A long-awaited turning-point for the sensitive Coves area of London may be at hand.
King and Benton, a Brantford company specializing in cleaning and redeveloping contaminated industrial land, has finished the final phase of soil tests on the former Valspar paints property it hopes to buy at the foot of Duke Street. "You`re going to see a bunch of things happen there very shortly," said company president Steve Charest. "We should have the results of those tests in the next couple of weeks."
It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. By this definition, city council`s sanity might be questioned.
Certainly this column has detailed council decisions made reacting to public pressure on a particular issue where they either had to reverse, or were reversed by the power of the Ontario Municipal Board.
Barrie eyes new plan for city trash; Garbage at landfill could be more useful
Greenhouse gases from our garbage could one day be captured and turned into energy.
Barrie councillors could take the initial step down that path tonight by approving the first phase of a gas collection system to be built along with the re-engineering of Sandy Hollow landfill site, located on Ferndale Drive.
Barry Thompson, the city`s energy and environment officer, says this project is important because it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions - which contribute to global warming.
Local vendors have been awarded more than $120 million in contracts related to the $430-million expansion of Windsor`s casino, according to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission.
Up to the end of March, 62 local companies had been given work on the massive project that is to be complete in June. The expanded and rejuvenated casino is being rebranded Caesars Windsor.
Renewing older neighbourhoods and creating walkable communities have slowly been gaining popularity across North America as preferred alternatives to endless suburban sprawl.
Thom Hunt welcomes the challenge of making those concepts realities in Windsor, as the city`s new municipal planner.
`Dumping ground` at Red Hill to get a $9m `renaissance`
Green playing fields, a splash pad and natural habitats could soon start taking shape on a blighted patch of land at the lower end of Red Hill Creek.
Today, the city`s public works committee is expected to endorse a $9-million plan that would consolidate and beautify a public works yard bracketed by two old dumps in the block that spans Brampton Street and Rennie Street where they meet the western bank of the creek.
Bruce Power lobbying for possible new nuclear units
WALKERTON
Ontario faces big decisions on its electricity supply, including how much will come from new generating units, Bruce Power spokesperson Ross Lamont told Bruce County councillors.
Tolling the GTA`s existing roadways would be political suicide, a Sun Media/Nanos Research poll has found. An overwhelming 71% of Ontarians oppose the idea of adding tolls on roads to help pay for their construction and maintenance, an idea buoyed in February by a blue-ribbon panel -- appointed by Mayor David Miller -- to examine how to improve the city`s finances.
GO Transit is now offering daily bus service between City Centre and Pearson International Airport.
The two recently-introduced airport/City Centre coaches run every 30 minutes.
GO has long offered airport service from Yorkdale, but the new service is "a different market altogether," said GO spokesperson Stephanie Sorensen.
"It`s 905 to 905 service," she said.
The Regional Diversity Roundtable (RDR) has officially launched in Peel.
RDR chair Sharon Douglas, also a manager with United Way of Peel Region, addressed a Mississauga audience at the Payal Banquet Hall on Semenyk Court April 23 with a reflection on the challenges and changes in Peel Region and the role of the RDR in helping organizations respond to the needs of the community.
Council defers decision on big research and sales facility on agricultural land
Approving a massive coconut fibre research and sales facility on farmland in west St. Catharines would set a dangerous precedent for more development on agricultural land, city and Region planning officials say.
A proposal from Raj Rajakumar of Milleniumsoils Coir to build a 38,000-square-foot retail, office and warehouse facility next to a 100,000-square-foot demonstration greenhouse is too big to meet city and provincial agricultural zoning rules, the city`s manager of planning services, Judy Pihach, said.
Pihach was addressing a public meeting Monday night at St. Catharines city hall into a plan to build the coconut fibre facility on mostly vacant land at 2100 Seventh St.
A vision of downtown hope at the corner of Welland Ave. and Ontario St.
OK, enough with master plans for downtown revitalization.
Let`s talk about the real thing.
As has been the conventional wisdom for decades, it`s not some fancy institutional building or new civic square that will breathe sustainable new life into the city core.
It`s housing. And not just any housing. It has to appeal to a fairly upscale crowd who might be tempted to drop some serious coin at downtown shops and such.
Some Brant County residents want the province to include the municipality in its protected greenbelt, in an effort to preserve farmland and natural areas.
Paris resident Mike Toll urged councillors at a special meeting Monday night to ask Queen`s Park to find room for Brant inside the greenbelt, an area of southern Ontario where new development is restricted. Right now, the greenbelt stops at Brant`s eastern border, near Ancaster.
"People are interested in supporting this proposal," Toll said. "People say development is out of control."
Waterfront showdown; Developer`s plan to build semis on Grand River faces opposition
Alarge turnout is expected at a ward meeting tonight during which residents can give their input on a plan to rezone an area of open space along the Grand River for a controversial housing project.
The fireworks will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Brantford Collegiate Institute.
Mayberry Homes builder Mike Quattrociocchi wants to go ahead with the second phase of his ongoing housing subdivision on Grand River Avenue near Jarvis Street, with the construction of 14 semi-detached houses, for a total 28 units.
Four semis, with eight units, have already been constructed.
The major longstanding issues confronting Brantford`s core quickly gained the spotlight once again when a consulting team unveiled a draft master plan for the downtown before city councillors Monday.
The team of IBI Group and Urban Strategies Inc. spent close to half an hour presenting a document called Towards a Stronger Future, which is the centerpiece of a $100,000 planning exercise meant to harness the assets and stakeholders` interests in the core`s ongoing renaissance into one concerted vision.
It presented ideas to liven up the downtown as a destination place with Harmony Square as the focal point. The vision contained ideas to make the area greener and more walkable, undertake the redevelopment of Bridge Street, build another parking garage with 900 parking spaces at the current Darling Street municipal parking lot, and preserve more old buildings on Colborne Street to keep the area`s heritage feel.
Wal-Mart cleared to start construction; Superstore could be done by November;; condo project OK`d
Orillia council has lifted a holding provision on the construction of a new Wal-Mart superstore at Murphy Road by Highway 12, allowing shovels to be in the ground by early next week.
"We`re intending to be on site Monday," Tom Smith, vice-president of development for SmartCentres, told reporters after addressing city politicians Monday night.
The new store, to be roughly 180,000 square feet, will replace the existing Wal-Mart across Highway 12 at the West Ridge shopping plaza.
Construction should be "substantially" complete by November, Smith noted.
TORONTO - Ontario roads are getting safer, according to the provincial government, which says the number of fatalities has dropped by one-fifth over the past decade despite a significant increase in the number of drivers.
Transportation Minister Jim Bradley trumpeted the relative success of new safety initiatives yesterday by calling Ontario`s roads among the safest in North America.
The Ottawa developer who wanted to demolish an 1897 house in a heritage district has submitted a new plan for the property that saves the house.
Kris Singhal, president of Richcraft Homes, wanted to tear down the 3,450-square-foot house at 456 Lansdowne Rd. in Rockcliffe Park and replace it with an 8,000-square-foot house. The city denied permission and Mr. Singhal filed an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board, which is still pending.
ESSEX - It`s no longer about the 3 Bs -- birds, bats and butterflies. It`s about people, politics and money.
With a dozen companies poised to build as many as a 1,000, 120-metre-high wind turbines, rural life in this area could change forever, says Bill Anderson of the Essex County Wind Action Group.
