The next committee of the whole meeting for Newmarket council is scheduled for Dec. 7.
The meeting, which begins at 1 p.m.. will be livestreamed from the Town of Newmarket's website.
The full agenda can be found here.
Here is what NewmarketToday will be following:
Offstreet parking program
Every year between Nov. 1 and April 15, the Town of Newmarket restricts street parking between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. to allow snow plows to do their work without risk of hitting someone's parked car.
While that may have worked in past years, the pandemic has changed the calculation. Newmarket residents are parking on streets more often this year for a variety of reasons such as working from home, students studying remotely, people out of work, etc.
This has created a "discrepancy between available off-street parking for residential properties and the number of vehicles per household.
So now the town is considering a program to provide more opportunities for off-street parking beyond residential driveways.
Some possible locations for parking areas include:
- Town Offices - 395 Mulock Dr.
- Magna Centre - 800 Mulock Dr.
- Ray Twinney Complex - 100 Eagle St.
- Downtown - P3 Parking Lot
Council will be receiving a report with all the details of the proposed program, including the rules and how they would be enforced if the program is approved.
Newmarket's draft capital and operating budgets
Town treasurer Mike Mayes will be presenting council with the latest drafts of the operating and capital budgets for 2021 on Monday.
Currently, the proposed operating budget, which covers salaries and other operating expenses, is $136.8 million.
Meanwhile, the capital budget, which covers infrastructure and equipment purchases, is $37.9 million.
Mayes will be walking councillors through some of the latest revisions to the draft budgets, including operations centre expenses, the extension of property tax fee amnesty by a month, and supports for local businesses.
There will also be some discussion of the capital budget highlights, which include:
- Skate Park - $2 million
- Fire trucks - $2.4 million
- Road resurfacing - $6.1 million
- Murlock Aboreteum Concept
After this, council will need to receive the reserves and reserve funds budgets and the final version of the 2021 municipal budget in financial statement form before it can be officially adopted.
Patio program results
During the 2020 patio season, Newmarket started a municipal program to help restaurants expand their patio sections to accommodate more physical distancing.
This was done by helping them find materials, equipment and contractors, identifying parking spaces and public land available to be used, making sure town departments could help make the process as easy as possible.
On Monday, town staff will be presenting a report to the council describing the "tremendous success" the program turned out to be, with nearly 40 businesses taking part over the course of the summer.
