Monthly Archives: May 2014

No, It’s Not Parry Sound

28 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Parry Sound, Seguin Township, Suggestions

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I’ve noticed that some of our neighbours have taken to referring to themselves as being located in Parry Sound. Yes, these Seguin companies are in the West Parry Sound District, but not Parry Sound.

You know Parry Sound – HIGH taxes and FAST internet, versus Seguin – LOW taxes and SLOW internet, and at this time of year, lots of blackflies.

I saw this before when working south of the border where companies and individuals would claim a Princeton address, or a Valley Forge address, or a Palo Alto address, even if it was just a post office box.

This came to mind today when I received an Explorers’ Edge release headlined – Explorers’ Edge AGM takes place on June 3, 2014 in Parry Sound. Actually it’s at Grand Tappattoo Resort in Seguin Township, although they list themselves as located at Otter Lake, Parry Sound. The Air Rider people also list themselves as being in Parry Sound on their Highway 400 billboards.

It’s nice to know Parry Sound is an aspirational address. As a realtor in Princeton once told us (loosely paraphrased), “When you live in Princeton you don’t need to drive an expensive car. Expensive cars are for people who wished they lived in Princeton and need to impress.” I’d like to think that’s the same for us Parry Sounders ;-).

Carry on, we’re happy to share the prestige associated with living in Parry Sound.

Yes They Have Trains, but do they Have a Trestle to Compare? (Parry Sound in Black & White)

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Council Meeting Notes – May 20, 2014

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Parry Sound, Town Council

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This is a short summary of the the Council meeting last night. I left after item 9.1.1, roof repairs for the Stockey Centre. I was pretty sure that the remaining issues were going to be approved with no meaningful discussion. I’ll take a look at the meeting minutes when they are published later this week and will issue a post if there are any surprises.

There were no surprises in the portion of the meeting I attended. Some of the more interesting comments/discussions included:

1. There will be trials of LED street lights. The objective is to reduce energy use and costs.
2. At the FONOM (Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities) meeting the issue of revised OPP costs was the hot topic. Many of the municipalities have been able to get policing services at little or no cost and are concerned by the prospect of increased costs with the recent OPP pricing proposal.
3. The Stockey Centre roof repair, Item 9.1.1, was approved in the amount of a bit less than $160,000. A couple of things are worth noting. There is no warranty on the repairs which will start in the Fall, so let’s hope for the best. This is only the first part of expected repairs, there is a need for additional work on the roof at some future date that will cost about the same amount, so we are looking at a $320,000 repair job for a roof that’s ten years old.

That’s pretty much it. Check the Town’s website for the minutes when they are issued, no later than Friday. Speaking of the Town website, aren’t we supposed to get a better, more user friendly website? Oh well, I guess what we have is ‘good enough’.

Double Deckers, Zooming By (Parry Sound in Black & White)

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Council Agenda Preview – May 20, 2014 (Updated)

19 Monday May 2014

Posted by in Parry Sound, Town Council

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It’s a pretty light meeting this week with some large budget items unlikely to provoke much discussion or any surprises. That doesn’t mean these issues aren’t important and might benefit from some ‘out of the box’ thinking, but I don’t expect anything more than “CARRIED” and “Forwarded to Staff”. Here are the bigger issues in my opinion.

2.1.1 – Blasting regulation. An interesting request that has about zero chance of moving forward. The use of dynamite is federally regulated, like the railways, and anything that is legislated locally has no impact. That’s zero impact. The Town can regulate fireworks but not explosives. Think about that for a bit and ask yourself if it seems reasonable. I empathize with the concern of the local residents, not all individuals who are licensed to use explosives are ‘professionals’. I suggest they take this up with their insurance company. Professionals will always do an audit of the neighbourhood to set a baseline in case there should be damage to local buildings. It seems these are not professionals.

4.5 – Approval of Parry Sound’s Official Plan. The Town has been advised that it’s Official Plan is ‘good to go’ with the most recent modifications. Okay, let’s see if we can live by the Plan, it’s a good one in my opinion.

8.8 – Review of Key Performance Objectives on June 24th at 6:00 PM.

