Category: News & Public Notices

You may have noticed that we have been posting about a lot of transit updates lately. We know that having a reliable way to get around the city is an essential service that we provide, as is having a predicable schedule that you can rely on.

In order to be as transparent as possible, we want to provide you with an update so that you can better understand what is happening and when we anticipate being able to return to a more predicable schedule.

What has led us to this point?

• Anticipating the end of life of a couple of our buses, we ordered 2 new buses in early 2023
• These were set to arrive November 2023, however supply chain issues have delayed their arrival. The most recent Estimated Time of Arrival for these buses are:
  • Bus 1: late April 2024 to early May 2024
  • Bus 2: late June 2024 to early July 2024
• In 2023 we had to remove an existing bus (Bus #50316) from service due to a structural issue with the frame
• This has left us operating without any spare capacity until the first new bus arrives
• When a breakdown, repair, or inspection occurs, we don’t have a spare bus to bring into service, so we move to the modified two bus route system.

It’s likely that we will be operating the transit system without this spare capacity until sometime in May, which means that route modifications are likely to occur until May when we receive the first new bus.

What are we doing about it?

• As much as possible, we will complete minor repairs outside of service hours to not impact the transit service. Larger repairs and inspections need to be completed during regular working hours as they often require 2 technicians to complete
• We are working on a new maintenance schedule so that we can stack maintenance and inspections together as much as possible. This will lead to a transit service schedule that is more predictable, and were service outages and route modifications occur less frequently, but for a longer duration, and where we can announce the changes in advance.
• We will still be at the mercy of breakdowns or unexpected issues, but should help reduce last minute announcements about route changes and service outages.

How you can stay up to date:

• We will announce changes to transit services on our website (you can subscribe to this page to receive an email alert when we publish new content)

We thank everyone for their patience and understanding.

The 2024 Brockville Legacy Fund is currently accepting applications.

This annual fund is used to support recreational and capital projects in Brockville. This year there is just over $9,000 available through the fund to be divided and distributed among qualifying submissions.

Applications can be submitted online through our application portal.

Deadline for submissions is April 19, 2024 at 4:00 pm.

For more information, please visit our Legacy Fund page.

On April 8, 2024 Brockville will experience a total solar eclipse, meaning that the Sun, Moon, and the Earth will be perfectly aligned. Brockville will be located directly along this path, so for a brief period of time, the Sun will be blocked entirely by the Moon. Save the date for this event which hasn’t occurred over Brockville for hundreds of years.

Date and Time of the Solar Eclipse:

• Date: Monday April 8, 2024
• Begins: 2:10 pm
• Maximum (eclipse totality for Brockville will last 2 minutes and 47 seconds): starts at 3:24 pm
• Ends: 4:35 pm
  • Total duration: 2 hours, 24 minutes

Solar Eclipse Viewing Event in Brockville:

A community total eclipse viewing event will be held on Blockhouse Island in Brockville on Monday, April 8 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. The eclipse itself takes place between 2:10 pm and 4:35 pm, with eclipse totality occurring in Brockville from 3:24 pm to just before 3:27 pm. This will be a fun way to get out and experience this once in a lifetime event with friends, family, and our local community. Please be aware that we anticipate extra traffic in Brockville that day, so we recommend walking to Blockhouse Island if you are within walking distance. Vendors will be set up by the Brockville Railway Tunnel plaza starting at 11:00 am, and Fat Les Waterfront Grill and food truck will be open at 11:00 am. The Royal Canadian Air Force is celebrating their 100^th anniversary this year, and will have a presence on site, along with performances by the Royal Canadian Air Force Pipes and Drums.

Event Schedule:

• 10:00 am to 2:45 pm, and again from 3:45 pm to 6:00 pm: Free shuttle buses from the Brockville Memorial Centre and Brockville Shopping Centre begin (free parking at both sites too). Please note that buses will not be on the road during totality; the last pick up to get down to Blockhouse Island will pick up at around 2:45pm, traffic dependent.
• 11:00 am: event grounds open.
  • Vendors will be set up by the Brockville Railway Tunnel plaza
  • Fat Les Waterfront Grill and food truck
  • Aquatarium education station and face painting
  • Royal Canadian Air Force staff and displays
  • Watch the chalk artists create their pieces for the contest and vote for your favourite
• 12:15 pm: Opening ceremonies in the Railway Tunnel Plaza
• 12:30 to12:50 pm: The Royal Canadian Air Force Pipes and Drums will follow the opening ceremonies
• 1:00 pm: Photos with “Astra” at the Royal Canadian Air Force booth
• 2:00 pm to 2:30 pm: The Royal Canadian Air Force Pipes and Drums, marching from the Railway Tunnel to the waterfront
• 2:10 pm: Eclipse begins
• 3:24 pm: Eclipse totality in Brockville (lasts only 2 minutes and 47 seconds)
• 3:45 pm to 6:00 pm: Free shuttle buses from Blockhouse Island to the Brockville Memorial Centre and Brockville Shopping Centre begin
• 4:00 pm to 4:30 pm: The Royal Canadian Air Force Pipes and Drums in the Railway Tunnel Plaza
• 4:35 pm: Eclipse ends
• 5:00 pm: event ends
  • Downtown will be busy after the eclipse when everyone tries to leave at the same time. Avoid traffic jams by spending some time in Downtown Brockville shopping or going out for a bite to eat. Lots of shops are available on King Street, go check them out!
• 6:00 pm: Shuttle bus service ends

The Aquatarium will have educational activities on the grassy area in the centre of the parkway. For astronomy enthusiasts, a telescope set up area will be established on the south west corner of the parkway.

