LAKESHORE - The entire length of County Road 22 from Belle River to the City of Windsor limits needs to be widened to reduce traffic congestion and cut the accident rate, says Mayor Tom Bain.
"We see it as a vital part of the whole picture in the Let`s Get Windsor-Essex Moving strategy," Bain said.
Lakeshore council is getting a presentation today from Dillon Consulting engineer John Zangari on the $200 million project for widening of Manning Road and part of County Road 22 from the City of Windsor to Lakeshore Road just east of Manning. Tecumseh council will get a similar update shortly.
A single, central seniors centre won`t be part of the city`s 20-year recreation plan, but an "older adults" facility might be included in a new community centre the city is thinking about building.
The city is conducting a review of the 20-year recreation plan approved in 2002. Seniors programs are one part of the wide-ranging review, which will take another year or so to complete.
After months of speculation, the OPA has confirmed a 350-megawatt peaker plant will not be built in Aurora.
The final list of possible sites to host the Ontario Power Authority`s natural-gas-fired peaker plant includes three in King, two in East Gwillimbury and one in Bradford-West Gwillimbury.
The Bloomington Road site in Aurora did not make the list, an omission Mayor Phyllis Morris called a relief for residents.
"I think Aurora had always considered the site unsuitable," she said. "It appears that Northland Power has come to the same conclusion."
1108DBRK North Durham hit harder by re-assessment changes
Brock taxpayers will be the hardest hit in all of Durham Region, thanks to an above-average increase in property assessments. The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is reassessing properties in Ontario this year, the first time since 2005. Assessments are based on the value of a property on Jan. 1, 2008. Most property owners should have received the assessment notices, which were mailed out Nov. 3.
In rules set down by the Province, anyone with an assessment increase will see the assessment rise phased in over a four-year period. A property owner facing a decrease will have see the change all at once.
Residents can get a glimpse of Beaverton Presbyterian Church`s expansion plans next week. An open house is planned for Wednesday (Nov. 19) at 7:30 p.m. at the church to provide an overview of the $2-million-dollar expansion.
General Motors, a staunch supporter of Canada`s automotive industry, must survive to ensure the future health of the national manufacturing industry, a London conference heard yesterday. The troubled automaker, on the verge of bankruptcy without government loans, has invested $4 billion in Ontario`s auto industry during the last three years, including a retooling of Cami Automotive in Ingersoll that will produce two new vehicles in the spring, said David Paterson, GM Canada`s vice-president of corporate and environmental affairs.
1108CATH
Housing sales numbers for NOTL wrong: assessment corporation
Incorrect housing sales figures for Niagara- on-the-Lake will be removed from the Municipal Property Assessment Corp.`s website, the organization says.
MPAC announced the move Wednesday, two days after a Niagara-on-the- Lake resident called on town councillors to investigate the municipality`s property assessments.
Queen Street resident Peter Marchesseau maintained Niagara-on-the- Lake property owners are the most over-assessed taxpayers in the province.
Pat Luciani hopes city hall will license and regulate salvage yards, so he and his neighbours can better enjoy their properties.
Luciani and others along Bruce Street, west of Stanley Street, have watched helplessly in the past year while an almost defunct salvage yard resumed piling scrap metal in earnest, creating a racket and causing dust to fly.
They`ve also had to watch a derelict auto yard beside it heap busted vehicles atop one another, making for one colossal eyesore for most of a block.
Get used to traffic snarls and construction detours in parts of Barrie for a while longer.
Bradford Street`s partial closure, Simcoe Street`s ongoing work, the rerouting of Lakeshore Drive and Anne Street`s reconstruction have played havoc with motorists in this area for months.
Bob Kahle, the city`s manager of design and construction, says the city is involved with many road projects this year.
"There`s a large amount of work, all at the same time, and it`s all happening very intensely," he said.
`We`re so close you can smell it and taste it," confided a provincial government insider who believes Queen`s Park and Windsor are just "tweaks" away from a win-win border infrastructure agreement.
The insider said Mayor Eddie Francis and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, who`ve had a rocky relationship for some time, shared a ride to Toronto`s Pearson International Airport two weeks ago that was helpful in clearing the air and giving each a better understanding of the other`s position.
1108OTWA Lansdowne remake review takes next step forward
The city is moving forward with the next step in the revitalization of Lansdowne Park.
Yesterday, Capital Coun. Clive Doucet withdrew his motion to reintroduce an international design competition for the 18-hectare historic property. Doucet realized he didn`t have the majority of council`s support, but he hasn`t entirely given up on the idea. "It`s not dead," said Doucet.
1108OTWA Former city planner to testify for developer
The City of Ottawa`s former director of planning signed on as a consultant for a developer proposing a huge expansion of Manotick village two months after leaving his job.
Now Dennis Jacobs is preparing to testify at a major Ontario Municipal Board hearing on the issue -- on the developer`s side.
Things are rosy in the lower east side. City council will shortly proclaim that light rail will burrow under downtown and surface next to Godiva Chocolatier in the Rideau Centre.
There, commuters may experience the ultimate in decadent travel snacks. The line will then slice east to Blair Road. All told, the route will become known as the Blair Rich Ditch Project.
1108OTWA Residents force vote on Chelsea development
Chelsea residents voted yesterday to force a referendum on a controversial development.
A total of 33 people registered their opposition to the Chelsea Creek development project. That exceeded the threshold of 19 signatories, which now requires Chelsea to hold a referendum on the development, said Geoff Bleich, a member of Preservation Chelsea, a group opposed to the development.
1108OTWA Ottawa new home sales plunge 55.1% in October
OTTAWA - New home sales plunged 55.1 per cent in October as potential homebuyers worried about the global economic crisis and the outcome of the federal election.
Only 267 single-family, semi-detached and townhouse units were sold across the Ottawa region compared to 595 units a year earlier, according to the Greater Ottawa Homebuilders Association report prepared by the Corporate Research Group.
The declines were across the board with lower-priced units hit slightly harder than more expensive units.
1108KWCG Neighbours unhappy with developer`s plan for 1,900 new homes
CAMBRIDGE
Residents of a rural area in north Preston oppose a plan to surround them with a 1,900-home subdivision.
City staff call the project premature, but Hunt Club Valley is pressing forward with its proposal to develop the 99-hectare site.
Plans for a city-style subdivision were rebuffed by city hall in 1999 because sewage service wasn`t available. The city then started a watershed study to sort out what could and couldn`t be built in the rural area between Highway 24 and the Toyota plant.
There`s new debate over development on a privately owned property near Cootes Paradise that McMaster University once proposed turning into an off-campus parking lot.
J. Douglas Hammond of Ancaster, former owner of the Dundas Canadian Tire store, wants to rezone two hectares on the northwest corner of King Street East and Olympic Drive to build four self-storage warehouses.
Council was told the cost of totally renovating the existing 50-year-old building will cost $9.5 million, while building a brand new one will cost $10 million.
A needs study was done by Barry Knoll of Totten Sims Hubicki too see how the current facility could be used more efficiently.
The condition of the building was described as poor and inefficient and more than $2 million will be required over the next 15 years for repairs and maintenance.
