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Monthly Archives: February 2014

Council Meeting Notes – February 18, 2014

24 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound, Town Council

≈ Comments Off on Council Meeting Notes – February 18, 2014

Tags

By-Law, Council Minutes, parry sound, Rezoning, Town Council

I apologize for getting this out a few days late. I wanted to get a couple of other posts out first (Budget and Bears).

Tuesday’s meeting of Council was reasonably short, and wrapped up by 8:50 PM despite a later start and the presentation of Crossing Guard Student Appreciation certificates.

Well, I still don’t agree with Council’s decisions regarding Big Sound Marina. They are in a real ‘pickle’ and have chosen to reach into the pockets of local businesses to solve their problem. Other issues were not controversial in my opinion. Read my separate post “Bear Huntin’ Country” before you wander out on the North Shore Rugged Trail during hunting season. It may not be as safe as a couple of Councillors have assured us.

Councillors Reports and Questions of Staff

Cascade Street will be pretty much blocked off to through traffic next Tuesday (February 25th) as CN contractors install the gates at the crossing. Nothing else of real importance was raised in the councillors reports.

The reconciliation of outstanding water and electricity bills with the transfer of billing responsibilities to the Town has been completed. The Town is writing off about $23,000 as uncollectable, this is down from about $145,000 at the end of 2012. Any future unpaid bills for water and hydro will be applied to the property owners taxes (even if the expenses were incurred by tenants).

Open Meeting

2.1.1 – a public meeting to consider a proposed Zoning By-law amendment to rezone Part of Lot 25, Concession 1, Plan 42R-10676, [effectively the Sobeys property]. The rezoning would permit up to 4,270 square meters of total gross floor area, and remove the reference to a retail food store, allowing for the development of a new retail commercial development. [There were no presentations for or against the amendment, and it was reported no correspondence had been received. There is no reason to believe that the amendment request will be denied.]

Deputations

I made a deputation concerning the proposed lease of seasonal slips at Big Sound Marina that would compete with local marinas. 

Correspondence

4.1 – Jerry J. Ouellette, M.P.P, Oshawa regarding Council’s formal position on being excluded from the Spring Bear Hunt Pilot Project. [See item 8.1 below for more information.]

4.2 – Hands The Family Help Network, a request for funding in the amount of $28,000 towards their expansion. [This item was noted as being on the draft 2014 budget. The request was turned down at the budget meeting the next night on the basis that it left the door open to requests from other non-profit organizations.]

4.3 – The Salvation Army, Rainbow Country Church, regarding the relocation of the Friday Night Street Ministry. [The request was noted and forwarded to Staff for follow up.]

4.4 – Veterans and Their Families in Our Community; an invitation to attend the OSUM Conference in Parry Sound April 2nd to May 3rd. [The invitation was noted and forwarded to Staff for follow up.]

4.5 – OSUM (Ontario Small Urban Municipalities) regarding a nomination form to serve on the Executive Board 2014 OSUM Conference being held in Parry Sound. [See item 8.4.]

Consent Agenda

8.1 – Council’s formal position on being excluded from the Spring Bear Hunt Pilot Project. The Town of Parry Sound requests the Ministry of Natural Resources to include area 46 and 49 in the proposed Pilot Program. [CARRIED. It was an interesting discussion. It became apparent to me that at least a couple of the Councillors didn’t really understand some of the geographical issues as evidenced by their comments. I’m not so sure I am comforted by the comments of two Councillors that there will be no bear hunting in Parry Sound. See my separate post on this issue for a more detailed discussion of the issue. It’s a bit like politics south of the border. In that case you don’t mess with gun control. If you are a politician Parry Sound you don’t mess with hunters and you don’t mess with feral cats. Where would Council would come out on a proposed hunt for feral cats? (I’m kidding. Well sort of.)]

8.2 – a request to schedule a special meeting of Council to discuss the 2014 budget. [CARRIED. Scheduled for February 19th. You missed it. See my separate Budget Meeting notes for the net/net.]

8.3 – the Town of Parry Sound urges the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario to reject (and seek alternatives to) Ontario Power Generation’s proposal to bury radioactive nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin. [CARRIED]

8.4 – the nomination of Mayor Jamie McGarvey as a board member of the Ontario Small Urban Municipalities Board Nomination to the OSUM Executive Board. [CARRIED. This is a follow up to item 4.5.]

