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Ontario Economic Fundamentals 2008 Q2

Open sewage pipe fouled Petrie Island beach

East-end city councillors are pleased by a partial explanation for high E. coli counts at Petrie Island Beach in 2006, but they are disappointed that it took municipal staff two years to tell tell them about it.

The man-made beach, into which the city has sunk about $4 million, has been the target of ridicule since the summer of 2006, when it was closed for 45 days after the water was deemed unsafe for swimming.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...99-d3c58c6f151b
 
Transit pick on track

Once again, the city is about to begin the long and arduous debate on the fastest, most affordable and convenient way to shuttle people around the nation`s capital.

Eighteen months ago, there was a $1-billion light-rail plan in place that would have taken passengers from Barrhaven to the University of Ottawa, but city council decided that wasn`t the route to take and cancelled the project. It`s now looking at a massive $4-billion, 25-year transit project that includes light rail from Baysview to just short of the Riverside South community, a tunnel under the downtown core and converting the bus transitway from Baseline to Blair Rd. to light rail. The annual operating cost of the plan by 2031 is estimated at $434 million.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndReg...623711-sun.html
 
Council OKs two west-end projects

Two property owners on the city`s west end were granted an exemption by council Tuesday, from an interim control development freeze bylaw that has stalled their plans.

Council has been firm for over a year on enforcing the bylaw while a community improvement study for Olde Sandwich Towne can be completed.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...0c-4cd9fedddb3b
 
A road like no other

LASALLE - Malden Road will be unlike any road in the region, allowing equal space for cars, bicycles and pedestrians, if a vision for the road is adopted.

Consultants have just started work on an environmental assessment for a project to rebuild the three kilometres of Malden Road between Todd Lane and Meagan Drive, which is just south of the new Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...7b-0d3806df7430
 
Golden Horseshoe gets a splash of green

Four Ontario groups have teamed up to make the Golden Horseshoe a little greener.

Representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Trees Ontario, Conservation Halton along with local MPP Ted McMeekin took part in a tree-planting ceremony near Flamborough yesterday afternoon.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/372477
 
Cats not in the doghouse under new Cambridge bylaw

CAMBRIDGE

Dog owners face new rules from city hall, but cat owners don`t.

Last night, city councillors approved an overhaul of the city`s animal control bylaw that mostly focused on dogs but also added rabbits and potbelly pigs to the list of controlled animals.

But nowhere in the 27-page document are cats mentioned.

With all the discussion in Kitchener this year about controlling the number of cats allowed in a house, Coun. Linda Whetham wondered why Cambridge didn`t look at the issue.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/353529
 
Workers hope Axle accord will pave way for return to work

WATERLOO REGION

A three-month strike that has idled a big part of Waterloo Region`s auto parts industry could be resolved this week, paving the way for the return to work of laid-off workers.

About 2,000 American Axle and Manufacturing Inc. employees in Detroit will finish voting tomorrow on a tentative contract settlement reached late Friday night between the company and the United Auto Workers. About 1,600 workers at other Axle plants have already voted on the deal. If the employees approve the contract and return to work, local auto parts suppliers expect to gear up quickly.

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/353431
 
Slow down civic square: Bell

GUELPH

City councillor Bob Bell wants to see an $8.7-million plan to redesign the area surrounding city hall slowed down so it doesn`t overwhelm taxpayers.

"I`m a little concerned that tax rates are going to go through the roof," Bell said at a meeting hosted by the city and the Downtown Guelph Business Association at city hall last night.

The meeting was intended to inform downtown business owners about the plan for the space in front of city hall.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/330549
 
City projects proving costly

GUELPH

City council might consider delaying some proposed downtown projects in light of financial concerns.

"The projects seem to be properly identified, however, they seem to be coming up too quickly," said Councillor Bob Bell, who is on council`s finance committee.

"I think what needs to be done now is to select which projects are of less priority and push them back."

Last week, the committee recommended that council cap funding for capital projects at 20 per cent of the previous year`s tax requirement.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/330547
 
Landlords turned away by councillors

OSHAWA -- With a little over a week until the City`s new rental housing bylaw takes effect, 10 more landlords have asked to be exempted from the rules. But after landing in hot water for granting the initial two exemptions in April, councillors have decided to keep their distance.

A half-dozen landlords attended Tuesday`s finance and administration committee meeting to make their plea and were made to wait more than an hour before being told the committee had voted not to let them speak.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/oshawa/article/99214
 
Missing snake slithers home; Spent two weeks in walls of apartment complex

In the end it was animal hunger, pure and simple, that lured Neil back to the bathroom.

Not the mouse dangling on the string for temptation. Not the cigarette and incense used to smoke him out.

Not even the beam from the flashlight beckoning him toward his loved ones.

The ball python on the lam for two weeks in the walls of a St. Catharines apartment complex slithered back into his owner`s abode Monday looking for a meal.

