Monthly Archives: October 2018

The Vacancy Tax Issue – Seth Godin

24 Wednesday Oct 2018

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From a Seth Godin blog post earlier this month. It’s worth a read and it’s worth subscribing to his posts. Was he thinking about Parry Sound? No, but if the shoe fits.

Considering the vacancy tax

seths.blog · by Seth Godin, October 9, 2018 

Landlords are notorious for having a bias toward raising the rent. They’re in it for the long haul, they’ve seen downturns before, and while they’re quick to raise rents in good times, they are loathe to lower rents, even if it means sitting with an empty storefront for months at a time.

While this math might be compelling for some landlords, it’s terrible for the cities those buildings are located in.

Empty storefronts deny residents accessible services.

They lead to vandalism and other crime.

And they suck the vibrancy from the neighborhood.

They also deprive the municipality from sales tax revenue, cost jobs and take watchful eyes away from the neighborhood as well.

If we view the ability to have a well-cared for, civil neighborhood as a privilege, it’s logical to consider a vacancy tax for landlords as an incentive for them to lower rents when decreased demand happens because retailers can’t afford the old rent.

It could be something like: For any storefront that’s empty, after two months of vacancy, the landlord has to pay a tax of 20% of the average rent they’d be receiving. All the money would go to neighborhood improvements and policing.

Lower rents create new innovations, which leads to more interaction and more vibrant neighborhoods. And in the long run, it gives landlords an incentive to do what actually generates more of what they seek as well.

seths.blog · by October 9, 2018 · October 9, 2018

Town of Parry Sound 2018 Election Result Reflections

23 Tuesday Oct 2018

Posted by in Parry Sound, Reflections, Town Council

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Some quick thoughts and numbers from yesterday’s Town of Parry Sound municipal election. The only real surprises to be expected was who the two new councillors would be. I picked one with my vote but not the other. I wish both of them the best of luck.

Here are some numbers from the past three elections that suggest a considerable degree of consistency in terms of the vote totals.

These first two tables summarize the total votes cast and the percent of eligible votes cast for 2010, 2014 and 2018. The percent of eligible votes cast for 2018 is an estimate as I do not have the total number of eligible voters for 2018, but the numbers presented will be very close to the actual.

In almost all respects the voting pattern for 2018 was almost the same as for 2010 and 2014. A little more than 50% of eligible voters actually cast a vote. This is a bit disappointing given that it has become much easier for people to vote in the last two elections.

Once again, a large number of votes for Councillors were not cast, an estimated total of 2,800 votes were withheld by folks who voted for the mayoral candidates. Speaking to a couple of voters I found that one voter chose to vote for two councillors only in hopes of helping their chosen candidates. The other person used only 5 of their 6 possible votes because they did not have a good sense of who else to support.

Councillor Votes

In 2018 once again, 1,000-plus votes was the target for any individual hoping to be elected to Parry Sound Council. This was despite a total of 14 candidates in 2018 versus 11 in 2014 and 10 in 2010. Looking at the chart below the distribution of votes is almost the same for all three years. The difference this year was that the number 3 and 4 elected councillors did so with a lower number of votes relative to the earlier years, 1,000 to 1,100 rather than the 1,200 to 1,400 votes of the past. There is a bit of a message there that the candidates need to understand and act upon if they hope to retain the support of the voters.

This election reinforces my observation in an earlier post that the votes to get elected as a councillor in Parry Sound are there to be captured, at least 2,800 by my estimate, without taking a vote from anyone else. But that takes much more good work than can be accomplished solely with social media and an unspecific promise of change.

Council Agenda Preview – October 16, 2018

14 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by in Parry Sound, Town Council

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There are a surprising number of items on this week’s agenda. None of them are controversial, although several are interesting.

9.3.1– the Request for Quote related to sand and salt provides some insight into how much salt and sand is put down on Parry Sound streets and sidewalks each year. The number is 300 tonnes. That translates to 300,000 kilos (660,000 pounds) or about 100 pounds for every Parry Sound resident. Well, that’s not doing the environment any favours.

9.3.3– Train Whistle Cessation is moving forward with the request to contract with a firm to conduct necessary studies.

9.5.1– Cannabis Legislation is just around the corner and it appears that the Town of Parry Sound is just starting to do the necessary study. I suspect that just as Parry Sound is home to the area beer and liquor stores that we will also be home to a cannabis dispensary. Hmmm, should the requirement that the 3 Bs (booze, banks and bars) be located in the downtown be amended to 3-B and C? Or, since the RBC is moving to the south end and not to the downtown perhaps we can take the banks out of the 3 Bs and simply rechristen the requirement as the BBC rule.

