The purpose of this report is to provide appropriate guidelines for community consultations and community information sessions with respect to Parks, Forestry and Recreation state of good repair projects, including those funded by the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program (RInC).

The Chief Executive Officer, Exhibition Place, recommends that City Council, approve the construction by MLSE, at its sole cost and expense of approximately $1.972M, of 1,249 additional seats at the north end of BMO Field and related upgrades to the Food Building ground level washrooms on the south side of the Food Building all in accordance with the terms and conditions as set out in this report and such other terms as satisfactory to the Chief Executive Officer and the City Solicitor, and that the additional seating and washroom improvements so constructed shall be the property of the City of Toronto and the seating shall be deemed to be part of the Stadium for the purposes of the current agreements between the Board, City and MLSE respecting the Stadium.

This report recommends that City Council approve the construction by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE)) of additional seating (1,249 seats) at the north end of the soccer stadium at Exhibition Place centered between the two corporate suite areas at a cost to MLSE of approximately $1.972M.  The additional seating would have the same look and be of the same quality as the existing seating and the intent would be to construct this seating in time for the opening of the 2010 soccer season opener.  In addition, approximately $50,000 of these funds will be spent to do some interior cosmetic upgrades to the washrooms on the south side of the Food Building.

The entire cost of the proposed additional seating and Food Building washroom improvements shall be at the sole expense of MLSE with no cost to the City of Toronto or the Board.  The additional seating at BMO Field will result in positive revenues for the stadium budget which revenues will be shared between MLSE, Exhibition Place and Toronto FC in accordance with the existing agreements between the Board/City and MLSE and Toronto FC.  Accordingly, it is estimated that there will be an increase in Stadium revenues of $70,000 with 50% paid to the Board and an estimated increase in parking revenues of $18,000 for the Board’s share.

In August 2009, City Council approve of the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place (the “Board”) entering into a 15-year licence agreement with Clarity Outdoor Media Inc. (“Clarity”) as the Preferred Proponent for the operation of an existing outdoor billboard sign at Strachan Avenue. This report now recommends an amendment to the timing of the payments of the lump sump from Clarity

During the negotiations of the final agreement, Clarity requested a change in the payment dates for the Lump Sum Payments from those previously submitted by Clarity in its submission to the public Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the City of Toronto in the Winter, 2009.  Clarity’s request came as a result of its negotiations with the financial institution from which Clarity is obtaining its funds.  The requested change to the lump sum payment schedule has no effect on the overall financial value to the Board on a net present value basis and still meets and exceeds all key market values as set out in the assessment outlined in the RFP and made by the Board’s consultant, Allvision Canada Company (“Allvision”).  A commitment to the revised payment schedule has been confirmed directly with Clarity’s lenders and letters of assurance have been received with the transfer of funds to be paid to the Board  immediately upon approval of this report by City Council and receipt of an executed agreement.

Approval of this proposed amendment to the agreement between the Board and Clarity will have no negative impact on the net present value of the financial return to the Board and results in a positive income stream to the Board as detailed in Confidential Attachment 1.

With the introduction of the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009 and the passing of the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) regulations, Exhibition Place and Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc. (THESI) began discussions to enter an agreement which would result in the licensing of the roof of the Better Living Centre (BLC) to THESI which would then design, construct and operate totally at the cost of THESI a photovoltaic plant (PV System) covering the roof. 

In 2008/09, Exhibition Place reroofed the BLC adding insulation and upgraded the building structure to allow for additional loads all in preparation of adding a PV System as part of the Board’s long-term goal of energy self-sufficiency.  Partnering with THESI will now allow this PV System to be built by the end of 2010.  All power from the PV System will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) through the FIT regulations although, like the wind turbine, the PV System will be connected through the BLC substation and therefore, used to power the facilities at Exhibition Place through the Exhibition Place electrical grid.

All costs associated with the design, build and operation of the nominal 500kW PV System estimated to be in the range of $3M will be paid by THESI. The Board will receive a royalty fee for the BLC roof based on 2% of energy production revenues with a guaranteed annual base fee of $3,000.00 adjusted annually for CPI.

