Two weeks ago, we documented the public meeting held at the CASO station to garner public input on the Preferred Master Plan for the railway lands downtown.

The plan will identify areas for development and redevelopment, permitted land uses, transportation and mobility connections, parks, public service/community uses, and infrastructure strategies.

All of this while recognizing the historical significance of the railway lands and the Downtown St. Thomas Heritage Conservation District to ensure an appropriate transition of new development to low-rise residential areas.

In part, this follows the recent sale of a parcel of land at the Elgin County Railway Museum to Doug Tarry Homes for a planned residential development.

You can read that item here.

As noted, an information report will be presented to city council at the Sept. 14 meeting.

If there is any remaining doubt that St. Thomas will, in the coming years, be staring down transformational growth in the downtown core, the visualizations in Brandon Sloan’s Railway Lands Area Master Plan – Phases 1 and 2 presented to council should erase it.

The document outlines three options, which are summarized with graphics.

Potential for 475 to 1,325 new housing units – growth of 800 – 2,300 population

1. New Centre St. road extension connecting south to Wellington St. as a public street with access to adjacent lands (red dash line on graphic)

2. Continue with primarily commercial land use on Talbot St./First Ave./Wellington St.

3. Integrate new medium-rise residential (shown in orange) and medium-rise mixed-use (dark purple) for vacant and some redevelopment parcels

4. Allow for low-rise mixed-use on portions of Ross St. and Princess Ave./Centre St., with the remainder of the area mostly as existing land use permissions

5. New central park space, green corridor along Centre St. extension, rectangular Jonas Park, small addition to skate park area

6. Active transportation corridor east-west through lands (public ownership & easements) with one connection from/to Talbot St.

Potential for 2,300 to 3,550 new housing units – growth of 3,800- 6,000 population

1. New Centre St. road extension connecting east to CASO Crossing as a public street (red dash line on the graphic)

2. Create new public streets in grid pattern in central portion of area connecting to existing streets and providing access to new development blocks

3. Allow for mixed use along all of Talbot St, more portions of Wellington St, Princess Ave, Moore St.

4. Capitalize on vacant, larger parcels with high-rise mixed-use (nine storeys or greater, dark purple on graphic) or residential (yellow on graphic, nine stories or greater) for new housing or range of uses and to support surrounding businesses

5. Revised Jonas Park as central park square, green space in front of CASO building, larger addition to skate park area, new public square (Ross/Talbot)

6. Active transportation corridor east-west through lands (public ownership & easements) with one connection from/to Talbot St. (+ road connection)

Potential for 2,500 to 3,500 new housing units – growth of 4,200- 5,700 population

1. No Centre St road extension; a new public street from CASO Crossing to widened Jonas St and connecting to Wellington St. (red dash line on graphic)

2. Allow for mixed use along all of Talbot St., mostly to Balaclava St./CASO Crossing, on Wellington St., Princess Ave, Moore St., Ross St.

3. Utilize vacant, larger parcels with high-rise residential/mixed-use or medium-rise residential/mixed-use for new housing opportunities

4. Maintain commercial land use on Talbot East area, Wellington/First; allow mixed use for flexibility on portion of First Ave. lands

5. New linear park system with open area/views/connections to CASO Station and museum

6. Active transportation corridor east-west through lands as full public ownership open space system and multiple connections from/to Talbot St./Jonas St.

Remember, these are conceptual plans for information purposes only; however, if you live in the Jonas St. area, or east of First Ave., your view in the coming decades could potentially be a forest of high-rise buildings.

The full plan can be accessed here.

On a growth-related note, “really positive news for the long term of St. Thomas” was outlined during last Monday’s council meeting by Justin Lawrence, Executive Director of the city’s Industrial Development department.

The good news is related to a plan released by the IESO (Independent Electricity System Operator), which runs, plans, and oversees the hydro network in Ontario. This plan analyses hydro supply and demand for the next 20 years and makes recommendations for new and upgraded transmission lines and transformer stations.

Recognizing the growth underway in the St. Thomas area, a new transmission line and transformer station is suggested for some time in the late 2030s.

As Lawrence explained, “St. Thomas in itself does not build this infrastructure, and it’s not within council’s purview to decide if it goes or not. It’s the province’s decision through the IESO, but you can certainly advocate for this position to continue.

“in the end, it provides more power, which is a limiting factor in Ontario. A lot of development that happens, commercial, industrial, residential, will be limited by hydro capacity. So getting this would be a fantastic thing.

“There would be no direct cost applied to St. Thomas for the line or the transformation. All all the costs would be built back into the overall hydro rates that Hydro One charges to all users.”

The line would originate at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station and run to St. Thomas via Longwoods.

As expected, at the Sept. 8 meeting, city council approved a recommendation to formally cancel the L&PS Rail extension project and return the remaining levy-funded balance of approximately $285,000 to the infrastructure reserve.

And, the Director of Parks and Recreation will provide a report on a passive recreation use of the corridor lands for future budget consideration.

There was grumbling in a couple of corners about our negative coverage last week, specifically our comment that “St. Thomas is about to throw in the towel in its efforts to re-connect the missing link in the former London & Port Stanley rail line north of Talbot Street.”

This back-and-forth with CN has gone on for three decades, and the city report acknowledges “CN continues to refuse authorization for a connection to its rail corridor.”

The report continues, “While the city retains ownership of lands and rail assets associated with the project, there is currently no foreseeable path to achieving the intended rail reconnection.”

