By Staff

January 15^th, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Waterdown wants to become part of Burlington.

A  Waterdown resident said he has experienced firsthand, the frustration of our community being part of Hamilton. Despite high taxes, we receive barely serviceable amenities. Our property taxes continue to skyrocket yet we witness a stark lack in crucial services like police coverage. Our transit system is crucially flawed; buses move into Burlington first, then into Hamilton which is absolute nonsense for local commuters.

Aligning Waterdown with the Halton region would greatly enhance our services and also potentially lower our property taxes. The communities in Halton enjoy high-quality services while being levied with comparatively lower property taxes. The year-on-year property tax hike in Hamilton is rapid and unsustainable for many Waterdown residents.

Apart from benefiting from improved services and lower property taxes, this move would reflect the distinct community identity Waterdown possesses, separate from Hamilton. We are not simply a sub-section of Hamilton, but a vibrant, independent community that deserves recognition and resources to suit our specific needs.

As residents speaking on behalf of our community of Waterdown, we urge the recognized authorities to take immediate action. This is not just a change for better services and lower taxes, but a change for the recognition and respect our community deserves. Please sign this petition to join us in advocating for the separation of Waterdown from Hamilton and aligning it with Halton.

Continue reading Waterdown wants to become part of Burlington

By Pepper Parr

November 20^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Part of the budget process is the filing of Motions by Council members to add or remove an item to the budget.

During an all-day session Councillors Kearns and Bentivegna wanted to remove a $148,000 job for corporate affairs, Web and Digital Marketing.

We will cut to the chase and tell you that job was not cut – it was approved.

Getting to that point was awkward and enlightening.

The Chair, for this Committee of the Whole (CoW)  was Paul Sharman. (At one point they were all chaired by the Mayor – she decided to share the workload – with different Councillors serving as Chair.

Sharman asked Bentivegnia to go first .  Nope that wasn’t going to happen.  Councillor Kearns used a Point of Privilege and asked: “Might it be possible if we could have the items put up on the screen for those in chambers?”

Kearns: My request here is to remove the $148,000 and here’s the reasons why  – the report goes on to say that the purpose of the ask is to provide accuracy and so on and accessibility for content.

This conversation has been taking place for a number of years.  My concern here in reading this whole reasoning for this particular position is, I think we need to take care of the issues that we’re concerned with first..

Bentivegna: The information that gets put into the website. I’m assuming, is approved by someone, some people, a leader in whatever department that is, and it gets put into the web site. From my standpoint, I would like to see some information as to what specifically we need to take out? And then I think the accountability side of it is responsible by each department. You know, if I’m in a particular department and I’m looking for some information and then key it in and it’s not coming out properly, we either remove what is unnecessary or change what needs to be changed. I think once we get into that scope, and then we have a sort of an indication of where we are, I think then we can plan moving forward. Because I think this position is putting the cart for the horse in that this individual is going to basically say what I’m saying, which is: “Okay, everybody out there make sure that the information from your department is correct and it answers the concerns or questions of residents. That’s really my reason for it in terms of funding, I like Councillor Kerns idea of building it from within. But then again, I think we need to take care of the initial issues first and then move forward.

Sharman: I’m looking at the time process, I’m going to be monitoring everything. So questions are one minute and comments at three minutes. We just allowed a maximum of up to three minutes for Councillor Bentivegna introductory comments. I wonder whether do we need to talk about them both? Did you want to make a comment initially about what you’re suggesting Councillor Kerns so that we could do both at the same time, I would prefer to do them both at the same time. So would you comment please.

Kearns: Sure.  “While this is the same line item within the budget, it has a different approach to maximizing and optimizing the funding. Should the the funding be removed from the budget.  It’s equitable across the two proposed amendments. In my research and scan and dialog with with communications department within corporate affairs, what’s become abundantly clear is that this is probably one of the strongest areas within the employment landscape, which is having its base requirements change and shift and be advanced at an accelerated rate, with additional technology investments, as well as new tools that can make communications faster, clearer and more efficient.

“While I have worked with staff to go through the entirety of the department, which does incredible, great work across different sectors, which is the comms piece, it’s the support piece, and it’s, of course, the engagement pieces in this department, what became clear is that perhaps retraining or reallocation or harmonizing across different departments would hopefully lead to, in this year, at least a reallocation of an existing resource to continue to support this role, which is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and digital marketing.

So in that regard I will table it, because I think one of our roles was to identify any types of savings. Look for synergies, look for opportunities. Add in a market scan, add in the changing context and landscape within the world as it relates to each and every one of the departments that we oversee. That’s why this one is drafted a bit differently than simply removing that. There is no doubt that the service is still required. We still need to bolster our SEO, bolster our web collateral. How We Do It is where we can take a second lens and look at it for this year, if we don’t find an area that we can bring those re-allocated resources in to support through either retraining or recalibrating, then we can look at this again next year; that that was my approach for this one, in consultation and with understanding from staff. I know it wasn’t an overly welcome to ask, but sometimes there’s definitely tension when we come and do the budgets. But this is just that healthy tension, and that dialog between staff and Council.

