Dead Tree Sentinels On Both Sides Of Regional Roads...Monuments?????

I drove up Bathurst St to  Davis Drive yesterday.  The dried sticks planted  on both sides of the road at least five years ago are still there. Dead trees, in the normal course of events, offend my senses. I feel they are a testament to something or other. After reading the Region's media release about eighteen million dollars being spent on trees  and seventy-five per cent failing to survive, I can't help counting the dead ones all the way.

There they are, complete  with  wired supports  to hold them up, green plastic wrapped around their feet and mulch piled around the base and dead as a dodo.

They've been there for at least five years. You'd think the Region might want to get rid of the evidence of their  extravagant failure and scandalous waste of resources.

I've been reading The Star on line again this morning. Nothing much is happening in Aurora politics. Agendas shrink a little more each week. We seldom sit beyond eight-thirty. Compared to last term, when we didn't even get to town business till  nine, that's a plus.

On Tuesday we had three delegations listed.  One  asked  for ab  OMB application fee to be waived.

A newly arrived resident believes a  retail commercial development in her neighbourhood should be reversed. First she argued to Council the property should be a park instead.

 Now she intends  to file an objection with the Ontario Municipal Board and wants the town to waive the fee.

This is not a user fee. It is not a charitable enterprise. A person  bought a home in a particular neighbourhood and now  she has arrived she wants different neighbour than the one well advanced in the planning.

Apparently she has the right to take the matter to the Ontario Municipal. It could be done without Council knowing anything at all  or having anything to say about it.

Except that she  came to ask  the town to absorb  the cost of filing  her  objection as well as all the other costs and years of  processing the application to the point  it meets all   town  requirements of land use and zoning and has town approval.

I spent some time arguing such a request had no business coming before Council for a political decision. the fee is administrative and approved by bylaw.

My logic was lost.  The delegation was received.

Then there was the delegation from the Parks Ambassador program and staff recommendation it be
forwarded to an Advisory committee for study and report.

We had a lengthy argument about why that would take too long and Council should make the decision without study and report from an advisory committee.

Earlier in the year, we rejected a staff recommendation advisory committees should not be re-constituted .It would be more cost and time  efficient  if  decisions were made by Council.

We approved an application for removal of nine trees on a building lot to accommodate a driveway. But not before we spent time identifying the location of the remaining  trees on the lot.

We approved street tree plantings with developer's money. But not without argument.

We spent the usual  time  wrangling about procedures.  At least twenty of the ninety minutes we spent on the agenda in total. 

We approved contract awards for three roads projects.

A list of names compiled by staff to provide to developers for their  possible choice  in naming streets.
They don't have to use them. We just provide a list.

It  used to be the job of assistant to the Clerk to make up the list.  Now Council  approves it.

I guess filler  was needed  to  create  an agenda.

Even with   arguments about process,  delegations presenting and  non-issues decided, we still   adjourned the public meeting  by eight-thirty.

We went behind closed doors and re-examined a development plan which has been fully discussed in public before.That kept us at the town hall until nine o'clock.

I think Council has been pretty well neutered.