$884,109 slots jackpot for Cavan Monaghan
Chemong Rd. and Reid St. a dangerous corner with many crashes: Coun. Andrew Beamer
The city may consider widening Chemong Rd. and Reid St. in 2017 – not sometime in 2019, as originally planned.
Councillors planned last week to ask staff to write a report, prior to budget talks in late November, about the feasibility of advancing the project by a year.
But council has to vote a final time, on Monday, before staff can write that report.
Coun. Andrew Beamer proposed the idea, last week at City Hall.
He said there’s a car collision every week in the area of Chemong Rd. and Reid St.
“So it’s a dangerous corridor,” he said.
The city’s answer to that traffic congestion was the extension of The Parkway north to south across the city.
But Queen’s Park has ordered the city to do a further environmental assessment on that project, and that’s expected to delay it by several years – if not quash it altogether.
Beamer mentioned that the city has money set aside for The Parkway extension – money that may or may not be needed anytime soon, depending on what happens with The Parkway.
Also on council’s Monday:
Final vote on a plan to allow Mayor Daryl Bennett to step down from the Downtown BIA board, to be replaced by Coun. Diane Therrien.
The move comes as Bennett and the DBIA have been at odds.
The DBIA has appealed a decision of council to put a new casino on the outskirts, on Crawford Dr., rather than downtown. agenda
The mayor responded by proposing that the city update the rules governing BIAs.
The new rules could potentially make it impossible for the DBIA to take the city to the OMB over decisions it doesn’t like.
Final vote on a plan to hire Aecom of Whitby to do an environmental assessment in the city ’s north end, in the area surrounding Trent University.
The idea is to decide how to improve the roads, sewers and wastewater management there.
It’s necessary because the area is about to undergo major development.
The city is planning to build a new twin-pad arena at Trent, for instance, and the university is also planning a large research park where green-tech businesses will set up shop.
Aecom is expected to charge the city $1.3 million for the study. The firm scored best out of six bids on criteria such as cost and experience.
A final vote on a plan to add a new pedestrian crossover on Mark St. at Robinson St. in East City, where schoolchildren often cross to get to Immaculate Conception School.
The crossover will include an overhead pedestrian crossing sign, and better crosswalk markings on the road.
The city did a traffic study in March. Staff concluded that while there isn’t enough traffic to warrant a signalized crosswalk or a crossing guard, the intersection needs to be safer.
Under legislation introduced in January, pedestrians have the legal right-of-way with this new type of crossover. Don’t forget to check
website on Monday for livestreaming of the meeting, plus live-blogging and tweets.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
NOTE: See more city council coverage on Pages A1, A2 and A3.
Cavan Monaghan Township received its second-quarter cheque for hosting Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs, this week – nearly $885,000 in gaming revenue.
The township receives money from Ontario Lottery and Gaming for hosting the slots.
Their second-quarter payment – for July to September 2016 – was $884,109 in non-tax gaming revenue.
Since November 1999, Cavan Monaghan has received more than $53.8 million in non-tax gaming revenue.
Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal stated in a press release from the OLG that this money helps host municipalities with their infrastructure projects.
“These funds also directly benefit the people of Ontario through vital public services such as health care and education,” Leal stated.
But Cavan Monaghan isn’t going to be the host of the slots for much longer: The slot machines will be moving over to the new Shorelines Casino Peterborough, when it’s built.
It’s unclear exactly when the new casino will be built though. Although the operator wants to build the casino and open it by 2017, that timeline might be ambitious since the city’s approval is under appeal.
The private operator of the casino, Great Canadian Gaming Corp., wants to build on Crawford Dr. at The Parkway.
City council agreed to rezone the vacant industrial land on Crawford Dr., earlier this year, but the decision is under appeal.
There will be a hearing before the Ontario Municipal Board in May.