Greetings and welcome to my May 2024 Edition eNewsletter.

Fire and Emergency Services in Durham Region and Kawartha Lakes have partnered with Enbridge Gas to promote spring and summer safety tips on local radio stations.

From May 3 to June 29, radio ads featuring representatives from Enbridge Gas and the team of public educators from local Fire Services departments, will promote warm weather safety tips on KX96 New Country FM, 94.9 The Rock, 107.7 FM, and 1580 AM CKDO.

This year’s campaign will include the following Fire Services departments: Pickering, Ajax, Brock, Clarington, Kawartha Lakes, Oshawa, Scugog, Whitby, and Uxbridge. The radio ads will promote fire safety messages to the residents of Durham Region, as well as the surrounding communities in Ontario. 

Visit pickering.ca/fire to learn more about fire safety.

May is Rabies Awareness Month and Durham Region Health Department is reminding the public that rabies immunization is mandatory for household pets, and all animal bites or scratches involving humans must be reported to the Health Department. Rabies is a preventable disease which is most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal; however, once infected with the virus, rabies is fatal for humans and most animals.

“A key component of rabies prevention and control is responsible pet ownership which includes maintaining up-to-date immunization against rabies for all dogs and cats over three months old; this is required under Ontario Regulation 567/90 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act,” said Shannon Lewis, Manager, Health Protection with the Health Department. “Pet owners can protect their families and pets by ensuring all dogs and cats receive annual immunization against rabies.”

Responsible pet ownership also includes:

• Keeping immunizations up-to-date for all dogs, cats, and ferrets.
• Keeping your pets under direct supervision and avoiding contact with wild animals.
• Calling your local animal control agency for instructions on having sick wildlife removed from your neighbourhood.
• Having your pets spayed or neutered to help reduce the number of unwanted pets that may not be properly cared for, or regularly immunized.
• Reporting all animal-to-human bites and scratches to the Health Department.

To help area residents with rabies immunizations and microchip for pets, two area municipalities will be hosting low-cost rabies clinics:

• Pickering Animal Services clinic on May 4, in partnership with the Millennium City Veterinary Hospital and Durham Region Health Department.
• Oshawa Animal Services on June 22, in partnership with Simcoe Rossland Animal Hospital and Durham Region Health Department.

For details about these events, and other immunization and microchip clinics, visit durham.ca/rabies. Residents are encouraged to check back regularly for updated clinic dates throughout the year.

If your pet bites or scratches someone, this must be reported to the Health Department. Anyone who has had a rabies exposure – which could include a bite, scratch, or contact with the saliva of an infected animal – or who has information on a potential rabies exposure, should immediately report the incident to the Health Department at 1.800.841.2729 or by using the online form. Children should report animal bites or scratches to their parents/guardians and parents/guardians should contact the Health Department.

Rabies is also present in wildlife population and associated with foxes, skunks, bats, and raccoons; between 2019 and 2023, three bats tested positive for rabies in Durham Region. The following precautions are recommended to help avoid potential exposure to rabies from wild animals:

• Avoid contact with all wild animals, especially bats, skunks, foxes, and raccoons.
• Keep children away from wild animals.
• Keep pets away from wild animals; pets should be kept indoors at night or should be supervised when outside.
• Avoid contact with dead or sick wildlife and do not attempt to care for these animals. Contact your local animal service and ask for assistance.

For more information about rabies, please visit durham.ca/Rabies or call Durham Health Connection Line at 905.668.2020 or 1.800.841.2729.

Join us as Pickering celebrates together. We have an assortment of great events to engage in all year round.

The City’s Events Calendar is a great resource to see upcoming City and Community Events. 

I would like to highlight a couple of Pickering events that we are proudly offering:

Petapolooza

Saturday, May 11, 2024

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Esplanade Park

**More details listed below.

Artfest

Saturday, May 25, 2024 & Sunday, May 26, 2024

11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Esplanade Park

**Join us for a fun-filled art-themed outdoor event, that is sure to evoke lots of creativity. The event will be offered for two days this year. For more information visit our website.  

