council group pictureTimmins’ newest industry will take another step forward during Monday’s council meeting.

Calabrian, a liquid sulfur dioxide company setting up in the east end will finalize a lease agreement with the city.

Also on the council agenda is an update to the LED light project and more on the potential four-laning of Highway 11.

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

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

We start off with a couple motions involving the East End Community Pride Winter Carnival in South Porcupine.

The first is for fireworks, to be held on Valentine’s Day 2016 on Porcupine Lake at 7:00pm.  It passes.

The other is for a couple street closures on the weekend.

One is for the parade 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 13th, 2015.

  • Golden Avenue from the Barn to Legion
  • Bruce Avenue from Legion to Porcupine Lake
  • Bloor from Porcupine Lake to Crawford
  • Bruce Avenue from Crawford to Legion from

The other is for Legion Drive from Bruce to Shamrock from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 13th and Sunday, February 14th, 2016.

AND the use of the Maurice Londry Community Center on February 12th, 13th and 14th free of charge.

That all passes as well.

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Now back to the Highway 11 expansion letter from Cochrane to North Bay.

Doody is in favour of this, as he believes residents and drivers in Northern Ontario have as much right to expect the quality of highways in our region to be in just as good shape as other roads in Ontario.

He says this, even if the construction takes 20-30 years.

Doody also sits as the President of NEOMA, who are in support of this.

Everyone else votes in favour of this too.

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Now to a lease agreement with Calabrian Corporation.

This will be a 10-year agreement, with a two-year extension afterwards.

This will come back.

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Now to tax writedowns.

The first is for Rioloro for just under $538,000.

It is passed.

The other is for 263 Wilson Avenue for just over $163,000 and it passes as well.

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Now to winter preparedness.

In case you missed it last week, CLICK HERE to see what the city has in mind.

Duval says people that need services will be charged, even if they say the water is still running.

“If they can prove (otherwise), we’ll look into it,” he said, adding if the water isn’t turned off, the pipes will not freeze.

Rinaldo says it’s important for landlords and tenants to have this information.

The message is simple: if you’ve had your pipes frozen before, run your taps to prevent it from happening again.  If you haven’t, don’t run the water but if your pipes freeze for the first time, the city will unthaw it at no charge.

Council accepts the report, though Wawrzaszek votes against it.

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Now to accept an application for funding.

The city is looking to build a rail industrial park (with Calabrian being the hub of it), and with this, some funding from the governments.

The application at the moment is for $500,000, and Black says they’ve applied for two funding grants of $2.5-million each.

Council accepts.

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Next is dedicated gas tax funding, which was announced recently.

Timmins is in for around $620,000 and council approves it.

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Now to provincial funding for roads.

This was brought up after the Highway 11 expansion discussion, where Black said last week he’d like to lobby for Connecting Link funding.

Campbell puts in a motion to have them lobby for Connecting Link funding all throughout Northern Ontario.

It is approved.

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Now to other matters, starting with an idea to have a food drive to pay for parking tickets.

Instead of paying the fines, people would donate canned foods.

Black suggests voting to do this for a one week, two week or one month time period leading to Christmas.

Bamford says the money received from parking tickets go a long way to maintain parking lots.  He says the city is running a corporation, and while it would be nice to do, they need to be careful.

This will come back for an official vote on the two week option.

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Now an update to the LED lighting program.

Black says he’s gotten feedback, both good and bad.  The one thing that’s sticking out is dark spots.

He’d like to get a report on the amount of complaints received, and possibly look at putting in additional lights.

Marks points out that there are street corners, and even bus shelters that are left without light whatsoever.

Dubeau says one example was on Maple North near Brousseau and Ross, where there is a lot of children.

Bamford says he’s made multiple requests, but hasn’t received a response yet from Realterm Energy.

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Dubeau now up for rural roads.

He wants to identify which roads are private, which are assumed and unassumed by the city.

Torlone asks about a timeline.  Black says to have an update next week, even if the job isn’t done yet.

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BY-LAW TIME!

Zoning amendment by-law on Laforest Road is passed.

Lease agreement with Calabrian Corporation is passed.

Establishing a corporate travel policy for the city is next.

Rinaldo says they should get together on this for budget time, and figure out who is going where and when so they can adjust it accordingly.

It is passed.

Agreement with the MTO on gas tax funding is passed.

and COUNCIL IS ADJOURNED!