OSHAWA ROSEMARY - BLOG

OSHAWA ROSEMARY

Send in you best Oshawa photos!

2/4/2020

On November 5, 2019 Council met to consider and make recommendations for Oshawa's new Strategic Plan (here's the 2015-2019 one we were updating: https://www.oshawa.ca/city-hall/resources/OSP_Access_2015_2019.pdf
Check it out and see it has many great pictures.

One of the recommendations I made at that meeting was to invite Oshawa residents to submit their pictures to be included in the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan. Council approved the recommendation and here we are...the deadline to submit is Friday, February 14th, appropriate don't you think, this Valentine Day's show your love of your City and send in your best Oshawa pic that you would like to see chosen!

By the way, the new motto Council chose for the Oshawa Strategic Plan 2020-2023 is "Our Plan for Success"
Here's the Notice on the City's social media with more details about how and where to send your entries:

Your photos could be featured in the new Oshawa Strategic Plan (O.S.P.) that will guide the work of the City of Oshawa from 2020 to 2023. Submit your favourite Oshawa photos online for consideration in the final design of the plan.
Oshawa residents, post-secondary students and community members who are 18 years of age or older can submit photos until Friday, February 14. Selected photos may be used in the print document, online version and/or promotion of the 2020-2023 Oshawa Strategic Plan. Photos can be shared by:

uploading an image (no larger than 5 MB) to our photo gallery; or,
contacting Corporate Communications (905-436-3311 ext. 5686, communications@oshawa.ca) to arrange an offline sharing method.

For more information and full terms and conditions, visit www.oshawa.ca/OSP

Plans to regulate Short Term Rentals (like Airbnb) in Oshawa

2/1/2020

Oshawa residents who have suffered from inconsiderate Airbnb partiers next door and in fact worry about their safety, have been waiting for a new City By-law to address the problems they've been experiencing.
There is now a Report on the Agenda for Oshawa Corporate Services Committee meeting this Monday Feb 3, 2020 @ 9:30AM - in fact it is the only item on the Agenda. CORP-20-03 "Short-Term Rental Licensing Consultation Results and Proposed Licensing System".

The staff report proposes licensing standards for Short Term Rental Operators and recommends that the introduction of a Short Term Rental licensing system be included in the City's Licensing By-law 120-2005.

As well, it involves staff investigating the potential of entering into Memorandums of Understanding (M.O.U.) with the Short Term Rental Companies like Airbnb that operate the booking of short term rentals in Oshawa.

Regarding enforcement, the Report proposes enhancement of the Zoning by-law that all short term rental properties be required to be the principal residence of the Operator and the Operator be restricted to renting no more than 28 consecutive days and no more than 180 days a year.

Currently City of Oshawa Zoning By-law Number 60-94 has the following applicable section, which was added in 2018:

5.16 Short-Term Rental (52-2018)
5.16.1 A short-term rental is a permitted use in all zones that permit dwelling units.
5.16.2 A short-term rental shall be used to provide temporary accommodation for any rental period that is less than 28 consecutive days and not exceeding a combined total of 180 days in a calendar year.
5.16.3 The dwelling unit in which the short-term rental is located shall be the principal residence, as defined in the Income Tax Act, of the person or persons operating and residing in the short-term rental.
5.16.4 Notwithstanding anything in this by-law to the contrary, no bed and breakfast, home occupation, other rental accommodation, group home or lodging house shall be permitted in any dwelling unit which contains a short-term rental.
5.16.5 A short-term rental shall not be established or operated in a manner which changes the external residential appearance of the dwelling unit or that contributes to adverse effects such as those from excessive traffic, parking, noise and hours of operation.

Report-20-03 also recommends:

• the Short Term Rental Operator provide the City with contact information and be available at all times to respond to issues and attend at the residence within one (1) hour of the City contacting the Host or its representative by telephone or email;
• insurance requirements;
• prohibiting any other rental use within a dwelling unit that contains an short term rental; and
• a Renter’s Code that would provide information about relevant City by-laws to the short term renters.

City Council Passes The Right Motion!

