Owen Sound City Council met on Monday, October 21, 2024, to address a range of topics concerning local development, infrastructure, and community services. Key decisions included extensions on development charge breaks, site plan amendments, business licenses, and ongoing pilot projects.
Council also discussed important updates on regional initiatives, including road maintenance transfers and housing strategies. Here are the highlights from the meeting:
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Hansa Financial, longtime owners of the harbourfront BCK Lot, have until March 31, 2025, to take advantage of an extension on their $1.1 million development charge break.
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Graham Construction got the green light to proceed with a minor site plan amendment at the former Georgian Landing site at 297 18th Street East. Council agreed to waive the new permit fee but refused to waive the development charges.
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Council approved continuing the pilot project that moved Visitor Services from the CWHC to the Tom Thomson Art Gallery and heard visitors served has increased by 33% in the new location.
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The City will lease eight ‘Lot C’ parking spots to Royal Rose Court.
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Business licenses were approved for Cut Master Salon at 882 2nd Avenue East, FB Burrito Partnership at 1660 20th Avenue East, and The Goods Kitchen Pastry Coffee at 938 2nd Avenue East. A Hawker and Peddler Licence was issued to David Steffon for the 2024 Owen Sound Collectible Show and Sale, taking place November 3, 2024.
During his report to Council, Deputy Mayor Scott Grieg highlighted significant updates regarding county road maintenance and regional development initiatives.
He explained that County Council approved directing staff to proceed with downloading road responsibilities from the county to lower-tier municipalities. This transfer is expected to save the county approximately $1 million annually in maintenance costs, offset by $23 million in transitional funding over 10 years to support municipalities.
For Owen Sound, this means the city will assume responsibility for about 15 kilometers of county roads, including infrastructure like stormwater systems, curbs, and bridges such as Jubilee and Pottawatomi. The City’s portion of the transitional funding is approximately $7.2 million over 10 years, but it will also absorb the annual $327,000 maintenance costs currently borne by the county.
The County has committed to addressing infrastructure issues, such as rehabilitating pedestrian crosswalk lights on 14th Street West, to prevent municipalities from inheriting assets in disrepair.
Additionally, Council endorsed the development of a regional housing strategy, crucial for accessing CMHC grant funding. This effort will include updating the county’s growth management strategy to align with new Ministry of Finance growth projections.
Deputy Mayor Scott Greig asked that Council “respectfully decline” the Georgian Bay Folk Society’s request to appoint a City Councilor to attend the Summerfolk organizer’s board meetings.
Councilor Jon Farmer asked whether staff or other organizations could liaise with GBFS instead and asked for a friendly amendment to that effect. Mayor Ian Boddy asked Community Services Director Pamela Coulter if she was not “already talking to them along the way.”
Councilor Marion Koepke said that, as with any other organization, the GBFS is welcome to come and make a presentation in front of the Council anytime.
Councilor Carol Merton asked if there is a process for having groups like GBFS profiled on the City’s website. Simmonds said the City generally limits the content on its website to City-specific business, except in the case of events like the Salmon Spectacular.
Council unanimously voted not to appoint a member to attend GBFS meetings.
City Manager Tim Simmonds gave his monthly update, a 9-minute rapid-fire verbal report in which he reads from a presentation displayed on the meeting screen but not included in the meeting agenda.
Despite repeated requests from The Owen Sound Current that this presentation be included in the meeting package so its contents are accessible to the public, the City prefers that residents seek it out on the ‘City Manager’s Updates’ page on the city website.
As of October 21, the last available monthly update on that page is from July 2024.
As part of his update, Simmonds showed the following slide on opportunities for public engagement:
Pamela Coulter, Director of Community Services, brought back a condensed, 17-pg version of the City’s response to Grey County’s proposed Centralized Planning Service Delivery Model.
Councilor Farmer moved that Council direct staff to supply the report as comment to the County. That carried.
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