The evening started early with a working session where staff presented a draft of the Community Climate Action Plan. Council then convened and heard a presentation from Hope House. all about the 2023 Service Level Report, and discussed the demolition of a heritage listed property on King Rd.
You can watch the video for the April 15th meeting here, but remember it will only be live for two weeks.
Quick Links
Mayor’s Comments
• Congratulations to King Township Minor Hockey U13 AA Rebellion Team on their recent victory at minor hockey association tournament!! They now go on to play in the All American Championship Tournament in Timmins starting April 19th.
• Township Wide Recreation Centre – The Mayor recently gave a tour to Vaughan MP Sorbara tour with thanks to the federal government for the $21.1 million grant towards the building. It was a nice opportunity to share the good news that the building is the first combined aquatic and ice sports community facility in Canada to achieve Zero Carbon Building Design Certification from Canada Green Building Council.
• Neighbourhood Plan Areas – The Project Team is excited to announce that in-person Community Open Houses have been scheduled for the Doctors Lane and Old King Road Neighbourhood Plan Study. Attend at the Open Houses to learn about the Study and share your vision for the future of these important areas.
Old King Road Open House - Apr 16, 2024 – 6-8pm at the Dr. William Laceby Nobleton Community Centre & Arena
Doctors Lane Open House - Apr 18, 2024 – 6-8pm at the Arena Hall, King City Lions Arena
• Community Tree Planting – Join us for some family-friendly fun planting native trees and shrubs. There are two events:
April 21 – 1-3pm at the Budweth Park, 40 Oliver Emerson Ave, Nobleton – register here
May 5 – 1-3pm at Hill Farm Park North, 130 Goodfellow Crescent, Nobleton – register here
• Indoor Facility Bookings – There are a variety of picnic shelters available to be booked in King. Booking forms are now available and fill up quickly so reserve your favourite family picnic spot now.
• Community Yard Sale - May 4th at Trisan from 8am-2pm. Book a table here.
• 1920s Gin Joint & Jazz - May 4th from 6:30-10:30pm at the King Heritage & Cultural Centre. An enchanting evening of sultry jazz tunes featuring King’s own “Diva in the Rough”, Catherine Hughes, in a dimly lit 1920s speakeasy. Clink your glasses and dance with flappers and dapper gents as the infectious energy of the Charleston transports you back to the glamour of the Roaring Twenties. Join us for an add-on gin tasting lead by a Reid's Distillery connoisseur. 1920s attire is recommended – or dress your best from any era! Reserve tickets here.
• King Clean Up – April 20 - Get outside and celebrate Earth Week by taking part in the annual King Community Clean Up. Do your part and help pick up litter to keep our parks, streets, ditches, and neighbourhoods clean and green. You can also help clean up a community park on April 20th from 10-11:30 a.m.:
Tasca Park (49, Parkheights Trail, Nobleton) - meet in the parking lot
Memorial Park (25 Doctors Lane, King City) - meet in the King City Arena parking lot
Dufferin Marsh (972 Doctor Kay Dr, Schomberg) - meet at bulletin board
Meet the Mayor & Councillors – April 23 from 6:30-8pm at the Schomberg Public Library.
EVENING HIGHLIGHTS:
1) Council Working Session on King’s Community Climate Action Plan
This was a chance for staff to present the working draft of King’s Community Climate Action Plan. The plan is separate from King’s own corporate reduction plan and instead focuses on what can be done in the community to reduce emissions. The overall goal is to reduce community emissions by 35% by 2030 based on the data from the 2018 community emissions inventory and for the town to achieve Net Zero by 2050, in line with York Region’s Climate Action Plan.
To achieve these goals, King has developed a list of 39 suggested actions to reduce the community’s emissions. I have asked that this list be expanded to include more actions that residents can take at home and what the specific emissions reduction impact will be for each action.
I found the details in Appendix B to be very useful information about how we are going to reach our goal, but I have asked that this be expanded on. I would like to know more about what measures need to be taken achieve the goal of each action. For example, the first item is Energy Conservation – what strategies has the model used to achieve the mitigation levels set for 2030, 2040 and 2050?
I’m also quite interested in costs. While the current draft does include ranges, I would like to see more specific information. Many of these initiatives could be costly to execute so it makes sense to understand those implications.
2) Hope House Community Hospice
Founded in King in 1983, Hope House Community Hospice has since expanded to serve Aurora, King and Richmond Hill. King residents make up 9% of clients and 12% of the volunteers. As a free community hospice they don’t have beds, but they do offer individual and group support for patients with a life-threatening illness, their caregivers, and bereaved.
Last year they supported 494 clients and logged over 8,200 volunteer hours through wellness groups, bereavement groups, professional counselling sessions, meal deliveries and wellness checks.
They get about 35% of their funding from the Ministry of Health and must raise the balance (65%) of their budget through fundraising and grants. You can support their work with the Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie week from April 29-May 5 at participating restaurants in King City and Nobleton. They also host Hike for Hope on June 1 at Lambert Willson Park in Aurora.