Resolutions and Direction To Staff

9.1.1 – Panasonic Toughbook computer purchase for EMS. Resolution. [CARRIED]

9.3.1 – Approve Signing Authorities and Corporate Credit Cards. Resolution. [CARRIED]

9.4.1 – Consent Application B1/2014(PS). Resolution. That Council supports Consent Application No. B1/2014(PS) – Garagan – 71 Bowes Street subject to confirmation resultant lots would meet the requirements of the zoning by-law (i.e. servicing and setbacks). [CARRIED]

9.4.2 – Big Sound Marina & Town Dock Operating Contract. Resolution. That Council direct staff to negotiate an operating contract with Massasauga Management Co. Inc., for operation of Big Sound Marina and the Town Dock, per the framework attached as Schedule ‘A’; and that Council approves a usage mix of 25 seasonal slips and 95 transient slips. [CARRIED. I’m disappointed by Council’s decision to move forward with the leasing of 25 seasonal dockage slips. They ask for business studies to determine the impact of development on the Town, but are seemingly immune from similar requirements concerning how their ‘business activities’ might impact local businesses. ‘Do as we say, not as we do!’ I made a deputation outlining the issues and suggested that if they insisted on going forward without further investigation that they might start with 10 slips and then meet with the local marinas to see what impact that had on their business. The results might suggest the opportunity to expand the number or perhaps terminate the program. But the Town doesn’t seem to care too much as to how their actions might impact their tax paying local marinas.]

9.5.1 – Tender, Hanging Baskets. Resolution. That Council accept the tender from Bala Garden Centre for 100 planted baskets in the amount of $88.00 per basket including pick-up of empty baskets and delivery of planted baskets and 20 new galvanized frame baskets in the amount of $27.99 each for a total of $10,576.57 including HST. [CARRIED]

10.4.1 – Waterlot, Declaration of Surplus Lands. By-law. To declare a Town owned waterlot surplus. [CARRIED. No significant discussion.]

10.4.2 – Stockey Centre Catering Service Agreement. By-law. To authorize the execution of an agreement with Now That’s Catering for the provision of catering services at the Stockey Centre. [CARRIED. No significant discussion.]

10.4.3 – Artists Round the Sound Agreement. By-law. An agreement with the Artists Round the Sound (ARTS) for the rental of wall space at the Stockey Centre. [CARRIED. No significant discussion.]

North Shore Rugged Trail – Warmer Days (Parry Sound in Black & White)

20130405-DSC_0046

These notes review only those portions of the council meeting that I see as having greater importance or general community interest. See my agenda preview posts for additional comments.

The official minutes from council meetings are available at the Town of Parry Sound website, no later than the Friday following the meeting. The full council proceeding are available on video through Cogeco. Schedule details are available from the town office (705-746-2101).

Bear Huntin’ Country?

21 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

By-Law, North Shore Rugged Trail, parry sound, safety, Smoking, Town Council

Tuesday night’s meeting of Council saw the passing of a consent Resolution asking the Province to allow the spring black bear hunt in Wildlife Management Areas (WMU) 46 and 49. This includes the Town of Parry Sound.  Two Councillors made the somewhat emphatic statement that there would not be any bear hunting in Parry Sound.

Well I’m glad they think that. As it stands now there are no municipal restrictions on hunting or discharging a firearm in Parry Sound. Well you could in theory be charged with a noise violation, but not for any specific type of serious firearm violation. There are more restrictions on where you can smoke in Parry Sound than there are restrictions on where you can hunt or discharge a firearm. And the penalties might be higher for smoking in the wrong place.

The provincial restrictions regarding hunting are remarkably few, so long as you are in possession of a proper license and tag, and are hunting in the appropriate season. The most pertinent regulations that I can find are are:

1. No possession of a loaded firearm within eight metres of the travelled portion of a road (or roadside fenceline where one exists) at any time AND no discharge of a firearm from or across a right of way for public vehicular traffic at any time.

2. Hunters who handle or discharge firearms without due care and attention or consideration for persons and property are liable to a fine of up to $25,000 or imprisonment for up to two years – or both. Depending on the circumstances, a person may also be subject to charges under the Criminal Code.

3. Some municipalities have by-laws restricting the discharge of firearms. In addition, many municipalities have by-laws regarding dogs, including by-laws that may affect the use of dogs while hunting. Check with the local municipal office for details.

