The answer to the question in the comment posted at 10.23.p.m. is it's a fabrication of which there are plenty
******************************
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Who's Talking About Fair...I'm Talking Common Sens...":
To Anon 6:48pm
Some of the mentioned are trying to be safe so re-election is possible.
It isn't right but it is politics
************************
I don't agree with the comment. I think Councillors are being careful and trying to do the right thing. On that basis, they would have a reasonable chance of re-election. But at this point. it's still too early to forecast even a bid for re-election. In the last council, one member resigned. Two did not seek re-election. It was hard for them to stay that truly dreadful course.
********************************
Speaking of fabrications, tales about the museum and the museum collection continue to proliferate.
At one point, it was suggested the town pay the historical society rent for storing the collection.
Then the claim of ownership was made by the Historical Society and everybody had better not get any ideas.
Early on it was said there is no community interest in a museum.
Then "nobody knows where the collection is"
Then again the collection is owned by the Historical Society. Plans for a curator to be appointed by the town, better keep that in mind.
The latest is, there is no collection of any value. Just a bunch of stuff people picked up at garage sales and passed on to the historical society because it might be part of Aurora's history.
Here is what I know for a fact:
Since the time I was first elected and before, the Town and the Historical Society have worked together to preserve the community's history in a comfortable relationship of mutual trust.
A small storage room upstairs in the building used as a Town hall, the Society held their meetings and stored the collection..
When the old water works became vacant in the early seventies, we gave it to the Society to use as a museum. Artifacts were lovingly identified and carefully displayed..
When the Church Street School was vacated in 1976, we gave the Society the entire second floor for the collection. A volunteer provided curatorial services. Whether professional or a labour of love ,I am not sure. I wasn't a member of Council at the time.
In the early eighties, a town grant of $50,000 was provided to the Society to retain the first curator. That bespeaks a collection to me.
From time to time, attention was drawn to available items of historical interest. The Historical Society had no financial resources. The town bought the items and assigned them to the care of the Society. There was no talk about ownership.
The museum collection was on display in the Church Street School from 1976 until 2002 when It was packed up and stored elsewhere while the building was to be renovated. We understood the Hillary House.
In 2003 , the curator retired. Her services to the community were manifold Research for town planning.. Classroom visits for schoolchildren, Summer history camps. Christmas displays and re-living Christmas past. Research for residents with a question about town history or their own.Ms Stewart was highly regarded and honoured for her service to the community by Council on the occasion of her retirement.
The grant to the society was money well spent for services returned and appreciated. .
The town and the society continued to work together . The grant continued. .
Eventually a new curator was retained.
The Society came to Council and withdrew their commitment to organise and manage the museum. Membership was said to be fifty-nine. .
The curator being the Historical Society's employee was first referenced shortly thereafter,
A legal agreement had been sought and signed by the Society and the town to protect their financial investment and interest in the Church Street School when it was the society's plan to raise the funds, renovate the building and manage it completely.
The agreement shut out Leisure Services Director who had been in charge of managing the town's facility.
There had been a fund-raising announcement. Stated purpose was restoration of the building . The Society appointed a project manager and architects were retained to design a state of the art museum at their expense.
Volunteers gutted the building back to original walls and ceilings.
It stayed that way for three years.
The town sold the Aurora Hydro Utility. We vowed to create and protect a fund which would only be used for a meaningful project that could not happen if taxes had to be raised to pay for it.
Without input from the Society, the town decided to spend a portion of the proceeds to finish Church Street School restoration and get the museum back, up and running, in its rightful place.
The vote was unanimous. I expected negative reaction in the community. There was none. The old building and museum became the first project to benefit from what I think of ,as the Heritage Fund.
The Society's state of the art museum plans were presented by the architects at a council meeting and adopted by the town. The project went forward.
Specifications prepared, tenders called a contract awarded in an amount of $2.3 million dollars.
A new curator was retained by the Society, Served as resource to the Ad Hoc committee set up by council to steer the plan of operation of the new facility.
The curator prepared an application and was successful in obtaining a $770. thousand grant for the building. It was intended , among other things, to provide the climate controlled environment necessary to protect artifacts.
The curator subsequently resigned. As resource person to the committee , a member of the committee,
and friend and campaign manager of the former Mayor, was appointed to advise the committee on an interim basis. With pay.
Eventually a board was appointed, an agreement was signed ,a budget approved and the building officially opened.
Guess what! No museum
$2.3 million dollars on restoration. $770, heritage grant all exoended for museum purposes.
$349.thousand annual budget, $147.thousand for maintenance.
No museum. No sign of same.
Question asked in council. Twice. No answer .Presiding member's eyes slid about for a bit before indicating Chief Financial Officer would be reporting.
First tale in circulation. "Museums don't make money"
The pace quickens.
Hardly a week goes by without a new tale to mitigate against the museum.
Historical Society's efforts to exert rights under the agreement ineffective.
Lectures and displays provided as a sop to town heritage.
Society apparently agreed to dissolve the agreement with the town to protect their investment when they withdrew the commitment to manage the facility.
Sometimes, it's hard to help people. They won't let you.
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
| Old Sea Story There's an old sea story about a ship's Captain who inspected his sailors, and afterward told the first mate that his men smelled bad. The Captain suggested perhaps it would help if the sailors would change underwear occasionally. The first mate responded, "Aye, aye sir, I'll see to it immediately!" The first mate went straight to the sailors berth deck and announced, "The Captain thinks you guys smell bad and wants you to change your underwear." He continued, "Pittman, you change with Jones, McCarthy, you change with Witkowski, and Brown, you change with Schultz." THE MORAL OF THE STORY: Someone may come along and promise "Change", but don't count on things smelling any better. Have a Grand Day... |
Who's Talking About Fair...I'm Talking Common Sense.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where Does The Salt Go?":
I like the idea of a "runnel" to collect these toxins. What I can't understand is why it should be so expensive to skim off a bit of oil and residual matter.
Salt is most definitely the greatest toxin in the mix, and the millions you quote for cost would be well worth it if only it could deal with this substance. It is a pity that it cannot. I don't think writing it off as "a natural substance taken from the earth in the first place" is fair. Uranium and asbestos are both natural substances as well. In all cases they are fine if we leave them where we find them, but once we dig them out of the ground we have to take a little responsibility for them.
**********************************
I did not quote millions. The budget is half a million.
Salt is not in the same category as uranium and asbestos. As noted it can't be removed in a treatment system. No matter how many hard-earned tax dollars are flushed away in the endeavour...
This story started a number of years ago. During the council term before the last.
An environmental advisory committee was proposed by Morris and Gaertner and approved by Council.
The number of members were to be seven. Eleven applied. Eleven were appointed.
The Public Works Director was to be the resource person. I asked what he thought about that.
He said he didn't mind.
Next budget meeting ,he recommended hiring an environmental engineer at an annual cost of $100 thousand including benefits and equipment.
I asked what would be the job. "Identifying environmental initiatives" he said.
And attending environmental advisory committee meetings,I noted. He didn't raise his eyes when he nodded .
For several years after, at budget time, I asked about environmental initiatives identified. He was no longer with us.
There was never an answer. Just a bemuse look in my direction. I wasn't surprised.
The project now under consideration was approved in the last year of the last council, in an amount of $500 thousand.
$123,911. has already been spent." The design is in progress".
So if the question is asked again ;" what environmental initiatives have been identified" I guess this will be it.
Only it isn't.
In the Oak Ridges Moraine, home-owners can't build a patio in their yard without approval from the Committee of Adjustment after paying several hundred dollars for an application fee.
They can't put down a concrete pad for a garden shed without going through the same process
But the town is planning to cover a permeable gravel area with an impermeable concrete surface with a concrete runnel, to direct melting snow with a questionable measurement of salt into a treatment facility that will likely capture less than the gravel surface would, before the melt has any chance of reaching ground water. In the area,the run-off is far more likely to reach a stream of running water before it ever reaches an aquifer.
The amount of salt in the snow is not been measured. How much can there be after it melted ice on the few streets from which it was removed and ran down the gutters into catchbasins and from there into storm sewers.
In my view it's similar boondoggle,only at half a million dollar cost as the trumpeted "Right to Dry"campaign that brought us headlines in the New York Times. The tshirt bearing the logo is probably one of Al Gore's most precious mementos of his trip to Canada.
Yet there never was a prohibition on drying washing outdoors in Aurora.
There was a covenant on end units of townhouse rows. It stopped family laundry,(underwear and such), (well-washed or indifferently),(bloomers or thongs) from becoming part of the streetscape.
A purchaser with an urgent need to hang a clothes line always had the option of purchasing a unit without the covenant
The fact was not noted in news reports. All media love to shine the spotlight on an example of political idiocy.
But I digressed.
The item in the capital construction list presented at the August Council meeting, to spend a further $300 thousand on a concrete pad, a runnel and a treatment system that isn't was on the list in error.
The Treasurer assures me it will be removed until the decision deferred at budget time is dealt with by council.
The Treasurer was on vacation when $600.thousand was approved in part, for replacement of the Aurora Family Leisure Complex, heaavy water use ice-making equipment and a working elevator that makes the building accessible.
Approval slid through despite an in depth council discussion that resulted in neither of the items being approved.
I like the idea of a "runnel" to collect these toxins. What I can't understand is why it should be so expensive to skim off a bit of oil and residual matter.
Salt is most definitely the greatest toxin in the mix, and the millions you quote for cost would be well worth it if only it could deal with this substance. It is a pity that it cannot. I don't think writing it off as "a natural substance taken from the earth in the first place" is fair. Uranium and asbestos are both natural substances as well. In all cases they are fine if we leave them where we find them, but once we dig them out of the ground we have to take a little responsibility for them.
**********************************
I did not quote millions. The budget is half a million.
Salt is not in the same category as uranium and asbestos. As noted it can't be removed in a treatment system. No matter how many hard-earned tax dollars are flushed away in the endeavour...
This story started a number of years ago. During the council term before the last.
An environmental advisory committee was proposed by Morris and Gaertner and approved by Council.
The number of members were to be seven. Eleven applied. Eleven were appointed.
The Public Works Director was to be the resource person. I asked what he thought about that.
He said he didn't mind.
Next budget meeting ,he recommended hiring an environmental engineer at an annual cost of $100 thousand including benefits and equipment.
I asked what would be the job. "Identifying environmental initiatives" he said.
And attending environmental advisory committee meetings,I noted. He didn't raise his eyes when he nodded .
For several years after, at budget time, I asked about environmental initiatives identified. He was no longer with us.
There was never an answer. Just a bemuse look in my direction. I wasn't surprised.
The project now under consideration was approved in the last year of the last council, in an amount of $500 thousand.
$123,911. has already been spent." The design is in progress".
So if the question is asked again ;" what environmental initiatives have been identified" I guess this will be it.
Only it isn't.
In the Oak Ridges Moraine, home-owners can't build a patio in their yard without approval from the Committee of Adjustment after paying several hundred dollars for an application fee.
They can't put down a concrete pad for a garden shed without going through the same process
But the town is planning to cover a permeable gravel area with an impermeable concrete surface with a concrete runnel, to direct melting snow with a questionable measurement of salt into a treatment facility that will likely capture less than the gravel surface would, before the melt has any chance of reaching ground water. In the area,the run-off is far more likely to reach a stream of running water before it ever reaches an aquifer.
The amount of salt in the snow is not been measured. How much can there be after it melted ice on the few streets from which it was removed and ran down the gutters into catchbasins and from there into storm sewers.
In my view it's similar boondoggle,only at half a million dollar cost as the trumpeted "Right to Dry"campaign that brought us headlines in the New York Times. The tshirt bearing the logo is probably one of Al Gore's most precious mementos of his trip to Canada.
Yet there never was a prohibition on drying washing outdoors in Aurora.
There was a covenant on end units of townhouse rows. It stopped family laundry,(underwear and such), (well-washed or indifferently),(bloomers or thongs) from becoming part of the streetscape.
A purchaser with an urgent need to hang a clothes line always had the option of purchasing a unit without the covenant
The fact was not noted in news reports. All media love to shine the spotlight on an example of political idiocy.
But I digressed.
The item in the capital construction list presented at the August Council meeting, to spend a further $300 thousand on a concrete pad, a runnel and a treatment system that isn't was on the list in error.
The Treasurer assures me it will be removed until the decision deferred at budget time is dealt with by council.
The Treasurer was on vacation when $600.thousand was approved in part, for replacement of the Aurora Family Leisure Complex, heaavy water use ice-making equipment and a working elevator that makes the building accessible.
Approval slid through despite an in depth council discussion that resulted in neither of the items being approved.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Where Does The Salt Go?
Winter snow is piled at the side of the road.,into the ditches ,on lawns,on boulevards.
Streets are salted and sanded to prevent freezing and mixed with snow, melts and runs .into storm sewers. In Spring , on my street, it fills the ditches and runs off into creeks and waterways.
Winters are not so cold as they were. We don't use less sand and salt. The grass at the edge of the boulevards no longer turns yellow and builds up with sand the way it used to.
Great mountains of accumulated snow on shopping centre parking lots, stay there until they melt in the Spring leaving behind piles of litter that are cleared away handily.
Here and there, the town removes snow from particular locations. We didn't always do that. . I remember getting a boot full quite often on Yonge Street ,when the town hall was in the middle of the East Block.
The collected snow goes to a gravel parking lot at the Lambert Wilson property. It sits there until it melts into the ground. Like everywhere else in the town.
Salt, whatever is left of it, dissolves in the melt. It filters down through the permeable layers of the good earth in that particular location. Eventually some of it may find it's way into the creek that drains the property.
Sand and litter is easily collected.and transported if need be. .
Not a big deal.
Except, we have a plan to change that. In the capital construction budget, we have half a million dollars to pave the parking lot with cement, create a runnel feeding into a treatment facility to remove "toxins"
The plan is in response to a call from the Minister of Environment to reduce "toxins" from finding their way down to the water table.
"Toxins" identified are oil and grit and sand and salt.
We have never, I mean me, seen any evidence of oil on the grass from winter snow melt. Salt no longer turns the edge of the boulevard grass yellow. We collect sand and re-use the stuff.
The only toxin, if there is any , to merit the description is salt. Salt is soluble.It can't be trapped in a treatment system.
