Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Ward 27 News






August 21, 2013

  1. Welcome Letter from Councillor Wong-Tam
  2. Council Updates: June and July Highlights
  3. A Toronto First: Parklets on Church Street
  4. Murals on Church Street
  5. Environment Day
  6. Ai Weiwei
  7. 11 Wellesley Street West
  8. Toronto's Record Summer Storm


Welcome

Dear Constituents,

Neighbourhood planning has been top of mind for many this summer. Ward 27 is being improved, celebrated, and activated in preparation for World Pride 2014 and the Pan Am Games 2015. City Council has once again debated significant transit funding priorities and many of you have written to me with your concerns on this matter and others.

This summer marks a Toronto first, with the Church-Wellesley Village's launch of parklets. Currently on Church Street from Maitland to Monteith, parklets are expansions of the sidewalk that allow for new patio seating, community activities, as well as general-use public space and seating. With beautiful plantings, these parklets feature the best elements of similar programs in cities such as San Francisco and Halifax. Pop-up music events will be coming to the Village, sponsored by the Pan Am organizing committee on August 17.

Also in advance of World Pride 2014, an ambitious mural program is being rolled out on Church Street from McGill to Monteith. Eleven murals featuring incredible gallery-quality artists' work will be in place for this fall. I look forward to sharing the results in upcoming newsletters!

After hearing from many of you and receiving shockingly high cost-estimates that overshadowed earlier reports, I voted at City Council to support the previously approved LRT plan for Scarborough. The proposed upgrade to a subway turned out to be neither cheap nor simple. Not only does Ward 27 struggle to meet immediate transit capacity issues of its own at Bloor and Yonge, but the city has capped or cut-back funding from many other departments and programs that are integral. If we are expected to raise most of the money for a billion-plus dollar plan, it must go towards the city's collective transit needs before spending it on one-off wish lists.

Residents and business operators of Yorkville are currently engaged in the 'Yorkville: East of Bay' series of workshops. These meetings are bringing together residents, business owners, developers and municipal planning staff to work towards a vision for development that takes a more comprehensive approach to the record levels of new towers that are being proposed. 
 
I've stated before that Ward 27 is undergoing a parks renaissance and the evidence is appearing across our 14 residential neighbourhoods and five business improvement areas.  New parkland improvements and expansions are under consideration and underway from Moore Park to Moss Park. Please check our website www.ward27news.ca for updates and community meetings.

Finally, everyone is invited to this year's Community Environment Day which will be held at Allan Gardens on September 15 from 10am-2pm. This is a great chance to meet neighbours in the ward, dispose of electronic waste, get some valuable compost, and enjoy a barbeque lunch.

I invite you to read through the articles that follow. Ward 27 is a remarkably diverse and vibrant place to live, work, study and play. My staff and I have been honoured to lead and assist in many of the ongoing community initiatives from Moore Avenue to Queen Street.

I remain yours in service,

Kristyn Wong-Tam
 

2. Council Updates: June and July Highlights

Toronto City Council meeting of June 11, 12 and 13, 2013       

Electoral reform in Toronto       
Council adopted several motions on electoral reform in Toronto. The City will ask the Ontario government to amend legislation and allow permanent residents to vote in municipal elections whether or not they are Canadian citizens. The City will also request amendments to the Municipal Elections Act to permit Toronto to use ranked ballots and instant runoff voting in its municipal elections.

Managing traffic congestion       
Council endorsed taking steps to better manage Toronto's traffic congestion and improve traffic operations across the city. The plan includes improving the co-ordination of traffic signals at about 1,000 intersections on priority routes over the next three years, along with making technological upgrades and other steps for better traffic flow.

Seniors and Toronto Community Housing     
Council adopted the recommendations of a report documenting the City Ombudsman's recent investigation into Toronto Community Housing's eviction of seniors on the basis of their rent being in arrears. In addition, Council adopted a series of motions aimed at protecting seniors who are living in Toronto Community Housing units and may face eviction because of difficulties paying their rent.

University of Toronto athletic field        
After a thorough debate, Council affirmed its support for the University of Toronto's Pan Am Field Hockey Centre/Back Campus Fields Project, including the use of artificial turf at that location. Council directed the City Manager to ask the university to create a project liaison and monitoring committee and to conduct a formal impact assessment after 10 years.

Angel Cradles program    
Council directed staff to work with provincial health officials to create an Angel Cradles program in a Toronto hospital for the acceptance of newborns from mothers who are unable to care for them. The intention is to provide a safe, anonymous and effective alternative for such mothers.

Aboriginal employment strategy      
Council adopted a motion calling for the preparation of a City strategy to ensure that more Aboriginal people are employed at the City of Toronto and that the increase mirrors the proportional representation of Aboriginal people in Toronto's population. The plan will include consultation with the Aboriginal Affairs Committee.

