Parry Sounds ~ Ideas and Opinions, In and Around Parry Sound

It looks as though I really didn’t miss all that much at the last meeting of Council. I’ll be relying on the published meeting minutes and follow up discussions with a couple of people for these summary notes. My post meeting notes are provided in Bold Italics.

Correspondence and Deputations (see Agenda for full list)

4.2 – Near North District School Board ARC Member, McDougall School – Kelly Krist, regarding Provision of Accommodation Review Committee’s (ARC) recommendations to the Near North District School Board regarding the Board’s intention to move grade 7 and 8 students from William Beatty, Nobel and McDougall schools to the Parry Sound High School. A request is made for Town support of the ARC’s recommendations. (This is a rather lengthy letter. The net/net seems to be that the ARC suggestion is to create a new school complex in the south end of McDougall housing separate K-8 and 9-12 facilities that could share certain facilities. The new school being built on Tudhope would become a K-6 facility.)
 – it’s not clear from the minutes whether Council agreed with or rejected the request to support the ARC recommendation.

5.1 – Cory Brunatti and Gord Cole, Parry Sound Canoe Club Re: Request for property with water access to operate the Parry Sound Canoe Club. (This deputation will lay out the value and logic of taking a portion of Town property and donating it to the Parry Sound Canoe Club to build a permanent facility. It’s not clear to me whether they would prefer property on the Seguin River close to the William Street Park where they currently operate from a trailer, or on the Town’s Georgian Bay waterfront. How does this impact the Town’s parks?)
 – Council requested Staff to return with a recommendation. It’s my sense that Council will approve the request subject to agreement on a suitable location and assurances that the facility will not become the responsibility of the Town.

5.2 – Kelly Krist, Near North District School Board ARC member, McDougall School. (This deputation follows up the letter listed above under 4.2.)
 – See 4.2 above.

There were some additional deputations that in my opinion are valuable but not material to the operation of the Town. See the official minutes for details.

Consent Agenda (see Agenda for full list)

See the agenda for details.

Resolutions and Directions to Staff (see Agenda for full list)

9.1.1 EMS Ambulance Replacements for 2014. (A request for two new ambulances at $114,863.00 +HST each. These vehicles will be paid for from the EMS reserve fund in 2014 which is supported by various levels of municipal and provincial governments, so no particular hit to the Parry Sound budget.)
 – CARRIED

9.4.3 – Request for Modification of Draft Official Plan – K. & C. Hall Developments Inc. (This direction proposes the requested zoning changes from K&C Hall be incorporated into the draft Official Plan but with the addition of a holding symbol in the zoning by-law. This hold can be lifted with the satisfactory completion of certain studies and whatever recommendations that result. There are a number of studies that will be required. The Ministry of Natural Resources is apparently not convinced that there isn’t a wetland issue with the proposed property. See the full agenda package for much, much more detail. The Town is recommending approval of the request with the holding symbol proviso.)
 – CARRIED as a modified resolution that reduces the number of studies required to have the Holding symbol removed.

9.5.2 – Parks Management Plan. Staff is proposing that Council directs staff to develop a “Parks Management Plan” that will incorporate the following existing and new policies and procedures:
1. Integrated Pest Management Program – existing policy
2. Turf Management Program – existing policy
3. Pest Control Policy Guidelines – existing policy
4. Tree Maintenance/Removal Policy – existing policy
5. Parks and Open Spaces Inventory – existing document
6. Playground Maintenance Inspection Form – existing document
7. Commemorative Dedication Program Policy – new
8. Design of Public Spaces – existing policy

And in place of a Parks Management Advisory Committee, the Director Public Works be directed to present a Parks Management Plan to Council for acceptance in the spring of 2014.

(This seems a reasonable approach to me. I would suggest that the plan, when presented is made available for public comment. It appears that there are a number of documents that already exist which I hope to track down and review. Last year I was told there was no formal park policy when I asked with respect to the plan to offer for sale the Town properties on William Street that were associated with the William Street Park. So if there is a ‘plan’, it would probably be found under either Point 5 – Parks and Open Spaces Inventory, or Point 8 – Design of Public Spaces – existing policy.)
 – CARRIED with the requirement that the Parks Management Plan be presented for Council and Public review and comment. Once again this all seems reasonable to me and a step forward to ensuring that one of our most valuable assets is managed in a proactive and transparent manner.

9.5.3 – RFP Design and Engineering – Forest St. Reconstruction. A resolution for Council to accept the proposal from Tulloch Engineering, in the estimated amount of $186,789 for the design and pre-engineering of the Forest Street Reconstruction Project. (The bidding process is a little bit odd, but not inappropriate in my opinion. The lowest bid, which was considerably lower than the Tulloch Engineering bid, did not provide complete cost estimate coverage. See the Council Package for the details. I was glad to see that the town has received provincial funding in the amount of $2 million to help offset the estimated $4.5 million project cost. It seems Tulloch Engineering made a good business move in opening a major office in Parry Sound.)
 – CARRIED

By-Laws (see Agenda for full list)

10.4.2 – Rezoning Application Z13-04 – K. & C. Hall Holdings Inc. – Louisa Street. (This is the follow on to 9.4.3 above with a recommendation that Council approve the Zoning By-Law application with the holding restriction included in the Official Plan amendment. In this case Staff is recommending that the proscribed process and actions for review and approval, basically the required studies and any requirements they identify, be completed before the holding label be removed. See the Council Agenda Package for details.)
 – CARRIED

10.4.3 – Rezoning Application Z13-05 – 905888 Ontario Inc. for a portion of the Fleck Street road allowance be approved. (This follows up, and presumably completes, the ongoing rezoning process for the property to permit a modified triplex design. The company has apparently agreed to make the necessary grading changes to ensure the appropriate discharge of storm water flow.)
 – CARRIED

10.4.4 – Site Plan Approval Application – M6 Developments Inc. – 12 College Drive. (This is the ‘Age in Place’ facility. It seems things are moving forward with the development.)
 – CARRIED

There was more on the agenda than was covered in this post. Check out the agenda and the Council package for the full program and the detailed supporting documents, as well as the issued minutes.

Parry Sound in Black and White (Two Big Steps to Parry Island)

Note: Not all agenda items are covered here. I typically skip those items that have little material impact on the town. These items include simple requests for Tag Days (permission to canvas), Awareness Weeks/Months, road closures for civic events, and the like. Want to see everything that is on the agenda? The full agenda can be found at the town’s website (http://townofparrysound.com/pagesmith/14).