City reveals 100K club

Posted March 9, 2012 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in News | No comments yet

The number of Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue officials making more than $100,000 has jumped by more than 100 people, something the city’s manager is calling an anomaly.

The City of Thunder Bay released its portion of the provincial Sunshine List, also known as the Ontario Public Sector Salary Disclosure list, Thursday afternoon. The city made the decision to release the document before the March 31 deadline after learning that an internal copy had already been leaked to local media.

In 2011, 148 members of the fire department made the list or public sector workers making more than $100,000, a significant increase from the 30 that made the list in 2010.

City manager Tim Commisso said the increase is because of retroactive payments from an arbitration hearing that went back to 2003.

“It’s really just a function of the fact there was a significant back pay,” he said during an interview with tbnewswatch.com Thursday afternoon.

“As people move ahead in their salary grid, they get on the list and we expect that but I expect next year the list will be down significantly.”

The total number of city workers on the sunshine list is 244, up from 115 last year.

Thunder Bay Police Service added 13 more people to the list this year.

The list was supposed to be released on March 31 with all other public sectors in the province, but Commisso said he received a call from a media outlet Thursday inquiring about the city salaries.

He said while the leak is concerning, the information isn’t confidential and was going to be released to the public in a few weeks time.

“It really isn’t a confidential list but it’s intended to go to the province and then they distribute the list on March 31 when it’s with every other public sector organization,” said Commisso.

“It’s something I’ll follow up on.”

Some members of council now hope to find out who was responsible for the media leak.

In an email sent to the city’s communication department, which also went out to the city’s external media contact list, Coun. Aldo Ruberto questioned whether the city could learn more about who may have provided the information to media.

“Can we not trace the e-mails to find out who leaked the information?” Aldo asks in his message

Both Coun. Ken Boshcoff and Mayor Keith Hobbs later replied to Coun. Ruberto’s message to indicate that they both were looking for answers about the leak too.

”I asked this question too, Aldo,” Mayor Hobbs replied via email. “I would like to know as well.”

 
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City truck by-law delayed

Posted September 13, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in News | No comments yet

A plan to keep heavy truck traffic off of Dawson Road has been delayed.
The by-law would ban trucks longer than 15.2 metres from travelling on Dawson Road. The idea was supported Monday night at city council by two deputations and a petition with over 1,500 signatures.
Nikos Mantis for Citizens for Safety on Dawson Road said banning transports would increase safety, be good for the city’s economy and improve quality of life for residents in the area.
“This (truck traffic) is seriously unsafe and its put our children at risk,” Mantis said.
While council did receive a report Monday on the issue, councillors wanted more information about everything from ticketing to enforcement of the proposed by-law.
“We obviously don’t have the information we need” McIntyre Coun. Trevor Giertuga said.
In the meantime, mayor Keith Hobbs asked if police could increase traffic enforcement in the area.
“I can ensure you that the enforcement is ongoing” said Thunder Bay Police Service deputy chief Andy Hay. A new report will come to council before December.
View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – News

City pays $900K for art

Posted July 19, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in News | No comments yet

