We’re back after a two month summer break and it’s time to look at the last two weeks of the 2014-2018 council term.

Every week, Bramptonist rounds up the interesting items on upcoming city council and committee meetings, so you don’t have to page through huge (and, if we’re being honest, tedious) PDFs and to make it easier for you to be a well-informed resident.

All meetings are open to the public (aside from items which are specifically marked as closed). Due to council chamber renovations, meetings are mostly occurring in Boardroom WT-2C/D in the West Tower.


Community Safety Advisory Committee

September 4, 7:00 p.m.
Boardroom WT-2A, West Tower

The BCSA committee comprises five councillors, representatives from the two major school boards, the Downtown Brampton BIA, and residents to discuss how to improve the well-being and safety of all residents.

Presentations

A presentation by the GeoHub group at the city on how they are using data to provide targeted public education campaigns. The example used is the fire department targeting three Brampton neighbourhoods as higher fire risk areas (page 10).

A presentation by the Peel HIV/AIDS Network (PHAN) on the work that they and other health organizations are doing to tackle the drugs and the opioid crisis in Peel since 2013. In the last year, there have been 15 fatal overdoses and 34 non-fatal overdoses. The most commonly used drug in these reports is heroin. (page 39).

Younus Imam, a community academic, will be giving a presentation on how mosques can become safer in a time of increasing hate crimes towards Muslims (page 52).

Read the Agenda here.


Committee of Council

September 5, 9:30 a.m.
Boardroom WT-2C/D, West Tower

CoC is attended by all members of council, except the mayor (though the mayor is permitted to be a member at this committee). This committee hears new reports from all areas of the city, as well as issues from the advisory committees. This is the confirming step before final council meeting approval.

Delegations

Rod Rice, of Rice Developments, will be speaking to council on behalf of Regeneration (a community organization focused on helping homeless residents) on potentially transferring the Rotary House to Regen in order to build affordable housing (page 14).

Resident Harpreet Sidhu will be speaking to council on potentially making the Downtown Brampton BIA levy on optional withdrawal item on the property tax bill (page 15).

The Downtown Brampton BIA is requesting use of the Gage Park Gazebo on September 6 as a rain date for a Thursday Night Concert Series event that was cancelled in August. Only city council can approve the usage of the gazebo for events (page 16).

Carmen Spada and Joe Asensio will be making a delegation inviting everyone to attend the Brampton Jazz Festival from September 7-8 (page 17).

Purchasing Activity Report

This report outlines the $57 million spent by city during the second quarter of 2018 (page 24). Most of that cost is on new contracts (roughly $42 million), and $10 million on contract extensions and renewals. One of the biggest items is $12 million to Samson Construction for road resurfacing. The Public Works and Engineering department is the primary spender of the funds.

Heads and Beds Levy

Every year, the city is required to adjust the existing “heads and beds” levy that they collect from jails, post-secondary institutions, and hospitals. The city collects $75 per spot, from four institutions, for a total of $731,625. The biggest fee is collected from Sheridan College. (page 64).

New Traffic Rules

New U-turn restrictions include: on Father Tobin Drive between Mountainash Road and 30 metres east of Snowdrift Trail, and on Riverstone Drive between Lindyfalls Drive and Ballyshire Drive. New heavy trucks restriction on Humberwest Parkway between Airport Road and Castlemore Road. New speed limit of 60 km/h on Humberwest Parkway between Airport Road and Castlemore Road. The full report is on page 100.

Centre for Innovation

This is an update on the Centre for Innovation that will accompany the new Ryerson University campus (page 110). The city plans to obtain the $100 million in financing through Region of Peel debenture issuance. Separate from the building cost is the $9.8 million to acquire land at 11-15, 17, and 21 Nelson Street. Not all of the land will be used for the CoI; the city plans to create an updated transit hub for downtown.

The CoI will include a new central library to replace Four Corners, a Ryerson University academic library, innovation/collaboration space, event space, and student amenity spaces.

Current work is on defining final scope of the building as well as hiring the design architect. The city will be targeting a LEED-Gold and/or potentially net-zero energy building. Demolition and soil remediation is estimated to cost $2 million.

 Read the Agenda here.


Brampton School Traffic Safety Committee

September 6, 9:30 a.m.
Boardroom WT-2C/D, West Tower

The BSTS Committee is a citizen advisory committee comprised of one councilor, two school trustees (public and Catholic) and residents. This committee does site surveys with the head crossing guard to find problems and solutions to traffic and safety issues around Brampton area schools, as requested by school officials and parents.

Site Inspection Requests

A resident near St. Andre Bessette Catholic School wants a crossing guard at Riverstone Drive and Palmvalley Drive, as they feel it is an unsafe crossing for students (page 14).

A resident and school administrator at Beryl Ford Public School want a full intersection and a stop sign at Franktown Drive and Ironshield Drive, as many students and their families cross here, despite the fact that there are too many cars on the road. The principal feels that pedestrians shouldn’t have to double back just to get to the school (page 15).

A resident near Worthington Public School and Guardian Angel Catholic School is requesting a crossing guard to be stationed at Brisdale Drive and Fairhill Avenue, as drivers and pedestrians don’t obey the stop signs (page 16).

Enforcement Statistics

The final tally (page 33) for the 2017-2018 school year is in. The school areas with the most tickets issued to bad drivers are near Ridgeview Public School (42), Burnt Elm Public School (29), and Walnut Grove Public School (21).

Site Inspection Report

Morton Way Public School: Recommendations include repainting road lines, adding signs, encouraging pedestrians not to j-walk, no stopping restrictions on the north side of Charolais Boulevard, and for police to enforce “no U-turns” on the road (page 41).

Aylesbury Public School: Recommendations include enhanced pavement marking at school intersections, police enforcement of the all-way stops near the school (where drivers aren’t stopping), and more enforcement of no parking rules (page 45).

Good Sheppard Catholic School: Recommendations include installing kiss and ride signs on school property, refreshing the paint, and asking city enforcement staff to enforce no stopping rules (page 48).

 Read the Agenda here.