9.1.1 – ‘Remedial’ Roof Repairs Charles W. Stockey Centre. Approval is being requested for about $160,000 to repair the roof on the Stockey Centre. It’s what, ten years old? Don’t new roofs come with a 25-year warranty? I wonder what the heck went on a dozen years ago in terms of oversight. This year we will probably spend half a million dollars repairing roofs and rebuilding retaining walls, all before their time. Are we learning from these lessons? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Are up to the 10th, 20th or 30th lesson in doing it right the first time? Oh, the Stockey Centre repairs are going to cost about $340,000, we are only doing the first half now. Should we just keep our money in our pocket and look at putting on a metal roof? It should do much, much better than ten years. Sometimes you need to pay more upfront to save much more in the future. Argh!

9.5.2 – Reconstruction of Wakefield and Dufferin. Council is being asked to approve a tender in the amount of about $1.3 million for a reconstruction of Wakefield and Dufferin Streets. The Province will be responsible for 90% of the cost, so it looks like a no-brainer decision. Although he may not be a ‘Sunshine Boy’ I believe our Director of Public Works will keep a sharp eye on the project to ensure we won’t be required to make remedial repairs in a few years.

10.1.1 – Downtown Parry Sound Consumer Market Study. Staff is requesting approval to enter into an agreement with Industry Canada/FedNor to finance and conduct a Downtown Business market study. The budget for the study is $60,000 with the Town responsible for only $6,000 (10%) of the cost. The Request for Proposal has been issued and I hope we get a taker rather than doing it in-house with interns. (UPDATE – the question was raised whether the Town or the Downtown Business Association are responsible for the $6,000. The agreement is between the Feds and the Town and the DBA is responsible for the $6,000. I guess I’m confused at this point about where Town and DBA responsibilities start, end and overlap. The DBA is responsible for the cost but the Town is managing the process. The Town though wields the ‘hammer’.)

There really is more on the agenda than what is noted above. You’ll need to check out the full agenda at the Town’s website if you want to see all of the items and the details. I’ll probably leave quite early to get out on the North Shore Rugged Trail for some exercise and photos.

Zooming By 24x7x52 (Parry Sound in Black & White)

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The Smart Community

16 Friday May 2014

Posted by in Parry Sound, Reflections, Seguin Township

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I was invited to attend a West Parry Sound Smart Community presentation yesterday evening that provided an update on the project. In short the project is intended to provide most, if not all, West Parry Sound municipality residents with access to reliable high speed internet. With the exception of Parry Sound most of the communities have limited access to affordable higher speed internet services such as cable and rely on a patchwork of services that include cellular, satellite and DSL. In general these services are not particularly reliable, fast or reasonably priced. One Seguin resident noted that they pay $105 per month for 15 GB of data through one of the cellular providers. Service can be very spotty and unexpectedly change if one of the suppliers decides to reorient one of its towers. The arrival of summer with cottagers and campers in the provincial parks means what was reasonable service is likely to be swamped with the influx of these seasonal users.

There is a definite need for better internet service for communities outside of Parry Sound. The West Parry Sound Smart Community has the objective of developing and implementing a plan to provide this type of service. Vianet has agreed to work with the West Parry Sound Smart Community and provide high-speed fiber service. This service will depend on the installation of infrastructure that is estimated to cost on the order of $30-$40 million. The status of the plan was the topic of last night’s discussion. Rather than summarize the presentation I’ll add my thoughts on the realities of the plan. There is a short summary of the presentation at parrysound.com (no they are not a sister or brother blog to parrysounds.com ;-).