1/27/2020

Oshawa Property Assessment Overview

1/23/2020

Recently the Regional Manager, Zone 3, Municipal & Stakeholder Relations, Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) forwarded a summary of the 2019 Year End Ontario Property Assessment Report for the 2020 Taxation year and a summary for 2019 Oshawa Property Assessments. Below is a chart that I prepared for a reader friendly version of the data for Oshawa, and here are some details from the Ontario MPAC summary:

Total Number of Ontario Properties Assessed: 5.36 Million
Total Assessment Value of Ontario Properties: 2.96 Trillion
Supporting annual municipal tax collection of: 31 Billion

Oshawa's Total Residential Assessment value in 2019 was 18.8 Billion;
$252 Million is the total revenue collected from Oshawa Residential Taxpayers (including farm owners) in 2019 (the Residential Assessment value total $18.8 Billion multiplied by the Oshawa Residential Tax Rate 1.34% = $252 Million) with 41%, that is, $103 Million going to the City of Oshawa.

(Side note: To calculate the total taxes for an single Oshawa property, take the MPAC assessed value and multiply by 1.34% - example a residential property assessed valuation at $450,000 multiply x .134 = annual taxes of $6,030 for 2019).

The total $252 Million collected from Oshawa residential property owners is divided 3 ways: 41% to the City, 41% the Region of Durham and 18% the Ministry of Education for schools, which means the 1.34% Tax Rate translates into a .59%* City Tax Rate; a .59%* Region Tax Rate; and a .16%* School Tax Rate (* hope to report back on these for clarification)
41% of the $252 Million Total Residential Taxes = $103 Million

So Oshawa collected $103 Million in 2019 for the the City; and
$103 Million for the Region of Durham from Residential Taxpayers; and
as the School Taxes are 18% of the total, Oshawa collected $46 Million for the Schools from Residential Taxpayers
(In 2019 the City budgeted $147 Million in property tax revenue coming into the City, so the 25% revenue from other property types would be $147-$103 =$44 Million)

To determine the average taxes Oshawa residential property owners are paying: $252 Million divided by the number of residential properties approx 60,000 is $4200 - (as noted above Oshawa taxes collected are split 3 ways between the City, the Region and the Schools). Therefore the breakdown of the average $4200 annual residential property tax collected is: $1722+$1722+$756. .Of course, the average masks the wide range of size and types of residential properties across the City.

If anyone finds errors or omissions in the above please let me know and I will try to correct.
Fyi, the Oshawa Tax Rates are published on the City's website here: https://www.oshawa.ca/.../resources/Tax-Rates-2006-2019.pdf

Report on Oshawa's Snow Clearing Practices

1/20/2020

Last January Oshawa Council endorsed KPMG to include in its 2019 Audit Plan an assessment of costs, analysis of complaints, and review of the City's snow clearing processes and service delivery. The KPMG Report, on the Monday January 20, 2020 Community Services Meeting Agenda as Report "CS-20-05" is on-line here: http://app.oshawa.ca/…/…/2020/01-20-2020/report_cs-20-05.pdf

I've tried a few times in the past year to encourage KPMG to make their reports more reader friendly...and because I think infographics are easily understood and remembered, and I had fun making a couple for the Budget, below is one I tried my hand at to get a better handle on the KPMG 55 page Report CS-20-05.

Some interesting information from questions asked at the Committee meeting, and answered by City Staff (although a KPMG rep sat in the gallery for the meeting, KPMG did not make a presentation to Committee concerning their Report or answer any questions):

There were 248 traffic violations issued at $60 each during the weekend's snow event, with cars parked on the road, or in driveway aprons intruding on the sidewalk or road, interfering with the plows clearing sections of roads or sidewalks;
The Works Operations department has met with a group from Oshawa's Teaching City Program who are keen to work on a pilot project for an autonomous machine to clear wind rows and sidewalks.
The brine the works crew puts on the roads prior to a winter storm, will sit on the road for up to 3 days. When the snow falls ice does not attach to the road as readily and makes snow removal easier.

