council group pictureA final report on the Connecting Link is coming back to council tonight.

Council will also learn more on the blending chamber contract, as well as developments at St. Jean Street, off of Shirley Street.

Get all the details with our live blog on our website, starting at 6:00pm.

(Keep refreshing the page as the night goes along for updates!)

We start off with the preliminary design study presentation for the Connecting Link.

It’s a lengthy presentation, but you can follow along HERE.

This will mainly focus on the comments received from council, and the public at an open house in February.

Bamford wonders why everything has to get approved now.  Black retorts that while it’s a long period of time, they need to have a good plan in place throughout.  He cites an example that they aren’t going to decide to keep power lines above ground, and then halfway through the 10 years, decides to bury that infrastructure.

A 2-hour back and forth ensued between councillors and the presenters, analysing every last part of this presentation to a point where the Connecting Link might have been better suited as it’s own meeting.

This will come back in a report on May 30th, where council will decide yes or no on options such as bike lanes, buried power lines, etc.

At 8:11pm, we move on to the next presentation.

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This one on the blending chamber, an update on the project from Luc Duval and Steve Kukulka.

CLICK HERE for their presentation.

A recommendation to this is that the contract be awarded to Pro Pipe Construction for nearly $5.2-million.

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We move on to an option to relocate Tourism Timmins to the Museum location.

CLICK HERE for the presentation.

There are a few options on the table, the cheapest being under $385,000 and getting as expensive as $647,000.  That doesn’t include the optional increase for a new HVAC unit.

The current unit would be obsolete by 2020.

After much discussion, council is looking towards the most expensive option but there are opportunities to get grants from the government to help fund the move.

At 10:19pm, all the presentations are done and council takes a 5-minute break as there is much more to get to.

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First up after the break is a proposed amendment for the NEOMA constitution.

It would change the voting scheme to one vote per municipality instead of one vote per person in attendance, up to 10 votes per town.

This will come back.

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No questions for supporting a resolution on the Artemis Youth Centre Event at the McIntyre Curling Club.

Calabrian Corporation site plan control agreement goes with little to no discussion.

Zoning amendment for a temporary use by-law gets a brief glance from Mark Jensen.

Cellular service goes without questions.

Tendering award for St. Jean Street improvements to go to Caron Equipment for over $311,000 plus HST, pending a vote.

Banking services goes without questions as well.

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Grzela now up to talk postal banking.

This item isn’t in the council package, but he’s talking about how this would bring benefit to the city.

He mentions this is done in multiple cities as it is.

Once the presentation is made available, I’ll make it available on this page.

This will come back at a later date.

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Mayor Black is up to talk about the Cochrane DSSAB.

He wants to have a petition to change the funding model he discussed at length earlier this year, or remove themselves from the DSSAB entirely.

CLICK HERE to see his presentation.

Since 1999, Timmins’ costs to the DSSAB has gone up by $1.8-million, while all other towns have seen costs go down.  (Iroquois Falls has seen costs decreased by $343,000).

This issue will come back, though Grzela suggests deferring it because he doesn’t agree with how it’s being put forward.

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After Doody gives praise to the officials who helped FONOM be a success, and Black praises local bowler Vanessa Berry for her national title win recently, we go to the special meeting.

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Amendment to NEOMA mentioned earlier is passed, so is one on Artemis Youth Centre.

Vote time on the DSSAB item just mentioned above.

Grzela keeps his stance, while Bamford says they need to take a strong stance.

Dubeau wants to amend the motion, to remove Option 3, which is Timmins leaving the DSSAB.  Black isn’t supporting it, as it is the “teeth of the amendment.”

He says if other towns come to them to discuss other options, Timmins will take this off the table.

Council defeats Dubeau’s motion, while the original motion is passed.  Dubeau, Grzela and Campbell votes against it.

CORRECTION: It was noted that Doody didn’t record a vote.  However, he in fact voted in favour of the motion, along with Bamford, Marks, Rinaldo, Wawrzaszek and Black.

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BY-LAW TIME!

Temporary use by-law for 4235 Municipal Road is passed.

Site plan control agreement with Calabrian is passed.

Agreement with Pro Pipe Construction for blending chamber contract is passed.

Enter agreement with WSP for the blending chamber contract is passed.

Agreement with Telus for cell phone service is passed.

Agreement with Caron Equipment for St. Jean Avenue is passed.

Banking services for the city is passed.

and at 11:55pm, WE ARE ADJOURNED!