Held a Committee of the Whole Meeting at 3:00 p.m. for the purpose of Code of Conduct review.

Reported out of the closed meeting. Sarnia City Council met in Closed Session on October 28, 2019 to discuss the following matters:

  • Direction to staff regarding instructions to be applied to negotiations regarding the proposed sale of the Bayside Mall Lands.
  • Direction to staff regarding an advisory committee vacancy.
  • Direction to staff in response to follow-up information resulting from the Chief Administrative Officer Review Process.
  • Direction to staff regarding litigation affecting the municipality and advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege with respect to a harbour matter.

Presented the 2019 Accessibility Awards to the following winners:

  • RBC Lambton Mall Road – Prelude to Excellence (large business); 
  • Junior Baker – Prelude to Excellence (small business);
  • The Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery Staff for Artpod Program– Exceptional Leadership in Customer Service; 
  • Holly Wenning, Amy Mayea, Jenn-Brown Nead for Expressive Arts Program – Creating Opportunity for an Accessible Community; 
  • Patodia Eye Institute – Exceptional Accessible Physical Environment; 
  • Detroit Metro Shuttle Inc. – Going Above and Beyond Award;
  • Sarah Nishimura-Nissen – Champion for Inclusive Employment Award;
  • Amber Harding – Emerging Leader in Accessibility and Inclusion;
  • Lynne Betteridge for Women in Touch – Age-Friendly Sarnia Award.

Held a public meeting and approved amendments to the Official Plan and Zoning By-Law to permit a converted dwelling containing a maximum of three dwelling units at 146 Cameron Street.

Held a public meeting  and deferred a Rezoning Application to change the zoning at 135 Water Street to permit a new 100 unit multiple use apartment dwelling with a height of 60 metres (19 storeys), as well as to provide regulations to permit lot coverage of 40% and reduced requirements for lot area, setbacks, parking and commercial floor area. 

Heard from the following delegations:

  • Tracy Pringle, Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, regarding understanding MPAC’s role in the property assessment and taxation system; and
  • Tim Bechard regarding Pathways Health Centre for Children community therapeutic pool and referred a budget request to 2020 budget deliberations.

Held a public meeting and heard from members of the public regarding the Invest in Canada Infrastructure Program: Community, Culture and Recreation Intake.

  • Endorsed the application for the redevelopment of Germain Arena to an indoor multi-purpose facility; and
  • Endorsed an application for refurbishing or replacing Jackson Outdoor Pool.

Directed staff to solicit a landscape architect to begin design work to improve Centennial Park (address deficiencies) based on the feedback received from community groups.

Referred the purchase of a new accessible mobile staging unit (showmobile) to the 2020 Budget Deliberations.

Referred the approval of capital improvements for shoreline projects to the 2020 Budget Deliberations.

Approved the Procurement of Goods and Services policy.

  • Increased the CAO’s delegated authority limit: projects under $250,000 to be executed by the CAO.

Authorized the Agreement for Naming Rights of the North Slip (located at the end of Exmouth Street) between the City and Cestar College of Business, Health, and Technology.

  • Cestar College has pledged a philanthropic donation of $4 million to the Sarnia-Lambton Oversized Load Corridor project. The North Slip will be named “Cestar Dock.”

Accepted the proposal by CRS Tunneling Inc. in the amount of $35,616 (including non-rebateable HST), for required Canadian National (CN) approval and work plan, as part of the Sarnia Sewer Upgrade Project.

Adopted the Capital Financing & Debt Management Policy and authorized staff to incorporate the Capital Financing & Debt Management Policy into the 2020 Budget deliberations.

Adopted in principle the City of Ottawa Accessibility Standards as a guide for new buildings or significant renovations.

Amended the Traffic and Parking By-Law to institute:

  • A stop sign for northbound and southbound traffic on Tashmoo Avenue at Christopher Drive;
  • “No Parking Anytime” on the south side of Maxwell Street and the north side of Lincoln Park Avenue at the intersections for Watson Street, Cecil Street and Norman Street;
  • “Two Hour Parking” from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday on the south side Maxwell Street between Russell Street and East Street; and 
  • A 50 km/h zone on Waterworks Road between Confederation Line and Churchill Line.

Approved the proposed Procedure By-Law.

Adopted a by-law to amend the Heritage Designation By-Law for the Canatara Park Log Cabin Complex, to clarify and correct the statement explaining the property’s cultural heritage value or interest or the description of the property’s heritage attributes, pursuant to the Ontario Heritage Act and Regulation.

Directed staff to prepare a report on the possibility of converting a street or partial street in a Sarnia business area to be a pedestrian only area.

Referred to 2020 Budget Deliberations an application to Infrastructure Ontario for the full amount of the loan needed to build a sea wall along the Bright’s Grove public shoreline.

Tabled direction to staff to proceed with the steps necessary to form a Business Improvement Area in the Sarnia Downtown.

Referred the following requests to 2020 Budget Deliberations:

  • $2.25 million be allocated for shoreline protection this calendar year and that a Shoreline Protection Strategy be commenced beginning in 2020 and extending yearly through 2029 which allocates $2.25 million annually for this purpose.
  • Instructed staff to provide a list of all City owned properties. This list can then be considered in the context of being potentially disposed of as surplus and made available for potential development projects by the private sector.
  • Requested an update to the Waterfront Master Plan.
  • Directed staff to investigate a multi-use recreational facility, similar to the Joe Thornton facility in St. Thomas, as envisioned by the updated Recreation Master Plan.
  • Directed staff to investigate a user pay fee structure for the new Oversized Load Corridor dock facility.

Thanked the Expressive Arts Program and Imperial Theatre for their contribution to the national anthem played at Council meetings.

Approved the proposal by Rigarus Construction Inc. in the amount of $174,264 including non‐rebatable HST ($171,250 excluding taxes) plus a 15% contingency for the supply and construction of a Monopole Radio Communications Tower at the Police Training Centre at Lambton Mall.

Granted a noise by-law exemption to Enbridge in association with the Line 5 St. Clair River Replacement project to include:

  • Monday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. during January, February, and March 2020; and
  • 4 days in January 2020 (at the discretion of Enbridge) where construction may operate 24 hours per day.

Approved a rezoning application to remove the Holding Zone Designation at the former Sarnia General Hospital Site (220 Mitton Street North and 327 George Street).

  • Authorized execution of a Subdivision Agreement between GFive Inc. and the City of Sarnia.

Received a Climate Change Adaptation Plan update including climate trends, impact statements, and assessment of risk.

Directed staff to send out public notice to amend the City of Sarnia Zoning By-Law to permit secondary dwelling units in all ‘Urban Residential 1 (UR1)’ Zones of the City of Sarnia, for consideration at the December 9, 2019 Regular Council Meeting.

Directed staff to send out public notice of the proposed amendments to the City of Sarnia’s Zoning By-Law to provide regulations for short-term rental accommodations, for consideration at the December 9, 2019 Regular Council Meeting.

  • Directed staff to draft a Short-Term Rental Licensing By-Law and amend the existing Business Licensing By-Law, to provide a licensing framework for short-term rental accommodations, for consideration at December 9, 2019 Regular Council Meeting.

Endorsed the AMO report and its recommendations titled “A Reasonable Balance: Addressing growing municipal liability and insurance costs.”

Referred costs to investigate the urban boundary to the 2020 Budget Deliberations.

A Corporate Priorities/Strategic Planning Meeting will be held on November 4, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. The next Regular Council Meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, November 18, 2019.

City Council Highlights – October 28, 2019Download