Key Thoughts/Points:

  1. The plan is to provide fiber from end to end with speeds on the order of 100 Mbps. This is very fast and more than almost any residential and most business infrastructure can fully exploit, like your car that can hit 200 kph but you are limited to 100 kph. Right now cable provides about 10-25 Mbps, and cellular 2-5 Mbps (LTE can be higher).
  2. The cost will be split 1/3 Vianet (~$10 Million) and 2/3 regional municipalities (~$25 million). The regional municipalities will look to provincial and federal governments to cover the cost.
  3. The case is being made that high-speed internet is a necessity to attract businesses. That may be the case for ‘onesy and twosy’ type high tech entrepreneurs. Real businesses will also require additional infrastructure, i.e., water and sewer service, that only Parry Sound currently provides. It seems that better internet service really will have its greatest impact on residential satisfaction. The municipalities will be able to offer low taxes and cheap high-speed internet service. Businesses will be interested but unlikely to bring in a 50 person business that depends on septic systems.
  4. Doing some back of the envelope calculations it seems the creation of a Smart Community high-speed internet service will cost about $1,500 to $3,000 per potential user. I have not included Parry Sound in the calculations because we already have reliable internet service in most of the town (cable, DSL and cellular). And we are likely to have higher speed fiber based internet service by the early 2015, without any additional federal or provincial funding.

I’m happy to see this initiative being undertaken by the West Parry Sound District municipalities, but I don’t want to see the Town of Parry Sound paying for it. We carry the burden of providing significant infrastructure services for Town residents, visitors and the outlying communities. We will be ‘wired’ at no cost to the Parry Sound residents regardless of whether the Smart Community initiative succeeds or fails. We are big enough and concentrated enough to be able to attract these services without federal or provincial support and subsidy.

It’s the outlying municipalities that depend on Parry Sound for many of their services who need to find the resources to pay for this type of infrastructure upgrade. Parry Sound has been investing heavily in infrastructure, we don’t need to be subsidizing our neighbouring municipalities’ wish for faster and more reliable internet services. By most any definition Parry Sound already is a “Smart Community”.

Show me the fiber! (Parry Sound in Black & White)

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Commercial Property Taxes – An Issue?

15 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in Budget/Financial, Reflections, Town Council

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I was recently speaking with a business owner in the downtown and they commented that the commercial property taxes in Parry Sound seemed to be unreasonably high. That comment reminded me of a recent Town Council agenda item that did not receive any mention or action as far as I can tell. It’s worth a short discussion in the context of at least one Parry Sound business owner’s concern.

Here’s the relevant section, Item 9.4.1, from the Open Meeting Agenda of April 1st, 2014:

Background/Report:

The Municipal Act requires a single tier Municipality to pass a by-law each year to set its tax ratios.

Ontario Regulation 386-98 provides for “Allowable Ranges for Tax Ratios”

When municipalities wish to change existing tax ratios that are outside the “Allowable Ranges for Tax Ratios” set out in Ontario Regulation 386/98, they must move closer to that range. Our existing rates for non-residential taxes are higher than the allowable range, thus any change in the tax ratios would result in a higher portion of the taxes levied being shifted to the Residential Tax Class.

To reduce the current tax ratios we would see a shift of property taxes to the residential property owners from the non-residential property owners (eg. Commercial, industrial & multi-residential). A reduction in the non-residential tax class ratios can not be increased in subsequent years.

The current tax ratios have been used to calculate our 2014 weighted assessment used in various municipal levy calculations including our share of the 2014 Land Ambulance budget. The current tax ratios have been maintained as in prior years’ during the 2014 budget process to project overall levy increases as well as impacts on the typical/average property.

It is recommended that these ratios remain the same in 2014 as was approved since 2008.

Advantages and/or Disadvantages of Recommendation:

Will keep ratios between classes the same as last year and will allow the market value changes to provide for any shifting of taxes between the various tax classes.

Alternatives:

To change tax ratios would result in further delays in completing the 2014 budget as the draft budget was previously presented to council based on the tax ratios and tax policies remaining unchanged from 2013.

Cost/Financial Impact:

There is no financial impact to the Town. If the ratios are changed it does not change the amount of money we require to raise through taxes, it just shifts who would be paying them (onto the residential property owners).

 

It’s pretty obvious from what is presented above that the non-residential property owners in Parry Sound are to some extent subsidizing residential property owners. To what degree or amount is not obvious from the materials presented, but an interested property owner could probably figure it out by referring to the relevant provincial legislation. It looks as though this is something that has been going on since at least 2008. I guess if no one is asking questions it isn’t a problem. Or is it?

