Without a doubt, this is an exciting time to be a resident of St. Thomas.
Exciting that is if you are not averse to change of epic proportions.
And as Sean Dyke, CEO of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation pointed out a presentation to city council on May 13, exciting because his organization gets to share “the really good news stories.”
Dyke continued, “I recall being here 15 years ago at the height of a pretty negative time in St. Thomas talking about a lot of businesses that were leaving.
“And, it’s so nice to be here at a time when we can talk about the complete opposite. The strides we’ve taken as a community to push this forward.”
To indicate just how busy the EDC has been, Dyke noted over the past fiscal year ending in March, they have had 856 consultations with different businesses.
From that, 256 new jobs were created in the community, which includes all of Elgin county.
Category Archives: Housing
St. Thomas Police Service Diversity Action Plan: Building Inclusive Community Relationships
The St. Thomas Police Service yesterday (May 17) released its Diversity Action Plan. You can view the plan here STPS-Diversity-Action-Plan-2024
The launch of the plan is the “first step of our commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive police service for our members and our community.”
According to the plan, it is to be used “in coordination with our Strategic Plan to move forward on important issues that our community and our members have identified for action.
“When we recognize diverse perspectives and opinions, we can find alternative solutions that, in turn, help to better address issues specific to our community.”
As evident in headlines over the past several years, policing in Ontario and across Canada is undergoing many changes.
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Can the Elgin County Railway Museum and residential development co-exist? ‘Yes,’ asserts the developer. ‘No,’ responds the neighbour.
It’s coming up on three months since city council unanimously agreed to declare certain parcels of land that partially comprise Jonas Park to be declared surplus to the city and those parcels will be sold to Doug Tarry Limited for future residential development west of the Elgin Country Railway Museum (ECRM).
And it’s been almost three years since Tarry declared proposed residential development on land currently owned by the museum is an opportunity to revitalize that portion of downtown St. Thomas.
In the summer of 2021, Tarry sought to purchase eight acres of railway land immediately west of the museum at $300,000 per acre for a low-rise residential development that would front onto a new street to be created off Ross Street and north of Jonas Street.
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Modular housing: Part of the solution to put the ‘missing middle’ into homes they can afford while building equity
Ontario plans to move ahead with its plan to build more modular homes including on government surplus lands.
That was the message from Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP and Associate Minister of Housing in the province’s effort to cut red tape when it comes to increasing the housing supply.
We talked with Flack shortly after the media release went out to delve deeper into the concept of modular homes and their role in the future.
He advised a housing forum was held in Toronto last November where various housing stakeholders got together for a day to identify deliverables needed to speed up homebuilding in the province.
Among those attending was St. Thomas homebuilder Doug Tarry.
“And one of the pieces is modular or factory-built homes and so we’ve been working on getting this market sounding out.
“There are all types of modular homebuilders in Ontario. Big scale ones down to smaller ones.”
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Southwestern Public Health raises a red flag over the province’s move to expand alcohol sales, a step it calls ‘an all-encompassing community health concern’
Southwestern Public Health is airing its concerns as the province moves to expand alcohol sales.
The health unit wants to ensure “the province takes a stronger commitment to the health and well-being” of Ontario residents.
In a conversation this week with SWPH board chair Bernia Martin, she explained, “We originally received a report from staff on alcohol-related harms on our community back in October (of last year).
“And at that time, the board took the recommendations and one of those recommendations was to reply to the province outlining our concerns.”
Other recommendations included a request for the provincial and federal governments to beef up advertising regulations, increase taxes and improve access to treatment.
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From hospital to housing, the re-purposing of the former psychiatric facility in Central Elgin
A pilot program embedded in the provincial budget rolled out Tuesday (March 26) is going to have a direct impact on Central Elgin and Elgin county.
Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Rob Flack explains what is behind the Site Preparation Pilot Program.
“What I’m really excited about is the province has set aside close to $100 million over three years through what is called the Site Preparation Pilot Program.
“It is to re-purpose surplus sites. And those sites include the former St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital.
“So, we’re getting ready to develop that and put houses in and roofs over people’s heads.”
Other than serving as the backdrop for the odd movie, the former psych hospital has sat empty for years.
Opened in 1939, the psychiatric hospital was replaced in 2013 by the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health located immediately to the north.
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A unanimous decision by the Southwestern Public Health Board of Directors takes the wind out of city council’s sails
How quickly the table can turn when you come face to face with an individual or group you have taken issue with.
Such was the case at the March 11 meeting of city council.
To set the scene, at the Feb. 2 meeting, Dan Sheridan, the city’s Director of Finance advised Southwestern Public Health had presented its 2024 levy to the city and it came at a 37 per cent increase over last year’s levy.
For this year, the city is obliged to pay just over $1.5 million, up from $1.1 million in 2023.
That revelation generated blowback from several council members.
Coun. Steve Peters wondered if there was an appeal process.
Coun. Gary Clarke took it a step further, “let’s vote no and see where it goes. This is an outrageous budget request.”
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Regional transit to become a reality for St. Thomas: ‘Our goal is to make sure that we can get individuals on to transit’ – Cindy Howard, Middlesex County
The two cities are but 20 minutes apart, but without public transit, getting from St. Thomas to south London without a personal vehicle can be a daunting challenge.
Yes, you can ride share or cab it to the Forest City at a hefty $50 to $60 one way.
It wasn’t always this way. Several operators have offered a service between the two centres including Aboutown Transportation, Grey Bruce Air Bus, the iconic Greyhound and best of all, the London & Port Stanley Railway.
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Rapid development and expansion prove Element 5 is not out of its element after locating in St. Thomas
With little in the way of fanfare, Element 5 has become a significant regional success story less than four years after constructing its $50 million plant on 40 acres of land on Dennis Road in the city’s north end.
Even more impressive is the fact the company itself has been in existence for less than a decade.
It was founded in 2015 when it purchased a small cross-laminated timber (CLT)manufacturing company in Ripon, Quebec and began production.
Its St. Thomas facility, completed in 2020, is the most highly automated, state-of-the-art mass timber plant in North America.
It can annually produce 45,000 cubic metres of CLT and 5,000 cubic metres of glulam (glued-laminated timber).
A second shift was added in 2021 and last year, expansion of the existing plant began.
