City Council meeting of April 16, 2002
Traffic calming policy
Council approved a traffic calming policy for the City of Toronto, drawing upon practices and policies of the former municipalities. The decision follows extensive community consultation and the observation that, on balance, traffic calming measures on selected residential streets are beneficial. Physical measures such as speed humps to control local traffic will be implemented only when the majority of affected households support them.
Municipal shelter bylaw
After a long debate, Council decided to refer a proposed bylaw governing the establishment of municipal emergency shelters to Mayor Mel Lastman's office for further consultation. The proposal - which is designed to allow City-operated shelters for the homeless to be established in all parts of the city - will later be presented to the community councils for discussion and public input. The issue is expected to be back before Council in six months.
City's use of hydro corridor lands
Council decided to ask the provincial government not to privatize Hydro One (formerly Ontario Hydro) and not to deregulate the energy markets. If the government goes ahead with the privatization and deregulation, Council wants assurance that hydro corridors in Toronto will remain public assets available for municipal purposes such as transit facilities, bike trails, parks, playing fields and wetlands. Further, the City will ask the Province to transfer ownership of the relevant corridor lands to the City in order to serve those public purposes.
New affordable housing
Council approved a Municipal Housing Facility Bylaw as the next step in its strategy for the development of affordable housing. The bylaw will support the provision of affordable rental housing by the private sector, and by non-profit developers, in partnership with the City of Toronto. Using incentives, the City will pursue its goal of ensuring that development agreements for new rental housing serve low and moderate income households.
Plan for City offices (MAP)
Council reaffirmed the Master Accommodation Plan (MAP) as the basis for allocating staff and services throughout the city. Specifically, future use of the East York and York civic centres will be reviewed, with community consultation. Metro Hall will be retained for use by south district staff in the short term, subject to future efforts to sell the building when conditions are right. The Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services and related staff will move from Metro Hall to City Hall later this year. Council approved the sale of a City-owned building at 1530 Markham Rd.
Search-and-rescue emergencies
Council approved the establishment and funding of a Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) team as part of Toronto Fire Services to respond to possible emergencies involving the collapse of buildings or other major structures in the Toronto area. The approval involves a co-operative effort by the City and the Ministry of Public Safety and Security for a co-ordinated response.
Flexible work arrangements
Work arrangements such as flexible hours, part-time work and job sharing - available under various policies in the pre-amalgamation municipalities - will be offered uniformly across the present City organization. Council supported the policy in order to help City employees accomplish their work in ways that meet their personal needs, subject to operational requirements. Offering flexibility is considered valuable with regard to employee morale and productivity.
Waste collection, multi-residential buildings
Council adopted recommendations in support of future three-stream waste separation and collection in multi-residential buildings. One of the actions taken involves establishing an advisory group to guide the review of new technologies, policies, practices and community input. The three-stream system involves separating recyclable and organic waste from other household garbage to achieve the goal of limiting residual waste for disposal to about 40 per cent of the total materials collected. The City is also investigating options other than landfill for managing residuals such as plastics and renovation waste.
Purchase of coal-fired electricity
Council endorsed a Board of Health recommendation in support of phasing out City purchases of coal-fired electricity, possibly by 2005, subject to a cost-benefit analysis. Coal-fired power plants emit significant amounts of harmful air pollution. In 2000, Council passed a motion advocating the conversion of Ontario's electricity generating stations to natural gas.
Energy retrofit strategy
Council adopted a strategy for making City-owned buildings more energy efficient. The plan calls for energy retrofits to be implemented through a five-year pilot project. From 30 to 40 per cent of the retrofit work will be contracted with Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc., which the City owns. The rest will be undertaken by Better Buildings Partnership energy management companies selected through a competitive bid process.
Operation of City's animal facilities
Responding to local communities' preferences regarding the operation of Riverdale Farm, High Park Zoo, Far Enough Farm (Centre Island) and Thomson Park Zoo, Council decided to continue management of the facilities by the Parks and Recreation division rather than making a new arrangement for management by the Toronto Zoo. Parks and Recreation will, however, work in partnership with zoo staff to further improve how the animal facilities operate.
Sale of City publications
Council approved plans to maintain the sale of publications and other City products (such as lapel pins and energy saving kits) by various means when the store at City Hall closes this summer. Sales will be handled by phone, mail, the City's website.
Previous Council Highlights
For inquiries about the official documentation of Council decisions, contact the City Clerk by e-mail, clerk@toronto.ca
Council Highlights, produced for your convenience, is a summary of Council's recent decisions. Council Highlights is not intended to serve as an official record of the meeting. If you have questions about this summary, please e-mail Strategic Communications at stratcom@toronto.ca.