It probably would have messed things up for Council’s approval of a flat tax rate in an election year (excepting of course the increase in property values). Any chance the Downtown Business Association will take up the issue for their members? With the ‘troublemakers’, or is it ‘persons of conscience’, off the board I expect there won’t be a peep out of them.

Doing the right thing is the right thing to do, even if it causes some short-term pain and embarrassment. Yup, that’s an indirect reference to something that shall no longer be mentioned.

You can find the full agenda package at the Town’s website, here’s a link (http://www.townofparrysound.com/pagesmith/14). It’s listed as 2014 04 01.

A Subsidized or Subsidizing Property? (Parry Sound in Black & White)

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Council Meeting Notes – May 6, 2014

09 Friday May 2014

Posted by in Parry Sound, Town Council

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As mentioned in the last post here is a very short follow up to my Council notes based on the issued minutes.

All of the items put forward at the May 6th meeting were approved with the exception of Item 9.5.1, the Bay Street Retaining Wall. In the case of the retaining wall Council decided to go forward with tendering for the project and it will then decide on the source of funds to pay for it once the project was approved. I guess they were a little chagrined to be dipping into the Rate Stabilization Fund so soon after approving the 2014 budget. But the wall will be rebuilt, hopefully without dipping into the Parry Sound Power funds. (Although it’s really all the same, it’s just a matter of ‘optics’.)

The Back Hills of Parry Sound. (Parry Sound in Black & White)

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Council Meeting Notes – May 6, 2014

07 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Parry Sound, Town Council

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There was one small gesture at last night’s meeting of Council that’s worth mentioning. I only stayed for the first hour to catch the deputations and the prioritized issues and then took a walk along the Rotary Algonquin Fitness Trail. The time was better spent taking the walk.

Courage and principle are terms not often associated with politicians, although it would be unfair to label our Councillors as politicians, in reality they are more like stewards entrusted with responsibility for the Town’s interests. But there was some courage and principle displayed last night by Councillor Dave Williams. It concerned Item 8.6 the appointment of three new board members to the Downtown Business Association. As you may recall the Chair of the DBA was recently dismissed by Council and three board members resigned in protest. The dismissal was, to say the least, controversial and it was passed by a bare majority of the Council, Mayor McGarvey and Councillors McCauley, Horne and Saulnier.

Both Councillors Horne and McCauley were absent from last night’s meeting which meant that the Councillors who voted against the dismissal of Lis McWalter from the Downtown Business Association formed a majority of the Council present. To try and rectify what many consider a wrong Councillor Williams proposed an amendment to Item 8.6 that would invite Ms. McWalter and the board members who had resigned to join the DBA Board. The Mayor asked if there was a second for the amendment, and not withstanding a few grimaces, there were no takers and the amendment was not considered. Had the two other Councillors stepped up it would have passed by at least a 3 to 1 vote. But it didn’t get that far.

I suppose the two other Councillors felt it was ‘water under the bridge’ or perhaps that reversing an earlier decision would weaken the authority of Council. Regardless, it continues a long tradition of organizations choosing to take the less demanding path, often at the expense of an individual. Too often abuse is institutionalized and protected by the ‘system’. Councillor Williams is to be congratulated for his courage and resourcefulness. It’s not easy bucking the system and trying to right a wrong, but you need to do what you can.

The rest of the meeting pretty much followed the agenda script for as long as I attended. The decisions will be recorded in the meeting minutes that should be available no later than Friday this week at the Town’s website.

A few interesting points arose in the Councillors’ reports, deputation and questions of Staff portions of the meeting:

  1. Councillor Saulnier noted the accumulation of dog poop on the Rotary Algonquin Fitness Trail by the Stockey Centre. I have seen the same problem on the Rose Point Trail. No the stuff doesn’t disappear with the snow. Pick it up people.
  2. Item 9.1.5, the severing of a lot associated with the P.S. Dock Company was approved with some compromise on the part of the applicant and the Town. It seems like a reasonable outcome.
  3. The issue of the TD Green Streets grant for a Market Square Park facelift was raised. The Chief Administration Officer, Rob Mens, suggested the project was possible but significant changes were required. I’m not sure that’s really the case but it provides cover when Council ‘cans’ the project. And yes, they will ‘can’ the project, but later when it has faded from public view and it is receiving much less attention.  Ever wonder why things never change? It’s because change takes effort and courage, which too often are in short supply.

