Council fills agenda with general housekeeping, rezoning issues

North Bay City Council held its regular meeting Tuesday evening, postponed a day due to the Easter Holiday.

On the agenda was a presentation regarding a request to see the building code include defibrillator equipment added to the necessities of any new public building construction projects.

The defibrillator drive had its officials pointing out that both the 1st and the 50th life saved happened here in North Bay, a city that is instrumental in being the first to include such devices throughout its buildings and in particular schools.

Council meeting also dealt with the passing of numerous minor upgrades and replacement contracts to the city’s infrastructure in the form of water valves and street reconditioning.

Council also gave the go-ahead for more residential expansions at the two former hospital sites, rezoning the lands as residential.

The reclaiming of the area as residential has some concerned that council overlooked the need for apartments in that area in favour of gaining residential taxes, seeing so many of the units in the city becoming condominiums to reduce their tax levels from multi-unit residential.

Finally, much of the discussion was focused on the need for council to thank government officials for their per household contribution to the city coffers that some feel is often overlooked as an entitlement.

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