Sharman: Could you clarify  – you used the word table. What did you mean by that?

Kearns: Put it on the table?

Sharman: Oh, you mean your proposal. Just wanted clarity. I don’t know. Sometimes tabling means taking it off. I don’t know, my guess, thank you for that. I’m going to move to questions from Councillor Galbreath,

Galbraith: I just really want to hear from staff on the potentially removing of the advisor, and two on the funding resources from other parts of city operations. Just want to be clearer on what other parts would be funding this, if we keep it in.

At that point Leah and Oanh were asked to introduce themselves.

Leah Bortolotti: I’m the head of corporate affairs. I’m Oanh Kasperskki, Director of Communications and Engagement.

Council was about to learn just how much they didn’t know about the way the city handles its web site.

Note:  The software we use to capture who is speaking is less than perfect.  We don’t always know who is speaking – in this case was it Oanh or Leah?    The two work so well together it was hard at times to tell from the transcript which person was talking.

First – there is no web master – no one person that has oversight over just how the city web site works.

Each department just loads their content – and that’s it.  For those who have wondered why you could never find anything or when you did search and find something there were so many entries – most with no date – you gave up.

So to the question that was asked about potentially removing this position, what you would risk would be compliance with AODA standards, pertinent updates we talk about.

Leah Bortolotti I like this example. We talk about the flood that happened in in July. And the number one thing people used was the phone, right? They called in. But the second thing they did is they checked on the website for updates, right? And people are coming there annually.

6.7 million people come to the city website annually. are coming to our website. There is an increase in reliance on the city’s website to provide pertinent information; updating information is constantly changing. We have Council, we have committee every month. We have things changing from the province, federally as well that’s impacting our information. If we don’t have someone dedicated to do that, we risk not only internally, having a very cumbersome system, also because we do the internet, this would be a position that would work on the internet, but also providing incorrect or inaccurate information to our residents.

We hear this at committee or council, that the information is hard to get, that they can’t understand it. And while I’m relatively new to the city, what I do understand is this has been something that has been requested for several years. Councillor Kerns talked about the systemic issue when it comes to communications engagement, and that really resonated with me, something that I took back. What we are seeing here, if something continues to pop up saying, you know, it’s hard to access information, your website is hard to navigate, I can’t get the relevant information. There’s always a need for continuous improvement at the city, we understand we can communicate better. We can find more creative ways to engage the public.

What we’re we’re seeing here is that we can’t continue to work on the side of our desk. The communications advisors have 25% of the city’s work, and 267 projects right now are active, with 1400 completed this year, and so they are working diligently. There’s always a need to do more, but not funding this position will not change the outcome when it comes to capacity and our ability to be nimble and respond to a changing landscape with constantly changing information.

Councillor Bentivegna: I’ll just add two quick things. I think that if we take a step back for a moment, the idea that we can be a community of this size growing the way that we’re anticipated to grow and not have a single staff role accountable for the website, acknowledging that this is work, as Leah said, that gets done off the side of people’s desks. Not having that person available introduces a level of risk that I don’t think is where we want to go as a community, particularly given that we’ve heard from our community over and over again that the web is an important place for them to go for city information.

Kasperski: The other thing I’ll say is that when we think about the communities communications channels, they’re fairly mature.

They continue to grow incrementally year over year, but generally, they’re fairly mature. As we grow as a community over the next 25 years, and we want to continue to reach more people, different people than we’ve been able to reach before, in ways that are important to them. I think we need to do the digital marketing piece of it, so that we can be proactive, so that we can be strategic and targeted and continue to engage more of our audiences year over year.

I appreciate that Council has very difficult decisions to make around a budget season;  this is not something that we would move forward if we thought the skill set or the capacity existed on the team currently in place. It isn’t. Someone else can do it if we train them or if we invest in them. This is a highly specialized skill – I just want to make that perfectly clear.

Leah Bortolotti: I’ll speak on a macro level, on that.  I can’t tell you where we might have some funding elsewhere to fund this role. I can’t really look at the city in my capacity and say, Okay, take from here to fund that if, if that was what council decided, then that would be your decision. But I think regardless of where that allocation or reallocation of resources came from, what I would say from a head of corporate affairs position is that we would need to find the resources somewhere to fund this position.

Chair: Have you got any other places to cut money?

LeahBortolotti: I have to tell you – I do not. I guess there was a decision the executive management team level to support this. So this is one of the ones that did go forward, that we did support. There were others that didn’t get through that process.

Councilor  Nissan. One question I have is, there’s also a reference to strategic communications, which I think is a great opportunity for us. But how are we going to find someone who’s an SEO and website lead who’s also an expert in strategic communications? How’s that gonna work?

