Latest news with #Costante
CTV News
28-04-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Windsor council weighs Adie Knox project amid tariffs
City council is being asked if it still wants to move forward with a capital project in Windsor's west end, considering the tariffs being imposed as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada. A report going to the April 28 meeting will ask if the council wants to proceed with awarding the construction contract to Fortis, which submitted the lowest tender of $19,502,000 for the Reimagined Adie Knox Herman Recreation Complex Project. Administration is asking council to reaffirm support for the project despite concerns over unexpected challenges, tariffs, or inflationary implications that could impact the construction. Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante said the reason Adie Knox is coming forward now is because it's the first project in the queue. Costante said the good news is that the project is well under budget. 'There was a huge contingency amount that was allocated when this came forward to us the last term of council. There may not even be a reason to dive into that contingency because it's significantly under budget,' he said. In July 2022, council approved the project to redevelop the existing Adie Knox Herman Recreation Complex and Wilson Park parkland to create a community hub that will include building and arena renovations/upgrades, new outdoor amenities in adjacent Wilson Park, along with a new parking lot, landscaping, and lighting. A deal has also been reached with the University of Windsor to have Adie Knox serve as the home arena for the men's and women's Lancer Hockey teams, with the upgrades including dedicated space and locker rooms for the teams. Costante said there's a significant amount of risk if you defer this. 'We don't know if any other bids in the future would come up higher; frankly, there's a good likelihood they would,' he added 'There's also grant money attached to this from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities that we would throw away if we didn't move forward with this project. Lastly, there's a deal with the university in place, and attached to that deal are resources and funding as well.' Costante is confident council will move forward with the project. 'I think it's a great project not just for the west side but also for downtown and our inner city. It's a transformational type of project that's going to serve a lot of residents and families all throughout,' he said Council meets Monday at 10 a.m. at Windsor City Hall. — Rusty Thomson/AM800 News
CTV News
25-04-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘We have a real problem': Taking rental licensing pilot city-wide could cost $4.3 million
A report heading to city council shows Windsor's Residential Rental Licensing (RRL) pilot program achieved the aims of improving safety conditions of rental units but expanding it city-wide may be prohibitively expensive. On Monday, council will discuss the options to move forward or kill the RRL program administration, pegged at a $4.3 million cost should it be rolled out across Windsor in its current format. 'I don't think that the proposal or the modeling that administration put forward in the report on the city-wide program is the only way to do this,' said Fabio Costante, the Ward 2 city councillor, in an interview with CTV News. Costante argues the report vindicates the thrust behind the study and shows the need for rental licensing and safety inspections is great. The pilot focused on Wards 1 and 2. Within those areas, the report shows only roughly a third of the units belonging to landlords who volunteered complied with safety standards on their first inspections. 'If the entire sample size and Wards 1 and 2 were part of this project, that number of 29 per cent, as low as it is and shocking as it is, would probably be even lower,' said Costante. 'And so, we have a real problem.' The report highlights the 'essentially voluntary' nature of the program may have impacted results and participation. Hiring staff to carry out the program became a struggle because of its innate short-term scope. The two-year pilot ended on February 13. Taking it city-wide, as outlined in the city report, would require annual licensing fees to jump 34 per cent to $625 at a minimum to cover the costs of carrying out the program based on 7,000 applications a year, which is an estimated 50 per cent of the rental licence pool. Costante calls that the 'Cadillac' model and believes it will take many more years to grow the licencing registry to that point. Instead, the councillor suggests a tiered approach to sort out good and bad actors may help to drill down on the problem more efficiently and more cheaply. 'Why do we have to inspect them every year as an example? Right? Why don't we inspect them every two to three years, or four years? And have classes of landlords so that we're surgically narrowing in on the bad actors in our city,' Costante suggested. Path Forward Administration recommends the bylaw be put in abeyance to allow more time to revise the program to be more cost effective. That could keep the law on the books without necessarily enforcing it. Repealing the bylaw could open up the city to litigation again should council decide to launch a new rental licensing scheme. While Ontario's highest court struck down a challenge from a group of landlords and sided with the city in upholding the bylaw, Costante — a lawyer himself — is wary of further legal disruptions. 'If they want to spend all that money on lawyers and radio ads as opposed to simply investing in this program that ensures that the people that are providing services for are living in safe conditions. That's their prerogative,' said Costante. 'We're going to continue doing what we have to do.' **Disclaimer: The author of this report is a landlord, but the property falls outside the scope of the RRL study and did not participate in any legal action against the City of Windsor. **
CBC
20-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
More than a dozen vacant homes are being demolished in Sandwich Town
Social Sharing As a bulldozer clears the rubble of a demolished home that once stood in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge, west end Coun. Fabio Costante says there's a hopeful future ahead. "This is the last piece of the puzzle to really completely see a revitalization of Sandwich Town," he said, standing on the sidewalk. "I'm much more hopeful and optimistic than I've ever been." More than a dozen abandoned and boarded up homes are being torn to the ground on Indian Road and Rosedale Avenue after the Canadian Transit Company (CTC) had demolition permits approved by the city. The homes were purchased by CTC to clear a path for a second international crossing next to the Ambassador Bridge. However, the Ambassador Bridge owner said there is no plan to move forward with the project after the federal permit expired in 2022. But the owner is moving forward with extension of the plaza at the base of the Canadian entrance to relocate the secondary inspection area for transport trucks closer to the port of entry. Representatives did not reply to CBC's request for an interview about future plans for the area. Changing relationship between city, bridge company Costante and Mayor Drew Dilkens both said the company is making an effort to improve its relationship with the city. "I think Mr. Moroun genuinely wants to put all of these issues and some of the ill will that has come in the past levelled against his father and the Canadian Transit Company, he wants to put that to bed and turn the page," said Dilkens. The Moroun family has owned the Ambassador Bridge since 1979 and has in the past battled with the local and federal governments. Those fights include a legal battle to stop the government from opening the Gordie Howe International Bridge that failed in 2021 and the ongoing negotiations about what to do with the vacant, abandoned properties. "We've got a great relationship with the Ambassador Bridge, with Mr. Moroun, trying to get to the other side of this," said Dilkens. "It's the likes of which I've never felt before in terms of that type of relationship. So I'm very positive that we're going to find a common ground that resolves the issues." Those issues include what happens next with the expansion of the relocation of the Canadian Border Services Agency's operations near College Avenue and Huron Church. "The nuances and some of the intricacies are things that are being worked out right now among parties and I can't share details," said Costante.
