Council approved a development yesterday that could be Guelph`s greenest.
Phase two of the Morning Crest subdivision, in the city`s east end at Eastview Road and Watson Road North, will use green power from the nearby landfill, be energy efficient and be more than dense enough to satisfy provincial requirements.
The developer will try to use so-called district energy -- capturing energy produced from gas coming off the old landfill -- to heat 165 apartment units to be built on the property.
OSHAWA -- As a new school year begins, the majority of student rental houses near Durham College and UOIT are still unlicensed, despite the fact that the City`s tough new rental licensing bylaw took effect May 30.
There are an estimated 500 rental homes in the Windfields Farm, Niagara Drive and Glovers Road neighbourhoods that buffer the campus. So far, City Hall has received licence applications for 150 and actually issued licenses for three -- but hundreds of students moved into the area over the Labour Day long weekend.
MetroLinx boss Rob Mac Isaac is playing down reports his agency`s regional transit plan is destined for a head-on collision with the city`s scheme to build light-rail line along Eglinton Ave. "We`re still working to achieve alignment," MacIsaac, a former mayor of Burlington, said yesterday.
It`s either a few more strands in the yet-to-be-connected web of city-wide bike lanes or yet another spoke in the eye of long-suffering drivers. On Monday, the city`s works and infrastructure committee will meet to approve another 13.2 km of reserved bicycle lanes -- all on suburban streets in Scarborough and Etobicoke -- as the city slowly inches its way toward its goal of a 500-km lane system.
0908TNTO Waterfront Toronto to delay some projects
Escalating costs have forced Waterfront Toronto to scale back the number of projects planned over the next five years.
The board of the waterfront renewal agency yesterday approved a new long-term plan that puts some projects on hold until after 2013. They include:
A $343 million plan to repair dock walls and build a new water`s edge promenade from York St. to Yonge St. Instead, the agency will focus on building the promenade section from York St. west to Bathurst St.
Sales are down, price appreciation is slowing and an uncertain economy could mean further stumbling blocks ahead for the Toronto housing market.
But buying in the right neighbourhoods could mean beating the odds in a flat or declining market, a report released yesterday by ReMax Ontario Atlantic Canada says.
0908CATH Protecting water supply no walk in the park
It still looks like a park.
Someone still mows the grass around the big, drooping willows and majestic maple trees.
The odd couple still finds a way to walk their dog along the waterfront property on DeCew Road.
It has to be on the sly, however, because the former Water Works Park has been off-limits to the public for almost eight years.
Vivid green No Trespassing signs hang from a spike-topped metal fence at regular intervals along the south side of De-Cew Road, from Faywell Drive almost to Cataract Road.
It looks odd, walling off the picturesque property, also known as Water Commission Park
Ford Motor Company and the federal government will spend up to $730 million retooling the Essex Engine Plant in Windsor so it can assemble every engine in the company portfolio, virtually assuring the long-term survival of 757 hourly jobs in the region.
0908OTWA Chelsea gets surprise $6M for recreation complex
CHELSEA - The announcement of federal and provincial grants yesterday for a $9-million sports and cultural complex in Old Chelsea came as such a surprise, the municipality hasn`t had time to design the building.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lawrence Cannon and Gatineau MNA Stéphanie Vallée said the two senior governments will each contribute $3 million to the Meredith Centre, to be built on eight hectares of vacant farmland off Old Chelsea Road by 2010.
0908HAMN Repair city facilities or risk losing them: study
The city will be forced to close more than half its recreation centres, pools and arenas within a decade if it doesn`t dramatically increase funding for renovations and new facilities.
A consultant delivered the grim prediction to councillors yesterday as she recommended a long-term plan that would help the city tackle a $20-million backlog in repairs.
Six years ago, the city used high-tech epoxy and fibreglass to re-line the 50-year-old clay sewers under the tree-lined thoroughfare near Ottawa and Mill streets. It saved residents the frustration of having their street dug up for a couple of months.
But the fix failed. Tree roots entered the pipe -- again -- and clogged side pipes to houses.
0908YNEW Newmarket, King say no to 3% hospital levy
Forcing municipal property taxpayers to shell out more to help build and expand hospitals is simply asking too much, Newmarket and King politicians say.
To have their voices heard loud and clear, the councils of both municipalities have drafted resolutions demanding the province either increase hospital funding or reinstate development charges as an fundraising option to ease the load.
Council has approved the construction of a new maintenance facility as well as extensive renovations to the former York Regional Police station at a total cost of $950,000.
Purchasing manager Brian Jordan told council in a report the town`s maintenance division has grown steadily since it was first established in 2000 and now has four employees.
It may be hard to imagine a skyscraping slice of Manhattan in Markham, but it could be on the way.
Langstaff Road East is now a winding, almost hidden road south of Hwy. 407, but a new vision for development in the suburbs, and the extension of the Yonge Street subway, will mean acres of quiet industrial lands transformed into a community of nearly 30,000 people.
"It`s isolated but there are all sorts of opportunities because of the forms of transit coming," Markham senior planner Dave Miller said.
A proposed merger of PowerStream and Barrie Hydro is expected to save the combined company $5 million a year, but it`s not yet known if customers will also see savings.
The merger of the two electricity distribution companies would mean savings in excess of $5 million through combining assets and better purchasing power, PowerStream spokesperson Eric Fagen said.
UXBRIDGE -- Residents interested in Uxbridge`s downtown revitalization are invited to a `primer` evening this month. The Township has invited James Stiver, director of planning for Orangeville, to discuss initiatives such as a Downtown Orangeville Conservation District and that town`s Facade Improvement Grant Program.
WHITBY -- Lightening the load for Whitby taxpayers is likely with the newly announced $5 million granted to the Town from the provincial surplus, the mayor says. "This is exactly what we needed the government to do," Mayor Pat Perkins said of the money, which is just a snippet of the overall $1.1 billion divided among every municipality in Ontario. "We`ve been very lacking in infrastructure money and there has been no partnership money coming from other levels of government to help with that before this."
0908TNTO Waterfront agency needs autonomy to succeed
Like the Road to Hell, Toronto`s waterfront is lined with good intentions. When the three levels of government created the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. in 2001, they stopped short of giving it the powers needed to fulfil its mandate.
The thinking at the time was that it would be better to get started and worry later about blustering through the obvious oversights. But now the omissions of the past threaten to overwhelm the promise of the future.
0908MSGA No free parking anymore on City Centre streets
Motorists will finally have to pay for parking in the city`s downtown core — and it`s going to cost them a hefty twoonie per hour.
Council previously approved a $1 rate back in Feb. 2007, and the system was supposed to be implemented that summer, but a series of delays pushed back implementation to later this year.
"Buyer beware" is the catchphrase as the city tries to sell 34 possibly contaminated lots in south London that account for about $4.3 million in property tax arrears.
There are several big catches as the city tries to sell the lots by public tender: - The property tax arrears owing -- accumulated for at least the past six years -- are almost triple the assessed value of the land.