Kasperski: Well, I think we’d like to take a shot at it, so we’ll see what the market will bear. But I think that currently, when we look at the job responsibilities, we do want to prioritize that content management piece, the SEO will come out of that. If  we can get somebody who is strategic in terms of how they see the content map for the city, how it maps against our website. I think that the SEO will come out of that. If we have a really, really strong content, it’s easy to find, it’s accessible, I think that that will generally improve our SEO game.

Leah Bortolotti : That’s a great question when it comes to kind of the different skill set here. So what we’re looking for is someone that’s highly specialized, technical, you’re right strategic as well; that’s kind of like finding a needle in the haystack, but one is coachable. One comes with the technical skill set to make your information more marketable, more accessible, it’s kind of, it comes it builds with that experience and anything that isn’t there inherently through training when it comes to that, that educational background strategy. I mean, we all strategize here.  It’s very hard to coach the technical skills that are involved with web and marketing advisor. I couldn’t do it for sure.

Last question, any savings for us not advertising in the Burlington Post that can be reallocated or have those gone into mail outs and other places ?

Kasperski: The city’s current advertising budget is, or at least the part of it that sits within communications is very, very limited. Some of the amount is allocated to paid advertising, I think we spend probably 80% of it distributing City Talk the two issues that we’ve  committed to doing so there’s very little to begin with, and I don’t think that I can speak to many savings given how, how little we’re working with.

Councillor  Bentavegna: Just two, two quick questions. Can you tell me who authorizes the information in terms of the accuracy and the accessibility that goes on to the website.

Leah Bortolotti:  So I’ll take it from a broad level, and then I’ll have Oanh, who’s the Director of Communications, take it from a micro level.  So from a macro level, let’s say we’re working with the Commissioner of Development and Growth Management for instance.  We’re getting information from that department, we’re working with the subject matter expert in that division or that department to confirm what is being  drafted for communications is accurate.

Once that goes to the relevant communications advisors, because all the communications advisors have their own files for four pillars (name them)  that would then go online. The problem, or the gap that exists right now is that once that information goes online, changes might not always be communicated, and changes might not also be understood. Like, let’s say the province changes something, and we don’t catch wind of it until two or three weeks later, that information is already out of date. What I would say is to have the position we want to fill be proactive and the monitoring of the information on that website and proactively reaching out to that division department to say, is this information still accurate? We are doing an audit of x, and this is why we need to have you double check it to verify if it’s true and if it’s not, then that person would then change the content to make sure that it is up to date.

Leah Bortolotti:  I think, in an ideal world where there’s capacity to also do the end-to-end would be great. They are creating the content, they’re verifying it through the relevant departments, and then they’re also uploading that information. Absolutely, that would be perfect.

Mayor Meed Ward: The problem is, right now, there’s only one person whose role does not include updating or working on the website – is that right?

Leah Bortolotti: In an ideal world where everyone was trained on updating that website and ensuring that their contents are current, absolutely but the reality is that the advisors are also working on projects across the city and then for one councilor as well. Everyone has a dedicated Councillor that they work for as well for communication support. Could we be more proactive? What I’m saying is, there’s a capacity issue  just plain and simple, and we’re not always on the back end, scanning the website and all of its variety of pages to ensure that the content is relevant, because we’re working on projects of the day.

My second question is a quick one. You mentioned 6.7 million users. That’s a lot of users. Do we track, if I went on to the website and didn’t find what I wanted to when I first went on and went on again immediately after? Do we track duplicates or triplicates in terms of the 6.7 million, does the system tell us that I went in twice or three times for the same thing?

Leah Bortolotti: That’s a great question. Councilor through the chair. So the data that we’re tracking is unique users through IP addresses. So if you’re going through again on the same device, then it would tell us that it’s the same user. We’re also getting the number of sessions and page views against individual users. So we can tell if we’ve got particular IP addresses that are coming back over and over again, you’re spending a very small amount of time on a single landing page, and then we call it bouncing. They leave immediately after.

We can deduce from that either they found what they needed really, really quickly, or they didn’t at all. Right, we can look at some of the user journeys and get a better sense of it through some of the data, but we do have that available to us. What we’re seeing is, for the most part, people use the website to access services. So they are coming in through a Google search, which is why the SEO is so important to us. They are finding a particular set of pages related to that service that they’re interested in. They’re getting the information that they need, and then they are leaving.

That’s the general experience that we’re seeing so far, and that’s why the content that exists on those sub pages becomes really, really important. Is it up to date? Is it relevant? Is it delivered in a way that provides people with what they need in an accessible manner? That’s what this role is built for.

In 2022 in our budget, we provided $150,000 to take the website from 2015 standards, the last time it was either invented or updated, to 2022 standards. The regulatory requirement for the AODA compliance from that time as well.

A Council member asked: Are you saying that we haven’t either templated any uploads to be AODA compliant, or we just haven’t had anyone go back and check AODA compliance?

I’ll go round about a little bit on this one. Best practice in the field is typically to update it every two to three years. If you look at your iPhones, if you look at your tablets and your computers, there’s a shelf life to some of this technology, and so AODA compliance is one of the things that we’re looking for.

