South Side demolition to proceed as planned

By Jordan Scholefield, Special to B-cause

The tension in the air was undeniable, as months of discussions about the South Side of Colborne Street came to a head Monday night. In front of a packed council room and with an anxious audience in the overflow room, the Council of Brantford dedicated part of its February 8 meeting to a discussion of what is to be done with the vacant buildings lining South Colborne Street.

There were no shortage of opinions as 18 delegations were scheduled to speak at the meeting. A wide variety of individuals spoke at the meeting, with topics ranging from simple factors such as tradition, heritage and budget to more complex factors such as archaeology being considered.

One such individual was Mary O’Grady, who had some sharp words pointed at certain members the council in regards to the handling of the situation.

"Council voted against public meetings before the demolition” she said. O’Grady also noted that Mayor Hancock, who is usually open to public input, was not very receptive in this case.

When the delegations were finished voicing their opinions, the council began its discussion over Resolution 6.4, which many believe would decide whether the demolition of South Colborne Street would move forward as planned or if it would be halted for an extended period of time in order for further consideration of what to do with the buildings would take place.
During the discussion, Councillor Bucci made it clear that the resolution wasn’t to change the demolition date, as that factor had already been decided on. The resolution, he clarified, would require council as a whole to approve any future contracts or agreements. He also claimed that he did not see what the need for such a rush was in demolishing the buildings.

The biggest surprise in the meeting came during Councillor Sless’ first speaking allotment when it came to the council’s attention that there had been an extension on a demolition grant given to them by the Federal Government from March 31st 2010 to the same date in 2011. While this came as a shock to some members of the council, Mayor Hancock and others on the South Side Task Force had already been informed prior to the meeting. A short transcript of the exchange between Lawson and Councillor Sless follows.
Lawson: We were notified on Wednesday, as well and I’ve confirmed it as late as Friday night, that because of the short timeframe of this money, the Federal Government has extended to March 2011.

Councillor Sless: Till when? So we have a year?

Lawson: That is correct.

Councillor Sless: Ok. It’s interesting we hear it in this format; I would tend to think I might have gotten an email. Apparently I’m not worthy of that, and I’ll accept that if that’s your opinion. Given what you’ve just told me - and maybe others in this room know that, that just fell on my head, I had no idea that that was the case - it makes to me, absolutely no sense, hearing that, to demolish before you have meaningful engagement and public consultation.

After almost two hours of public delegations and council debate, a recorded vote on the resolution was called. Council voted 6-5 against the resolution.

How they voted:

YES - Bucci, Sless, Martin, McCreary, Calnan

NO - Bradford, Carpenter, Ceschi-Smith, Littell, Kinneman, Mayor Hancock