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Resident 'stunned' when mayor shows up to help clear property
OrilliaMatters
29Careful. The mayor might change his mind and put the tree back.
4- Vulture
City council up in arms over 'undemocratic' strong mayor powers
OrilliaMatters 24There have been many disingenuous politicians in Orillia, but this mayor has to be in the top five. He wants strong mayor powers to address housing (which can be managed without granting the mayor more authority). Instead, he overrules the new hiring completed within an approved process which will cost taxpayers money. Rescinding a job offer is the same as firing someone without cause. And still no reasonable explanation from the mayor. He now doesn’t have to provide one.
1- Vulture
'Much is lost': Curtain closing on locally produced plays in Orillia
OrilliaMatters 21Please don’t take it personally, City staff, but you are wrong about a couple of things. First, the Opera House is a commercial venue and should be busy all year. Sure staff earn vacation, but to use staffing pressures as a reason to switch from self produced to purchasing is irrelevant. You’re still having shows so you’ll still need staff. And you’re a cultural and tourism venue. People vacation in the summer and look for places to go. That’s more important than cutting programming to suit your own needs. You should never have a bureaucrat like director of economic development make decisions for entertainment venues. Costs of purchasing touring shows will likely increase. It’s more expensive to run upstairs than downstairs. You’re really putting pressure on yourself to sell tickets over seven days. And Equity costs still exist, whether you pay them directly or have them buried in the show costs for these touring shows. You will lose more money with the new approach.
1- Vulture
City to spend $6.6M to refurbish cooling system at Orillia rec centre
OrilliaMatters 16The rec centre opened on October 26 2020. According to the article, "In 2020, the city established air cooling systems as the level of service". If that's the case why does in have a water based cooling system? Wouldn't that have been the question to ask? Staff are recommending $6.6 million to retrofit a system that shouldn't have been there in the first place if staff had followed their own recommendation four years ago. Seems to be an expensive mistake.
2- Vulture
Bats, water leak behind sudden closure of Orillia Opera House
OrilliaMatters 6The Opera House is losing $27,500 due to the closure. They called it so who cares? How much is Duck Soup losing? They are the rental client affected. Your next event is September 18th. You couldn’t hold on for another couple of days so your rental client could finish their last show? Does anyone at the City know how to operate a theatre?
12- Vulture
Local couple says Hydro One delay left them without power for months
OrilliaMatters 15They’ve been waiting for three months and still don’t know when the project will be completed. That’s not acceptable regardless of the purpose of the dwelling. And it appears the last update came only after a media inquiry. Even if work was backlogged the lack of communication is disrespectful. The owners are customers after all.
1- Vulture
City rejects pre-zoning request for affordable housing project
OrilliaMatters 13Strong mayor powers. Originally enacted to increase housing stock. This mayor can “pick and choose” which staff get hired or fired but won’t support fast tracked housing. And informing the neighbours? You can do that any way you like. You can pre approve and mail a notice, as long as you have even limited multitasking abilities.
2- Vulture
Local couple says Hydro One delay left them without power for months
OrilliaMatters 9It’s not a hot real estate market at the moment. And it’s no one’s business what they do with the property. They own it. The (so far) three month wait is bad, and the lack of communication is worse.
2- Vulture
'It's sad': Dunlop St. residents cut off from parking by new fence
OrilliaMatters 5If you’ve used it for 22 years, try adverse possession. If you’ve been using it as access without any action by Kubota in all that time, you may have a case.
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Ramara modernizes, announces organizational restructuring
OrilliaMatters 7The Orillia CAO moves to Ramara and restructures to resemble Orillia. What could go wrong? Oh right. Increased salaries and increased taxes for 2026.
1- Vulture
COLUMN: Boosting speed limit on 400-series highways is dumb
OrilliaMatters 7Hey Wendy. If people are passing you on the right you’re in the wrong lane. People like to blame speed. What about people who travel in the wrong lane based on speed and whether they’re passing or not? Ever notice the number of people who no longer use signal lights? Change lanes or merge without looking. And those things happen in residential and commercial areas. Not just six or 10 lane highways. Learning to drive is more important than speed alone.
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Councillor questions need for new hires in Ramara's proposed budget
OrilliaMatters 4Grade 7? You’re generous.
1- Vulture
Senior seeing red over plan tying garbage pickup to green-bin use
OrilliaMatters 4What effect would clear bags have when the bins are picked up mechanically? The driver wouldn’t see them. By the time the load gets to the landfill no one would know who followed the rules and who didn’t.
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Rock Fest is back and louder than ever
OrilliaMatters 1Must be a great festival. The headliner is a cover band.
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