Last week, a meeting was held at the St Paul's L'Amoreaux Centre to give Trustee Wong and Councillor Kelly feedback on whether or not the school building and surrounding green space should be sold or leased, and for what purpose. While there were not a lot in attendance, a spirited discussion was had on this issue that all of us are anxious about. Frustrations were expressed as people didn't feel as if the community was given a proper chance to be consulted, given that this meeting was occurring just one week before an important vote. Condo owners and building tenants spoke of additional frustration from not receiving the invitation flyers in their mailboxes like everyone else, and those who knew about it had to rely on word of mouth to get there.
A few highlights from the agenda ...
- There are two properties at stake: The building itself, and the large green space surrounding it (12.3 acre lot in total)
- This coming Wed, May 26, the trustees will decide to either put the property up for sale, or for lease. The room was strongly in favour of leasing the property and not selling it.
- The notion of a high rise development was flatly rejected. The room was strongly in favour of using the building to house needed community services
- Consensus was not reached on what to do with the large green space. Trustee Wong indicated that the TDSB would want to sell a portion of the land to raise money. City staff and Councillor Kelly stated any development would be low lying (1-4 stories high)
- Frustrations were expressed at the process with how the Toronto Lands Corp accepts offers. After the trustees vote, the Toronto Lands Corp will accept proposals for 90 days from a preferred list of institutions. What this means is that if the City (& the community) wants services in that space, the other school boards, post secondary institutions, and the Province must all first take a pass. For a detailed description of the process, please CLICK HERE
For all interested in the upcoming TDSB discussion on this and other issues - the next TDSB meeting is this Wed May 26 at 7pm, and you can watch it live right from your computer, by clicking: TDSB LIVE
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