10.4.1– Appointment of Clayton Harris. Our new CAO will be starting this week. I wish him all the best. The Town is in good shape and he can hopefully take us to the next stage. Thanks to Rob Mens for his contributions to getting us to this stage.

Correspondence

4.1 – David Pearce, Supply Chain Officer, Stewardship Ontario. Industry funding for Municipal Blue Box Recycling for the second quarter of the 2018 Program Year – Parry Sound received

Deputations

5.1 – Amber Gordon, Director of Development, Georgian Bay Forever. Georgian Bay Forever’s Pilot Project: Divert and Capture: The fight to keep microplastics/fibres out of our waters.

5.2 – Parry Sound Seniors Club, Board members Allen Smith, Gurneth Hoddy, Olive Duggan and Hilda Floyd. Requesting an increase in their grant and having a street sign put up advising drivers that seniors will be crossing in this area.

Resolutions and Direction to Staff

9.2.1 – Decommissioned Paramedic Response Unit (PRU). Resolution. That the Council of the Town of Parry Sound authorize the PRU being decommissioned in 2018 be donated to the Kearney Fire Department.

9.2.2 – Land Ambulance Contract. Resolution. That upon the recommendation of the EMS Advisory Committee the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Parry Sound direct staff to enter into negotiations in January of 2019 with the West Parry Sound Health Centre (WPSHC) for a 4-year extension to the Land Ambulance contract, that will address the Value Added aspects of the service being leveraging of paramedics downtime, Community Paramedicine Initiatives and limiting Non Urgent Patient Transportation; and Further that staff report back to Council on the progress of negotiations by the beginning of February 2019 with a recommendation on proceeding with contracted services or preparing to take the Land Ambulance service in house for direct delivery.

9.2.3 – Consent Application. Resolution. That Consent Application No. B 31/2018 (PS) (Halvorson), be supported.

9.3.1 – RFQ – Gravel and Winter Sand. Resolution. That Council accepts the quotation from Fowler Construction to supply, deliver, blend, and stack approximately 300 tonnes of winter sand per delivery in the amount of $17.52 per tonne, for a total amount of $5,256.00, including tax, for the 2018-2019 year, this quotation being the only one received.

That Council accepts the quotation from Fowler Construction for approximately 60 tonnes of Granular A gravel per delivery in the amount of $15.26 per tonne, for a total amount of $915.60, including tax, for the 2018-2019 year, this quotation being the only one received.

9.3.2 – Tender – Snow Removal. Resolution. That Council accept the tender from Adams Brothers for snow removal on town streets during the 2018 fall & winter season and 2019 winter & spring season, including traffic control and labour costs to clear around infrastructure including tree pits and hydrants, as follows:
Tandem dump truck: $95.99 per hour
Wheeled loader: $111.81 per hour
Blower and control unit: $111.81 per hour

9.3.3 – Train Whistle Cessation RFP. Direction. (For Direct Staff Follow-up). That Council direct staff to secure the services of CIMA+ engineering to assess five level train crossings in Parry Sound for the purpose of train whistle cessation as required by Transport Canada, the Railway Safety Act, Grade Crossings Regulations and Grade Crossing Standards; and That staff bring a report back to Council with the results/findings from the engineering assessments and recommendations.

9.5.1 – Cannabis Legislation. Direction (For Direct Staff Follow-up). That the Manager of Building and Planning Services be directed to prepare a report advising on potential Zoning By-Law impacts regarding cannabis.

9.5.2 – Extension of Parking Limits for the Parry Sound Seniors at 80 James Street. Direction (For Direct Staff Follow-up)

By-laws

10.1.1 – 2018 Debenture. By-law 2018 – 6869. Being a by-law to authorize certain new capital works of The Corporation of the Town of Parry Sound (the “Municipality”); to authorize the submission of an application to Ontario Infrastructure and Lands Corporation (“OILC”) for financing such capital works; to authorize temporary borrowing from OILC to meet expenditures in connection with such works; and to authorize long term borrowing for such works through the issue of debentures to OILC.

10.4.1 – Appointment of Clayton Harris. By-law 2018 – 6870. Being a By-law to appoint Clayton Harris as the Chief Administrative Officer/Deputy Clerk and the Alternate Head under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the Corporation of the Town of Parry Sound and to amend By-law 2013-6244 and 2015-6568 and to repeal by-law 1998-4000.