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'Calculated decision': City plugging in 8 new EV charging stations
OrilliaMatters
11Could find a way to plug in some tiny homes...why are cars always more important than people!?!
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'Unreasonable' parking restrictions hamper Orillia food bank patrons
OrilliaMatters 13How hateful of the city; bylaw can use their discretion at every possible moment. They even have a toy drive now in exchange for parking tickets; imagine buying a toy in place of your ticket only to be at the receiving end of the toy drive later! Unbelievable!You can fill out a form at city hall to try and have your ticket excused on compassionate grounds; irony is that parking is free at city. 🙄
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'Bottom of the bowl': Midland council opts to join big city no-encampments letter
OrilliaMatters 8Thank you Deputy Mayor Beth Prost; it is tough going it alone. You are on the right side of history, we are all human beings, no matter that we are from Midland, Orillia, Barrie, Toronto. Asking this provincial government to care about Ontarians, in general, is challenging. Better to ask the federal government for help; it is far better to care.About the incarcerated friend, sure that may happen with a few but at what cost? We are paying our taxes to private investors in the prison system rather than subsidizing many more people with rent. How did it become criminal to "trespass" on private or public property because you have nowhere else to live? We all have to exist somewhere, at all times. Please Midland, don't feed into the hate on the homeless that this provincial government is trying to entrench. Btw, MPPs get a $2,000 monthly allowance to subsidize living in Toronto.
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Fallis, Durnford join growing chorus calling on Ford to not use notwithstanding clause
OrilliaMatters 5Housing is provincial, healthcare is provincial...covid money from the feds was supposed to be used by province for healthcare. MPPs get 2,000 monthly housing allowance to live in Toronto; ford does nothing, he just says he does.
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City hits brakes on Colborne St. parking spots amid safety concerns
OrilliaMatters 9If they are needing revenue; city staff don't pay for parking. 100 spots at $500 a year (less than people pay to park in other city lots; to work/live in town) would bring in $50,000 annually.Nearby West street is $3 an hour at a meter and empty. City parking lot #1 off Colbourne/across from timmie's is never even half full at $1 an hour. Not sure that these few spots were needed. And near a busy intersection that is the thoroughfare for ambulance/paramedics, fire and a route to the hospital.
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Downtown merchants call for free holiday parking to be reinstated
OrilliaMatters 6If they can vote and reinstate "See you on the Patio" without funding figured out then city council can hold an emergency council meeting and reinstate this.
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Fallis, Durnford join growing chorus calling on Ford to not use notwithstanding clause
OrilliaMatters 7If everyone had a few tiny homes in each ward then there you have it! People aren't to be feared just because they are homeless?!?
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City hits brakes on Colborne St. parking spots amid safety concerns
OrilliaMatters 5The meters are from Midland's failed/reconsidered downtown parking so hopefully cheaper? Difficult to understand why have metered spots on Colbourne/Andrew when you can park for free for 30 minutes beside the city centre building and probably longer in their parking lot. Unlikely they would ticket cars when they are thinking that people are in city hall at a meeting/doing business with the city.
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City hits brakes on Colborne St. parking spots amid safety concerns
OrilliaMatters 4free parking in surrounding cities like Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, MIdland. And most everyone has free parking on their street...pay taxes to be able to park in front of your house; street is paved, plowed, the infrastructure is already there.
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Growing encampments prompt Ontario mayors to call for forced treatment
OrilliaMatters 5Police refuse to take someone to hospital for an assessment as they state it's a health issue and then the client is so abusive once they get to hospital that hospital staff naturally refuse to assess them; it's a vicious cycle. It seems to be "treatment by cop" these days...people needing help need to commit a crime and be incarcerated to get the help they need. If they go to jail our tax dollars go to private investors rather than staying within the healthcare system. Ford designed it this way; so dear public stop the victim blaming, it doesn't move anything forward and please see that there is more to it. If there were the political will we'd be in a much healthier position with mental health.
