Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Master
Plans Are Wish Lists":
"This has been a closely guarded secret. It
is beautiful up there. No road access. You park in any of several subdivisions
and hoof it in. Never know who or what you will meet. And, yes. I think Aurora
holds some land. Check with Ron Wallace. He has watched the place for years. If
we own a wee smidgen and can use it without spoiling the place, this could be
something COUNCIL could motivate. GO!"
Spoil it?!?!?! Too late for
that.
I wish people would stop parking in my neighbourhood to "hoof it in" -
I'll key your cars. They had to rip down the house because of vandals. There are
firepits everywhere from the "kiddies" and their booze parties.
*************
In the nineties,High Tor Farm was transferred to Ontario Heritage in return for market value in tax rebate.
Part of the property had development approval. Municipal roads and services had proceeded to a certain point and were intended to continue.
This is the story, I have been able to glean from various parties involved at the time.
Ontario Heritage is an agency set up to make deals with people of means. Sufficient means they can benefit financially by giving property away.
The agency at the time was short and in need of financial resources. An offer was made to the town. If they could sell the portion intended for development, the rest of the farm would be deeded to the town for community use.
I was aware of uproar and accusations being thrown about willy-nilly that Council was in cahoots with skullduggery. Not being a Councillor I knew none of the details.
S.W.A.T. was formed. Susan Walmer, Evalina MacEachern and Walter Mestrinaro were in large part, the movers and shakers..
They vowed the scheme was a betrayal of trust.
I learned later ,Evalina MacEachern's home is on a street dead- ended when planned development was brought to rude and abrupt termination.
High Tor Farm is now literally an abandoned property.
We learn the house had to be demolished due to vandalism.
The last Council had talks with the Heritage about signing a contract for maintenance in return for nothing at all.
We were to take responsibility for property we had neither use nor responsibility,while its closest neighbors would have it all to themselves to enjoy.
Fire pits, booze parties and strange cars parked in the neighbourhood was not referenced at the time.
Now, Shangrila it appears, it is not.
Therein lies the supreme irony.
My neighborhood had the S bends,fire pits and cars in our streets, where MacEachern's house was eventually built.
I doubt S.W.A.T. would have listened to what the villainous veterans of Aurora Council might have had to tell at the time they were raising hell fire and brimstone about the possibility of development and community access to land in their neighborhood they claimed for their exclusive use.
Spoiled is it? Well tough.
Monday, 4 June 2012
There's Gotta Be A Better Way
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "There Is
A Puzzlement":
"If we respect the right to choose we must respect the choice."
I completely disagree with you.
The person chosen must respect the office to which elected and must act with the responsibility and the dignity that the office demands.
**********************
There has to be a better way of saying it.
I am continually accused of being disrespectful.
They say; "She always thinks she's right and that means everybody else must be wrong"
If that's right, does it mean I should not say what I think
I should wait to hear so that I can agree, in case they might think I think they are wrong and showing disrespect
By telling people what I think,I am showing respect.
People need me to listen and respect their opinion.
I do.
I expect the same respect.
We can do that and be civil to each other
I don't run for office so that I can be told what to think.
I do it so that I can say what I think.
Then people will know and I can speak freely for them.
As has been pointed out,everyone doesn't vote for me.
Either they don't agree that I insist on saying what I think because they think it disrespects them if it's not what they think.
Either that or they just don't like me. It's not beyond the realm of possibility.
Or they think I'm old.
I am old.
I still think and say what I think.
Nineteen times out of twenty, there is no other candidate in an election that thinks like I think or says it out loud.
In case voters might think they are disrespected if the candidate doesn't think what they think
The twentieth candidate who thinks like I think is me.
Seems there are always people who think like I think or like it that I tell them what I think.
I like it.
.
"If we respect the right to choose we must respect the choice."
I completely disagree with you.
The person chosen must respect the office to which elected and must act with the responsibility and the dignity that the office demands.
**********************
There has to be a better way of saying it.
I am continually accused of being disrespectful.
They say; "She always thinks she's right and that means everybody else must be wrong"
If that's right, does it mean I should not say what I think
I should wait to hear so that I can agree, in case they might think I think they are wrong and showing disrespect
By telling people what I think,I am showing respect.
People need me to listen and respect their opinion.
I do.
I expect the same respect.
We can do that and be civil to each other
I don't run for office so that I can be told what to think.
I do it so that I can say what I think.
Then people will know and I can speak freely for them.
As has been pointed out,everyone doesn't vote for me.
Either they don't agree that I insist on saying what I think because they think it disrespects them if it's not what they think.
Either that or they just don't like me. It's not beyond the realm of possibility.
Or they think I'm old.
I am old.
I still think and say what I think.
Nineteen times out of twenty, there is no other candidate in an election that thinks like I think or says it out loud.
In case voters might think they are disrespected if the candidate doesn't think what they think
The twentieth candidate who thinks like I think is me.
Seems there are always people who think like I think or like it that I tell them what I think.
I like it.
.
Cloned
Ontario tree gives hope for Canada’s decimated elms
Vidya
Kauri
May 29, 2012 – 8:15 PM ET
Cloned
Ontario tree gives hope for Canada’s decimated elms
Vidya
Kauri
May 29, 2012 – 8:15 PM ET
Courtesy
of University of Guelph
This
tree on the campus of the University of Guelph has survived, despite its
neighbours succumbing to disease.
Courtesy
of University of Guelph
This
tree on the campus of the University of Guelph has survived, despite its
neighbours succumbing to disease.
resistant to DED.”
When
Dutch elm disease decimated tree canopies from the 1940s into the 1980s, the
Canadian urban landscape was transformed.
Among
the victims were three large trees outside the Guelph, Ont., home of bird
enthusiast Philip Gosling, 84. Every May, they had been home to orioles; when
the trees were cut, the birds never returned.
They have been part of our family for dozens of years. Then suddenly, year after
year, they weren’t coming back anymore and the trees were dead,” said Mr.
Gosling, a retired commercial property developer. “We were very sad and
distraught by this. But then, so many other people were. You could see it
coming. It was happening throughout the area and there was a sense of
hopelessness. What was there for us to do? Everyone was losing their trees.
Everyone was losing their orioles.”They have been part of our family for dozens of years. Then suddenly, year after
year, they weren’t coming back anymore and the trees were dead,” said Mr.
Gosling, a retired commercial property developer. “We were very sad and
distraught by this. But then, so many other people were. You could see it
coming. It was happening throughout the area and there was a sense of
hopelessness. What was there for us to do? Everyone was losing their trees.
Everyone was losing their orioles.”So,
when he and his wife, Susan, a plant researcher, went looking for a cause to
donate to in 2009, they wondered if scientists might be able to create a
disease-resistant elm. Armed with their gift of $500,000, Prof. Praveen Saxena
at the University of Guelph embarked on a mission to make genetically identical
copies of a potentially disease-resistant elm tree on Guelph’s campus. It had
survived, even as neighbouring trees did not.
After
18 months of failed attempts, Prof. Saxena and his team – Prof. Alan Sullivan
and post-doctoral fellows Mukund Shukla and Maxwell Jones — succeeded in cloning
the 100-year-old tree that had survived repeated onslaughts of Dutch
elm.
“My
first thought was that we are on to something very big, and this will lead to
something that we all will be proud of,” said Prof.
Saxena.
The
American Elm, sometimes known as “the lady of the forest,” was a muse to Sylvia
Plath and Robert Frost. Alfred Tennyson called elms “full-foliaged” and
“immemorial.” Ancient Germanic tribes believed women descended from elms. The
Mistress of Fire in the Mongol Wedding Prayer is also said to have come from elm
trees on mountaintops.
Courtesy
of Don Cameron
n Nova Scotia, the tree was so beloved that the wood from felled trees was used
to make sculptures of local heroes.
“We
have been hesitant to re-establish elm because when we did try it in the early
days, they eventually succumbed to Dutch elm disease,” said Don Cameron,
regional forester with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. “So,
this gives us great encouragement to think that we can again re-establish this
beautiful elm urban forest.”
Alberta
and B.C. managed to largely stave off the disease by preventing infected
firewood from entering their borders — but even in the west, Prof. Saxena’s work
is being watched.
“Albertans
are really excited about this sort of research,” said Janet Feddes-Calpas,
executive director of the Society to Prevent Dutch Elm Disease in Alberta.
“Since the American elm is one of the few species that can survive the extreme
Alberta climactic conditions, we welcome any research that can give us hope to
be able to plant an elm tree that is
An
elm tree sculpture in Nova Scotia
It’s
not the first time a potentially Dutch elm-resistant tree has been cloned. Since
the disease first came to Canada, many tolerant varieties, grown from cuttings
of surviving trees, emerged over the years. However, many of these were only
tested in their juvenile years. So, it is not known if they will survive into
old age. Some of them still “harbour the fungus and display some reduced
symptoms,” said Prof. Saxena.
As
well, creating these disease-tolerant varieties is difficult because the
cuttings don’t always grow well and the number of cuttings one can get from a
surviving tree is limited. Prof. Saxena’s work also eliminates the need for a
field in which to grow new varieties. His clones can be taken from the test tube
to a pot in about 12 weeks, and then, to a greenhouse or nursery for
sale.
Prof.
Saxena has now created about 3,000 clones in his lab. They are currently being
exposed to various strains of Dutch elm to test their resistance. The new
technology is significant because it could also be used to propogate endangered
trees. Moreover, other popular species like the maple and ash trees have also
suffered from the fatal effects of invasive pests.
“I
hope, at some point, we’ll be able to go to a nursery and pick up an American
Elm variety of some kind with ease and confidence knowing that we can put it in
the ground and that it’s going to be there for generations to come,” said Andrew
Williams, urban forestry coordinator for the Town of
Truro.
National
Post
vkauri@nationalpost.com
vkauri@nationalpost.com
There Is A Puzzlement
Seems there is puzzlement abroad at my defence of Councillor Gaertner.