AODA compliance also requires us to meet different standards that are progressively higher over time. So we have a different set of standards to meet today than we would have had in 2022 to ensure accessibility of our materials in our site.

Sorry, I thought that the AODA compliance was by 2025 –  are you saying it changed again? So it would be a different level of AODA compliance. Starting in 2025 would be the highest level. Okay, I just think that there’s a difference here between AODA compliance and all the other things that you might be communicating need to go in around website cleanup and broken links which still exist and things like that.

Yeah, it’s fundamentally a website management role with digital marketing attached. And so all of the things that you would look at in terms of website management and administration, are the things that we would be looking for this role to take on.

Bentivegna:  A quick question for you. So given the increasing sophistication of everything, internet, everything, it environmental factors, and the loss of the Burlington Post, does that make the task that you’re you’re proposing here more critical?

Leah Bortolotti: through the chair? I would say absolutely. But it’s more so that we’re seeing now more than ever, people are they’re not passively consuming, they’re actively consuming, and so they’re looking for that information. And so we need to make sure I had this correct. We host over 500 static pages, 650 dynamic pages, and 1400 documents. That’s constantly changing. We also have a changing population, so some of this information isn’t easy to consume for them.

When it comes to providing relevant information, absolutely, we need to make sure that the integrity is there as a city that we’re giving them the most up-to-date information.

We talk about artificial intelligence all the time. It’s very exciting. I get excited about it in regards to how it can support our own CoBy  When residents reached out to COBY it’s pulling from our website. So you still need a human to make sure that that information is relevant and up to date. COBY is not going to say, or AI, is not going to say at its current state for our city website. Oh, on page X, down the rabbit hole, this is out of date.

We need a human being to do that and then train the AI so in very critical times when people are looking for relevant information – flood grant relief programs that the city offers, COBY was using the information that a human made and put on the website to make sure that it was sharing the right information with residents.

Chair Sharman: I’m going to treat this item as already moved by both the council members. I don’t think we need to move it again, but I’m going to ask for comments.

Councilor Stolte:  My comments will be brief. It had not occurred to me to look to remove this item, and I’m certainly been convinced with all the conversation that we’ve had that engagement and communication is critical. I totally agree that we have residents who are seeking out that information actively, which is great, and if the information is not updated and relevant, it results in added workload on Counsellors offices, Counsellors’ assistance Service Burlington, as people struggle to get the information they need.  If filling this position allows people to get the updated and current, relevant information they need, then I think it’s well worth it.

Councillor Bentivegna:  When we did the 2022 update it included the Burlington Transit website and a couple of other websites too Will this include Get Involved ?

Kasperski: Through the chair, absolutely. This osition specifically would be for website management, so anything that we have would be this specific role.

Bentivegna: And you brought up AI – CoBy is great, he or she, whoever that person is, I actually test the system. I ask questions, as a resident may ask questions, and it says, please go to Service Burlington or whatever. So I guess my comment is, how can we utilize such a great resource which a lot of our public does not know he exists, or she exists, or it exists, and for us to look at staff wise. How do we put in those questions that are commonly asked because we already know them and fix it. That’s where I want to get to before we allocate more funds to make things even better. I think we need to fix what we have and then move forward maybe two times, rather than just moving forward and having to go back and talk to CoBy.

Mayor Meed Ward: Chair through you. I do see this as a critical investment in community engagement, especially when the Burlington Post and other outlets are struggling to provide the information to the community. We know there’s been an increased cost. The Hamilton Spectator, where we now have to advertise certain things we used to put in the Post, is far more expensive than the Post. I know that’s taken a hit with your budget, and when 6.7 million residents visit, some probably every day, go to the website, you know, obviously that’s  6.7 million attempts to find information. It needs to be accurate, it needs to be accessible, and it needs to be there. So I see this as an investment in our community and community engagement, giving them transparent, accountable information.

Two votes were required. Bentivegna lost on his Motion and Kearns lost on her Motion – and the ask for the $148,000 stayed in the budget.  City Council now knows a lot more about just how bad the city website is.  What was really evident was that neither Kasperski and Bortolotti knew very much about how a newsroom handles the flow of information from a keyboard to the press room or the internet. That is not a knock on either woman – they certainly knew what they were up against with the website that is currently in place. They certainly know now what they are looking for and they know this is not going to be an easy placement.

The communications people all have certificates in public relations – not a newspaper person in the department.

At the provincial level the Communications Director for every department is a former senior newspaper person – people who understand media, have decades of experience, and reliable sources.

The really good news is that Kasperki and Bortolotti have managed to get past the first ask – they will need additional people next budget.  If they hire the right person and manage the job that gets done the public will be a lot better off when it comes to getting information.