Funding transit and infrastructure          
Council adopted a motion to research the use of various kinds of municipal bonds that could be used to reduce the cost of servicing municipal debt and increase a city's ability to build and maintain its infrastructure. Governments in other jurisdictions, including the United States, have reduced interest rates and the cost of carrying municipal debt by implementing various tax breaks or rebates. The City of Toronto will spend $400 million to service its debt in 2013 and the City faces major costs for infrastructure projects.

Managing contracts for road resurfacing   
Council adopted Audit Committee recommendations aimed at ensuring adequate, effective management of the City's local road resurfacing contracts. Transportation Services is placing emphasis on preventive maintenance to extend the useful life of roads, and last year spent about $30 million on local road resurfacing contracts.

Care of animals in Toronto      
Council approved amendments to the City of Toronto Municipal Code that will strengthen the provisions for the care and well-being of animals in Toronto and seek to achieve service efficiencies. The amendments resulted from the findings of the Core Service Review, an Auditor General's review and public consultations.

Economic impact of Grey Cup game/festival          
Council offered congratulations to the Toronto Argonauts and Chris Rudge, Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Argonauts Football Club, on winning the 100th Grey Cup last fall and on hosting a successful 2012 Grey Cup Festival. Council also extended congratulations to Mark Cohon, Commissioner of the Canadian Football League, on the successful event. The event generated a total of about $133 million in economic activity in Ontario - $95 million of it in Toronto.


Toronto City Council meeting of July 16, 17, 18 and 19, 2013      

Support for a Scarborough subway      
After two days of debate, Council confirmed its support for a Scarborough subway contingent on the provision of new federal funding equal to 50 per cent of net capital costs and a provincial contribution of $1.8 billion. Council specified that no funding outlined in the Metrolinx/City of Toronto master agreement is to be re-allocated from the Sheppard LRT (light rail transit), the Finch LRT or the Eglinton LRT to fund the proposed extension of the Bloor-Danforth line (the Scarborough subway project), and there is to be no reallocation of City revenues from other services to pay for the subway. Council also approved other actions and conditions for the subway project, including a commitment to fund the City's share of the costs by means that include property taxes and development charges.

Loss of provincial pooling funds   
Council voted unanimously to urge the provincial government to rescind its recent decision to eliminate Toronto Pooling Compensation funding or, at a minimum, to maintain the social housing component of the funding. The province recently announced that $149.4 million in Toronto Pooling Compensation - most of which Toronto uses for social housing expenses - will be phased out starting next year, ending in 2016. The loss of the funding would result in an increase in property taxes and/or a reduction in services for some of the most vulnerable people in Toronto.

Water infrastructure and flood damage    
Council adopted numerous motions concerning water infrastructure and damage caused by the July 8 rain storm/flooding. Actions to be taken as a result of the motions include, for example, requesting provincial and federal financial assistance to help pay for damage caused by the flooding, considering an increase in City subsidies available to residents for basement flooding protection, and working on ways to finance increased investment in Toronto's water and sewer infrastructure.

Fair wages in Toronto    
Council amended the Toronto Fair Wage Bylaw to increase the Schedule C wage rates, which include wage rates for workers performing cleaning services for the City and its agencies. All fair wage schedule rates will now be updated every three years by the Fair Wage Office to ensure they remain consistent with prevailing market rates.

Child-care funding model for Toronto  
Council endorsed principles and evaluation criteria to guide the establishment of a new child-care funding model for Toronto. The model, tied to a new provincial child care-funding framework, is a made-in-Toronto funding model for child-care programs to support Toronto families. The report considered by Council emphasized that at present, provincial allocations do not support the growing demand for fee subsidies in Toronto.

Toronto Pan Am/Parapan Am Games showcase     
Council endorsed the Host City Showcase Program for the Toronto 2015 Pan American/Parapan American Games, with anticipated expenditures of up to about $20 million for 16 showcase initiatives supporting Toronto's role as the official host city. Council also approved the establishment of a reserve fund for major special events, initially as a reserve for the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. The Games in August 2015 are expected to draw at least 10,000 athletes and officials and up to 250,000 visitors to the Toronto region.

Integrity Commissioner's annual report     
Council endorsed a recommendation to move from a part-time to a full-time Integrity Commissioner beginning with the next Integrity Commissioner appointment in 2014. The decision came after Toronto's current Integrity Commissioner, Janet Leiper, gave a presentation to Council with highlights of her 2013 annual report. The City of Toronto established the Integrity Commissioner position in 2004 to provide advice/education to members of Council and local boards to assist them in maintaining a high standard of ethical behaviour.

Heritage grants for 2013      
Council approved the awarding of grants for restoration work on 24 heritage properties in Toronto. The grants, which constitute the Toronto Heritage Grant Program for 2013, range from $3,000 to $40,000. This year’s grant recipients include homeowners, condominiums, places of worship and commercial heritage properties.

