All meetings at City Hall, unless otherwise noted.
Monday, Nov 18
Council: Public Works, 9:30 a.m.
The near-doubling of a non-competitive consulting and engineering services contract for the Dundas Street East bridge over the Grindstone Creek is the one non-housekeeping item on this week’s Public Works Committee. The bridge, known as Bridge 451, “is in need of replacement.”
In July 2022, senior City staff used their delegated powers to hire, in a non-competitive contract award, AtkinsRéalis Canada Inc. to “provide detail design and tendering services” and agreed to pay $249,900. Staff can spend up to $250,000 a contract without public reporting of the contract.
Now, citing “unanticipated site issues,” an additional $40,000 is being added to the contract. City staff are asking Council to approve expanding the contract to include further consulting and oversight of contract at $160,000. “As the design engineers, their expertise to review the submissions from the successful contractor and respond to request for information, approval, and site inspection during critical construction stages,” reads the staff request.
Other items on the agenda include an information report on the cost of emergency repairs to a critical water main at the Kenilworth Access reservoir, a staff report recommending no action on a request from the City’s cycling committee for Council to lobby the provincial government to implement Idaho stops, a report on solar garbage compacting units in parks, the annual sewage use bylaw report, a replacement water tower in Carlisle, a new water well for the Greensville water system, and spending $5-mil to comply with an Ontario Superior Court order for the City to clear and maintain the storm sewer channel at the north end of Kenilworth Avenue that flows into Hamilton Harbour.
Council motions include working on plans to expand the number of lanes on the Linc, improving the baseball diamond at Eastwood Park, studying sport lighting at Olympic Park, expanding the community garden in Riverdale, and installing A/V equipment in Magnolia Hall.
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3HBbJyDByM
Development Industry Liaison Group, 9:30 a.m.
Only ten days after a special in-person meeting, the DILG is back.
Of note, the group will discuss how the City collects garbage from multi-residential buildings, specifically how the City can make changes to decrease space requirements for garbage collection.
The timing coincides with an excellent report on how to enable more mid-rise housing, issued by Environmental Defence last week, that includes decreasing garbage collection space requirements to decrease the cost of new multi-res housing.
The City states it will implement new waste collection carts and procedures “that are easier to meet for new small multi-residential buildings (no loading space or on-site truck movements required).”
Also on the agenda: The City’s new Watershed Action Plan, the City’s LEED development incentives, implementation of the renoviction control bylaw on January 1, and a potential incentives program for the “Bayfront Industrial Area intending to spur green investment in the area, create green jobs and reduce embodied carbon through the reuse of underutilized buildings.”
The meeting is online only.
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yr6vx7X5M4
Council: Public Budget Delegations, 3:00 p.m.
The first of two public delegation sessions for the 2025 City budget is being held on Monday.
Of note, the Canadian Automobile Association submitted written correspondence supporting the City’s Vision Zero road safety campaign – including support for the City’s plan to add more separated bicycle lanes.
Eight delegates have registered. Unlike in the past, City Council no longer permits walk-on delegations.
The eight delegates are:
Karl Andrus, Tom Cooper and Ted Hildebrandt, Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction & Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton, Manny Figueiredo, YMCA Hamilton|Burlington|Brantford, Stewart Klazinga, ACORN Hamilton, Jacqueline Wilson, Steacy Easton, Jeff Neven, Indwell, and Clare Freeman, Hamilton Community Legal Clinic.
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz-UT8TlUNY
Tuesday, Nov 19
Planning Committee, 9:30 a.m.
An update on the City’s rental housing licencing bylaw (only in effect near McMaster University and Mohawk College) says 1002 rental housing license applications have been received with 289 licenses issued. The report states, “The Cybersecurity Incident has had an impact on the Pilot Program, leading to longer than expected timelines for completing work and a temporary pause in certain aspects of the Pilot Program during the initial recovery phase.”
The 1002 rental houses have an average of six bedrooms per unit.
Councillors will hear from planning staff regarding proposed new provincial rules to permit additional dwelling units in more neighbourhoods. Staff write they are seeking more clarity on the proposed changes.
The City’s renoviction bylaw will be amended to increase the tenant compensation amount. The amount calculation between the existing rent rate for tenants relocated during renovations and market rent rate for them to find another unit will increase, resulting in an “average approximately $538 more per month than the guidelines previously proposed.”
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6klszIJpa-g
Mayor’s Task Force on Transparency, Access, and Accountability, 6:00 p.m.
The Task Force is holding its second public delegations hearings. There is one registered delegate. [The Task Force is holding another delegation evening on Tuesday, December 3, 2024]
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWv3DYFkkwk
Wednesday, Nov 20
Council: General Issues Committee, 9:30 a.m.
Housing and encampments will again dominate the agenda.
The City’s Housing Secretariat will present the annual report on the City’s Housing Sustainability and Investment Roadmap,/strong>. The report states the City’s new affordable housing development project stream has 42 “eligible submissions” “representing 2,576 potential units.”
The City is contributing funding to “approximately” 885 units, with final agreements pending.
City Housing Hamilton has reduced its vacancy rate from 9.07 percent at the beginning of this council term in 2022 to 3.68 percent, and hopes to reach 2 percent by the end of this year.
The City says it has spent $9,620,662 in extraordinary costs related to its February cybersecurity failure. Council will discuss City matters related to the failure in closed session.