Some called it a rusted steel structure with lights. Others said it looked like a windmill without a propeller. But most councillors agreed it was art as city council approved the waterfront art installation. Council approved the $904,000 contract during its regular scheduled meeting at city hall Monday night for the final installment of the waterfront’s public art project, which consists of two beacons – one on Pier 1 and another on Pier 3. The two 21-metre structures resemble slightly bent poles sticking out of the tips of both piers toward each other. The beacons, made out of corten steel, will feature LED lights that will flash Morse code of local stories and poetry. Once someone is within three metres of the beacons, they will be able to hear that literature read by local actors transmitted from the base of the structures. The instillation is meant to look like the profile of a ship and act as a gateway for the waterfront. It was designed by Eduardo Aquino and Karen Shanski in collaboration with the city’s Public Art Committee and waterfront architect BMI/Pace. Aquino told council that the structures are meant to capture various traditions from the city while attracting people to the waterfront because they can be seen from so many different vantage points. “It’s calling me in to the waterfront. It’s an expense that we cannot measure,” Aquino said. But some councillors weren’t so sure. Mayor Keith Hobbs said he believed too much has already been spent at the waterfront and that the money could be better spent elsewhere. “I’d rather buy two trash compactors for the landfill site,” Hobbs said. “I don’t want people to hate this.” Coun. Joe Viridiramo said even though the money for the instillation has already been budgeted, the city doesn’t have to spend it. Viridramo added that the whole idea reminds him of other installations such as the “pile of rocks” near the Thunder Bay International Airport that were eventually removed and put into storage at Chippewa Park. “We have a piece of angle iron that’s going to go up 65 feet and it’s going to rust and it’s going to have lights on it,” Viridiramo said. But Aquino said the material doesn’t rust. It eventually develops a patina over time that protects it and adds to the overall visual of the piece. Coun. Paul Pugh said although when he first saw the piece it looked like a windmill without a propeller, the committee did a great job and the project fell within the city’s guidelines and budget. Over time, Pugh said he believes people will enjoy what the city has done. “I’m not an artist and on first looking at this I said ‘good grief,” Pugh said. “But that’s the function of art. It makes you think.” Art is in the eye of the beholder, said Coun, Rebecca Johnson. While the at-large councilor said she doesn’t like to spend extra money, the installation is good for the community. “Whether you like the beacons or not only time is going to tell.” All art throughout history has been controversial, Aquino said. Even the Eiffel Tower in Paris was supposed to be temporary and people thought it was ugly. “At the end of the day we are confident that (the beacons) will make an iconic approach.”     View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – News

City golf posts biggest loss in eight years

Posted April 7, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in News | No comments yet

The city’s golf division is once again in the red.
Despite an increase in the number of rounds played in 2010, the division is set to post it’s largest losses in 8 years. Revenues were still at a four year high but some unanticipated expenses are being blamed for impacting the bottom line. Director of golf Tom Forsythe said the season started off great but the bottom fell out of things in July and August.
Since the inception of the Enterprise model in 2003, the three City owned golf courses have posted losses ranging from $14,000 to roughly $228,000. For 2010, those losses are projected to be nearly $405,000. Forsythe said Municipal Golf Course was faced with two significant expenses last year
Forsythe said course conditions were great but he still isn’t happy with the way the year ended. A number of factors hit the division at the same time last year that led to a major drop in the number of rounds played late in July and August.
The 2010 Annual Review of Golf Courses will come before city council on Monday night. So too, will the 2010 Tourism Review where modest gains are being reported including a 6 per cent increase in the number of visits to the Terry Fox Lookout. However, the report also notes a 10 per cent drop in US traffic at the Pigeon River Crossing.
View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – News

City champions

Posted February 23, 2011 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Sports | No comments yet

