Views from the Millwood/Leaside bridge. First, they have cleared trees at the top of the street north of Pape above the DVP:
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And the future crane site:
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Cycled right passed that the other day, figured that was what the construction was for!
That's what a flagger/construction worker told me when I had to hold up for some construction equipment while cycling a couple of months ago
 
If more people (especially the Property Owners, Journalists, and a lot of you) would bother to actually read the Expropriations Act, they would realise that many of the complaints surrounding its perceived unfairness are plainly incorrect. The Act offers a series of protections and rights to the Owners, especially surrounding compensation, which is unsurprisingly, the main point of contention. Below are a series of excerpts from the act (in italic) which showcase that Owners have costs covered in terms of appraisals, legal fees, disturbance, business relocation, construction monitoring, and construction impacts themselves:

Compensation paid for:
(A) the market value of the land;
This is the primary point of contention where Owners accuse Metrolinx of not having accurate appraisals, as these negotiations are not public and the property market is in constant flux, it is hard to judge if this is true or not. Fortunately, these Metrolinx appraisals & lawyers need not be the only ones involved, as the expropriation act grants the below:
Where the amount to which an owner is entitled upon an expropriation or claim for injurious affection is determined by the Tribunal and the amount awarded by the Tribunal is 85 per cent, or more, of the amount offered by the statutory authority, (meaning if the statutory authority is not already overpaying) the Tribunal shall make an order directing the statutory authority to pay the reasonable legal, appraisal and other costs actually incurred by the owner for the purposes of determining the compensation payable, - meaning Owners can get their own layers and appraisals at the expense of Metrolinx.

(B) the damages attributable to disturbance;
It is also argued that expropriation payments miss out on covering the disturbance of being forced to relocate, which is indeed a very valid type of loss to claim. Fortunately, the act (which their lawyers will follow) offers the below:
(The expropriating authority shall pay to an owner other than a tenant, in respect of disturbance...
(a) where the premises taken include the owner’s residence, (i) an allowance to compensate for inconvenience and the cost of finding another residence of 5 per cent of the compensation payable in respect of the market value of that part...that is used by the owner for residential purposes
(b) where the premises taken do not include the owner’s residence, the owner’s costs of finding premises to replace those expropriated, provided that the lands were not being offered for sale on the date of expropriation; and
(c) relocation costs, including, the moving costs, and (ii) the legal and survey costs and other non-recoverable expenditures incurred in acquiring other premises

Beyond moving costs, the Act also offers the below on the matter of business relocation:
the expropriating authority shall pay compensation for business loss resulting from the relocation of the business made necessary by the expropriation

(C) damages for injurious affection; and

Injurious affection is defined as: the reduction in market value thereby caused to the remaining land of the owner by the acquisition or by the construction of the works thereon or by the use of the works thereon or any combination of them, and (ii) such personal and business damages, resulting from the construction or use, or both, of the works as the statutory authority would be liable for if the construction or use were not under the authority of a statute,
This applies to places where there are partial expropriations, wherein only the land needed is taken. It means that Owners are entitled for compensation to any actual damages occurring as a result of the Works taking place on the lands. Furthermore, considering that point A includes coverage for all costs incurred in determining the scope of compensation required, the Expropriations Act thus allows for Owners to have engineers, surveyors, and environmental specialists monitor the nearby construction to determine any and all damages incurred, and then charge to Metrolinx the damages + the costs of all the specialists it took to quantify them.

Expropriation is not as unfair a process as is described. Unfortunately, many seem to prefer going to journalists rather than the experts to whom they are entitled.
 
If more people (especially the Property Owners, Journalists, and a lot of you) would bother to actually read the Expropriations Act, they would realise that many of the complaints surrounding its perceived unfairness are plainly incorrect. The Act offers a series of protections and rights to the Owners, especially surrounding compensation, which is unsurprisingly, the main point of contention. Below are a series of excerpts from the act (in italic) which showcase that Owners have costs covered in terms of appraisals, legal fees, disturbance, business relocation, construction monitoring, and construction impacts themselves:

Compensation paid for:
(A) the market value of the land;
This is the primary point of contention where Owners accuse Metrolinx of not having accurate appraisals, as these negotiations are not public and the property market is in constant flux, it is hard to judge if this is true or not. Fortunately, these Metrolinx appraisals & lawyers need not be the only ones involved, as the expropriation act grants the below:
Where the amount to which an owner is entitled upon an expropriation or claim for injurious affection is determined by the Tribunal and the amount awarded by the Tribunal is 85 per cent, or more, of the amount offered by the statutory authority, (meaning if the statutory authority is not already overpaying) the Tribunal shall make an order directing the statutory authority to pay the reasonable legal, appraisal and other costs actually incurred by the owner for the purposes of determining the compensation payable, - meaning Owners can get their own layers and appraisals at the expense of Metrolinx.

