman High School
Promoting an Inclusive and Safe School: The Role of Parent Engagement, Rolling Meadows Public School
Family Workshop Creating Healthy Schools, Tecumseh Public School
By Walter Byj
September 18, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Despite what seemed like a lengthy and potentially controversial agenda, the September 16th meeting of the Halton District School Board went smoothly and relatively quickly. Items covered during the meeting were as follows;
Program Viability Committee
The Halton District School Board initiated a committee to examine program viability in both the English program and the French Immersion program and to make a recommendation to the Board no later than June 2015. The committee will be chaired by the Associate Director and will be composed of the Superintendent of Program, Superintendent of Student Success, System Principal of French Program, System Principal of School Program, Principals of dual track elementary schools, elementary single track English schools, elementary single track French Schools, French Immersion programs in High School, single track English programs in high schools and three trustees who currently sit on the French advisory committee.
A more detailed report on this item will be published later in the week.
Active Transportation
Active Transportation to school and work is defined as human powered transportation such as walking, cycling, wheeling, rolling and using mobility devices. Students and their families and staff who make active transportation a choice, over automobile travel, experience benefits in mental and physical health and well-being, are more prepared to learn and promote community connections.
 Burlington school board trustee Andrea Grebenc wants to see more walking to school. Reducing automobile use around schools by choosing active transportation modes and/or school buses/public transit improves air quality around schools for students, staff and the whole community. Supporting such active and sustainable travel choices reflects the principles of Ontario’s Foundation for a Healthy School.
Trustee Grebnec introduced a motion that will be debated at a future date.
Ontario Ombudsman
Effective September 1, 2015 the Ontario Ombudsman obtains jurisdiction for school boards. We have been asked by the Ombudsman’s office to supply a list of procedures the public can access to regarding challenges to Board procedures. Many of the Board’s procedures have been listed in the survey (transportation, discipline, suspension/expulsion, etc.), all prefaced by the Board’s Process for Public Concerns, attached to this document as an administrative procedure.
Background:
The Ontario Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act has broad powers that include the ability to assist the public in matter of school boards’ jurisdiction. The general role of the Ombudsman is to respond to complaints and seek to resolve concerns raised by the public. The Ombudsman’s website (www.ombudsman.on.ca) details the breadth and depth of the work performed by that office.
Generally speaking, the Ombudsman will look to refer concerns to existing internal resolutions procedures (discipline appeals, human rights procedures, staff grievances). I believe that is the reason why we have been asked to supply an overview of our various procedures for public and parent concerns. The Ombudsman refers to itself as “an office of last resort”, meaning that other internal mechanisms for disputes should be exercised first. In the case where a complaint cannot be resolved, the Ombudsman determines whether an investigation is warranted and the Board is notified. The Ombudsman then investigates and reports publicly. It should be noted that the decisions of the Ombudsman are not binding and do not overturn decisions of the Board; however, it is my understanding that the wisdom and impartiality of the office is usually acknowledged with a review of the decisions.
Most of the items on the agenda were of the FYI nature and will be summarized in the near future. However, both the program viability committee and active transportation agenda items will be reported in more detail as they have the potential to be controversial and have a profound impact on the community.
 Walter Byj has been the Gazette reporter on education for more than a year. He is a long time resident of the city and as a parent has in the past delegated to the school board.
By Staff
September 10th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
 Mayor Golding will take part in the Kick off for a campaign to increase the use of alternate forms of transportation – and less use of cars for short trips. The process has begun – the attempt to change the culture in the city and leave the car at home and choose active and alternative transportation instead is now a challenge from the office of the Mayor.
Billed as the Think Outside the Car Challenge, it will run from September 15th to – October 30th.
Many of the trips people take in Burlington are within a very short distance and are the ideal distances to cycle, walk or hop on a Burlington Transit bus. These alternative modes of transportation not only promote a healthy lifestyle but also save money on the cost of gas, parking and have very little impact on our air quality.”
To participate in the challenge:
1. Ask a friend or family member to take a photo or video of you using alternative transportation when you would have normally taken your vehicle. Share on social media using #ThinkOutsidetheCar.
2. Challenge three friends, family members or co-workers to choose alternative transportation instead of using their vehicle.