There will be delegations regarding encampment issues at Gage Park, the Delta Parkette, and the rail trail.
Hamilton will enter into an agreement with the federal government for approximately $5.2-million towards its cost of responding to and maintaining encampments.
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atHmcjOT8Mk
Hamilton Public Library Board, 5th Floor Central Library, 6:00 p.m.
The Library Board will vote on its 2025 operating budget.
The Library’s CEO is requesting a net increase of $2,554,356 or 7.3 percent more than the 2024 operating budget.
Agenda here. (Livestream will be posted on the agenda page.)
Thursday, Nov 21
Council: Audit, Finance, and Administration, 9:30 a.m.
Councillors will vote on eliminating the City’s citizen advisory committees, with City staff saying the advisory committee structure that includes publicly visible feedback from the community does not align with the City’s goals. Staff promise to create new methods of hearing from the public in the form of staff-controlled liaison groups.
The City’s annual fraud and waste report will be presented by the City’s Internal Auditor (who uses the title “Auditor General” but is not a fully independent office, as Toronto and Ottawa have). The City received 127 reports between July 2023 and June 2024. Thirteen investigations were launched, with an overall substantiation rate of 33 percent.
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2mZuhVJkvg
Ontario Land Tribunal: Queen and Market Vrancor Tall Buildings – settlement in principle, 10:00 a.m.
As reported by TPR on October 25, Vrancor and the City of Hamilton have reached “a settlement in principle” on Vrancor’s proposed tall building redevelopment on Queen Street North between Market Street and Napier Street.
Council gave City staff direction on the settlement in principle last week.
Council: Emergency and Community Services, 1:30 p.m.
Councillors will hear a staff update on the feasibility of implementing a non-police community crisis and mental health response unit, modelled on the Toronto Community Crisis Centre, and receive updates on the Recreation Master Plan implementation, the Youth Strategy, third-party operated facilities, and long-term care in Hamilton.
Crisis Response: City staff state it will take creating “new dedicated resources” to begin planning for a non-police crisis response service in Hamilton. They state there is a need for “enhanced coordination and integration” of mental health programs and services. “Staff recommend the City’s participation in and support of the Greater Hamilton Health Network’s efforts to better integrate and coordinate existing services and supports.”
The Toronto service “consists of eight core staff members who are City of Toronto employees, including a manager, policy development officers, and a management consultant. Crisis workers are deployed and sourced from local organizations, resulting in a workforce of approximately 200 individuals across four key organizations.”
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exk1yIGl0fo
Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee, 7:00 p.m.
The committee will discuss how to respond to the Ontario Conservative government’s decision to force urban boundary expansion onto Hamilton again, this time by changes implemented on October 20 to permit private urban boundary applications to be filed at any time. The City has already received applications, and the first Ontario Land Tribunal hearings are underway to force the city’s hand.
Hamilton’s farming community is being asked for input on the City’s new urban boundary expansion review process. Specifically, the requirement applications include a new Agricultural Impact Assessment (AIA) to evaluate the potential impacts of non-agricultural development on existing agricultural operations and the agricultural system and recommend mitigation measures.
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdII0bY1T7c
Related: The Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s letter to Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs asking that municipalities “exhaust infilling, brownfield and greyfield redevelopment opportunities before any urban Settlement Area expansions are considered.”
Friday
Council: Water Rate Budget, 9:30 a.m.
Council will approve Hamilton Water’s 2025 budgets: $327,779,491 in operating costs and $314,899,750 in capital spending.
Water bills will increase by 9.5 percent, increasing the average residential household bill by $96.10 to $1,061.50 per year.
Most of the increase (9.82 of the 9.5 percent) is for capital spending to address infrastructure deficits and fund capital upgrades to wastewater treatment plants.
City Council approved a $112-million increase to the Dundas Wastewater Treatment Plant budget to address inflation and adopt nearer technologies that will substantially improve the quality of water discharged into Cootes Paradise. The project budget is now $254-million.
The 2025 Water budget states the number of properties with significant arrears is increasing.
Between 2019 and 2023, there was an over 30 percent increase compared to the previous five-year period.
27,800 significant arrears occurred during the past five years, compared to 21,100.
“As of September 2024, the year-to-date total number of arrears are up by 34% compared to 2023.”
Hamilton does not disconnect properties with arrears from water services.
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz_ycWabRc4
The owners of the heritage-designated structure say it is beyond repair and are asking to demolition the building.
Council: Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee, 12 noon
The future of the Tivoli auditorium will be the big item on the agenda. Last week, the Municipal Heritage Permit Review Sub-committee unanimously denied an application from Aventus Developments to demolish the structure.
As reported by TPR on November 5, a 193-page report, including an engineering assessment, states the structure cannot be saved and must be demolished.
In its place, the developer plans to build two tall buildings on this site and the neighbouring commercial plaza. The buildings will have a public events space.
The Heritage Committee’s recommendation will go to City Council’s December 3rd Planning Committee meeting.
Also on the agenda, granting extensions to heritage to stabilize and maintain the James Street Baptist Church heritage facade.
[NOTE: a purchase agreement is underway out of the latest bankruptcy on the property.]
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqUFMqCvuo8
Production Details v. 1.0.0 Published: November 18, 2024 Last updated: November 18, 2024 Author: Joey Coleman Update Record v. 1.0.0 original version