A report on how Bradford can better handle permit requests for “mega” events of 10,000 people or more, updated calculations on the town’s share of costs for the South Simcoe Police Service, an application for about $27,000 in town funding to help renovate part of the Holland Marsh Square, plus more are all on the agenda for Bradford West Gwillimbury’s regular council meeting set for 7 p.m. Tuesday evening at the BWG Public Library.
‘Mega’ event permits
A report from chief administrative officer Geoff McKnight recommends updates to the town’s special events bylaw to better address applications for events of 10,000 attendees or more.
In addition to moving the management of these permit applications from the parks department to growth services, ensuring the owner of the property is responsible for the event, requiring increased insurance, and clarifying some terms, other suggested changes include requiring:
- more consultation with staff for events planned to have more than 5,000 attendees
- a public information session for events planned to have more than 10,000 attendees
- a formal post-event debrief meeting prior to releasing any security deposits
McKnight also recommends separating the fee schedule from the bylaw so that it can be updated without requiring bylaw amendment, and increasing the fees which “do not reflect the town’s current cost” for application reviews and inspections.
For events of less than 10,000 attendees, staff suggest increasing the fee from $250 to $6,500, and for events of more than 10,000 from $750 to $13,240 — the same cost as an application for a temporary use zoning bylaw amendment.
Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano requested staff provide more information about permits for “mega” events at the Oct. 1 council meeting, at which council was also addressing issues related to Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ) Canada’s annual Jalsa Salana convention.
Just last week, the town held a public information session, similar to what is recommended in the report, over AMJ’s plans for their 2025 event.
Police costs recalculated
Based on the annual update to the cost sharing agreement between Bradford and Innisfil, and the 2025 South Simcoe police budget, Ian Goodfellow, Bradford’s director of finance and treasurer, reports that the town’s cost for the service in 2025 will be about $14.24 million.
That’s an increase of more than $1 million from the $13.2 million estimated in Bradford's draft 2025 budget, with the cost expected to be funded with about $92,000 of court security and prisoner transportation grant revenue, about $234,000 from the police capital expenditure reserve fund, about $1.77 million of proceeds from the town’s automated speed enforcement (ASE) program and a property tax levy of about $12.14 million
As a result, Goodfellow estimates the average homeowner in Bradford (assessed at $516,919) will pay about $736 of property taxes for police purposes in 2025, a decrease of about $2.40 — or .33 per cent — compared to 2024.
The police services of Innisfil and Bradford were amalgamated in 1997. Since 2010, the cost-sharing agreement between the two municipalities has been updated annually based on population, number of households and other factors.
Bradford’s share of the costs will increase slightly in 2025 to 46.89 per cent compared to about 46.85 per cent in 2024, while Innisfil’s share will decrease to 53.11 per cent compared to 53.14 per cent in 2024.
According to the report, about $7,547 of the cost-sharing responsibility has been shifted to Innisfil for 2025 as a result of Bradford’s population increasing by an estimated 349 households this year, compared to an estimated increase of 372 households in Innisfil.
DCIP funding
A report from town economic development officer Dean Gillis recommends council approve a request for $27,097.50 in Downtown Community Improvement Plan (DCIP) funding from Adrian Murphy, owner of Rebel Fit Gym (formerly SNAP Fitness).
That funding is intended to help partially cover the cost of renovating the 1,022-square-metre (11,000-square-foot) corner unit in the Holland Marsh Square plaza at 180 Holland St. W., which used to be part of the TSC store before it closed in 2023.
According to the report, Murphy submitted quotes for work including electrical and plumbing totalling about $46,695, as well as $5,000 for permits.
The recommended funding falls into two categories:
- $23,347.50 under Program 2: Building Interior grant program, which covers 50 per cent of costs with a maximum grant of $25,000
- $3,750.00 under Program 3: Fees and Permits grant program, which covers 75 per cent of costs with a maximum grant of $25,000
Additional work is planned for the interior remodelling and power doorways but those are not included in this application.
This is the final application which was submitted before the DCIP program was put on hiatus in 2024, after which work was allowed to proceed only on applications that were already underway.
