Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
$14 million gap: City staff and council working on one of its most challenging budgets ever:
The city is facing one of its most challenging budgets in recent memory, as council will be tasked with closing a $14 million funding gap when it comes time to pass the 2021 budget early next year. Greater Sudbury CAO Ed Archer laid out the reality that council is faced with during a finance and administration committee meeting on Dec. 8, stating that the $14 million gap between the city's anticipated service plans and anticipated financial resources to support those plans. In a typical year, the city faces a gap of anywhere between $3 million to $5 million, but in order for the city to deliver on a property tax increase of no more than 3.9 per cent in 2021, they must find a way to close a gap of nearly triple that. "Each year we describe adjustments we've made in our efforts to close those gaps without impairing service levels," said Archer. "This year that gap is $14 million, there aren't ways we've identified that can close that gap without some service adjustments." While final decisions on service adjustments will not be made until the new year, council has provided the executive leadership team with direction to prepare business cases on items they would like to take a closer look at. Get the full story here.
Sudbury's Stobie Mine shaft to be demolished this week:
The Number Nine Shaft at Vale’s Stobie Mine in Sudbury will be demolished this week. Vale announced in October that infrastructure at the Stobie site was being removed to reduce maintenance costs and make way for a potential new development. A number of buildings were razed earlier this year and two additional shafts were taken down last week. Constructed in 1966, the Number Nine Shaft is one of the last remaining structures to come down. “Number Nine Shaft is a concrete structure that is 95 metres high, so it must be blasted down instead of dismantled,” said Patrick Boitumelo, head of mining and milling for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations, in a Dec. 8 news release. “This demolition work has been carefully planned with a team of internal and external experts and is not expected to impact the community.” The removal of Shaft Nine is about a month behind the original schedule announced by Vale, which estimated this work would take place in mid-November. Find more on this story here.
Province strips away power of local conservation authorities:
The Ontario government passed Bill 229 on Tuesday, including Schedule 6, which amends the Conservation Authorities Act, stripping power from local conservation authorities. Schedule 6 is a small part of the province's omnibus COVID-19 recovery bill, Bill 229, and now gives final say on zoning and building permits and other environmentally sensitive issues to the province. "At the local level it means that some decisions on permits, whether it's to issue a permit or repeal a permit or cancel a permit, some of those decisions could be made by the minister at Queen's Park," said Conservation Sudbury general manager, Carl Jorgensen. "It doesn't mean that's going to happen with every permit. We're going to continue doing most of our business the way we have been, however if we get into a situation where it's a stalemate between the conservation authority and the person who has applied for the permit, it's possible that they can appeal to the minister and they can override us." Ontario is home to 36 different conservation authorities, including Conservation Sudbury, and Jorgensen explained that they are not the environmental crusaders that some may think they are, but rather an organization that is in place to ensure the safety of people and their homes. More on this story here.
Five proposed opioid consumption sites rejected, but search continues:
The first five sites for a supervised drug consumption venue in Sudbury have all been rejected, but that doesn't mean the project is dead in the water. Sudbury public health nurse Josée Joliat, the co-ordinator of the Community Drug Strategy, said the first five locations that expressed interest in hosting a physical venue all had shortcomings. None of the venues was identified. Joliat said the initial call for expressions of interest had a deadline of Nov. 10. The fact there was an active search for a venue seemed to spawn some additional interest after that. "We did get a couple of community members who did approach us afterwards to indicate they were interested in potentially hosting the supervised consumption services," said Joliat. She said in the interests of due diligence, those new sites would be considered. If they’re not suitable, a new call for interest will be put out to the public. Full story here.
First doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, not yet approved, to land in Canada next week:
A small number of the most vulnerable Canadians could be immunized against COVID-19 before the holidays as the first doses of Pfizer's vaccine are set to arrive next week. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday the contract with the U.S. pharmaceutical company and its German partner, BioNTech, was adjusted this week to reflect that up to 249,000 doses of their vaccine will be delivered to Canada before the end of December. Everything hinges on Health Canada approving the Pfizer vaccine, with a decision expected on that in the coming days. Trudeau said that if approval comes by the end of the week, Canadians will begin getting vaccinated next week. "It has been a difficult year, and we are not out of this crisis yet," Trudeau said Monday at a news conference in Ottawa. "But now, vaccines are coming." Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, named vice-president of logistics at the Public Health Agency of Canada to oversee the vaccine rollout plan, said once the vaccine is in Canada, it should take a day or two more for it to thaw and be prepared for an injection. Get the full story here.
Planned power outage in Cambrian Heights, Donovan area Dec. 9:
A planned power outage will affect approximately 350 Greater Sudbury Hydro customers in the Cambrian Heights/Donovan area on Wednesday, Dec. 9 from 9 a.m. to noon. Streets affected include Albany, Antwerp, Burton, Bruce, Cabot, Dell, Hearne, Humber, Kelsey, Severn, Snowdon, Tedman and Trent. Greater Sudbury Hydro has contacted affected residential customers through automated phone calls. The outages will be staggered by area and will not last the entire three hours, but will occur within the 9 a.m. to noon window as crews complete important system upgrade work. “We apologize for any inconvenience,” said a press release from Greater Sudbury Hydro.
DeSimone continues to Sock it to the Homeless:
With the community’s help, DeSimone Foot & Ankle Centre collected 3,320 new pairs of socks, 120 pairs of gently used boots and shoes, and 30 new shoes and boots in their Sock it to the Homeless campaign. DeSimone also sent out a very special thanks to R.L. Beattie, Lasalle Secondary School and Homesense for their donations. “What a wonderful community we live in,” said Julie DeSimone. “With a little effort, we can make a huge difference. Be the change you want to see in this world.”
Wednesday Weather:
Periods of light snow ending early in the morning then cloudy with 30 per cent chance of flurries. There's a risk of freezing drizzle early in the morning. Wednesday's high will be sitting at around 2. Cloudy this evening with 30 per cent chance of flurries. Overnight low will dip to -5. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