4. A person is trespassing if the person enters onto property or engages in an activity on property where notice has been given that entry or the activity is not allowed. Notice may be given in a variety of ways; some of the common ones are verbally, signs, symbols or fences. Lands under cultivation are also considered to be notice against entry. A hunting licence does not give a hunter the right to enter private property.

That means in practice I can hunt for black bear in my own backyard which is in the middle of Parry Sound so long as I am ‘careful’. In theory a licensed hunter could also hunt in my backyard unless I saw them and advised them not to do so, or I posted a ‘No Trespassing’ sign. Our backyard is more woodlot than “area under cultivation”. And yes we have seen a black bear in our backyard, perhaps five years ago. It wandered off after a few minutes.

But what about the land around the North Shore Rugged Trail area? What about the land around Darlington Lake? These are all part of the Town and home to black bears. What about the Rose Point Trail? It’s in Seguin Township but welcomes many from Parry Sound.

Another interesting factoid, hunting is permitted in many provincial parks, but not Killbear Provincial Park. Yes there is a little bit of irony in the name, but there must be a good reason why the province permits hunting in some parks but not Killbear. Public safety perhaps?

There is no assurance that there will be bear hunting in WMU 46 and 49; that will depend on a decision by the provincial government. We have asked to be included. In case you are wondering what defines areas 46 and 49, I have pasted a portion of the province’s WMU map below. Basically WMU 46 is the area from the Severn to French rivers along the Georgian Bay coast west of Highway 400. WMU 49 is basically the area south of the Magentawan River, north of Muskoka and west of Highway 11. And no, Powassan is not in WMU 46 or 49 as was suggested Tuesday night.

Once again, I really don’t have an issue with Council’s decision Tuesday night as long as my safety can be assured as I hike within the public areas of the Town. Should we perhaps have a by-law that formally prohibits hunting within the Town limits? I can’t imagine that the penalty for a noise by-law violation can be that serious.

A last thought.  In Ontario you are more likely to be killed or injured by a hunter, or while hunting, than by a black bear. Let’s make sure we get the balance right.

 Wildlife Management Units (Province of Ontario)

WMU_46&49

Parry Sound – 2014 Budget Update

20 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound, Town Council

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

budget, North Star, parry sound, Town Council

Council met last night to hash out the 2014 Town of Parry Sound budget. I believe we have the outlines of the budget at the 99% level of completion.

The bottom line is that the tax rate will probably only go up 1% in 2014. But the net to  property owners will be a 2.5% increase because of the ongoing hike in property values as assessed by MPAC. The good news is that your property is worth more this year than last. The bad news is that property taxes will be higher even if there is no increase in the tax rate (rate times property value). The 2014 tax hike of about 2.5% could have been a little higher had the school costs not gone down. Once again it’s a god news / bad news situation. The good news is that the school costs and levy have gone down. The bad news is that many people feel the school board is not providing students with the necessary resources and facilities to succeed.

There was talk of tax rate drops in future years if the OPP costs are more fairly allocated among the communities as has been proposed by the provincial government and endorsed by the OPP.

Council made some tough decisions. There were a couple of items that I wished would have made it into the 2014 budget, but you can’t always get what you want. You need to work with what you are given. Staff was given the task of carving another $30K out of the budget to hit the 1% levy increase target. So there is still some work to be done, but I don’t think it will require much, if any, significant discussion on the part of Council.

A Parry Sound Abstract (Parry Sound in Black & White)

20130429-IMG_0331

I’m sorry you weren’t at the budget meeting last night. It isn’t televised, and only the North Star was there to cover the discussions (except of course ParrySounds.com, who is still not accorded any of the privileges of traditional media). As an aside I note that the North Star, actually Metroland Media, has acquired the domain parrysound.com to post local news. I wonder if they are trying to cash in on the popularity of this not-for-profit site, parrysounds.com. There are no ads here to grab your eyeballs. (Okay, calm down, I’m kidding!! The North Star does a nice job of covering local news and we are a better community for their work, even if they pick on me in their editorials. I guess it’s just the pressure they feel from having a top notch competitor. Just kidding, again!!) I suppose the North Star will have more information about the budget decisions in an upcoming issue of the newspaper (print and online). An aside – the Citizen’s Finance Committee is seemingly ‘kaput’. There were no current (former?) members in attendance.

