To further my understanding of Oshawa's finances, I enrolled in the 5 month Municipal Accounting and Finance Program (MAFP) offered by the Association of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario.

I am happy to say I completed all assignments and got word today I passed the exam with a mark of 98%.

I recommend the course to anyone considering serving as a City Councillor. It provides an overview of the basics of public sector accounting; annual municipal financial reporting  requirements mandated by the Province, and how to review financial statements.

One question, a part of one of the 5 assignments on which I received a mark of 100% (okay ha!! that is me being proud) happened to concern something I personally feel strongly about:

1. In your view, how relevant is an organization’s culture and value system in achieving the objectives of a system of internal controls?

The internal control objective of preventing unwise expenditures and to ensure value for money is not as cut and dry as the other objectives because it hinges on judgment decisions, and involves questioning an individual or team’s judgement, which can be a delicate and controversial matter. In addition to the finance department questioning what may be unwise decisions or decisions that do not seem to constitute good value, in the final analysis it is council that designates priority expenditures, the elected council who exercise ultimate controls, as in their overseer role they are ultimately accountable to the public for how public funds are spent. If the information for decision making is not-reliable, or if decisions are made that it falls to the elected to question the how, why and what controls need to be improved.

The Internal control systems objective to ensure that proper methods and procedures are followed simply cannot work if there are ambiguous policies or undocumented procedures and no training or updating regarding these policies as to what  is expected of departments, considering that the organization is never static.
 
There is an extent to which the culture of an organization “determines how people interpret and act upon information provided through the controls process”. If the organizational culture is unhealthy it affects performance and productivity and has an influence on results with less than desirable outcomes.

Culture reflects values, what is tolerated and what is not. When inappropriate behaviour is tolerated in an organization and no alerts are raised, it would indicate the organizational culture is unhealthy. It may come from the top down, where there is pressure to do the unspoken, or it may come from the lower levels when individuals believe the department heads are oblivious.
 
The overriding culture of the organization is important to maintaining goodwill, employee adherence and mindfulness to the objectives of system of internal controls. A healthy, honorable culture can help maximize the efficiency of the internal control systems.  It is the ultimate check when the control system has been breached.
 
An unhealthy, unstable culture may involve compromising attitudes, behaviors, values or beliefs that ill-serve the integrity of the organization. When something goes amiss, for example with financial accounts or reports, and the internal controls fail to avert problems ranging from the mildly significant to the scandalous, how the problem is rectified and not ignored, depends a lot on the ‘prevailing culture’ in the organization.
 
Such things as the level of confidence that anything will be done about it, or if there is a fear of reprisal for reporting wrongdoing, or an attitude that something is okay because it has been accepted by others, work against, challenge and ultimately undermine the internal controls. For this reason, the culture of the organization is very relevant to achieving the objectives of an organization’s internal control systems and long-term success.

2 road closures & 1 road lane restrictions this week in Ward 1, for 3 different reasons

Closure: Winchester Road East, immediately east and west of Simcoe Street for the Region to place surface asphalt. Mon, May 19 - Thurs May 21;

Lane restrictions: Harmony Road North from Coldstream Drive to just south of Conlin Rd. for the Region to install a new sidewalk, continuing to June 10; and

Closure: Columbus Rd E between Ritson Rd N and Harmony Rd N for the City to replace a cross culvert. 7- 3 pm, Wed May 20
note: all above times are weather permitting

133 Ritson Rd. N. - opposite Costco, has a proposed development project for an 8-storey condo apartment building with 106 units, plus 34 block townhouse units, 75 stacked townhouse units and 36 stacked back-to-back townhouse units. (Total 251 units)

The City's Director of Planning, and Commissioner of Development Services, posted a Report concerning 133 Ritson Rd. N. on-line yesterday in advance of the electronic City Council meeting Monday May 25 (9:30 AM start).

The Report CNCL-20-33 (linked below) now available on the City's website, will be on the Council meeting Agenda. The staff recommendation is that Council approve the Revised Application to amend the Oshawa Official Plan and Zoning By-law for this project, which will have an east entrance off Ritson at the lights where on the west side of Ritson is the entrance to Costco.

I agree that this property should be developed. But my two concerns at this time are:

1) The parcel of land at 133 Ritson Rd. N. (east side) does not extend to the corner of Adelaide Ave. That is owner by a commercial developer. Ritson Rd. is a Regional Road and has controlled access, therefore the commercial property abutting the northern boundary of 133 will not have a separate access from Ritson, but will share the entrance at the lights west into the Costco plaza and east in to the 251 unit residential property.

I see problems with traffic traversing the residential laneway to get to the commercial property immediately to the north (which has no plan to review at this point in time). I can't think of a residential development that the public would have to pass through to get to a commercial plaza. If anyone can give me an example where this works I would be interested in checking it out to allay my reservations.

