Kingston News July 11, 2018

Canada – NATO

Important news for the armed forces this morning.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just announced Canada will command a new NATO training mission in Iraq.  This will include up to 250 Canadian Armed Forces personnel for one year beginning this fall.  They will be deployed in Baghdad and the surrounding area.  The mission will also include four Griffon helicopters to support NATO activities.  Canada’s army is already providing training and assistance to Iraqi security forces.

Partnership – New School

A new French language high school being built in Kingston will share park space with the City.

Kingston city council has approved spending just over a million dollars to develop the park at the new French public and French catholic school on the former Nortel property at Taylor Kidd Boulevard and Centennial Drive.

The majority of funding for the project will come from development fees for the subdivision on the former Nortel property.

The new French language high school is expected to open in the fall of 2020.

Council – Cruise Ship Docking

Kingston may have a place for larger cruise ships to dock in the future.  Kingston city council has approved a plan to purchase the water lot next to the Queen Street Wharf from the federal government.  The plan also calls for spending $500,000 to dredge the lot to make it deep enough for cruise ships.

Kingston doesn’t currently have docking space for larger ships.

The city will use money from a reserve fund for the project.

Toderian – Hired

Kingston will get advice on tall buildings and other urban intensification from a consulting company led by former award winning planner Brent Toderian.

Toderian impressed people in Kingston when he visited the city earlier this year to discuss ways to draw more people to living in the downtown area.

Council voted unanimously in favour of spending just over $50,000 to hire Toderian UrbanWORKS.

Staff assured council last night tall buildings are only part of the vision for the future of the city.

Noise Bylaw Exemptions

Queen’s University has received an exemption from the city’s noise bylaw for five events during Orientation week this September. You can find out more about it in this article.

City Council gave unanimous approval for the noise bylaw exemption for the events…a carnival, semi-formal, movie screening, outdoor concert and the closing ceremonies.

Trucks Taken Out of Service

A road safety initiative specifically aimed at commercial vehicle safety conducted in Napanee resulted in 15 of 32 vehicles being removed from service due to safety concerns.

Officers from the OPP teamed up with Kingston Police and the Ontario Transportation and Environment Ministries in the safety blitz yesterday.  29 heavy vehicles and 3 light-duty vehicles were inspected.  14 of the heavy vehicles and one of the light duty vehicles were taken out of service.  A total of 15 charges were laid relating to vehicle maintenance and violations of drivers licensing conditions.

Transport Crash – Workers Injured

Two workers on the 401 near Mallorytown were injured when a transport truck lost a tire.  The OPP says the truck lost a tire and hit a construction sign truck around 1:45 Monday afternoon.  The 37 year old driver of the sign truck received minor injuries.  A 19 year old worker on the side of the highway was hit by the flying tire and was taken to Kingston General Hospital for treatment.

The 42 year old transport driver from Richmond Hill has been charged with careless driving.

Drug Charges – Prison Visitor

A visitor at the Assessment Unit of Joyceville Institution has been busted for attempted to bring contraband into the prison.  The Correctional Service says staff confiscated multiple packages of contraband from the visitor around 11:30 on Friday.

A news release says the contraband included 78.3 grams of tobacco and 47.7 grams of marijuana that would have been worth $12,500 inside the institution.

The visitor was arrested by the OPP Penitentiary Squad and is facing charges.