 

By Pepper Parr

September 12^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

Mayor Meed Ward mentioned last night at the Budget meeting that consideration was being given to doing a ward boundary review – which would amount to changing the size of each ward.  She added that thought was being given to adding some wards to allow for better representation given the size of the population growth the city is going to experience,

To put that growth into perspective the Mayor pointed out that one development in the works will have residents equal to the size of the City of Stratford, Ontario.  Denise Davey, an east end resident shuddered at what that was going to do to traffic which is close to grid lock at too many locations during rush hours.

There are residents in the western side of ward 2 who think they will be better served if they were part of ward 1.

Ward 2 is the ward with the biggest population and at this point the ward with the most development.

 

The plans for a six tower development on Fairview west of Guelph line will make ward 2 even bigger – clearly some changes have to be made.

That creates a problem.  Burlington is part of a two tier form of government.  The city is part of the Region of Halton where there are 21 Regional Councillors of which 7 are from Burlington.

Were the city to add council members – some of them would not get seats on the Regional Council – which pays half of their $100,000 + annual salary.

The work being done at a Queen’s Park Legislative Committee that is looking into the role Regional governments has to be considered.  Some are suggesting in the case of Halton – the Regional government may be at the point where it is no longer needed.

Burlington’s Planning department which had to comply with Regional rules no longer has to do that.

Transit which is a municipal responsibility would better serve the public if the four transit authorities were merged into a single service.

Waste collection and the operation of the water service could – (should) be hived off into a separate operation that would be a stand-alone with representation from the municipalities that are served and significant provincial financial support.

Social services is a Regional operation – it works reasonably well – however it is difficult to be close to the social needs of a community when the relationship is managed by a bureaucracy nowhere near the people who need support.

There is a lot of thinking to be done – and it won’t get done in the near future: however, they are at least thinking about it.  The public concern will be – are we going to get better service and how much is it going to cost us?

One can just imagine how a New Democratic government would tackle a problem like this.  Liberal and Conservative  governments have in the past done decent jobs.  Given the shape the Liberal party in Ontario is – one would not want to bet on their returning to office in the near future.

Which leaves it up the the current Progressive Conservative government.

Where are John Robarts and Bill Davis when you really need them?

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.

By Staff

June 15th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Art Gallery of Burlington announces a new Board.

Chair: Natasa Veljovic

Vice Chair: Dan Lawrie

Treasurer & Secretary: John Arnold

Past Chair: Susan Busby

Continuing Directors:

Councillor Lisa Kearns

Diana Tuszynski

Garratt Wootton

Newly appointed Directors:

Vickram Agarwal

Scott Cooper

Tracy King

Juliette Prouse

Gennile Thomas Smith

Photographs of the Board were not available.

Chair: Natasa Veljovic  is a strategic leader with over 30 years of experience. In 2019, Natasa retired from her role as President & CEO of Woodstock General Hospital. In her tenure, Natasa brought the vision of a new hospital, and worked strategically with the Hospital Board and multiple levels of government through an eleven-year journey of building and transitioning into a state-of-the-art site. Over the past decade, Natasa served on the Woodstock Art Gallery Advisory Board and as Chair of the Fanshawe College Foundation Board.

Vice Chair: Dan Lawrie is the founder and Chairman of Lawrie Insurance Group Inc., a multi-disciplined insurance and risk management firm, that ranks in the top 5% of insurance brokerages in Canada.

Treasurer & Secretary: John Arnold has been an entrepreneur for over 50 years. He was a founder of what became one of the largest wood pressure-treating companies in Eastern Canada as well as serving as a director and senior officer of numerous mining and exploration companies in Canada and abroad.

Past Chair: Susan Busby is a retired Educator who worked as a teacher and Elementary School Principal for the Halton District School Board for 30 years. She has an undergraduate degree in History and a Masters of Education. In her retirement, she has volunteered extensively within the community. She was Chair of the Board at Nelson Youth Centres, Chair of the Board at the Halton Learning Foundation, Chair of the Board of Governors at Joseph Brant Hospital, and Chair of the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation Board.

Directors:

Vickram Agarwal – Vickram is a digital and technology entrepreneur, serving on several Advisory Boards and mentors start-ups across the EMEA region.

Scott Cooper – Scott has been practicing law for over a decade and is currently a Deputy General Counsel at Interac Corp., where he leads a team of talented lawyers supporting several Interac products and business units.

Councillor Lisa Kearns enters the second year of her first term on the board and is an elected Halton Region & City of Burlington Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Community Engagement & Partnerships. Experienced in national management positions in healthcare, manufacturing, and advertising, Lisa is known for common sense solutions that deliver powerful results throughout her career.

Tracy King held a successful career in finance and now focuses on her family and volunteering. Tracy has years of board experience having served four terms on the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation and is the chair of this year’s Revel: The Ultimate Art Bash signature fundraising event.

Juliette Prouse is the Director of Finance and Administration in the Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University. She is a CPA with an undergraduate business degree and has occupied senior leadership positions in not-for-profit organizations in the child welfare and education sectors.