Despite the argument,unwilling to make the decision to remove the item from the budget, like the repairs to the Aurora Family Leisure Centre. it was deferred by Council at the time , to be more thoroughly discussed at a later date.
We did not get to it at the all-day meeting held at the later date.We spent half the day listening to consultants for the Draft Strategic Plan and Space Needs for the 5 million dollar re-organisation of the town hall.
We did thoroughly discuss proposed $ 600 thousand dollars expenditure for the Aurora Family Leisure Complex and rejected most of it. But minutes from the meeting did not reflect that action. They noted the report was received.
It was not. .
It didn't much matter.
The expenditure was approved anyway through another route..
The CAO explained " the later meeting" had been held to allow Council to have "input"
The explanation sat well with the Mayor. No other Council member expressed concern . Therefore, the discussion and conclusion by council not to undertake the expenditure didn't count.
The expenditures are being undertaken.
Yet another Financial report was before council in our single August meeting agenda.
A list of capital construction projects and status is provided and staff approval recommended.
The snow storage site selection /construction is listed at $500,000.
$123,911. has been spent for the design in progress.That was done in a previous year.
The report recommends approval for the project to continue. .
I called the report for discussion. My recollection of budget indicates several items of capital construction deferred for in- depth discussion prior to approval.
If you are still reading this post, I commend you for perseverance.
At the August meeting, the usual complement of delegates, two appearing for the third time, had their turn at the mike to talk about their special interests and they in turn, were debated by Council with variable results,
Half the designated time to deal with town business was expended.
Insufficient time was left to deal with items of town business. They were deferred to September. The agenda will no doubt once again accommodate another flurry of special interest delegates as well as new items of business requiring council attention.
The nub of this post, in case it has been lost is. we are spending half a million dollars on a treatment system to remove "toxins" from a fraction of snow that melts, couldn't be stored if we wanted to, mixed with the minimum of salt we spread, that can't be removed because it dissolves.
Salt is a natural substance taken from the earth in the first place which we use of necessity, to make our environment habitable.
.
We have storm water ponds that filter" toxins" into the sediment
Streets are salted and sanded to prevent freezing and mixed with snow, melts and runs .into storm sewers. In Spring , on my street, it fills the ditches and runs off into creeks and waterways.
Winters are not so cold as they were. We don't use less sand and salt. The grass at the edge of the boulevards no longer turns yellow and builds up with sand the way it used to.
Great mountains of accumulated snow on shopping centre parking lots, stay there until they melt in the Spring leaving behind piles of litter that are cleared away handily.
Here and there, the town removes snow from particular locations. We didn't always do that. . I remember getting a boot full quite often on Yonge Street ,when the town hall was in the middle of the East Block.
The collected snow goes to a gravel parking lot at the Lambert Wilson property. It sits there until it melts into the ground. Like everywhere else in the town.
Salt, whatever is left of it, dissolves in the melt. It filters down through the permeable layers of the good earth in that particular location. Eventually some of it may find it's way into the creek that drains the property.
Sand and litter is easily collected.and transported if need be. .
Not a big deal.
Except, we have a plan to change that. In the capital construction budget, we have half a million dollars to pave the parking lot with cement, create a runnel feeding into a treatment facility to remove "toxins"
The plan is in response to a call from the Minister of Environment to reduce "toxins" from finding their way down to the water table.
"Toxins" identified are oil and grit and sand and salt.
We have never, I mean me, seen any evidence of oil on the grass from winter snow melt. Salt no longer turns the edge of the boulevard grass yellow. We collect sand and re-use the stuff.
The only toxin, if there is any , to merit the description is salt. Salt is soluble.It can't be trapped in a treatment system.
Despite the argument,unwilling to make the decision to remove the item from the budget, like the repairs to the Aurora Family Leisure Centre. it was deferred by Council at the time , to be more thoroughly discussed at a later date.
We did not get to it at the all-day meeting held at the later date.We spent half the day listening to consultants for the Draft Strategic Plan and Space Needs for the 5 million dollar re-organisation of the town hall.
We did thoroughly discuss proposed $ 600 thousand dollars expenditure for the Aurora Family Leisure Complex and rejected most of it. But minutes from the meeting did not reflect that action. They noted the report was received.
It was not. .
It didn't much matter.
The expenditure was approved anyway through another route..
The CAO explained " the later meeting" had been held to allow Council to have "input"
The explanation sat well with the Mayor. No other Council member expressed concern . Therefore, the discussion and conclusion by council not to undertake the expenditure didn't count.
The expenditures are being undertaken.
Yet another Financial report was before council in our single August meeting agenda.
A list of capital construction projects and status is provided and staff approval recommended.
The snow storage site selection /construction is listed at $500,000.
$123,911. has been spent for the design in progress.That was done in a previous year.
The report recommends approval for the project to continue. .
I called the report for discussion. My recollection of budget indicates several items of capital construction deferred for in- depth discussion prior to approval.
If you are still reading this post, I commend you for perseverance.
At the August meeting, the usual complement of delegates, two appearing for the third time, had their turn at the mike to talk about their special interests and they in turn, were debated by Council with variable results,
Half the designated time to deal with town business was expended.
Insufficient time was left to deal with items of town business. They were deferred to September. The agenda will no doubt once again accommodate another flurry of special interest delegates as well as new items of business requiring council attention.
The nub of this post, in case it has been lost is. we are spending half a million dollars on a treatment system to remove "toxins" from a fraction of snow that melts, couldn't be stored if we wanted to, mixed with the minimum of salt we spread, that can't be removed because it dissolves.
Salt is a natural substance taken from the earth in the first place which we use of necessity, to make our environment habitable.
.
We have storm water ponds that filter" toxins" into the sediment
What's Not Right About It...Where's The Harm?
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Newspaper Editorials":
Except that the name of the editor is usually just over there, right next to the editorial on the masthead, ask your buddy Ron at the Auroran.
Anonymous, indeed...
My friend Ron Wallace puts his name on the column he writes in the space usually retained for editorial comment.
It is acknowledged newspapers usually publish the names of editors. They just don't publish the name of the editor who wrote a particular editorial. They do however stand behind it.
Letters to the editor are not endorsed by any newspaper
Ron makes that clear on a regular basis.
I just thought of something else to mention in this space. When a resident speaks to his or her Councillor about a particular issue, the conversation is normally considered private. An e-mail
expressing a concern to a Councillor is also generally considered private.
People who post comments to my blog anonymously have the right to express the same opinion to a councillor without being named in a public debate. Unless with agreement..
It's not written down anywhere.
It's just generally understood.
Like we understand our right to secret ballot.
There are many good reasons why a person would not choose to trumpet personal opinions.There is nothing in the Charter of Rights that requires us to do so
That's why I think the opportunity to comment anonymously is a plus. It doesn't receive the same weight as with a name attached. In the minds of some it may not have any weight at all. But it gives the person who writes it an opportunity to vent that wasn't there before.
At this point in the evolution of the social media, who is to say that's wrong.
Except that the name of the editor is usually just over there, right next to the editorial on the masthead, ask your buddy Ron at the Auroran.
Anonymous, indeed...
My friend Ron Wallace puts his name on the column he writes in the space usually retained for editorial comment.
It is acknowledged newspapers usually publish the names of editors. They just don't publish the name of the editor who wrote a particular editorial. They do however stand behind it.
Letters to the editor are not endorsed by any newspaper
Ron makes that clear on a regular basis.
I just thought of something else to mention in this space. When a resident speaks to his or her Councillor about a particular issue, the conversation is normally considered private. An e-mail
expressing a concern to a Councillor is also generally considered private.
People who post comments to my blog anonymously have the right to express the same opinion to a councillor without being named in a public debate. Unless with agreement..
It's not written down anywhere.
It's just generally understood.
Like we understand our right to secret ballot.
There are many good reasons why a person would not choose to trumpet personal opinions.There is nothing in the Charter of Rights that requires us to do so
That's why I think the opportunity to comment anonymously is a plus. It doesn't receive the same weight as with a name attached. In the minds of some it may not have any weight at all. But it gives the person who writes it an opportunity to vent that wasn't there before.
At this point in the evolution of the social media, who is to say that's wrong.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Newspaper Editorials
I just thought of something.
Newspapers have been publishing editorials since ,I think, the advent of print.
They see their role as watchdogs of the community .
They regularly criticise politicians and governments.
Yet they are mostly faceless and nameless.
Anonymous you might say
Newspapers have been publishing editorials since ,I think, the advent of print.
They see their role as watchdogs of the community .
They regularly criticise politicians and governments.
Yet they are mostly faceless and nameless.
Anonymous you might say
Saturday, 27 August 2011
I Take This Line Back
" I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like this."
It's not true. The last Council was a total nightmare.
It took Bob and Allison and Grace a little while to realise what they were dealing with.
Then Grace resigned. Bob is such an honorable man, it took him a long time to accept the reality. In his whole life in Aurora, I doubt he ever encountered anything like it.
How would one recognise it, if one has never seen it before?
A poster asks "What do we tell our children?"
You don't tell your children. You tell your Councillor.
You give them your take on things. You may be reinforcing their own instinctive reactions.
They did not take over a perfect or even a mediocre situation.
This group of Councillors mean well. They intend to do the best job they can. With one obvious exception.
Turning things around to what it should be is hard for people who don't know what it should be.
What if they do it wrong and make a mess.?
They need to hear from you. You need to tell them how you see things from outside and challenge them to explain why it should stay like that.
***********
Anonymous has left a new comment on my post "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning":
Is there any director at Town Hall that you don't have an issue with? No wonder they give you short shrift!
************
Councillors will be hearing comments like that as well.
The administration is in charge.
Perish the thought a lowly Councillor might challenge a staff recommendations on behalf of the people paying the shot. She will quickly find out who is in charge and get short shrift in exchange.
In a pig's ear
It's not true. The last Council was a total nightmare.
It took Bob and Allison and Grace a little while to realise what they were dealing with.
Then Grace resigned. Bob is such an honorable man, it took him a long time to accept the reality. In his whole life in Aurora, I doubt he ever encountered anything like it.
How would one recognise it, if one has never seen it before?
A poster asks "What do we tell our children?"
You don't tell your children. You tell your Councillor.
You give them your take on things. You may be reinforcing their own instinctive reactions.
They did not take over a perfect or even a mediocre situation.
This group of Councillors mean well. They intend to do the best job they can. With one obvious exception.
Turning things around to what it should be is hard for people who don't know what it should be.
What if they do it wrong and make a mess.?
They need to hear from you. You need to tell them how you see things from outside and challenge them to explain why it should stay like that.
***********
Anonymous has left a new comment on my post "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning":
Is there any director at Town Hall that you don't have an issue with? No wonder they give you short shrift!
************
Councillors will be hearing comments like that as well.
The administration is in charge.
Perish the thought a lowly Councillor might challenge a staff recommendations on behalf of the people paying the shot. She will quickly find out who is in charge and get short shrift in exchange.
In a pig's ear
A Cry of Desperation From Klaus Wehrehberg
I received the e-mail below this morning from Klaus Wehrenberg, Chairman of the Town of Aurora Trails Committee.I think it's a last desperate plea to obtain at least a reaction from the Region on the issue of a trail underpass under a five lane highway.
Leslie Street runs parallel to Highway 404. Five lanes represent a barrier which will effectively divide a community.. For the Region and the town to ignore or deny the problems the juxtapositon of land designations and vehicular traffic will create in the very near future is incomprehensible.
********************
Dear Councillors:
Yesterday you were forwarded information that pertains to the Leslie Street underpass issue, by the Mayor's office. The documents: A Region of York report on the issue, prepared by the Transportation Services Committee (Report No 2) , and the Minutes of the Feb 17 Regional Council Meeting.
As you will have found, I was a delegate at the meeting. However, the Minutes don't reflect the substance of my presentation.
I am writing to you to:
1. inform you of what I said at the Feb 17 meeting
2. why I disagree with the Recommendation of Report No 2, and
3. to enlist your support to have the issue placed on the Agenda of the next Aurora Council Meeting, and to explain why I seek your support.
Re 1: Allow me to point out that the previous Council had adopted the draft trail corridor layout for the 2C Lands as Town of Aurora policy. That layout includes three corridors which cross Leslie Street between Wellington and Aurora's north boundary, all of them along deep valleys that straddle Leslie in a more or less east-west direction. Report No 2 recommended that the trail traffic utilize a push button traffic light to cross Leslie, at grade.
Being aware of the history of the underpass issue, that includes constant concerns about the costs of building such underpasses (estimated to be about $1 million, without any concrete backup), I asked Regional Council to include the design of the 3 underpasses in the terms of reference for the bidding process, the RFP for the widening of Leslie.
I said that the bidders should be asked to quote on the cost of building each underpass, so that it would be known, in concrete terms, how much more it would cost if they were to be built. Aurora Council could then decide whether to have them included in the re-construction of Leslie - the precise costs would be on the table.
Re 2: Report No 2, even though it appears comprehensive, is mute on two important items of information:
a) The Report does not set out the fact that, in the 2C Area, about 8,000 residents are expected to be housed immediately west of Leslie, and that immediately east of Leslie, over 6,000 employment opportunities are to be created. The average distance between the residences and such places of employment is about 1 km - a distance over which just about any traffic participant should be able to move without using a car, and hence could utilize the proposed trails corridors. One should also consider that the higher density residential clusters will be closer to Leslie Street than the low density residential areas, thus potentially reducing the average commuting distance between home and work to below 1 km per commuting trip.
In addition to commuting trips to the 6,000+ places of employment in the 2C Area, there will also be many shopping trips to the commercial (Walmart etc) area just to the south of the 2C Area, also on the east side of Leslie. Many of those trips could well be made via alternative modes of transportation, so called 'active' modes.
The writers of the Report have thus failed to include key demographic and traffic analysis information that should automatically trigger recommendations that encourage and promote non-motorized traffic, including the elimination of at grade crossings of a 4 to 5 lane Regional Road.
b) The Report also does not deal with the consequences of having non-motorized traffic cross a 4 to 5 lane road, via the push button triggered traffic light. Such crossings will happen predominantly in the high volume morning and afternoon periods, and will substantially inconvenience motorized traffic participants. Leslie Street is being widened to better move traffic - and then traffic is being slowed through lack of foresight.
