Derek E. Silva

Spreading knowledge & understanding

  • Council Recap: Oct 9, 2019

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    Hey folks, I’m sorry this is coming late. I have been running around managing about 5 different projects lately, so I haven’t had a chance to take my live tweets and convert them into a blog post. But, here we go!

    Here is the preview, in case you missed it.

    • Closed session took a full hour.

    Delegations, Presentations & Petitions

    • Mayor DeViet presented the Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team with a certificate, and showing Middlesex Centre is a full registered member of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge now!
    • Heather Kepran just did a short presentation on the new website. It looks sleek, it’s responsive, and the information architecture (sitemap) is much improved! I’m looking forward to the go live date.
    • Arnie Marsman presented Evolta’s new digital building permit system.
    • Arnie talked about how they’re working with Evolta to keep making changes to the software, enhance it, and they want to start using the Inspection module in about a month.

    Consent Agenda

    • Cllr Heffernan asked for clarity on Ilderton arena grant application like cost (roughly $35,000,000 if we include a curling rink), two ice pads now or not (not right away), and so on.
    • Cllr Aerts asked to take the Service Line Warranties issue out to vote on it separately.
    • Some discussion about the warranties endorsement. Cllr Aerts against endorsing one particular company. Staff clarified that this is a relationship made available through AMO.
    • Consent Agenda approved.
    • SLWC endorsement denied on a 3-3 vote (DM Brennan not present). As far as I can tell, this now means that Middlesex Centre residents cannot purchase any warranties from this firm at all, never mind missing out on the 5% royalty the municipality would have received.

    Public Meeting

    • A single item, basically no discussion about the application. Re-zoning approved.

    Staff Reports

    • COLA increase at 2% approved. I once again made the comment that 2% at the bottom is nowhere near equal to 2% at the top, but don’t have any solutions.
    • Mayor DeViet asked the Treasurer to speak to that. Treasurer spoke to work done by ML Consulting that shows higher increases at bottom compresses pay grid and could result in higher increases at higher pay bands later, which could cost even more. I understand that, but it’s still not a fair system in my opinion.
    • Mayor DeViet now going over last County Council meeting. County Council has made the decision to begin marketing the property on King St in London. A few unsolicited expressions of interest have been received, so now it’s being opened up to see what kinds of offers County receives.
    • By-laws passed, tonight’s Council meeting is done! Thanks for reading.

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  • Is the new Ilderton Arena in jeopardy in this federal election?

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    In a word, maybe.

    In assessing who I might want to vote for in the 2019 federal election, and which party’s platform would best benefit the Municipality of Middlesex Centre as a whole (services, infrastructure funding, costs of promises, etc.) I have been doing some digging into each of the three major parties’ platforms that are most likely to win in Lambon-Kent-Middlesex.

    I don’t want this to be long, so I’ll do my best to be brief.

    Liberal Party of Canada

    • On climate change, which I would argue is influencing the frequency and severity of the thunderstorms and resulting flooding that we’re seeing in Middlesex Centre, we know what to expect already. A carbon tax that will continue to increase over the next few years, the rest of the country phasing out coal fired power plants, and so on. The platform also calls for the planting of several billion trees to help capture more carbon, which is something our climate can handle.
    • On infrastructure spending, again we know what to expect. One potential boon for Middlesex Centre is in the Infrastructure Canada – Investing in Canada Plan (ICIP). This grant program, unveiled in August in collaboration with provincial governments, will pay for even more of a new arena or community centre than the last major grant program during the recession funded, and that’s how we got the Komoka Wellness Centre built! MXC staff are currently completing the application for funding for a new Wellness Centre-style complex for Ilderton, but we won’t get an answer on the application until Autumn 2020.
    • The Liberal Party is also promising to help family farms during hard times, continue to fund expanded access to high speed Internet, and create a new cabinet position in the form of a Minister of Rural Economic Development. There is a lot here that’s undefined or lacking clarity, which I never enjoy.
    • Since they are the incumbent, I will say I’m disappointed about electoral reform not coming to fruition, and I don’t think the decision to buy the Transmountain Pipeline was a good one. Those funds could have been used to help fuel research and development of carbon capturing technologies (and others) instead, and used towards training people that work in the oil sands so that they can take other career paths.