I do not understand why.
Does anyone have better reason to know how it is to be publicly denigrated, harried, insulted, abused and accused by multiple forces rallied for the purpose?
To have lawyers retained repeatedly at public expense to investigate and engage in artifice to drive me to quit and run for the hills.
Is anyone better qualified to recognise the signs and portents?
Or call it for what it is ?
Councillor Gaertner was elected by a sufficient number of votes to take a seat at the table.
No person or group of has the right to challenge that authority.
It is the process whereby we govern ourselves.
Voters went to the polls and made a choice.
As is their right. They decided and it shall be for the four years of the term.
What the rest of us will do is respect the right of the electors to choose.
Councillor Gaertner conducts herself now as in the first and second time elected. The voters did not choose an unknown quantity.
If we respect the right to choose we must respect the choice.
It's called being civilized.
I do not understand why.
Does anyone have better reason to know how it is to be publicly denigrated, harried, insulted, abused and accused by multiple forces rallied for the purpose?
To have lawyers retained repeatedly at public expense to investigate and engage in artifice to drive me to quit and run for the hills.
Is anyone better qualified to recognise the signs and portents?
Or call it for what it is ?
Councillor Gaertner was elected by a sufficient number of votes to take a seat at the table.
No person or group of has the right to challenge that authority.
It is the process whereby we govern ourselves.
Voters went to the polls and made a choice.
As is their right. They decided and it shall be for the four years of the term.
What the rest of us will do is respect the right of the electors to choose.
Councillor Gaertner conducts herself now as in the first and second time elected. The voters did not choose an unknown quantity.
If we respect the right to choose we must respect the choice.
It's called being civilized.
Sunday, 3 June 2012
Master Plans Are Wish Lists
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "J' Accuse":
If one were to take a tractor & mower onto the area below the water tower and simply cut the growth, there would be all kinds of good stuff for mulch. It was crop land. As far as I know, Aurora already owns the land. Use what we have. You could plant plenty of saplings up there. Clearing the land once a year would be good and the planting need not interfere with all the action up there. There even is a deserted apple orchard - if the trees are dead, clear them and use the lumber. Aurora needs to look at what it has instead of what it has on its wish list.
*****************
The Region is responsible for our supply of water. The water tower property belongs to the Region and if an abandoned apple orchard is part of the parcel it owns that too.
The Hydro building and yard belongs to the town and we need it. But we leased it away to the federal government for ten years without a cancellation clause..
Let me tell you about wish lists.
The administration busies itself constantly retaining consultants to create plans for this and that and the next thing.
We have Master Plans for parks and recreation ,for Environment and for Trails.
We are doing one one now to create a second heritage district at the request of Susan Morton Leonard
Newmarket is doing, or talking about doing, a culture master plan
and some in Aurora think that's a simply marvelous idea,darling.
We have the Promenade Plan to guide future design of the downtown core.It's not our property or our investment but we intend to dictate how it's done anyway
We had a Strategic Plan. It needed a five year review. But staff recommended a completely new plan for twenty years instead of five.
So we are doing that at a cost of $80,000.
How a plan is put together is as follows. Staff set up terms of reference and call for proposals.The winning consultant sets up meetings and workshops to encourage people to "envision" what they would like in the future in the area of the study.
A handful of people, usually the same handful, earnestly participate.stretch their imaginations and envision what would be great to see.
None of which has anything to do with financial feasibility, available resources or the state of the economy.The essential feature is "vision".We hear a lot about vision.
The current Aurora visioning statement is:
"Where businesses thrive and neighbors care" It's part of whatwe got for the $80.000
I know it's easy to mock. I am probably the only Councillor who is
less than impressed.
It doesn't matter much anyway..
The others really believe in the process.
The new plan sets" strategy "for the next twenty years.
The Region is much bolder. They have opted for a fifty year crystal ball. They are very sure of their continued existence.
At the last environmental advisory committee meeting, members noted agendas only take only twenty minutes. There's a feeling they have nothing meaningful to do.
It's because there is nothing left to do.
A master environmental plan is in place. All that's left is for staff to follow the plan and edge Council along in the right direction.
Budgets and programs are based on the plans.Yes indeed. And why not ? Everything possible is in "The Plan" and pre-approved by Council. .
The tiniest aspect of our future needs have been planned well beyond the term of council..There ain't much left for Council to deliberate either.
Only a Master plan for Culture remains to be handed down from the hands of the masters to the populace.
Like capital forecasts, where we tuck away cockamamie schemes like snow melt treatment facilities costing a cool million to be done in stages.
Think of that, a million bucks to "treat" a fraction of the melting snow that falls in the winter. $270,000? has already been spent on the design.
The strategy for the next twenty years has been etched in stone as the will of the people.
Like Moses' tablets of the ten commandments.
These are the times we live in.
So much better than the past when we would consider carefully what we needed, could afford, where the funds could come from or how great would be the burden on homeowners and businesses..
We didn't think of education and income of the highest wage earners as a guide to how much we could increase the load.
We struck a budget on the basis of those on the opposite end of the scale.
We did the most with the least in olden times,when the treasurer kept Councils grounded and Councillors made the decisions and
we moved forward just the same.
If one were to take a tractor & mower onto the area below the water tower and simply cut the growth, there would be all kinds of good stuff for mulch. It was crop land. As far as I know, Aurora already owns the land. Use what we have. You could plant plenty of saplings up there. Clearing the land once a year would be good and the planting need not interfere with all the action up there. There even is a deserted apple orchard - if the trees are dead, clear them and use the lumber. Aurora needs to look at what it has instead of what it has on its wish list.
*****************
The Region is responsible for our supply of water. The water tower property belongs to the Region and if an abandoned apple orchard is part of the parcel it owns that too.
The Hydro building and yard belongs to the town and we need it. But we leased it away to the federal government for ten years without a cancellation clause..
Let me tell you about wish lists.
The administration busies itself constantly retaining consultants to create plans for this and that and the next thing.
We have Master Plans for parks and recreation ,for Environment and for Trails.
We are doing one one now to create a second heritage district at the request of Susan Morton Leonard
Newmarket is doing, or talking about doing, a culture master plan
and some in Aurora think that's a simply marvelous idea,darling.
We have the Promenade Plan to guide future design of the downtown core.It's not our property or our investment but we intend to dictate how it's done anyway
We had a Strategic Plan. It needed a five year review. But staff recommended a completely new plan for twenty years instead of five.
So we are doing that at a cost of $80,000.
How a plan is put together is as follows. Staff set up terms of reference and call for proposals.The winning consultant sets up meetings and workshops to encourage people to "envision" what they would like in the future in the area of the study.
A handful of people, usually the same handful, earnestly participate.stretch their imaginations and envision what would be great to see.
None of which has anything to do with financial feasibility, available resources or the state of the economy.The essential feature is "vision".We hear a lot about vision.
The current Aurora visioning statement is:
"Where businesses thrive and neighbors care" It's part of whatwe got for the $80.000
I know it's easy to mock. I am probably the only Councillor who is
less than impressed.
It doesn't matter much anyway..
The others really believe in the process.
The new plan sets" strategy "for the next twenty years.
The Region is much bolder. They have opted for a fifty year crystal ball. They are very sure of their continued existence.
At the last environmental advisory committee meeting, members noted agendas only take only twenty minutes. There's a feeling they have nothing meaningful to do.
It's because there is nothing left to do.
A master environmental plan is in place. All that's left is for staff to follow the plan and edge Council along in the right direction.
Budgets and programs are based on the plans.Yes indeed. And why not ? Everything possible is in "The Plan" and pre-approved by Council. .
The tiniest aspect of our future needs have been planned well beyond the term of council..There ain't much left for Council to deliberate either.
Only a Master plan for Culture remains to be handed down from the hands of the masters to the populace.
Like capital forecasts, where we tuck away cockamamie schemes like snow melt treatment facilities costing a cool million to be done in stages.
Think of that, a million bucks to "treat" a fraction of the melting snow that falls in the winter. $270,000? has already been spent on the design.
The strategy for the next twenty years has been etched in stone as the will of the people.
Like Moses' tablets of the ten commandments.
These are the times we live in.
So much better than the past when we would consider carefully what we needed, could afford, where the funds could come from or how great would be the burden on homeowners and businesses..
We didn't think of education and income of the highest wage earners as a guide to how much we could increase the load.
We struck a budget on the basis of those on the opposite end of the scale.
We did the most with the least in olden times,when the treasurer kept Councils grounded and Councillors made the decisions and
we moved forward just the same.
Saturday, 2 June 2012
J' Accuse
Councillor Gaertner is taking a pounding for her comments on the merits of the sale of 22 aces of town property..
Tha Aurora Banner editorialised on the Councillor's comments.
The Aurora Citizen re-printed the editorial and joined the public flogging.
Chris Watts stepped up to take his turn with the barbed whip this morning .
I do not agree with the Councillor's position and said so during the public debate..
But the Councillor's view is not entirely without merit.
Twenty-two acres is twenty five per cent of the parcel.. A substantial part of the building is warehouse space. Warehousing does not provide the number of jobs as other uses.
400 jobs cited are not new jobs.Employees will transfer with the operation.
The numbers will swell town employment statistics. Future opportunities are possible.New employment opportunities are welcome.
But I am mindful of the size of the parcel. Job numbers are not the best they could be.
I have since learned a trail link on the edge of the property has been removed. Apparently Bulk Barn insisted.
My enthusiasm is somewhat dampened.
I do not believe the town is a supplicant.
I resent Council was not consulted.
This property deal is not a simple transaction. Over six million dollars are estimated to service the entire parcel of eighty acres.There is a sharing of costs with Bulk Barn.
Land contours are having to be changed substantially
Part of the property is in the Oak Ridges Moraine.
The servicing plan requires the parks department to be turfed out
once again. .
