Burlington, Ont. — March 13, 2020 — Thank you to all the residents who have reached out to me and Councillor Bentivegna to share your thoughts and concerns regarding the upcoming March 23 public meeting in light of COVID-19. We take your views very seriously.
In this uncertain and rapidly changing situation, we are guided first and foremost by the health and safety of our residents. We will make our decisions based on the advice and directives of public health officials, consistency and sustainability in our approach, while allowing the business of the city to continue.
Based on the advice of healthcare experts to avoid large gatherings where people cannot maintain a 6- foot (1.8-metre) distance from one another, and the new directive from the Medical Officer of Health to avoid gatherings over 250 people, the March 23 in-person public meeting will not proceed as planned and will instead be replaced by a digital public meeting.
We have heard the request from residents to postpone the meeting until such time as an in-person public event can be held. We will not be postponing the meeting for the following reasons:
These are unique times for our city and the world that call for caution as well as innovation in our approach.
Our guiding principle is to maintain public safety, while allowing the business of the city to proceed in a consistent manner that is sustainable for the long term, and that will apply to public meetings of all types and sizes, including city committee and council meetings, board meetings or other business meetings.
We will be proceeding with small scale public meetings so long as the 6ft distance between attendees can be maintained, and there are no more than 250 people present. Where this is not possible, we will switch to digital meetings and virtual conferencing for the foreseeable future.
Specific to the Millcroft Greens application, we will now host the event as a live webcast from our Council Chambers here at Burlington City Hall from 7-9pm (later if needed). I will personally be in attendance along with Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna, select planning staff and select representatives from Millcroft Greens.
We will be exploring additional ways to virtually engage the public during this meeting to ensure the public voice and input can be heard and collected. More details will come soon. You will be able to access the live webcast by visiting our website at calendar.burlington.ca and clicking on the meeting date (details to be set up in the coming days).
Residents can submit their questions in advance by emailing info@millcroftgreens.com.
Both the questions and answers will be posted after the meeting for all residents to access and review.
We will provide all additional details as soon as we have them, on my website (mariannemeedward.ca) and social media channels, as well as the City of Burlington’s website (burlington.ca), and during the meeting itself.
It is important to note that in-person attendance at a public meeting is only one way to hear the community voice and gather input, and not always the most comprehensive, since in a large gathering it isn’t possible to hear every voice within the limits of time of a public meeting.
Additionally, there will be many more opportunities throughout this process and a variety of different ways for the community voice to be heard, outside of public attendance at a public meeting.
After an application is submitted, there will be a scheduled Statutory Public Meeting at City Hall. We will evaluate public participation at that time, depending on the situation with COVID-19.
There is still a long way to go on this particular proposal, and many more opportunities for the public voice to be heard.
I hope this information provides reassurance to the community we have taken steps to protect the public health during the COVID-19 crisis, and ensure your voice, questions and feedback are heard, while ensuring the business of the city can continue in a consistent and sustainable manner.
Contacts for additional feedback:
Comments and questions for Millcroft Greens can be directed to: Frank Bon – FBDev Consulting Inc., 289-208-7543 or through the project website at: www.millcroftgreens.com or by emailing info@millcroftgreens.com.
City of Burlington contacts:
Kyle Plas, Department of City Building, City of Burlington: Kyle.Plas@burlington.ca or 905-335-7600 x.7824
Ward 6 Councillor, Angelo Bentivegna: angelo.bentivegna@burlington.ca or 905-335-7600 x.7592
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward: mayor@burlington.ca or 905-335-7607
Sincerely,
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward & Councillor Angelo Bentivegna
City of Burlington