Gennile Thomas Smith  is the founder and executive director of Halton Black Voices and leads efforts to combat anti-Black racism and create safe spaces for Black individuals in the region.

Diana Tuszynski enters the third year of her first term on the board and is the President of The Benefits Edge Insurance Services Limited, a boutique Benefits and Insurance consulting firm working with employers to maximize their benefits budget through a variety of innovative benefits solutions.

Garratt Wootton enters the third year of his first term on the board and is an entrepreneur, and business executive specializing in communication and technology enabled process automation. Garratt brings a human-centric approach to everything he does. He is quick to understand pain points and excels at finding unique human-experience-based solutions to the some of the trickiest situations.

By Staff

April 13^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Yet another government plan to get housing built.

A bill was introduced to the Legislature on Wednesday designed to streamline government permit processes, make it easier for universities to build student residences, improve transparency around the controversial minister’s zoning orders (MZO) framework and eliminate parking requirements for higher density housing developments near transit stations to lower costs.

“ These measures recognize the struggles that our municipal partners have faced in building homes and are targeted at removing those obstacles”, said Housing Minister Paul Calandra.

The Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act enshrines — and prioritizing new infrastructure such as roads and waterworks for ready-to-go projects — and further streamline approvals for garden suites, laneway housing and basement apartments.

The Tories will not mandate as-of-right four-plexes across Ontario despite calls from Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie to do so in the name of “gentle density.”

Crombie blasted the legislation as “a random grab-bag of small-ball measures the Ford government could have done years ago if they were serious about building housing.”

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said it was “a weak bill from a government lacking in the bold vision and leadership that is needed in order to do what they should have done years ago: build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031.”

Green Leader Mike Schreiner said “with this bill, the Ford government is effectively admitting defeat after five years of housing failures.”

The Act includes amendments to the provincial building code to promote mass timber buildings, which are faster and cheaper to build, and modernize Ontario’s standards to be more in line with national construction codes. Currently, only 12-storey “advanced wood” buildings are permitted, but that will change to 18 floors.

The province will also allow cities to revamp development charges on condos and many other projects by eliminating a previous five-year phase-in of hikes; as  of June 1 there will finally be exemptions from or discounts of such fees for builders of affordable housing. These are designed to spur construction and increase revenues to municipalities that had been concerned about previous Tory moves.

Calandra told reporters the government has “listened to our municipal partners” and will ensure civic revenues aren’t affected by the changes to development charges.

In what is seen as a bid to curb NIMBYism, the government will be “limiting third-party appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal” to get quicker approvals for housing. Some 67,000 housing units, which began being built between 2021 and last year, are being thwarted by third-party appeals of official plans and rezoning.

The proposed changes would also allow proponents to appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal when a municipality refuses an application or does not make a decision on a settlement boundary change outside the Greenbelt area, ensuring that decisions over boundary changes are subject to an independent and neutral process.

Ontario’s 23 publicly funded universities will join colleges in being exempted from Planning Act restrictions when it comes to building student housing on campuses and on land they own elsewhere. All universities and colleges will be required to improve accessibility to student housing.

The legislation arrives on the six-month anniversary of the RCMP launching a criminal probe of the $8.28-building Greenbelt land swap scandal comes as the Tories risk missing their target of 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

The government needs to build an average of 150,000 new homes annually to meet its goal.  110,000 were built in 2023,  73%  of what’s needed each year.

 

 

By James Portside

March 28th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The province of Ontario released the 2023 Sunshine list; the document that sets all those who earned more than $100,000 in the year 2023.

In 2023 Burlington’s operating budget was $314.3 million dollars and the capital budget was $72.6 million dollars.  Salaries come out of the Operating budget

The number of people working for the city and making over $100,000 per year increased by 16%. The 2022 list contained 393 names, the 2023 list contains 457 names.

Of the roughly 850 full time employees 458 people now earn over $100,000 per year. I’m wondering what the politically correct version of “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” is.

The 2023 list includes nine people with the job title “Transit Operator”, four people with the job title “Mechanic” and one person with the title “Officer, Animal Control”.

Of the people we elect to manage our tax dollars the one person with the job title “Mayor” earned $202,712.10 after a 5.79% raise and the six people with the job title “Councillor” each had an average income of $119,802.70 after a 6.28% increase.

A total of 84 people, outside of the fire department, received raises of more than 10%. Only 16 of these people had changes in their job titles.

Our city manager, who has resigned, received a 9.67% increase.

In first place is Emilie Cote as our “Director, Recreation, Community and Culture”. Emilie received a 37.34% salary increase in 2023.

In second place is Kevin Schustyk. Kevin is our “Senior Traffic Signal Technician” and received a 31.77% increase. Someone should tell Kevin that the traffic lights have yet to be  synchronized.