Part of the property has been used by parks department for years. To turn trees into mulch, compost grass clippings, ,accommodate a small tree nursery and sundry other parks functions.
We no longer have the former Hydro building yard. Need for a new location is critical.
So the big brave fellows out there beating drums and Councillor Gaertner mercilessly, need to get hold of few more facts before charging to the top of the knoll with swords and voices raised .(mixed metaphors be damned)
Bulk Barn is welcome. It's good news. It's not spectacular.
22 acres is a sizable chunk out of 80 acres.
6 million (estimate) for servicing is a substantial amount.
The only advantage is jobs.We need to ensure the objective is realized to the full. Benefit is measured against cost.
Otherwise, we shall have surrendered land needed for our own purposes for a scheme that's a dud.
I'm not yet dancing around the Maypole on the village green. I hope we are managing things properly.
Councillor Gaertner exercised her authority and took a position.
I commend her for that.
Now to change the subject let me pose a new question.
At what concentration and decibel level does fair comment turn into bullying and intimidation?
Tha Aurora Banner editorialised on the Councillor's comments.
The Aurora Citizen re-printed the editorial and joined the public flogging.
Chris Watts stepped up to take his turn with the barbed whip this morning .
I do not agree with the Councillor's position and said so during the public debate..
But the Councillor's view is not entirely without merit.
Twenty-two acres is twenty five per cent of the parcel.. A substantial part of the building is warehouse space. Warehousing does not provide the number of jobs as other uses.
400 jobs cited are not new jobs.Employees will transfer with the operation.
The numbers will swell town employment statistics. Future opportunities are possible.New employment opportunities are welcome.
But I am mindful of the size of the parcel. Job numbers are not the best they could be.
I have since learned a trail link on the edge of the property has been removed. Apparently Bulk Barn insisted.
My enthusiasm is somewhat dampened.
I do not believe the town is a supplicant.
I resent Council was not consulted.
This property deal is not a simple transaction. Over six million dollars are estimated to service the entire parcel of eighty acres.There is a sharing of costs with Bulk Barn.
Land contours are having to be changed substantially
Part of the property is in the Oak Ridges Moraine.
The servicing plan requires the parks department to be turfed out
once again. .
Part of the property has been used by parks department for years. To turn trees into mulch, compost grass clippings, ,accommodate a small tree nursery and sundry other parks functions.
We no longer have the former Hydro building yard. Need for a new location is critical.
So the big brave fellows out there beating drums and Councillor Gaertner mercilessly, need to get hold of few more facts before charging to the top of the knoll with swords and voices raised .(mixed metaphors be damned)
Bulk Barn is welcome. It's good news. It's not spectacular.
22 acres is a sizable chunk out of 80 acres.
6 million (estimate) for servicing is a substantial amount.
The only advantage is jobs.We need to ensure the objective is realized to the full. Benefit is measured against cost.
Otherwise, we shall have surrendered land needed for our own purposes for a scheme that's a dud.
I'm not yet dancing around the Maypole on the village green. I hope we are managing things properly.
Councillor Gaertner exercised her authority and took a position.
I commend her for that.
Now to change the subject let me pose a new question.
At what concentration and decibel level does fair comment turn into bullying and intimidation?
Good M-o-r-n-i-n-g Bathurst Blasphemer
.
*Bathurst Blasphemer has left a new comment on your post "Bathurst Discussion Continues":
To be brief, I have no idea how the Region would collect money either.
As to your other Where and How questions, the answers are in the Regional policy document.
Now Traffic Calming is a different situation because it is controlled by the Town.
I believe that Kennedy Street residents have requested calming measures.
Are there plans to set a policy or simply debate the need on a case by case basis?
Should we all pay or should the neighbourhood pay all or some of the cost?
Growth has its advantages but sometimes causes problems too.
GO has already announced that in the not too distant future we will have weekend train service, and eventually all day service if the demand is there.
A GO train rumbling through Aurora possibly every hour.
That should make for interesting debate about level crossings and whistles.
*************8
Thank you again for your response.Council rules don't allow in-depth discussion. Rules of Order were reviewed, thirty minutes were reduced to ten. Thirty were seldom used but ten is ridiculous.
I am frequently cut off by the Mayor before I have fully stated my position.
Last term I contended with sneering. jeering,insufferable condescension and abuse at the hands of the Presiding member.
This term the situation is vastly improved
.It was eight months into the last term that I started the blog.
Now I have the satisfaction of continuing to debate with whoever chooses to join.
It means people have a new source of information. They don't have to be content with truncated Council debate on television.
They can comment. Ask questions. Share information and gain a perspective not heretofore available.. Like yourself.
This morning I challenge the contention that character and function of Bathurst Street has changed since homes were built twenty years ago.
Bathurst was a county road before it was Regional. Distinction from municipal lies in its purpose. A regional road carries traffic from one municipality to another.
Municipal roads carry traffic within the municipality.Even they are classified. .Kennedy Street West is an arterial collector. meaning it collects traffic from side streets.
Provincial Highways carry traffic throughout the Province.
The Trans-Canada Highway traverses the nation.
Bathurst Street has always been a County road . Opening roads were the first function of government.
It was never a local road.
Road allowances taken in the mid -seventies at the time of paving Bathurst.clearly delineated its future.
The Region has planning jurisdiction over 10, I thought it was feet but it might be metres, on either side of the road.
They always had the jurisdiction to require developers to erect noise barriers between homes and regional roads.
I have seen them in Woodbridge, probably thirty years ago.
I would be very surprised if the Region paid for that construction.
On the issue of trains and railway tracks North of the north- east traffic calming imbroglio, I once stood in a field proposed for development and wondered who would buy a home abutting a railway track.
But they came and they did. Later they argued there was only one train using the track at the time.and it was during the day. They didn't realise it would change.
I can understand purchasing a first home, a buyer, without experience, might overlook certain possibilities and disregard others.
I've done it. Anyone privileged to own a home has.
I don't understand why, years down the road, after discovering dis-advantages of the choice, that entitles an owner to expect the problem to be solved at public expense.
The train whistle is a dead issue.
You now have the acoustic barrier. As I watch it grow, it seems the project must have expanded.
The Region is two billion dollars in debt. Daily interest on the debt probably costs millions.
Constructing noise barriers after the fact sets a precedent hard to reverse
On this single observation,I would opine ( I picked that word up from a past solicitor) regional fiscal management is in the pits.
It is out of control. If it was an American bank it would fold.
Every property-owner in the Region, including residents having expensive noise barriers built at public expense, has reason to be concerned similar decisions are being made we are not aware.
I see blue sky through the foliage on my maple tree. Maybe the week-end will be better than forecast..
Have a great one anyway. It will not come again.
Enjoy the rain. It's a blessing.
*Bathurst Blasphemer has left a new comment on your post "Bathurst Discussion Continues":
To be brief, I have no idea how the Region would collect money either.
As to your other Where and How questions, the answers are in the Regional policy document.
Now Traffic Calming is a different situation because it is controlled by the Town.
I believe that Kennedy Street residents have requested calming measures.
Are there plans to set a policy or simply debate the need on a case by case basis?
Should we all pay or should the neighbourhood pay all or some of the cost?
Growth has its advantages but sometimes causes problems too.
GO has already announced that in the not too distant future we will have weekend train service, and eventually all day service if the demand is there.
A GO train rumbling through Aurora possibly every hour.
That should make for interesting debate about level crossings and whistles.
*************8
Thank you again for your response.Council rules don't allow in-depth discussion. Rules of Order were reviewed, thirty minutes were reduced to ten. Thirty were seldom used but ten is ridiculous.
I am frequently cut off by the Mayor before I have fully stated my position.
Last term I contended with sneering. jeering,insufferable condescension and abuse at the hands of the Presiding member.
This term the situation is vastly improved
.It was eight months into the last term that I started the blog.
Now I have the satisfaction of continuing to debate with whoever chooses to join.
It means people have a new source of information. They don't have to be content with truncated Council debate on television.
They can comment. Ask questions. Share information and gain a perspective not heretofore available.. Like yourself.
This morning I challenge the contention that character and function of Bathurst Street has changed since homes were built twenty years ago.
Bathurst was a county road before it was Regional. Distinction from municipal lies in its purpose. A regional road carries traffic from one municipality to another.
Municipal roads carry traffic within the municipality.Even they are classified. .Kennedy Street West is an arterial collector. meaning it collects traffic from side streets.
Provincial Highways carry traffic throughout the Province.
The Trans-Canada Highway traverses the nation.
Bathurst Street has always been a County road . Opening roads were the first function of government.
It was never a local road.
Road allowances taken in the mid -seventies at the time of paving Bathurst.clearly delineated its future.
The Region has planning jurisdiction over 10, I thought it was feet but it might be metres, on either side of the road.
They always had the jurisdiction to require developers to erect noise barriers between homes and regional roads.
I have seen them in Woodbridge, probably thirty years ago.
I would be very surprised if the Region paid for that construction.
On the issue of trains and railway tracks North of the north- east traffic calming imbroglio, I once stood in a field proposed for development and wondered who would buy a home abutting a railway track.
But they came and they did. Later they argued there was only one train using the track at the time.and it was during the day. They didn't realise it would change.
I can understand purchasing a first home, a buyer, without experience, might overlook certain possibilities and disregard others.
I've done it. Anyone privileged to own a home has.
I don't understand why, years down the road, after discovering dis-advantages of the choice, that entitles an owner to expect the problem to be solved at public expense.
The train whistle is a dead issue.
You now have the acoustic barrier. As I watch it grow, it seems the project must have expanded.
The Region is two billion dollars in debt. Daily interest on the debt probably costs millions.
Constructing noise barriers after the fact sets a precedent hard to reverse
On this single observation,I would opine ( I picked that word up from a past solicitor) regional fiscal management is in the pits.
It is out of control. If it was an American bank it would fold.
