At its regular meeting held on Monday, December 9, 2019, Sarnia City Council:

  • Reported out of the closed meeting. Sarnia City Council met in Closed Session on December 9, 2019 to discuss the following matters:
  • Received information with respect to labour relations or employee negotiations regarding the Fire Department.
  • Received information regarding a proposed or pending acquisition of land affecting a Transit terminal.
  • Received information regarding a proposed or pending disposition of land and a negotiation update regarding the Bayside Mall.
  • Direction to staff pertaining to a potential litigation that is subject to solicitor-client privilege.
  • Appointed Councillor Stark as Acting Mayor for the next year as per the Procedure By-law. As Acting Mayor, Councillor Stark would be asked to chair Council meetings in the Mayor’s absence.
  • Held a public meeting and approved a multiple lot industrial subdivision on vacant industrial lands owned by Arlanxeo and formerly occupied by Dow Chemical Industrial Operation to allow for development of different industrial companies on individual parcels of land.
  • Held a public meeting and approved 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. 
  • Held a public meeting and approved an amendment to the Zoning By-law to permit secondary dwelling units in all Urban Residential 1 (UR1) zones of the City. The purpose of these amendments is to implement Provincial legislation and to increase the supply of affordable housing in the City.
  • Held a public meeting and tabled an amendment to the Zoning By-law to provide regulations for short-term rental accommodations. Staff will bring the issue back to Council in February 2020.

Heard from the following delegations:

  • Julie and Jason Campbell regarding a watermain service request.
  • Kristen Rodriguez, Shoreline Erosion Collective Coalition, regarding shoreline issues.
  • Directed staff to consult with the public and prepare a new a licensing framework that would regulate Payday Loan Establishments to be brought back to Council for consideration on February 10, 2020.
  • Approved an agreement and directed staff to work with DocuPet Inc., to implement a launch of the DocuPet system for city dog licenses.
  • Approved an agreement with Passport Labs, Inc. to provide cloud-based parking payment services, automated ticket tracking, and information sharing with service partners.
  • Endorsed a Pedestrian Street Pilot Project on Lochiel Street between Christina Street North and Front Street North to take place on Friday, February 7, 2020 for the purposes of gathering feedback on the concept.
  • Approved a traditional territory acknowledgement to be spoken at the beginning of Council meetings.
  • Approved the painting of on-street parking stalls in the areas of Maria Street and Essex Street between Russell Street and Mackenzie Street.
  • Approved a proposal by Marsh Canada in the amount of $1,633,559 plus applicable taxes, for General Insurance and Risk Management Service Program.
  • Approved the Service Delivery Review – Final Report submitted by Optimus SBR.
  • Directed staff to study the opportunity to designate “veteran only” parking spots around various City facilities as a way to honour those who have served and those who are actively serving our country.
  • Directed staff to include the 2019 actual expense column in the 2021 Budget Books and presentations.
  • Requested that all compensation for all Board Members and Senior Management Team members be provided for public disclosure in the spirit of transparency.
  • Accepted a $10,000 contribution from the Gallery In The Grove towards the costs of an architectural design of a proposed expansion and requested that staff identify a funding source to complement this financial contribution in order to complete the drawings in early 2020.
  • The next Regular Council Meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, January 20, 2020.
City-Council-Highlights-2019-12-09Download