No attempt has been made to assess cumulative wait times that will be suffered by the motorized Leslie Street traffic participant, and any consequent impacts. The one-time capital expenditure for the building of an underpass may pale in comparison to potential cumulative costs if non-motorized traffic is forced to cross at grade.
The absence of relevant comparative data, and related analysis, must be considered lack of due professional diligence, which renders the Report nonsuitable as a base for professional recommendations.
c) At this stage, the Leslie Street Environmental Study Report has been advertised as completed. That means, with the Feb 17 Regional Council decision incorporated in that Report, that the Regional Municipality of York has rejected the building of underpasses under Leslie Street, as part of the re-construction and widening of their Regional Road.
The Town of Aurora can ask the Minister of Environment to initiate a review of the Region's position. That request could be made based on the position that the widening of Leslie Street grossly conflicts with the Town of Aurora's policy to route 'active transportation' commuting corridors across Leslie, in that, e.g. at grade crossings are contrary to encouraging non-motorized traffic alternatives, and are contrary to Regional policies to encourage walkable communities and sustainable traffic, among other reasons.
The Town of Aurora could also accept the Region's position, and not appeal to the Minister of Environment for a review. However, in that case, the Town could nevertheless ask the Region to include the design of the underpasses in the RFP process, and await the actual cost quotations, before making a decision as to whether to include all or some of the underpasses; that approach would burden the Town with the costs, starting with design costs. This approach, the request to have the designs included, can still be made. I have recently (Aug 23) been assured by the Region's Senior Project Manager that the design can still be included, if Aurora gives direction to that effect.
The Town of Aurora could also pursue both of the above options.
The last day on which the Minister of Environment can be asked to review the Region's Environmental Study Report is September 21 - the request to review must be in the Minister's hands by then.
I am asking you, my Town Councilors, to request that this issue be placed on the Agenda of Council, before it is too late to take advantage of the re-construction of Leslie Street, to build underpasses. It will be prohibitively expensive to do it after the fact - in that the writers of Report No 2 and I agree. While one does not need special brains to arrive at that conclusion, realizing the impact of such delay should conjure up sober thought.
I have twice tried to have the item placed on the Council Agenda, and my second attempt could yet bear fruit. Hopefully I have convinced you why you should have at least a political dialogue on this issue. It is not too late yet.
You need to have your visionary mind in place, to realize the tremendous value of such underpasses - will they ever pay off!
could then decide whether to have them included in the re-construction of Leslie - the precise costs would be on the table.
Re 2: Report No 2, even though it appears comprehensive, is mute on two important items of information:
a) The Report does not set out the fact that, in the 2C Area, about 8,000 residents are expected to be housed immediately west of Leslie, and that immediately east of Leslie, over 6,000 employment opportunities are to be created. The average distance between the residences and such places of employment is about 1 km - a distance over which just about any traffic participant should be able to move without using a car, and hence could utilize the proposed trails corridors. One should also consider that the higher density residential clusters will be closer to Leslie Street than the low density residential areas, thus potentially reducing the average commuting distance between home and work to below 1 km per commuting trip.
In addition to commuting trips to the 6,000+ places of employment in the 2C Area, there will also be many shopping trips to the commercial (Walmart etc) area just to the south of the 2C Area, also on the east side of Leslie. Many of those trips could well be made via alternative modes of transportation, so called 'active' modes.
The writers of the Report have thus failed to include key demographic and traffic analysis information that should automatically trigger recommendations that encourage and promote non-motorized traffic, including the elimination of at grade crossings of a 4 to 5 lane Regional Road.
b) The Report also does not deal with the consequences of having non-motorized traffic cross a 4 to 5 lane road, via the push button triggered traffic light. Such crossings will happen predominantly in the high volume morning and afternoon periods, and will substantially inconvenience motorized traffic participants. Leslie Street is being widened to better move traffic - and then traffic is being slowed through lack of foresight.
No attempt has been made to assess cumulative wait times that will be suffered by the motorized Leslie Street traffic participant, and any consequent impacts. The one-time capital expenditure for the building of an underpass may pale in comparison to potential cumulative costs if non-motorized traffic is forced to cross at grade.
The absence of relevant comparative data, and related analysis, must be considered lack of due professional diligence, which renders the Report nonsuitable as a base for professional recommendations.
c) At this stage, the Leslie Street Environmental Study Report has been advertised as completed. That means, with the Feb 17 Regional Council decision incorporated in that Report, that the Regional Municipality of York has rejected the building of underpasses under Leslie Street, as part of the re-construction and widening of their Regional Road.
The Town of Aurora can ask the Minister of Environment to initiate a review of the Region's position. That request could be made based on the position that the widening of Leslie Street grossly conflicts with the Town of Aurora's policy to route 'active transportation' commuting corridors across Leslie, in that, e.g. at grade crossings are contrary to encouraging non-motorized traffic alternatives, and are contrary to Regional policies to encourage walkable communities and sustainable traffic, among other reasons.
The Town of Aurora could also accept the Region's position, and not appeal to the Minister of Environment for a review. However, in that case, the Town could nevertheless ask the Region to include the design of the underpasses in the RFP process, and await the actual cost quotations, before making a decision as to whether to include all or some of the underpasses; that approach would burden the Town with the costs, starting with design costs. This approach, the request to have the designs included, can still be made. I have recently (Aug 23) been assured by the Region's Senior Project Manager that the design can still be included, if Aurora gives direction to that effect.
The Town of Aurora could also pursue both of the above options.
The last day on which the Minister of Environment can be asked to review the Region's Environmental Study Report is September 21 - the request to review must be in the Minister's hands by then.
I am asking you, my Town Councilors, to request that this issue be placed on the Agenda of Council, before it is too late to take advantage of the re-construction of Leslie Street, to build underpasses. It will be prohibitively expensive to do it after the fact - in that the writers of Report No 2 and I agree. While one does not need special brains to arrive at that conclusion, realizing the impact of such delay should conjure up sober thought.
I have twice tried to have the item placed on the Council Agenda, and my second attempt could yet bear fruit. Hopefully I have convinced you why you should have at least a political dialogue on this issue. It is not too late yet.
You need to have your visionary mind in place, to realize the tremendous value of such underpasses - will they ever pay off!
*************
My Response
*****************
Good Morning Klaus,
Thank you for the succinct and comprehensive outline of facts related to consideration of the movement of people between residential and employment lands already designated in the town's eastern neighbourhood .
I know you have made this argument to Council many times and in fact Council has supported at least, having the Region include the underpass design as part of the specifications for re-construction of the road.
As Chairman of the town's trail committee, I am aware yours has been more than an intellectual vision. You are in the habit of hiking the lands to determine the complete practicality of your recommendations.
Years of your personal time has been expended and you have experienced a great deal of frustration.
I am glad to have received your presentation in writing and I am at a loss to understand why the Region is ignoring the town's request to have underpass designs included in the specifications.
With the help of senior levels of government , including a permanent share of the gas tax, we have been able and will be able to seriously contemplate better more natural ways of moving people.
All the effort and expenditure of the Region and Municipalities to trumpet concern for the environment, is apparently, as too often happens, nothing more than empty sloganeering.
I will certainly support the town doing whatever it must to insist the Region include an underpass crossing of Leslie Street in the bidding process.
Further, I don't believe It should be beyond the capability of the road building industry to provide a ball park figure of cost without necessarily designing the project in itemised detail. It has surely been done before.
I think of a five lane highway and its impact on the Oak Ridges Moraine as opposed to a golf course and close to a million dollars spent on legal and man hours from the public purse to prevent the golf course from happening.
At the end. Not a stone upon a stone, nor a stick upon a stick to be seen for it.
Nothing but a level of hubris to the shame and embarrassment of an entire community.
Klaus ,I believe the readers of my blog might be interested in receiving your earnest appeal to Council to do something about this situation before time runs out.
Do you agree to allow me to publish it?
Leslie Street runs parallel to Highway 404. Five lanes represent a barrier which will effectively divide a community.. For the Region and the town to ignore or deny the problems the juxtapositon of land designations and vehicular traffic will create in the very near future is incomprehensible.
********************
Dear Councillors:
Yesterday you were forwarded information that pertains to the Leslie Street underpass issue, by the Mayor's office. The documents: A Region of York report on the issue, prepared by the Transportation Services Committee (Report No 2) , and the Minutes of the Feb 17 Regional Council Meeting.
As you will have found, I was a delegate at the meeting. However, the Minutes don't reflect the substance of my presentation.
I am writing to you to:
1. inform you of what I said at the Feb 17 meeting
2. why I disagree with the Recommendation of Report No 2, and
3. to enlist your support to have the issue placed on the Agenda of the next Aurora Council Meeting, and to explain why I seek your support.
Re 1: Allow me to point out that the previous Council had adopted the draft trail corridor layout for the 2C Lands as Town of Aurora policy. That layout includes three corridors which cross Leslie Street between Wellington and Aurora's north boundary, all of them along deep valleys that straddle Leslie in a more or less east-west direction. Report No 2 recommended that the trail traffic utilize a push button traffic light to cross Leslie, at grade.
Being aware of the history of the underpass issue, that includes constant concerns about the costs of building such underpasses (estimated to be about $1 million, without any concrete backup), I asked Regional Council to include the design of the 3 underpasses in the terms of reference for the bidding process, the RFP for the widening of Leslie.
I said that the bidders should be asked to quote on the cost of building each underpass, so that it would be known, in concrete terms, how much more it would cost if they were to be built. Aurora Council could then decide whether to have them included in the re-construction of Leslie - the precise costs would be on the table.
Re 2: Report No 2, even though it appears comprehensive, is mute on two important items of information:
a) The Report does not set out the fact that, in the 2C Area, about 8,000 residents are expected to be housed immediately west of Leslie, and that immediately east of Leslie, over 6,000 employment opportunities are to be created. The average distance between the residences and such places of employment is about 1 km - a distance over which just about any traffic participant should be able to move without using a car, and hence could utilize the proposed trails corridors. One should also consider that the higher density residential clusters will be closer to Leslie Street than the low density residential areas, thus potentially reducing the average commuting distance between home and work to below 1 km per commuting trip.
In addition to commuting trips to the 6,000+ places of employment in the 2C Area, there will also be many shopping trips to the commercial (Walmart etc) area just to the south of the 2C Area, also on the east side of Leslie. Many of those trips could well be made via alternative modes of transportation, so called 'active' modes.
The writers of the Report have thus failed to include key demographic and traffic analysis information that should automatically trigger recommendations that encourage and promote non-motorized traffic, including the elimination of at grade crossings of a 4 to 5 lane Regional Road.
b) The Report also does not deal with the consequences of having non-motorized traffic cross a 4 to 5 lane road, via the push button triggered traffic light. Such crossings will happen predominantly in the high volume morning and afternoon periods, and will substantially inconvenience motorized traffic participants. Leslie Street is being widened to better move traffic - and then traffic is being slowed through lack of foresight.
No attempt has been made to assess cumulative wait times that will be suffered by the motorized Leslie Street traffic participant, and any consequent impacts. The one-time capital expenditure for the building of an underpass may pale in comparison to potential cumulative costs if non-motorized traffic is forced to cross at grade.
The absence of relevant comparative data, and related analysis, must be considered lack of due professional diligence, which renders the Report nonsuitable as a base for professional recommendations.
c) At this stage, the Leslie Street Environmental Study Report has been advertised as completed. That means, with the Feb 17 Regional Council decision incorporated in that Report, that the Regional Municipality of York has rejected the building of underpasses under Leslie Street, as part of the re-construction and widening of their Regional Road.
The Town of Aurora can ask the Minister of Environment to initiate a review of the Region's position. That request could be made based on the position that the widening of Leslie Street grossly conflicts with the Town of Aurora's policy to route 'active transportation' commuting corridors across Leslie, in that, e.g. at grade crossings are contrary to encouraging non-motorized traffic alternatives, and are contrary to Regional policies to encourage walkable communities and sustainable traffic, among other reasons.
The Town of Aurora could also accept the Region's position, and not appeal to the Minister of Environment for a review. However, in that case, the Town could nevertheless ask the Region to include the design of the underpasses in the RFP process, and await the actual cost quotations, before making a decision as to whether to include all or some of the underpasses; that approach would burden the Town with the costs, starting with design costs. This approach, the request to have the designs included, can still be made. I have recently (Aug 23) been assured by the Region's Senior Project Manager that the design can still be included, if Aurora gives direction to that effect.
The Town of Aurora could also pursue both of the above options.
The last day on which the Minister of Environment can be asked to review the Region's Environmental Study Report is September 21 - the request to review must be in the Minister's hands by then.
I am asking you, my Town Councilors, to request that this issue be placed on the Agenda of Council, before it is too late to take advantage of the re-construction of Leslie Street, to build underpasses. It will be prohibitively expensive to do it after the fact - in that the writers of Report No 2 and I agree. While one does not need special brains to arrive at that conclusion, realizing the impact of such delay should conjure up sober thought.
I have twice tried to have the item placed on the Council Agenda, and my second attempt could yet bear fruit. Hopefully I have convinced you why you should have at least a political dialogue on this issue. It is not too late yet.
You need to have your visionary mind in place, to realize the tremendous value of such underpasses - will they ever pay off!
could then decide whether to have them included in the re-construction of Leslie - the precise costs would be on the table.
Re 2: Report No 2, even though it appears comprehensive, is mute on two important items of information:
a) The Report does not set out the fact that, in the 2C Area, about 8,000 residents are expected to be housed immediately west of Leslie, and that immediately east of Leslie, over 6,000 employment opportunities are to be created. The average distance between the residences and such places of employment is about 1 km - a distance over which just about any traffic participant should be able to move without using a car, and hence could utilize the proposed trails corridors. One should also consider that the higher density residential clusters will be closer to Leslie Street than the low density residential areas, thus potentially reducing the average commuting distance between home and work to below 1 km per commuting trip.
In addition to commuting trips to the 6,000+ places of employment in the 2C Area, there will also be many shopping trips to the commercial (Walmart etc) area just to the south of the 2C Area, also on the east side of Leslie. Many of those trips could well be made via alternative modes of transportation, so called 'active' modes.