    Conservative Party of Canada

    • The Conservative Party has made their position very clear. Scrap the carbon tax and instead bring in legislation so that polluters have to make changes to, well, pollute less.
      • Here’s a little secret. If polluters have to pay to install new technology or change processes to ensure they’re adhering to legislation, driving up their capital expenditures and/or operating expenses, they will definitely pass those costs on to consumers. You will still pay more for those products.
    • The Conservative Party is promising to cut over $6,000,000,000 (billion) in infrastructure spending over the next 5 years. Their funding will prioritize roads and bridges. Where does that leave the aforementioned ICIP that’s already accepting applications? I don’t know, but I tried to find out. I have called our local Lambon-Kent-Middlesex candidate, Lianne Rood, on four separate occasions. I left her a voice mail, I even reached out to her on Twitter and Facebook. I have received no response. In my experience, when someone running for office or is already in office doesn’t get back to you, it’s usually because they know you won’t like the answer.
    • I do appreciate that they understand there needs to be a transition from the reliance of so many workers on oil & gas towards less carbon-intensive energy production.
    • Finally, they are promising to bring back a litany of tax credits for things like public transit passes and putting your kids into organized sports. These can be good for some families! But they’re only good if you can afford to put your kid into sports in the first place. Because these are tax credits, you only get to see this money back after you file your income taxes, which means you need to have the $150 for soccer or $1,000 for hockey ready to go for registration.

    New Democratic Party of Canada

    • The NDP’s climate change plan has a slightly loftier goal than the Liberal Party’s plan. Both will miss the Paris Accord’s target, though the project of the Liberal Party’s current efforts don’t include the impact of the tree planting plan. The NDP also wants to fund energy efficiency retrofits for social housing and government buildings, and modify the Canada Building Code so that all homes built by 2030 are net-zero ready.
    • The NDP wants to improve access to in-person services in and rural communities, expand the Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit, work with Canada Post to develop a model of postal banking (already done very successfully in countries like France), and grow affordable transit services for rural areas. They will also continue funding expanded access to high speed internet.
    • Rural Canada drives at least a third of the country’s economy, and the NDP wants to invest in regional economic development agencies (more? we already have a bunch, like Community Futures Development Corporation and superclusters), and support job creation in things like tourism and community development.

    Those are the highlights I wanted to pull out for you! I am not telling you who to vote for. My vote is still up in the air at this point, about 18 hours before I go out to cast my ballot! I just wanted to provide some perspective on our needs as a community. Thanks for reading!

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  • Council Preview: Oct 9, 2019

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    Here is your preview of the next Middlesex Centre Council meeting agenda. If you would like to view the full agenda, you may do so here.

    Council will be starting at 17:00 and going directly into a closed session to discuss “proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of lands by the municipality or local board.” We should come back for open session by 18:00.

    Delegations & Presentations

    • First, Mayor DeViet will make a presentation to the Middlesex Centre Pollinator Team.
    • Next, Heather Kepran, our Communications Specialist, will go over the new website! It is slated to launch October 29, 2019. I, for one, am very excited about this and the additional capabilities a fresh technology stack will open up.
    • And Arnie Marsman, Director of Building Services, will present Evolta which is our new digital building permit solution. I just used it myself, and in my opinion it’s a big improvement over the existing methods.

    Consent Agenda

    Items of note for Ward 4 include:

    • A proposal to hold Council’s regular meetings (that do not involve development applications and their related public meetings) to 9:30am.
      • I am of two minds on this. The move to 6pm did not result in any sort of regular increase in the number of people that come out to regular meetings. So, it would seem to make sense to try 9:30am instead, as many other municipalities also hold some of their meetings during the workday, in order to reduce staff overtime, long meetings that draw out into the evening, etc. However, what’s the likelihood many residents will come to meetings in the morning? I really don’t know.
      • My hope is that live streaming, and making meetings available for viewing on-demand as well, will increase participation, accountability and transparency significantly. I know staff are working on executing this ever since our new CAO came onboard.
    • If you are a curling fan, you will note that item 7.3 states that staff are seeing the go ahead to apply for funding from the federal and provincial government’s ICIP grant program for a new recreational facility in Ilderton that includes an NHL-sized ice pad, curling rink, and more!
    • The St. Clair Conservation Authority is seeking some funding, $5,739.97 to be exact, for floodplain mapping.
    • Service Line Warranties of Canada is looking for permission to market warranties here in Middlesex Centre. These warranties, which are kind of like an insurance product, could cover repairs to your property’s portion of a busted sewer line, water line, and even in-home plumbing issues. If approved, you would expect to see flyers from the company promoting its warranties, and the municipality would receive 5% of the revenue generated.
      • I don’t have any concerns at this point, but I’m going to take a few days to think about it. I’d also like to know why “municipal endorsement of the program model is required,” whereas I’d like to think any qualified plumbing company could offer similar programs. I’ll send this question to staff later today.
      • It’s an interesting idea, either way. If you have any interest in buying these types of warranties, especially for an older home, I would appreciate hearing from you!
    • A short report on interested earned on cash holdings. In 2018 the municipality earned $205,511.65 in interest on its accounts at Bank of Montreal!
    • If you don’t have a good understanding of how the municipal budget is formed, then our Treasurer’s Budget 101 presentation will be a good read! It’s make up of PowerPoint slides, so it won’t take you long to get through.

    Staff Reports

    Staff are recommending that the municipal wage grid receive a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 2% per year for the next three years. Supporting documentation is in the report including the rationale for doing this once instead of every year, which includes saving costs on hiring consultants to provide this information each year.

    Correspondence

    A few noteworthy items, including:

    • The Ontario Fire Marshall has selected Middlesex Centre to be included in its Project Zero program, providing us with 126 free Kidde combination carbon monoxide-smoke detectors! These will be provided free of charge to individuals deemed high risk, a category which “may include the elderly and those with disabilities or financial challenges.”
    • The UTRCA’s most recent board meeting minutes.

    And that’s it for this Wednesday! If you have any questions, comments or concerns about any of the above, please get in touch.

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  • Council Recap: Sep 25, 2019

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    Welcome back to the recap of the September 25, 2019 Middlesex Centre Council meeting. If you missed the preview, you can find it here.

    I live tweeted the meeting, so this is mostly a copy and paste of the notes made that evening.

    Delegations, Presentations & Petitions

    • Brenda Slater now doing her presentation about MPAC. Here’s a link to the presentation for those playing the home game!
    • The last date used for MPAC’s assessment was Jan 1, 2016. Next date will be Jan 1, 2019.
    • Q&A time:
      • I asked whether property owners can expect huge increases in property value assessments because of red hot market. Didn’t get a clear answer, but sounds like yes.
      • Deputy Mayor Brennan asked whether speculative farm purchases are considered. No. Only farmer to farmer.
      • I asked how much assessment was done algorithmically or by a person. It’s a mix — lots done by formulas by computers, and then individuals review for a sanity check.

    Consent Agenda

    The Consent Agenda passed. A few clarification questions were asked and answered regarding monies spent and allocated. I commended staff on increasing budget survey responses by 50% over last year, and their efforts to keep a rein on costs and use money wisely are paying off through more positive responses.

    The pavilion at Poplar Hill Park.
    The pavilion at Poplar Hill Park.

    Staff Reports

    • On to revised HR policy. CAO DiLullo presented the report. Mayor DeViet pointed out she’s happy that this will make equal pay for equal work (raising student minimum wage to match adult minimum wage). Revised HR policy approved.
    • Pre-approval request for new Zamboni for Ilderton Arena. Pre-approval passed.
    • Poplar Hill rehab project now. As mentioned on my blog, staff want to get things underway so that (most of) the renovations are ready for the 100th anniversary event next year. Motion approved.

    Committee of Adjustment

    Both minor variance applications approved. There was not any input provided by the public or Council.