Every property-owner in the Region, including residents having expensive noise barriers built at public expense, has reason to be concerned similar decisions are being made we are not aware.
I see blue sky through the foliage on my maple tree. Maybe the week-end will be better than forecast..
Have a great one anyway. It will not come again.
Enjoy the rain. It's a blessing.
Friday, 1 June 2012
Bathurst Discussion Continues
Bathurst Blasphemer has left a new comment on your post "Facts For
The Record":
I would expect that the subject of prudent spending at the Regional level is a source of endless questions, arguments and counter-arguments.
I certainly do not want to extend this discussion endlessly but I would like to make a few points.Anyone can view the 5 page noise barrier policy on the Region's website.
It is dated 2006.
No doubt the policy is partially the result of noise concerns from folks like us in the Bathurst area.
In short - the Region will install a barrier under certain circumstances:
IF the noise increases to a certain level.
IF it can be shown a barrier will be effective.
IF there are no other alternatives.
The Region will pay IF the noise is a result of a Capital Improvement to CERTAIN Regional roads - such as expanding Bathurst to four lanes.
In addition, under certain circumstances, and subject to funding approval, a "neighbourhood initiative" noise barrier could still be installed if enough neighbours agreed to put up half the cost.
An example of that would be if Bathurst was still two lanes but area residents thought it was getting too noisy anyway.
I expect Councillor Buck would argue that the Region shouldn't be paying for any of it.
I also expect some would agree.
However.
The policy is clear and applies to any neighbourhoods in the Region that qualify.
This is not a "squeaky wheel gets the grease" or "one of the Bathurst residents must know someone" deal.
Under the policy we qualified so we got it.
Can the Town of Aurora say the same about the traffic calming project in Northeast Aurora?
Does the Town have a standard traffic calming policy that applies equally to all?
Wasn't that project a classic example of "squeaky wheel" that should have been "neighbourhood initiative"?
Now it appears as if we might all have to pay to remove these very same chicanes that were once so "necessary"?
The amount of tax dollars involved in the traffic calming situation is certainly less than the noise barrier but the principle is the same:
Establishing and following a written policy for all is preferable, in my opinion at least, to the "squeaky wheels with friends on council" approach, even if that policy is a result of prodding from concerned residents.
And unlike a "favour", a written policy can be debated, argued, amended or replaced.
Again, I apologize for the wordiness.
**********************
No need to apologize. Wes appreciate the information provided. I'm equally sure no-one faults Bathurst Street residents for doing something they would likely do themselves if the need .arose.
The Region's spending policies are not the subject of endless questioning . They are never talked about at all.
People do not relate to the Region. I contend the Region does not relate to people.
The traffic calming project in the north east quadrant of the town is exactly the same category as Bathurst Street fencing. It had less to commend it. At least the Region went to the trouble of creating a policy, however fragile, to make things look right.
You are right that I do not agree to spreading the cost of neighborhood projects . You are also right that some would agree .I would add,others would not.
In the essence of democratic politics we are free to disagree without hating each other..
A policy is it is not chiselled in stone. A policy can be observed or ignored. It can be changed for political expediency... It can be variously interpreted. .
If the policy was advertised and promoted, the Region would be inundated with requests for
acoustic barriers on all Regional roads that have become busier with time and development .
Why would developers agree to erect acoustic barriers if the noise decibel was not at the required level at the time of building.?
How would the Region be able to predict it ever would reach the decibel level to need a barrier?
I do not remember any public debate or discussion about the policy when it was adopted in 2006.
There is no requirement under the Planning Act for any level of government to publicize policies.They have no teeth.
Is there anything in the policy about paying with development levies rather that adding to the
tax burden.
That "Neighbourhood Initiative" referred to in the Region's policy. Sounds suspiciously like a Neighborhood Improvement.
I referred to that already..
The problem is a Neighbourhood Improvement is paid for by a tax imposed on the benefiting property. It's not attached to the owner. It's attached to the property..
The Region is not the tax collector. .That's the town's responsibility.
There is no practical way the Region could enter i an agreement with property owners to pay 50% of a project. .They do not have the mechanism.
Not everyone would be interested in this discussion. I think my readers are.
I thank you for providing information we would otherwise never have discovered.
That's the burr under my saddle with the Region.
And I do not have a solution..
And that's the other burr.
. . . .
I would expect that the subject of prudent spending at the Regional level is a source of endless questions, arguments and counter-arguments.
I certainly do not want to extend this discussion endlessly but I would like to make a few points.Anyone can view the 5 page noise barrier policy on the Region's website.
It is dated 2006.
No doubt the policy is partially the result of noise concerns from folks like us in the Bathurst area.
In short - the Region will install a barrier under certain circumstances:
IF the noise increases to a certain level.
IF it can be shown a barrier will be effective.
IF there are no other alternatives.
The Region will pay IF the noise is a result of a Capital Improvement to CERTAIN Regional roads - such as expanding Bathurst to four lanes.
In addition, under certain circumstances, and subject to funding approval, a "neighbourhood initiative" noise barrier could still be installed if enough neighbours agreed to put up half the cost.
An example of that would be if Bathurst was still two lanes but area residents thought it was getting too noisy anyway.
I expect Councillor Buck would argue that the Region shouldn't be paying for any of it.
I also expect some would agree.
However.
The policy is clear and applies to any neighbourhoods in the Region that qualify.
This is not a "squeaky wheel gets the grease" or "one of the Bathurst residents must know someone" deal.
Under the policy we qualified so we got it.
Can the Town of Aurora say the same about the traffic calming project in Northeast Aurora?
Does the Town have a standard traffic calming policy that applies equally to all?
Wasn't that project a classic example of "squeaky wheel" that should have been "neighbourhood initiative"?
Now it appears as if we might all have to pay to remove these very same chicanes that were once so "necessary"?
The amount of tax dollars involved in the traffic calming situation is certainly less than the noise barrier but the principle is the same:
Establishing and following a written policy for all is preferable, in my opinion at least, to the "squeaky wheels with friends on council" approach, even if that policy is a result of prodding from concerned residents.
And unlike a "favour", a written policy can be debated, argued, amended or replaced.
Again, I apologize for the wordiness.
**********************
No need to apologize. Wes appreciate the information provided. I'm equally sure no-one faults Bathurst Street residents for doing something they would likely do themselves if the need .arose.
The Region's spending policies are not the subject of endless questioning . They are never talked about at all.
People do not relate to the Region. I contend the Region does not relate to people.
The traffic calming project in the north east quadrant of the town is exactly the same category as Bathurst Street fencing. It had less to commend it. At least the Region went to the trouble of creating a policy, however fragile, to make things look right.
You are right that I do not agree to spreading the cost of neighborhood projects . You are also right that some would agree .I would add,others would not.
In the essence of democratic politics we are free to disagree without hating each other..
A policy is it is not chiselled in stone. A policy can be observed or ignored. It can be changed for political expediency... It can be variously interpreted. .
If the policy was advertised and promoted, the Region would be inundated with requests for
acoustic barriers on all Regional roads that have become busier with time and development .
Why would developers agree to erect acoustic barriers if the noise decibel was not at the required level at the time of building.?
How would the Region be able to predict it ever would reach the decibel level to need a barrier?
I do not remember any public debate or discussion about the policy when it was adopted in 2006.
There is no requirement under the Planning Act for any level of government to publicize policies.They have no teeth.
Is there anything in the policy about paying with development levies rather that adding to the
tax burden.
That "Neighbourhood Initiative" referred to in the Region's policy. Sounds suspiciously like a Neighborhood Improvement.
I referred to that already..
The problem is a Neighbourhood Improvement is paid for by a tax imposed on the benefiting property. It's not attached to the owner. It's attached to the property..
The Region is not the tax collector. .That's the town's responsibility.
There is no practical way the Region could enter i an agreement with property owners to pay 50% of a project. .They do not have the mechanism.
Not everyone would be interested in this discussion. I think my readers are.
I thank you for providing information we would otherwise never have discovered.
That's the burr under my saddle with the Region.
And I do not have a solution..
And that's the other burr.
. . . .
Quuestions Abound ..! ! !
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "You
Are Right...Up To A Point":
I think the residents would be best served if you ran for Mayor next election. You will surely win and then you would have a seat at the Region's table. Then with your Dale Carnegie manner you can convince them all of the errors of their ways...
***************
What am I supposed to make of the above comment? Is it a compliment or is it sarcasm.
I never took a Dale Carnegie course. But the late Dick Illingworth did. As politicians, our style was not the same.
So I lean towards sarcasm.
It doesn't matter. No more than it matters who occupies our single seat at the region.
The southern municipalities hold the balance of power. As long as regional Councillors are pandered by regional staff, and regional staff, in turn, are unchallenged, there's little likelihood of the region providing satisfactory service or fiscal management.
The essential tension between council and administration is missing.Absent without leave... Missing in action...No visible signs of life...Non-existent...Failed brakes....Spiraling out of Control.
Who occupies the chair would not likely make a difference either. It never has. Chances are some opportunistic politician sees an opportunity to pick up a cool couple of hundred a year without having to do anything but keep an already contented Council happy.
Think what an election campaign for the top office would call for:
The size of the Region. It's big enough to accommodate several federal and several provincial ridings.
How much would it cost?
Where would the money come from?
What would the voters list look like? Would it need to be organised on party lines?
The real competition would be in Markham Vaughan and Richmond Hill.
A Chinese-Italian of Jewish persuasion would definitely have the edge.
Development money would provide the means.
Think about the enormity of the exercise...the cost
What would be the benefit?
Would we be better served ?
I think not
Hey...wait a minute...am I allowed to say that without casting aspersions on every other person who might have an opinion?
Well.....I just did...so sue me.
Does the Region have a Code of Conduct and an Integrity Commissioner?
Is the Pope Catholic?