3. Be part of the change.
Campaign Kickoff Event
On Tuesday, September 15th , students at M.M. Robinson High School will be part of the kickoff event.
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon has been a strong Share the Road advocate – she now wants people to make more use of bikes and public transit. Eleanor McMahon, MPP Burlington and Danijel Ozimkovic, Transportation Technologist at the City of Burlington will be talking part in the event.
“Travelling by car is very popular in Burlington,” said Vito Tolone, acting director of transportation at the City of Burlington. “Ninety per cent of all trips within our city are made with an automobile. If we are going to reduce traffic congestion and create a greener city, the entire community needs to work together and consider other forms of transportation.”
By Pepper Parr
August 28, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The headline said: Ontario Committed to Maintaining Roads and Bridges
The rest of the story was about vehicle licence fee increases that come into effect September 1, 2015 in order to help maintain Ontario’s road safety, support key services and improve crucial transportation infrastructure.
Fees for driver licences, renewals, replacements and commercial permits are among those increasing.
These changes support the recommendations of the Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services to cover the rising costs of maintaining provincial roads, bridges and highways, enhance cost recovery for the delivery of driver and vehicle licensing services, and to support quality public services Ontarians rely on every day.
Here’s the damage to your wallet – not all that bad.
  The Ontario government has committed over $19 billion since 2003 to design, repair and expand provincial highways and bridges across Ontario. There are about 12.1 million vehicles registered in Ontario.
Ontario is making the largest infrastructure investment in the province’s history — more than $130 billion over 10 years – which will support more than 110,000 jobs per year on average, with projects such as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals.
By Pepper Parr
August 25, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
They will be back soon – that magnificent seven that get paid $100,000 + each year for serving as your representative on both city and regional council.
They have been away from the horseshoe at city hall since the middle of July – and except for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario that was held in Niagara Falls – they haven’t had much to do in the way of formal meetings.
Burlington tends to be very quiet at city hall during the summer. The non-union staff at city hall are not that young.
The five year age range of the 129 people who hold leadership positions
2% are 26 to 30 – 3 people
1% are between 31 and 35
9% are between 36 and 40 – 12 people
16% are between 41 and 45 – 21 people
19% are between 46 and 50 – 25 people
32% are between 51 and 55 – 41 people
13% are between 56 and 60 – 17 people
7% are between 61 and 65 – 9 people.
There is a lot of vacation time to be used up.
 City hall leadership briefs the Mayor on an issue during the budget preparation process The other interesting thing is that close to 50% of the leadership will retire within 10 years; something the Human Resources department spends a lot of time thinking about. The pension plan in place for the municipal sector is seen as very good and many choose to retire in the second half of their fifties and try and new career.
As the members of Council drift back into the city and begin looking at their agendas and gearing up for the fall session – which for them begin September when they do two days of meetings at Regional Council where they will look at the Transportation Service 2014 Progress Report; do an On-Site Visit to Verify Potential Threats to Halton Regional Municipal Water Supply; consider changes to Waste Collection Area Boundaries and a look at the Conservation Authorities Act which is being reviewed.
When Council adjourned in July for the summer break there was no holding of hands and singing Cumbia. The period of time from when all seven members were re-elected last October to the July break was as fractious as this reporter has seen – even in the days when Cam Jackson was Mayor.
Differences of opinion are part of serving the public but the nastiness with which these people treat each other is shameful. On December 18th this Council treated John Taylor, a member of Council with 26 years of experience, terribly. Earlier in that December 18th meeting Taylor was given an long term service award – within a few hours he was basically stripped of committee memberships that he not only deserved but that were dear to his heart.
A few weeks later he came close to having to beg for financial support for Community Development Halton which they needed to cover them until a grant application was approved.
 Car Free Sunday started as an event to convince people to get out of their cars and walk, bike or use public transit – it became a party put on at public expense for ward Councillors to entertain their constituents – at $10,000 a pop. Earlier in the session members of Council approved the spending of $10,000 for Car Free Sundays for both wards four and five and ward six. Mayor Goldring commented at the time that the events looked more like politicking than they did occasions when the public got to learn why everyone needed to make less use of their cars. His Worship was right – the events have become political boondoggles; hopefully they won’t be in the 2015 budget.