The writers of the Report have thus failed to include key demographic and traffic analysis information that should automatically trigger recommendations that encourage and promote non-motorized traffic, including the elimination of at grade crossings of a 4 to 5 lane Regional Road.
b) The Report also does not deal with the consequences of having non-motorized traffic cross a 4 to 5 lane road, via the push button triggered traffic light. Such crossings will happen predominantly in the high volume morning and afternoon periods, and will substantially inconvenience motorized traffic participants. Leslie Street is being widened to better move traffic - and then traffic is being slowed through lack of foresight.
No attempt has been made to assess cumulative wait times that will be suffered by the motorized Leslie Street traffic participant, and any consequent impacts. The one-time capital expenditure for the building of an underpass may pale in comparison to potential cumulative costs if non-motorized traffic is forced to cross at grade.
The absence of relevant comparative data, and related analysis, must be considered lack of due professional diligence, which renders the Report nonsuitable as a base for professional recommendations.
c) At this stage, the Leslie Street Environmental Study Report has been advertised as completed. That means, with the Feb 17 Regional Council decision incorporated in that Report, that the Regional Municipality of York has rejected the building of underpasses under Leslie Street, as part of the re-construction and widening of their Regional Road.
The Town of Aurora can ask the Minister of Environment to initiate a review of the Region's position. That request could be made based on the position that the widening of Leslie Street grossly conflicts with the Town of Aurora's policy to route 'active transportation' commuting corridors across Leslie, in that, e.g. at grade crossings are contrary to encouraging non-motorized traffic alternatives, and are contrary to Regional policies to encourage walkable communities and sustainable traffic, among other reasons.
The Town of Aurora could also accept the Region's position, and not appeal to the Minister of Environment for a review. However, in that case, the Town could nevertheless ask the Region to include the design of the underpasses in the RFP process, and await the actual cost quotations, before making a decision as to whether to include all or some of the underpasses; that approach would burden the Town with the costs, starting with design costs. This approach, the request to have the designs included, can still be made. I have recently (Aug 23) been assured by the Region's Senior Project Manager that the design can still be included, if Aurora gives direction to that effect.
The Town of Aurora could also pursue both of the above options.
The last day on which the Minister of Environment can be asked to review the Region's Environmental Study Report is September 21 - the request to review must be in the Minister's hands by then.
I am asking you, my Town Councilors, to request that this issue be placed on the Agenda of Council, before it is too late to take advantage of the re-construction of Leslie Street, to build underpasses. It will be prohibitively expensive to do it after the fact - in that the writers of Report No 2 and I agree. While one does not need special brains to arrive at that conclusion, realizing the impact of such delay should conjure up sober thought.
I have twice tried to have the item placed on the Council Agenda, and my second attempt could yet bear fruit. Hopefully I have convinced you why you should have at least a political dialogue on this issue. It is not too late yet.
You need to have your visionary mind in place, to realize the tremendous value of such underpasses - will they ever pay off!
*************
My Response
*****************
Good Morning Klaus,
Thank you for the succinct and comprehensive outline of facts related to consideration of the movement of people between residential and employment lands already designated in the town's eastern neighbourhood .
I know you have made this argument to Council many times and in fact Council has supported at least, having the Region include the underpass design as part of the specifications for re-construction of the road.
As Chairman of the town's trail committee, I am aware yours has been more than an intellectual vision. You are in the habit of hiking the lands to determine the complete practicality of your recommendations.
Years of your personal time has been expended and you have experienced a great deal of frustration.
I am glad to have received your presentation in writing and I am at a loss to understand why the Region is ignoring the town's request to have underpass designs included in the specifications.
With the help of senior levels of government , including a permanent share of the gas tax, we have been able and will be able to seriously contemplate better more natural ways of moving people.
All the effort and expenditure of the Region and Municipalities to trumpet concern for the environment, is apparently, as too often happens, nothing more than empty sloganeering.
I will certainly support the town doing whatever it must to insist the Region include an underpass crossing of Leslie Street in the bidding process.
Further, I don't believe It should be beyond the capability of the road building industry to provide a ball park figure of cost without necessarily designing the project in itemised detail. It has surely been done before.
I think of a five lane highway and its impact on the Oak Ridges Moraine as opposed to a golf course and close to a million dollars spent on legal and man hours from the public purse to prevent the golf course from happening.
At the end. Not a stone upon a stone, nor a stick upon a stick to be seen for it.
Nothing but a level of hubris to the shame and embarrassment of an entire community.
Klaus ,I believe the readers of my blog might be interested in receiving your earnest appeal to Council to do something about this situation before time runs out.
Do you agree to allow me to publish it?
Friday, 26 August 2011
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "TheWinter Of 2001/2002":
It must be a very low pressure system that is influencing the function of both Council and staff last month and this.
Your description of the decision-making process makes one wonder whether all these peoples' marbles are properly aligned, or whether they are, in fact, all there.
This does not seem like good government. It is more akin to outright stupidity.
Are we really expected to believe that a former Director is being constantly questioned for his opinion and advice by a present Director. Surely something is amiss - like intelligence.
Why do we go through the expense and aggravation of having elections every so often when staff members end up making decisions that go contrary to Council's expressed wishes?
How is it that the town's CEO apparently does not point out an anomaly or two, rather hoping, waiting, to have a question raised, and when no one does is not surprised that it has not occurred.
By the sound of things it might be prudent to dispense with Council meetings altogether during the two months of summer, when the atmospheric pressure so obviously invades and renders impotent the minds of our elected representatives.
*****************
In the last term a consultant was retained to advise on re-organisation of the administration.
Responsibilities were shifted from one director to another.
The Chief Financial Officer became responsible for Human Resources.
The Chief Building Official took responsibility for Bylaw Services,
The Municipal Clerk no longer had responsibilities that matched his expertise.
Responsibility for maintenance of recreation facilities was taken from the Director of Leisure Services whose programs in the main were provided in the facilities. He was the man with experience in that area. He knew the facilities. He understood the programs.
Half of his responsibility related to facility management.
It was transferred to the Director of Environment and Infrastructure who does not know the facilities. Nothing in his area of expertise equipped him to preside over maintenance management of facilities.
The directors sit side by side at the council table. Often a question on facilities is directed to the director newly responsible for facility management. It has to be re-directed to the director who used to be responsible. because he is the one with the answer.
I did not support the re-organisation. I found no logic in the recommendations. I believe then and still do that logic was not the reason for the changes.
It was Mormac and their merry band of docile warriors who shifted the authority to where they could best control it.
Adding and creating new positions to the administration as we approached build-out of the town was never justified.
In my view, circumstances called for the opposite; not replacing vacated positions to adjust to a lesser work-load.
At the all -day meeting of council at the end of June, we had a report presented from yet another consultant retained at a cost of tens of thousands.
Council was told the town hall was built in the mid- nineties for a smaller population and administration. Now the building needs to be re-organised to accommodate new staff and population. We must spend $5 million dollars to do it.
No such thing
No administration builds a new facility without providing for future needs.
We are also planning to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to re-organise the old library to accommodate existing staff, while the town hall is being re-organised to accommodate new staff.
During the new council orientation in 2003, we were advised several studies had recommended demolition of the old library. Because it cannot be adapted for other uses. Because of the horrendous cost of outstanding repairs. And because space is needed and was needed from the time it was built, to accommodate parking for the new library.
There have been two new councils since and no real honest-to-goodness council orientation since 2003.
When you read my blog, you are reading my perspective . It reflects long experience in the town's affairs. Our current council is mostly new. They have chosen, to follow through with plans underway at the time of the election.
They can listen to me or not. It's their decision to make.
I can only participate in the debate and watch with something approaching horror ,as things hurtle from bad to worse. I frequently hope I may be wrong.
What you read in my blog is my view of things.
Over the years I've often been in the minority.
I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like this.
The main difference is, I can share with readers of my blog.I don't have to keep my thoughts to myself.
There are plenty who believe I should not be allowed to do so.
To quote from the last term;
"She needs to be stopped. She is undermining everything we are doing."
Needless to say I do not share that opinion either.
But Clause 3 of the Cockamamie Code of Conduct states " Councillors must explain the attitude of council even if they do not agree with the majority decision"
I think it might be hard to explain the attitude of decision-makers if you don't even understand the decision.
It might not be well received either.
It must be a very low pressure system that is influencing the function of both Council and staff last month and this.
Your description of the decision-making process makes one wonder whether all these peoples' marbles are properly aligned, or whether they are, in fact, all there.
This does not seem like good government. It is more akin to outright stupidity.
Are we really expected to believe that a former Director is being constantly questioned for his opinion and advice by a present Director. Surely something is amiss - like intelligence.
Why do we go through the expense and aggravation of having elections every so often when staff members end up making decisions that go contrary to Council's expressed wishes?
How is it that the town's CEO apparently does not point out an anomaly or two, rather hoping, waiting, to have a question raised, and when no one does is not surprised that it has not occurred.
By the sound of things it might be prudent to dispense with Council meetings altogether during the two months of summer, when the atmospheric pressure so obviously invades and renders impotent the minds of our elected representatives.
*****************
In the last term a consultant was retained to advise on re-organisation of the administration.
Responsibilities were shifted from one director to another.
The Chief Financial Officer became responsible for Human Resources.
The Chief Building Official took responsibility for Bylaw Services,
The Municipal Clerk no longer had responsibilities that matched his expertise.
Responsibility for maintenance of recreation facilities was taken from the Director of Leisure Services whose programs in the main were provided in the facilities. He was the man with experience in that area. He knew the facilities. He understood the programs.
Half of his responsibility related to facility management.
It was transferred to the Director of Environment and Infrastructure who does not know the facilities. Nothing in his area of expertise equipped him to preside over maintenance management of facilities.
The directors sit side by side at the council table. Often a question on facilities is directed to the director newly responsible for facility management. It has to be re-directed to the director who used to be responsible. because he is the one with the answer.
I did not support the re-organisation. I found no logic in the recommendations. I believe then and still do that logic was not the reason for the changes.
It was Mormac and their merry band of docile warriors who shifted the authority to where they could best control it.
Adding and creating new positions to the administration as we approached build-out of the town was never justified.
In my view, circumstances called for the opposite; not replacing vacated positions to adjust to a lesser work-load.
At the all -day meeting of council at the end of June, we had a report presented from yet another consultant retained at a cost of tens of thousands.
Council was told the town hall was built in the mid- nineties for a smaller population and administration. Now the building needs to be re-organised to accommodate new staff and population. We must spend $5 million dollars to do it.
No such thing
No administration builds a new facility without providing for future needs.
We are also planning to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to re-organise the old library to accommodate existing staff, while the town hall is being re-organised to accommodate new staff.
During the new council orientation in 2003, we were advised several studies had recommended demolition of the old library. Because it cannot be adapted for other uses. Because of the horrendous cost of outstanding repairs. And because space is needed and was needed from the time it was built, to accommodate parking for the new library.
There have been two new councils since and no real honest-to-goodness council orientation since 2003.
When you read my blog, you are reading my perspective . It reflects long experience in the town's affairs. Our current council is mostly new. They have chosen, to follow through with plans underway at the time of the election.
They can listen to me or not. It's their decision to make.
I can only participate in the debate and watch with something approaching horror ,as things hurtle from bad to worse. I frequently hope I may be wrong.
What you read in my blog is my view of things.
Over the years I've often been in the minority.
I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like this.
The main difference is, I can share with readers of my blog.I don't have to keep my thoughts to myself.
There are plenty who believe I should not be allowed to do so.
To quote from the last term;
"She needs to be stopped. She is undermining everything we are doing."
Needless to say I do not share that opinion either.
But Clause 3 of the Cockamamie Code of Conduct states " Councillors must explain the attitude of council even if they do not agree with the majority decision"
I think it might be hard to explain the attitude of decision-makers if you don't even understand the decision.
It might not be well received either.
In My Garden
Cardinals in their numbers have permanent homes. Black capped chickadees flit in groups across the yard as if riding the waves. They cling to brick walls and hang upside down.
At the weekend two bright yellow finches appeared for a bit
Humming birds are making regular visits to the feeder and mauve and pink flock blossoms.
Blue jays of course make their raucous presence heard, creating a pretty picture when they appear with cardinals at the same time.
A woodpecker makes a regular appearance, moving up and down and round and round an upright limb of the maple.
Last week, my son, sitting on the deck said. I think I'm looking at a hawk in that tree. No sooner said than it took flight and flew low to a neighbouring tree.Then lower still, so we could see his brown fan tail spread ,with white tips showing, he flew off between the houses.
Mourning doves are always with us and grackles and big crows seem to be here more than they used to.
I need to go out now and see what I can see.
At the weekend two bright yellow finches appeared for a bit
Humming birds are making regular visits to the feeder and mauve and pink flock blossoms.
Blue jays of course make their raucous presence heard, creating a pretty picture when they appear with cardinals at the same time.
A woodpecker makes a regular appearance, moving up and down and round and round an upright limb of the maple.
Last week, my son, sitting on the deck said. I think I'm looking at a hawk in that tree. No sooner said than it took flight and flew low to a neighbouring tree.Then lower still, so we could see his brown fan tail spread ,with white tips showing, he flew off between the houses.
Mourning doves are always with us and grackles and big crows seem to be here more than they used to.
I need to go out now and see what I can see.
TheWinter Of 2001/2002
There was very little snow. The earth in Spring was hard packed and cracked with drought.
An early heatwave followed the dry winter and water restrictions were imposed in May.
I heard equipment at the Family Leisure Complex was flushing out thousands of gallons of clean warm water a day from the ice making equipment.
I went to Council and challenged former Mayor Jones to justify the contradiction between extravagant water use by the town and restrictions on water use by homeowners.I speculated the same foolishness was going on elsewhere in the Region and I poked and prodded and demanded an explanation.
He responded water usage was less since the construction of a new, insulated roof at the arena.
Imagine an ice arena in a heat wave in a hot box of aluminum with an uninsulated roof .
There was no denial by anyone at the table, that hundreds of thousands of gallons were used and disposed daily to make ice in a summer heat wave.
Aurora Family Leisure Complex has had a chequered history.
The first thing I noticed on completion, was the concrete floor covered with fume-laden industrial carpet in the fitness centre.
The jacuzzi pool in the swimming area was regularly closed for repairs.
The swimming pool literally fell into a hole and had to be completely re-constructed.
The gymnasium was seldom used and ended up becoming the fitness centre.
The fitness centre became a child care centre.
