Council Showdown: February 29 – March 4, 2016

Every week, Bramptonist will be rounding up the interesting items on upcoming city council and committee meetings, so you don’t have to bore yourselves with tedious PDFs.

All meetings are open to the public (aside from closed items), and are generally held in the City Council Chambers, unless stated otherwise.

Committee of Adjustment

March 1 at 9:00 a.m.
Council Chambers, City

Issues in Brief

• The Peel District School Board wants to sever off a small portion of land at Ray Lawson Public School, which will likely be sold
• The owner of the house at 10788 Bramalea Road wants to have zero metres of buffer between his property and the adjacent secondary school property. The owner has previously come to council to rezone the land for a dental establishment
• The tiny strip mall at 194 Main Street South wants permission to add a dental or medical office, a commercial school, or a personal service shop

Agenda with reports available here. 

Community and Public Services  Committee

March 2 at 9:30 a.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall

Continuing the success of Garden Square

• A presentation and report on how to continue to make Garden Square a success in the future
• Report suggests the city look into providing amenities like public washrooms, shade structures, a portable stage, etc. To enhance Garden Square, staff suggest to continue to use existing resources
• A new proposed programming list for 2016 is on page 77
• Report starts on page 30

Should Brampton buy out the lease on the Powerade Centre?

• This discussion was initiated by the Brampton Beast, who came to council asking for help due to their finances
• RealStar, who owns the lease, will only consider this after a proposal
• The proposal could take up to 36 months, and up to $285,000 in external costs
• Proposal will determine how much the city should pay to buy out the lease
• Report on page 105

Other Issues

• The Fire Department is requesting to purchase a Class “A” Top Mount Pumper, a Class “A” Top Mount Pumper/Rescue, and an Emergency-One Platform Aerial Device (page 87)
• Arts Walk of Fame committee are proposing six new names to add to the AWOF on Main Street (page 20)

Agenda with reports available here.

Economic Development Committee

March 2 at 1:00 p.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall

Canada Day, 2016

• Thanks to the construction of the new skating trail, the concert is being relocated back to the old band shell near the paddle boat pond
• Grassroots Canadiana events this year including lumberjack shows and “Traditional Canadian Food Trucks” (aka poutine and BeaverTails, probably)
• It’s going to cost $351,000 this year
• Report on page 4

Other Issues

• Brampton only has two Sister Cities (Miami Beach, Florida and Plano, Texas) and both relationships are inactive and we aren’t planning on spending any money for official initiatives (page 13)
• A draft sponsorship policy, excluding naming rights (page 25)

Agenda with reports available here. 

Corporate Services Committee

March 2 at 3:00 p.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall

Issues in Brief

• Purchasing activity in the second half of 2015: $103.9 million on 81 contracts (page 5)
• Tax adjustments (basically who was overcharged) (page 62)

Agenda with reports available here. 

Brampton School Traffic Safety Council

March 3 at 9:30 a.m.

Council Committee Room, City Hall

Issues in Brief

• One Catholic elementary school opening in Sept/Oct 2016
• Six public elementary/middle schools and one public secondary school opening Sept/Oct 2016
• Burnt Elm Public School (24) and the Khalsa School (26) so far have the most tickets issued in front of them during an inspection for this school year

Agenda with reports available here. 

Sports Hall of Fame Committee

March 3 at 7:00 p.m.

Council Committee Room, City Hall

Issues in Brief

• Verbal updates on the new constitution, a new website, marketing plans

Agenda with reports available here.