Barrie council meeting ends on optimistic note

There was optimism from one of Barrie's longest-serving councillors Wednesday night, pleased with what he called a successful and efficient meeting.

Councillors were in the chambers on Wednesday for back-to-back meetings, first the planning committee followed by general committee. Towards the end of the meeting, Ward 9 councillor Sergio Morales, now in his third term, said this meeting left him optimistic about what is to come.

"I just want to announce that I'm hopeful right now," Morales said. "I'm hopeful the way this meeting went. It is 8:06, and we did amendments, we listened to each other, there was more questions than statements…We are curious. We are hungry…and I have not seen this in a while."

Morales' optimism over finding cohesion amongst his fellow councillors comes one day ahead of provincial legislation that gives enhanced powers to the mayors of Ontario's two biggest cities.

While those powers are not set to come to Barrie, Premier Ford has suggested he would like to see the powers expanded. However, Barrie's new mayor says he prefers to work by consensus.

"My take is that we don't need them," the mayor said to CTV News ahead of Wednesday's meeting. "I'm somebody who likes to work with my colleagues, I like to hear other perspectives, I like to take advice from other people. We have a very talented council with diverse backgrounds that I think brings a lot to the table, and I would never want to go around that. I think that's what's going to make us so successful."

Nuttall has said that he would like to improve the city's intergovernmental relationships, saying there is no room for partisanship around the city council table.

"Our job is to do what's in the best interest of the city of Barrie, not in the best interest of any political party," he says. "I really want to make sure that we are seen as a partner for the provincial and federal governments. They aren't the same political stripes; that's okay; we'll work with both of them equally."

Wednesday's meeting comes a few days after a rare weekend sitting of council. On Saturday, councillors joined together with all four of Barrie's MPs and MPPs for a strategy session, outlining the critical priorities for the coming term.

"There is a look at investment in infrastructure, investment in the community, a thriving community; there's affordability, jobs, economy, the balance of those things; affordability of housing, making sure that we have a focus to be able to get housing through City Hall and hopefully have the development community build it," says Nuttall. "The final one is community safety, and so those are the five areas that we're going to focus on for the next four years."

On Wednesday night, councillors were briefed on the operations of the City's Corporate Asset Management division. The team of 17 full-time staff that analyzes data, helping councillors do infrastructure renewal planning and planning for future growth, amongst other things.

However, there is concern over the impacts of Bill 23, provincial legislation aiming to incentivize developers to build more homes by eliminating development fees that the city relies on. The mayor says staff have estimated the move will impact about $ 100 million dollars in lost revenue for the city.

The mayor says he needs more information before expressing his exact thoughts on the legislation.

"This is the problem with ominous bills; when a government comes out with a bill that is very far-reaching and impacts a whole bunch of different places, oftentimes you have to wait for the regulations to come out to understand what the actual granular level effect is, where the rubber hits the road if you will," the mayor says.

There was also advancement of some procedural bylaw changes. The mayor introduced a discussion to have cell phones removed from sensitive, in-camera discussions.

Councillors will meet once more on Dec. 14 ahead of a Christmas break.