As noted, in 2002 , I discovered the ice making equipment was horrendously extravagant with water and the roof of the arena had to be re-built for ice even to harden.In July 2011, we learned the facility still has soft ice not suitable for hockey but perfect for figure skating.
Heavy water use is aggravated by the fact the clean warm water is being released into the sewers. So we were not only paying for water we were paying for clean, warm water to go through the sewage system,
When the Stronach Centre was being planned ,I argued for three ice surfaces in one place for economy in management and equipment and to decommission the ice surface at the complex. My argument carried no weight.
Now we are contemplating providing a youth centre.
In early July, Council had an all day session to consider various items. One was a recommendation for hundreds of thousands of dollars to refurbish the ice making equipment. A second was to replace an accessibility elevator that shifts half a floor. At a cost of $170,000.
The debate was fulsome. The decision was not to proceed with refurbishment of the ice making equipment. To do repairs as required. Until a decision is made about a youth centre.
Replace the existing elevator was nixed. The accessibility advisory committee made the recommendation because they do not think people who need it, should have to wait for someone to open it with a key.
The desk and attendant in the facility are alongside the elevator.
The decision of council was to get keys cut and distribute them to those who needed them.
During the discussion, a comment was made the ice making equipment doesn't use much water.
During the re-organisation of staff, management of facilities was transferred from the Director whose programs use the facilities to the Director of Environment and Infrastructure.
The Director currently in charge regularly must refer questions to the Director previously in charge.
It was a long day. Council had one business meeting to follow in mid July. Minutes from the day long session noted the report on the Family Leisure Complex had been received. It had not. Part of the recommendation was approved. Two major items were decided in the negative.
Further to that, a second staff report reversing Council's decision was approved.
I am one of nine council members. A lowly third down the table at that. When I have participated fully in a debate and a decision is made, I do not anticipate having to track the report to ensure the direction of Council is carried out.
It's the job of the Mayor and the Clerk of the Municipality.
When I discovered what happened , I needed to confirm my recollection . I learned the Mayor was aware of the contradictory reports but made no effort to ensure Council's direction was followed. He had waited for someone else to make the point and was surprised that didn't happen.
At the August meeting , with an agenda of over thirty items and half a dozen delegations, awards and recognitions, I brought the issue forward for correction.
It was no go. The Mayor responded. "The issue wasn't called for discussion Councillor. It's too late now."
The Chief Administrative Officer commented the all day meeting was for the purpose of allowing Council to have "input"
The explanation appeared to satisfy Council. No support came forward to reverse the misdirection that went through unnoticed by all except apparently the presiding member.
I hesitate to suggest the mix-up was anything but inadvertent. Yet the CAO's comment that Council's role is nothing more than "input" is a concern. Staff have input. Council is the decision-maker.
Over the years, I have developed a number of small maxims to guide me in certain situations.
One of them is to trust and expect the best from everyone until and unless they give me reason not to. Then the trust can never be the same again
An early heatwave followed the dry winter and water restrictions were imposed in May.
I heard equipment at the Family Leisure Complex was flushing out thousands of gallons of clean warm water a day from the ice making equipment.
I went to Council and challenged former Mayor Jones to justify the contradiction between extravagant water use by the town and restrictions on water use by homeowners.I speculated the same foolishness was going on elsewhere in the Region and I poked and prodded and demanded an explanation.
He responded water usage was less since the construction of a new, insulated roof at the arena.
Imagine an ice arena in a heat wave in a hot box of aluminum with an uninsulated roof .
There was no denial by anyone at the table, that hundreds of thousands of gallons were used and disposed daily to make ice in a summer heat wave.
Aurora Family Leisure Complex has had a chequered history.
The first thing I noticed on completion, was the concrete floor covered with fume-laden industrial carpet in the fitness centre.
The jacuzzi pool in the swimming area was regularly closed for repairs.
The swimming pool literally fell into a hole and had to be completely re-constructed.
The gymnasium was seldom used and ended up becoming the fitness centre.
The fitness centre became a child care centre.
As noted, in 2002 , I discovered the ice making equipment was horrendously extravagant with water and the roof of the arena had to be re-built for ice even to harden.In July 2011, we learned the facility still has soft ice not suitable for hockey but perfect for figure skating.
Heavy water use is aggravated by the fact the clean warm water is being released into the sewers. So we were not only paying for water we were paying for clean, warm water to go through the sewage system,
When the Stronach Centre was being planned ,I argued for three ice surfaces in one place for economy in management and equipment and to decommission the ice surface at the complex. My argument carried no weight.
Now we are contemplating providing a youth centre.
In early July, Council had an all day session to consider various items. One was a recommendation for hundreds of thousands of dollars to refurbish the ice making equipment. A second was to replace an accessibility elevator that shifts half a floor. At a cost of $170,000.
The debate was fulsome. The decision was not to proceed with refurbishment of the ice making equipment. To do repairs as required. Until a decision is made about a youth centre.
Replace the existing elevator was nixed. The accessibility advisory committee made the recommendation because they do not think people who need it, should have to wait for someone to open it with a key.
The desk and attendant in the facility are alongside the elevator.
The decision of council was to get keys cut and distribute them to those who needed them.
During the discussion, a comment was made the ice making equipment doesn't use much water.
During the re-organisation of staff, management of facilities was transferred from the Director whose programs use the facilities to the Director of Environment and Infrastructure.
The Director currently in charge regularly must refer questions to the Director previously in charge.
It was a long day. Council had one business meeting to follow in mid July. Minutes from the day long session noted the report on the Family Leisure Complex had been received. It had not. Part of the recommendation was approved. Two major items were decided in the negative.
Further to that, a second staff report reversing Council's decision was approved.
I am one of nine council members. A lowly third down the table at that. When I have participated fully in a debate and a decision is made, I do not anticipate having to track the report to ensure the direction of Council is carried out.
It's the job of the Mayor and the Clerk of the Municipality.
When I discovered what happened , I needed to confirm my recollection . I learned the Mayor was aware of the contradictory reports but made no effort to ensure Council's direction was followed. He had waited for someone else to make the point and was surprised that didn't happen.
At the August meeting , with an agenda of over thirty items and half a dozen delegations, awards and recognitions, I brought the issue forward for correction.
It was no go. The Mayor responded. "The issue wasn't called for discussion Councillor. It's too late now."
The Chief Administrative Officer commented the all day meeting was for the purpose of allowing Council to have "input"
The explanation appeared to satisfy Council. No support came forward to reverse the misdirection that went through unnoticed by all except apparently the presiding member.
I hesitate to suggest the mix-up was anything but inadvertent. Yet the CAO's comment that Council's role is nothing more than "input" is a concern. Staff have input. Council is the decision-maker.
Over the years, I have developed a number of small maxims to guide me in certain situations.
One of them is to trust and expect the best from everyone until and unless they give me reason not to. Then the trust can never be the same again
A Message Received
I have been following the water bill discussion from council ,I
think it was last month,
I think it had something to do with being charged for waste water
and what was cat. as waste
some people are still on well so they don,t get charged because
they do not get a waterbill.
wasthis ever resolved?
I remember moving to aurora about18years ago and leaving in a
nice little house on Devins
I use to get water bills that didn't charge for sewage and the
bill came to $17.00 YES $17.00
Today I do leave in a bigger house on Hammond with a pool but
still haven't watered my lawns this year
and my bill comes to $255.40. is this really the price of
Aurora progress??
MY friend over on Boulding which his house is similar to my
first one ($17.00 water bill) told me
his bill was $199.00
Still love AURORA and always will ,great place to live.
but whats with these super inflationary water bills?
*************
The above is one of a number of e-mails received on the issue of water bill increases. I received it last week indicating continued interest and dis-satisfaction with the situation.
What I'm Saying Is...
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Water Audit Report. 2":
Are you saying that ice-rink and splash pad water usage is not accounted for?
I seem to recall that water usage was tracked for the splash-pad at the Town Park vs. the ice-rink at the Town Park.
Didn't a resident want to know how much was being used for each and the Town was able to determine it?
If that was the case, then why can't it be tracked and the usage amount be assigned to the parks and rec budget? Wouldn't that be the appropriate place to allocate that cost?
Keep at this one, Evelyn.
I think this is a priority issue.
**********
Once the majority makes a decision to accept the staff rationale for water rates, there is nothing more I can say about it.
That's why Council members need to hear from you.
I do not recall a resident inquiring about water usage for splash pads and ice surfaces. I do know neither are metered, therefore no determination could be made.
Initially, when I started asking questions, I was told the amount was minimal and the appropriate department budget were being debited.
But that didn't account for" water loss" being increased from 8% to 12% in 2010.
According to the current report , the amount " unaccounted " therefore unbilled is under 1%.
It still does not account for " water loss" of 12%.
I am therefore assuming the difference between consumption recorded by meters and amount billed by the Region has been classified as "water loss" and used to fix the rates charged to meter users.
In the latest report, 2007 was an interesting year.
Water consumption was at its highest ever.
"Water loss" was minimal.
Which confirms my understanding the Region is collecting payment for the town's forecast and not not actual consumption. And meter users are paying far more than for water they use.
The difference is made up by the figure for "water loss"and the books are handily balanced.
If nobody raises awkward questions, well, what the hell.
Are you saying that ice-rink and splash pad water usage is not accounted for?
I seem to recall that water usage was tracked for the splash-pad at the Town Park vs. the ice-rink at the Town Park.
Didn't a resident want to know how much was being used for each and the Town was able to determine it?
If that was the case, then why can't it be tracked and the usage amount be assigned to the parks and rec budget? Wouldn't that be the appropriate place to allocate that cost?
Keep at this one, Evelyn.
I think this is a priority issue.
**********
Once the majority makes a decision to accept the staff rationale for water rates, there is nothing more I can say about it.
That's why Council members need to hear from you.
I do not recall a resident inquiring about water usage for splash pads and ice surfaces. I do know neither are metered, therefore no determination could be made.
Initially, when I started asking questions, I was told the amount was minimal and the appropriate department budget were being debited.
But that didn't account for" water loss" being increased from 8% to 12% in 2010.
According to the current report , the amount " unaccounted " therefore unbilled is under 1%.
It still does not account for " water loss" of 12%.
I am therefore assuming the difference between consumption recorded by meters and amount billed by the Region has been classified as "water loss" and used to fix the rates charged to meter users.
In the latest report, 2007 was an interesting year.
Water consumption was at its highest ever.
"Water loss" was minimal.
Which confirms my understanding the Region is collecting payment for the town's forecast and not not actual consumption. And meter users are paying far more than for water they use.
The difference is made up by the figure for "water loss"and the books are handily balanced.
If nobody raises awkward questions, well, what the hell.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Water Audit Report. 2
Item 3 In
the August 14th Council Agenda was a water audit report, twenty- six pages long.
Staff recommendation was:
"Council receive the report for information and the town be an actiove participant in the York Region/Municipality Water audit.
That the town continue to investigate and implement best practices for water management"
"The purpose of the report is to follow up on the commitment during the 2011 budget discussions that introduces the application of a methodology for auditing water usage within a municipal water supply system to aid in a full accounting of the water inventory.The report also includes an assessment of internal water uses that have been previously unaccounted regarding certain parks operations as recently identified during council discussions."
There are twenty six more pages. It was on the agenda for discussion on Tuesday night. It wasn't dealt with, along with several other matters requiring our attention.
The report was in response to earlier discussions relating to water rate increases For the second year I have challenged the methodology used to calculate water rates and to justify rate increases of almost twenty-five per cent.
I disavow the increases.
My reaction was triggered in the year 2010. An increase in "water loss" from 8% to 12%. was cited as part of the reason for increases in the rates.
For a number of years, hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, have been invested in measures to reduce water loss. That water loss increased in 2009 from 8% to 12% was not credible..
I asked for a record of water breaks .
I was refused. I was told staff were afraid I would distort the figures.
It was the wrong answer.
It was in the term of Mormac ,Circa 2010. Council's authority was not evident. Staff on the other hand, personally vetted and under complete control of the former Mayor, were in the ascendancy.
In 2011, a second increase of almost twelve per cent was recommended. and again was adopted.
"Water loss" was still identified as a factor.
Water used by tax supported services was said to be estimated and charged to various departments.
Water is used to clean streets, fight fires, irrigate sports fields, create winter ice rinks, provide two splash pads for children in town parks and sundry other purposes.
It was determined firehalls are metered. Fires are fought from tankers . Before return to the firehall, tankers are re-filled from hydrants. Hydrants are not metered.Numbers of fires were said to be minimal. The water audit report indicates an average of 123 fires a year. Generally, two tankers attend.
Unaccounted water use is now acknowledged. That is, water not billed.to user. Previously I believe, identified as "water loss"
The town buys water wholesale, The supplier must be paid. The region is the supplier.
Hydrant keys are provided to contractors. But it seems hydrants are easily accessed by those in the know. Water can be taken without record. The practice has been observed.
An intricacy of the system is communication between town and region. The town informs of an estimate consumption. If summer is hot and dry, consumption matches estimate and books balance.
If summer is wet, consumption goes down. Apparently putting the town in deficit. Funds generated from metered use are insufficient to pay the region's bill.
The deficit is re-covered from reserves which must be replenished the following year from increased rates.
Indicating, in a wet summer, we pay the region for water not used.
They get paid for water not supplied.
From rates collected from metered water users.
Metered users pay for water they did not use.
A surcharge charged in water bills pays for maintenance of storm water ponds. A device developed to restore water quality to Lake Simcoe.
People with wells and septic systems do not receive water bills. They do not therefore contribute to restoring water quality to Lake Simcoe.They get a free pass. It's not worth much. But it represents an inequity between town property owners..
Well owners are taking water from the same source as the region but to them free.
How could it be otherwise?
But the rest of us pay for it by the metered gallon.
This year, besides relieving some homeowners of the expense of special pumping stations that allowed their homes to be built ,by putting it on the shoulders of the rest of us, a new issue has come to light:
the Water Rates Bylaw was passed by Council to take effect on May 1st.
Residents receiving a quarterly bill on May 9th, were charged the increased rates retroactively to February.
Those receiving bills in June, were charged retroactively to March, Those receiving bills in July, retroactively until April.
The Region has indicated its intention to continue water increases for the next four years. So the people annually receiving water bills on May 9th will; actually pay increased rates three months ahead of everyone else; making it every nine months instead of twelve.
