Orangeville mayor reflects on 2018-2022 term at final council meeting

October 6, 2022 · 0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

Orangeville council held their final meeting of the 2018-2022 term last Monday (Sept. 26) and Mayor Sandy Brown, who’s not seeking re-election, reflected back on the group’s accomplishments over the past four years.

“The municipal government touches the lives of town residents much more than other levels of government,” he said. “I’d like to take a few minutes to recap the amazing work the town staff and this council has done on behalf of the residents of Orangeville.”

Mayor Brown noted the restoration of respect, decorum, and professionalism to council chambers.

“What this council did was restore normalcy,” he said. “The way we dealt with each other is the way it’s supposed to be.”

In addition to bringing back a level of professionalism, Mayor Brown noted the transition from the Orangeville Police Service to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

“The OPP decision was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. With the support of the CAO, the town treasurer and the independent consultant, OPP was the only decision that could be made,” Mayor Brown said. “Since that decision on December 2, 2019. The Town of Orangeville and all of Dufferin County has had a higher level of police services, complemented by greater resources for less money.”

When looking at the COVID-19 crisis, which became a pandemic in March of 2020, Mayor Brown said council supported the region’s medical officer of health and provincial leaders in planning a best course of action against COVID-19.

“We provided financial relief to our residents, businesses and sports organizations during the pandemic. Under Long Term Care (LTC), we knew that we needed more state-of-the-art Long-Term Care in southern Dufferin County. We reduced development charges to attract LTC developers and incentivize LTC development. The Avalon [Care Centre] is proceeding with upgrading their facility and Primacare is still interested in developing a portion of the Humber lands.”

For emergency services, Mayor Brown noted the purchase of a 6.18-acre property to house the new nearly 30,000 sq. ft fire hall that’s expected to be built for 2024. The lands are located at the corner of Commerce Rd. and Centennial Rd.

Another decision Mayor Brown lauded was the sale of railway assets, totalling $32 million, which relieved the town of roughly $450,000 in property taxes per year.

Looking back to the beginning of council’s term, they brought an end to a 15-year legal battle with Amarnath over ownership of the Pullen Well. In the end, Orangeville was able to connect the well to its system, expanding the town’s municipal water supply for future growth.

In terms of tax increases, Mayor Brown said the average annual increase over the last year was 1.03 per cent. That’s less than half of the pre-pandemic inflation average of 2.5 per cent.

Under public transit, he noted improvements made to Orangeville’s system by acquiring better equipment, and approving the building of a new transit hub. The route system has scheduled improvements and a free transit program is starting Jan. 1, 2023. The fare-free transit is a two-year pilot project.

For sustainability, Mayor Brown lauded council’s support of Sustainable Orangeville and the Sustainable Neighborhood Action Plan, as well as improving the town’s tree canopy and starting an urban gardening program.

The electrification of town owned vehicles is under way as well.

In regards to infrastructure, the sewage treatment plant was upgraded after its digesters failed and approved upgrades to the town’s water meter system has helped to prevent over billing.

“We completed the Mill Creek Rehabilitation Plan, beautifying that area and helping the flood mitigation. And we’ve just completed the long overdue improvements to Centennial Rd, at the intersection of Dawson and Centennial,” Mayor Brown noted.

Looking to internet service, Orangeville signed an agreement with Whitman Telecom to install $66 million worth of fibre optic internet cabling throughout town – at no cost to taxpayers.

Mayor Brown said, “[It] is a key improvement to our local infrastructure. Installing high speed future proof fibre throughout our town will help with business attraction, business retention, and work and study from home forever.”

He also lauded residential development that’s taken place over council’s term, including work done at 17 Centre St., the Orangeville Highlands land (adjacent to Orangeville Mall), 690 Broadway, 105 Spencer Ave., and 62-68 First Street townhouses to name a few.

The Broadway Bricks project, currently ongoing, is upgrading the downtown core infrastructure, a new condo was built by the Wellington/Broadway intersection, and improvements were done to Alexandra Park, Mayor Brown noted.

In regards to traffic safety he said, “We’ve implemented parking on one side of the street to ensure safe and timely passage of emergency vehicles. Speed limits on many residential streets were reduced to 40 kilometers per hour, and other traffic calming measures including additional stop signs are implemented, and will continue to be reviewed from time to time.”

The town’s trail system has been “substantially improved” according to Mayor Brown, and Harvey Curry Park saw the addition of a new splash pad and children’s play area.

“Under community outreach, we had Jurassic Park on Mill Street during the Toronto Raptors championship run, the outdoor concert series that won an award from Festivals and Events Ontario, the recent Walk Off The Earth concert, and the comeback event of 2022 – the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival,” Mayor Brown noted.

He also lauded improvements in communication to Orangeville residents from the town with projects like Data Orangeville, improvements to the town website, and the clerk’s department digitizing paperwork, increasing access to historical documents.

The final accomplishment Mayor Brown shared was the Jean Hamlin Daycare Centre, which was revenue neutral, but became a cash flow property for the municipality, as it is now rented out to YMCA. He added that there were no disruptions to families who use the service when the transition took place.

“Completing this impressive list of accomplishments takes a special group of people working collectively for the greater good – it’s just that simple,” said Mayor Brown.

Orangeville’s next council meeting, under a new term, is being held Nov. 21.

Orangeville mayor reflects on 2018-2022 term at final council meeting