Councillor Marianne Meed Ward is concerned with the way reports get to Council members and she wondered aloud if two much of the meeting management was in the hands of the Clerk’s Office when it perhaps should be in the hands of the members of Council.
Meed Ward wants to see more “quickly to action” on the part of this council. We are collecting a lot of data but we don’t seem to be getting all that much done. Our growth hinges on creating jobs in this city. While the city does not actually create the jobs is can create the environment and ensure that the services needed are in place.
That means a city hall bureaucracy that serves the needs of people doing business in the city and with the city. We hear of those situations where things don’t work – the complaints, like gossip make the rounds quickly. The good news tends to take a little longer – but there is some good news.
 The public got to see information that was not secret but seldom had they had an opportunity to see a lot of data put before them and then be able to discuss some ideas with developers. A number of months ago Meed Ward held several workshops to which she invited the public and those developers who were prepared to sit down and talk specifics about a project they were developing. Meed Ward will complete her write up, pull together all the data and put it in a format that is uiseful to the public. There will be a final public meeting and then everything gets passed on to planning staff who may issue a report on what they heard. staff played a large part in the public meetings – they were as interested as Meed Ward was in what the developers had to say and what the public wanted built in their city.
On balance they were a very worthwhile effort. The final report, which Meed Ward hopes has an impact on the Official Plan Review.
Meed Ward is concerned about the Ontario Municipal Board hearing on the ADI Group development that has been unveiled for the bottom of Martha at Lakeshore Road. Many feel the proposed structure just doesn’t fit and the staff report the city put out made that point quite clearly.
Unfortunately, city council never got to the point where they were able to vote on the staff report which makes whatever case the city has just that much weaker.
ADI filed their appeal to the OMB on the 180th day after they had submitted their proposal. Everyone knew what ADI was going to do – that is the way they do business and what they did was perfectly legal. It is situations like this that bother Meed Ward and many people in the city.
Council she argues is not in charge – we are following – not leading. For Meed Ward the Martha – Lakeshore Road development is a game changer. Meed Ward puts it this way: “There is something wrong with our issues management process” and she wants to see changes made. “We are handcuffed with the current process” she said.
 Standing up and being counted – Councillor Meed Ward has asked for more recorded votes than any other member of Council. Knowing what your elected member is doing for you is an essential part of the democratic process. City council meets next on the 14th of September.
 By Pepper Parr
August 24th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
When the Arts and Cultural Collective of Burlington was created it was unique and became the place to go to if you wanted to know what was happening in the arts community which had become of age in this city. Their Facebook page became a source of information that pulled the community together – and it worked
 The Arts Collective had a presence – they were making a difference – now their Facebook page is being used to sell high end sun glasses and Point of Sale equipment for restaurants. It was refreshing – they kept the membership limited – at one point you had to be referred by an existing member to get on the list. They were effective – they convinced the city to take another look at how artists were going to be treated with their contributions to the new web site – the city wanted to use picture – not pay for them and not even give a photo credit. That got changed.
The Cultural Action Plan that was researched by Jeremy Freiburger and his team over at the Cobalt Connection was a strong starting point. The Arts Collective liked what they saw but they wanted more involvement in the detail part of the cultural plans and also in the roll out in whatever was decided upon. They also wanted the final Culture Plan to include an Arts Council that would make grants available to artists.
A couple of months ago they began talking about how many members they had – and the size of the list became more important that the quality of the content.
 The younger, feistier set knew what they needed – they had done their homework – their challenge was to find their voice and make it hard. It was a moderated information source – which meant that messages that weren’t appropriate did not get posted. The person doing the moderation must have been asleep at the switch the past couple of months – there have been advertisements for high end sun glasses and then something for travel and now someone wants to sell a Point of Sale cash register system. “Perfect for any restaurant or retail business, …” using the Collective site as the advertising vehicle
This isn’t what the Collective was created to do. When it got off the ground a couple of years ago there was all kinds of really positive energy and they came up with very good ideas. They took possession of the agenda and pushed city hall to add resources to the cultural file.
