Item - 2018.CC44.18

City Council on July 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 30, 2018, adopted the following:

1. City Council adopt the recommendations in the Ombudsman's report (July 17, 2018) and direct the City Planning Division and the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division to implement all of the recommendations.

Ombudsman Recommendations:

Regarding Section 37 Agreements Generally

Coordinating Staff Roles and Responsibilities

1.  For every Section 37 agreement, City Planning should identify a staff lead. The staff lead should be responsible for overseeing the Section 37 agreement from initial negotiation through to completion of each benefit.

2.  Where a Section 37 agreement also involves other divisions besides City Planning, the staff lead should establish a team for the Section 37 agreement, which includes staff from the other City divisions. The staff lead should be responsible for clearly outlining the roles and responsibilities of each team member and ensuring that they fulfill these roles and responsibilities in a timely way.

3.  The staff lead should be responsible for ensuring that the property owner and the City meet all of their contractual obligations under the Section 37 agreement.

Working with Community Organizations

4.   Section 37 agreements involving a third party (community) organization should clearly outline the organization's role, and the extent and form of its involvement in the Section 37 agreement.

5.  City Planning should provide any third party (community) organization involved in a Section 37 agreement with a copy of the draft before the Section 37 agreement is finalized, in order to allow the organization to provide feedback. City Planning should also ensure the organization promptly receives a final copy of the Section 37 agreement once executed.

6.  The City should provide regular, scheduled updates to third party organizations about an agreement's implementation status.

Ensuring Implementation

7.  City Planning should create a checklist or other tool(s) to aid in ensuring that it enforces all requirements of Section 37 agreements.

Formalization of Changes

8.  City Planning should record changes resulting from recommendations 1 to 7 in a written process. The purpose of the written process is to ensure that Section 37 agreements stay on track.

Regarding the Mimico Station

9.  Parks, Forestry and Recreation, in consultation with City Planning and any other relevant divisions, should develop a detailed plan for the Station. This plan should be presented to the Parks and Environment Committee in the first quarter of 2019.