The Employee and Labour Relations Committee recommends to the Executive Committee that:

1.         Council receive for information the Workforce Survey among Non-Union Staff: Response Rate and Representation Rate set out in the report (September 30, 2009) from the Executive Director of Human Resources.

The Employee and Labour Relations Committee recommends to the Executive Committee that City Council receive for information the Occupational Health and Safety Report, Third Quarter 2009 dated November 9, 2009 from the City Manager and the Executive Director, Human Resources. 

The Employee and Labour Relations Committee on November 26, 2009, considered a report (November 9, 2009) from the City Manager and the Executive Director, Human Resources, entitled "Occupational Health and Safety Report – Third Quarter, 2009”, providing information on the status of the City’s health and safety system, specifically on activities, priorities and performance during the first three quarters of 2009.

Toronto Hydro-Electric System (THES) has stopped offering the unmetered flat rate billing option for the electricity used by a water heater, requiring that all consumers who have been paying the unmetered flat rate switch to metered billing.  THES states that this change has been made to encourage consumers to monitor their electricity consumption.  As a result of this change, those being billed an unmetered water heater service rate have been advised that they must change to metered service.  Doing so requires that an electrician be hired to disconnect the water heater control wire in the electrical panel and either install a circuit breaker or re-wire the water heater switch so that it is connected to your main electrical panel supply, the cost of which THES is leaving to consumers to cover.  THES has made arrangements with an electrical contractor to offer a reduced rate of $185 plus GST to consumers who will have to change to metered service.

Consumers should not have to pay to convert their service from unmetered to metered.  It was the decision of THES to discontinue unmetered flat rate billing, and as such, THES should cover the costs for the conversion.  I have heard from many constituents who have received notice from THES that they must undergo this conversion or else their hot water will eventually be turned off.  This is extremely disheartening for the approximately 36,000 consumers who are currently on unmetered flat rate billing, many of which are seniors, who cannot afford the cost associated with conversion.  If THES cannot cover the full cost of conversion, they should at least cover a portion of the cost, as many people have reported to me that they were previously receiving metered service, until it was suggested by them to THES that they switch to the unmetered flat rate billing option.  These individuals, who took the advice of THES, are now being forced to pay to switch back to the service they already had.

(Submitted to City Council on October 26 and 27, 2009 as MM41.1)

Letter (December 16, 2009) from Councillor Joe Mihevc, bringing the resolution from the Canadian Urban Transit Association to Executive Committee for consideration; and that the resolution is an endorsement of Transit Vision 2040, CUTA's long term vision for transit in Canada, which includes 27 strategic recommendations and six broad themes. 

Councillor Mihevc recommends:

1.         That the 2009 Operating Budget for the Community Partnership and Investment Program, administered by Social Development, Finance and Administration Division, be increased by $350,000.00, fully funded by Section 37 community benefits related to 530 St. Clair Avenue West, (source: Section 37, Clearing Account 220096), to provide, conditional on the City’s receipt of the funds, a one-time grant of $350,000.00 to Toronto Artscape toward the provision of the capital improvements and enhancements to the Artscape’s Wychwood Barns project.

The Toronto Artscape’s Wychwood Barns, is the beneficiary of funds received through a Section 37 agreement.  This motion provides authority for release of these funds as soon as possible to enable Artscape to begin the urgent capital improvement project for which the funds are intended.

The purpose of this report is to advise the Executive Committee about the Toronto Police Services Board’s response to a request for increased police enforcement of parking regulations on bicycle lanes in Toronto.

There are no financial implications in regard to the receipt of this report.

The Commission adopted the amended report recommendation as follows:

“It is recommended that the Commission:

1.         Conditionally approve the adoption of the PRESTO fare collection system subject to satisfactory resolution of the issues outlined in Attachment ‘A’, subject to:

-           TTC and City staff discussions with representatives of the Federal Government, Provincial Government, Metrolinx and the City of Toronto to develop operating and financial agreements necessary to resolve the issues outlined in Attachment ‘A’;

-           TTC staff reporting back to the Commission for approval of the operating and financial agreements that have been developed;

-           TTC staff developing detailed business requirements for adopting the PRESTO system at the TTC to the satisfaction of the Commission;

-           TTC staff undertaking the engineering and design work necessary for future subway infrastructure modifications to provide power and communications to support smartcards.

