Mayor Al McDonald and CAO Keith Robicheau will join their counterparts from Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Timmins at a Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors (NOLUM) meeting today.
Mayor Christian Provenzano will be hosting the mayors and chief administrative officers from the five NOLUM members at the Sault Ste. Marie Civic Centre.
Agenda items for the meeting feature presentations from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, Ontario’s Opioid Emergency Task Force and FedNor.
McDonald says the topic of development charges in the north is a priority for the North Bay contingent and the Mayor says he is aware that the sentiment is shared with the other markets.
Homebuilders and commercial developers face challenges, says McDonald, when it comes to regulations that fit the scenario in the south but do not necessarily relate to our situation in North Bay.
McDonald says infilling is the desired development scenario in the north, but due to regulations surrounding the region’s preponderance of wetlands, development is consistently pushed to the outside.
Other topics of shared concern, such as the upcoming provincial election, population projections/immigration and government funding for northern communities will also be discussed at the meeting.
