Ward 2
Councillor Lehman

Contact or Visit

Councillor Lehman’s Ward Office:
115 Dunlop St. East
2nd Floor
Barrie, Ontario

Office Hours:
Monday 9-11 AM
Other times by appointment

Phone: 739-4272

Email: jlehman@barrie.ca

Read Councillor Lehman’s biography here.

Committee Work

Councillor Lehman is the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Council. He sits on eleven committees in his role as Councillor:

Corporate Services Committee
Downtown Barrie BIA
MacLaren Arts Centre – Board of Directors
Simcoe County Airport Commission
International Relations Committee
Sunnidale Park Master Plan Committee
Save Prince of Wales Committee
Gryphon Theatre – Board of Directors
Barrie Performing Arts Centre
David Busby Centre Partnership

He also continues to chair the Growing By Degrees – Barrie University Task Force.

Standing Up For Ward Two

Historic Neighbourhood Strategy

Historic Neighbourhood Strategy – This new project is a template for how I think planning needs to happen in Barrie – led by residents, not staff or consultants. This project will see the residents of seven older neighbourhoods in Barrie establish a vision for their neighbourhood and then build an action plan to achieve it. This is a big change in two ways; first instead of looking at a single issue (say, parks) and looking at the whole city, it's taking a single neighbourhood and looking at all services within the area. Second, the residents themselves are at the centre of this – the vision will come from them and they will be writing parts of the report themselves.

Prince of Wales and Community Schools

Although I joined many parents and other representatives in protesting to the School Board, the decision was made to close P.O.W. I'm now pushing for special Provincial funding to keep the school open, in line with our strategic priorities.

Road Repairs

In the 2009 budget, two road projects in Ward 2 were proposed to be put off for another year, despite having been deferred several times in the past. I worked with staff to find savings in the capital budget to allow these two projects - Donald Street and Eccles Street north, to proceed in 2009. Eccles Street north was completed in September of this year, and Donald

Stimulus Funding

Stimulus funding will be used to repair many of the major roads and pipes that need fixing in ward 2, including Donald Street and Toronto Street. Along with Councillor Jackson, I added the new fire station to the list of projects at the last minute – which resulted in an additional $8 million in stimulus funding for Barrie.

Downtown Revitalization

With the recession slowing down progress on major developments, we have focused on other elements of revitalization. The extensive reworking and improvement of the road network is now nearly complete. Walking along the waterfront in the downtown, you can really see the changes in place. The construction of the two bank offices and the parking garage have sparked investment on Collier Street, with four new businesses opening in 2008 and 2009, new leasing activity, and expansion of other existing businesses. My view of revitalization is that it needs to occur through many small projects as well as a few large ones. Some of the projects I have been working on to improve downtown include:

The new Barrie Museum, which will be operated by the Barrie Historical Association, in the former Armouries Building on Mulcaster Street across from the MacLaren Arts Centre.
Lakeshore Mews – the new walkway and improved connections to the waterfront between Memorial Square and Mulcaster Street.
M.B.A. Program – Laurentian University will be bringing their MBA program to Downtown Barrie in 2010. The program began in 2009 with 19 students, and will eventually grow to some 75-100 students.
Social Justice / Charities – I have been working to bring charities and not-for-profits together with residents in the Downtown area, as part of the new Barrie Downtown Neighbourhood Association (see over).
Community Theatre - I was pleased to bring this issue to Council in 2008 and help give a new home in Downtown Barrie to Talk Is Free Theatre and Theatre by the Bay; as well as many other community arts groups. The City has secured Federal funding for a more fulsome renovation of this facility to make it an anchor use for the Five Points.
Buskers and Music - One of the best events I've been to at the theatre was the auditions for downtown buskers in the summer of 2009. The reintroduction of buskers is part of our effort to liven up downtown streets, and by licensing them, we are trying to ensure qualified performers are Downtown.
New Businesses, New Residents – after a difficult year, it's tremendous to see the Imperial cinemas being re-opened, the William Ronald Studio Building (21 Dunlop West) converted to loft apartments, and the new seniors housing project on Bayfield between Sophia and Wellington. These projects will bring people into our core area and continue to strengthen its base as a commercial, entertainment, and residential district. As we work toward the larger projects, these smaller projects are part of continuous improvement of the core.
Crime and Safety - As part of the 2009 budget, 6 new police officers have been hired. In July of this year, I held a town hall meeting of residents concerned about crime including the Barrie Police, who have done an excellent job of focussing on problem areas in the Downtown. The long-term answer needs to include the community working together and with the police. To this end, I've set up the Downtown Neighbourhood Association, led by some 15 co-ordinators - residents, business owners, and representatives from the social service agencies in the core. My hope is that this group will provide much-needed support to the BIA, the City, and Police, in addressing crime and supporting revitalization.

Building a Stronger City

Supporting Small Business

I moved a motion at Council to eliminate business license fees for most small businesses in Barrie. The cost of a basic business license had jumped more than 300% in two years! This motion removed an unfair tax and was lauded by the Chamber of Commerce and small business associations in Barrie.

Boundary Dispute

In December 2008, I was elected as Chair of the City's Boundary Working Group, to try to bring an end to this seven-year dispute that was preventing both Barrie and Innisfil from planning for their future. After many months of meetings with the Province and a lot of behind the scenes work, I joined MPP Aileen Carroll in the announcement of Bill 196, Provincial legislation to adjust Barrie's borders to give us the land we need to grow, and an allocation of some 36,000 new jobs to Barrie in the province's growth plan. This means we will grow much slower than in the past – in fact at a little less than half the rate we've grown in recent years. This will bring jobs closer to home for thousands of residents and allow growth to occur in a more sustainable way in our region.

Second GO Station

The Barrie South GO Station is an unquestioned success - ridership is nearly double the forecast. Three months after it opened, Councillor Moore and I brought a motion to Council to request immediate construction of the Allandale GO station. Funding was announced about a year later by the Feds and Province for opening the station by 2011.

Restoring the Allandale Train Station

After far, far too many years, the Allandale Train Station is now under restoration. Right now, historic artifacts inside the building are being painstakingly restored, such as the crown mouldings, and there is a construction team removing asbestos from the buildings. The broader proposal for the rail lands was supported by Council because:

The Y/CGC proposal includes about 300,000 square feet in total, providing a significant investment in the City.
There will be no public money involved in the development; the City of Barrie is contributing $2M towards restoring the historic station buildings, but is selling the land for $2M in return.
The Y/CGC proposal has underground parking, instead of all surface parking.

Although I believe the Y/CGC proposal will be successful, the design of the site is a very important issue that caused me concern. For this reason, I moved an amendment to the recommended motion that will require more public consultation on the scale, massing, and layout of the site. These changes will be reported to Council shortly.

Barrie Hydro

In 2008, Council approved the merger of Barrie Hydro with Powerstream Inc, which also provides power to Markham and Vaughan. The merger has already had an immediate benefit. In late 2008, Powerstream Barrie Hydro presented the City with a cheque for $25M a special one-time dividend resulting from the merger. Council put this money towards construction of the new Cancer Care Centre and expansion of Royal Victoria Hospital, part of Barrie's $52.5M overall commitment. Because of the hydro merger, we have now made our donation to RVH, without having to raise property taxes to do it. In 2009, Powerstream presented the residents of Barrie with a second cheque for $12M dollars, a “post-closing dividend” which has been put towards reducing the City's debt and will also help take the burden off property taxpayers.

Regards,

Ward 2 Councillor Lehman