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Council Agenda Preview – February 18, 2014

16 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound, Town Council

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Agenda, By-Law, parry sound, Planning, PS Power, Rezoning, Salvation Army, tourism, Town Council

The council agenda doesn’t look too heavy, and I expect it will be over by 8:30. In contrast the closed session looks a little more full, and is scheduled for an hour and a half.

There are a couple of issues on the agenda that concern me. While the actions being recommended to Council don’t appear to be controversial they have implications for local businesses and residents that in my opinion don’t seem ‘fair’. I have more about this in the body of this post.

Open Meeting

2.1.1 – a public meeting to consider a proposed Zoning By-law amendment to rezone Part of Lot 25, Concession 1, Plan 42R-10676, [effectively the Sobeys property]. The rezoning would permit up to 4,270 square meters of total gross floor area, and remove the reference to a retail food store, allowing for the development of a new retail commercial development. [I’m not sure what this refers to but we’ll see on Tuesday night. I would imagine that the current Sobeys property will be expanded and/or new retail operations will be operated on the property.]

Correspondence

4.1 – Jerry J. Ouellette, M.P.P, Oshawa regarding Council’s formal position on being excluded from the Spring Bear Hunt Pilot Project. [See item 8.1 below for more information.]

4.2 – Hands The Family Help Network, a request for funding in the amount of $28,000 towards their expansion. [Disclosure – I am a board member of this organization. The bottom line is that Hands is requesting $28K from the Town for their $1.5MM expansion to provide additional services to children in the greater Parry Sound area. They are also requesting support from our neighbouring municipalities for the facility. It’s a necessary resource to help families deal with mental health challenges. An interesting statistic, Hands serves more than a third of the 0 to 24 age group in the West Parry Sound area on an annual basis, yes that’s 1 in 3 children and young adults make use of Hands services.]

4.3 – The Salvation Army, Rainbow Country Church, regarding the relocation of the Friday Night Street Ministry. [This group is asking the Town to relocate a power outlet and also ‘reserve’ parking for their mobile ministry unit on Friday nights. I have often walked by their vehicle on my way to the library on a Friday night and seen the large number of people gathered around their vehicle. It seems a very small accommodation on the part of the Town to meet the needs of the less fortunate.]

4.4 – Veterans and Their Families in Our Community; an invitation to attend the OSUM Conference in Parry Sound April 2nd to May 3rd.

4.5 – OSUM (Ontario Small Urban Municipalities) regarding a nomination form to serve on the Executive Board 2014 OSUM Conference being held in Parry Sound. [See item 8.4.]

Consent Agenda

8.1 – Council’s formal position on being excluded from the Spring Bear Hunt Pilot Project. The Town of Parry Sound requests the Ministry of Natural Resources to include area 46 and 49 in the proposed Pilot Program. [We want to be part of bear huntin’ country. The Ministry is renewing a spring bear hunt program to remove nuisance bears; it’s cheaper to kill them than to manage them. It has the smell of ‘ethno-cleansing’, albeit they are not homo sapiens. It’s not clear to me how hunters will be able to distinguish a nuisance bear. If you’re in the wrong part of town you’re assumed to be bad. Wrong place, wrong time. “Just kill ‘em all and let God decide”. Now, before everyone gets their ‘knickers in a twist’ I empathize with the issues of nuisance bears, but this seems to be an unreasonably callous way to solve what may or may not be a problem in the cheapest way possible. Actually, it could make money with permit and tourism revenue. Apparently this consent item requests that the Town be included in the bear hunt. I’ll be interested to hear what comments, if any, there will be from the Councillors. I’ll also be interested in understanding exactly where in Town hunters will be permitted to shoot so as to ensure the safety of the public. You don’t hunt bear with birdshot.]

8.2 – a request to schedule a special meeting of Council to discuss the 2014 budget.

8.3 – the Town of Parry Sound urges the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario to reject (and seek alternatives to) Ontario Power Generation’s proposal to bury radioactive nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin. [This is a carry over from the previous meeting of Council. I’m not sure what the issue was with the previous consent agenda item but it basically has the same intent.]

8.4 – the nomination of Mayor Jamie McGarvey as a board member of the Ontario Small Urban Municipalities Board Nomination to the OSUM Executive Board. [This is a follow up to item 4.5.]

Resolutions and Direction To Staff

9.1.1 – Panasonic Toughbook computer purchase for EMS. Resolution. [$24K for 6 laptop computers with specialized software and hardware.]