Improve Ward 1 Rural Internet Service

1/9/2020

Internet service in Oshawa north of Hwy 407 is 'brutally unreliable' (quoting from a recent Ward 1 resident's email). You can help bring attention to the problem by sending feedback to this Region of Durham survey!
https://www.durham.ca/en/economic-development/invest-and-grow/telecommunications.aspx

Ten years ago Columbus area residents were fed up and went to the media, and a small new company Ontario Rural Internet responded, by contacting a number of the people named in the newspaper article and installed a relay network...which worked better for some (although still with dead time, especially after weather storms, and it was never true high speed) But after a few years they sold to a Sudbury company, and problems continue... there are still many Oshawa taxpayers in this area less than 5 km north of Ontario Tech University, where technology and innovation are celebrated, who can't get a good internet connection due NO cable lines and their dwellings being situated in low areas or with trees blocking the relay signal.
When reliable high speed is available almost everywhere else in Oshawa, last February, early in my first year on Council, I made a 'time sensitive' motion that was approved unanimously: "The City of Oshawa forthwith request the Region of Durham to include broadband/fibre infrastructure cable in the Simcoe Street/Winchester Rd. reconstruction project."

The problem, however, is no where being fixed, so if you are in this under serviced area, help be the squeaky wheel to get high speed! Open the link here and give comments. Please!

Parking problems in Oshawa?

1/5/2020

In 2018 Oshawa Council hired a consultant (at cost of $180K) to do a city-wide parking Study.

The contract was awarded to the transportation consultant IBI Group in Nov 2018 and just a couple weeks before January 1, 2020, it seems IBI submittted the Study's Draft Report to be reviewed by City Staff.

Although Section 3 of the Terms of Reference for the Contract stated: "The Study is to be completed within six (6) months of being awarded" clearly it's a bit behind...but good to see the IBI GROUP Project Lead, Peter Richards has his phone number and email on the City of Oshawa's website for consultation. ( 416-596-1930 peter.richards@ibigroup.com )

Before submitting the Final Report, IBI Group will be conducting Phase 2...as noted on the City's website (although the time-frame is delayed from what was originally expected) "Phase 2 of the Study will present preliminary findings and recommendations to the community for review and comment... Stay tuned for Phase 2 engagement opportunity details!"

Looks like it will be the spring of 2020 before we see the Final Study. Meanwhile, the review continues and is to involve:

parking standards and policies including dimensions of parking spaces, driveways, location of parking spaces,
the Downtown parking exempt area identified in the Zoning By-law 60-94 and the ratio of parking for residential uses;
 the existing and future municipal parking supply in the downtown;
 the parking needs associated with the Transportation Hubs identified on Schedule B-1 Transit Priority in the Oshawa Official Plan;
 the financial aspects of parking and
develop a plan to support:
- Recommend changes to existing parking regulations (no parking, no stopping, no standing, durations, vehicle types, etc.), free overnight parking both on-street and within City parking garages, short-term on-street paid parking, loading zones, and accessible parking;
- Recommend triggers (such as target levels of development measured by units or floor area) to review the existing parking supplies and progress towards the planned ultimate supply;
- The potential for the provision and management of special event parking related to public and private programming within the Urban Growth Centre;
- The immediate parking needs of the Urban Growth Centre (i.e. are the parking standards in the Urban Growth Centre currently sufficient to meet market demands as well as short and long term needs;

From the Request for Proposal (RFP) Terms of Reference:

"The City of Oshawa is a growing community of 167,000 and is the largest city in Durham Region. The City has experienced a significant amount of growth in recent years with a forecast to continue in the future. Major influences on parking include but are not limited to:

greenfield developments in the Kedron and Columbus Part II Planning Areas which are intended to develop at densities that are higher than other areas of the City;
redevelopment opportunities in intensification areas, the Urban Growth Centre, transportation hubs and regional and local corridors; and
development both on-campus and off campus associated with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Trent University Durham and Durham College."

The timing of this parking study is extremely important and seeing it done well is crucial. Oshawa's current traffic and parking problems are a mess, and with the continued high growth forecast on the horizon, more people will be driving, parking and using transit to get around.