They wanted to see culture moved out of the jock mentality many people saw dominating the Parks and Recreation department and they wanted to see more dollars put into the cultural field.
The province then got into the Cultural business with the promotion of Culture Week that was a decently done during its first year.
 Civic square buzzed during Culture week last year – with the increased involvement on the part of the cultural manager Angela Paparizo we may see even more activity. There are apparently all kinds of plans for Culture Week this year but there hasn’t been much coming out of city hall yet – the individual artists are promoting the events they have taking place – there is a Ping Pong and Poetry event that will take place at the new HiVe now located on Guelph Line. Local artist Margaret Lindsay Halton is running that event.
The organizational structure of the Arts Collective has always been a little undefined – personalities and ego began to take up too much space and the purpose began to get lost.
There is still time for the Arts Collective to recover – but they don’t take too much time doing it. They could and should play an important role.
There is still some very good energy within the citizen side of the arts. The Guilds at the Art Gallery of Burlington are becoming more active – management over there is expecting the guilds to be more visible and they are living up to the expectation.
 Retiring Executive Director of the Performing Arts Centre Brian McCurdy stabilized the Centre – losing him is going to hurt for awhile. A new leader will need some time to get a sense as to how the Centre and the city work. In this photograph McCurdy is briefing the Mayor on parts of his thinking The No Vacancy people will be putting on their third event in September – this time on Old Lakeshore Road basically outside Emma’s. September 17th from 7 pm to midnight.
Last year they recorded 3500 + visitors. This year the event will be called SuperNova and they think they will double last year’s attendance. They have put on the event for two years with nowhere near the funding available to Culture Week and have in the past produced much stronger more vital programs. This year, for the first time they got some funding from the city – courtesy of Councillor Marianne Meed Ward who advocated for the small grant they got.
One of the hurdles that few people see coming is the wallop the Gazette thinks the taxpayers are going to face when the real costs of the flood are going to have on the 2016 budget. Reports that have been given to Council point out a number of close to pressing amounts that are going to have to be spent real soon.
It is going to amount to millions with an expected new line on the tax bill for the management of storm water.
The cultural file just might take a hit – more money is going to have to go into infrastructure; council has been told that transit needs a lot more attention, especially when looked at through an intensification lens and the city is still salting away money to pay for our share of the hospital redevelopment.
Some tough work ahead of this Council – which is going to be difficult because all the members of this Council don’t sing from the same page in the hymnal.
By Pepper Parr
August 21, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Region’s A team headed for Niagara Falls and met with provincial ministers and their aids to explain the problems they are having with the provincially mandated growth targets set out in the Provincial Places to Grow Act.
 Regional Chair Carr tasting honey on a farm tour. Few realize just how big and diverse the Region actually is – the Chair covers all of it. Chair, Gary Carr and members of Regional and Local Councils were at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) annual conference to discuss the critical issues facing the Region.
“We continue to emphasize to Provincial leaders the pressing need to find solutions to ensure the Region can meet provincial growth targets,” said Gary Carr, Halton’s Regional Chair. “Halton is mandated to grow to 780,000 by the year 2031, which means the Region needs long-term funding and legislative tools to ensure that taxpayers are not responsible for the financial impacts of growth.”
 The population growth is very aggressive. Much of it took place in Milton – Burlington is going to have to absorb a significant portion of the 278,000 people we have to take in. The Region currently uses the figure 500,000 when it talks about the size of the population it serves to grow by an additional 280,000 people in 16 years is aggressive to say the least.
What Burlington needs to know is how many of that more than a quarter of a million people are we going to have to take make room for and where in the city will they live?
 This is where the Region gets its money: Where will the revenue growth come from – user fess, property taxes and development charges – they are all part of your wallet. What are we going to have to provide in terms of services and how do we upgrade the transit service we have to move people around the city because there is no room for additional road capacity.
