An Ontario Municipal Board hearing is underway to consider the merits of a 144- unit luxury condominium complex proposed for Orchard Point.
The eight-storey project was supported by the city`s planning staff, but turned down by council after Orchard Point residents objected to the project`s size and expressed concerns about traffic back-ups at Orchard Point Road and Highway 12.
The OMB will hear submissions from lawyers and witnesses representing the developer, the city and a residents` association.
The hearing, held primarily in the Orillia council chambers, is scheduled to run Sept. 15 to 19, Sept. 29 and Oct. 1 to 3.
0908BTFD City to buy property with collapsing wall
Pina Megna is already breathing easier after hearing the details of a last-minute plan by the city to remove a retaining wall that is leaning dangerously toward her tiny Brantford cottage on Scarfe Avenue.
"I am so happy. I feel so alleviated since I got the news," Megna said Tuesday. "I can breathe easier now."
Coun. Jennifer Kinneman called her earlier in the morning to report that the city will buy the property of her next-door neighbour, Peter Mc- Cluskey, whose house is above hers at the top of the slope on Scarfe, and exerting pressure on the retaining wall.
0908WIND Neighbour complaints rare for local landfill
ESSEX - The regional landfill isn`t likely to become a tourist attraction -- except for a few knowledgeable bird watchers who know raptors like turkey vultures like to stop there for a snack during migration.
But during a tour Tuesday by politicians and citizens, the regional landfill was applauded as a well-run operation that generates few complaints about litter, odour or traffic in the neighbourhood.
And those complaints could drop further as the landfill drills wells to trap and burn its methane gas to generate electricity, said manager Ralph Reiser.
0908OTWA `Creative` $60M project planned for Baseline site
OTTAWA - The company that brought Ottawa the South Keys shopping mall says it is planning a very different kind of project on the former Laurentian High School site at Baseline Road and Clyde Avenue.
"We have a design and concept that has not been done here," SmartCentres vice-president Dennis Eberhard said yesterday.
"It should be a drastic improvement and catalyst for redevelopment in an area of town in need of an injection of some interesting buildings and a place for people to shop and enjoy."
0908OTWA Committee OKs buying land for Limebank Road
The last major hurdle for the expansion of Limebank Road, the second-worst road in Ontario, according to a 2006 Canadian Automobile Association survey, has passed a city council committee and will go to a full city council vote next week.
Neighbourhood association representatives in Waterloo are applauding news a grocery superstore won`t be looming over the north end of the city.
"I think it`s good news for the entire community," said Benton Leong, president of the Lakeshore East Neighbourhood Association. "What they were proposing was simply too large a store at the wrong location."
The announcement that Loblaws had sold the parcel of land near King Street North and Weber Street came at a Waterloo council committee meeting Monday night.
0908KWCG Luxury condos proposed for busy corner near WLU
WATERLOO
A 25-storey luxury condominium tower catering to people who want an urban lifestyle could be going up at King Street North and University Avenue in Waterloo.
The City of Waterloo has received an application for a 175-unit condo proposal from Waterloo developer Tanem Developments.
The tower would be located at 247 and 253 King Street N., across the street from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Guelph Hydro`s distribution rate will decrease by almost three per cent retroactive to Sept. 1, following a decision by the Ontario Energy Board.
However, distribution rates comprise 36 per cent of Guelph customers` monthly hydro bills, making the total monthly cost largely dependent on the electricity rate at the time, said Paul Crawford, a spokesperson for the Ontario Energy Board.
With the rate change, Guelph Hydro customers who consume 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month would see a 2.66 per cent monthly increase compared to last fall and winter, but the bill would be one per cent lower based on spring-summer rates.
La Cucina restaurant owner Ralph Giovinazzo is teaming up with Toronto chef and restaurateur Gabriele Paganelli to open the Opus banquet hall in the heart of the Royal City tomorrow.
Giovinazzo said Opus, at 92 Macdonell St., is the natural extension of his upscale restaurant on Macdonell one block away.
0908DCLR New Darlington jobs are coming soon: official
CLARINGTON -- Ontario Power Generation will begin recruiting in coming months to staff new nuclear generators to be built in Clarington.
About a quarter of the questions answered by staff at OPG`s kiosk in Bowmanville Mall surround that very question: When are the jobs coming, said Pat McNeil, OPG`s senior vice-president of nuclear generation development. Mr. McNeil said the company will start recruiting operators next year, while some engineers will be brought in later this year to train in existing facilities.
