Barrie council news: Ward staying on as deputy mayor, two houses added to heritage register

The deputy mayor’s chair has become a comfortable seat for Barry Ward. So he’ll keep it.

Barrie council is expected to reappoint the city’s Ward 4 councillor to the post of deputy mayor during a meeting Nov. 23. Ward was initially chosen for a two-year stint as deputy mayor in December 2018; he was supposed to be replaced by then-Ward 3 Coun. Doug Shipley for the latter half of this council term — but Shipley resigned from council in 2019 to become Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP.

The deputy mayor’s position was created to help reduce the number of demands on the mayor’s time.

The appointee also chairs general committee and council meetings in the mayor’s absence.

This position took the place of the acting mayor role that rotated among the city’s 10 ward councillors.

Properties to receive heritage status

Two new sites are set to be added to the city’s heritage register.

Barrie’s general committee approved requests to place homes at and streets on the register. The decision must be ratified by council next week.

The register is a publicly-accessible list of properties that have cultural heritage value or foster civic identity. These sites are usually deemed important to the community for architectural, historical or contextual reasons.

City slows down possible sale of ex-Vespra Street fire hall

Barrie will do a little more digging before moving ahead with the sale of a former fire hall property.

Council is expected to ask staff next week to look into the possibility of starting the Official Plan amendment and rezoning process for and 70 Victoria streets. Under the plan, staff will prepare a report on the matter for the city’s building committee, before the municipality proceeds with the sale of the land.

This is the location of a former municipal fire hall.

Earlier this year, staff noted the site will require nearly $500,000 in remediation work prior to redevelopment and that existing soil conditions are not ideal for supporting heavy loads.

Once that work is complete, the intention will be to create affordable housing on the property. 

To make a proposal work, city officials have indicated a willingness to close off the section of Vespra between Sanford and Innisfil streets.