Chair Carr, Regional along with the mayors of Burlington, Town of Halton Hills, Town of Milton, and the Town of Oakville and a number of Regional and local Councillors met with several Provincial leaders:
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ted McMeekin, to discuss the need to create affordable housing solutions and conformity with Provincial growth legislation;
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, MPP Indira Naidoo-Harris, to discuss funding for public health programs, ambulance off-loading delays, enhancements to the Central Ambulance Communications Centre (CACC) and community mental health services;
Minister of Education, Liz Sandals, to discuss the need for long-term funding to support new schools;
Minister of Transportation, Steven Del Duca, to discuss Halton’s community infrastructure needs including GO train service in the Town of Milton and Town of Halton Hills;
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry and Burlington MPP, Eleanor McMahon, to discuss Conservation Authority funding and aggregate resources legislation;
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Yasir Naqvi, to discuss the upcoming review of the Police Services Act;
Attorney General, Madeleine Meilleur, to discuss Halton’s immediate need for a new courthouse in the Town of Milton; and
Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Glen Murray, to discuss waste management legislation and adapting and responding to climate change.
 Municipal leaders argue that they deliver most of the services that citizens want yet get the smallest amount from taxpayers. They want a bigger slice of the pie – or better yet – a bigger pie. Several of the meetings related to near critical needs; the Court House in Milton is a mess; long term care is heading for crisis if something isn’t done and affordable housing needs very serious attention.
Transportation and transit are going to gobble up millions and the damage from the August 2014 storm is but a sign of things to come. No one knows yet just how much it is going to cost to upgrade and in some places perhaps have to rebuild the waste and storm water system we have in place.
Halton is fortunate in that it has a Regional chair with experience at Queen’s Park and the resources within his own administration to advocate with strength and authority.
The Region continues to advocate to both the Provincial and Federal governments as part of the Region’s Advocating for a Strong Halton campaign.
The Region wants changes to the Development Charges Act, there is draft legislation now being debated at Queen’s Park. The province wants development charges that support the recovery and collection of growth related costs to ensure that Halton’s taxpayers do not bear the financial impacts of growth.
What those development charges do however is increase the cost of new housing which for Burlington are high as it is.
By Pepper Parr
August 18, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Part one of a two part feature on the development potential for the city
Each city council, at the beginning of its term, meets for a number of weeks and hammers out a Strategic Plan.
That Plan sets out what the city council wants to get done during the four years they are going to serve the citizens.
There is very little in previous Strategic Plans worth remembering, except for the plan approved in 2011. For the most part they were a collection of pictures and motherhood statements.
I had the opportunity to look at six or seven previous Strategic Plans – something I doubt the majority of the current Council bothered to do. Councillors Taylor and Dennison were at the table when those documents were approved.
The Strategic Plan approved by the previous council, which was made up of the same people we have in place now, was a very impressive departure from anything done before.
Both Council and staff worked very hard – sometimes at cross purposes – to produce a document that served the city well. There were some very moving occasions when we got to hear how Councillors felt about the city they were leading.
In the closing session Councillor Jack Dennison spoke very emotionally about the need to ensure that the downtown core was given the attention and the resources needed to grow and become a large part of the focus for Burlington.
We also got to see some of the character traits from some of the Council members that were disturbing then and disruptive now.
The city was fortunate to have an excellent facilitator who not only led the group but educated several of them on what works and the way Strategic Plan development gets done.
Perhaps hoping to build on what was achieved the last time around Council set out to craft the Strategic Plan for this term of office. It is not going very well.
 It may well be 2016 before the Strategic Plan is approved. will it be as good as what this Council did in 2011? The city hired KPMG to direct them in the creation of the Strategic Plan for the current term but did not manage to get the same facilitator.
There is now a team in place that is going to do tonnes of research and bring back a large handful of options. Unfortunately,
 Georgina Black did a superb job of getting a new city council through the creation of a significantly different Strategic Plan. Councillor John Taylor loved every minute of it. Burlington wasn’t able to get Georgina Black back – she was the facilitator who did such fine work with council in 2011. Much of the work that KPMG is going to do was already being done by Frank McKeown, the Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation. McKeon wasn’t able to attend the meeting at which all the research work KPMG is going to do was discussed.
McKeown explains that he wasn’t told of the meeting until two days before it took place and that he was already committed to be elsewhere.
McKeown adds that he had not seen the agenda. When it was brought to his attention – I think we heard him gulp. McKeown will resolve that problem and will have the needed discussions with KPMG.