3) 2023 Service Performance Report
This is a new report to show how township staff are performing at their various stated Service Levels. The report is the first of its kind in York Region and one of only a few in Ontario and represents the best and most transparent way to understand how staff are performing against service standards. As this is the first report, it remains a work in progress as staff work to finesse the information that should be included.
The report is backed by many pages of charts with the raw data, or you can use the new Online Interactive Dashboard that allows viewers to navigate into any service delivery division and review all associated performance measures for 2023. The application was developed in house and makes it easier to understand the information and helps identify patterns and insights.
4) Heritage Listing Demolition
Growth Management presented a report recommending that 2221 King Road be removed from the Township’s Heritage Register. While Staff determined that the property does not meet the minimum criteria for heritage designation, King’s own Heritage Advisory Committee (HAC) is not in agreement.
The Owner of the property has requested to demolish the building through the Heritage Act which requires that Council respond within 60 days (by May 4th) by either protecting the property by Designating it, or not. The owner has submitted a proposal for the redevelopment of the subject property with a three-storey stacked townhouse project consisting of eight residential units.
The Owner was not aware of the King City block plan and has agreed to withdraw the application so that the property can be evaluated as part of that exercise. As such, the motion was deferred in anticipation of the application being retracted formally. In the event that does not happen, Council can reconsider the matter at the April 29th meeting which would be the last date that Council could make a decision within the timeline.
MOTIONS:
Councillor Asselstine – provided notice of a motion she will introduce at the next Council meeting asking for Council’s support to request that the province extend the deadline for non-designated Heritage buildings to 2030.
Mayor Pelligrini introduced a new motion requesting that the Federal government not make the proposed changes to the Canada Community-Building Fund (previously called the Gas Tax Fund). The government has noted the changes are to accelerate new housing, but the Mayor pointed out that they would also require King to allow fourplexes on residential properties 'as of right' to receive the funding (King gets about $880,000 per year). Not only would this dramatically change the character of our communities, the Mayor went on to note that “We don’t have the roads. We don’t have the allocation. We don’t have the services to support this.” The Mayor further pointed out that King already has 2500 draft plan approved units including purpose-built rentals, condos, towns and singles available but it is the developers who are choosing not to build and has nothing to do with the municipality. As such, his motion states that:
WHEREAS Canada is experiencing record population growth, demonstrated by the 1.27 million increase in the population in 2023 alone; and
WHEREAS according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), there must be at least 3.5 million additional homes built by 2030 to restore affordability; and
WHEREAS the municipal sector will be required to support the growing population, predominantly through delivery of infrastructure projects and service offerings to local residents; and
WHEREAS research commissioned by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has estimated that the average cost of the municipal infrastructure required to support new housing development is in the range of $107,000 per unit; and
WHEREAS Municipalities are facing soaring costs for infrastructure projects due to the inflation of construction costs, particularly since 2020, without corresponding growth in revenue; and
WHEREAS Municipalities are facing uncertainty in the future of critically important federal infrastructure funding such as the Canada Community Building Fund, which is currently being renegotiated, and the Permanent Public Transit Fund that is set to start in 2026; and
WHEREAS the Canada Community-Building Fund (CCBF), formerly known as the Federal Gas Tax Fund, provides more than $2 billion in annual capital infrastructure funding directly to municipalities through a predictable allocation mechanism to help municipalities deliver direct results for residents by building, maintaining and renewing core public infrastructure, including local roads, water, public transit, community, cultural and recreational facilities;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
a) The Federal Government maintain the CCBF as a source of direct, predictable, long-term funding for local infrastructure priorities; and
b) That the Federal Government convene provinces, territories, and municipalities to negotiate an infrastructure funding framework to enable the success of Canada’s long-term growth; and
c) That this resolution be circulated to the Federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, the Provincial Minister of Infrastructure, the Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Stephen Lecce, MPP, King-Vaughan, Caroline Mulroney, MPP, York-Simcoe, and Anna Roberts, MP, King-Vaughan, for consideration and endorsement.
New Business
Ward 3 - The King Heritage & Cultural Centre is hosting a "Here’s to the Farmers" exhibition which highlights the evolution of barns in King Township, from the early days to modern use; and, features artwork and photography from local historian Phyllis Vernon, as well as agricultural artifacts from across King Township. The exhibition runs from April 13 - June 22, 2024; and, is open during regular KHCC hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Click here for more information.
Ward 4 - May 4th Schomberg is hosting a Jane's Walk which is a community led history walk to start at the library and go to the community hall. King Township is supporting the event with a gallery presentation at the Community Hall featuring images of old and new Main St.
May 7th the Dufferin Marsh Nature Connection is hosting a Frog Night Out. Meet at the shelter at 8pm to be introduced to all the frogs in the area.
The Schomberg Fair is May 23-26. There is also a Bird Walk on May 26th at 6:30am.
Ward 6 - April 28th is the Walk-Run for Southlake. Go team King! Join the team or make a donation here.