There is no practical solution, it seems,to the problem of retroactively overcharging an entire segment of the community every year for annual increases in water rates. If they notice it,they just have to eat it.
With all our technology, we cannot figure out a way to avoid overcharging residents for the water they use.
How does the region justify increasing water rates to that extent every year for six years?
When I raised the issue of exorbitant increase for the second year in a row, our Regional rep. who is our Mayor, responded;
" Water is the best bargain we get for our taxes"
Frankly,I was stunned by that response. Since his knowledge of the system would still perforce be sparse and considerably less than my own,I had no idea and still do not know in what context the remark was intended.
What I do understand is my role to look out for the taxpayers' best interest.Not the Region's.
If I find the community is not being served, it will be my intention to say so.
Loud and Clear.
International Water Association Water Audit Methodology notwithstanding. it is my judgment, we have no equity or discernible logic in the fair application of rates charged for metered water use in the Town of Aurora.
the August 14th Council Agenda was a water audit report, twenty- six pages long.
Staff recommendation was:
"Council receive the report for information and the town be an actiove participant in the York Region/Municipality Water audit.
That the town continue to investigate and implement best practices for water management"
"The purpose of the report is to follow up on the commitment during the 2011 budget discussions that introduces the application of a methodology for auditing water usage within a municipal water supply system to aid in a full accounting of the water inventory.The report also includes an assessment of internal water uses that have been previously unaccounted regarding certain parks operations as recently identified during council discussions."
There are twenty six more pages. It was on the agenda for discussion on Tuesday night. It wasn't dealt with, along with several other matters requiring our attention.
The report was in response to earlier discussions relating to water rate increases For the second year I have challenged the methodology used to calculate water rates and to justify rate increases of almost twenty-five per cent.
I disavow the increases.
My reaction was triggered in the year 2010. An increase in "water loss" from 8% to 12%. was cited as part of the reason for increases in the rates.
For a number of years, hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, have been invested in measures to reduce water loss. That water loss increased in 2009 from 8% to 12% was not credible..
I asked for a record of water breaks .
I was refused. I was told staff were afraid I would distort the figures.
It was the wrong answer.
It was in the term of Mormac ,Circa 2010. Council's authority was not evident. Staff on the other hand, personally vetted and under complete control of the former Mayor, were in the ascendancy.
In 2011, a second increase of almost twelve per cent was recommended. and again was adopted.
"Water loss" was still identified as a factor.
Water used by tax supported services was said to be estimated and charged to various departments.
Water is used to clean streets, fight fires, irrigate sports fields, create winter ice rinks, provide two splash pads for children in town parks and sundry other purposes.
It was determined firehalls are metered. Fires are fought from tankers . Before return to the firehall, tankers are re-filled from hydrants. Hydrants are not metered.Numbers of fires were said to be minimal. The water audit report indicates an average of 123 fires a year. Generally, two tankers attend.
Unaccounted water use is now acknowledged. That is, water not billed.to user. Previously I believe, identified as "water loss"
The town buys water wholesale, The supplier must be paid. The region is the supplier.
Hydrant keys are provided to contractors. But it seems hydrants are easily accessed by those in the know. Water can be taken without record. The practice has been observed.
An intricacy of the system is communication between town and region. The town informs of an estimate consumption. If summer is hot and dry, consumption matches estimate and books balance.
If summer is wet, consumption goes down. Apparently putting the town in deficit. Funds generated from metered use are insufficient to pay the region's bill.
The deficit is re-covered from reserves which must be replenished the following year from increased rates.
Indicating, in a wet summer, we pay the region for water not used.
They get paid for water not supplied.
From rates collected from metered water users.
Metered users pay for water they did not use.
A surcharge charged in water bills pays for maintenance of storm water ponds. A device developed to restore water quality to Lake Simcoe.
People with wells and septic systems do not receive water bills. They do not therefore contribute to restoring water quality to Lake Simcoe.They get a free pass. It's not worth much. But it represents an inequity between town property owners..
Well owners are taking water from the same source as the region but to them free.
How could it be otherwise?
But the rest of us pay for it by the metered gallon.
This year, besides relieving some homeowners of the expense of special pumping stations that allowed their homes to be built ,by putting it on the shoulders of the rest of us, a new issue has come to light:
the Water Rates Bylaw was passed by Council to take effect on May 1st.
Residents receiving a quarterly bill on May 9th, were charged the increased rates retroactively to February.
Those receiving bills in June, were charged retroactively to March, Those receiving bills in July, retroactively until April.
The Region has indicated its intention to continue water increases for the next four years. So the people annually receiving water bills on May 9th will; actually pay increased rates three months ahead of everyone else; making it every nine months instead of twelve.
There is no practical solution, it seems,to the problem of retroactively overcharging an entire segment of the community every year for annual increases in water rates. If they notice it,they just have to eat it.
With all our technology, we cannot figure out a way to avoid overcharging residents for the water they use.
How does the region justify increasing water rates to that extent every year for six years?
When I raised the issue of exorbitant increase for the second year in a row, our Regional rep. who is our Mayor, responded;
" Water is the best bargain we get for our taxes"
Frankly,I was stunned by that response. Since his knowledge of the system would still perforce be sparse and considerably less than my own,I had no idea and still do not know in what context the remark was intended.
What I do understand is my role to look out for the taxpayers' best interest.Not the Region's.
If I find the community is not being served, it will be my intention to say so.
Loud and Clear.
International Water Association Water Audit Methodology notwithstanding. it is my judgment, we have no equity or discernible logic in the fair application of rates charged for metered water use in the Town of Aurora.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Awards and delegations
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Water Audit Report":
How about an extra meeting, once every two months, scheduled for 3 hours, with nothing but delegates and awards, and cut them out entirely from proper council meetings?
*****************
Both have a place in the scheme of things. Awards are ceremonial events. They are a celebration of excellence.
Ceremony is a function of the Mayor's office . The Chain of Office is our only piece of regalia.
In tributes and awards, neither council nor staff have a role to play. We sit around like extras in a crowd scene.
It makes no sense to me that ceremony should be combined with town business.
The Skylight Gallery in the town hall was designed for such events. The Mayor, wearing the Chain of Office is the dignitary. Council members must be invited with a reception to follow. It provides an opportunity for meaningful exchange.
A tribute should be more than a handshake and a photo opportunity.
A day of the week should be dedicated to such events . Not necessarily every week. Only when called for.
How we do it now lends no dignity to the occasion . People are called forward, photographed with the Mayor , hurried on their way, so the next person can receive his/her tribute.
It's tacky.
If we really want to honour individuals, we should do it with style befitting the entire community's sincere intent.
Delegations have their place but as part of a protocol. If someone has a problem the appropriate department should have an opportunity to deal with it before it comes to council and public attention.
If it isn't dealt with satisfactorily at staff level, the Mayor's office is the next logical resource .
If the Mayor or a Councillor is unable to resolve the problem, an appearance at Council in a public meeting is a last resort.
Delegation should be directed to council- in- committee. A staff report in response should accompany the delegate's complaint . There should be no opportunity to come back again and again and again to re-hash the same issue. Sometimes, there is no resolution to a particular problem.
Councillors have no right to abuse procedures. Neither does a non-elected resident..
Procedures should be consistently applied. Five minutes to present is enough. Three people to speak to the issue, to triple the time is not fair. It is not equal . It is a stunt to circumvent the rules.. It should not be permitted let alone suggested , as it was repeatedly in the last term.
Decorum should be observed. Proper respect for the representative body should be maintained. A Council is not subservient, no matter what Councillor Gaertner imagines. .
The electorate chose their representatives. Their choice is paramount.They have delegated their authority to the occupants of Council chairs.
Disrespect to the elected body is disrespect to the system whereby we govern ourselves
If a Council does not collectively respect itself , disrespect is the inevitable result..
We do not respect ourselves, if we do not consistently respect the rules we adopted.
We do not respect ourselves, if we permit the rules to be inconsistently applied.
We do not respect ourselves,if we adopt rules which are not acceptable to the entire council. .Not just a majority. Acceptable rules require unanimous support.
We have no hope of collegiality without agreement with the rules we chose to govern meetings.
We do not respect ourselves if we allow the function of council to be disrespected and abused.
We owe it to the office we hold, to treat the office with respect.
For meetings to be used for purposes other than proscribed by the Municipal Act, which is attending to the town business in a timely and efficient manner, is disrespect for the function of Council and the people who made the choice as to its membership.
Making important decisions at and after the hour of midnight is total disrespect in every sense of the term.
How about an extra meeting, once every two months, scheduled for 3 hours, with nothing but delegates and awards, and cut them out entirely from proper council meetings?
*****************
Both have a place in the scheme of things. Awards are ceremonial events. They are a celebration of excellence.
Ceremony is a function of the Mayor's office . The Chain of Office is our only piece of regalia.
In tributes and awards, neither council nor staff have a role to play. We sit around like extras in a crowd scene.
It makes no sense to me that ceremony should be combined with town business.
The Skylight Gallery in the town hall was designed for such events. The Mayor, wearing the Chain of Office is the dignitary. Council members must be invited with a reception to follow. It provides an opportunity for meaningful exchange.
A tribute should be more than a handshake and a photo opportunity.
A day of the week should be dedicated to such events . Not necessarily every week. Only when called for.
How we do it now lends no dignity to the occasion . People are called forward, photographed with the Mayor , hurried on their way, so the next person can receive his/her tribute.
It's tacky.
If we really want to honour individuals, we should do it with style befitting the entire community's sincere intent.
Delegations have their place but as part of a protocol. If someone has a problem the appropriate department should have an opportunity to deal with it before it comes to council and public attention.
If it isn't dealt with satisfactorily at staff level, the Mayor's office is the next logical resource .
If the Mayor or a Councillor is unable to resolve the problem, an appearance at Council in a public meeting is a last resort.
Delegation should be directed to council- in- committee. A staff report in response should accompany the delegate's complaint . There should be no opportunity to come back again and again and again to re-hash the same issue. Sometimes, there is no resolution to a particular problem.
Councillors have no right to abuse procedures. Neither does a non-elected resident..
Procedures should be consistently applied. Five minutes to present is enough. Three people to speak to the issue, to triple the time is not fair. It is not equal . It is a stunt to circumvent the rules.. It should not be permitted let alone suggested , as it was repeatedly in the last term.
Decorum should be observed. Proper respect for the representative body should be maintained. A Council is not subservient, no matter what Councillor Gaertner imagines. .
The electorate chose their representatives. Their choice is paramount.They have delegated their authority to the occupants of Council chairs.
Disrespect to the elected body is disrespect to the system whereby we govern ourselves
If a Council does not collectively respect itself , disrespect is the inevitable result..
We do not respect ourselves, if we do not consistently respect the rules we adopted.
We do not respect ourselves, if we permit the rules to be inconsistently applied.
We do not respect ourselves,if we adopt rules which are not acceptable to the entire council. .Not just a majority. Acceptable rules require unanimous support.
We have no hope of collegiality without agreement with the rules we chose to govern meetings.
We do not respect ourselves if we allow the function of council to be disrespected and abused.
We owe it to the office we hold, to treat the office with respect.
For meetings to be used for purposes other than proscribed by the Municipal Act, which is attending to the town business in a timely and efficient manner, is disrespect for the function of Council and the people who made the choice as to its membership.
Making important decisions at and after the hour of midnight is total disrespect in every sense of the term.
Water Audit Report
Item 3 If the August 14th Council Agenda was a water audit report, twenty- six pages long.
Staff recommendation was:
"Council receive the report for information and the town be an actiove participant in the York Region/Municipality Water audit.
That the town continue to investigate and implement best practices for water management"
"The purpose of the report is to follow up on the commitment during the 2011 budget discussions that introduces the application of a methodology for auditing water usage within a municipal water supply system to aid in a full accounting of the water inventory.The report also includes an assessment of internal water uses that have been previously unaccounted regarding certain parks operations as recently identified during council discussions."
There are twenty six more pages. It was on the agenda for discussion on Tuesday night. We didn't deal with that and several other matters demanding our attention.
For one thing. we had a twenty-one page dissertation from a delegate permitted to attend for the third time to hammer away on the issue of the hazardous nature of a single piece of playground apparatus.
He went to the five minute limit of his time. The Mayor advised he had reached his limit. He continued as he saw fit.The Mayor allowed that too.
Councillor Gaertner had a question of the delegate which allowed him to take up again the thread of his argument even after he had more than exhausted his time.
Councillor Gaertner had a second question which provided further opportunity.
Rules of procedure permit questions of a delegate They do not permit back and forth exchange with a delegate. It's a ruse regularly employed by a Councillor who wishes to appear sympathetic, to assure a delegate of heart- felt support despite what the dastardly council might do.
I raised a point of order. The Mayor dismissed my point and allowed the time-wasting charade to continue.
Councillor Gaertner argues it is her job to ask questions to elicit information for the public.
The Councillor is correct.
The job of a Councillor is many faceted. One is to exercise judgment and be mindful, there are twenty-six items of town business to be dealt with and already an hour of time scheduled has been taken up, la-di-da ,by matters which are not corporate business.
They are matters brought before Council by delegates with their own agenda and no responsibility whatsoever for town business being completed in the publicly scheduled time.
In fact, two hours passed on Tuesday, with council similarly occupied. By the hour of midnight, one and a half hours after the scheduled time of adjournment, much of the agenda had not been considered had actually been deferred until the next meeting, when the entire charade will no doubt be repeated, the only change being faces at the podium.
Councillor Gaertner brought up still another item under "new business " after presumably a third motion was passed to extend the hour of adjournment to complete a specific item on the table.
The last part I heard about. I departed at midnight.
When the clock strikes twelve, I turn into a pulpy pumpkin ready to explode and splatter everywhere, if I hear one more idiotic, nonsensical, irrelevant, irrational, inane, asinine insufferably stupid comment which all are, after listening non-stop for four hours and thirty minutes with the work at hand nowhere near completion.
Shades of the past:
When the main activity of the council , during prime time, was devoted to delegations, presentations and opportunities for the Mayor and sundry others to cavort before the cameras.
After which the sundries went home happy and content and the mundane business of the corporation received short shrift from Councillors, who are paid for the single purpose of taking care of business .
