Last night's meeting had a presentation on Ontario's Saved by the Beep campaign and discussed a zoning amendment on the 7th concession. There was also a motion is support of the Ontario Energy Board’s decision to end the subsidy for new gas pipelines.
You can watch the video for the March 18th meeting here but remember it will only be live for two weeks.
Quick Links
Mayor's Comments
• Condolences to the family and friends of the Dotsenko family from King City who lost their lives when their plane crashed in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Joe Tasca passed away March 18th. Tasca Park was named after this dedicated resident who was a long-time member of the Lion’s Club and active member of the community. Read more here.
• Easter Egg Hunt at the King Heritage & Cultural Centre on Saturday March 23th. Pre-registration required. $12/child ages 3-16. Adults and ages under 3 are free of charge. Ticket price includes access to the King Railway Playground on site. Register here.
• Earth Hour Celebration at Cold Creek Conservation Area on Saturday March 23rd. Help deck the trails with seeds and berries by making pine cone bird feeders and hanging them along the trail. Bird feeder craft will be followed by a guided forest walk. This is a free family-friendly event for all ages. All supplies will be provided. Register here.
• Meet the Mayor & Councillors – next event is March 26 from 6:30-8 at Nobleton Public Library with coffee and tea provided.
• Community Electronic Recycling - March 23 and 24 from 9am - 4pm at Cold Creek Conservation. Bring your unwanted electronics and batteries to ensure they are disposed of safely and kept out of landfill.
• King is hosting a series of garden workshops and the first one is Saturday April 6 from 11am-12pm at Cold Creek Conservation. The Lake Simcoe South Master Gardeners of Ontario will make a presentation about the decline of pollinators in Ontario and what we can do about it. Email to register: environmentalstewardship@king.ca
• Yard Waste collection starts the second week of April. Collect your leaves using brown craft bags or bins with no lid.
• King Community Clean-Up in celebration of Earth week is April 20-21 Do your part and help pick up litter to keep our parks, streets, ditches, and neighbourhoods clean and green. Do it on your own or join an event on Saturday, April 20 between 10:00 a.m. - 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
Victoria Day - fireworks donations you can make
AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS
• Saved by the Beep
Council heard a presentation made by John McBeth, Deputy Fire Marshal from the Office of the Fire Marshall on the Saved by the Beep campaign.
Ontarians have been reminded for decades about the importance of having working smoke alarms, but the majority of the fatal fires in Ontario did not have working smoke alarms. Sadly, this is an increasing trend in Ontario which saw 72 fire deaths in 2019, 115 in 2020, 124 in 2021, 133 in 2022 and 121 in 2023.
To address the rising deaths, in 2022 the Ontario Fire Marshal invested in an extensive marketing campaign to change the approach to smoke alarm safety in Ontario. The effort resulted in the “Saved by the Beep” brand with an engaging colour scheme to increase awareness. Promotional material was widely distributed and made available in 17 languages including three indigenous languages to launch the Thursday September 28, 2023 was Ontario’s first Test Your Smoke Alarm Day.
King residents can have their fire alarms inspected by King’s Fire Department by calling King's Community Resilience Officer Heather Watson at 905-833-2800 or email: hwatson@king.ca
• Zoning By-law Amendment on 7th Concession
Council approved staff’s recommendation to amend the required minimum lot area of three properties to facilitate a proposed boundary adjustment.
The properties are on the Oak Ridges Moraine where boundary adjustments are permitted so long as no new building lot is created, as is the case with this application. In addition, all three parcels will continue to be used for agricultural purposes.
While I’m pleased that the property will continue to be farmed, I remain concerned in general about the fragmentation of our farmland. There are many crops that can be harvest from smaller properties, but others such as hay and wheat need larger land masses. As farmers continue to struggle to make a living, the continued loss of these larger plots of land makes their jobs more difficult and forces them to farm elsewhere.
For now, landowners are encouraged to continue farming with generous property tax cuts for agricultural properties representing about a 75% savings over residential rates. King will review what more we can do to protect farmland as part of the ongoing Official Plan review.
• New Motion in Support of Ontario Energy Board’s Decision to End the Subsidy for new Gas Pipelines
Councillor Schaefer brought forward this motion, seconded by Councillor Asselstine, in response to the Ontario government’s Bill 165 which would effectively overrule the decision by the province’s independent energy regulator, Ontario Energy Board.
As noted in the motion, “the Ontario Energy Board (“OEB”) decided to end a subsidy for methane gas pipelines to be built in new residential developments, effective 2025, finding that this would lower energy bills for existing gas customers and improve affordability for new homebuyers, but this decision is at risk of being overturned by the provincial government” through the Keeping Energy Costs Down Act (Bill 165).
The motion also states that “natural gas is no longer the cheapest way to heat homes because electric heat pumps are now much more efficient, can provide all heating needs even in the cold climates, and result in far lower energy bills over the long term compared to gas heating” and adds that “the construction of new methane gas pipelines, which have 60 year lifetimes, should not be subsidized because they will result in higher carbon emissions, higher energy bills, higher future decarbonization retrofit costs to get off fossil fuel heating, and a continued financial drain as dollars leave the province to pay for fossil fuels extracted in other jurisdictions”.
The motion was approved by council and sent to the Premier, the Minister of Energy, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks and a variety of other government officials for consideration.
• New Business
Ward 5 - Climate Action King will host its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, March 27th featuring guest speaker Chris Ballard, CEO of Passive House Canada.
Mayor – Asked for a parking study at the corner of McCutcheon Ave and Mactaggard Dr. The plaza continues to be challenged accommodating all the patrons even though St Mary’s church has permitted parking for the staff.