Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Friday morning.
Where will they go? Renos forcing seniors out of Coniston apartments
In Coniston, there is a community within a community. Several, surely, but this one sits at 21 Balsam Street, a geared-to-seniors apartment complex with neighbours that have lived with each other for years, some as long as decades. Coniston is a small, quiet community of around 2,000 people on the eastern edge of the city. It’s self-contained, with its own grocery store, pharmacies and a few stores. Most of its residents are over the age of 50. But the relative peace of life at 21 Balsam, a large, U-shaped, two-storey building just off the town’s main drag, hasn’t been the same since tenants began receiving letters March 1 from the new owners of the building, through their lawyer, telling them they’ll have to vacate their apartment for “an unknown period of time” for “extensive renovations.” One 88-year-old who asked not to be named told Sudbury.com she has lost her son, her daughter and her husband, and has little other family to speak of. She said she is so frightened that she won’t have anywhere to live that the turmoil, stress and fear are affecting her sleep and her health.
Smart water meters 98.5% installed; balance to be done by 2025
The city’s shift toward smart water meters that can be read remotely is almost completed, with 98.5 per cent of them installed. This leaves 700 properties without advanced meter infrastructure, which is expected to be installed between this year and next. “The project is late getting delivered, but we did achieve it on budget and on target,” Michael Loken, the city’s acting director of Water/Wastewater Treatment and Compliance, told city council this week, noting the meters’ installation was hampered by pandemic-era restrictions. Loken delivered a presentation highlighting the program’s progress and early findings during Tuesday’s finance and administration committee meeting of city council. Originally budgeted at $17.2 million, an additional $500,000 was tacked on to handle pandemic-related issues, and they’ve achieved the goals set out in this new budget.
Greater Sudbury development charges much lower than comparators
City of Greater Sudbury development charges are less than half the provincial average for every property class, and are in some cases much lower than that. Among 121 Ontario municipalities, the average development charge for a single-family detached dwelling is $50,918. In Greater Sudbury, it’s $22,162. The average development charge per multi-residential unit is $39,732, whereas Greater Sudbury charges $12,791. Development charges per square foot of commercial builds is $23.85 provincially ($5.56 in Greater Sudbury), while the average for industrial builds is $14.03 ($3.70 in Greater Sudbury). With city council in the midst of preparing a new development charges bylaw, Hemson Consulting associate partner Stefan Krzeczunowicz walked the city’s elected officials through the current situation during this week’s finance and administration committee meeting.
Arson triple homicide: Defence rests, calls no evidence
Defence counsel for a Sudbury man accused of first degree murder and arson causing bodily harm rested their case April 24, without calling a single piece of evidence. Counsel for Liam Stinson, Joseph Wilkinson and Liam Thompson, had their opportunity to call witnesses and introduce evidence at trial in Sudbury Superior Court, but Wilkinson simply said: “your honour, we have no evidence to call.” Crown counsel Kaely Whillans and Alayna Jay rested their case on April 18. Since then, the majority of court time has been devoted to legal wranglings, which can’t yet be reported as they were not done in the presence of the jury and therefore covered by what’s called a voir-dire publication ban.
Junior miners getting $4M to find critical battery minerals
The province is investing more than $4 million to help junior mining companies find the mines that will provide materials to accelerate the electric vehicle revolution. Funding through the Ontario Junior Exploration Program is part of the Ontario’s Critical Minerals Strategy, which aims to drive long-term economic growth by creating jobs and prosperity, especially in northern and Indigenous communities. “I am thrilled to be in Thunder Bay at the Ontario Prospectors Exploration Showcase to announce the successful OJEP recipients because it means the drills are turning and we are searching for new mines,” said George Pirie, Minister of Mines, in a media release issued on Tuesday. “Our government recognizes that Thunder Bay is quickly becoming a hub for lithium, which is essential for the growing supply chain for electric vehicles in Ontario.
Don't just 'pink it and shrink it,' say women in industry about PPE
Anya Keefe can tell some horrific stories about women wearing badly fitting personal protective equipment (PPE) in the workplace. There’s one about the woman who broke her wrist after experiencing kickback while operating a hand drill because she was wearing gloves that were too big. A welder working in mining and construction reported being burned hundreds of times because she couldn’t find coveralls with sleeves and pant legs long enough to provide coverage while working in awkward positions. A third cut her finger to the bone when her work glove got caught in a portable band saw. Her employer only supplied men’s gloves and the smallest size was still too big on her, so the excess material got caught by the blade.
