Q: What is the construction going on at the northwest corner of Highway 406 and Merritt Road about?
A: It`s not quite a construction site, yet.
Bob Nichols, Ministry of Transportation spokesman, said in an e-mail that the contractor doing the QEW expansion in St. Catharines is stockpiling excess excavated earth at Highway 406 and Merritt Road in Thorold, which is ministry-owned land.
Nichols said the ministry will eventually use this earth on future Highway 406 expansion work to reduce the quantity of fill material that would otherwise need to be imported for the job.
1208BTFD County considers $27M for roads, bridges, water
Brant County politicians will consider more than $27 million in spending on roads, bridges, and other capital projects as part of the municipality`s 2009 budget process.
The county`s proposed 2009 capital budget, presented to council this week, calls for $27.7 million in capital spending, up about $3.7 million over last year.
About $9.4 million would come from development charges, about $7.3 million from general taxation, $5.4 million from debt financing and the rest from reserve funds and other revenue.
1208BTFD
Developers want city`s help in Cainsville
Developers holding farmland around Cainsville are lobbying Brantford to take over the area from Brant County to make it easier for them to build houses and business parks.
Brantford Mayor Mike Hancock has confirmed that a group of developers has approached the city`s negotiating team in ongoing discussions between Brantford and Brant about boundary adjustments and strategic growth interests.
Brantford and Brant have been working for two years on a letter of intent that would transfer more than 5,000 acres of rural land to the north and east of the city to Brantford`s jurisdiction for development purposes.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said the Windsor Essex Parkway proposal "strikes the right balance" and didn`t mention the city`s rival GreenLink plan during a quick swing though Windsor Friday.
1208WIND City jobless rate likely to get worse, prof says
Although it remained unchanged in November compared to the previous month, Windsor`s unemployment rate of 10.1 per cent will likely get worse next year, Tony Faria, University of Windsor business professor, said Friday.
"I don`t think we can say it`s bottomed out yet," Faria said. "There`s the bigger issue of lower U.S. auto sales for 2009."
1208OTWA Housing resale market plunges 27.4 per cent in November
Sales of existing housing plunged 27.4 per cent in Ottawa in November as worries about the economy drove away buyers.
The decline in existing housing sales is accelerating and mirrors a big drop in sales of new housing, which were down 55 per cent in October.
The Ottawa Real Estate Board reported yesterday that only 646 singles, townhouses, condominium apartments and other housing were sold in November compared to 890 units a year earlier.
The anticipation of buying your first house is geared to the day you take possession and move in. It`s a different, more stressful story for condo buyers.
When we finally moved into our Lake Ontario condo in the spring, six years after we discovered the project and four years after we paid our deposit, we were ill-prepared for what still lay ahead.
We learned the condo wasn`t really ours yet and we weren`t finished paying. We also learned about the politics of condo living.
A bitter wind scoured the field of rubble and frozen puddles where a factory used to stand. But there was evidence of positive change yesterday. A groundbreaking ceremony for a new federal research laboratory at McMaster Innovation Park -- once the site of a Camco appliance factory -- represented meaningful action in the long and often painful transformation of Hamilton`s economic base.
Hamilton will be forced to freeze future growth if it doesn`t receive millions in government funding to help build a new wastewater treatment plant.
Joe Rinaldo, acting city manager, warned council yesterday that the city simply can`t afford the $1.8- billion, 10-year capital project, given the economic downturn.
More than a million Hamilton tax dollars are at risk in the financial collapse of a downtown condo conversion project, but city officials are confident the money is safe.
Senior business development consultant Gord Moodie said yesterday that "three, good, well-heeled purchasers" are in line to take over Trinity Landing, a 50-unit redevelopment of the former Spectator printing plant at King William and Catharine streets.
1208KWCG J.T. Bakeries to expand, adding noodles, crackers
KITCHENER
J.T. Bakeries Inc. is poised for expansion after receiving nearly $492,000 in provincial funds.
The Kitchener cracker manufacturer is using cash from the province`s Rural Economic Development Program to help fund a new baked noodle production line it is taking over from the soon-to-be-closed Campbell`s Soup plant in Listowel.
Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Leeanna Pendergast confirmed the funding at the Kitchener plant yesterday.
As a troubled economy means tighter pursestrings for taxpayers, Aurora is beginning its budget process with a plan to keep tax hikes to a minimum.
But it`s too early to talk numbers, Mayor Phyllis Morris said, adding councillors won`t have preliminary numbers for another week. The town has forecasted a budget increase of 7.6 per cent for 2009, but that figure will likely come down considerably, Mrs. Morris said.
Elevated arsenic levels found in wooded lots surrounding the future Summerhill Woods subdivision aren`t a cause for concern, according to the Town of Newmarket.
A routine soil test ordered by developer Criterion Development Corporation detected low levels of arsenic in topsoil on and near the development at Mulock Drive and Bathurst Street. The majority of the land had concentrations of arsenic below the Environment Ministry`s residential land-use standard of 25 parts per million and does not pose a public health and safety concern.
1208LNDN Airport taps feds for $4M distribution centres plan
London`s airport has asked the feds for $4 million to build distribution centres it hopes will be stepping stones to making this the only airport north of Mexico where goods could zip through tax- and duty-free.
The pitch comes as Ottawa plans a stimulus program that would include money for public works during a time of global economic crisis. With competition fierce for that money -- thousands are expected to apply -- airport president Steve Baker will turn this week to city hall for a letter of support.
1208CATH Greenbelt`s `eco-services` worth billions to economy
The greenbelt may be green in more than just name.
According to a recent study, the 1.8- million-acre swath spanning the Golden Horseshoe and beyond contributes $2.6 billion annually to the province`s economy.
It has chipped in $8 billion since its inception in 2005.
But the greenbelt is doing it in ways that aren`t always obvious or the easiest to measure.
Growing up in Cornwall, Michael Martel watched the good times roll in Eastern Ontario as a vibrant manufacturing sector fuelled growth and prosperity. "Everywhere you looked, there was a plant. There were jobs, there was lots of money and everyone had a great life," Mr. Martel recalled. But today, as the 60-year-old mortgage broker watches a spate of factory closings ravage small-town Eastern Ontario, he wonders whether the future will ever be as good as the past he once knew.
That leaves only the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge at the end of King Edward Avenue open for truck traffic. Commuters and truckers must be praying that nothing happens on the snake-like route through downtown to stop traffic from reaching this span. And pity the poor residents of Lowertown, who are getting even more of the truck traffic that is destroying that formerly lovely neighbourhood. The new bridge at Kettle Island never looked more vital. And let`s not forget the Chaudière is also a major bus route, so transit users are also inconvenienced.
