Development & Growth – Page 2

Saunderson’s Role in Blocking the Hospital Redevelopment

During the previous council’s four years (2014-18), I documented the aggressive efforts to stall the local hospital’s desperately-needed redevelopment by a group of those on council (aka The Block*). Every other municipality in the region enthusiastically supported the hospital’s plan; only this group on Collingwood council put up roadblocks. And they were significant roadblocks raised at great expense to the taxpayer. Collingwood council SHOULD have taken the lead to promote their own hospital, but couldn’t get past their self-importance. As a result of the former council’s pettiness and negative interference, the hospital’s plans were set back as much as a ……… click below for more ↓

Where is Collingwood’s Pandemic Response?

2021-01-10 2021-01-10 Collingwood / Council / COVID-19 responses / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies2 Comments

I admit I am stumped. I have been looking online to find something that tells me what Collingwood council has done in response to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year. I’m looking for real, concrete, measurable steps, things that benefit our community; things that residents and businesses can point to and say “This helped me survive.” I don’t want to read about promises, nor bloviations, nor self-serving proclamations with all the substance of a bad dream. We get enough vapid, banal content from our shambolic council already. Watching a council meeting is like being trapped in an elevator with ……… click below for more ↓

What would $9 Million Buy Our Town?

2021-01-01 2021-01-02 Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Development & Growth / Entitlement / Ethics and behaviour / Financial follies / Saunderson's Vindictive Judicial InquiryOne Comment

Back a few years ago, the 2010-14 council led by Mayor Cooper approved building for the community several important structures and buying for public ownership several properties, any of which — indeed, several of which — could have been built for less than the $9 million cost we taxpayers are burdened with paying for the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (SVJI) this term. For example, the new firehall we commissioned in 2012 cost $4.75 million. For roughly twice that amount, you know what you got from this council? Right: a report. And not just any report: we got a digital report, ……… click below for more ↓

Small town rules

2018-10-17 2018-10-17 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Taxes / User fees and costsOne Comment

In their book, Small Town Rules (Pearson Education Inc., USA, 2012), authors Barry Moltz and Becky McCray explain seven rules for businesses that use the model of a small town to offer advice on growing and maintaining a business n the “connected economy.” And while most of their rules are aimed at businesses, I suggest some are equally applicable to small towns like Collingwood. Don’t get me wrong: a municipality is not a business and despite some common functions and shared accounting techniques, a municipality cannot be run in the same manner as a for-profit business. For a start, we ……… click below for more ↓

What about climate change? No. 2

2018-10-08 2018-10-08 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Planning & PoliciesOne Comment

A few of the apocalyptic headlines from the past few days: Final call to save the world from ‘climate catastrophe’ – BBC news Landmark UN climate report warns time quickly running out – Al Jazeera news Scientists Just Laid Out Paths to Solve Climate Change. We Aren’t on Track to Do Any of Them –Time magazine Planet has only until 2030 to stem catastrophic climate change, experts warn – CNN Earth has only until 2030 to stem catastrophic climate change, experts warn – ABC news UN report on global warming carries life-or-death warning – CBC news Terrifying climate change warning: ……… click below for more ↓

Ten points on affordable housing

2018-09-23 2018-09-23 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Planning & Policies / TaxesOne Comment

I was invited, along with the other candidates for this municipal election, to address residents at Rupert’s Landing this week. Each candidate was provided a list of ten questions and given three minutes to respond to one of them. I will comment on the other nine in a future post, but for now, I wanted to talk about question two, which I chose to answer: There is insufficient affordable housing in Collingwood. What are your plans for increasing affordable housing for low-income adults? Three minutes is a very short time in which to address a complex, challenging issue. I had ……… click below for more ↓

My answers to residents: 5

2018-09-14 2018-09-14 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Planning & Policies / TaxesLeave a comment

This is a somewhat edited response to a resident who asked about a splash pad. The resident also commented that, “As nice as Collingwood is, we feel that this town is falling behind the times compared to other towns close by and the advancements they have achieved.” Here’s in part my reply: Yes, we need a splash pad here. The WaterFront Master Plan has a proposal for one at Harbourview Park (along with a winter skating trail) for about $3.6 million. See here: http://www.collingwood.ca/files/2016-11-09%20Collingwood%20Waterfront%20Master%20Plan%20Final%20Report.pdf I have not had the opportunity to discuss this plan with the current PRC director, Dean ……… click below for more ↓

My answers to ACO

2018-09-13 2018-09-13 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Local history / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