Alex Robichaud delivers when it counts. The Superior Collegiate guard scored 33 points on Tuesday night, out-scoring the entire Sir Winston Churchill Trojans team 24-20 in the first half alone, landing his Gryphons the senior high school boys basketball crown with a 54-40 win in enemy territory. It was the first title of any kind in the school’s short two-year history. “Winning a championship in any school is a tremendous feeling. Being the first one for Superior to win is a really good honour and I’m sure it will never be forgotten.” Teammate Noel Parker, who hit six key free throws as time wound down to keep the pressure on the Trojan shooters, said it feels unreal to win it all. “We’ve been working our asses off for four years and finally it pays off,” said Parker, one of half-a-dozen Gryphons who began their high-school basketball careers at the now-closed Hillcrest High School. “We get up every morning at 7:30 to come practice and it finally pays off.” Robichaud arrived in Thunder Bay last fall via the Atlantic shores of New Brunswick, where he won a provincial championship in 2009, just one year after a horrific highway accident claimed the life of seven players on the 2008 Bathurst High School Phantoms squad. Robichaud, who landed in Bathurst the season after the crash, said the first one was emotional, but this one is equally satisfying. “It’s the same feeling winning a championship, either there or here, it’s the same feeling,” he said. Rolling through the regular season undefeated, only to lose 67-35 to the Trojans last Friday in the first of two final games, was an eye-opener for the Gryphons, who realized the title they’d been dreaming about all season could easily be snatched away. Destined for the Lakehead Thunderwolves next fall, with almost the entire LU squad there to watch their future teammate, Robichaud said the Gryphons weren’t about to let that happen. “Our last game, we didn’t play too well. None of our shots were falling. So today we just wanted to come out with a lot of intensity and it just so happened that today my shots were falling,” Robichaud said. He wasn’t kidding. If the youngster put it up, it seemed to find the bottom of the net in the first half. He drained a pair of threes in the first quarter and dropped three more in the second, staking Superior Collegiate to a 28-20 halftime advantage. But basketball is a team game, and while the Trojans made some slight adjustments during the break, Robichaud and company found other ways to hurt their opponent in the second half. “I made a lot of shots in the first half, so I knew they were going to try to double team me more or play defence. (My teammates) just happened to be open. It’s a team game so we have to try to get everybody involved.” Jordan Abraham buried a three to start the third, and though Churchill pulled to within six points at the four minute mark when Brandon Myketa – who led his team with 13 – scored on a jumper, they couldn’t find a way to put a halt to the Gryphons offence. Abraham hit another three to restore the lead to nine, then Robichaud, shut out in the third, made a delightful bounce pass to Devan Drew for a pair underneath to make it 36-25. Robichaud got back on the board in a hurry, then after Churchill cut the lead to nine, but the Gryphons pulled away, finishing it at the free-throw line in the fourth. “It was very tough,” said Churchill coach Cory Keeler. “I just think it was a lot of costly turnovers on our part and we didn’t defend Alex very well and he shot great in the first half. We just didn’t recover from it, I guess.” With the win the Gryphons advance to the NWOSSA final this weekend, which they will host against the winner of Tuesday night’s NORWOSSA final. View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – Sports

Candiates list for city election grows

Posted September 9, 2010 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Thunder Bay News | No comments yet

The list of election candidates for Thunder Bay City Council continues to grow.
Former CBC radio broadcaster Gerald Graham, along with Bay and Algoma Business Association president Norm Sponchia have filed their nomination papers to run in the at-large race. There are now 13 people running for the five at-large seats on city council. And there will be a race in the Westfort ward as former city police officer John Radl is challenging incumbent councillor Joe Virdiramo for the seat.
The deadline for nominations is Friday at 2 p.m.
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Letter: City overspending

Posted August 26, 2010 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Thunder Bay News | No comments yet

To the editor: I was glad to see John Brewer’s “Feeling ignored” and Andy Wolff’s “It’s as bad as it seems” letters to the editor in last week’s edition of Thunder Bay Source. I especially agree with their points on how the city overspends on mega projects, has poor planning, how its citizens’ opinions are ignored, and especially how “the city is not being run for their benefit … it seems to be run for the benefit of the local construction industry” City council seems to have champagne tastes, but doesn’t seem to realize the vast majority of us are on a beer budget.  Most of us don’t have their white-collar jobs, there are less with blue collar jobs and many of these have cut back hours.  Many more citizens are working several Mcjobs.  It is well past time for the mayor and city council to take off their rose coloured glasses. If either Mr. Brewer or Mr. Wolff decides to run for city council, they have my vote.

Will Scheibler, Thunder Bay

View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – Opinion

City says 2010 a booming construction year

Posted August 14, 2010 by ThunderBayClassifieds.ca in Thunder Bay News | No comments yet

Officials with the city’s development services department say it’s been a boom year for construction projects around the city.
The total dollar value for building permits issued has doubled compared to this time last year from $42 million up to $87 million.
Among the major projects underway is the new 73,000 square foot Leon’s Superstore on Fort William Road. The list also includes the new Mary J-L Black Library on Edward Street, the senior’s facility on Isabella Street and the new REACH building at Confederation College. The city’s deputy chief building official, Des Stolz said 2010 should be the busiest construction season in Thunder Bay since 2002.
Stolz said construction permits could go as high as $150 million by year’s end. Another boom is expected next year with construction planned for the new $100 million consolidated courthouse in the downtown south core he added.
View full post on Tbnewswatch.com – News