Category Archives: city finances

05.30.26
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‘Housing in our community is a crisis and needs to be filled,’ and the most contaminated field in the community is there to help

A large tract of barren land, a stone’s throw from Memorial Arena, a rubble-strewn reminder of the city’s once-dominant position in the age of the iron horse, has caught the eye of a London developer eager to transform the wasteland into desperately needed rental housing.

To the delight of St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston, who is all smiles at the prospect of another brownfield undergoing rehabilitation to add as many as 2,000 units to the city’s housing inventory.

Drewlo Holdings, a family-run enterprise based in London, has acquired the 20-acre site, stretching north and east of the intersection of Wilson Avenue and Elm Street.

The firm is proposing to construct six rental buildings with between 1,800 and 2,000 housing units.

Site preparation at the highly contaminated property has been underway for some time and includes full environmental remediation.

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05.23.26
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At the upcoming AMO conference, the city would like to bend the province’s ear on childcare, support for seniors, and further preparation for the explosive growth of St. Thomas

In February of 2024, city council endorsed the 2024-27 Strategic Plan, titled Brighter Future.

According to a report presented to council at the time, “The Strategic Plan provides a road map for the current term of council, and consists of a Vision and Mission statement, six Guiding Values, two broad Strategic Pillars, and eleven Strategic Priorities.”

Once the plan was endorsed, city staff began to outline existing activities aligned with the strategic plan and new actions to help the city toward its new vision.

The Strategic Plan is a ‘living document’ that is continually being reviewed and updated.

Another portal to the city’s priorities moving forward is the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference, to be held this year in Ottawa from Aug. 16-19.

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05.02.26
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These investments in education ‘reflect the remarkable growth we are experiencing in St.Thomas’ – Mayor Joe Preston

It was a red-letter day for education in St. Thomas and Southwold Township this past Tuesday.
The province announced a $1.8 billion investment to build and expand schools across the province, with more than $80 million in funding earmarked for three new area schools.
Of that total, almost $44 million will be spent on a new high school with a capacity of 703 students to replace Arthur Voaden Secondary School.
A new 412-place elementary school with 49 licensed child care spaces valued at $22 million will be built in Talbotville.
And, in a joint venture between the Thames Valley District School Board and Ecole scolaire Viamonde, a new French elementary school, with room for 262 students, will share the same site at a cost of almost $16 million.
The local funding is part of a $92 million investment announced Tuesday morning for new and expanded schools in Thames Valley.
No details were announced on the exact locations of the three new facilities.

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04.18.26
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Hydro One to begin powering growth in the city this spring with construction of the St. Thomas Line

Work on the PowerCo EV battery plant began in earnest last summer with the pouring of concrete for the first pad of the gigafactory, and structural steel can now be seen reaching skyward.

But it doesn’t really give you a sense of just how massive this facility will become in the next couple of years.

Well, this eye-watering statistic may help clarify the picture.

The EV battery plant will require 380 megawatts of power when in production. That’s equivalent to the energy needed for a city the size of Windsor, according to Hydro One.

And that has necessitated construction of the St. Thomas Line, a 230-kilovolt, double-circuit transmission line that will extend from their existing transmission corridor north of Hwy. 401 in London to the new Centennial Transformer Station in St. Thomas.

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04.04.26
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The updated model of care at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital results in the loss of 26 PSWs

St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital is updating its model of care, which will result in the elimination of 26 full-time Personal Support Worker positions.

The announcement came on the same day that London Health Sciences Centre indicated more than 200 nursing positions will be eliminated through voluntary resignations or retirements over the next three to five years.

According to a hospital spokesperson, there will be no media release outlining the rationale behind the model of care changes or additional details on what these changes might look like.

The method of care update at STEGH is designed to better meet the needs of patients whose medical conditions have become increasingly complex.

The spokesperson advised in a text message that more patients now require frequent nursing assessments, complex medication management, and timely clinical interventions

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03.21.26
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The road ahead for Railway City Transit: Ensuring you will be able to promptly get there from here

Less than 18 months after a consultant’s report called for an aggressive shift to sustainable travel modes in St. Thomas, the city is undertaking a ‘Railway City Transit Plan for Growth.’

Before delving into the latest exercise in putting the city’s transit system under the microscope, let’s recap some of the findings of the Transportation Master Plan refresh project compiled by Paradigm Transportation Solutions.

Kevin Jones of Paradigm recommended an aggressive shift in the operation of Railway City Transit that would see a six-fold increase in annual service hours involving 26 buses in service operating 17 hours every weekday.

These figures are based on a city population of 79,500, a couple of decades distant.

Jones went on to note, there is a “need to fund transit that provides an affordable alternative, enables access to all areas of the city and gives residents choice in how they travel.”

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03.14.26
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The future of the Elgin County Railway Museum: ‘Looking outside of what the building currently is, what could it be’

It was an evening not for decision-making but for sharing information.
A public information meeting to update the community on the current state of the Elgin County Railway Museum building and an exciting look at what the future could hold.
A well-attended session on Thursday at the CASO station to present an overview of the current condition of the building, with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for the structure.
The takeaway was quite stark. The museum will be closed to the public for an extended period of time to allow the roof to be removed, along with the walls, to determine the structural integrity and undertake remedial action.
And then put all the pieces back together again.
Friday morning, we spoke with Scott Sleightholm, President of Railworks Coalition, to compare notes on what transpired the previous evening.

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02.28.26
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‘The former St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital site presents an exciting opportunity to put unused government land back to work, unlocking new homes, parks and local businesses’

In the coming years, in the shadow of St. Thomas, a small town will sprout and grow; its progression unfolding like time-lapse photography.

And its evolution will begin to germinate next week as the Municipality of Central Elgin begins the hunt for “experienced development partners” to play a leading role in turning about 400 acres of land into the largest planned community expansion in the municipality’s history.

The former St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital lands in the coming decades will be redeveloped into a community of more than 3,500 new homes, with 9,000 residents, local businesses and parkland.

The hospital opened in 1939, and St. Joseph’s Health Care in London assumed control in 1997 as part of the reorganization initiative ordered by the Health Care Restructuring Commission.

It closed once the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care opened in 2013.

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02.21.26
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Nurtured in St. Thomas, The Wellness Navigation Project is ‘A mission to normalize mental health in law enforcement’

The roots of The Wellness Navigation Project can be traced back to the fall of 2022, as Marc Roskamp prepared to take over the helm at the St. Thomas Police Service.
At the time, Roskamp was a 25-year veteran of the St. Thomas Police Service with 16 years in uniform patrol before moving up to the Criminal Investigation Branch and then being appointed Deputy Chief in 2018.
In an interview with the incoming chief, he shone a light on a critical focal point as he prepared to assume the duties of the outgoing chief, Chris Herridge.
“From a public safety perspective, I believe so strongly in the health of the community and its citizens. And one of my main priorities will also be to build up the resiliency of our members of the police family.

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