Behind Closed Doors

Coming to a Street near You:
According to my source at City Hall, there is a new report quietly circulating among the chosen few that may have some impact on the citizens of North Bay. Sore Throat (I call her that because of her raspy voice that she says is caused by poor air quality on the fifth floor) claims to have seen a draft of a By-law whose preamble says “Being a by-law to Stop up and Close a city street . . . .” and continues much in the same vein as the lane closure by-law.

It seems that someone has realized that we have a number of short streets that we really do not need. The traffic is low on these cross-streets and could easily be diverted to another cross-street just a few hundred metres away. In the continuing effort to in-fill the serviced part of the city, it has become apparent to some planners, with a little prompting, that we have a surplus of fully serviced lots, now called streets, which we do not need. This innovative thinking was spawned by the proposed new use of part of Joseph Street by a car dealership.

Some of our elected officials have immediately grasped the significance of selling off cross streets for building lots, not only for car dealers but for residential lots. Imagine the offers coming in for a fully serviced 66 foot wide lot that comes with a paved driveway! These lots would be up to 100 feet deep with a small parcel of land between the two end lots on each ‘street’ to be designated ‘parkland’ for use by the neighbourhood. These little parkettes could of course be sold to the abutting land owners for additional revenue after the next election.

While the immediate revenue from the sale of the street lots will be added to the reserve fund there is a still greater cash impact from the sales. The additional property tax revenue, building permits and water revenue are much needed by the city. The former streets will no longer require expensive road maintenance – no more patching the patches, no ditching and re-sodding, no more snow plowing and salting. As the number of cross-streets disappear, fewer city employees will be required for the road and sewer departments, further reducing the city operating budget.

Not all cross-streets can be closed up but if your short city block looks like it may be a target for this new scheme, you should watch for a city vehicle parked nearby whose occupants may be doing a traffic count whilst sipping on their Tim’s. To thwart council’s plan, you should drive your vehicle up and down the street as often as possible, invite friends to visit frequently, have delivery vans drop off new furniture, pizza, etc.

The Hole in the Hill:
Sore Throat also reported that the attempt by the Mayor to have the Ontario Archives, (who are looking for a new secure space to store their precious documents) use the Hole in the Hill have failed. The main reason given by the Chief Archivist was that North Bay, being some 900 miles from Queen’s Park, was too remote. When the Mayor pulled out his trusty and well-used road map and explained that we were only 2 hours north of Barrie and within the next ten years would be serviced by a four-lane highway, the bureaucrat still thought that it did not meet their immediate needs. It seems the bureaucrat could not think outside the box, or in this case, inside the Hole.

Water Meters:
In a strategic shift, the focus on water metering will move from cost-saving for the household to the larger picture of the cost of treating, pumping and distributing the large volume of water now consumed by the city. The financial gurus will be issuing coloured pie charts showing current and projected cost per cubic metre so councillors will have ready answers for constituents. The planning department will use similar charts (bar and scatter) to show the effect of extending water distribution to new subdivisions. The engineering division will prepare an inter-active CD showing water pressures available for fire suppression using simulated automatic valve switching in various parts of the city that are tied into the SCADA and GIS systems.

Recording Devices:
Following the recent audio tape scandals in Ottawa wherein politicians were caught promising or granting favours, there is talk about restricting the use of recording devices in council-related meetings. The Solicitor has been asked to report on the legality of recording, by audio, video and / or written notes, the proceedings of in-camera meetings. One wag suggested that members erase all memory of meetings upon leaving the building, but not everyone got the joke. Effective immediately, all telephone calls that are recorded at City Hall will have to give notice that the conversation is being recorded. (You didn’t know some conversations were recorded?)

Stay tuned for more news from Sore Throat . . .