2) I believe any interested party should be allowed to make a delegation to Council. Although members of the public can send an email anytime before the meeting, it is less than satisfactory if Council members want to hear first hand concerns residents may have. It is beneficial for all members to hear the response of residents. Public participation is a key element of the planning process.
​
As the May 25 Council meeting will be electronic, residents wanting to speak to council would have to join the meeting on-line. This is doable. However, although last month Council passed a motion to allow delegations at electronic meetings, the staff report on how this will be implemented will be on the Agenda for the May 25 meeting so the timing is off..unfortunately I was told by staff today that delegations will not be permitted at the May 25 meeting, and that those interested in making comments can do so in writing. But an email is not the same as a resident speaking and Council members hearing.
http://app.oshawa.ca/…/cit…/2020/05-25/report_cncl-20-33.pdf

Time to address keeping down the dust and mud at new construction sites. Please give feedback! It is something Oshawa has been needing for quite a while now. It was considered in 2018 with this report, and here were the recommendations:

“There are two potential opportunities that could be reviewed to better address dust and mud control and related complaints:
1. The City could consider passing a by-law similar to the intent of the Town of Ajax’s Fouling of Roads By-law (see Attachment 3) or amending the City’s Road Occupancy By-law which does make one reference to fouling of roads.
2. The City could also consider passing a by-law to address nuisance dust similar to the Town of Leamington’s By-law (see Attachment 5).

The possible use of administrative monetary penalties related to the above should also be investigated.

​The above by-laws could provide the City with additional tools that could assist to address mud and dust complaints."
 
http://app.oshawa.ca/agendas/Development_Services/2018/06-18/REPORT_DS-18-127.pdf


Other municipalities have a Dust Control By-law. Help the City put something in place that will be satisfactory and address residents concerns. Open this link  connectoshawa.ca/dust  

There are really just two questions: Here's the link to give your feedback on whether the City should pass a Dust Control By-law. https://connectoshawa.ca/dust/survey_tools/dust

1 Should the City pass a by-law to control dust and mud from construction/development projects from impacting adjacent properties (e.g. dust on cars, buildings, etc.)? 

2 Should the City pass a by-law to control dust and mud from construction/development projects from impacting City roads?

3 Do you have any other feedback?

​Links to other municipalities' by-laws:
Leamington's https://www.leamington.ca/uploads/9/Doc_636682971175122656.pdf?ts=637248870054370864 and
Town of Ajax "Sediment and Erosion By-law https://www.ajax.ca/Modules/bylaws/Bylaw/Details/5bf59a7f-ee95-4973-a5cf-ed3bd7c82663 -see section 10.

An interesting portion of yesterday's electronic Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority AGM meeting was the Report to the Community session....here's the video with President and CEO Ian Hamilton sharing lots of information (on the video after the 36 minute presentation of the 2019 Financial Statements):  www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5Q-sPPBtA4&feature=youtu.be

At the end of Mr. Ian Hamilton's Report to the Community, in the last couple minutes of the video, there were only two questions asked, and both were about Oshawa.
One was what are some of the infrastructure needs for the Oshawa Portlands? Answer: there is a real critical need for dredging and repair of the dock walls to ensure the safe navigation of ships in and out, and a lot more paving to reduce dust, and improve the storage areas for goods, as well as security elements

Second was what is the timing for the Land Use Plan? Answer: they are working on a straw man plan now that will identify some of the highest and best uses and then they will put it out to the community…they hope to launch the process in June , July. It generally takes 3 to 4 months, and then they will tweak the design with the feedback they received and come up with one that has the participation of the community.

Below are a couple other links with details like: Did you know Oshawa had 75 vessels through in 2019
the HOPA Sustainability Report https://www.hopaports.ca/2019-sustainability-report/ and
and HOPA's "Oshawa Land Use Plan Agricultural Users Survey" https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/29JYS2H
Members involved in Durham Region's agricultural sector should check out this survey... please share!!

May 6, 2020 is the 1st Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority HOPA. It's an on-line meeting starting at 4:30 p.m. Check in to hear the social report card on what's been happening and plans for the future!
Btw, did you know there is a 'Ships in Oshawa Port' link on the HOPA website where you can check info re the vessels coming and going from Oshawa Harbour! ​https://www.hopaports.ca/vessel-tracking-oshawa/

Here's a link to the HOPA financial statements...Oshawa and Hamilton Ports were amalgamated in June 2019 and the financial year end was Dec 31, 2019 https://www.hopaports.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2019-HOPA-Financial-Statements-EN.pdf

HOPA ended the year with a CASH balance of $20,952,144. This is better than the finances of the underused former Oshawa Port Authority which "had a revolving demand line of credit for $500,000 of which $121,575 had been utilized as at December 31, 2018. The credit facility bears interest at the bank’s prime rate plus 1% per annum, and was secured by a general security agreement. Subsequent to the amalgamation of the Hamilton and Oshawa Port Authorities the credit facility was closed and repaid in full." Paragraph 8 Page 10

About "payments in lieu of municipal taxes",  it seems the City of Oshawa is still behind revenues because unfortunately 10 years ago, 3 terms of Oshawa Council previous, when the Oshawa Harbour Commission became the short lived 'Oshawa Port Authority " in accordance with a settlement agreement between Transport Canada, the Oshawa Port Authority (continued as the Authority) and the City of Oshawa dated July 15, 2010, the City of Oshawa agreed to waive annual payments in lieu of taxes through to December 31, 2025." (Page 5 of HOPA Financial Statements) That was when the City settled a long standing lawsuit with the federal government and the ownership of some lands were tranferred to the City, the area which recently was named Ed Broadbent Park (s/e corner of Simcoe St and Harbour Rd).