Budget discussions again today

12/6/2019

I know I ask a lot of questions...after my previous 36 questions (see Nov 28 blog post) here are the remaining (14) I submitted Nov 27th in writing as part of the Budget deliberation process... Staff answers received yesterday are below...imo some interesting information:

1. Where would I find the most recent annual net operating costs revenue/expenses/variances by facility location for the Civic, Harmon, Delpark, Donevan, South Oshawa, Northview, Childrens Arena
Year to date actuals are as follows: Civic: Revenues= Sl,410,501, Expenses= $2,423 ,321, Variance= S1,012 ,820
Harman: Revenues= $411,798, Expenses= $479,281, Variance= $67,484
Delpark: Revenues=$3,061,219, Expenses= $4, 982,868, Variance=$1,921 ,649
Donevan: Revenues = $564,130, Expenses=$1, 567,014 Variance= $1,002,884
South Oshawa: Revenues=$371,673 Expenses=$l,671,612 Variance$1,299,939
Northview: Revenues= $138, 513, Expenses= $790,574, Variance= $652,062
Children's Arena: Revenues=$133,492 expenses=$250,594 Variance=$117,103

2. Please provide list of the annual lease incomes for the other City facilities, including but not limited to other city facilities such as the Airport, OPUC 100 Simcoe St. S., Jubilee Pavilion, Telecommunication Towers, and any set offs. See attached at end.

3. Please provide a list of the current total 104 City facilities. See attached at end.
Is there still a corporate contingency fund or is it built into each department and project/program? Budgeted in Program 108

4. What sponsorship contracts were new in 2019, were any discontinued…and can the 2020 variance be elaborated? There were no new sponsorship contracts in 2019. Discontinued for 2019 were OPUC – Bright & Merry Market; TD Bank – Oshawa Celebrates; Bell & Telmax - Canada Day; Harmonv Hill Retirement - Peony Festival; 2020 Budget was decreased to reflect the right sizing of anticipated sponsorship revenues as well as a decrease in advertising renewals. These are two different revenue approaches and need different skill sets and there is already a cross functional grants team.

5. Does the City still have a commitment to UOIT to provide $700,000 to the downtown campus dependent upon UOIT achieving 3,000 full time students enrolled in and attending programs provided by UOIT at the downtown campus. As directed by Council this commitment will be funded by internal debt. Is this no longer a debt? NO

6. Are there personnel savings that could be made by delaying the replacement of vacancies where service levels and program delivery would not be impacted in the short term? Salary savings from vacancies have already been factored into the budget.

7. Is there a total for staff seminars and training? How much does the delegation of authority by-law allow for costs decisions related to staff seminars and training? Is there a policy for Council to have oversight on the approval of education expenses? There are no budget reports available with this Information. Council approves these through budget process Only policy Council endorsed the Education Reimbursement policy - funding for these are approved through budget

8. Where is a breakdown of the overtime costs by branch year to date for 2019? The YTD total for overtime In 2019 is $2.2 million however this amount includes banked time which will, if taken as time off, reduce the cost of overtime. Branch breakdown attached.

9. What are the net costs, revenue/expenses year to date for the City’s new wedding program? Total Expenses $14,276.26; Total Revenues $28,675.00; Total revenue over expenses $14,398.74

10. Is there a chart somewhere showing the annual balance of the Tribute Communities Centre Reserve since it was established? 2015= $118,000; 2016=$288,000; 2017=$99 ,000; 2018=$324,000

11. Could you provide a detailed description about the Reserves ‘held on behalf of others fund’ and the $3,090,837 balance? This is the library Facilities and Materials Development Charge reserve

12. The Infrastructure Reserve has the highest balance at $9,218,750. Although there is the policy related to increasing infrastructure reserves, can you provide details on if there is a limit on how much and when it can be drawn on until it reaches a certain amount. Contributions to this reserve increase by .1 % of taxation annually and expenditures are limited to 10% of the uncommitted balance. As indicated in the 2020 Capital Budget Overview, there are infrastructure needs of approximately $531 million in the next 10 years

13. Which Reserve is the $800,000+ for the unfinished trail east of the Delpark Homes Centre Commissioner Munro referred to at the Nov 22, 2019 Budget meeting? The funds for the trail are in the Parks, Recreation and Trail Development Charge Reserve and the Growth Related Non Development Charge Reserve {Project 50·0012)

14. The 2020 Capital Reserve Summary shows 4 Reserves with deficits. Where are the funds drawn from to cover those deficits, which seem to total around $2.5M? Two of the reserves (Admin Growth and Fire) are Development Charge reserves and any shortfalls will either be recouped through reserve contributions received from developers or will be recovered In future Development Charge calculations. The Airport Reserve deficit will be covered through future land sales. The IT Reserve deficit is a timing variance and will be addressed through increased contributions in the 2020 budget.