The following questions came from the local chapter of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO). They were sent to all mayoral and deputy-mayoral candidates, but I am unsure whether council candidates also got them. My responses are below. The questions were preceded by this: Questions regarding Collingwood’s Heritage Members of the Collingwood Branch of the ACO have prepared the following questionnaire to ascertain candidates’ positions on a number of important issues regarding the future of one of our town’s most valuable resources – our historic architecture and cultural heritage. Once compiled, your responses will be posted to our Facebook site. ……… click below for more ↓

My answers to SOS

2018-09-08 2018-09-08 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Ethics and behaviour / Hospital / Planning & Policies / Publicity & Communications / TaxesLeave a comment

The following questions were sent to all candidates by the local citizen’s group, Save Our Shoreline (SOS). These are my answers, below. I have formatted my response for better online reading. The questions are in italics. 1.) In order of priority how would you rank the top five (5) priorities for the Town of Collingwood over the next 4 years? Financial sustainability. We cannot build, we cannot create, we cannot start new projects if we cannot afford them – and we have to keep the impact on the taxpayers at a minimum and reduce town spending (but not to lower ……… click below for more ↓

Traffic lights on Highway 26

2018-09-01 2018-09-01 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018Leave a comment

After looking at the increased volume of traffic on Highway 26 in the recent weeks, I have become convinced we need a set of signal lights between the Pretty River Parkway and the Blue Shores/Pilkington lights. I suggest Elliot Street might be the best location, although that would have to be confirmed by local residents. I don’t know how anyone can turn left from any of the streets along the water side when the highway is that busy. It’s hard enough trying to turn right into the traffic flow – there are so many cars travelling so quickly there’s hardly ……… click below for more ↓

Heritage icon or white elephant?

2018-08-24 2018-09-18 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Local history / Planning & PoliciesOne Comment

Everyone recognizes the Collingwood terminals, one of the iconic (albeit unused) grain elevators on the Great Lakes, but it is actually the fourth on our waterfront. The first three were wooden; the first one was built in 1855 and burned in 1862, the second was built in 1871 and also burned down (date unknown); the replacement third was demolished in 1937. (I’ve got pictures of the first and third, but not the second – although I have seen an early photo showing two elevators on the waterfront together). Built in 1929, the existing elevators heralded a new era for Collingwood ……… click below for more ↓

Collingwood’s pot problem

2018-08-20 2018-08-20 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Election 2018 / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

Two months from now, Canada’s federal government will make marijuana legal. Laws will allow it to be sold in private stores, smoked, eaten and even grown in your home. There will be retail stores and online sales. And the next council will have to deal with it. But before then, our council should have discussed it and given the public some inkling as to what is planned here. Should have held public debate about where it could be sold – offered some suggestions for changes to our planning bylaws and Official Plan. Should have brought in someone from the police ……… click below for more ↓

The hypocrisy, it burns, it burns…

2018-05-01 2018-05-01 Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Development & Growth / Planning & Policies / Publicity & Communications / Utilities: electricity and waterLeave a comment

The Block on Collingwood Council can’t seem to go a week without diving into their deep, private lake of hypocrisy. Remember how they whined and snarled about the partnership last council formed with PowerStream to own and operate our electrical utility? How the Jeremiahs at the table lamented that a partnership deal was bad for the town. Now they want one for our airport. Ah, the hypocrisy. Yep. A story in the Connection last week noted, “…the two best options for the municipality would be a full sale of the property or a sale that includes a private and public ……… click below for more ↓

Madigan’s motion jeopardizes town

2018-01-26 2018-01-26 Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Disrespect and bad behaviour / Ethics and behaviour / Staff and administration2 Comments

On January 15, Councillor Bob Madigan made a motion (seconded, of course, by his puppetmaster, Deputy Mayor Saunderson) to limit the progress of the Indigo/Eden-Oak/McNabb development at the south end of town. Madigan’s motion demanded that, …council provide no further approvals to the Eden Oak/McNabb development until such time as council as a whole has the opportunity to review the concerns expressed by the neighbouring residents and agree upon any mitigation options. (Yes, I wondered who wrote it for him, too… whoever did it wasn’t very bright because he or she failed to identify what those mitigation measures should entail, ……… click below for more ↓

Who ya gonna call?

2018-01-12 2018-01-12 Collingwood / Council / deception & secrecy / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies / Staff and administrationLeave a comment

This song keeps running through my head: If there’s something strange in you neighborhood Who you gonna call? (your councillor) If there’s something weird And it don’t look good Who you gonna call? (your councillor) With apologies to Ray Parker, composer of the Ghostbusters theme song. More than three years after I left council, I still get calls from residents, still get stopped in grocery stores or when I’m walking my dog, dragged into conversations with residents unhappy with local politics and how they’ve been treated by this council. Specifically by members of The Block Seven. I get asked about ……… click below for more ↓