ward3brighton.ca

The City of Charlottetown Youth Advisory Board is inviting all teens (ages 12-18) to an open swim!

Where: CARI Complex
When: Friday, November 21, 2008, 8:00p.m. – 9:00p.m.

Pizza and Refreshments will be served. Teens are required to sign-in at the door.

For more information, please contact Megan at 629-4176 or mgauthier@city.charlottetown.pe.ca

I am pleased to announce the City’s bargaining committee met yesterday with representatives from CUPE Local 501 (Waste Water Treatment Plant) and reached an agreement that will end the strike. Both the union and City Council ratified the agreement last night and a joint press release will be issued today. The Plant workers will be back on the job tomorrow.

If you were judging solely on the apparent demand for new high-end condominiums in the Charlottetown area, you would hardly know the world is in the grips of a financial crisis, a severe downturn in real estate markets, with economic recession on the horizon. Last week a developer announced plans for several 8-story glass and concrete luxury condo towers in Stratford, while almost simultaneously Charlottetown’s Planning Board was hearing from another developer who wants to build similarly highfalutin condos directly north across the harbour, behind Founders Hall. In fact, although they are different developers, both projects were designed by the same architect.

This area of the Charlottetown waterfront is a Comprehensive Development Area, or a special planning area, and because this new proposal is significantly different from the spa/hotel/condo plan that was originally approved for that site more than two years ago, the approval process must start again from the beginning.
Tomorrow night at council’s monthly public meeting we will vote to “…proceed to the public consultation phase to consider an amendment to the Waterfront Development Concept Plan…”.

Assuming this resolution passes, a public meeting on the new condo proposal will be scheduled sometime before Christmas, I would think. The developer has indicated he would like to get started on some of the early prep work this winter.

UPDATE: The public meeting is scheduled for November 26th, 7:00pm, at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel (Georgian Room).

I’m hopeful an agreement can be reached soon with CUPE Local 501 (Wastewater Treatment Plant). In the meantime, as they continue to strike, the union has obviously employed some type of email robot to facilitate the sending of a form letter to the Mayor and Council.  I’ve been receiving them at a brisk and steady pace since yesterday, and they appear to be coming from CUPE members and supporters from as far away as Ontario, and even Ireland, strangely.

Many of the correspondents have not bothered to alter the final sentence which reads:

As mentioned, Pick Your Councillor will also be notified of my concern.

Still, the point is well taken. The union is making a demonstration of their support, and it certainly is being noticed by me as my email inbox alarm continues to ring away. As a tactic, I’m not sure how effective this is but I do hope the union and the City’s bargaining committee come to an agreement sooner rather than later. About a week into this strike, I received a visit at my home by two members of the striking local. They were very cordial and presented me with some helpful information. More than three weeks into the strike now, it would be best for everyone concerned if we could find a resolution. But I’ve heard it said that a good compromise is an agreement where everyone involved is equally unsatisfied, something both sides will have to keep in mind.