And all the while highly paid directors clock up time off in lieu of all the hours spent as a captive audience for showcase shenanigans carried out under the delusion a Mayor and Council are elected for nothing more than dress-up to grace the stage and perform for cameras.
Once again, I hear references to how much time the best members spend engaged in activities around the town. Showing support for the groups who contribute meaningfully to the life of the community
While at the same time, giving short shrift to business only they have authority to decide.
Staff recommendation was:
"Council receive the report for information and the town be an actiove participant in the York Region/Municipality Water audit.
That the town continue to investigate and implement best practices for water management"
"The purpose of the report is to follow up on the commitment during the 2011 budget discussions that introduces the application of a methodology for auditing water usage within a municipal water supply system to aid in a full accounting of the water inventory.The report also includes an assessment of internal water uses that have been previously unaccounted regarding certain parks operations as recently identified during council discussions."
There are twenty six more pages. It was on the agenda for discussion on Tuesday night. We didn't deal with that and several other matters demanding our attention.
For one thing. we had a twenty-one page dissertation from a delegate permitted to attend for the third time to hammer away on the issue of the hazardous nature of a single piece of playground apparatus.
He went to the five minute limit of his time. The Mayor advised he had reached his limit. He continued as he saw fit.The Mayor allowed that too.
Councillor Gaertner had a question of the delegate which allowed him to take up again the thread of his argument even after he had more than exhausted his time.
Councillor Gaertner had a second question which provided further opportunity.
Rules of procedure permit questions of a delegate They do not permit back and forth exchange with a delegate. It's a ruse regularly employed by a Councillor who wishes to appear sympathetic, to assure a delegate of heart- felt support despite what the dastardly council might do.
I raised a point of order. The Mayor dismissed my point and allowed the time-wasting charade to continue.
Councillor Gaertner argues it is her job to ask questions to elicit information for the public.
The Councillor is correct.
The job of a Councillor is many faceted. One is to exercise judgment and be mindful, there are twenty-six items of town business to be dealt with and already an hour of time scheduled has been taken up, la-di-da ,by matters which are not corporate business.
They are matters brought before Council by delegates with their own agenda and no responsibility whatsoever for town business being completed in the publicly scheduled time.
In fact, two hours passed on Tuesday, with council similarly occupied. By the hour of midnight, one and a half hours after the scheduled time of adjournment, much of the agenda had not been considered had actually been deferred until the next meeting, when the entire charade will no doubt be repeated, the only change being faces at the podium.
Councillor Gaertner brought up still another item under "new business " after presumably a third motion was passed to extend the hour of adjournment to complete a specific item on the table.
The last part I heard about. I departed at midnight.
When the clock strikes twelve, I turn into a pulpy pumpkin ready to explode and splatter everywhere, if I hear one more idiotic, nonsensical, irrelevant, irrational, inane, asinine insufferably stupid comment which all are, after listening non-stop for four hours and thirty minutes with the work at hand nowhere near completion.
Shades of the past:
When the main activity of the council , during prime time, was devoted to delegations, presentations and opportunities for the Mayor and sundry others to cavort before the cameras.
After which the sundries went home happy and content and the mundane business of the corporation received short shrift from Councillors, who are paid for the single purpose of taking care of business .
And all the while highly paid directors clock up time off in lieu of all the hours spent as a captive audience for showcase shenanigans carried out under the delusion a Mayor and Council are elected for nothing more than dress-up to grace the stage and perform for cameras.
Once again, I hear references to how much time the best members spend engaged in activities around the town. Showing support for the groups who contribute meaningfully to the life of the community
While at the same time, giving short shrift to business only they have authority to decide.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Tremors
Sitting on my deck I felt the chair move beneath me. Sue Parish sitting on the deck with her mother
Joyce, on a visit from North Bay, also felt the movement. It lasted several seconds.
I have on at least one occasion in the past, noticed items had moved on a shelf. And later learned the earth had shifted. I have never consciously experienced an earthquake.
I did to-day.
Joyce, on a visit from North Bay, also felt the movement. It lasted several seconds.
I have on at least one occasion in the past, noticed items had moved on a shelf. And later learned the earth had shifted. I have never consciously experienced an earthquake.
I did to-day.
About Dogs
I know very little about dogs. I know they are faithful companions, protective of owners ,particularly when an infant come into the house. They growl a fearsome warning if they detect a threat.
I know, if a dog has a bone, it's sensible to keep your hand out from between the dog and its bone.
There has been a dog in my house from time to time. I have exchanged the warmth of his affection. .
But I do not want to be responsible for a dog. I believe if you take a dog into your home, you are responsible for providing all care and protection required. I have never been inclined to pick up after a dog. I have never been so affluent as to contemplate vet bills should they become necessary. I have never felt comfortable about a dog and an infant sharing the same floor space.
I know just enough about dogs to know they merit their place in our society.
This morning, in our inbox there is a reference to
s. 4(1)(b) and (c) of the Dog Owners' Liability Act against allowing the dog to behave in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals.
I ask you to contemplate that wording: what would cause a dog to behave in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals?
In the right circumstances, their nature .
The owner is not tagged with a "dangerous" monicker. The dog is.
The owner can pay multiple fines. The dog gets put down for following its instinct.
When I was Mayor, we had to have a hearing once, to determine guilt or innocence of a dog for the killing or injury of sheep.
The dog was a white husky. He was caught in the act. His owner was beside himself. The dog was incarcerated in the Humane Society's shelter on Industry Sreet.
I think we all felt pretty weird about finding a dog guilty of the crime accused.
It was about the same time the government stopped accepting farmers' claims for compensation against the killing of sheep by wolves.
But I digress. We delivered the verdict. The dog was in the slammer. That night the dog was sprung from the slammer and never heard of in these parts again.
The late and former Councillor Ron Simmons, was out always in the night distributing the Globe and Mail.
He brought in the news with a wide and wicked grin.
I was very glad never to have to participate in such an enterprise again.
Two weeks ago, when Council heard the hearing on the current situation, I was happy to be occupied elesewhere and excused .
I don't know why the print colour changed to blue and then black again. Just one of the inexplicable vagaries of technology. I guess .
I've learned to live with it because I have to.
Not like other stuff . Where another level of government can pass a law and charge the lunkheads at the municipal level with its prosecution.
I know, if a dog has a bone, it's sensible to keep your hand out from between the dog and its bone.
There has been a dog in my house from time to time. I have exchanged the warmth of his affection. .
But I do not want to be responsible for a dog. I believe if you take a dog into your home, you are responsible for providing all care and protection required. I have never been inclined to pick up after a dog. I have never been so affluent as to contemplate vet bills should they become necessary. I have never felt comfortable about a dog and an infant sharing the same floor space.
I know just enough about dogs to know they merit their place in our society.
This morning, in our inbox there is a reference to
s. 4(1)(b) and (c) of the Dog Owners' Liability Act against allowing the dog to behave in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals.
I ask you to contemplate that wording: what would cause a dog to behave in a manner that poses a menace to the safety of persons or domestic animals?
In the right circumstances, their nature .
The owner is not tagged with a "dangerous" monicker. The dog is.
The owner can pay multiple fines. The dog gets put down for following its instinct.
When I was Mayor, we had to have a hearing once, to determine guilt or innocence of a dog for the killing or injury of sheep.
The dog was a white husky. He was caught in the act. His owner was beside himself. The dog was incarcerated in the Humane Society's shelter on Industry Sreet.
I think we all felt pretty weird about finding a dog guilty of the crime accused.
It was about the same time the government stopped accepting farmers' claims for compensation against the killing of sheep by wolves.
But I digress. We delivered the verdict. The dog was in the slammer. That night the dog was sprung from the slammer and never heard of in these parts again.
The late and former Councillor Ron Simmons, was out always in the night distributing the Globe and Mail.
He brought in the news with a wide and wicked grin.
I was very glad never to have to participate in such an enterprise again.
Two weeks ago, when Council heard the hearing on the current situation, I was happy to be occupied elesewhere and excused .
I don't know why the print colour changed to blue and then black again. Just one of the inexplicable vagaries of technology. I guess .
I've learned to live with it because I have to.
Not like other stuff . Where another level of government can pass a law and charge the lunkheads at the municipal level with its prosecution.
This Just In
An e-mail from B.I.L.D. Liason.
Aurora's single family development charge, including York Region and education charges is $48,799.
It's among the highest in the Region.
It means of a new unit of housing worth three hundred thousand dollars ,one sixth of the price is a development charge levy; tax.
It does not include provincial sales tax, federal sales tax, land transfer tax, the cost of roads, water and sewer infrastructure. Trees to be planted. Lots to be sodded .Parkland to be provided.Environmentally sensitive lands to be dedicated and Ontario Municipal Board Hearings to be paid for.
Like I said before. Nobody seems to be watching.
The building industry keeps tabs and circulates the information. But they are not likely to create controversy over it. They buy tables at charity functions and fill them with politicians. They invite leaders as guest speakers to stay in their good books. Some, on the inside, pay thousands for a seat at the table of a private dinner in a residence with a leader in hopes of a fair wind in their direction.
In the building industry, time is money. They bend over backwards and twist themselves into pretzels to get their hands on permits and get on with the business they are in.They employ or do not employ thousands and almost single-handedly maintain the economy.
Bureaucrats, who produce nothing, have the power to make or break them. And they do.
In the end, new homebuyers pay the freight. They don't even know it. After they've made the purchase, they don't want to know it. They're too busy with two parents out to work to pay the mortgage and child care fees.
The politicians response to the problem is to make universal child care programs available to those working parents who can afford them. So that our children, the nation's true wealth, can be raised in institutions. to fit into a society run by institutions.
The same institutions that calculate development charges.
Deaf and blind and with no shortage of chatter and numbers about best industry practices.
Well why should they care. It's the source of their security.
Aurora's single family development charge, including York Region and education charges is $48,799.
It's among the highest in the Region.
It means of a new unit of housing worth three hundred thousand dollars ,one sixth of the price is a development charge levy; tax.
It does not include provincial sales tax, federal sales tax, land transfer tax, the cost of roads, water and sewer infrastructure. Trees to be planted. Lots to be sodded .Parkland to be provided.Environmentally sensitive lands to be dedicated and Ontario Municipal Board Hearings to be paid for.
Like I said before. Nobody seems to be watching.
The building industry keeps tabs and circulates the information. But they are not likely to create controversy over it. They buy tables at charity functions and fill them with politicians. They invite leaders as guest speakers to stay in their good books. Some, on the inside, pay thousands for a seat at the table of a private dinner in a residence with a leader in hopes of a fair wind in their direction.
In the building industry, time is money. They bend over backwards and twist themselves into pretzels to get their hands on permits and get on with the business they are in.They employ or do not employ thousands and almost single-handedly maintain the economy.
Bureaucrats, who produce nothing, have the power to make or break them. And they do.
In the end, new homebuyers pay the freight. They don't even know it. After they've made the purchase, they don't want to know it. They're too busy with two parents out to work to pay the mortgage and child care fees.
The politicians response to the problem is to make universal child care programs available to those working parents who can afford them. So that our children, the nation's true wealth, can be raised in institutions. to fit into a society run by institutions.
The same institutions that calculate development charges.
Deaf and blind and with no shortage of chatter and numbers about best industry practices.
Well why should they care. It's the source of their security.
Yesterday
An e-mail went to the Chief Building Official yesterday, recounting a story from the community.
A person with his very old, former rescue dog was in a local park. The dog is overweight and waddles rather than walks. The owner removed the leash and immediately received a ticket for $750. for allowing his dog to be off leash.
A couple of Saturdays ago, tickets were issued to patrons of the Farmers Market for parking at a school bus drop off zone. Wells Street Public school has not been a school for several years. Even when it was a school, there were no buses on a Saturday...or a Sunday either.
Last Tuesday Council received a report from the Planning Department. A small apartment building at the corner of Bell Street and Wellington is being altered to make additional one bedroom apartments out of two-bedroom apartments.
I can't see why the numbers of residents should change.
The owner will pay for building permits and cash in lieu of parks .The cost will likely not be much less that $100,000.
Five additional parking spaces must be provided. The parking lot currently drains towards the creek.
It will still drain towards the creek. But South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority wants $3,000 to review the drainage.
I drew attention to the fee requirement .
Councillor Gaertner asked "Who will be paying the fee?"
Like.... why should it matter ?
It appears it didn't.
I heard a story about the protagonist for removing play apparatus from Confederation Park because of the hazard to life and limb of children who play there.
Apparently a video of his four year old driving a vehicle on the street has been posted. Without a helmet yet.
I heard also about a resident being issued a ticket from the town for noise made by a bird. The winged variety. When the pet owner is gardening, she brings the pet outside with her to the deck. A neighbour complained. A ticket was issued.
Council recently held a hearing to determine guilt or innocence of a dog that bit another dog.
External legal counsel was not retained. But legal services were required.
Council has received an invitation to attend the "Opening" of the new section of the Nokiida Trail.
It has to be held outside because the trail is outside.
Otherwise it would undoubtedly take priority over town business in the September Meeting. It already has most of the town business from the August meeting still to be decided.
No doubt other events can be found to make sure the show is a success.
In George Orwell's book 1984.the fictional horror was about everybody being watched everywhere all of the time.
In 2011, the reality is about nobody watching. Everybody texting. No judgment exercised. No understanding of the concept.
We are living in a time, after thirty years of everyone who plays, win or lose, getting a trophy.
Finally, it seems there's hardly any point in trying. What we mostly do is talking but not about anything that matters.
A person with his very old, former rescue dog was in a local park. The dog is overweight and waddles rather than walks. The owner removed the leash and immediately received a ticket for $750. for allowing his dog to be off leash.
A couple of Saturdays ago, tickets were issued to patrons of the Farmers Market for parking at a school bus drop off zone. Wells Street Public school has not been a school for several years. Even when it was a school, there were no buses on a Saturday...or a Sunday either.
Last Tuesday Council received a report from the Planning Department. A small apartment building at the corner of Bell Street and Wellington is being altered to make additional one bedroom apartments out of two-bedroom apartments.
I can't see why the numbers of residents should change.
The owner will pay for building permits and cash in lieu of parks .The cost will likely not be much less that $100,000.
Five additional parking spaces must be provided. The parking lot currently drains towards the creek.
It will still drain towards the creek. But South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority wants $3,000 to review the drainage.
