City Council Meeting Wrap-Up – July 11, 2023

The City Council meeting on July 11 included decisions on the last four resolutions for the Community Safety Station Revitalization project and updates on Junction East and the Event Centre.

Community Safety Station Revitalization
Council approved the final four of nine resolutions to maintain, renovate or consolidate Greater Sudbury’s Fire and Paramedic stations. The first five resolutions were approved at the Council meeting on June 27.

By approving these resolutions, City Council plans to renew or replace aging facilities. These decisions enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness of Fire and Paramedic Services and demonstrate responsible allocation of limited resources.

The resolutions approved today will result in the following actions: 

• A new Fire and Paramedic station will be constructed at an ideal location for Minnow Lake, with costs to be included in the draft 2024-2027 capital budget. Once operations begin running out of this new station, the old Minnow Lake station will be closed.
• The Long Lake station will be renovated to be used by both Fire and Paramedic Services, with costs to be included in the 2024-2027 capital budget.
• The Van Horne station will be renovated to be used by both Fire and Paramedic Services, with costs to be included in the 2024-2027 capital budget.
• The remaining renovations and new station construction projects outlined in the report to Council on June 27, 2023 will be included in future draft capital plans.  

Most of the City’s 24 stations are in the latter stages of their expected 50-year life cycle and were not historically supported by asset management plans that identified appropriate maintenance expenditures.

The average age of the 24 stations is 49 years. Only one of the 24 stations is under 30 years, and 10 of them are older than 50 years.

Junction East

Staff provided Council with an update on the library/art gallery/multicultural initiative (Junction East). In February, Council directed staff to explore two alternative approaches to fulfill the project’s original goals:

• analyze the potential for a redesign of the facility to reflect a total project cost of $65 million, and
• investigate the possibility of retrofitting existing infrastructure downtown.

A $65 million dollar budget would require a 53 per cent reduction in the original design’s available space. This would make the vision, business and operational plans for the library and art gallery unworkable. As a result, further investigation of constructing a new facility for $65 million will not occur.

Staff also investigated the possibility of retrofitting existing downtown facilities and identified 200 Brady St. (Tom Davies Square) as the best alternative location for this initiative. Retrofitting Tom Davies Square represents an opportunity to realize capital cost savings while allowing the cultural hub to meet overall project goals. Council supported staff’s plan to continue exploring this option and to bring recommendations to the September 26 Council meeting.

Event Centre

As requested in September 2022, staff updated Council on the building condition assessment and operational effectiveness of the Sudbury Community Arena and provided a high-level summary of four options for its replacement or renovation. These options are:

• Option A – maintain current level of service, addressing issues as they arise
• Option B – renew or renovate the existing facility
• Option C – stand-alone new build event centre
• Option D – new build event centre as part of a larger downtown redevelopment

Options A and B would make use of the existing facility, while options C and D would involve the construction of a new facility. To help inform a shared understanding of option D, staff continue to research examples in other municipalities, and will provide an update at the September 26 Council meeting. Council also requested staff consider the potential for a renewed/renovated facility as part of a new, larger redevelopment.

Population Projections Report

The City of Greater Sudbury’s Population, Housing and Employment Projections Forecast provides potential growth scenarios to 2051, and is used to inform future capital, service and policy development. Some of the key findings presented at Finance and Administration Committee and endorsed at Council include:

• Greater Sudbury is the only major urban centre in Northern Ontario with a growing population between 2001 and 2021.
• The city has experienced higher growth than was projected in the last forecast in 2018 and is expected to grow more over the next 30 years than it has over the past 20.
• Based on projected growth, Greater Sudbury has more than sufficient residential and industrial land supply to accommodate anticipated demand over the next 30 years. 

Streamline Development Approval Fund

An update was provided on the Province’s Streamline Development Approval Fund (SDAF), which leverages $1.75 million in provincial funding to help modernize, streamline and accelerate residential development approvals.

The projects funded though SDAF over an 18-month period build on initiatives the City has already undertaken to increase the availability and affordability of housing. These additional projects – including the new Pronto online portal, which launched June 27 – are expected to result in more efficient processing of development applications, greater certainty with respect to study requirements for applications, and further improvements in the permitting process for residential construction applications.

Future-Ready Development Services Ad-Hoc Committee
The first meeting of the Future-Ready Development Services Ad-Hoc Committee, held just before the Council meeting, established an approach to analyze existing development processes, research best-in-class municipal trends and collect stakeholder feedback. Committee members expressed their intention to understand how Greater Sudbury’s development policies and review/approval processes could be designed to reflect a national “best in class” example.

Feedback from interested stakeholders will be gathered through the City’s Over to You engagement portal from August to October 2023. At the Committee’s direction, staff will invite professionals and industry associations to participate in in-person community delegations at Committee meetings from September to October 2023. A progress report will be provided at the next Committee meeting, which is expected to take place in September.

For more details on these and other items from this week’s meetings, visit www.greatersudbury.ca/city-hall/mayor-and-council/meetings-agendas-and-minutes.