City asked to host Ontario 55+ Games in 2020
The City of Peterborough has been asked to host the Ontario 55+ Summer Games in 2020.
The games are the provincial championships for adults aged 55 and older who have qualified in their district to compete.
It’s a switch from what council had in mind: last year, it had asked city staff to bid on the 2020 Ontario Summer Games for athletes aged 12 to 18. The city was shortlisted but ultimately passed over.
Yet the committee was impressed with Peterborough, and community services director Ken Doherty told councillors on Monday that the city has been given first right of refusal to host the 55+ Games in 2020.
Doherty said city staff has until Friday to indicate interest in hosting the games. Then they have three weeks to develop a revised bid for the 55+ Games.
Councillors weren’t being asked to debate; city staff was updating them on what has transpired since Peterborough lost out on the 2020 Ontairo Summer Games.
Doherty said the games will allow Peterborough to host 1,400 athletes aged 55 and older.
The provincial government operates and funds both the Ontario Summer Games for young people and the 55+ Games.
In other business on councillors’ general committee agenda Monday:
Police station assessment:
Councillors approved a plan to put one city councillor and a couple of key staff members on a committee to study whether the city needs a new or bigger police station.
The Peterborough Police station on Water St. - which turns 50 this year - will be the subject of a new study in 2018 to determine whether it’s become too overcrowded or outdated to function properly for the force. The study will be carried out by a consultant, although several members of the force, police services board, city council and city staff are expected to oversee that work.
Coun. Henry Clarke, the city’s budget chairman, is going to sit on the committee alongside city treasurer Sandra Clancy and property manager Mac MacGillivray.
Mayor Daryl Bennett was already appointed to the committee as a police services board member.
But Coun. Dean Pappas reminded other councillors that a 2009 renovation to the police station was expected to render the building adequate for 20 years.
That’s what police said at the time, Pappas said, and yet less than a decade later a study is about to be undertaken to determine whether the building is spacious and updated enough for the force.
Pappas also said he didn’t want to be asked for a new $40-million police station when the study’s done.
“Whenever you do a facility needs study - there’s a big ask at the end of it,” he said.
The board had budgeted $50,000 to do the study in 2018, although much of the cost will likely be covered by city development charges. The study won’t be complete until December.
Development charges:
Councillors will hear from the public next month about a proposed plan to nix development charges for small apartment buildings in the downtown and start imposing development charges on industrial lands city-wide instead.
Right now developers have to pay development charges to put up an apartment building downtown. A new idea from Hemson Consulting would remove that charge for buildings with a minimum of 15 apartments as a way to encourage construction of downtown apartments.
Meanwhile Hemson also recommends that the city start imposing development charges on all industrial lands (right now there’s no charge).
If council adopts both ideas, says a city staff report, it wouldn’t likely cost anything: lost fees for apartment buildings downtown would be offset by new fees to build on industrial lands.
People will be invited to speak to council about it at a public meeting at 5 p.m. on Feb. 5 at City Hall.
A more-detailed report will then be presented to councillors at a meeting March 26 and it would go to a vote thereafter.
New online procurement :
The city is switching to a new online portal for procurement of tenders and bids.
For two years now, the city has used Biddingo.com to post the city’s procurement documents. But not for much longer: the plan is to switch to another portal called Bids and Tenders.
Under the current process, vendors must buy a Biddingo membership for $250 a year; this allows them to see procurement documents online and then submit bids on paper.
Meanwhile Bids and Tenders charges a less-expensive annual membership fee for vendors ($165) and also allows them to submit their bids electronically.
A city staff report states that the new system will be implemented sometime between June and September. Bids and Tenders is a portal also used by other government agencies, states the report, including Peterborough County, Peterborough Utilities and both local school boards.
NOTE: See more city council coverage on Page A1.