Event site details:

• Blockhouse Island Parkway will be the official eclipse viewing area in Brockville
• The site will be closed that day to vehicle traffic to make room for pedestrians to move about safely
• Bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets, and dress appropriately in layers as April at the waterfront can be quite cool
• Pick up your free pair of solar filter glasses from the Aquatarium in advance of April 8^th, sponsored by the Aquatarium, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Brockville Tourism.
• Cameras should use a specific solar filter (including phone cameras too) in order to protect their equipment. If you plan to take photos during the eclipse, spend some time doing a bit of research ahead of time on camera settings and filters
• Access our custom Google Map here which shows nearby points of interest, parking lots, public washrooms, and more
• If you are interested in being a vendor, click here for information on how to apply to be a vendor at the eclipse viewing event.

For more information about the Eclipse and how Brockville is getting ready, please read our full information here as we will add to that page as the event develops. If you are a business owner in Brockville, please read our post on how to prepare for the eclipse.

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Eclipse event partners:

• The Aquatarium
• Royal Canadian Air Force
• Brockville Tourism
• City of Brockville

For more information about the eclipse, visit our Total Solar Eclipse page If you are a local business owner or run an organization in Brockville and want to know how to prepare your business and staff for the eclipse, please read our post about preparing your business for the eclipse

Cataraqui and Quinte Conservation are excited to announce a wonderful educational webinar organized for Thursday April 18th, 2024 from 6:00-7:30 pm.

The Drinking Water Wise Webinar series offers information and suggestions to Ontario residents about how they can protect their sources of drinking water. To date, we have covered topics including Harmful Algal Blooms, Well Care 101, Septic Systems 101, and Realty and Rural Drinking Water. All webinars are recorded for future viewing on YouTube along with the previous related webinars located here.

The upcoming webinar on Rural Drinking Water and Human Health is scheduled for April 18th, with guest speaker, Dr. Anna Majury from Public Health Ontario. During her talk, Dr. Majury will discuss the ins and outs of waterborne pathogens, the importance of well-water testing, the impacts of consuming contaminated water, as well as ways to avoid contamination of wells. All are welcome to join. It’s FREE to join the Microsoft Teams meeting. Sign up here. 

As part of the 2024 budget, a project was approved by Council to create a new sports pitch at Memorial Park on Laurier Blvd. Work to construct the new “M6” pitch is planned to be completed during the summer of 2024. The new soccer-style pitch will be in the low-lying areas of Memorial Park adjacent to Laurier Boulevard and the toboggan hill. This area remains too wet throughout the spring and summer to be used for sports and is currently only used to build the outdoor skating area in winter.

Due to favorable weather conditions work to build this new sports pitch is starting ahead of schedule. Heavy machinery is currently preparing the area to begin accepting trucks with fill material as early as March 15. The project will see roughly 100 loads of fill material brought in and levelled. A new irrigation system is planned to be installed and the whole site will receive a finish of topsoil and grass. City staff will open the field to use once the site is ready.

Good news skaters! The skating area will be built on the improved site this coming winter.

 

Due to changes to the social media platform  X (Twitter), the City of Brockville decided to discontinue using tweets as a primary means for public communications. The City will continue to post relevant items to Facebook and the News section of our website.

In lieu of ‘tweets’, Announcements will be found in the same place on our homepage. When ‘Announcements’ are made, the City will send them directly to your email inbox.

In the event of a City of Brockville EMERGENCY, this page (https://brockville.com/emergency-services/) will be the primary means for public information and updates with a “Subscribe to this Page” option for notifications to then be sent directly to your email inbox. https://brockville.com/emergency-services/

Sign up for Announcements Here

At a council meeting on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, Brockville council passed the 2024 municipal budget with a net tax levy of $43,618,442. The net residential tax rate increase is 4.9 per cent, representing an estimated annual increase of $77.52 or monthly, $6.46 per $100,000 of assessment for a residential home. An average Brockville residential property assessed at $250,000 would have an estimated annual increase of $193.81, or monthly $16.15.

The highlights of the budget include:

• $25,035,174 to support City Departments
• $91,260 in net annual savings of after bringing Para-Transit in-house
• $400,000 contribution from Fiscal Policy Reserve to smooth the 2023 Budget jump-gap
• $18,434,768 to support community partners including:
  • $268,194 of MAT tax to offset the Aquatarium net budget of $642,844 (operating $450,000 and In-kind $192,884)
  • $400,000 contribution from Fiscal Policy Reserve to mitigate the 63% increase, $1,039,768 from St. Lawrence Lodge, $2,686,264
•  $148,500 to support community groups including:
  • Brockville YMCA $120,000
  • Maple View Lodge $22,000
  • Sherwood Park Manor $100,000 year 1 of 5 proposed funding by debt.

The budget continued to support current service levels while also investing in capital projects:

• $3,079,908 rehabilitation of the William Street Overpass
• $1,013,850 for parks and recreation projects including:
  • $450,000 for arena equipment and safety updates.
  • $120,000 for Railway Tunnel light show maintenance.
  • $50,000 for Laurier soccer/rugby pitch.
  • $55,000 for Centeen Park steps.
  • $28,000 Brock Trail
  • $282,850 other parks maintenance
• $2,150,000 for road surface maintenance.
• $341,000 bridges and culverts
• $236,614 transit
• $543,800 IT infrastructure
• $1,787,300 public works equipment
• $185,410 building services
• $166,600 fire equipment
• $717,350 other facility maintenance and equipment

See also, three pages of graphs for the final 2024 budget including; City Department Budget by Expense Category, 2024 Capital Budget Funding, and 2024 Tax Levy – City Departments & Community Partners.

More information about the budget and finance can be found here.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in shaping the future of the City of Brockville. Together, we can build a stronger, more vibrant community.