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'Terrible idea': Smith rails against pitch for tiny homes, car living
OrilliaMatters 1There is a petition on change.org for Free Holiday Parking. City doesn't accept online petitions; in every other aspect they are digital and paper...but here we are. That should be someone's next petition! It has 247 signatures. https://www.change.org/OrilliaReinstateFreeHolidayParkingInCityLotsTiny Homes and Car Living has a great letter to the editor 😝 and a link to a change.org petition. It has 265 signatures.https://www.orilliamatters.com/letters-to-the-editor/letter-why-does-orillia-treat-cars-and-boats-better-than-humans-9667676https://www.change.org/OrilliaTinyHomesAndCarLivingInCityParkingLotsSixAndFifteen
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Fallis, Durnford join growing chorus calling on Ford to not use notwithstanding clause
OrilliaMatters 3City parking lots could take a few tiny homes and there is empty space within city centre with OW moving offices to West st and now Agilec gone too. Room for a community hub/daytime use www.change.org/OrilliaDaytimeCommunityHubToOpenAtCityCentreASAPand opening up the OCC every night instead of waiting for it to reach -10 www.change.org/Orillia-Open365DayAYearNightlyShelterwould also help to get intake done for people who could live in a tiny home. At a $1,000 each plus hookup they would be paid for within months with part of people's monthly benefits. But with the chances of finding a room/housing at 0.08% now we have to CREATE the spaces; no point waiting for something that doesn't exist.
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Downtown merchants call for free holiday parking to be reinstated
OrilliaMatters 2Not holiday parking; it was lost in the spring of 2023 months away from Christmas with promises parking rates could get revisited/tweaked; that never happened. Susan Willsey and partner from Susie Q asked for it to be reinstated in October 2023.https://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/downtown-merchants-upset-about-loss-of-free-holiday-parking-program-7715265And if this article states merchants want it reinstated then it's very probable that it means majority. What merchant wants fewer customers, fewer people browsing? And where is the Downtown parking committee; damage done and now dissolved, no one to be held accountable?
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Victim services, Lakehead students teaming up to host Mental Health Fair at library
OrilliaMatters 4We need this! There seems to be so much collaboration with Lakehead students and our community; we are fortunate to have them.
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Orillia's Common Stove named one of top 100 restaurants in Canada
OrilliaMatters 3really, you have to rain on their parade? Restaurants went through the worst with the pandemic. Don't go and don't comment then. You can edit and delete your comment WW.
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Almost half of the trees in the downtown could soon be uprooted
OrilliaMatters 3Not an arborist here but I think it's the type of tree that's problematic. At the Danforth recently and seemed like they had fewer trees but at least they were fuller/healthier.Also need some trimming; if left the suckers draw out energy from the tree. The trees in front of city hall on Colbourne/awful and the weeds...the weeds along Miss st too. There is maintenance staff to do that kind of thing, summer students too!Shame there isn't a way to stunt the growth/trim/cut the trunk a few feet off the ground and put a planter on the top ; why spend all this money putting the sidewalk back together? And all this time the tripping hazards/heaved sidewalks could at least be marked/spray painted to prevent trips and falls. Any ideas from "Streets Alive" to carve the trees? Any lumberjacks around with chainsaws that have some free time? And of course downtown merchants just heard of this for the first time a few days before this article.
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Downtown merchants call for free holiday parking to be reinstated
OrilliaMatters 1You were at a $1.75 an hour meter; not a $3 an hour meter. Mississaga street East and West street are at $3 an hour. Peter street arts district finding that people are parking and going to Miss. street; great if you are able but not great for their businesses when people want to pick up larger, heavier purchases and need to be in front of their stores. West street is the only side street at $3, full of empty storefronts or stores that have parking for customers like CIBC; often empty, city is making no revenue there. btw Toronto charges $4 an hour on the Danforth; we are no Danforth.
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Fallis, Durnford join growing chorus calling on Ford to not use notwithstanding clause
OrilliaMatters 2ugh...so people choose to be homeless? Even if everyone were to "volunteer" it doesn't mean that housing will appear. It's supply and demand; remember when we all bought out toilet paper...if it's not there to buy, you can't buy it/if it's not there to rent, you can't rent it.
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New Couchiching OPP Detachment Board gets down to business
OrilliaMatters 3yes...but are they the same members as before? I wonder if they will allow for members of the public to make deputations; would be nice in the new parameters if they had to. Or have open forum?
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Collingwood modular homes soon to be filled with homeless seniors
OrilliaMatters 3This is fantastic news like Barrie and Orillia; thanks to County, the federal government and the municipality. The more they can bypass the province and get actual housing put in place the better!
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