I think the residents would be best served if you ran for Mayor next election. You will surely win and then you would have a seat at the Region's table. Then with your Dale Carnegie manner you can convince them all of the errors of their ways...
***************
What am I supposed to make of the above comment? Is it a compliment or is it sarcasm.
I never took a Dale Carnegie course. But the late Dick Illingworth did. As politicians, our style was not the same.
So I lean towards sarcasm.
It doesn't matter. No more than it matters who occupies our single seat at the region.
The southern municipalities hold the balance of power. As long as regional Councillors are pandered by regional staff, and regional staff, in turn, are unchallenged, there's little likelihood of the region providing satisfactory service or fiscal management.
The essential tension between council and administration is missing.Absent without leave... Missing in action...No visible signs of life...Non-existent...Failed brakes....Spiraling out of Control.
Who occupies the chair would not likely make a difference either. It never has. Chances are some opportunistic politician sees an opportunity to pick up a cool couple of hundred a year without having to do anything but keep an already contented Council happy.
Think what an election campaign for the top office would call for:
The size of the Region. It's big enough to accommodate several federal and several provincial ridings.
How much would it cost?
Where would the money come from?
What would the voters list look like? Would it need to be organised on party lines?
The real competition would be in Markham Vaughan and Richmond Hill.
A Chinese-Italian of Jewish persuasion would definitely have the edge.
Development money would provide the means.
Think about the enormity of the exercise...the cost
What would be the benefit?
Would we be better served ?
I think not
Hey...wait a minute...am I allowed to say that without casting aspersions on every other person who might have an opinion?
Well.....I just did...so sue me.
Does the Region have a Code of Conduct and an Integrity Commissioner?
Is the Pope Catholic?
You Are Right...Up To A Point
"Aurora's homeowners are paying for the Region's project."
And so are Vaughan's residents, and Richmond Hill's, and Markham's and
so on. I would think they should be more pissed than Aurora's
residents. We do not live in a vacuum.
I submit to you however that the majority of these residents have a
valid complaint. Some of these houses were built in a time when
Bathurst was a 2 lane road, not the 4 lane aterial roadway it is now.
The environment was changed on them, they did not buy with the
environment as it is now. I do not blame the homeowner - as you do
here. on Facts For The Record
*****************************
Residents of the Region are all entitled to be pissed off by the Region's spending policies.
Homeowners are entitled to put forward their interest to government.
I speak only for residents of Aurora.
I do not blame residents for bringing concerns forward.They have that right.
I would cry too if it happened to me.
My criticism is reserved for the Region and the decision they made.
It doesn't end now. The acoustic fence will have to be maintained. In another twenty years, it will likely have to be replaced at public expense again.
Had the Region required developers to build acoustic fencing at the time of building, the cost would have been bourne by home-owners.
Done now. it should be a local improvement. Under the town's jurisdiction.
A local improvement has two benefits. Those who want the improvement pay for it. It's done at their request. Seventy-five per cent of participating property-owners have to approve.
That way,benefit is measured against cost and property-owners make their own judgement about the value.
Bathurst Street was re-constructed in the mid seventies when the Province was sharing the cost at 50cents on the dollar.
Two lanes were paved but full width was taken and the design provided for increased lanes..
It was a preferred option toYonge Street.
Homes built twenty years ago and development since, have increased the traffic and the need to add lanes.
Homebuyers in urban Aurora had no reason to expect it was or would continue to be a country road.
The fact the urban boundary ends on Aurora's side is areason that mitigates against the Region's decision to take responsibility for fencing.
In the foreseeable future, the west side of Bathurst will NOT be developed.
NO urban traffic will emanate from there.
Gravel roads are not urbanized without urban traffic.
Bathurst pavement ends at Green Lane with,I think, East Gwillimbury on one side and King on the other; both rural municipalities.
With respect, just because former city-dwellers come to live in a small urban municipality surrounded by rural townships, doesn't mean they don't have the responsibility to learn something about the nature of the place where they have chosen to make a major property investment.
The Region, in accommodating a special interest group under our very noses has not served us or them well.
I shudder to think what they are doing where we are not watching.
How do they justify two billion dollars worth of debt? .
*****************************
Residents of the Region are all entitled to be pissed off by the Region's spending policies.
Homeowners are entitled to put forward their interest to government.
I speak only for residents of Aurora.
I do not blame residents for bringing concerns forward.They have that right.
I would cry too if it happened to me.
My criticism is reserved for the Region and the decision they made.
It doesn't end now. The acoustic fence will have to be maintained. In another twenty years, it will likely have to be replaced at public expense again.
Had the Region required developers to build acoustic fencing at the time of building, the cost would have been bourne by home-owners.
Done now. it should be a local improvement. Under the town's jurisdiction.
A local improvement has two benefits. Those who want the improvement pay for it. It's done at their request. Seventy-five per cent of participating property-owners have to approve.
That way,benefit is measured against cost and property-owners make their own judgement about the value.
Bathurst Street was re-constructed in the mid seventies when the Province was sharing the cost at 50cents on the dollar.
Two lanes were paved but full width was taken and the design provided for increased lanes..
It was a preferred option toYonge Street.
Homes built twenty years ago and development since, have increased the traffic and the need to add lanes.
Homebuyers in urban Aurora had no reason to expect it was or would continue to be a country road.
The fact the urban boundary ends on Aurora's side is areason that mitigates against the Region's decision to take responsibility for fencing.
In the foreseeable future, the west side of Bathurst will NOT be developed.
NO urban traffic will emanate from there.
Gravel roads are not urbanized without urban traffic.
Bathurst pavement ends at Green Lane with,I think, East Gwillimbury on one side and King on the other; both rural municipalities.
With respect, just because former city-dwellers come to live in a small urban municipality surrounded by rural townships, doesn't mean they don't have the responsibility to learn something about the nature of the place where they have chosen to make a major property investment.
The Region, in accommodating a special interest group under our very noses has not served us or them well.
I shudder to think what they are doing where we are not watching.
How do they justify two billion dollars worth of debt? .
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Nitpicking In The Real Sense Of The Word.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Budget
Rant":
"Her critic's..."
There's one of those pesky, incorrectly-used apostrophes that so perturb grammarians. It should be "critics," as in plural, multiple - and there are many, even in the comments section of this blog.
*****************
Note that sly dig ."EVEN in the comments section of this blog."
It's eleven o'clock.
I should make a point of not reading comments at this time of night.
I am inclined to wonder how many " perturbed grammarians" are writing blogs people are inclined to read despite "pesky, incorrectly used apostrophes"
"Her critic's..."
There's one of those pesky, incorrectly-used apostrophes that so perturb grammarians. It should be "critics," as in plural, multiple - and there are many, even in the comments section of this blog.
*****************
Note that sly dig ."EVEN in the comments section of this blog."
It's eleven o'clock.
I should make a point of not reading comments at this time of night.
I am inclined to wonder how many " perturbed grammarians" are writing blogs people are inclined to read despite "pesky, incorrectly used apostrophes"
Facts For The Record
I know that the Region - particlularly their spending habits - is a constant
burr under your saddle councillor Buck so I'm willing to take your little rant
with a grain of salt.
For those readers who are interested however here are a few facts for the record.
1. The noise barrier has been in discussion for at least 10 years.
Much of the time was consumed by taking decibel readings and measurements and clarifying exactly what the Regions previously undefined noise policy was going to be.
2. There were several public meetings with the area residents - one was at AuroraTown Hall where we met with Regional staff and consulting engineers.
3. Each homeowners property was inspected and a determination made as to the noise-reduction effectiveness of a barrier and any environmental effects the barrier would have.
Where the barrier was of no use - such as homes with driveways onto Bathurst, homes too far below grade or homes already protected by the natural terrain - a barrier was not put in.
Existing fences on the barrier "right of way" were removed.
Each home lot plan was detailed even to the point of which existing trees had to be removed and which trees would be planted as replacements.
Maybe York Region staff didn't keep Aurora council informed but as far as I'm concerned they were very forthcoming and open in their communications with residents.
Did it take too long to happen?
perhaps.
Is it perfect?
perhaps not.
But it's a vast improvment for homes that have seen Bathurst go from a country cowpath into a very busy four lane thoroughfare.
One could always argue about the cost and whether or not the area "deserved" to get a noise barrier but bear in mind a couple of points.
The noise barrier is in keeping with the Regions noise policy regarding homes abutting 4 lane roads and yes I know - new subs have the cost "built-in".
Expect more arguments when Leslie and Bloomington are made four lane one day.
Also expect a barrier on the west side of Bathurst when King gets developed.
Also - the train whistle argument doesn't quite hold. Train whistles aren't banned in certain areas - they affect anyone that lives near the tracks just as traffic noise affects anyone living next to four lane roads.
Telling some residents that they'll have to put up with the noise is like telling some "whistle" residents that they should have bought a house along a different section of the track where whisltes aren't allowed.
Sorry to be long-winded but one shouldn't assume this was a "midnight madness" quickie job on the part of the Region.
If you want to know more contact the Region's engineering department - talk to the residents in the area.
It's not a secret.
******************************
I challenge none of the facts above. I was there for some discussion in a Council meeting with some of the Bathurst Street residents.
I enjoyed watching regional officials interacting with Aurora residents.
Considering the potential for unimaginable cost precedent
throughout the Region of installing barrier fencing at publicexpense
long after subdivisions had been completed, I did not envy the problem.
I as mistaken. They had no problem. They simply said Yes.
As I watch that fence being built, mile after mile, I cannot comprehend how the Region accepted that responsibility.
It's not unusual for a municipality to receive a complaint from a new resident about the traffic.He bought a house on a major artery, probably on a Sunday morning, and finds out after, it is not a quiet little layby safe for his children to play.
He demands the municipality divert the traffic onto somebody else's street.
We cannot do that.The street was designed to be a major collector. Traffic increases with time.Traffic flow cannot be changed.
If there was a mistake, it was made by the homebuyer.
