Lots to report from yesterday's 3 City meetings, but, first, I learned something new and imo interesting when City staff emailed Council members yesterday afternoon about an application they approved to designate an event as Municipally Significant", relating to a BTC 25-Legacy event taking place at Children's Arena, 155 Arena St., Oshawa, this Saturday, Sept 14, 2024.

Not knowing what the BTC 25-Legacy event is about, after a Google search, here is some info and pictures. BTC Fight Promotions is based out of Burlington, Ont and this is their 1st event in Oshawa, 25 because it is their 25th MMA fight promotion around Canada. since 2017.

MMA -mixed martial arts "is a full-contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and skills from a mixture of other combat sports to be used in competition. The rules allow usage of both striking and grappling techniques while standing and on the ground."

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario requires a Public Event Permit/Special Occasion Permit which allows for the sale and service of alcohol for larger scale events that are open to the public. Municipalities must designate the event to be municipally significant in order for the AGCO to issue a permit.
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There is more info on the btcfight.ca web site and btcfight.ca/live for pay per view

►the Canadian government has introduced legislation limiting single use plastics to reduce the amounts of macro plastics and microplastics that end up in the environment; and

►Oshawa Sign By-law 72-96 lists PROHIBITED SIGNS,

►with so many single use bag signs on display at busy intersections and community mail boxes this summer, I am advocating for the City to clamp down and do more frequent clearing to decelerate the explosive spread.
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Being proactive on this issue can help keep the plastic/metal mess from ending up in city water retention ponds or storm sewers and being trip hazards for pedestrians and postal workers.
Note the pictures below, taken August 28, 2024, show the plastic bag signs are in front of schools, show residents' attempt to collect them in blue bins beside community mail boxes, and around stop signs (really a distracting eye-sore and not a safe place to advertise!)

Fall Program Registration
Registration for fall swimming lessons begins 9 am Tuesday, August 20. Registration for general fall recreation programs, including arts, dance, music, sports, fitness & learn to skate lessons begins at 9 am Thursday, August 22.
 
Winter Holiday Camps
Registration for Winter Holiday Camps opens at 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 22. These camps offer a range of activities for children aged 4 to 13, including options like Sport & Swim Camp and Legendary Day Camp. Camps are scheduled for December 23, 27, 30, and January 2 and 3. To learn more about our camps and the required registration forms, visit Oshawa.ca/Camps.
 
How to Register:

• Online registration is available at Register.Oshawa.ca.
• In-person registration is available at the following locations:
• Civic Recreation Complex
• Delpark Homes Centre
• Donevan Recreation Complex
• South Oshawa Community Centre
• For faster service, please bring your completed Course Registration Form when registering in person.

Financial Assistance ProgramsThe City of Oshawa provides several financial assistance programs designed to help community members access recreation programs, services and facilities, even if financial circumstances may be a barrier. Additionally, recreation discounts are available for Oshawa residents aged 55 and older. For more information, visit Oshawa.ca/Subsidy.

See link to complete Active Oshawa Recreation Guide below and See here for tips on how to Register: activeOshawa Registered Programs - City of Oshawa

ALSO NOTE: new in 2024 - Oshawa residents 55 years old or + save big on recreation as they now qualify for discounted rates on fitness programs and recreation facilities memberships SEE: Oshawa residents 55+ - City of Oshawa

​issuu.com/cityofoshawa/docs/fall_2024_winter_2025_recreation_program_guide_fin

Have your say concerning the upcoming REDEVELOPMENT OF EVERGLADES PARK Consultation is happening now until noon Mon, Sept 9, 2024 Provide your feedback on preferred selections for the park's playground equipment & accessibility components to help make this park just north of Taunton, east of Ritson Rd in the Hydro One corridor an improved City asset and place for great family times and friendly neighbourhood connections ​

https://connectoshawa.ca/evergladespark

Check out the exciting 2024/2025 Oshawa Generals schedule!
Home Opener game is Sunday Sept 29 and
Oct 20 the Gens will be hosting the second annual ‘Badge vs Shield Showdown’ between the Durham Regional Police Department and Oshawa Fire Services when both face off in support of their respective chosen charities.