Rounding out the trifecta is Brynn Nheiley with a 28.58% increase bringing Brynn’s salary to $215,826.  (More than the Mayor) As reported in the Burlington Gazette, Brynn recently left the city and, assuming there is a severance package, the package will be based on the $215,826 salary. Brynn left the City of Hamilton and started working for Burlington in March of 2019. Brynn first appears on the sunshine list in 2020 meaning her salary moved from less than $100,000 in 2019 to $215,826 in 2023.

Meanwhile the number of taxpayers unable to pay their property taxes increase to 2.9% in 2023. The highest level in the past six years.

Obviously, all is well at city hall. After pushing through a 15.5% increase to property tax revenue in 2023, with almost no population growth staff have been richly rewarded.  Our mayor likes to call the 15.5% increase a 7.5% impact on our total tax bill but the reality is the city receives 15.5% more revenue from taxpayers in 2023 and, based on the sunshine list, they know how to spend the money.

Jim has lived in Burlington for much of his life and has watched the city change and grow over the years. With over 1,000 people working for the city there is a lot going on. As a now retired, successful business owner, Jim is interested in exploring and sharing some of what our local government is working on. You can reach Jim by emailing Jim.Portside@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Staff

February 21, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Metrolinx wants you to remember the One Fare Program that will launch next Monday, February 26, 2024!

The province – in collaboration with Metrolinx and local transit agencies – is working to connect communities across the region. Through Ontario’s One Fare Program, transferring from one transit system to another will be simpler, more convenient and more affordable.

Ontario’s One Fare Program allows transit users to only pay once when travelling between the TTC, GO Transit and participating transit systems like Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay and York Region Transit.  

When travelling between systems, the discount will be applied automatically when you tap a PRESTO card, credit or debit, or PRESTO in Google Wallet to connect between GO Transit, TTC and all participating transit systems.

What you need to know:

• Free transfers: For trips between the TTC and GO Transit, your TTC fare is free, regardless of travel direction and the cost of your TTC trip is discounted from your overall trip cost. For trips between the TTC and other local transit systems, the second fare of your trip is free.
• Transfer flexibility: Transfers are valid for two hours when trips start on local transit and three hours when you tap on a GO bus or train.
• Proof of payment: The payment method you use to tap is your proof of payment. Customers paying with PRESTO in Google Wallet, credit or debit card, must tap on and off with the same card.

For an adult who commutes five days a week, the One Fare Program could save them up to$1,600 per year.

You can learn more about Ontario’s One Fare Program here and watch a step by step video on our YouTube channel.

 

 

 

 

By Pepper Parr

February 11^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

This is a complex story:  While it about a developers attempt to build two towers right beside Spencer Smith Park where they will dominate the view to the lake.  Spencer Smith Park is YOUR park.  Fight to keep it.

In a re-submission letter dated February 6, 2024, Bousfields Inc. submitted a revised submission before the Ontario Land Tribunal (“OLT”) for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment Applications for the Subject Site.

Bousfield are the planning consultants for Burlington 2020 Lakeshore Inc. (the “Owner”) with respect to their lands located at 2020 Lakeshore Road in Burlington.

Based on what we know about this application it was turned down by the city because it did not fit within the boundaries of the Urban Growth Centre of the city.

Vrancorp appealed the city decision.  In email communication between Bousfield, the Vrancorp planner and the OLT case anger the Bousfield people said: “While our client remains hopeful for a settlement with all Parties, you are correct that the City has not yet settled with our client.”

In an earlier email Goodman, lawyers for Vrancorp set out why the re-submission documents were being circulated: “The drawings are marked “issued for settlement”.  So there is no confusion on the part of any party (or the Tribunal), no settlement has been achieved with the City.

The original applications to amend the Official Plan and Zoning By-law to permit the redevelopment of the Subject Site with a high-rise, mixed- use development consisting of two towers with heights of 30 and 35 storeys, atop a 5- to 6-storey podium,

The Applications were deemed incomplete on November 23, 2021. Additional materials were provided to the City on December 17, 2021, and the Applications were deemed complete as of this date.

The problem for Vrancorp was that between the 23^rd of November and the 17^th of December 2031, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing agreed with an application to move the boundary of the Urban Growth Center further north which put the Vrancorp development outside the Urban Boundary and therefor no longer complying with the the Official Plan.

On April 12, 2022, a Recommendation Report was considered by the City’s Community Planning, Regulation & Mobility Committee. The report recommended refusal of the Applications, and City Council adopted these recommendations. On April 27, 2022, the Applicant filed an appeal to the OLT with regards to City Council’s decision. The OLT has scheduled a 15-day hearing scheduled to commence on April 29, 2024.

Bousfield has set out a number of changes to the design of the site, many of which are welcoming – the design is not the issue.

The issue is that the application is no longer within the Urban Growth Boundary (an issue that Bousfield doesn’t mention in their application for reconsideration, and therefore does not comply withthe Official Plan.)

The following is material submitted to the Ontario Land Tribunal by Bousfield which they want to have included in the hearing that takes place on April 29^th and is expected to last 15 days.