If he cannot live in the house he bought because of traffic he didn't see, a new decision is his to make.
The municipal public purse will simply not stretch to take care of all the surprises people discover after they have purchased a
home.
Aurora's homeowners are paying for the Region's project.
People having a having a hard time finding resources to repair roofs, driveways fences,cut down dangerous trees , pay the mortgage. and senior's with no mortgage, forced to give up homes because property taxes are beyond their means.
The crippling taxes include paying for the handsome, expensive, acoustic amenity the Region is building for Bathurst Street homeowners at the expense of the rest of us
That my friend, is one of the reasons for the burr under my saddle about regional spending.
Don't make the mistake of dismissing it with a grain of salt.
The ground is not too steady under your feet.
I have heard how Regional staff nurture and care for regional Councillors. How they bend over backwards to cater to every little whim.
I have seen examples.
For those readers who are interested however here are a few facts for the record.
1. The noise barrier has been in discussion for at least 10 years.
Much of the time was consumed by taking decibel readings and measurements and clarifying exactly what the Regions previously undefined noise policy was going to be.
2. There were several public meetings with the area residents - one was at AuroraTown Hall where we met with Regional staff and consulting engineers.
3. Each homeowners property was inspected and a determination made as to the noise-reduction effectiveness of a barrier and any environmental effects the barrier would have.
Where the barrier was of no use - such as homes with driveways onto Bathurst, homes too far below grade or homes already protected by the natural terrain - a barrier was not put in.
Existing fences on the barrier "right of way" were removed.
Each home lot plan was detailed even to the point of which existing trees had to be removed and which trees would be planted as replacements.
Maybe York Region staff didn't keep Aurora council informed but as far as I'm concerned they were very forthcoming and open in their communications with residents.
Did it take too long to happen?
perhaps.
Is it perfect?
perhaps not.
But it's a vast improvment for homes that have seen Bathurst go from a country cowpath into a very busy four lane thoroughfare.
One could always argue about the cost and whether or not the area "deserved" to get a noise barrier but bear in mind a couple of points.
The noise barrier is in keeping with the Regions noise policy regarding homes abutting 4 lane roads and yes I know - new subs have the cost "built-in".
Expect more arguments when Leslie and Bloomington are made four lane one day.
Also expect a barrier on the west side of Bathurst when King gets developed.
Also - the train whistle argument doesn't quite hold. Train whistles aren't banned in certain areas - they affect anyone that lives near the tracks just as traffic noise affects anyone living next to four lane roads.
Telling some residents that they'll have to put up with the noise is like telling some "whistle" residents that they should have bought a house along a different section of the track where whisltes aren't allowed.
Sorry to be long-winded but one shouldn't assume this was a "midnight madness" quickie job on the part of the Region.
If you want to know more contact the Region's engineering department - talk to the residents in the area.
It's not a secret.
******************************
I challenge none of the facts above. I was there for some discussion in a Council meeting with some of the Bathurst Street residents.
I enjoyed watching regional officials interacting with Aurora residents.
Considering the potential for unimaginable cost precedent
throughout the Region of installing barrier fencing at publicexpense
long after subdivisions had been completed, I did not envy the problem.
I as mistaken. They had no problem. They simply said Yes.
As I watch that fence being built, mile after mile, I cannot comprehend how the Region accepted that responsibility.
It's not unusual for a municipality to receive a complaint from a new resident about the traffic.He bought a house on a major artery, probably on a Sunday morning, and finds out after, it is not a quiet little layby safe for his children to play.
He demands the municipality divert the traffic onto somebody else's street.
We cannot do that.The street was designed to be a major collector. Traffic increases with time.Traffic flow cannot be changed.
If there was a mistake, it was made by the homebuyer.
If he cannot live in the house he bought because of traffic he didn't see, a new decision is his to make.
The municipal public purse will simply not stretch to take care of all the surprises people discover after they have purchased a
home.
Aurora's homeowners are paying for the Region's project.
People having a having a hard time finding resources to repair roofs, driveways fences,cut down dangerous trees , pay the mortgage. and senior's with no mortgage, forced to give up homes because property taxes are beyond their means.
The crippling taxes include paying for the handsome, expensive, acoustic amenity the Region is building for Bathurst Street homeowners at the expense of the rest of us
That my friend, is one of the reasons for the burr under my saddle about regional spending.
Don't make the mistake of dismissing it with a grain of salt.
The ground is not too steady under your feet.
I have heard how Regional staff nurture and care for regional Councillors. How they bend over backwards to cater to every little whim.
I have seen examples.
The Pesky Pest Preoccupation
So, we have several government agencies cooperatively monitoring the little green beetle from Korea:
The Region of York, The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, The Provincial Ministry of Environment,conservation authorities and six municipalities in the Region.
Conservation authorities are Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe.
So there you have it:
A little green bug contentedly munching its way unimpeded under the bark of ash trees throughout the region being monitored by a dozen different government agencies.
York Region is the only media release I have received.
Nothing new is communicated. No dramatic discovery. No warnings of what to do in the citing of.
Just information and a picture of a green box hanging in a tree fifteen feet off the ground that should not be touched. They have an adhesive substance on the outside and emerald ash borer attracting substance on the inside.
There are warning signs not to touch the boxes because they might cause mild skin irritation and there's information about the emerald ash borer.
Short of spending millions of dollars over decades in a futile effort to fight the colourful critter from doing what emerald ash borers are born to do, there is no option but let them chomp away,and replace ash trees with a different species as decimation proceeds.
All this has happened before.
No great calamity ensued.
The planet has not been denuded.
The human species has survived
But we have the comfort of knowing York Region Stands Guard.
They can't do a thing about the bug.
But they are watching it.
Think of the green moolah, they have been able to dispose of in the process of not disposing of the emerald ash borer.
The Region of York, The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, The Provincial Ministry of Environment,conservation authorities and six municipalities in the Region.
Conservation authorities are Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe.
So there you have it:
A little green bug contentedly munching its way unimpeded under the bark of ash trees throughout the region being monitored by a dozen different government agencies.
York Region is the only media release I have received.
Nothing new is communicated. No dramatic discovery. No warnings of what to do in the citing of.
Just information and a picture of a green box hanging in a tree fifteen feet off the ground that should not be touched. They have an adhesive substance on the outside and emerald ash borer attracting substance on the inside.
There are warning signs not to touch the boxes because they might cause mild skin irritation and there's information about the emerald ash borer.
Short of spending millions of dollars over decades in a futile effort to fight the colourful critter from doing what emerald ash borers are born to do, there is no option but let them chomp away,and replace ash trees with a different species as decimation proceeds.
All this has happened before.
No great calamity ensued.
The planet has not been denuded.
The human species has survived
But we have the comfort of knowing York Region Stands Guard.
They can't do a thing about the bug.
But they are watching it.
Think of the green moolah, they have been able to dispose of in the process of not disposing of the emerald ash borer.
The
Regional Municipality of York continues Emerald Ash Borer monitoring
survey program
Traps deployed to monitor spread of invasive insect
NEWMARKET
– The Regional Municipality of York continues to
monitor the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) with the placement
of 250 monitoring traps throughout York Region.
Bright
green prism-style monitoring traps will be placed in mature ash trees
on public lands, to help determine the spread of the EAB. The
invasive species is native to Asia and has no known Canadian
predator. It was first noticed in York Region in 2008.
Monitoring
traps are being placed approximately four to five metres above-ground
and one square kilometre apart in the following municipalities:
- Northern portions of the Township of King and the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
- Towns of Aurora, Newmarket, East Gwillimbury and Georgina
York
Region is working co-operatively with the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency, the Ministry of Natural Resources, conservation authorities
and local municipalities to monitor the impact of the insect.
Traps
feature an adhesive coating on the outside with an EAB-attracting
substance on the inside. Signs will be posted in the vicinity of the
traps, providing information about the monitoring program. Residents
are asked to avoid contact with the traps as they may cause mild skin
irritation.
For
more information on the Emerald Ash Borer, please visit the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency website, www.inspection.gc.ca/pests
or call 1-866-463-6017. Information can also be found on the front
page link at www.york.ca
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
The Supremacy Of Ideas
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Budget
Rant":
"It would be refreshing if the next budget represented items that Council was really anxious and enthusiastic about - their ideas. The last one struck me as a wish-list for staff & trying to clean up past errors. A positive spin would be welcome."
And this would be the only time that this Town's or any town's council did that. Municipal politics breeds the local lobbying that we see. It should not be a surprise.
While this councillor contends she represents the views of those that elected her, there is an equal representation by the others around the table. Why should one councillor's opinions have more validity than another?
******************
This Councillor does not contend, for the purpose of this discussion that one Councillors opinions have more validity than others.
I do contend that any and all Councillors opinions are more relevant that any individual who may attend a budget meeting and seek to have input.
Councillors represent the public. An election was held to establish that principle. Nine people sit around the table. Some argue that's too many. It should certainly be enough to hear whatever opinions might be expressed in the community, if everyone is doing what they have been chosen to do.
Having private meetings with Directors for questions to be answered and willfully allowing themselves to be overwhelmed by professional expertise is not what they were elected to do.
We are not administrators. We are not part of their team.
We are there to maintain authority in the hands of the people who pay the bills.
Questions need to be asked and answered in public and therefore shared with each other and the public.
We need to ask the questions they would ask,were they in our place. We need to take the positions they might take in the circumstance, without fear or favour.
We need to maintain separation between ourselves and the administration for the purpose of decision-making.
We are not required to take the same position as any other. There may be safety but there is no virtue in that.
In a town of twenty-four thousand voting adults, it is entirely possible there could be at least nine different positions on any given issue.That would be a democratically robust and vigorous Council of strong-minded individuals prepared to duke it out for the supremacy of ideas.
We don't have that.
But I keep trying.
.
