Business Expands

 

The latest in a series of good economic news stories for Kingston is the expansion of a manufacturing plant.

Direct Coil is investing 2.4 million dollars to expand its operation on Taylor Kidd Boulevard.  The Ontario government announced a $268,000 contribution to the expansion on Friday.  The money will be used to purchase new equipment.  Direct Coil currently employs about 75 people and says the expansion will create about 20 new jobs.

 

Caton’s Park – Tree Cutting

 

Work is scheduled to begin today on Caton’s Park in Kingston.

Selected trees and other vegetation will be cleared or trimmed to prepare for renovations to the park.  The city says trees that are in poor condition will be removed.

Renovations set to begin this spring include demolition of the concrete block park building, reconstruction of the softball diamond, grading and landscaping.

The city says construction will not affect the soccer fields and they will remain in use for the 2017 season.

 

Parks Commission – Tree Meeting

 

The St. Lawrence Parks Commission says it will consider all of the input it got at a public meeting before it resumes cutting down trees at the Ivy Lea Campground.  People are upset about the large mature trees that have been removed from the park.  A meeting was held on Saturday in Lansdowne and some residents urged the commission to look at other ways to protect the public from any danger the trees might pose.

 

Polar Plunge

 

Kingston’s Polar Plunge has raised over $42,000 for Special Olympics.

83 people jumped into Lake Ontario from the Crawford Warf on Sunday morning.

A team of 16 polar plungers called The Professionals raised the most…a total of over $26,000.

 

Pizza Delivery

 

A pizza delivery driver has lost his car and license for seven days after being stopped for doing 118 km/h in a 50 zone on Bath Road on Saturday.

Police say there’s no excuse for driving at that speed in the city.

But posted on their Twitter feed…his excuse was he had to deliver the pizza in 30 minutes or it was free.

 

Protecting Public Services

 

There’s a town hall meeting in Kingston tonight for people concerned about the privatization of public services.

The meeting starts at 6:30 at St. Lawrence College.

It’s being presented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and union president Smokey Thomas will be on the panel of speakers.  The other speakers are city councillors Mary Rita Holland and Jeff McLaren, an NDP member of Parliament and an NDP member of the Ontario legislature.

The public meeting is part of OPSEU’s “We Own It” campaign.