Good Fences

It was reassuring to see council taking special care of a few of the smaller aspects of running the City last week. Amid the usual approvals of capital budget expenditures, payment of accounts and zoning changes, three items that make North Bay the great city that it is caught my attention.

A public presentation by a couple who got lost in the bureaucratic procedures for advising people of an impending lane closure caused most of council to pause and check the background of the issue. It appeared that the lane closure was going to proceed with the three readings of the bylaw in one sitting, but Councillor Koziol had been to the site and could see why the couple was having problems understanding just what they were expected to buy. In this case, it seems the city was a willing seller and the property owner a less than willing buyer.

City staffers quickly talked to the couple outside of chambers, giving assurances that everything had been done by the book and that they would make sure that their rights were being looked after. Back in chambers, council held off on the third reading to give staff time to double check the facts. The City, always keen for new revenue, could wait two weeks for the proceeds from the sale of a laneway.

Councillor Maroosis, who always looks at both sides of any issue, made a point about good fences making good neighbours. It seems the Ontario Fence Act does not require any notification of change to, or installation of a fence to the neighbouring property owner, either by the neighbour or the City. Maroosis thought it would be good and prudent business to let the adjoining property owners know what was about to happen on their lot line. It is not only in the rural farming areas where cows are wont to wander that good fences make good neighbours, but in the urban landscape as well. With the Mayor nodding consent to Maroosis’ suggestion, the CAO indicated that he would make it so.

Maroosis also refreshed everyone’s memory about Policy and Procedures when he noted that the administration was updating the No Idling Policy. Council, he reminded everyone, makes policy and this report ought to have come from them, albeit written by staff. In this renewed age of environmental awareness, updating the No Idling Policy makes a lot of sense.

(For clarification, the No Idling Policy is about letting vehicles and equipment motors run when not working, it is not about employees taking creative rest periods.) I was surprised to see that it might take up to 30 minutes to warm up an engine when the temperature is 0 degrees Celsius (or above) but I assume the manuals have been consulted.

Council was also reminded that the impetus for the update of the policy was from a school science fair project and that credit should be given to the two students whose project caught the eye of city staff. It is just another good reason to visit the science fairs and involve our younger citizens in their city.

Back on the good fences theme, it was nice to hear that our politicians are trying clarify their relationship with our municipal neighbours. It turns out that our Mayor Fedeli was only playing the pasteboards close to his vest regarding the racetrack. (Pasteboards is an euphemism for cards because the Mayor doesn’t approve of gambling – only sure things. Pasteboards are to cards what off-track betting is to horse racing and Nevada tickets are to slots.) It turns out that what many thought was to be a race track, the likes of Barrie and Sudbury, is really a Mountesorri school for horses. Here they will learn to run and jump, pull carts or ploughs and be attended by trainers, tack sellers and many ‘Barney the Blacksmiths’. Some days they will be allowed to run around a track with their friends to amuse a crowd of onlookers.

So much of the growth in this area is taking place outside the city boundaries that we must maintain good relations and communications with our neighbours. New stores, the Regional Health Centre, the University and the Arts all attract the people who live in the dormitory townships to our city. They may pay their property taxes to another municipality, but they spend the majority of their dollars in North Bay. Let’s keep them happy.