Two other factors are in play, beyond the city’s dialogue with CN.

MP Andrew Lawton started a petition encouraging the federal government to force CN to have Port Stanley Terminal Rail connect back to its tracks as per the 1990 order by what is now the Canadian Transportation Agency.

And Port Stanley Terminal Rail can file a formal complaint seeking enforcement of the connection order.

We will speak with PSTR president Dan Vernackt on whether he plans to proceed with that option.

Let’s assume, in a perfect world, CN is compelled to live by the order and the short stretch of track is re-laid.

What next?

Is there any reasonable belief CN will allow PSTR to run trains north to London? And is that the long-term goal of the volunteer-run railway? Perhaps dinner trains or murder mystery excursions on a limited weekend/holiday service.

Or is the intent to interchange freight with the tourist line?

If CN thought there was any profitability in the latter, they would have reconnected the line long ago.

The spur linking St. Thomas and London is a valuable CN asset, and its worth keeps increasing as the Yarmouth Yards industrial park attracts new customers.

The city knows that and invested millions of dollars in a new rail yard to service industries using those very same tracks.

We continue with our profiles of the candidates running in the Oct. 26 municipal vote.

For years, he was a friendly face behind the counter at Maxwell’s Foto Source. He’s been a member of the Knights of Columbus for more than 45 years and a long-time fixture in hockey and baseball in St. Thomas.

So, what prompted Brisson to test the political waters?

“It’s something I’ve thought for years and years and years, but unfortunately we had health issues with my wife, and time just wasn’t there.

“Now, I’m definitely committing. I talked to my family and quite a few friends, and they encouraged me to move ahead because obviously they thought that I was the right person for one of these eight positions.

“I’ve lived here my entire life. I’m known in the city as Mike from Maxwell’s or Mike from Minor Hockey, Mike from Shoppers Drug Mart, or Mike from Food Basics.”

We delved into his priorities and the things he considers issues that need to be addressed.

“I’m extremely happy with the arrival of the new battery plant and the spinoff companies. Lots of employment for our great city. But residents need value on their dollar, their tax dollar. So we need to be smart in all of our expenditures. Keep the tax rate, keep as low as possible.

“I would love to take another look at our city transit. And I’ve been committed to strengthening the essential services that protect and care for us. I believe I’m a longtime supporter of the hospital, our EMS, the fire department, and the police department.

“I believe the strong emergency and health system is the backbone of a thriving community. And that is what St. Thomas definitely is right now,  a thriving community. And I want it to go, go, go.

“I want our city to be safe, and I feel that way because I’m a widower. I’m a father of three sons, a grandfather to two wonderful little kids. My family has always been my anchor. And they’re the reason why I believe so strongly in a safe, supportive, and connected community that we have. And I want to keep it that way.”

Brisson continued, “I have many friends on council, and I can honestly say I know all of them quite well. Everything’s a team, and I want to be a part of that team. And I can’t wait to be part of this council and to listen to the citizens of St. Thomas regarding what their wants, their needs, and their concerns are for the city.

“And I’ve always felt that I have, not physically, but I’ve got big ears to listen to people and help them out in every way. I’ve got a big heart, and I want everybody involved. To enjoy their life and be happy. I guess that’s just kind of what my mom and dad taught me, and I continue on.

“My career’s connected me with many generations of families and businesses across Canada, and I’ve learned the importance of listening and building trust and treating people with respect, and that’s a quality that I honestly think I carry on through my life.”

He’s got a Facebook page and began his door-knocking campaign this month.

“So we’ll be that with my friends and family because I do have a great team. Everything’s done, I think, with a great, great bit of help in this. And I do have a lot of family and friends that are going to help me go door to door, putting these door knockers on and letting people know who I am and what I want to be for them.

“When I would go away sometimes, I’d come home, and my wife would say, ‘ Where have you been?’ And I said, well, I’ve been talking to people. And that’s just the type of person I am; I listen. And I will be there to help everybody.

“I’ll be front and center for anybody who comes and wants to talk to me, and that’s why I’m running as a candidate, because I believe in St. Thomas. I believe in its potential, and I believe in its people and its future.

“I lived a life of service, and I’m ready to continue this in a different type of service for the people of St. Thomas. It’s one where I can help and strengthen our community, support our essential services, and ensure that St. Thomas remains a place that we all – and I honestly mean that, all – are proud to call St. Thomas home.”

Brisson continues, “For 47 years, I managed that photographic store in St. Thomas. And it was a career that connected me with many families and businesses across the city. I’ve learned the importance of listening and building trust and treating people with respect. We all need respect.

“Everything I want to do is for the youth, the adults, the seniors, and I am a part of that category. And now we have another, our homeless people.

“Housing is a big factor that has come up so many times. The need for appropriate housing, not necessarily million-dollar homes. We need a broad spectrum of homes for all families.”

We asked Brisson if he had a campaign slogan.

“My dad used to always say, it’s nice to be important, but more important to be nice. And so, in closing, I’m here for the next four years and hopefully longer than that, for all the groups of St. Thomas. I want to listen and talk with all the people, and I want St. Thomas to stay strong as we grow and we grow together.

“I’ll always be a counsellor who you will be able to talk to and who will spend your tax dollar wisely and carefully. I promise you, the citizens of St. Thomas, that I will work hard for you.”

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And a reminder, I can be heard weekday afternoons as news anchor and reporter on 94.1 myFM in St. Thomas. As always, your comments and input are appreciated.