Motorists travelling along Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard will have to watch for a speed reduction soon to be introduced between Bath Road and King Street.

City councillors approved on Tuesday evening a maximum speed of 50 km/h for that stretch of the thoroughfare, down from 60 km/h, after hearing impassioned pleas from several residents of the area who are concerned for pedestrian safety.

Candice Christmas and Annette Burfoot appeared as “concerned moms” whose sons will be going into Grade 8 this fall and will cross Sir John A. each morning and afternoon at Norman Rogers Drive.

But Christmas described the crossing as “a perfect storm for a really deadly crash.”

Resident Bruce Bursey said the speed reduction would be a good first step but asked councillors and staff to consider additional measures such as traffic signals and greater police enforcement.

He noted that an additional 200 students will be attending Loyalist Collegiate this fall and listed other amenities in the area that increase pedestrian traffic, such as the Calvin Park public library branch and the Kingston Centre.

Bursey said the boulevard needs “a safety plan for the entire stretch.”

In their deliberations, councillors agreed more should be done.

“I’m happy about the reduced speed limit, but I don’t think we’ve gone far enough to protect pedestrians, particularly students,” said Coun. Liz Schell.

Coun. Peter Stroud said a “dangerous situation” was created with the construction of the boulevard that ended up dividing two residential neighbourhoods.

Coun. Richard Allen said that if Kingston wants to promote active transportation — such as walking and cycling — ways must be found to improve the Sir John A. crossings.

“This is a great road if you’re in a car. It’s not a great road for everybody else,” Allen said.

Bursey left the council chambers satisfied with the 12-0 vote in favour of the speed reduction.

“I’m happy. It’s a first step,” he said. “We will continue to look at ways to improve safety for everybody on Sir John A.”

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The coming hockey season may see corporate names attached to just two of the four rinks at the Invista Centre on Gardiners Road.

The city is about to ink a five-year deal with FL Sports that will have the company’s logo emblazoned on the boards of one ice pad.

Swish Maintenance, according to a staff report, is in the process of negotiating a renewal.

However, two of the pads remain unnamed after the Whig-Standard and Rona Home and Garden decided not to renew their sponsorships.

FL Sports, which rents ice time from the city for its hockey and training programs, will pay $50,000 over five years for the naming rights.

The deal will help reduce the $1.1 million taxpayers pay annually to operate the Invista Centre.

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Council has granted a noise bylaw exemption to allow nighttime concrete finishing work on the Scotiabank project at the corner of Wellington and Princess streets.

The exemption will enable the builder to operate between 7 and 11 p.m. for a total of six days in August.

City officials must be given 48 hours’ notice prior to each day of extended operation.

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The city will partner with Spay/Neuter Kingston to establish a clinic to increase the level of service to cats and dogs, particularly those in low-income families.

Coun. Lisa Osanic will serve as the city representative.

The city has allotted $50,000 annually for spaying and neutering, with half of that designated for low-income households.

Vouchers are worth $250 and 100 are available each year; 93 vouchers were used in 2015.

The city has been running its Responsible Pet Ownership Program for two years, which also covers licensing, education and control services for animals running at large.

In 2015, the second year of operation, it oversaw the issuing of 4,252 licences for cats and dogs — 1,598 of them first-time licences.

Enforcement officers are currently trying to track down about 2,000 people who have not reapplied to license their pets, issuing 110 warnings and laying seven charges.

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The contract to repair the Hanson parking garage has gone to Heritage Restoration Inc. for a total cost of $1.18 million.

The work includes the installation of safety barriers above the back alleyway.

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Drake’s Landscaping has been awarded a $79,000 contract to undertake the city’s fall tree-planting program.

The company will plant 1,000 trees around the city.

City staff will be responsible for watering and maintenance.

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Coun. Jeff McLaren wants to know how much urban sprawl is costing city taxpayers.

McLaren introduced a motion on Tuesday evening that would see the introduction of a “life cycle fiscal impact study” that city planning staff could apply to suburban developments.

The province and the City of Kingston both have policies that encourage “infill” development in built-up areas where services such as sewer and water are already available.

The analysis tool would also factor in the long-term costs of additional street lighting, snow clearing, traffic lights, garbage and recycling pickup and road repairs.

McLaren said “too many developments” put a drain on taxes decades into the future.

He said such a tool has the potential “to save a huge amount of money over many, many years.”

City CAO Gerard Hunt provided a kind of primer for councillors, explaining that when subdivisions are built, the charges applied to developers pay for the initial expansion of city services such as policing, snowplowing, sidewalks and sewers.

When those services and capital need to be expanded or replaced down the road, said Hunt, taxpayers pay the bills.

Coun. Jim Neill supported the concept.

“All this is seeking to do is to establish a program that will give council and planning committee the data required to look at what the true long-term costs of a development are,” Neill said.

Several councillors expressed concern about employing such a tool.

“I don’t want to start pitting one kind of development against another,” Coun. Liz Schell said.

The motion was passed by a 9-3 vote.

Opposed were councillors Ryan Boehme, Adam Candon and Kevin George.

It was supported by Mayor Bryan Paterson, Allen, Mary Rita Holland, Rob Hutchison, McLaren, Neill, Osanic, Schell and Stroud.

pschliesmann@postmedia.com