0908ONTR $21 million injected into health research
The Ontario government will today announce $21 million in funds to fuel health research in the province.
More than 100 projects, in everything from basic cancer research to drug development to blood vessel biology, will get a boost in funds especially earmarked for new equipment and lab space.
The money, to come from the Ontario Research Fund, will ensure the province`s leading health scientists have the tools they need to stay at the head of their fields, said research and innovation minister John Wilkinson, who will make the announcement this morning at York University.
A highly destructive beetle — which kills only ash trees — has been found for the first time in Mississauga.
On July 15, City forestry staff discovered what they suspected was an emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation on private property near the airport in Malton. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) was called in and confirmed their suspicions.
The federal agency informed City staff that the infestation had been present at the location for about three years.
Things aren`t that gloomy. Yes, there have been job losses in Niagara, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Yes, those losses are serious blows for people without work. But things aren`t as bad as they might seem.
"I know when people lose their jobs, particularly when they have been in long-term employment, that is a very difficult situation," Harper said Wednesday during a campaign stop in Welland.
"I don`t think it`s accurate to say (the Conservative government economic policy) is not working. Did you know the unemployment rate in this region is lower than it was a year ago?"
At worst, it has been slowly sinking over the past two years.
That`s the range of assessments provided by several local economic experts.
Kithio Mwanzia, policy co-ordinator for the St. Catharines-Thorold Chamber of Commerce, said "as it stands now, there are obviously challenges."
"Things have stayed relatively the same, as far as the steadiness of employment numbers."
For the last two years, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has bobbed around the 6.7 to 7.1 per cent in St. Catharines-Niagara, Mwanzia said. The rate has been consistently higher than the provincial and federal average.
It was very subtle, but a boat named Allandale`s Hope was prominent in an artist`s rendering for a Concord company`s proposal to develop the old lakeshore rail station.
It was cramped quarters last night at Shutters restaurant as Forecast Inc. held an open house to present its plans to develop the "Allandale Market Village" on the dormant rail property.
The city -- which requires that the existing buildings be incorporated into the project -- has to decide between two proposals. The choices are the Forecast project -- which includes an 85-slip marina, hotel, GO train platform, office, arts and community space -- or a YMCA facility that includes childcare, employment and immigrant services.
OTTAWA - Somehow, despite the dozens of disappointments that preceded it, yesterday`s revelation from Nortel Networks seemed ominously different.
The underlying message was simple enough: the company`s customers suddenly are buying less telecom gear than expected. The result is that Nortel`s revenues this year could be seven per cent lower than forecast.
That`s bad enough, but the company finished the day with a share price of just $2.68 on the New York Stock Exchange, down 50 per cent on the day.
0908OTWA Council asks for details on soccer arena plan
Ottawa city councillors are excited about the prospect of a professional soccer stadium in Kanata, but they want to see Eugene Melnyk`s detailed plan before taking a position on the project.
Mr. Melnyk is eyeing 12 hectares of city-owned land in Kanata West, southeast of his Scotiabank Place arena, as the location for a 30,000-seat stadium. But there are a lot of questions about the project: how it`s affected by the floodplain of the nearby Carp River, what the city would get in exchange for the land, and what the implications might be for other sports properties.
0908OTWA Property taxpayers soon to get new house values
OTTAWA - Two years after the property tax furore that prompted Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to freeze all residential assessments, property taxpayers in the province will soon learn the reassessed value of their homes.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation will begin mailing out reassessment packages this week, the provincial agency announced yesterday.
With property values having increased about 20 per cent since 2005, homeowners across Ontario will see an average increase of five per cent in the first new assessment.
Michael Ignatieff`s visit was meant to bolster fellow Liberal candidate Tim Jones` bid for Newmarket-Aurora.
But the message, from his one-hour round table discussion on the sagging state of the country`s infrastructure, got mixed along the way.
One moment the Toronto MP and deputy Liberal leader decried crumbling roads and public buildings, calling for a balanced approach to repair them.
However, moments later Mr. Ignatieff told Newmarket`s council and senior staff that Canadians should throw caution to the wind and treat ourselves to an unprecedented capital spending blowout for the country`s 150th anniversary in 2017.
