Belleville Chamber of Commerce hears Mayor’s State of the City address

There’s no doubt that the mayor of Belleville wants another four years on the job.

Neil Ellis delivered the annual State of the City address to members of the Belleville Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday at the Ramada By Wyndham hotel.

Ellis said “I love my job!”

After previously serving as mayor, Ellis spent six years as a member of parliament before switching back to municipal politics.

He tells Quinte News he enjoys working more closely with residents, something that was hard to do at the national level.

“It’s about getting things done and in the mayor’s role like I mentioned, if you’ve got a tax problem, if you’ve got an issue with the city, we’ve got staff ready and we can usually find a solution in a day or so but federally things could take years.”

Ellis is running for mayor again in the October municipal election, as is Kyle Woolven.

There are several big projects to be built soon in the City of Belleville and Ellis said that one of them would be an over 150,000 square foot retail development on Bell Boulevard.

Following the meeting, Quinte News asked Ellis if he was referring to the long-rumoured Costco outlet.

Ellis said the big project was in the final planning stage but would not utter the word Costco.

“That should be out-of-site planning in the next couple of weeks and then we should have an announcement then … but having said that, two plus two is four.”

Also in the final planning stages are a 50,000 square foot logistics/distribution centre on Bell Boulevard along with a 96-room hotel.

A 140,000 square foot manufacturing facility is in the works for College Street East, among other projects.

Ellis said hundreds of new jobs are on the way for Belleville over the next year or two.

On that note, the mayor said he was proud of his council and its decisions to invest in the future growth and prosperity of the city. Neil Ellis told the Belleville Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday that major multi-million dollar investments such as the Avonlough Sewage Pumping Station, Meyers Pier, and Northeast Industrial Park projects will only serve to boost the local economy.

Ellis told the chamber that industry is constantly inquiring about the availability of land, adding that the millions being spent on servicing a large chunk of vacant land east of the existing industrial park will be well worth it.

New serviced land should be ready to sell by some time in 2028.

On another subject, Ellis had high praise for the city’s Manager of Physician Recruitment and Retention Karen Poste.

Ellis said in the last three years alone, 27 new doctors and 10 nurse practitioners have been recruited to practise in the city.

There are about 10,000 residents without primary care currently but Ellis expects that in the next five years or so, as new medical professionals begin practising, almost everyone who wants a family doctor should be able to find one.

On a related subject, Ellis pounded his fist on the podium urging chamber members to lobby their MP and MPP and demand a bigger slice of the tax pie for municipalities.

He said the average household was paying around 4.5 per cent of its income in municipal taxes but over 27 per cent to the federal and provincial governments.

But Ellis, not for the first time, said municipalities have been forced in good conscience to pay for provincial or federal responsibilities such as doctor recruitment and services for the homeless and other vulnerable residents.

“If the province or feds want us to handle it, give us the funds and I say municipalities can turn on a dime and do these things and try to make things better.”

Ellis said the tax system as is, is unfair and unsustainable.

Over 150 people attended the State of the City address.

Chamber members at Ramada By Wyndham. (Photo: Quinte News)