And he returned the same way he left, through a crack under a heater in the bathroom, where a baseboard should have been.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article...h=KARENA+WALTER
 
Port parking shortage shows no easy answer; Traffic experts agree development likely to offset some demand for space, but create new problems

The Port Place development would reduce the summer weekend parking problems in Port Dalhousie, but would likely make the overall parking shortage worse, traffic experts say.

Several witnesses at the Ontario Municipal Board hearing, being held to determine the fate of the proposal, differed in their assessments of how bad the parking problems would be, but they all agreed that the parking demand created by the development could not be met on site.

Philip Grubb, a traffic engineer hired by the city in 2004 to conduct a Port Dalhousie parking study, and who ended up evaluating the Port Dalhousie Vitalization Corp. development proposal, said a cash payment from the developer in lieu of parking would be one way to meet the parking shortage, but not the best.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article...MARLENE+BERGSMA
 
Thorold water, sewer charges to jump 9.8%

It`s the bill that Thoroldites apparently are more sensitive to than their tax bills.

And this year, water and sewer charges in Thorold are set to climb 9.8 per cent.

With the new billing system chosen by council Tuesday, that means an increase of $15.68 for the average user who consumes an annual 258 cubic metres of water.

In a staff report, director of finance Maria Mauro attributed the spike to regional charges, which represent about 60 per cent of the total water and sewer budgets.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1037809
 
Brant OK`s private land studies

Brant County politicians have approved development studies by private interests in four areas of the municipality.

Council approved the so-called area studies in north Paris, St. George, Brant east and the Nith peninsula this week.

The studies will chart a course for potential growth in each area and include information about potential land uses, municipal servicing and the cost of development.

Coun. Roy Haggart said council`s decision was the culmination of 18 months of consultation with the public and development community.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi...ohn+Paul+Zronik
 
Setback for Lakehead campus plan; Delays bump September 2009 opening date for permanent Orillia campus by a full year

Lakehead University had hoped to open its permanent Orillia campus in the fall of 2009.

But delays involving the preferred location at the Huro- nia Regional Centre and major site- servicing requirements at the fallback site have added a year to the process.

"Septem- ber 2010 is now the tar- get date," said Robert Lamb, the city`s manager of economic development.

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDispla...uth=Colin+McKim
 
Orillia Transit reaches out; Free rides meant to boost system`s profile

When Orillians hopped a city bus on Wednesday, they didn`t have to fumble for change or pull out a transit pass.

The ride was free.

The one-day promotion was an effort to showcase a pair of new buses and improve ridership, said Peter Dance, director of public works.

"It`s really part of an overall promotion strategy... to increase the profile of transit," Dance said.

Orillia transit serves between 800 and 1,000 passengers each day.

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDispla...uth=Teviah+Moro
 
Another blow for downtown; Third fire on Dunlop in less than a year

Downtown Barrie was dealt a third blow in less than a year by an overnight fire that roared through a Dunlop Street East apartment complex.

The Tuesday night/Wednesday morning blaze came less than six months after an explosion and fire destroyed a restaurant and several buildings at the Five Points in December - causing $4 million in damage.

What`s left of those buildings is being demolished this week.

That inferno was preceded by a spectacular fire last July that destroyed a handful of buildings at the corner of Dunlop and Mary streets, and caused more than $1 million in damage.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi...auth=BOB+BRUTON
 
Toronto`s condo market holds steady

Even as there are signs greater Toronto`s real estate market is losing a little of its lustre, the condo market appears to be holding steady.
"The big news is that new condo statistics are identical to the same quarter as last year," said Jane Renwick of Urbanation condo market researchers, which released a report on the GTA market`s first quarter today.
"Everybody was worrying if last year`s success was the boom before the bust," she said. "While sales per project decreased, the same number of buyers showed overall, and that suggests things are holding steady."
New condo sales came in at 3,433 in the first quarter of 2008 —only eight units less than the same time last year. But those almost identical numbers were spread over 25% more buildings, as the number of projects in the city continues to grow.

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/t...lds-steady.aspx
 
Condo numbers hold steady

Toronto is being remade on a grand scale. Each Thursday, the National Post examines the people, places and issues behind Toronto`s condo boom.

Even as there are signs greater Toronto`s real estate market is losing a little of its lustre, the condo market appears to be holding steady.

"The big news is that new condo statistics are identical to the same quarter as last year," said Jane Renwick of Urbanation condo market researchers, which released a report on the GTA market`s first quarter yesterday.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/to....html?id=530541
 
Leslieville fast becoming restaurant central

A wealth of culinary options and easy access to the rest of the city are reasons Ryan Spalding and Lisa Pieterse never plan to move far from the four city blocks around their Leslieville home.

The couple has lived for three years in a converted industrial space on Minto St., a quiet one-way a stone`s throw from Queen St. E., near Leslie St. Spalding grew up in the area and most of his childhood friends still live close by.

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/428275
 
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