"It would be refreshing if the next budget represented items that Council was really anxious and enthusiastic about - their ideas. The last one struck me as a wish-list for staff & trying to clean up past errors. A positive spin would be welcome."
And this would be the only time that this Town's or any town's council did that. Municipal politics breeds the local lobbying that we see. It should not be a surprise.
While this councillor contends she represents the views of those that elected her, there is an equal representation by the others around the table. Why should one councillor's opinions have more validity than another?
******************
This Councillor does not contend, for the purpose of this discussion that one Councillors opinions have more validity than others.
I do contend that any and all Councillors opinions are more relevant that any individual who may attend a budget meeting and seek to have input.
Councillors represent the public. An election was held to establish that principle. Nine people sit around the table. Some argue that's too many. It should certainly be enough to hear whatever opinions might be expressed in the community, if everyone is doing what they have been chosen to do.
Having private meetings with Directors for questions to be answered and willfully allowing themselves to be overwhelmed by professional expertise is not what they were elected to do.
We are not administrators. We are not part of their team.
We are there to maintain authority in the hands of the people who pay the bills.
Questions need to be asked and answered in public and therefore shared with each other and the public.
We need to ask the questions they would ask,were they in our place. We need to take the positions they might take in the circumstance, without fear or favour.
We need to maintain separation between ourselves and the administration for the purpose of decision-making.
We are not required to take the same position as any other. There may be safety but there is no virtue in that.
In a town of twenty-four thousand voting adults, it is entirely possible there could be at least nine different positions on any given issue.That would be a democratically robust and vigorous Council of strong-minded individuals prepared to duke it out for the supremacy of ideas.
We don't have that.
But I keep trying.
.
Public Input
My thoughts ae organised for the post on the page in front of me.
When it's finished, my thoughts continue.
Last night's discussion about ways and means of encouraging the public to participate in the budget process reminded me of my reaction when I returned to Council in 2003 after a fourteen year absence.
I wasn't impressed then and I'm not now.
People will find their own way of letting a Councillor know what they think they need to.
The only people who have came to budget meetings were individuals or groups who wanted Council to include something in the budget.
I didn't regard that as particularly useful when the task at hand was to keep budget increase to a minimum and ensure services were maintained at a satisfactory level.
Besides, individuals may speak only for themselves
Councillors, on the other hand, each have authority to speak for
several thousand people and combined , we are accountable to all.
In the last several years I have not been able to support any budget
because of what I considered to be sheer bloody extravagance and no concern whatsoever for people who are experiencing hard times.
I have not noticed much attention at all to my objections to specific items in the budget.
If they wont listen to me, elected by a considerable number, why are they so anxious to hear from people who represent themselves alone.
Where's the logic?
We may be streaming the process this year so that people can watch it on line.
But of course, it will be an add-on to the budget.
.
When it's finished, my thoughts continue.
Last night's discussion about ways and means of encouraging the public to participate in the budget process reminded me of my reaction when I returned to Council in 2003 after a fourteen year absence.
I wasn't impressed then and I'm not now.
People will find their own way of letting a Councillor know what they think they need to.
The only people who have came to budget meetings were individuals or groups who wanted Council to include something in the budget.
I didn't regard that as particularly useful when the task at hand was to keep budget increase to a minimum and ensure services were maintained at a satisfactory level.
Besides, individuals may speak only for themselves
Councillors, on the other hand, each have authority to speak for
several thousand people and combined , we are accountable to all.
In the last several years I have not been able to support any budget
because of what I considered to be sheer bloody extravagance and no concern whatsoever for people who are experiencing hard times.
I have not noticed much attention at all to my objections to specific items in the budget.
If they wont listen to me, elected by a considerable number, why are they so anxious to hear from people who represent themselves alone.
Where's the logic?
We may be streaming the process this year so that people can watch it on line.
But of course, it will be an add-on to the budget.
.
A Budget Rant
At the Special meeting of Council last night to discuss budget- making , we heard how the City of Barrie does it..
Councillors meet with staff, singly or in pairs or few enough not to constitute a council meeting.
They ask all of their questions and receive a thorough explanation from the experts in a private setting.
Then after a day long public session , they clinch the budget.
From my perspective, Aurora Council is not looking for a shorter more expeditious way of creating a budget.
It appears to me there is dis-satisfaction that for all the hours we spend on the task, the feeling is Council did not have enough influence on the final outcome.
Yet, for a bunch of hedonistic politicians, hugely reluctance hangs about to say anything that might hint of criticism,
The slightest negative inflection is accompanied by overwhelming assurance of the wonderful work staff do. .
I do not find clarity in the budget process.
In my judgement, an operating budget should set out previous year's budgeted amount, actual cost and proposed cost to continue the program and source of revenue.
Everybody should be able to follow the budget.
The increased spending figures over the previous year are more relevant than per centage factors.A percent of sixty-nine million is significantly more than a per cent of seventy-nine million.
Increased revenue from growth should be a highlight.
Growth in spending should be relevant to growth in revenue. .
A statement often heard is that growth does not pay for itself.
Why oes it not?.
It's easy enough to spend like drunken sailors and then toss out the
the suspect phrase, growth does not pay for itself.
Education has not increased on the property tax for several years. The treasurer argues the provincial intent is to give municipalities more room to tax.
I entirely disagree.
We build facilities we could never contemplate without 90% development charge revenue.
We require developers to pay for infrastructure. Then we incease
taxes to pay for infrastructure.
The federal government provides a share of gas tax..This year it was $1.4 million dollars.
Assessment growth was $1.4 million give or take a dollar.
We didn't have $650 thousand to pay for an extended O.M.B. hearing. Nor $65 thousand for legal expenses to sue town residents.
We continued to hand over half a million of tax revenues to a non-accountable body to spend on stuff that by no stretch of anyone's imagination could be considered essential. .
$50 thousand dollars to the Arboretum to plant trees.
Another $50.thousand to the Historical Society while we have no museum to operate.
We increased taxes by 4.7 per cent and continued to blather on about growth not paying for growth.
We contend people living today should be obliged to put money in a reserve (a rainy day fund) so that people living twenty years from now won't have to pay what it costs to maintain facilities we built and they continue to enjoy. .
I figure, increased revenues from assessment and gas tax sharing from senior level , reduced expenditures here and there.in 2012 we are spending $11 million dollars more than we did in 2011.
If it keeps up this way , in our term of office, this council will have presided over an overall budget increase of about thirty million dollars. And there will be added debt.
At a time when we foresee an end to the town's growth, we will have increased full-time staff, let hundreds of thousand dollars worth of consultant contracts,. constructed forty million dollars worth of administrative and works facilities.and other cockamamie schemes like snow- melting treatment facilities, sidewalks on both sides of an industrial road at a cost of a $1 million apiece, where no pedestrians are ever seen to walk.
We will be purchasing "culture" at an annual increased cost of 3%
to the tune of best part of a million.
We will bleat about how growth doesn't pay for growth while spending hand over fist, greedily absorbing whatever assistance senior levels of government choose to hand out to lessen the burden on homeowners.while ensuring no such relief is realized.
Yes sir, we will have something to account for at the end of our term, if we do not take hold of the budget now.
.
Councillors meet with staff, singly or in pairs or few enough not to constitute a council meeting.
They ask all of their questions and receive a thorough explanation from the experts in a private setting.
Then after a day long public session , they clinch the budget.
From my perspective, Aurora Council is not looking for a shorter more expeditious way of creating a budget.
It appears to me there is dis-satisfaction that for all the hours we spend on the task, the feeling is Council did not have enough influence on the final outcome.
Yet, for a bunch of hedonistic politicians, hugely reluctance hangs about to say anything that might hint of criticism,
The slightest negative inflection is accompanied by overwhelming assurance of the wonderful work staff do. .
I do not find clarity in the budget process.
In my judgement, an operating budget should set out previous year's budgeted amount, actual cost and proposed cost to continue the program and source of revenue.
Everybody should be able to follow the budget.
The increased spending figures over the previous year are more relevant than per centage factors.A percent of sixty-nine million is significantly more than a per cent of seventy-nine million.
Increased revenue from growth should be a highlight.
Growth in spending should be relevant to growth in revenue. .
A statement often heard is that growth does not pay for itself.
Why oes it not?.
It's easy enough to spend like drunken sailors and then toss out the
the suspect phrase, growth does not pay for itself.
Education has not increased on the property tax for several years. The treasurer argues the provincial intent is to give municipalities more room to tax.
I entirely disagree.
We build facilities we could never contemplate without 90% development charge revenue.
We require developers to pay for infrastructure. Then we incease
taxes to pay for infrastructure.
The federal government provides a share of gas tax..This year it was $1.4 million dollars.
Assessment growth was $1.4 million give or take a dollar.
We didn't have $650 thousand to pay for an extended O.M.B. hearing. Nor $65 thousand for legal expenses to sue town residents.
We continued to hand over half a million of tax revenues to a non-accountable body to spend on stuff that by no stretch of anyone's imagination could be considered essential. .
$50 thousand dollars to the Arboretum to plant trees.
Another $50.thousand to the Historical Society while we have no museum to operate.
We increased taxes by 4.7 per cent and continued to blather on about growth not paying for growth.
We contend people living today should be obliged to put money in a reserve (a rainy day fund) so that people living twenty years from now won't have to pay what it costs to maintain facilities we built and they continue to enjoy. .
I figure, increased revenues from assessment and gas tax sharing from senior level , reduced expenditures here and there.in 2012 we are spending $11 million dollars more than we did in 2011.
If it keeps up this way , in our term of office, this council will have presided over an overall budget increase of about thirty million dollars. And there will be added debt.
At a time when we foresee an end to the town's growth, we will have increased full-time staff, let hundreds of thousand dollars worth of consultant contracts,. constructed forty million dollars worth of administrative and works facilities.and other cockamamie schemes like snow- melting treatment facilities, sidewalks on both sides of an industrial road at a cost of a $1 million apiece, where no pedestrians are ever seen to walk.