2.         Forward this report to the City of Toronto’s Executive Committee”.

The Commission also approved the following motions:

a.         That the final bullet in Attachment ‘A’ be amended as follows:

-           “TTC and the City must not be bound to fare payment exclusivity that would preclude implementation of advances in fare payment approaches and technologies, such as and including open payments, mobile phone media, etc”.

b.         That Attachment ‘A’ be amended to include the following:

-         “TTC and the City expect the PRESTO system to be designed to support open architecture;

-        TTC and the City remain cognizant of our own fare policies and the system must be designed with flexibility to allow for different fare policies”.

The foregoing is submitted to the Executive Committee for information in accordance with Recommendation No. 2 above.   

The Toronto Transit Commission at its meeting on November 17, 2009 considered the report entitled, "Review of Smartcards at the TTC and the PRESTO Smartcard System".

This is to advise that the Water Connection Funding for the Thackeray Park Cricket Pitch report will be on the Supplementary Agenda for the Executive Committee meeting of January 4, 2010.

The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer recommends to Council that:

1.         The reserve fund groups and  reserve funds accounts that relate to development charges as set out in Appendices A1-A4 be established for the purposes with criteria as set out therein for fiscal 2009.

2.         The following two accounts – Police Legal Liabilities Reserve and Police Health Care Spending Reserve Fund - be established as set out in Appendices B1 and B2 to support the Toronto Police Service’s legal obligations for the purposes set out therein for fiscal 2009.

3.         The Section 16 Reserve Fund be established to hold funds from agreements signed with developers under Section 16 of the City of Toronto Act, 1971, S.O. 1971, c. 130, as amended, as set out in Appendix C1 for fiscal 2009.

4.         The Toronto Museum Donation Reserve be established to receive donations and contributions for the purpose of establishing a Museum of Toronto as set out in Appendix C2.

5.         The Move Ontario Trust Interest Reserve Fund be established to receive the  City’s share of the net income distributed by the Move Ontario Trust to be used for the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension Project as set out in Appendix C3 for fiscal 2009 and any interest on hand be transferred to this account.       

6.         The following two accounts – Transportation Cash In Lieu Reserve Fund and the Toronto Water Cash In Lieu Reserve Fund – be established as set out in Appendices D1 and D2 to hold funds provided by property developers for the respective services instead of doing the work themselves under the provisions of Section 41(7) of the Planning Act and any cash in lieu funds held by the City be transferred to the respective accounts as of January 1, 2010.

7.         The Don Valley Brick Works Donation Reserve Fund be closed and be deleted from Municipal Code Chapter 227 Schedule #5 – Donations Reserves.

8.         The name of the North York Performing Arts Stabilization Reserve be changed to “Toronto Centre for the Arts Stabilization Reserve” with the purpose changed to “provides funding to finance the Toronto Center for the Arts' operating deficits or to support fiscal stabilization activity through revenue generating plans and initiatives”.

9.         The year-end balance of the Animal Services Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Reserve be transferred to the MLS Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Reserve, the Animal Services Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Reserve be closed and the Animal Services Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Reserve be deleted from Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Reserve Group within Schedule #1, Corporate Reserves of Municipal Code Chapter 227.

10.       The Zoo Endangered Species Reserve which currently resides in the Donation Reserve (Schedule #5) be renamed the Zoo Endangered Species Reserve Fund, transferred to the State of Good Repair Obligatory Reserve Funds (Schedule #14) with same purpose and investment earnings be applied as of December 1, 2008.

11.       Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 227, Reserves and Reserve Funds, be amended in accordance with Recommendations 1 – 10.

12.       The appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto, and  leave be granted for the introduction of any necessary bills in Council.

This report (a) recommends the establishment of new reserve/reserve fund accounts which have been identified since the last report on the administration of reserve funds was adopted by Council in November 2008, and (b) refines criteria associated with other accounts which results from the operational needs of Divisions/ABC’s with respect to the administration of reserves and reserve funds.  Where appropriate, the purpose for each account is identified in its respective appendix.

There are no direct financial implications on the operating or capital budgets as a result of this report.