Join myself alongside Ward 2 Councillors, Linda Cook & Mara Nagy on Tuesday,

June 11 at 7:00 pm as we host a special Joint-Ward Town Hall meeting in Meeting Rooms 2 & 3 (on the second floor) of the Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex (1867 Valley Farm Road). Pickering Trustees from the Durham District School Board will be joining us to discuss important topics on our community.

Please join us - all are welcome!

For future Town Hall Meeting information, including dates & locations, please contact the Council Office by email at council@pickering.ca or by telephone at 905.420.4605.

As part of our commitment to open, transparent, and accessible municipal government, we continue to post online recaps of the decisions made at our Council Meetings to help residents better understand municipal affairs and directions set by Council. 

A breakdown of our Council Meeting Highlights are available on the City's website here.

The official meeting minutes are also publicly available through the City's website calendar and Corporate Records webpages.

The next public Council Meeting is being held on Monday, May 27, 2024 at 7:00 pm

in the Council Chambers of Pickering City Hall.

Each month the City of Pickering Building Services division generates an activity report which includes statistics of new applications received within the month, permit fees received to date, estimated construction valuations, projected building permit revenues, and comparisons to the previous year.

You may view the Building Permit Activity Report for March 2024 here.

For more information, visit the Building Services web page here.

Each month the Planning & Development Committee hosts a public meeting to discuss planning matters in the City of Pickering. The following is a list of item(s) that will be heard on Monday, May 6, 2024 at 7:00 pm at Pickering City Hall. This meeting will be livestreamed on the City's YouTube channel, should you wish to attend and are not able to do so in-person. Residents that wish to participate, register as a delegate, or have any additional questions about the meeting, are encouraged to contact the Clerk's Office at clerks@pickering.ca or 905.420.4611.

Visit LetsTalkPickering.ca/Development to learn more about the planning process.

The Region of Durham Council continues to be a champion for our community, and leverages it's voice through memberships with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). It advocates for change on current Provincial legislation that negatively impacts our residents.

The Region plays a significant role in providing essential services and resources to all of their corresponding municipalities. Check out the March 27 and April 24

Durham Region CAO Briefing Note summary to learn more. 

Durham Region is preparing for the release of it's 2025 Strategic Plan. They are currently in the engagement phase of this project and want to hear from you. Your opinions and thoughts matter! Follow the link to view the webpage and see how you can participate.

Work to restore the fenced-off areas of the Dunmore Dog Park is scheduled to begin between May 1 through 14, 2024. The work was delayed due to wet conditions making it extremely challenging to get the heavy machinery into the area.

The work includes replacement of a partially plugged drainage pipe; as well as sodding, seeding, and woodchips of some areas to fill the site.

All is anticipated to be completed by the end of June 30th, weather dependent.

For details on this notice, visit our website.

*New* Free Waterfront Shuttle Service

In an effort to reduce the weekend parking pressures for those visiting the Eastern Portion of our Waterfront-Nautical Village and Millennium Square, a new free waterfront shuttle service will be available to residents of Pickering throughout the 2024 summer season!

Durham Region Transit will operate this service, secured through funding from the City of Pickering, beginning June 29, 2024 and ending September 2, 2024 from 10:00 am to

7:00 pm on weekends and statutory holidays including on Canada Day (July 1), Civic Holiday (August 5) and Labour Day (September 2).

The route will travel from Liverpool and Annland to Pickering Parkway and will complete a loop via Liverpool, Finch and Kingston Road to connect customers with routes 121, 112 and 900 (any transfers require payment of standard fares). Route 100 will operate on a loop every 30 minutes and will provide transit from Pickering City Centre to the Waterfront.

Staff are working with Durham Region Transit on signage and promotions of this new free service. More information will be available on our website in the coming weeks.

Beachfront Park Revitalization Plans

The construction drawings for the first phase of the Beachfront Park Revitalization Plan are being prepared, with the intention to tender this project, obtain Council approval, and commence construction in September 2024. As such, there will be no disruption to Beachfront Park this summer due to this project. Contractor prequalification is complete and five qualified contractors have been selected to bid on this project. The first phase of work covers the area from the east side of Millennium Square to Alex Robertson Park and includes the elevated walkway structure, seating areas overlooking the beach and Hydro Marsh, and barrier free ramps to gain beach access. Permit submissions have been made to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) for approval and permitting.

