council group pictureThe Hydro One Ombudsman will be front and centre at city council tonight.

Fiona Crean will be discussing her role and clarifying any misconceptions.

There’s also a presentation from Mayor Steve Black about wanting to regulate gas prices across Ontario.

Follow it all with our live blog, starting at 6:00pm.

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

Marks is absent.

We start with a public meeting notice for 4235 Municipal Road.

This is to allow a convenience store and chip stand be located here as a temporary use by-law.

Nobody from the public is here to speak for or against it.

City Planner Cindy Welsh says this would be a three-year use by-law.

This will come back in a report.

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Fiona Crean is now up, as Hydro One Ombudsman.

She says it is a “last resort” office, where they take on complaints individually.

Read her full presentation HERE.

She says they don’t touch such things like the sale of Hydro One by the Ontario Liberals.

Bamford says the most frequent complaint has to do with the smart meters, and their accuracy.  Crean says this is something they’d look at.

Campbell asks if this takes over the authority of the Ontario Ombudsman.  She says authority on the utility was taken away and given to her position, which is new.

When asked if she felt any pressure as an employee of Hydro One, Crean says she can’t respond to hypotheticals.

Black says residents who want to utilize Crean’s office can go to hydrooneombudsman.com

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Quickly, Dubeau and Grzela are wearing red shirts in an effort to promote blood donations.

Grzela says donors should eat well, hydrate and rest beforehand.

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To the correspondence, and the first has to do with combating human trafficking in Ontario.

Bamford says the city should draft up their own generic resolution, saying he sees what the letter is looking to accomplish.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the request from the Haliburton area, and on Bill 158.

Campbell wonders why the city needs to draft their own resolution.

Bamford says he supports the resolution, but doesn’t like having other cities drafting resolutions for them when circumstances in Timmins aren’t the exact same as down south.

This will come back at a later meeting.

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Another resolution, this time from the Town of Tillsonburg regarding the Oxford People Against Landfill.

View the resolution HERE.

Bamford says he’d like more information to come back before supporting this, perhaps from AMO as well.  Dubeau agrees.

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Next is a letter about the TransCanada Pipeline Energy East Project.

CLICK HERE for more on that.

The pipeline doesn’t run through Timmins, but is a hot environmental topic in areas such as North Bay.

This will come back next week for approval, after Black talks with North Bay.

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To reports, the first is a Shirley Street development.  No questions and will be back next week.

Zoning amendment for 41 Jaguar Road North will also come back after no questions on the subject.

Extension agreement for Dr. Auger Secondment is up next.  Bamford says it’s a feather in the cap of Timmins that Auger is being asked for another term.

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The interim quarterly financial report.

Jim Howie says the city is generally in line with their first quarter finances.

If you like numbers, CLICK HERE to check out the report.

Bamford makes mention that the police have paid significant overtime and asks if the city should budget for it.

Black says the board feels they can make up for the cost of the overtime, and they’ll be operating at a cheaper cost for the rest of the year.

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Internet connectivity RFP report.

This is to recommend Vianet as the city’s service provider for the next three years.

Read more HERE, and this will come back at a future date.

The next is a local and long distance telephone service report, which goes with no questions.

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The primary rate interface will come back at a future date.

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Black is up on asking for support to regulate gas prices in Ontario.

His resolution can be found HERE, which also includes comparisons to the rest of the province.

Some cities in Southern Ontario are around 26 cents cheaper.

Black says lobbyists have explained the difference has to do with transporting the gas up here, but Black isn’t buying it.

Grzela thanks MPP Gilles Bisson and MP Charlie Angus for their work at their levels of government on this subject.

Grzela says there’s no explanation that Kirkland Lake is 20 cents cheaper.

Black says the Southern cities won’t likely support this, as they sit at a comfortable price compared to the Timmins area.

Grzela suggests bringing this to Northern groups for support first, such as NEOMA and FONOM.

Bamford suggests bringing this to AMO, saying there might even be some interest from rural communities down south that might be dealing with the same issue.

Grzela says this is all about regulating the unfair prices, not to get southern communities to have higher prices so Timmins can have it cheaper.

Black says they’ll make minor adjustments to make it apply to the rest of the province.

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Doody makes mention of the spill on the Mattagami River Sunday.

He applauds everyone who played a part in cleaning the spill up.

Fire Chief Mike Pintar says they get those calls regularly this time of year.

and council is ADJORNED!