Implementing Toronto's recreation service plan   
Council adopted an implementation plan for the Toronto recreation service plan that was approved at the end of 2012. The recreation service plan aims to increase overall participation in recreation, decrease financial barriers, and improve local and geographic access. The implementation plan, which covers 2013 to 2017, includes 27 actions addressing the service plan as well as initiatives for community engagement in Toronto's delivery of recreational services.

St. Lawrence Market North      
Council authorized the continuation of architectural design work for the redevelopment of St. Lawrence Market North and directed the City Manager to prepare a plan aimed at increasing revenue to help offset the project's costs. The building initiative is intended to improve the utility of the market complex, which has been hub of economic activity in the area for more than 200 years.

Review of EMS and Fire Services    
Council approved a series of recommendations aimed at achieving efficiencies while maintaining the quality of the service in Toronto's emergency medical and fire services. The actions approved follow a study that assessed the possible consolidation of the EMS and Fire Services. The independent consultant concluded that merging the two organizations would not yield enough benefits to warrant consolidating fire and paramedic services. Council directed the City Manager to look into other ways of achieving efficiencies in the two emergency service operations.

Long-term strategy for waste management    
Council adopted terms of reference for the development of a strategy that will guide decision-making on Toronto's waste management for the next 30 to 50 years. Achieving the established target of 70 per cent waste diversion by 2016 would extend the life of the City's Green Lane Landfill until 2036, but there will be a need for disposal capacity beyond that date. The Solid Waste Management Services division will explore long-term options for Toronto's residual waste.

Common-sense parking enforcement   
Council committed to taking action to make sure the work of Toronto Police parking enforcement staff is mainly focused on helping achieve City priorities such as relieving traffic congestion and keeping traffic moving. The motion under consideration said that certain kinds of parking infractions do not warrant the same level of police enforcement as others.

Truck deliveries on busy streets            
Council supported a motion asking for a report on strategies to discourage commercial deliveries and truck traffic on busy routes during peak commuting hours to help relieve congestion.

City/school boards task force   
Council approved establishing a task force made up of City councillors and Toronto school board trustees to identify issues that would benefit from better co-ordination between the City and the school boards and to advise City Council and school trustees on how to achieve better co-ordination.

Invasive species threatening Great Lakes     
Council agreed to communicate with the federal and provincial environment ministers, urging their co-operation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to identify a preferred solution to the problem of invasive carp and to move forward quickly to implement that solution. The motion says the Asian carp is one of the most serious invasive-species threats ever presented to the Great Lakes and its connecting waterways.

Toronto and Austin music alliance  
Council endorsed an Austin-Toronto Music City Alliance that will position Toronto as a leading tourist destination for live music and promote Toronto's music industry. The City of Austin, Texas has committed to the partnership with Toronto. Council also adopted a motion for the City of Toronto to take steps to establish a music advisory committee and create a strategic action plan for the City's support of the music industry in Toronto.

Council Highlights is an informal summary of decisions made by Toronto City Council. The City Clerk provides the formal documentation at http://www.toronto.ca/council.


3. A Toronto First: Parklets on Church Street


 
The Church-Wellesley Village BIA, in partnership with Councillor Wong-Tam's Office, the 519 Church Street Community Centre, Toronto Planning Partnership, Carpenters' Union Local 27 and the Home Depot broke ground on July 15th for Toronto's first ever parklet project. This innovative project aims to expand public access to green, natural spaces and to create a more walkable and accessible neighbourhood.

'Parklets' ranging from 5 to 22 meters in length have been installed within existing on-street parking areas along Church Street. The parklets consist of licensed and unlicensed patios buffered by green spaces which help to integrate the installations into the surrounding street.

The project is part of a broader neighbourhood plan to be released in September 2013 in preparation for World Pride 2014 and the Pan Am/Para Pan Am Games in 2015, and will help gauge the type of public realm improvements that the community wants and will use. The Village parklets will also serve as a model for future Toronto-wide installations. Go check out the up-and-running parklets yourself as you take in the vibrant street life of our Village community. For more information, please visit www.ProudoftheVillage.ca.
 

4. Murals on Church Street


In June 2014, Toronto will play host to World Pride and to hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the country and around the globe. As the historical home to Toronto's LGBT2IQ community, The Church-Wellesley Village will be a central hub for visitors and for World Pride events. StreetARToronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Tourism Toronto, Dulux Paints, The Home Depot, the Church-Wellesley Village BIA, and The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives have partnered together with Councillor Wong-Tam's Office to celebrate this rich history and invigorate the streetscape of the Village in preparation for World Pride through the Church Street Mural Project.