Then the GAME THEME NIGHTS begin Oct, 27 with a Halloween themed night where costumes, tricks & treats await fans. Nov. 1st is Country Night, Nov 11th Remembrance Night to pay tribute to Oshawa men and women who gave service. Nov. 22 is 2nd annual Skills Competition to see the which player has hardest shot/most accuracy/fastest speed? See all theme-nights line up here: Oshawa Generals announce 2024/25 theme nights! - Oshawa Generals (chl.ca)


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Also note the Oshawa Gens sent out a Media Advisory yesterday, Aug 8, 2024 how you can register now for the Oshawa Generals Future Generals Camp Aug 19-23 and "Train Like an Oshawa General" Cost: $443.75 including tax

"The 2024 Future Generals Camp is coming up this August and we want YOU to join in on this fun opportunity! Players announced have included Owen Griffin, Noah Bender, Jonathon Pylypuik, Luca Marrelli, Luca D’Amato, Matthew Buckley, and Luke Torrance, with MORE to come!
Each day of camp consists of 2 on-ice sessions ran by Oshawa Generals coaches & players, as well as an off-ice session that is different each day (obstacle course, player autograph session, dressing room tour, etc.). Each day is unique and filled with awesome opportunities for campers to work on, learn, and develop new skills alongside some of OHL’s top players and staff."
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REGISTER HERE https://media.chl.ca/.../0415.../FutureGeneralsForm_2024.pdf
Send completed registration forms to [email protected].

The fatal shooting last week with the murder of a man and women in the Glenforest and Jane Ave area north of Rossland Rd. W. was horrific and the story on that may have been unique...but when as the DRPS media release noted re the drive-by shooting yesterday afternoon, that  the same residence on Kurelo had a 'similar incident' in May, but there was another north Oshawa residence that had a drive-by shooting on an early morning last month around Ormond and Largo   (June 19, 2024 around 5:30 a.m.)
I can't post the link due to the federal government blocking newspaper articles on social media, but what is driving this -organized crime? gang activities? it seems like retribution or retaliation and with bullets flying in neighbourhoods with children answers are needed now to end this alarming situation in Oshawa!

Good News 'Hospital Story" Update Today! (Durham Region) – May 14, 2024 – Lakeridge Health is pleased to announce Stantec has been selected to lead the Planning, Design, and Conformance (PDC) aspects of Lakeridge Health’s much-anticipated Bowmanville Hospital redevelopment, one of Lakeridge Health’s largest redevelopment projects to date...the redeveloped hospital will usher in a new era of health-care delivery in Durham Region...by adding more beds, expanding critical care services, and introducing state-of-the-art facilities like an Ambulatory Care and Haemodialysis Centre... will also include:

• expansion, nearly double in size, to meet the health-care needs of the rapidly growing Durham Region.
  
• Modern patient-centred design, including private rooms and bariatric rooms.
  
• A new parking garage, supporting more convenient access for patients, visitors, staff, and volunteers.
  
• Additional green space enhancing the overall well-being of patients, visitors, and the community alike.

​https://www.rmhc-swo.ca/events/mchappy-day-2024

Visit a local McDonalds Wed. May 8, 2024 and know a portion of your meal payment will help fund McDonald charities.
Oshawa Council members were invited to help over lunchtime. Councillor Lee and I will be at the Taunton Rd E (between Harmony & Grandview)  McDonalds.
Looking forward to seeing a great turnout!!
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Below is my one-page summary of the 9:30 a.m. Oshawa Corporate and Finance Committee Meeting Agenda Monday May 6, 2024; and 1:30 p.m. Economic Development Committee Meeting Agenda+ Public Planning Act Public meeting. For details see the City website pages here for Corporate & Finance Agenda:
pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=3a9ff284-a0fe-4bf7-a22a-8e8f587b6c6c&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English
and here for the Economic & Development Agenda: 
pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=48a88bdf-55b1-4bcb-a5c6-546786b6c688&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English

Of items on the 2 meeting agendas there is ONE I AM HUGELY CONCERNED ABOUT! ED-24-57 which has staff sending the Conlin Rd/Grandview road reconstruction back, letting Treasure Hill out of their failed agreement and sending the whole matter back to be included in the 2025 Mayor's budget??? It should have been under construction NOW!