I drew attention to the fee requirement .
Councillor Gaertner asked "Who will be paying the fee?"
Like.... why should it matter ?
It appears it didn't.
I heard a story about the protagonist for removing play apparatus from Confederation Park because of the hazard to life and limb of children who play there.
Apparently a video of his four year old driving a vehicle on the street has been posted. Without a helmet yet.
I heard also about a resident being issued a ticket from the town for noise made by a bird. The winged variety. When the pet owner is gardening, she brings the pet outside with her to the deck. A neighbour complained. A ticket was issued.
Council recently held a hearing to determine guilt or innocence of a dog that bit another dog.
External legal counsel was not retained. But legal services were required.
Council has received an invitation to attend the "Opening" of the new section of the Nokiida Trail.
It has to be held outside because the trail is outside.
Otherwise it would undoubtedly take priority over town business in the September Meeting. It already has most of the town business from the August meeting still to be decided.
No doubt other events can be found to make sure the show is a success.
In George Orwell's book 1984.the fictional horror was about everybody being watched everywhere all of the time.
In 2011, the reality is about nobody watching. Everybody texting. No judgment exercised. No understanding of the concept.
We are living in a time, after thirty years of everyone who plays, win or lose, getting a trophy.
Finally, it seems there's hardly any point in trying. What we mostly do is talking but not about anything that matters.
Monday, 22 August 2011
Getting Into Gear
Preparing for a Council meeting with weighty agenda items, is no small matter.
Staff reports must be read, understood and analysed for logic, consistency and justification.
Staff give advice, Council makes decisions.
Council is accountable for the decisions. Staff are not.
Reading reports, making notes, deciding whether or not to vote in support or argue against, is a task not be taken lightly. To arrive at the point and Council doesn't even get around to doing the work as scheduled is detrimental to the process. It's a bummer.
Last Tuesday was a classic example of complete non-productivity.
It was the single meeting held in August. More than thirty items of town business were to be dealt with.
The Mayor and Clerk are responsible for creating the agenda. Time to deal with it is finite. For a reason.
The intent is to deal with the town's business efficiently, in a timely fashion . That's what we are there for. That's why we get paid. It's why a municipal corporation is not a volunteer organisation.
Last week, we dealt with a minimal number of items.
A third delegation was granted on request from two people determined to have piece of playground apparatus removed from a playground. It did not happen. But it took time from the business agenda and accomplished nothing. Nil,nada zilch and zero. .
There was a third delegation for something called a Park's Ambassador Program. I am not sure what that is. No evidence of necessity ,or useful purpose was presented by staff, Nor was it asked for. It took time from town business that needed Council attention.
The entire staff of the aquatic program were introduced to Council. A crisis had been averted and a life saved. The story was told. Staff deserved to be recognised. Families were present. Photos were taken .It took time from town business agenda that needed Council attention.
The Skylight Gallery is a fine facility in the town hall. Lends itself well to receptions honoring those who have earned it. Such a reception provides an opportunity for refreshments to be served and interaction between those being recognised and those providing recognition.It makes the appreciation real.
A Council meeting is the time required under the Municipal Act to get the town's business done.
We must by law pass a procedure bylaw. We must inform the public of the hours within which, on a regular basis, town business will be conducted and decisions will be made.
Last Tuesday we spent 2 hours of the 3.5 hours required for town business doing everything except attend to the business items on the agenda.It's the ue rather than the exception.
Most of the agenda had to be deferred to the next meeting of Council. Almost a month hence.
I left the town hall after the hour of midnight. We had come nowhere near completion of the agenda. Published beforehand as having to be dealt with on that day and date, during the hours advertised in the procedure bylaw.
If anybody thinks Council accomplished what we were paid to accomplish at the August meeting of Council, they would be sadly disappointed.
Staff reports must be read, understood and analysed for logic, consistency and justification.
Staff give advice, Council makes decisions.
Council is accountable for the decisions. Staff are not.
Reading reports, making notes, deciding whether or not to vote in support or argue against, is a task not be taken lightly. To arrive at the point and Council doesn't even get around to doing the work as scheduled is detrimental to the process. It's a bummer.
Last Tuesday was a classic example of complete non-productivity.
It was the single meeting held in August. More than thirty items of town business were to be dealt with.
The Mayor and Clerk are responsible for creating the agenda. Time to deal with it is finite. For a reason.
The intent is to deal with the town's business efficiently, in a timely fashion . That's what we are there for. That's why we get paid. It's why a municipal corporation is not a volunteer organisation.
Last week, we dealt with a minimal number of items.
A third delegation was granted on request from two people determined to have piece of playground apparatus removed from a playground. It did not happen. But it took time from the business agenda and accomplished nothing. Nil,nada zilch and zero. .
There was a third delegation for something called a Park's Ambassador Program. I am not sure what that is. No evidence of necessity ,or useful purpose was presented by staff, Nor was it asked for. It took time from town business that needed Council attention.
The entire staff of the aquatic program were introduced to Council. A crisis had been averted and a life saved. The story was told. Staff deserved to be recognised. Families were present. Photos were taken .It took time from town business agenda that needed Council attention.
The Skylight Gallery is a fine facility in the town hall. Lends itself well to receptions honoring those who have earned it. Such a reception provides an opportunity for refreshments to be served and interaction between those being recognised and those providing recognition.It makes the appreciation real.
A Council meeting is the time required under the Municipal Act to get the town's business done.
We must by law pass a procedure bylaw. We must inform the public of the hours within which, on a regular basis, town business will be conducted and decisions will be made.
Last Tuesday we spent 2 hours of the 3.5 hours required for town business doing everything except attend to the business items on the agenda.It's the ue rather than the exception.
Most of the agenda had to be deferred to the next meeting of Council. Almost a month hence.
I left the town hall after the hour of midnight. We had come nowhere near completion of the agenda. Published beforehand as having to be dealt with on that day and date, during the hours advertised in the procedure bylaw.
If anybody thinks Council accomplished what we were paid to accomplish at the August meeting of Council, they would be sadly disappointed.
OH CANADA
LivingInAurora.ca has left a new comment on your post "I Didn't Say That..":
To the 5:09 pm Anonymous:
Nah, when comes to politics I suck big time. Yet I don't know why I stick my nose, probably because it is challenge ....
Enjoy your weekend.
Anna :)
**********************
Anna You are not sticking your nose in. You are accepting an invitation.
It is your business.
You don't have to be a candidate to have the right or inclination to talk about politics.
Traditionally it has been considered to have potential for discord. Most people tend to keep opinions to themselves.
Not everyone enjoys the roustabout nature of the subject,
That's why I think social media and the opportunity to throw one's opinions into the melee is so very valuable.
It provides an opportunity people have never, in all of history, enjoyed.
It's why tyrants and despots in the Middle East are being toppled.
It's why the insanity of medieval religious cults are losing their grip.
It's why women throughout the world will eventually achieve freedom.
Television allowed people to see freedom ,opportunities and lifestyle enjoyed in other parts of the world.
The internet allows them to exchange ideas.
To say to each other, whatever the sacrifice, "the cause is just, the dreams must be kept alive".
In Canada ,we have rights and freedoms only dreamed of by others. Yet incredibly, there are those among us, like the majority in the last Aurora Council who decided we did not.
Under a cloak of righteousness, even religion, they contrived a cockamamie code of conduct ,retained lawyers at great expense, appointed and discharged an integrity commissioner and sued citizens for exercising democratic rights, all at public expense, in a determined attempt to deny our freedom.
All of this a quarter of a century after the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom was passed into law.
Don't let anyone tell you Anna, we do not have the obligation "To Stand On Guard For Thee"
"We have seen the enemy" and" it is us"
To the 5:09 pm Anonymous:
Nah, when comes to politics I suck big time. Yet I don't know why I stick my nose, probably because it is challenge ....
Enjoy your weekend.
Anna :)
**********************
Anna You are not sticking your nose in. You are accepting an invitation.
It is your business.
You don't have to be a candidate to have the right or inclination to talk about politics.
Traditionally it has been considered to have potential for discord. Most people tend to keep opinions to themselves.
Not everyone enjoys the roustabout nature of the subject,
That's why I think social media and the opportunity to throw one's opinions into the melee is so very valuable.
It provides an opportunity people have never, in all of history, enjoyed.
It's why tyrants and despots in the Middle East are being toppled.
It's why the insanity of medieval religious cults are losing their grip.
It's why women throughout the world will eventually achieve freedom.
Television allowed people to see freedom ,opportunities and lifestyle enjoyed in other parts of the world.
The internet allows them to exchange ideas.
To say to each other, whatever the sacrifice, "the cause is just, the dreams must be kept alive".
In Canada ,we have rights and freedoms only dreamed of by others. Yet incredibly, there are those among us, like the majority in the last Aurora Council who decided we did not.
Under a cloak of righteousness, even religion, they contrived a cockamamie code of conduct ,retained lawyers at great expense, appointed and discharged an integrity commissioner and sued citizens for exercising democratic rights, all at public expense, in a determined attempt to deny our freedom.
All of this a quarter of a century after the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom was passed into law.
Don't let anyone tell you Anna, we do not have the obligation "To Stand On Guard For Thee"
"We have seen the enemy" and" it is us"
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Stop Saying That
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I Didn't Say That..":
Yes,but the Mayor is only Tim Jones puppet.
Kettle,pot,black.
************
Nobody runs for the Office of Mayor to be someone else's puppet.
Tim Jones has moved on.
Geoff Dawe will stand or fall on his own merits.
Being elected to political office is still an honour worthy of the most earnest endeavour.
Yes,but the Mayor is only Tim Jones puppet.
Kettle,pot,black.
************
Nobody runs for the Office of Mayor to be someone else's puppet.
Tim Jones has moved on.
Geoff Dawe will stand or fall on his own merits.
Being elected to political office is still an honour worthy of the most earnest endeavour.
I Didn't Say That..
LivingInAurora.ca has left a new comment on your post "A Question Posed . Here's One Answer.":
Evelyn, you wrote: 'I find that several councillors are unable to express themselves in simple organized sentences and the thoughts or opinions they are attempting to state become blurred and unintelligible.'
Oh that is very sad to hear
**************************
I did not write that, Anna. It was an observation posted to the Blog by a reader.
We had a single council meeting in July and another in August.Two meetings a month on camera are the average.
Speaking while organising one's thoughts is not as easy as it looks.The skill must be acquired. But it is worth cultivating, if only to become more comfortable doing what people expect.
People say I do it well but I hate to watch .I hear myself repeating things and speaking in disjointed sentences.My enemies,I'm sure, make much of it.
Actually, speaking in debate is not required. No record is kept. It's not like Hansard. The Municipal Act stipulates only that a Councillor is required to vote.
In my early days, if a point had already been made, a Councillor in agreement would simply say so:
".I agree with Councillor so and so" and the discussion would move along. Everybody was conscious of the hour of adjournment and the need to complete town business .
Deferring business to the next meeting was by no means considered competent or efficient. It was a sign of incompetence of the chair. There's more to that job than wearing the Chain of Office.
Back then, we did not have cable t.v. We started public forum. But few took advantage. Delegations were seldom and certainly nobody took the microphone to demand Council bend to their demands.
There was a clear understanding, if one had a desire to participate, the thing to do was put your name on the ballot.
There was never an occasion a resident was encouraged to delegate to call a Councillor a liar. Or hurl unsubstantiated allegations and unfounded accusations at a member of Council.
I think it had to do with respect for the office we each held and the people who gave their confidence,for at least the term we served.
I have never mastered the discipline of detachment. I can live with the reality I have a single vote. That's not an option. It doesn't mean that outside of council meetings, I have to quietly accept or,perish the thought, pretend to agree with decisions having ongoing negative consequences for the community.
A waste of trust and confidence and time and resources mitigate seriously against satisfaction from a job well done.
Having the blog and a direct conduit with people helps to makes up for that.
When I started it in August 2007, I hoped it would stimulate interest in the town's affairs and more people would turn out to vote. It didn't.
But since I started it, several more blogs have come into being.
One thing for sure...politics will never be the same since people have had the opportunity to make their observations and contribute to the debate.
Evelyn, you wrote: 'I find that several councillors are unable to express themselves in simple organized sentences and the thoughts or opinions they are attempting to state become blurred and unintelligible.'
Oh that is very sad to hear
**************************
I did not write that, Anna. It was an observation posted to the Blog by a reader.
We had a single council meeting in July and another in August.Two meetings a month on camera are the average.
Speaking while organising one's thoughts is not as easy as it looks.The skill must be acquired. But it is worth cultivating, if only to become more comfortable doing what people expect.
People say I do it well but I hate to watch .I hear myself repeating things and speaking in disjointed sentences.My enemies,I'm sure, make much of it.
Actually, speaking in debate is not required. No record is kept. It's not like Hansard. The Municipal Act stipulates only that a Councillor is required to vote.
In my early days, if a point had already been made, a Councillor in agreement would simply say so:
".I agree with Councillor so and so" and the discussion would move along. Everybody was conscious of the hour of adjournment and the need to complete town business .
Deferring business to the next meeting was by no means considered competent or efficient. It was a sign of incompetence of the chair. There's more to that job than wearing the Chain of Office.
Back then, we did not have cable t.v. We started public forum. But few took advantage. Delegations were seldom and certainly nobody took the microphone to demand Council bend to their demands.
There was a clear understanding, if one had a desire to participate, the thing to do was put your name on the ballot.
There was never an occasion a resident was encouraged to delegate to call a Councillor a liar. Or hurl unsubstantiated allegations and unfounded accusations at a member of Council.
I think it had to do with respect for the office we each held and the people who gave their confidence,for at least the term we served.
I have never mastered the discipline of detachment. I can live with the reality I have a single vote. That's not an option. It doesn't mean that outside of council meetings, I have to quietly accept or,perish the thought, pretend to agree with decisions having ongoing negative consequences for the community.
A waste of trust and confidence and time and resources mitigate seriously against satisfaction from a job well done.
Having the blog and a direct conduit with people helps to makes up for that.
When I started it in August 2007, I hoped it would stimulate interest in the town's affairs and more people would turn out to vote. It didn't.
But since I started it, several more blogs have come into being.
One thing for sure...politics will never be the same since people have had the opportunity to make their observations and contribute to the debate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