The project will celebrate and re-affirm Village identity through a series of 11 publically accessible murals. Thirteen professional, gallery quality artists have been selected from a group of over 50 applicants to bring the history, culture and community stories of the neighbourhood to life for visitors and long-time residents alike. This project will make The Village home to one of the largest open-air galleries and will remain for years to come once World Pride is over.

Painting for The Church Street Mural Project has already begun and will be completed by November 1st, 2013. A website for this project is live at www.churchstreetmurals.com.
Councillor Wong-Tam will hold a community meeting on April 23 with area residents and stakeholders to discuss the future of Jarvis Street at Jarvis Collegiate Institute. The meeting will start at 6:30 pm.

In 2009, work on an Environmental Assessment (EA) for Jarvis was halted, stopping the development of a plan to recognize the street's historic and cultural significance through a comprehensive streetscaping strategy. Though Jarvis was the home to nearly all of Toronto's early residents and prominent families, much of that history has been lost with new development pressures and neglect by the city.

Councillor Wong-Tam hopes a new streetscaping strategy can be formulated that accounts for the rich history and present cultural significance of the street – helping to make it a more livable and enjoyable street for the community and the city at large.
 

5. Environment Day

Sunday, September 15, 2013 is the annual Environment Day in Ward 27.

Join Councillor Wong-Tam and neighbours at our exciting new location: Allan Gardens! Environment Day events will be set up at the south-west corner of Sherbourne Street and Carlton Street.

Visit between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to get your free compost, garbage and compost bins, sustainable shower heads, and much more!

Also on September 14, the 51 Division Community Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) is hosting a BBQ, sponsored by Great Gulf Homes at Allan Gardens from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

When: Saturday, September 14, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Where: Allan Gardens (at the corner of Sherbourne Street and Carleton Street)

If you can make it, make a stop at Allan Gardens in September for the Ward 27 Environment Day!

6. Ai Weiwei

On June 18, the reflecting pool in Nathan Phillips Square was transformed into an art installation, as the City of Toronto, in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario unveiled Circle of Heads/Zodiac Animals, by internationally renowned artist and Chinese dissident, Ai Weiwei.

The installation is just a taste of what's to come, as later this summer, the AGO will be the only Canadian stop of According to What?,  Ai Weiwei's travelling exhibition, currently at the Smithsonian.

I was pleased and honoured to act as master of ceremonies at the unveiling ceremony.  I encourage everyone to visit Nathan Phillips Sqaure and enjoy for free, the work of one of the most vibrant and important contemporary artists in the world.   

7. 11 Wellesley Street West


The 2.1 acre site was slated in the 1980's to become home to Toronto's new ballet and opera companies. Those plans were subsequently cancelled by the provincial government in 1991 and the lands then sat dormant for over twenty years.

In early 2011, Councillor Wong-Tam began working with local residents' associations urging the provincial government to partner with the City of Toronto to turn the property into a much needed public park. After submitting multiple petitions, painting murals and slogans on the construction hoarding boards, passing council motions, writing letters to the Premier and Ministers and even marching onto the Ontario Legislative Assembly – the two year long community campaign ended when the provincial government sold the land to prominent condominium developer Lanterra for $65M. A price so steep - that the City of Toronto and local community could not afford to compete on their own.

On June 19, we held our first official public meeting for 11 Wellesley Street West with the Lanterra Developments, local residents, parkland advocates and City planning staff.  Instead of presenting the two tower application (54 and 45 storeys) that was officially submitted to City Planning, Lanterra Development revised their development at the urging of Councillor Wong-Tam.  Lanterra presented their new vision for a very large one-tower proposal that would also provide for over one acre of parkland. Although Councillor Wong-Tam would have preferred to secure the entire site for parkland from the province, she is nevertheless pleased to have the opportunity to work with Lanterra on their evolving application. She remains committed to achieving the best possible outcome for the neighbourhood. This includes responsible and sustainable development with the ambitious expansion of green public space.

Councillor Wong-Tam will be working with the Planning Department, Parks and Recreation, as well as Lanterra, to convene future public consultations on park design and implementation, as the development application continues to be reviewed through the planning process.

If you would like to be a part of future discussions on green space design at 11 Wellesley and have not already communicated your interest, please send an email to councillor_wongtam@toronto.ca.


8. Toronto's Record Summer Storm

On July 8, Toronto was hit by a major weather event. The storm that evening dropped a record 120mm of rain in just over an hour and left 70,000 without power. While Ward 27 was spared disruptions of that scale, many constituents were left stranded where they were at the time of the storm and others experienced property damage.

Residents' quick action and reporting of damages significantly assisted in the clean-up operations of the City and identified immediate needs along Ward 27's ravines and trails. If you are aware of outstanding damages that have not been fixed, please contact the City by either calling 3-1-1 or emailing 311@toronto.ca.



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