(B) the damages attributable to disturbance;
It is also argued that expropriation payments miss out on covering the disturbance of being forced to relocate, which is indeed a very valid type of loss to claim. Fortunately, the act (which their lawyers will follow) offers the below:
(The expropriating authority shall pay to an owner other than a tenant, in respect of disturbance...
(a) where the premises taken include the owner’s residence, (i) an allowance to compensate for inconvenience and the cost of finding another residence of 5 per cent of the compensation payable in respect of the market value of that part...that is used by the owner for residential purposes
(b) where the premises taken do not include the owner’s residence, the owner’s costs of finding premises to replace those expropriated, provided that the lands were not being offered for sale on the date of expropriation; and
(c) relocation costs, including, the moving costs, and (ii) the legal and survey costs and other non-recoverable expenditures incurred in acquiring other premises

Beyond moving costs, the Act also offers the below on the matter of business relocation:
the expropriating authority shall pay compensation for business loss resulting from the relocation of the business made necessary by the expropriation

(C) damages for injurious affection; and

Injurious affection is defined as: the reduction in market value thereby caused to the remaining land of the owner by the acquisition or by the construction of the works thereon or by the use of the works thereon or any combination of them, and (ii) such personal and business damages, resulting from the construction or use, or both, of the works as the statutory authority would be liable for if the construction or use were not under the authority of a statute,
This applies to places where there are partial expropriations, wherein only the land needed is taken. It means that Owners are entitled for compensation to any actual damages occurring as a result of the Works taking place on the lands. Furthermore, considering that point A includes coverage for all costs incurred in determining the scope of compensation required, the Expropriations Act thus allows for Owners to have engineers, surveyors, and environmental specialists monitor the nearby construction to determine any and all damages incurred, and then charge to Metrolinx the damages + the costs of all the specialists it took to quantify them.

Expropriation is not as unfair a process as is described. Unfortunately, many seem to prefer going to journalists rather than the experts to whom they are entitled.
Its litterally people complaining for the sake of complaining
 
It amazes me how many people are so subservient to big government that they will side with the thugs at Metrolinx instead of with private individuals.

Big government and big business never get it wrong, it's always the damn little people in the way!
 
It amazes me how many people are so subservient to big government that they will side with the thugs at Metrolinx instead of with private individuals.

Big government and big business never get it wrong, it's always the damn little people in the way!
nice phrasing lol.
"Wont somebody think of the small middle class millionaire homeowners?"
I mean cmon man. its not like theyre being paid 0$ lol. theyre simply whining they cant gouge MX.
 
It looks like the answer to "what are they building south of the OSC site in ET Seaton park?" is a new hydro pylon. (Was it @Hawk that suggested that earlier?)

Not good pictures at all, but the new hydro tower is nearly complete. Bonus if you can spot the lineman high up there.

Does anyone know exactly what's shifting where? This new tower looks big enough to support 6 lines on each side (12 total).
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Before someone says I'm being fanciful (which I am a bit)......... I love my example of the former Mayor of Chicago who closed his version of the Island Airport by having City workers tear up the runway in the middle of the night, without notifying the FAA or obtaining required Federal permissions.

He won, the airport closed.

Sometimes, a little bit of courage goes a long way.
And as often as people post this, I will remind that Daley was found to have misappropriated O’Hare money to do the work which the City had to repay, that parked aircraft were stranded, and the FAA fined Chicago the max it could for closing the airport without prior notification (small amount) and that fine quantum was significantly increased nine-fold because there was a realization that such a significant act should have a significant penalty,

And sure, Meigs is now a park. But when your favourite mayor does stuff in the night with strong mayor powers, your worst nightmare mayor can say “I can do stuff like that too”

 

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