I've been trying to get as informed as possible on a variety of issues. I see that a lot are interlinked with our neighbours, so I have been try to gather some of their perspectives
Here was an exchange with former Collingwood Mayor, Chris Carrier.
Hello Chris, hope all is well. I have been meeting and talking with various groups and invested partners of Wasaga Beach like RTO7 and the School Board. I was hoping to call on your experience as Mayor.
Can you share your thoughts on a few issues you encountered that effected both Wasaga and Collingwood mutually? It can be helpful to get a perspective from the other side of the table. Many thanks.Robert
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1:54 PM (22 hours ago)
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Hi Robert, I have been busy with work and I am catching up on other matters.
When I was served 1997-2010 and especially when I was Mayor (2006-2010) it was critical for Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Clearview and the Blue Mountains to work collaboratively in order to get the funds necessary to complete major infrastructure projects. Hwy 26, SR 27/28, Poplar SR and other traffic areas were identified as small R regional issues that if the communities worked together they could present to the Ministry in a way that would better the odds of getting funding than if we competed against one another for limited funding.
I certainly see the local hospital as a significant area that the local communities can work together to see funding dollars realized for the Poplar SR location.
The Collingwood Regional Airport has been sold so it is no longer an issue.
The local EDC “Educational Development Charges” is one area that WB, CVT and Cwood can cooperate. Clearview does not have a Catholic School at all and WB still does not have a highschool. The school boards should be charging area specific charges and not a jurisdictional wide charge which is what they have proposed. Essentially all growth is subsidizing the building of schools in Barrie and Innisfil. In those high growth areas builders should be paying a higher fee than in areas with lower growth. Several hundred dollars in larger subdivisions is prohibitive for developers especially when communities are asking for them to build more affordable units.
County Development Charges should also be waived for community infill projects that are geared towards needed development such as affordable housing along bus routes, near employment centres and public services such as a medical centre. When you add local dc’s, school dcs and county dcs it really makes new housing far less affordable. Medium density builds especially if it is an infill project has the potential to give seniors and others with modest incomes more choice than the current limited housing stock. They also need to be built to a higher energy standard so people can live in units and still afford to heat them and cool them when required.
Local community development charges should allow expansions of in-law suites or in-home apartments with little to no development charges and can be designed to further incentive property owners along bus routes and near employment areas. The model of one size fits all approach needs to be done away with. Look at the neighbourhoods near your largest employment areas and offer incentives to get them to help build affordable apartments or coach houses on their properties.
Cwood, WB and Clearview could look at purchasing vehicles collectively especially for parks & rec or by-law enforcement, building and planning as they are common type vehicles and perhaps looking to the only car manufacturer in Simcoe County for a special rate for cars and small suvs or even hybrids. With the threat of tariffs from south of the border governments can purchase from Ontario manufacturers and our communities could purchase from Honda whenever possible.
The local medical services is an area that you could discuss with the planning department to see if their list of fees for development can be waived by Council for specific services such as a medical clinic not physio-therapy but the type of medical services your community identifies as a strategic necessity.
Local subdivisions where speeding occurs can be dealt with by utilizing traffic calming measures such as speed bumps (not very popular), better plantings at intersections so it seemingly narrows the roadway without actually narrowing the roadway. The more narrow a driver thinks the road way the slower they – it really is a matter of perception. Google traffic calming measures. Bike lanes and trails should be designed and believe it or round a bouts instead of traffic signalized intersections and stops signs are better for the movement of cars.
Our 3 communities pay a lot to the County for Economic Development and I was never keen on that. The County has 16 members and I believe our 3 communities know better how to invest for local economic development initiatives than competing with the 13 other communities. There used to be data that showed how much the 3 economies (4 if you include Blue Mountain) were interlinked. We share people for both employment and or housing – it does behoove us to cooperate more effectively than we have these last 8 years to solve some of the bigger issues.
Chris
Thank greatly Chris. Your experience offers good insight, much appreciated
Robert
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