Chemong Road speed limit could be lowered

The speed limit could soon be reduced on Chemong Road between Milroy Drive and the north city limit.

The plan is to reduce the limit from 70 km/h along that stretch to 50 km/h.

A new city staff report proposes the plan, and it will be discussed by city councillors at a meeting on Tuesday. If it’s implemented, the plan will cost $500 in signs and the new speed limit would come into effect in late fall or early winter.

Around that same time, there is expected to be new traffic signals installed on Chemong Road at Broadway Boulevard where the new Parklands subdivision is located. Lowering the speed limit would increase safety along that stretch of Chemong Road, states the city staff report, and that’s necessary due to increased development.

Councillors are meeting Tuesday instead of Monday in observance of Remembrance Day.

Also on the committee meeting agenda:

Development charges

Councillors will review a city staff recommendation to increase development charges by 26.4 per cent, starting in January.

The new charge would apply for a five-year term covering Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2024.

If approved, it would hike development charges for an average house from the current rate of $23,337 to $29,500 (a difference of more than $6,000).

Development charges are fees on new development imposed by the city in order to pay for capital projects in areas such as library, policing and public works, that are needed to serve new neighbourhoods.

At a public meeting in October , the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Homebuilders Association asked that development charge rates increases be introduced in phases, perhaps 10 per cent annually for the next three years.

But a new city staff report states that a phase-in would cost the city $2.7 million over the five years and doesn’t recommend it.

Development charges are expected to raise $42.3 million for the city between 2020 and 2024, states the report.

Municipalities Against Racism

The city should join a new cross-country association of municipalities against racism, states a new city staff report.

Councillors will consider a proposal to join the Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination, at the invitation of UNESCO.

There are already 77 Canadian cities in the coalition, and the staff report says it’s free to join (although there could be later staff costs, subject to council approval).

Communities that join that coalition can exchange information on how they work against racism and discrimination locally, states the report.

Coun. Stephen Wright had urged council in October to consider joining.

Recycling facility renovations

Councillors will hear that city staff has approved renovations for the municipal recycling facility on Pido Road.

Construction has already begun; the idea is to accommodate the new contractor that started doing both pickup and processing of recyclables on Nov. 1.

Emterra Environmental is the contractor, and it is also doing the renovations at the facility (which are expected to cost about $312,000 and can be accommodated in the 2019 city budget).

Renovations include concrete floor repairs and digging pits to install Emterra’s new automated sorting equipment.