9.3.1 – Approve Signing Authorities and Corporate Credit Cards. Resolution. [The assignment of signing authority for Staff and Council. Nothing unusual, just an update to current authorizations.]

9.4.1 – Consent Application B1/2014(PS). Resolution. That Council supports Consent Application No. B1/2014(PS) – Garagan – 71 Bowes Street subject to confirmation resultant lots would meet the requirements of the zoning by-law (i.e. servicing and setbacks). [This seems to be an administrative follow up to a previous application that had lapsed.]

9.4.2 – Big Sound Marina & Town Dock Operating Contract. Resolution. That Council direct staff to negotiate an operating contract with Massasauga Management Co. Inc., for operation of Big Sound Marina and the Town Dock, per the framework attached as Schedule ‘A’; and that Council approves a usage mix of 25 seasonal slips and 95 transient slips. [As noted in a previous post, I have an issue with the last point, the renting out of seasonal dockage. This is a change in policy that will have an impact on local businesses. As it stands now there is limited availability of transient dockage in Parry Sound and that was why the various levels of government made the investment in Big Sound Marina. Since it’s founding the marina has only provided transient slips. Now that the Town in on the hook, with the possibility of a net loss, they are requesting Council permit the renting of seasonal dockage. This likely will hurt local marinas. Let me explain. If you are a business with 110 slips you need to maintain the staff and resources to service this number of slips. Your property taxes and insurance costs are also fixed. You wouldn’t need to add more personnel if you had 105 or 110, and you probably couldn’t fire people if you had 90 or 95. Basically you have a fixed cost to service this number of slips. Now if you were to lose 5, 10 or 15 of these slip rentals you wouldn’t really be able to cut your costs by much, if anything. Try asking the town to reduce your taxes because you have less business. It doesn’t work that way, you are taxed on your ‘assets’ whether or not they are fully utilized. It’s the same with staff. So by proposing to put 25 slips up for seasonal rent at $1,800 per slip, the Town may be taking as much as $45,000 of profit, not just revenue, from local businesses. That $45,000 supports additional investment in equipment, offset losses or actually provide a larger profit for a year’s work. It’s like the Town is reaching into the pockets of local businesses to limit their costs. They are now proposing to let a private company benefit from an effectively ‘taxpayer supported’ operation. Not nice. I will probably make a deputation at the next meeting of Council regarding this proposal. The Town has itself in a tight spot with the Chamber of Commerce’s decision to no longer operate Big Sound Marina. Their apparent solution is to take business and profit from taxpaying businesses. I wonder if the Chamber wouldn’t have considered continuing their management of the marina had they been offered the possibility of an additional $45K. There would have been little or no incremental cost to capture that revenue. Let’s see what Council decides.]

9.5.1 – Tender, Hanging Baskets. Resolution. That Council accept the tender from Bala Garden Centre for 100 planted baskets in the amount of $88.00 per basket including pick-up of empty baskets and delivery of planted baskets and 20 new galvanized frame baskets in the amount of $27.99 each for a total of $10,576.57 including HST.

10.4.1 – Waterlot, Declaration of Surplus Lands. By-law. To declare a Town owned waterlot surplus. [This concerns a waterlot that is associated with the Parry Sound Hydro facility on Cascade Street and is a necessary part of the Parry Sound Hydro / Lakeland Power merger.]

10.4.2 – Stockey Centre Catering Service Agreement. By-law. To authorize the execution of an agreement with Now That’s Catering for the provision of catering services at the Stockey Centre. [A renewal of the existing agreement.]

10.4.3 – Artists Round the Sound Agreement. By-law. An agreement with the Artists Round the Sound (ARTS) for the rental of wall space at the Stockey Centre. [A renewal of the existing agreement.]

Delivering the Goods (Parry Sound in Black & White)

ParrySights-2667

I will be attending this meeting and look forward to listening to the discussion concerning the issues I’ve commented on above. I’ll probably make a deputation on one of the issues. You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. I’ll be interested in seeing how far Staff and Council plan to reach into the pockets of the local marinas to help pay for their Big Sound challenge.

I hope we will see some new faces in the audience at Council meetings, perhaps those who are thinking about running for Council. You really can’t get a sense of what goes on by watching it on television, or reading about it in the newspaper (or online). If you want to be elected you owe it to the public to have some understanding of what you are taking responsibility for.