I’ll check the minutes when they are published and provide an update as appropriate on anything else that warrants mention.

Signs of Spring. Signs of Hope. (Parry Sound in Black & White)

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Council Agenda Preview – May 6, 2014

05 Monday May 2014

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Here’s an abridged look at what is in a very packed Town of Parry Sound Council agenda for May 6th.

There is still fallout from Council’s decision to remove Ms. McWalter from the Parry Sound Downtown Business Association including three Downtown Business Association Board resignations in protest of her dismissal (Items 4.3, 8.5) and three new Downtown Business Association Board appointments (8.6). I have also tendered my resignation from the Charles W. Stockey Centre Advisory Committee and Community Railway Safety Committee. My feeling is that community members with an opinion and energy are seemingly subject to unreasonable censure by Council through the use of ‘backroom’ closed meetings of Council. It’s a bit like Russian imperialism in the Ukraine. Council, like the Russians, feel they have the right to take certain unilateral actions at the expense of others. And like NATO the Parry Sound community is left with no recourse but to complain about the injustice. Here’s a link to my letter of resignation that seems to have been omitted from the meeting agenda package.

There are a couple of items on the agenda (5.1 and 9.1.5) concerning the severing of a lot(s) related to the salt dock off of Emily Street. It’s an interesting read where Town Staff and the applicant’s consultant debate the meaning of certain terms and how they apply to this situation. The Town does not support the application based on the information provided by the applicant.

The biggest part of the agenda is related to numerous budget issues and some unexpected expenses. I won’t go through them in detail but here are some things people may wish to look at and think about. Was Council a bit optimistic in keeping the tax rate flat for 2014 (9.4.4)? Final reconciliation of costs for 2013, unexpected major expenses for 2014, and certain accounting revisions suggest it will be necessary to dip into the rate stabilization fund. It’s not a big deal but still a surprise. The other financial issue that people should understand (9.4.2) is that about a third of the proceeds ($3.97 million) from the merger of Parry Sound Hydro has already been spent/committed. About $1 million is going towards unfinanced capital outlays (Stockey Centre, and the Canadore College Project) and $370,000 towards the Fire Hall wall and the new fire truck. So with the money not yet in our pocket Council has managed to spend a third of the Parry Sound Hydro money without any real public discussion. Council has also applied $500,000 of funds received from 2013 property sales to the reduction of debt related to the Cascade and Joseph Street projects. That’s why it’s important to keep track of what goes on at Council. There is no issue of dishonesty here, just a matter of priorities. I’m waiting for a proposal to use the rest of the ‘endowment’ for a community swimming pool. I read in the North Star that there was some ‘stumping’ for a pool at a recent meeting of McDougall Town Council. If we are planning to go further in debt let’s make sure the surrounding communities join us.

An additional expense that has popped up (9.5.1) is a rebuild of the retaining wall along Bay Street. It was a very rough winter for infrastructure. The estimated cost of the project ranges from $135,000 to $235,000 depending on the scope of the project. There is a proposal to fund this project from the Tax Rate Stabilization Fund. I guess we really didn’t deserve to forego a tax rate increase in 2014, but the politicians felt they did.

There really is much, much more on the agenda than is noted above, for example Ribfest is scheduled for July 9–13. You’ll need to check out the full agenda if you want all of the items and the details. To make things easier to review I’ve extracted just the agenda portion without the supporting information in a rather small document linked here. Go to the Town’s website to download the three separate agenda files with documentation. My one file version is linked here, note that it is a rather large file (27 MB). This version includes my highlights to portions of the agenda that I found to be of particular interest along with rotated pages to make for easier reading.

Somewhere in the ‘back hills’ of Parry Sound. (Parry Sound in Black & White).

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Happy Cinco de Mayo – see you tomorrow night at the Council meeting.