Project approval has been obtained from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Indigenous consultation for this project continues.

For more information, visit our webpage on Beachfront Park & Millennium Square.

Waterfront Trail from Bruce Handscomb Park to Elvira Court

The reconstruction of the waterfront trail between Bruce Handscomb Park and Elvira Court that is being completed by TRCA’s Restoration group is progressing well. The new culverts for the creek crossing have been installed and the retaining walls adjacent to the homes on Elvira Court are nearing completion. The trail grading work and paving is anticipated to be completed by the end of May 2024. Final site restoration, tree planting, and installation of trail lighting is anticipated to be completed prior to the end of June.

For more information, visit the City's website Notice here and see attached.

Splash pads

Splash pads will be open on Friday May 17, 2024, before the Victoria Day - May long weekend. The splash pads have been de-winterized and Durham Health will be inspecting the splash pads within the next 2 weeks.

Summer Concert Series

Free Live Summer Concerts will return to Millennium Square on Thursdays from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm beginning July 4th to August 29th to enjoy some outdoor community engagement, live entertainment, dancing, and fun for all ages!

This June, the City of Pickering, along with Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa and Clarington, will be collaborating in an initiative to offer free fitness programs across the Region throughout the month of June to commemorate Recreation & Parks Month.

The City has received $1,200 from the Government of Canada to participate

The City of Pickering applied for a ParticipACTION Community Challenge grant earlier this year. The ParticipACTION Community Challenge is a national physical activity and sport initiative that encourages everyone in Canada to get active throughout June in search of Canada’s Most Active Community. The community that runs the most physical activities and events through the month of June wins $100,000 from ParticipACTION.

The funding is provided through the Government of Canada’s Community Sport for All Initiative to community organizations who will be promoting or delivering sport and physical activity opportunities in June to equity-denied groups, in particular Black, Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQQIA+, persons with a disability, low-income populations and newcomers to Canada. The City of Pickering was successful in receiving $1,200 towards this initiative.

Free Fitness Activities will be offered throughout June

Alongside our neighbouring municipalities, Pickering will be hosting a variety of free activities in June including the following:

Kick-off Event for National Health & Fitness Day – DanceFit Jam Party

Saturday, June 1, 2024, from 10:30 am to

12:30 pm at the Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex (CHDRC) in the West Salon.

This event will showcase the wide variety of dance fitness programs the City has to offer for a variety of ages and abilities including Socacize, Zumba, Zumba Gold, Nia and more.

The event will also include vendors from various local health and wellness organizations as well as well as Durham Tourism.

Free Swim

Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the CHDRC Pool.

This will be an opportunity to bring the whole family for a dip in the pool - a great way to stay active.

Furry Friends Fit Club Walking Program

Monday, June 17, 2024, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm in the Princess of Wales Park behind the CHDRC.

Community members can join us for a lovely walk throughout Princess of Wales Park, with or without their dogs, led by an instructor through the park’s trails.

International Yoga Day – Sunset Yoga in the Park

Friday June 21, 2024 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at Esplanade Park.

This hatha - style class is designed to introduce yoga and its benefits, both physical and mental, for all ages and abilities. No previous experience with yoga necessary.

Free Fitness Fridays

Every Friday in June we’ll be offering free access to the health club or group fitness class at the CHDRC. Must be 13+ years old to access group fitness classes and 15+ years old to access the health club.

Region Wide Activities posted via Durham Tourism

Durham Tourism will be providing a landing page and offering in kind promotion for all free June activities across the region at the link: durhamtourism.ca/RecandParksMonth

The Lobbyist Registry is up and running, and it is now mandatory for those that lobby Public Officer Holders. The team from the Clerks Department has played a lead role in not only preparing the Lobbyist Registry By-law, but also the tools that will assist Public Office Holders and Lobbyists to understand the definition of a Public Officer Holder.