Note: Not all agenda items are covered here. I typically skip 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 along with the supporting documents? The full package can be found at the town’s website (http://townofparrysound.com/pagesmith/14).

Budget Meeting Notes – February 11, 2014

14 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound, Town Council

≈ Comments Off on Budget Meeting Notes – February 11, 2014

Tags

budget, parry sound, Town Council

There are no notes. I was stuck in Dallas when my flight to Toronto was cancelled. But there is good news, the Town has started posting the draft budget items online. They prefer that I simply link to their documents rather than post them on this site. That’s fair enough. Here is the link to those documents, it’s about 9 MB and I think you can figure out which is the Draft 2014 Budget link. It downloads as a PDF document.

A couple of pointers for reading the budget document:

  1. It’s really the first eight pages that are the most interesting. These pages provide a quick look at the unfinanced capital outlay (first page) and ‘wish list’ for 2014 (pages 1 to 7, as labelled in the top right corner).
  2. These figures were the subject of last Tuesday’s discussion and it’s not clear what items were eliminated at that meeting. I’ll be able to tell once I have a copy of the revised draft of the budget, and see what has been removed from the list. So don’t get worked up about any of the line items that you think are unreasonable as Council may have already ‘nuked’ them.

Items that are worth noting are:

  1. An apparent proposal to take $2.5MM of the Parry Sound Hydro merger proceeds (~$4MM) and put it into a reserve for future capital. There is also a suggested $650K down payment on the Stockey Centre outstanding capital cost.
  2. The Stockey Centre needs $160K in roof repairs. The BOCC needs $150K in roof repairs. (Can’t anyone build a roof properly? Both roofs are less than 15 years old.)
  3. A new pedestrian signal for James Street is proposed at a cost of $125K. (Is anyone else surprised by this cost?)
  4. The new aerial truck for the fire department is in for $1.1MM (depending on the CDN/US dollar exchange rate).
  5. $235K for a repair of the fire hall retaining wall. (Once again, can’t things be done properly the first time?)
  6. Upgrades related to the new school will cost on the order of $450K. But I’m glad to see that Seguin is able to reduce their tax rates. They have Parry Sound to shoulder the cost of necessary school infrastructure. Let’s see what happens to OPP policing costs, there was a nice article in today’s Beacon Star on this subject.

There is more but these are a few of the bigger ticket items that jumped out at me. There are more big dollar items such as the Forest Street project, but these are part of an ongoing program of infrastructure upgrades and don’t represent anything we didn’t know was coming.

Still on the Trail (Parry Sound’s North Shore Rugged Trail)
(Parry Sound in Black & White)

ParrySights-600-4115

 

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Council Meeting Notes – February 4, 2014

06 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Town Council

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Council Minutes, parry sound, Town Council

I wasn’t able to attend the Council meeting on the 4th, so I’ll point you to the Town’s website for the official minutes. Everything put before Council seemingly was approved.

Here’s another image from Parry Sound’s North Shore Rugged Trail.

The Trail Before the Sound Froze Over (Parry Sound in B&W)

ParrySights-600-4085

 

Council Agenda Preview – February 4, 2014

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound, Town Council

≈ Comments Off on Council Agenda Preview – February 4, 2014

Tags

Agenda, By-Law, DBA, Fire Department, McDougall, parry sound, PS Power, Seguin, tourism, Town Council

It looks like a rather light meeting agenda in terms of the number of listed items. I don’t expect that it will last beyond 8:30 or so.

Closed Session

In the closed session of Council the only obvious interesting topic concerns the pending acquisition or disposition of land regarding Parry Sound Power/Lakeland Holdings.

Deputations

5.1 – Wayne Simpson of Wayne Simpson & Associates. Deputation. Regarding a consent application for Parry Sound Dock Limited. [No information is provided in the council package regarding this deputation.]

Consent Agenda

8.1 – Resolution on Joint and Several Liability Insurance – Randy Pettapiece, M.P.P. Perth-Wellington. Resolution. That Council support this resolution in the Ontario Legislature to limit the Town’s liability risks with letters to Mr. Pettapiece and numerous Ontario associations.