We will be purchasing "culture" at an annual increased cost of 3%
to the tune of best part of a million.
We will bleat about how growth doesn't pay for growth while spending hand over fist, greedily absorbing whatever assistance senior levels of government choose to hand out to lessen the burden on homeowners.while ensuring no such relief is realized.
Yes sir, we will have something to account for at the end of our term, if we do not take hold of the budget now.
.
The Internet Is Great
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A
Tangled Web Was Woven":
Believing is not the same as knowing. You can't state as fact what you don't categorically know to be true.
You need to qualify a lot of what you write.
**************
Can so state categorically what I believe to be true and my reasons for so believing.
Further, if the commenter will state his/her name and provide compelling evidence to suggest another explanation for the factors that lead me to believe what is true, I may revise what I believe and come to a different conclusion.
In politics, what is true is not always at first evident .
Smoke screens abound.
As in life, on the one hand this is true and on the other that is also true.
Both are true. But they contradict one another.
Seeking logic is sometimes like following a will o' the wisp.
In municipal politics, time is on one's side. If a situation makes no sense, one must simply watch and wait. Sooner or later a pattern emerges and all is clear. Like life, pieces of the puzzle simply fall into place.
People are not logical.They are not mathematical equations.They are mostly predictable.
Having opportunity to observe people for a period of years, gives one a sense of what they are about as politicians. The pattern of the political being is familiar. Language and deportment in the fish bowl of politics are signs and portents.
Nowadays, time can be spent texting or twittering while awaiting one's turn to speak .
Or one can use time and the opportunity to study the human political condition.
Enough time spent on any exercise creates an aptitude.Being proven right a sufficient number of times generates confidence.
Confidence and aptitude are useful qualities in the practice of politics.One might even say, essential for success.
.
Last night, Council spent two hours discussing the process of budget making. Clear disquiet with the current process was expressed.
A specific concern was how to encourage the public to participate.
I think the public who care, did all they could to participate, when they chose the nine people who would represent them for four years.
I have a contract with people who elect me. They lent me authority to participate on their behalf. I gave them assurance I would. "Without fear or favour"
"Go there", Evelyn" they told me. " Poke into all the neuks and crannies. Find out everything you need to know and cast your vote on our behalf. Don't worry if you're the only one.Do what you think is right. Don't expect we will always agree. But we will always know you did what you thought was right. Short of being there ourselves, that's the most we expect.
Oh! and one more thing. Evelyn. We like to be kept informed.The internet is great for that "
Believing is not the same as knowing. You can't state as fact what you don't categorically know to be true.
You need to qualify a lot of what you write.
**************
Can so state categorically what I believe to be true and my reasons for so believing.
Further, if the commenter will state his/her name and provide compelling evidence to suggest another explanation for the factors that lead me to believe what is true, I may revise what I believe and come to a different conclusion.
In politics, what is true is not always at first evident .
Smoke screens abound.
As in life, on the one hand this is true and on the other that is also true.
Both are true. But they contradict one another.
Seeking logic is sometimes like following a will o' the wisp.
In municipal politics, time is on one's side. If a situation makes no sense, one must simply watch and wait. Sooner or later a pattern emerges and all is clear. Like life, pieces of the puzzle simply fall into place.
People are not logical.They are not mathematical equations.They are mostly predictable.
Having opportunity to observe people for a period of years, gives one a sense of what they are about as politicians. The pattern of the political being is familiar. Language and deportment in the fish bowl of politics are signs and portents.
Nowadays, time can be spent texting or twittering while awaiting one's turn to speak .
Or one can use time and the opportunity to study the human political condition.
Enough time spent on any exercise creates an aptitude.Being proven right a sufficient number of times generates confidence.
Confidence and aptitude are useful qualities in the practice of politics.One might even say, essential for success.
.
Last night, Council spent two hours discussing the process of budget making. Clear disquiet with the current process was expressed.
A specific concern was how to encourage the public to participate.
I think the public who care, did all they could to participate, when they chose the nine people who would represent them for four years.
I have a contract with people who elect me. They lent me authority to participate on their behalf. I gave them assurance I would. "Without fear or favour"
"Go there", Evelyn" they told me. " Poke into all the neuks and crannies. Find out everything you need to know and cast your vote on our behalf. Don't worry if you're the only one.Do what you think is right. Don't expect we will always agree. But we will always know you did what you thought was right. Short of being there ourselves, that's the most we expect.
Oh! and one more thing. Evelyn. We like to be kept informed.The internet is great for that "
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
A Tangled Web Was Woven
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Contretemps":
Is that a question we can answer definitively, Evelyn? I mean, could you just ask our CAO who wrote the agreement? Even if it is not just one author, that's ok. He should be able to identify who participated in the actual writing of it. That shouldn't be a state secret, should it?
************
No indeed it should not be a state secret.
On the other hand.. the question was asked in a public meeting by Councillor John Abel;
"Who was involved in constructing this agreement".
The solicitor's answer ; "I have not been able to discover that"
The exchange took place after the solicitor presented his review of the contract.
At the time I thought the solicitor was being discreet.
Reader's may recall when I moved the solicitor review the agreement, the Mayor demurred on the basis of the solicitor's work load.
I have since learned the former Mayor spent many hours after the election, shredding documents in her office.
Concern was expressed but it was not prevented.
It is logical to assume on the basis of the information,town files may be missing or incomplete.
Going back slightly further to my request to an erstwhile solicitor for a record of all invoices for legal services incurred by the former Mayor:
Initially I was I would receive the material. . I was asked if I minded the solicitor having a word with the CAO.
I said I didn't care who he had a word with as long as I received what I was entitled to receive.
A week went by. I continued to be assured.
Further time passed and the information continued to be withheld.
Eventually, a motion was presented by former Councillor Wilson and seconded by former Councillor MacEachern , directing staff provide information pertaining to legal costs. It was passed by Council.
The Town Treasurer was asked if it could be done. He replied in the affirmative.
There were Cheshire cat grins all around the table that night.So pleased were they by their astute handling of the situation. .
The resolution resulted in graphs being presented showing comparative legal costs for the past ten years.
The solicitor subsequently advised he could not provide the information I had requested as it would be contrary to Council's direction.
I was ultimately able to establish without staff help, cost of legal services to assist Council in formulating a Code of Conduct complaint against myself was $70. thousand.
Now back to the question of who wrote the agreement with the Culture Centre Board: information is the town had no solicitor on staff at the time. A legal clerk provided input.
I am unable to accept an agreement of such consequence would be the responsibility of a law clerk employed in the town's legal department.
The administration had authority to access services of an external law firm on the approved roster to carry out this important task.
Under all the circumstances noted, I have no trouble believing information provided to me recently the former Mayor herself wrote the contract.
If anyone has a different, more credible account of how that awful agreement came to be signed by the Mayor and Town Clerk, we would certainly be prepared to consider it.
As a Councillor I am empowered to exercise judgement.
Is that a question we can answer definitively, Evelyn? I mean, could you just ask our CAO who wrote the agreement? Even if it is not just one author, that's ok. He should be able to identify who participated in the actual writing of it. That shouldn't be a state secret, should it?
************
No indeed it should not be a state secret.
On the other hand.. the question was asked in a public meeting by Councillor John Abel;
"Who was involved in constructing this agreement".
The solicitor's answer ; "I have not been able to discover that"
The exchange took place after the solicitor presented his review of the contract.
At the time I thought the solicitor was being discreet.
Reader's may recall when I moved the solicitor review the agreement, the Mayor demurred on the basis of the solicitor's work load.
I have since learned the former Mayor spent many hours after the election, shredding documents in her office.
Concern was expressed but it was not prevented.
It is logical to assume on the basis of the information,town files may be missing or incomplete.
Going back slightly further to my request to an erstwhile solicitor for a record of all invoices for legal services incurred by the former Mayor:
Initially I was I would receive the material. . I was asked if I minded the solicitor having a word with the CAO.
I said I didn't care who he had a word with as long as I received what I was entitled to receive.
A week went by. I continued to be assured.
Further time passed and the information continued to be withheld.
Eventually, a motion was presented by former Councillor Wilson and seconded by former Councillor MacEachern , directing staff provide information pertaining to legal costs. It was passed by Council.
The Town Treasurer was asked if it could be done. He replied in the affirmative.
There were Cheshire cat grins all around the table that night.So pleased were they by their astute handling of the situation. .
The resolution resulted in graphs being presented showing comparative legal costs for the past ten years.
The solicitor subsequently advised he could not provide the information I had requested as it would be contrary to Council's direction.
I was ultimately able to establish without staff help, cost of legal services to assist Council in formulating a Code of Conduct complaint against myself was $70. thousand.
Now back to the question of who wrote the agreement with the Culture Centre Board: information is the town had no solicitor on staff at the time. A legal clerk provided input.
I am unable to accept an agreement of such consequence would be the responsibility of a law clerk employed in the town's legal department.
The administration had authority to access services of an external law firm on the approved roster to carry out this important task.
Under all the circumstances noted, I have no trouble believing information provided to me recently the former Mayor herself wrote the contract.
If anyone has a different, more credible account of how that awful agreement came to be signed by the Mayor and Town Clerk, we would certainly be prepared to consider it.
As a Councillor I am empowered to exercise judgement.
Unacceptable
I received a comment in response to a comment from Tim the Enchanter. It could have started a new thread of discussion
However it referred to Tim with an obscenity particularly repugnant to myself.
I have heard Sean Connery use it and had the same reaction.
Some advice I received recently.."If in doubt leave it out"
So I am,. If the writer cares to send it again without the offending term, the comment will be published.
However it referred to Tim with an obscenity particularly repugnant to myself.
I have heard Sean Connery use it and had the same reaction.
Some advice I received recently.."If in doubt leave it out"
So I am,. If the writer cares to send it again without the offending term, the comment will be published.
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