> Town of Grimsby has second consecutive surplus, $330K for 2020 /Pgs 19 > Trees of Healthy Wishes campaign has record year Pgs 11-15 > Register for Hat Trick Hockey Pg 2 > Vaccine rollout starts Pg 4 Thursday, January 14, 2021 Vol. 9 Issue 39
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Main Street East development proposal turning heads By Mike Williscraft NewsNow While those involved in the proposed Losani Homes development slated for the current Cole’s Florist lands believe their project fits the local streetscape, many neighbours in the area would beg to differ. The development requires approvals of both the Town’s Official Plan and zoning bylaws. The mixed use building is projected to stand 6-7 storeys in height with ground-floor commercial and residential units above. “The two applications at the Grout Nelles home (the adjacent
property at Nelles Road) and Cole’s store introduce a city-like setting that has nothing to do with the rest of Grimsby’s Main Street East,” said Ruxandra Bucataru, co-chair of citizens’ group Save Main Street. “Their density, mass and height dwarf everything around and instead of contributing to our unique sense of place, they look completely out of it. This is the result See MAIN EAST, Page 3
An artist’s rendering of the Losani Homes project proposed for the DeVries lands where Cole’s Florist stands now. It depicts six storeys, seven are in the application request.
Two-tier Region funding proposal blindsides WLMH fundraisers By Mike Williscraft NewsNow Everything West LIncoln Memorial Hospital’s rebuild fundraising team thought they knew changed with an email Monday. Ron Tripp, Niagara Region’s acting chief administrative officer, informed the group only 18 per cent of the local capital cost share for WLMH’s rebuild cost would come as a contribution.
Since the process started, local officials had been basing projections on the same 21 per cent support received by Niagara Health System’s St. Catharines site on Fourth Avenue. To say the decision does not sit well with local officials would be an understatement. “The piece that was not finalized until today is the recommended maximum Region share which is 18 per cent of the total local share,” Tripp
informed local officials by email on Monday evening. WLMH’s rebuild is currently budgeted at $200 million with $60 million of that required as the local share. The Fourth Avenue facility received $21 million of its initially projected $100 million local share, said Kurt Whitnell, co-chair of the rebuild fundraising campaign. The difference between the 21 and 18 per cent now suggested by Tripp
for WLMH is $1.8 million. “We’ve moved mountains in the past two years. Never in my lifetime did I imagine that our local regional staff would stick it to us?” said Tony Joosse, co-chair of the Save WLMH Action Committee. Whitnell, said the constantly shifting goalposts are not appreciated. “The process has gone from, ‘we’re looking forward to an equitable See REGION, Page 5