Resolutions and Direction To Staff

9.3.1 – Stop The Great Lakes Nuclear Dump. Resolution. Parrry Sound sends letters urging the Governments of Canada and Ontario to reject (and seek alternatives to) Ontario Power Generation’s proposal to bury radioactive nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin. [Seems a reasonable course of action by the Town. I’m not sure what the alternatives are. The USA is dealing with similar issues regarding the safe storage of expired nuclear power plant fuel. In their case they are proposing to bury it in Nevada, but are meeting considerable opposition.]

9.4.1 – Trails Master Plan. Direction. That Council direct staff to explore partnership opportunities for a Trails Master Plan and, as appropriate, specifications for a Request for Proposal be developed and advertised. [Both Seguin and McDougall townships have dropped out of a project to develop a trails master plan for reasons that I don’t understand. The Town is proposing to partner with other local non-municipal trail groups. The R&R notes that trails are an increasingly important driver of local economic growth.]  

9.4.2 – Big Sound Marina Operations. Direction. Council direct staff to prepare an operational plan that would see Big Sound Marina operated in-house through the Department of Development and Leisure Services with facility and grounds to be maintained by the Department of Public Works; and Council direct staff to include the provision for both seasonal and transient services in the operational plan; and the report be brought forward to the February 18, 2014 Council meeting. [My sense is that the Town, out of necessity, intends to go into competition with its taxpayers by operating a marina with seasonal dockage. (Disclosure, my extended family operates a marina in Parry Sound.) It seems no private businesses expressed interest in operating the facility even though they had been offered the opportunity to service both seasonal and transient boaters. I’ll also be interested in seeing how the Town blends union and non-union staff at the Big Sound Marina (dock staff and maintenance staff). I suspect they will need to depend heavily on summer students. The R&R indicates that they do not intend to ‘undercut’ the local marinas in terms of seasonal dockage, but adding in another supplier (the Town) will surely reduce income for others unless there is an influx of new seasonal boaters. It’s actually a rather complex issue with the net/net that it seems the Town wants to limit its losses on operating the Big Sound Marina by taking seasonal dockage income from local businesses. There is no simple solution but I hope they ‘consult’ with the in-town marinas.]

9.4.3 – Film Location Guidebook. Direction. Council adopts the Parry Sound Film Location Guidebook per Schedule ‘A’ attached. [A how-to work with the Town manual for companies wishing to do on location filming in Parry Sound.]

9.4.4 – Sign By-law Variance (10 Bay Street). Resolution. Staff are directed to issue a permit for a Sign at 10 Bay Street according to the application submitted. [This relates to the new Boston Pizza. It’s a little confusing. It seems the sign does not comply with local by-laws but Staff is recommending it be permitted.]

9.6.1 – Market Square Park Proposal. Direction. Council direct staff to co-ordinate consultation meeting(s) with representatives from the Legion, Summer Market, Art in the Park, Downtown Business Association (DBA) and Town staff regarding the proposed changes to Market Square Park and Council direct staff to provide the DBA with a letter advising them that any changes to Town-owned property require prior approval from Council. [A follow up to last meeting’s deputation regarding a grant application by the DBA to support ‘enhancements’ to Market Square Park. The list of parties to be co-ordinated all have activities that take place in the park.]

By-Laws

10.2.1 – Land Ambulance Services Grant (LASG) Transfer Payment Framework. By-law. To authorize the execution of an agreement between Town of Parry Sound and the Province regarding transfer payments to support the land ambulance services that are overseen by Parry Sound.

10.2.2 – Fire Dispatch Agreement. By-law. To authorize the execution of an agreement between Parry Sound and West Parry Sound Health Centre regarding fire dispatch services. [I hadn’t realized that the health centre provides this service to the Town. The price is quite reasonable at about $7K per year, and certainly fits with the existing health centre’s emergency activities.]

10.4.1 – Stockey Centre Rental Rates. By-law Amendment. To amend by-law 2010-5408 regarding fees and service charges for the Town and to repeal By-law 2012 – 6110. [A bit of fiddling with rates to find the best blend of pricing to encourage more use of the Stockey Centre.]

On the Trail Again (North Shore Rugged Trail) (Parry Sound in Black & White)

ParrySights-600-4058

I won’t be at this meeting but hope that the people interested in serving on Council will start attending. It’s important to understand what you are signing up for. It’s not as simple as it might seem.

Note: Not all agenda items are covered here. I typically skip 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 along with the supporting documents? The full package can be found at the town’s website (http://townofparrysound.com/pagesmith/14).

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