    Public Meetings

    • Mayor DeViet noted that the application B-23-2019 (Buren) has been withdrawn.
    • No members of the public spoke about item 10.1. Report from Palumbo Homes and their contractors received for information.
    • Item 10.2 passed with no comments from the public or Council.
    • Item 10.4, Councillor Heffernan asking about water quality and impact from development.
    • Arnie Marsman answered that if new properties would negatively impact existing wells, then they must drill deeper into another well with no negative impacts.
    • Mayor DeViet unclear on why gap is being left between proposed lots and existing homes.
    • Craig Linton (agent for the applicant) explains that original proposal had 5 lots, but they had to show access to lands to the north for further development later. Gap is for future road, plus more than 3 lot application means a development agreement would be required.
    • I pointed out that that is odd considering we have no plans, and I doubt any future Council will have plans, to install municipal water in Poplar Hill. Regardless, the motion was approved with me voting against it.
    • Item 10.5 – same property, new application. Owners want to sever surplus farm house. Planner says they’re having hard time establishing that property owners are the same across existing farm properties. Mr. Linton disagrees. Regardless, staff recommending deferral.
    • One individual raised concerns about this paving the way for future development on the land. I will say that is incredibly unlikely. Another gentleman also raised the same concern.
    • The motion was deferred back to staff to give them more time to validate whether this severance qualifies as a surplus farm dwelling.

    And that was that! If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let me know.

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  • Council Preview: Sep 25, 2019

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    You can find the full agenda for Middlesex Centre Council’s September 25, 2019 meeting here.

    This Council meeting will start at 16:45 with a Closed Session. Hopefully we’ll be done with that in time to get the rest of the agenda underway by 18:00 (6pm).

    Delegations, Presentations & Petitions

    Brenda Slater, from MPAC, has a presentation entitled “Understanding MPAC and our role in the Property Assessment & Taxation System.” MPAC is the organization responsible for taking home value and sales data and determining your home’s assessed values, and therefore how much you will pay in property taxes. For apartment buildings, they determine the building’s value and the property owner typically divvies up the taxes owing to each unit proportionally.

    Consent Agenda

    A few items I would like to highlight:

    • Building permits still being issued at a brisk pace with properties being built all across the municipality right now.
    • Everything appears to be on track with the capital budget, besides a few items that staff want to push off to 2020. I imagine this is largely related to relying on the Acting CAO and other staff to keep day-to-day operations going while we searched for a new CAO, who started recently, and a new Director of Public Works & Engineering, who started last week.
    • The budget survey results were very positive! More responses than last year, and more residents who think their property taxes provide fair, good, or excellent value. 👍
    • We now have the amount provided in this year’s doubling of the Federal Gas Tax funding.
    • You will see that I spoke to the Community Services Advisory Committee last month about an off-leash dog park in Ward 4. More on that to come this fall, including a Public Information Centre.

    Staff Reports

    • Some proposed changes to our hiring policy that staff hope will make it easier to attract and retain employees, especially students to help run our concession stands.
    • Staff are requesting pre-approval on a new Zamboni for Ilderton Arena due to the 12-18 month lead time expected for the vehicle.
    • Staff are also requesting pre-approval on rehab work for the Poplar Hill Pavilion & Grandstand, in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the park and related celebrations next year.

    Committee of Adjustment

    Looks like I’m up as Committee Chair again! There is one application in Ward 4.

    At 75 Caverhill Cres, they’re seeking permission for a covered deck to extend 50cm into the rear yard setback beyond the typical minimum of 2m. This would create a 1.5m setback instead of a 2m setback.

    Public Meetings

    ZBA-21-2019 – DP of C & Site Plan – Palumbo Developments is looking to re-zone a portion of Kilworth Heights West, reduce the minimum square footage allowed for their condominium development. Council will hear the applicant and public at this time, and likely make a decision at a later date as there are holding symbols in place for things like noise impact analysis that need to be done.

    If you want to speak to the item above, please remember that the zoning for this site is already decided as per the OMB decision two years ago. Opposition to the development of the site, or the development of condominiums on the site, will be fruitless. You can speak to any concerns related to the minimum square footage reduction requested, however these homes will still provide over 2,000 sq ft of living space even at the reduced size.

    PLA-69-2019 is back to Council in the form of ZBA-22-2019. Staff are recommending approval. I still think two properties on this particular location is a bit much.

    There is a new application at 120 Arthur St. The applicant would like to sever the property to create a new lot and build a home. Staff are concerned that zoning would create a building envelope only 5m wide with the normally required setbacks.

    The above application has been withdrawn.

    And staff have a municipality wide report on deck encroachments! Take a read and come speak your piece at Council if you have thoughts to share.

    That’s it for this week’s Council meeting! If you have any thoughts on the items above, please let me know.

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