East Gwillimbury councillors set priorities for 2016

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 14, 2016
By Simon Martin

East Gwillimbury council will convene this week for the first time in 2016.

While ongoing growth issues will continue to garner attention from council this year, each councillor has specific priorities he or she would like to see addressed as well.

For Councillor Marlene Johnston, it’s the town’s zoning bylaw. She knows it’s not exactly an issue residents find too exciting but it’s an important law council is elected to craft and enact.

“We have to update it. It must be done to implement our official plan,” Johnston said.

“The zoning bylaw is out of date and that’s just inappropriate.”

While new residents are expected to settle in town in the coming years, Councillor Joe Persechini wants council to come up with a strategy for more affordable housing for seniors and young people.

“I try to go to as many things in the community as I can. It’s important to work with the community,” he said.

Councillor Tara Roy-DiClemente is excited to get the ball rolling on the town’s electoral review process. It does seem like electoral review will be the focus of much discussion at the municipal, regional and federal levels in 2016. The municipal process has advantages, Roy-DiClemente said. “It’s easier to do public outreach,” she said.

Roy-DiClemente hopes there will be lots of public consultations about potential changes to council composition.

“I don’t think it would be appropriate for council to make a unilateral decision without public input,” she said.

While the form of potential electoral review is not yet known, Roy-DiClemente said they were close to having a framework last term with a committee in charge of running the review.

As always, servicing land is an important issue Councillor James Young hopes the town tackles in 2016. More specifically, he’s interested in getting the town’s employment lands serviced and ready for paying tenants as soon as possible. “We need to have good local employment for folks,” he said.

Young also wants council to keep pushing the region to move the timeline up for the Upper York Sewage Solution, which is currently slated to be ready in 2024.

“We need that to ensure that growth happens in an orderly and responsible fashion,” he said.