The creation of the 2014 – 2018 Strategic Plan is not off to a very good start. Council will not meet on this matter until the second half of October. They will have been in office for a year by that time
There are going to be some very sticky Governance issues that do not look as if a reasonable resolution is going to be found. Despite the comments made regularly by Mayor Goldring – his is a very fractious council that is deeply divided on some critical issues.
The amount of time, attention and financial resources to be given to community based initiatives will be limited by budget constraints due in no small measure by the cost of the 2014 flood.
Some exceptional work has been done within the cultural sphere – the city now has two new people running major cultural institutions. Robert Steven is running the Art Gallery of Burlington and Susan Haines will take over the running of the Performing Arts Centre in September. Hopefully the Centre Board has retained retiring Executive Director Brian McCurdy to serve as a consultant for three to six months to oversee the transition.
The Performing Arts Centre had gotten itself to the point where it was finally stable financially and the program being offered was working. Community groups were now a real part of the program offerings. There is every reason to believe that Haines can continue the work McCurdy did and eventually grow her board to the point where she can put her own stamp on the place.
 The concept might have merit but there is no way this kind of an installation is going to work on a single lane road that is the main entrance to the hospital once the redevelopment has been done. Lakeshore Road has to be widened for the hospital traffic. The Museums have their work cut out for them but it doesn’t look as if they are going to draw on the city for financial support. There is however, some very hard thinking to be done on just what happens to the Joseph Brant Museum. The plans on the drawing board are just not going to work – someone needs to have the courage within the Museum Board to look at the facts and the changes that are going to take place on Lakeshore Road when the hospital re-development is done.
Ireland House on the other hand is a gem; it offers some exceptionally good programming.
Development: what does the city want and where does it want any development to take place – and what kind of development as well.
 Waterdown Road is being widened – a precursor to some significant development. The Aldershot GO station was named a transportation/development hub – the developers may get their shovels in the ground and have walls up before the city arrives at some decisions. There is all kinds of development taking place in Aldershot – there is some dissension amongst the more active citizens and the council member does need to learn to listen a little better. Understanding who he represents would be a useful contribution Rick Craven could make to the quality of civic government in this city.
Councillor Meed Ward continues with her, unique for Burlington, approach to involving the people she represents.
There are two areas of development that can re-shape the kind of downtown core Burlington is going to have – both are in her ward.
Before going into any detail on those two opportunities – the culture at city hall needs a closer look.
There are departments that work exceptionally well – finance is perhaps the best run shop at city hall. The team if focused and well led. They were given the task of revamping the way budgets were prepared and presented to the public and told to make personal accountability part of the way city hall does business.
 Scott Stewart and former city manager Jeff Fielding – they were quite a tag team for as long as it lasted. Fielding always let you know what was in the works – the new city manager has yet to reveal a management style. Then city manager Jeff Fielding challenged the finance department to bring about the change – then he departed for greener pastures and became the city manager in Calgary to the work that gets done.
The finance department did deliver; unfortunately there isn’t a champion on city council to ensure that the work done is continued and that staff get the direction they need.
A significant cultural change is taking place within the planning department; the hiring process for the new city planner is at the short short list. That decision may have already been made.
This is a critical choice – the department is in the middle of completing a much delayed Official Plan Review; we may not see that document until the end of the year.
 A rapt audience listened to an overview of the 2014 budget. What they have yet to have explained to them is the desperate situation the city will be in ten years from now if something isn’t done in the next few years to figure out how we are going to pay for the maintenance of the roads we have. Add in the cost of the 2014 flood and the city has a whopper of a budget to explain. Public engagement is a sorry mess – few remember the recommendations that came out of the Shape Burlington report that every member of this council heartily endorsed and then forgot about. There are reports of an initiative the city will announce in the fall that is neighbourhood oriented – it will be interesting to see the details.
The current city manager doesn’t seem to have all that much appetite for real public engagement, the communications department is asking the public what they think about City Talk, a magazine format distributed to every household, that does more for the members of city council than anyone else.
Council members love the thing; the communications department spend endless hours making revisions and the public for the most part doesn’t know it exists. There is a savings opportunity there.
Now to the development potential in ward 2.
