Key Conversations: Barrie City Council, March 1st

On March 1st Barrie City Council passed quite a few agenda items which immediately impact Barrie life: COVID-19 vaccination centres, servicing plan for new developments, okaying affordable housing developments and more. 

But few of those items inspired debate. 

Here’s some meeting highlights:

Awards and Deputations

First off, was a recognition of long-time Barrie foodbank director Peter Sundborg. 

He was the director for ten years -- through the pandemic too, and is retiring.

Next up was deputations: two emergency deputation requests. That means they were submitted last-minute.

First up was an emergency deputation on the I love Barrie Signage. 

Aurelia Stec is an artist and educator in Simcoe County - she says the sign will unite Barrie, and said she was concerned over the opposition to the sign. 

And next from Victoria Butler, Barrie's poet laureate. She is opposed to the sign and mentioned how a public landmark like that should not be the focus of council during the pandemic. 

Next was deputations on the amendment to a business licensing bylaw regarding the sales of animals. 

Lindsay Fitzgerald, the owner of Doogan’s pet store, spoke on how the by-law would restrict her business.  She says that the by-law wouldn't actually address the problem: online sales. But it would really harm her business. 

Committee Reports 

Most reports were received without discussion, except for the matter of the heart Barrie sign and the bylaw regarding animal sales.

Coun. Harris tabled an amendment to the motion we saw last week at General Committee: he proposed to include two people from the McLaren arts center to be more involved with the planning process for the sign.

Councillor Aylwin tabled a motion to send the discussion back to the city planning committee which failed.

Coun. Kungl mentioned some concerns about the donations for the sign -- how have the donations that have been donated been dealt with so far? 

McCann responded: he said the funds have been raised through people who support that vision for the sign. He also said he rejects the notion that the fundraising is all him: he wants all of council involved in moving the project forward. 

Councillor Thomson said that the sign debate has taken too much time -- especially during a pandemic lockdown. There were more than a couple councilors who said the same thing: the vote is to get the ball rolling, to get staff to report on the sign and next steps. 

Staff would help select a vendor, design and more. That would come back to the city council for review. 

The motion as amended passed: Coun. McCann called for a recorded vote.

Only Coun. Aylwin, Kungl and Riepma voted against it. 

Next was the discussion on the pet store by-laws -- Coun. Kungl tabled a referral motion, which passed: the matter will be referred back to Corporate and Finance Committee. 

Georgian Theatre Future 

Councilor Riepma brought forward a last-minute motion: regarding the Georgian Theatre: an opportunity arose to apply for federal emergency grants that might allow the theatre's lease to be renewed if funding can help fill a gap. 

Barrie Community Media is featuring this discussion later this week -- talking to community members saddened by the loss of the theatre. 

It's an estimated 1.3 million required to refurbish the theatre -- to get it up to standards that the city wants. But the theatre is owned by Georgian College -- it’s their asset. The motion passed unanimously to apply for federal money to see if refurbishments could be made. 

The most notable announcement was on lockdown measures.  Coun. McCann spoke about the support for lockdown measures from city council. It was a convention-breaking instant: he challenged Mayor Lehman as to why the mayor supported lockdown measures two weeks ago, and not now. Lehman responded: he said that if our region had stayed in lockdown longer in February, we might not be plunged into lockdown again now. 

And lastly -- council recognized staff who helped set up the mass vaccination sites.