NOTE  the 'must read' with the backstory in Report DS-22-07 https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=7441 "In 2018, Request for Proposal C2018-074, Conlin Road Roundabout Design was awarded to CIMA+ Canada Inc. in the amount of $121,032 exclusive of H.S.T. in accordance with Report CNCL-18-51 and the Purchasing By-law.

Back then City staff wrote "the construction of the Conlin Road East and Grandview Street North intersection to its ultimate form will permit development along the north side of Conlin Road East to occur as quickly as possible without requiring the need to potentially freeze/hold parcels of the land. It was originally contemplated that these concerns would be resolved through Project 73-0485, the detailed design for the reconstruction of Conlin Road East from Ritson Road North to Townline Road North. Project 73-0485 was approved in the 2020 Capital Budget and is expected to be tendered by the end of the first Quarter of 2022."

THEN at the start of 2022 "in report DS-22-07 the project was rescoped and expanded with an additional $60K approved to extend the design for the project a further 250 metres (820 ft.) to the east for the following key reasons:
a) Expanding the scope will improve vehicular and pedestrian safety in both the short term and long term by reducing the grades for vehicular traffic and introducing a multi-use path for pedestrians;
b) Expanding the scope will provide a multi-use path connection from Grandview St N to Kurelo Dr. and provide safe access to Mackie Park from either street;
c) Expanding the scope will allow safe pedestrian access to transit and transit stops through the addition of the multi-use path and sidewalk;
d) Expanding the scope will result in savings to the City as CIMA+ has familiarity with the project;
e) Expanding the scope may limit the disruption to the surrounding community to one construction season; and,
f) Expanding the scope will facilitate development in the Kedron Part II Plan.

The meeting sequence has, after O Canada and the Land Acknowledgement, Council members may make  ANNOUNCEMENTS, then the order of the Agenda is:
1. Community volunteer and 2. City employee RECOGNITION AWARDS, then
PRESENTATIONS:
3. Ontario Hydro re Darlington; and
4. Watson consultant re Oshawa's potential new DC Charge rates; followed by 
DELEGATIONS: 2 registered + 4 requests (which require Council 2/3rd votes to be heard), then
1. Board of the OSCC choice naming Oshawa' Senior of Year; and
PUBLIC CONSENT AGENDA Items, which I've numbered 2. to 45.

• Councillors may pull for discussion, questions, direction, timing or recorded vote, any of the Items on the PUBLIC CONSENT AGRENDA which are listed with my numbering as 2-45.
• Of these, you will see that 8 are for REFERRAL, which means they can only be pulled for timing or direction, three are referred to the Mayor's 2025 Budget), 4 are simply being referred to the Report they relate to and 1 is a referral back to staff for further review.
• I wrote a recent post "SOMETIMES THERE ISN"T JUST ONE RIGHT ANSWER" referring to items discussed at Committee this month that I have serious concerns with and which will be among the ones I plan to pull.
• All listed items relate either to CNCL ( Council) or fall under the purview of the City's 4 different departments: 1) CO - Community & Operations; 2) CF - Corporate and Finance; 3) ED - Economic & Development; 4) SF- Safety & Facilities

Next are items pulled from the 
INFORMATION PACKAGE: the one on the Agenda being Picton County's request for a Provincial Accessibility Fund -which I pulled for Oshawa Council hopefully to endorse.
When the Public Consent Agenda is fully passed and the required by-laws enacting approved changes, Council moves on to the 

CLOSED AGENDA
There are 3 CLOSED items which any member of Council may PULL.

