Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Tomorrow (20 March 2017) at Newmarket's Committee of the Whole, Councillors will vote on whether they keep their special tax status.
At the moment, one third of their Council remuneration comes tax free. According to the relevant Council by-law (R7-2002) this is
"deemed to be for expenses incident to the discharge of their duties".
At the meeting they can vote to maintain this tax free status or repeal their earlier resolution as from 1 January 2018.
If they vote for the latter they cannot subsequently vote to return to tax free status. The last time councillors addressed the issue was in May 2012 when they supported the continuation of the tax free allowance.
Personally, I think this tax free status should be done away with. It seems an anomaly in today's world which puts a premium on openness and transparency. And it just feeds the (false) narrative that councillors are out to feather their own nests.
If the Council votes to get rid of this special tax free status councillors can claim for expenses in the usual way.
Tax free status is also unfair. One third of Van Trappist's substantial remuneration comes tax free. Other councillors, who don't snooze through meetings and who get more modest remuneration, by definition, get less.
If councillors feel they are not properly remunerated they should do something about it using the appropriate comparators. I don't have any problems with this whatsoever.
Councillors do an important job on our behalf and they should be fairly rewarded. But tax free status should not be part of the package.
You can read the report on the Committee of the Whole agenda for 20 March 2017. Open the packet and scroll to page 97.
Note: Mayoral and Councillors' expenses are posted on-line quarterly on the Town's website.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The Town and the Province's transit planning agency, Metrolinx, are now, at long last, working on the Mobility Hub study for the GO Rail Station at the Tannery.
There are two mobility hubs in Newmarket - a so-called "Gateway Hub" at the Tannery and an "Anchor Hub" at the GO Bus Terminal at Eagle. 
Metrolinx say they are aiming for public consultation in the Spring with completion by the end of Summer. If they deliver on this they deserve a thunderous round of applause. We've been waiting for signs of action for light years.
But let's not be too critical. This is a major undertaking involving lots of moving parts.
The Yonge/Davis corridors are earmarked for very significant growth in coming years with the promised arrival of 33,00 new residents and 32,000 new jobs. How are we going to accommodate all these people and how are they going to get from A to B?
What will the Tannery look like and how will it connect with the GO Bus Terminal at Eagle? Should the train and bus stations be co-located?
Getting to the station by car
Just over a year ago (in December 2015) Metrolinx published updated profiles of the two Mobility Hubs in Newmarket, at Eagle Street and at the Tannery. We learn that 2,470 people start their morning commute from Eagle Street and 5,340 end it there.
10% of the mobility hub area is used for surface parking and there are 274 dedicated parking spaces. 
By contrast, 2,940 people start their morning commute from the GO Rail Station at the Tannery and 4,370 people end it there. There are 361 dedicated parking spaces occupying 22% of the mobility hub area.
Many people depend on their car to get to and from the bus and train stations. The Town wants the Tannery to move away from park-and-ride to so-called kiss-and-ride and, of course, to public transit.
Limiting park-and-ride
The Town's Secondary Plan - agreed only two and a half years ago - says at Section 9.3.3 that the GO Rail Station at the Tannery
"will be planned as an urban station that is primarily accessed by pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders, with limited park-and-ride capacity. Park-and-ride service should be focused at the East Gwillimbury GO Rail station and the future Mulock Drive GO Rail station".
The Town may face an uphill struggle persuading people to change their travel habits - at least in the short term.
Grade separation
The Town's Secondary Plan goes on to say the mobility hub study should address as a minimum
* the potential for grade separation of the rail line at Davis Drive;
* the potential re-location of the Newmarket GO Rail Station access to Main Street to improve access and reduce traffic impacts on Davis Drive and
* integration between the GO Rail Station, the Rapidway, the future GO bus services and the GO bus terminal
I don't know what the Mayor thinks about any of this. Except we shouldn't rush things.
Snoozed
He snoozed through a Metrolinx presentation to York Regional Council on 2 March 2017, completely oblivious to the fact that questions were being asked about grade separations and the future of level crossings.
At an earlier presentation to Newmarket Council on 9 November 2015, Van Trappist told Metrolinx’s Chief Planning Officer, Leslie Woo:
“In my own mind the difference between a 15 minute and 30 minute service doesn’t change the world immensely although I think eventually we’ll need to get there. But I’d rather see us easing into that, responding to the demand as we go forward.”
Just imagine if we all said that in the forthcoming public consultation!
It would make Metrolinx sit up and take notice.
- Details
- Written by: Gordon Prentice
We are told a picture says more than a thousand words. So let's test the proposition. Here is 1011 Elgin Street at the time of its sale on 8 October 2015.
And this is what 1011 Elgin Street looks like today.
And here (below) are the immediate neighbours to the left of the Monster Home on the same side of the street.
I am left wondering how we got from A to B.
With this new Monster Home invading the street and setting the precedent, I should imagine the rest of Elgin on the north side will, given time, fall like dominoes.
It is all very strange. I recall the discussions about construction at Glenway and how new buildings and their immediate neighbours should, if at all possible, be like-with-like.
Clearly, on Elgin Street like-with-like wasn't part of the conversation.