Repect & Humility Needed by a Council scheduling meetings at a time convenient to Who?

12/1/2019

ROGERS will have Oshawa's Regular Monthly Council meeting ON TELEVISION TOMORROW NIGHT

Hopefully not for the last time!

Ironic how the program airs the night a majority of Council members seem set on tuning the public out.

Councillor Tito-Dante Marimpietri's motion was brought forward by Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter at last Monday's Corporate Services Committee meeting to change the regular Council meeting Monday 6:30 p.m time, beginning January 2020, to 9:30 a.m. and the 3 week rotation to 4. The Interim City Clerk announced she already has made up the new schedule.

The public can voice opposition and send emails to clerks@oshawa.ca Request to make a delegation or just attend and by your presence try to impress on those Council members who seem intent on pushing the morning meeting time through at tomorrow night's meeting that the move will discourage public input. I am 100% in support of the public taking a stand on this issue!

Oshawa council members not setting their schedules to listen to their constituents at a time when the majority are most available ultimately amounts to a way of restricting criticism of local government, and ends up with the Corporation of the City of Oshawa exerting a top down system of command and control over public participation...where interaction becomes limited to one-on-one meetings, on-line surveys, and cyber scoped so-called 'have your say' forums...

Imo what is being planned has a controversy avoidance stamp all over it, which is not brave of political leaders...
sharing words here from a wonderful speaker I heard this weekend. He reflected on the Anishinaabe teachings of the Seven Grandfathers about the 7 gifts for value and balance in human interactions: Bravery, Wisdom, Truth, Honesty, Love, Respect and Humility..

His message was "the importance of the gift of Respect which is closely related to the companion gift of Humility....that Bravery, Honesty and Truth are not enough, and that Wisdom and Love cannot be found without Respect and Humility."

https://www.rogerstv.com/schedule?lid=1&rid=2
"ROGERSTV.COM
Rogers TV / TV Rogers
Rogers believes in Local Matters programming...
https://rogerstv.com/show?lid=12&rid=2&sid=2051

Oshawa Budget meeting on Black Friday

11/29/2019

Some tough slogging at Oshawa Council Budget meeting today...but by 3:00 p.m. 2020 Budget seems to be nearing the home stretch ... Council has the proposed Budget tax levy increase down from 2.16% to 1.75%...This is where we left off today (see picture snapped of my Council Chamber desk monitor). A few remarked that today's Black Friday price reductions may have had an impact.

Note there are a few more decisions to make at the next Oshawa 2020 Budget meeting scheduled for Friday Dec 6th but TWO MOTIONS, one from Councillor Brian Nicholson and another from Councillor Bradley J. Marks unanimously supported by Council, deserve a round of APPLAUSE! First: Councillor Nicholson's motion to increase the number of speed radar signs by adding 25 more, so instead of just the total 5 planned for 2020, there will be an additional 5 for each Ward! and each of the 5 Local Ward Councillors and City/Regional Councillors, together with City staff, will have input where the need for installation in their Ward may be greatest!

Then Councillor Marks' motion to remove sand from the park playgrounds and replace with the matted wood chips or the rubberized surfacing material...a report on this is yet to be forthcoming (next Budget deliberation Dec 6th)...

The will of Council to improve ROAD SAFETY and Oshawa PARKS & RECREATION shone today.
With the exception of only a few, Oshawa Council members made a strong effort to adhere to sharp fiscal management and KEEP TAXES DOWN.

Happy weekend...Big Council meeting this Monday Dec 2nd, hope to see MANY PEOPLE in attendance. parking lot pre-party before anyone? This is a shout out for 'bums on the seats' this Monday Dec 2nd...Who's coming??? :) (if you don't have the backstory on this, please see Dave Flaherty's article in the Oshawa Express "Council Meetings Could Be On the Move"