At the end of the meeting are the
 Notices of Motion,
The April 29, 2024 agenda includes four:
1. CNCL-24-40 e-scooter by-law amendments proposed by C. Nicholson CNCL-24-40;
2. CNCL-24-51 poet laureate program proposed by C. McConkey;
3. CNCL-24-52 speed limit reduction on Burk St. proposed by C Giberson;
4. CNCL-24-53 review of City policy for property tax relief to seniors and those with disabilities proposed by C Nicholson.

When complex and controversial matters come before Oshawa Council - such as the 4 political and community issues listed below, which will be on the Monday April 29th 2024 City Council Agenda, Oshawa Council must be open to reconsideration. Problem solving can benefit by a delving into alternate answers.

So I ask why would the City not provide more consideration of its plans to:

1. ending the publishing of the City's Corporate payments list (Report CF-24-29)
https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx...
To understand better what the City wants to discontinue publishing see the link here for the last published Corporate Payment Report for the 4th Quarter 2023 (Report CF-24-13) https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx... Note how it is a transparent tracking practice, one which imo the City of Oshawa should be proud of and not plan to discontinue -(to see an example of the regular report contents pictured below is page 104 from the 110 page last Report showing 2023 Q4 ) There can be no accountability without transparency.

2. advance a 78 unit development with only one street access/egress from an already challenging entrance off Harmony Rd., Pinecrest Rd., which has only right-in right out access. (Report ED-24-42) ED-24-42 https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx... (copy of page showing site location plan is pictured below with my red circle highlighting the only access (the right-in, right-out only turn to the development off Pinecrest Rd.)

3. advance the Harmony Creek trail extension which is known to present major difficulties complying with 1) accessibility requirements due to major slope variations, 2) sustainability due to major flooding issues; 3) commitment to environmental stewardship due to cutting trees that were planned a decade ago for slope stability and 4) questionable connectivity and road crossing safety plans related to future trail extensions north across Conlin Rd. E. SF-24-18 https://calendar.oshawa.ca/.../863a6fae-d01a-483a-bc16...

​4. advance a scoped down design of the new Ward 2 community centre, which project, estimated at 150 Million$ has no funding strategy and which the City has not provided for any public discussion at any Council or Committee meeting prior to the construction tender, and regarding which the Oshawa Aquatic Club has raised major concerns about the pool now being reduced to 4 lanes from the planned 8 lanes (Report CNCL-24-24 ) https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx... and INFO-24-89 being a 5 page letter from Julie Reid, President of the Oshawa Aquatic Club https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx...
Btw, the process to speak up and make your concerns known to Oshawa Council in writing and/or make a delegation is to write [email protected] as soon as possible (you will see that 4 pm Tuesday and Friday are deadlines for Monday meetings (and Friday before Friday noon for virtual delegation requests) Follow the process described here: https://www.oshawa.ca/.../correspondence-and-delegations...
or call and inquire with the Clerks department at 905-436-3311

Starting Sunday, April 28, 2024, GO train weekend service will increase from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes in the afternoon and evening on the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East lines between Oakville GO Station, Union Station and Durham College Oshawa GO Station.
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As announced yesterday the Province of Ontario is expanding GO Train Service Across the GTA, adding more than 300 new weekly trips to support two-way, all-day GO.

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004441/ontario-expanding-go-train-service-across-the-greater-toronto-area 
​news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004441/ontario-expanding-go-train-service-across-the-greater-toronto-area

Last week the City of Oshawa's downtown outdoor planters were once again filled with SPRING FLOWERS! Wonderfully uplifting to see these bright displays of nature's colours! A big thank you to Oshawa staff for this work. I know many Oshawans appreciate the continued successes of City greenhouse staff in producing some of the most pleasing municipal flower displays in the GTA!! Sidenote: each year when I first see the spring flowers blooming in the planters along the sidewalks in Oshawa's downtown I whisper THANK YOU BARRIE, because when visiting the City of Barrie in the spring of 2021, on seeing how attractive Barrie's downtown planters looked with tulips and pansies, I spoke with their horticulturalist and then followed-up with a motion to Oshawa Council to initiate its own spring flower downtown planter program, which was approved ​