Part two of a two part feature.
By Pepper Parr
July 16, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
This article has been revised.
They are now off for six weeks – except for a three day municipal conference in August the magnificent seven that lead this city of ours will be taking it easy.
During their last city council they came close to making absolute fools of themselves over a code of conduct that we doubt will be followed – and if it is – it will be used to continue the petty games we saw at the Wednesday night council meeting.
After what the Mayor called a “sloppy, messy” debate council put back in a section of the Code that had been taken out at a meeting May 12th.
There was all kinds of fulminating about principles and professionalism and the need to work as a team which isn’t what your Council did Wednesday evening.
After some discussion between Councillors Craven and Sharman in the foyer outside the Council Chamber, Councillor Sharman returned to his seat, said a few words to Councillor Lancaster and the meeting began.
 Councillor Sharman tends to advise Councillor Lancaster on issues and directions. Councillor Lancaster introduced a motion, seconded by Councillor Sharman to replace wording in the Code of Conduct that had been taken out at that May 12th meeting.
No one had seen the motion until it was introduced – not the Clerk or the Mayor. All the chatter about professionalism and respect for each other got blown out the window.
There is precious little respect between Councillors Craven and Sharman for Councillor Meed Ward. Councillor Lancaster tends to go along with whatever Sharman suggests.
The issue was about whether or not a council members can involve themselves in matters that are outside their wards.
The Gazette will report on that part of the meeting in another piece.
The final vote was to refer the revised Code of Conduct to the city manager where it will get debated under the Governance section of the strategic Plan. One of the problems is that Strategic Plan meetings are for the most part not recorded or broadcast on the city’s web site.
 They now have a Code of Conduct – will it make any difference as to how they behave with one another? Don’t expect any changes – the behaviour for most of these men and women is deeply rooted. The Gazette will report on that part of the meeting in another piece.
Council goes into Closed Session to hear what city solicitor has to say.
Council went into a closed session to talk with the city solicitor about the latest move on the part of the ADI Development Group and the 28 storey project they want to build at Martha and Lakeshore Road. We have no idea what they talked about but the length of the closed session suggests that it was complex.
Earlier in the week the Ontario Municipal Board Commissioner who will be hearing the ADI application set a date for in March for the hearing.
The OMB meeting on Monday was, we are advised, a meeting to set out what the issues are and to narrow the focus – to determine just what it is ADI is asking the OMB to do.
 It is going to take some really fine lawyering to prevent this 28 storey structure from going up at the corner of Martha and Lakeshore. OMB hearing expected to take place in March of 2016 The Gazette was not able to attend that meeting but our colleague Joan Little, a former city and regional Councillor and a columnist for the Hamilton Spectator, said she didn’t hear any discussion that had to do with the narrowing of the issues.
These preliminary meetings are held to get some sense as to how much time the Municipal Board should allocate for the hearing. The one looks like it is going to be long and contentious.
ADI has hired Weir & Foulds, a Toronto firm with an exceptionally strong pedigree – these guys don’t take any prisoners. Based on the two occasions the Gazette listened to one of their lawyer’s the city has its work cut out for it.
New Court House for Provincial Offenses gets the go-ahead.
There was more – the construction of a court house on Palladium Way at Walkers Line is now a go. The intention is to have a court house built that will hear Provincial Offenses only.
 At least two more years for this Provincial Offenses Court House. Citizens in the Alton Community were concerned with people being tried for criminal offenses being in the area. Provincial Offenses are things like Highway Traffic Act cases; charges laid against people who have been charged with a provincial law offense. They aren’t going to see men and woman in handcuffs and shackles being led into that court house.
While the province is responsible for running the courts in which criminal cases are heard – the building that is being planned will not hear that kind of case
Council approved the issuing of a Request for proposals (RFP) to private sector investors/developers inviting them to purchase or lease the site the city owns and build the court house.
Transit issues got a very small mention – there are going to be talks with Oakville transit to look into what might be done to get some public transit to the court house.
City Manager James Ridge did say that there was some public education needed and that there would be public consultations in September.
The Court House to be built is expected to serve the needs of Region foe the next 25 years. The intention is to have the court house ready for occupancy in January of 2018.
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