Monthly Archives: April 2017

04.29.17
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Retirement payouts to firefighters enough to make you sick


city_scope_logo-cmykYou have to look very, very carefully to find this gem in last Monday’s council agenda.
We’ll help you out. It’s on Page 65. A warning from the city’s director of finance, David Aristone.
“The various reserve balance are adequate in the short term,” advised Aristone in his 2016 year-end update to council. “However, for the longer term, the city is financially exposed in the following areas.
Aristone lists four areas with the final being “future retirement payouts for the fire department.”
No amount is listed, but we confirmed with human resources director Graham Dart the amount at the end of 2016 was approximately $1.3 million.
A tidy sum, that. And what is the $1.3 million earmarked for?

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04.25.17
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City to assume ownership of Lake Margaret . . . and those grass-gobbling geese


The process and implications of transferring ownership of Lake Margaret and associated lands to the city were outlined to residents of the lakeside subdivision in attendance Monday at city council’s reference committee meeting.
The update of the Lake Margaret Management Plan by city staff was deemed “a phenomenal presentation,” by one shoreline resident who added the process “restores a lot of our faith.”

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04.22.17
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Market study recommends more retail in downtown core; revitalization of Elgin Mall


city_scope_logo-cmykIn the period 2000 to 2015, St. Thomas experienced an almost three-fold increase in vacant commercial retail space. That’s one of the key findings in a 2015 retail market study to be presented to council Monday.
The study, undertaken by Dillon Consulting and W. Scott Morgan & Associates, sought to “analyse the ability of the city’s commercial policy framework to support the health of its retail market, while identifying the evolving retail market trends that may affect St. Thomas.”
The city has 2.46 million square feet of retail commercial space – an increase of 15 per cent since 2007 – but in that total, 313,000 square feet is vacant, up from 114,000 in the year 2000.

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04.19.17
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Talbot Street redevelopment moves east in 2018


Pending council approval, the city will proceed with design work for Phase 2 of Talbot Street redevelopment.
With successful completion of the initial phase last summer – at a cost of $3.2 million – the plan is to move east and begin work on that stretch of the roadway between Pearl and Mary streets.
talbot-street-redevelopmentjpgSurvey work will begin in the near future and include locates of existing utilities, a process that should entail little in the way of disruption to pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
This second phase will continue the success of the streetscape theme undertaken last year, advised David Jackson, the city’s manager of public works.
“The aesthetics of the street will be enhanced, a pedestrian friendly zone will be prioritized, and the majority of existing parking spaces will be maintained,” wrote Jackson in a release.
The project will include replacement of the sanitary sewer, watermain, utilities, road, sidewalk,  and streetlights.
As was the case last spring and summer, Talbot Street will be closed to vehicular traffic in a phased fashion.
Talbot Street plantersjpgThe construction will “include tight schedule deadlines and  financial penalties to ensure it is completed as quickly as possible,” stressed Jackson.
Pedestrian access will  more or less be maintained, with minor disruptions.
While no date has yet been established, Jackson advised a public meeting will be held in late 2017 where residents and business owners will have an opportunity to review the plans  and learn more about construction timing and impacts. 
Questions and comments may be emailed to: City Scope

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04.15.17
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Can a building simply crumble under the weight of engineering reports?


city_scope_logo-cmykIt was a question posed by one of three appeal court justices that cut to the chase in the latest snafu associated with the Sutherland Saga.
Wednesday morning at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, she queried why “a defect in service would make an order null and void.”
Specifically, why would an alleged deficiency in the manner in which Chris Peck, the city’s chief building inspector, delivered a notice to building owner David McGee, warning of demolition of the structure for failure to comply with a previous work order, render it null and void?
Well, that was the determination of Justice Kelly Gorman on Sept. 27 of last year at the Elgin County Courthouse, which let to the city’s appeal of that decision heard last week.

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04.12.17
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Fate of Sutherland Press building remains in a holding pattern


Not unlike the two combatants, a panel of three appeal court justices failed Wednesday to make any significant headway in the eight-year standoff that is the Sutherland Saga.
The nearly three-hour hearing held at Toronto’s Osgoode Hall dealt with the city’s appeal of a decision handed down September 27 of last year by Justice Kelly Gorman, who determined a notice issued in March of last year warning of demolition of the four-storey structure for failure to comply with a previous work order was null and void.

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04.11.17
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Call, click or mark . . . options for St. Thomas electors in the 2018 municipal vote


Unwilling to plunge head first into online voting, city council did reach a consensus Monday to collectively dip a toe into the water for the 2018 municipal election.
While one councillor called casting a ballot online “inevitable,” another worried about ensuring each eligible elector was limited to a single vote. But after healthy debate, council confirmed paper ballots as the primary method of voting in the next trip to the polls – to be counted through the use of electronic vote tabulators – with internet and telephone voting to be introduced as alternatives for advance polls only.

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04.10.17
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Sticky notes the first step in shaping the look of Port Stanley harbour


Port Stanley and area residents were invited to enjoy a free cup of coffee Monday and help define the look of the village for decades to come.
The harbour redevelopment open house attracted dozens of participants to the Village Square Coffee House who eagerly posted their ideas on brightly coloured sticky notes affixed to several aerial maps of the waterfront.

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04.08.17
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Please grant us a sane and sensible community grant policy


city_scope_logo-cmykA seemingly innocent comment at the close of Monday’s reference committee meeting – held prior to the regularly scheduled council session – unwittingly could have the same impact as flinging a full can of gas onto a smoldering fire.
In the new business portion of the meeting, Coun. Mark Burgess waded into the mire that is council grants to community groups, a process that sees hundreds of thousands of dollars doled out on an annual basis.
The response to the good councillor’s remark was swift.

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