Bousfield, in the re-submission has compared the revised plans to the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study, a study required pursuant to Policy 5.5.9.2(1) of the in-force Burlington Official Plan (1997) and Section 12.1.4(2) of the City of Burlington’s New Official Plan (2020).

The Owner (Vrancorp) had initially provided the City with funds to initiate this study, which began in early 2017, and participated in a series of workshops and public meetings to determine a preferred concept for the Subject Site.

The City paused work on this study, and only resumed works in late 2021. The City’s retained consultant completed the Waterfront Hotel Planning Study and the final report (dated March 23, 2022), which included a recommended preferred concept, was presented to the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Committee and Council in April 2022. City Council voted to receive the planning study for informational purposes at its meeting on April 12, 2022. The Owner has made efforts to incorporate key recommendations from the study with respect to the location and articulation of the building and the public realm.

Based on the foregoing, revisions have been made to the architectural plans, including:

• 

  Red outline defines the Vrancorp property. Entrance to the site, originally off Elizabeth Street is proposed to be from the south west point of the property, reached by Elizabeth Street.

  Parkland dedication is now proposed, at the northwest corner (250 m²), the southerly edge adjacent to Spencer Smith Park (415 m²), and the southeast corner (55 m²), whereas previously no parkland dedication was contemplated;

• The height of the podium of both towers has been reduced from 5-6 storeys (19.2 metres) to 3-4 storeys (12.55 metres);
• The East Tower massing has been revised to incorporate a 10-storey base building element, including the podium, which transitions through stepping on Levels 11, 12 and 13 to the tower;
• The West Tower has shifted further east, resulting in an increase of the minimum distance between the tower and the west lot line from 0 metres to 17.6 metres;
• The East Tower has shifted further south by approximately 5 metres;
• As a result of this shifting, the two towers are separated by a distance of 35.4 metres;
• The hotel component has been relocated to floors 4-8 within the East Tower;
• The office area in the West Tower has decreased from 4,348 m² to 1,488 m², with the balance now occupied by residential units;
• The skybridge between the two towers has been removed;
• 

  The bridge between the two towers is no longer part of the development. The very steep from from the street level to the park area south of the towers now has some open area that lessens the drop.

  The linear space between the two towers has been redesigned to provide a mid- block connection with no atrium space above, and has been revised to include more patio space for commercial tenants;

• The underground parking level has been modified so that there is no stratification below the parkland to be conveyed;
• Parking access and loading for the East Tower has been re-oriented to the south so there is no longer a left turn onto Elizabeth Street; and
• The ground floors of each tower have been reconfigured, with updates including consolidation of the back-of-house uses and the reorientation of the lobby areas.

There have been no changes to the building height. As a result of the changes, the total gross floor area has decreased from 54,928 m² to 49,203m², resulting in a reduction in density from 7.20 FAR to 6.45 FAR. Based on the reorganization of the building, the number of dwelling units has increased from 579 units to 594 units. A full update of the relevant statistics is included in Table 1 below.

Additional addenda to the technical reports filed with the original submission may also be circulated at a later date, as required.

“We trust the foregoing is satisfactory for your purposes. Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.”

One would hope that the lawyers representing the city are on top of what has taken place since the application was first filed and the issue when the application was taken to the OLT.

Goodman is a formidable law firm and their lead counsel on the file, David Bronskil, is seen as one of the best there is at OLT hearings.

The City has a strong case – Vrancorp has a very smart lawyer but the lawyers Burlington has hired did catch the very expensive mistake Bousfield made in not getting supporting document in on time to have their application “made”.

Related news stories:

The word “made” was a critical part of the city’s argument

Waterfront: Part of the torturous route to get to where we are today

Minister approves moving Urban Growth Centre north to Caroline.

By Pepper Parr

January 29th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

 

An update on the washrooms in the John Street Transit Terminal.

There will be no public washrooms.

Here is what we got from City Communications earlier today:

The washrooms in the John Street Burlington Transit Bus Terminal were closed to the public during the COVID pandemic.  The facilities will continue to be for staff use only to ensure transit staff are able to take their health breaks and not impact transit service, in a safe and clean facility.

Public washrooms are available nearby in Sims Square, 390 Brant St., main floor (170 metres away) and Burlington City Hall, 426 Brant St., lobby (300 metres away).

Something isn’t quite right here.

There were two public washrooms before Covid.

When Covid changed the way we lived, the city made one of the two washrooms a Unisex washroom and one for Staff only.

That seemed reasonable

When Covid was seen as much less the threat it once was both washrooms were changed to Staff Only. and a plastic door with barrier graphics put in place.

The Gazette contacted the City Communications department and learned that the current status: Both washrooms would be for Staff only when there are just two people working at the transit station.

We kept having to get back to the Communications department.

In a recent survey on how people felt about the services the city provides it became clear that Burlington is a car centric city.

For people who have to use public transit who need to use a public washroom – tough luck.

The Director of Transit operations is reported to be holding a meeting at St. Luke’s Anglican Church on on Wednesday.