Sarnia's mayor expects 2018 will be a prosperous year for the city, bolstered by NOVA Chemicals game-changing polyethylene plant announcement late last year.
In his annual "state of the city" address to the Sarnia-Lambton Golden "K" Kiwanis club Tuesday morning, Mike Bradley said the impact of NOVA's $2.2-billion investment will be very significant, but different than it was when Petrosar was built over 40 years ago.
"The impact on the region is significant beyond Lambton County and it solidifies we're a good place to invest," said Bradley. "And there are other announcements I expect in 2018 of significance that will show that we have repositioned ourselves as a place to locate."
Bradley said he's also hopeful 2018 will bring some development to a withdrawal management centre for Sarnia-Lambton, calling drug addiction the biggest social issue affecting the city right now.
"I think we're close to a decision, the issue I've had over the years is location because there's very few locations in the city where this site can be located if it's going to be in the city. It's a crisis care designation which is really limited," he said.
When asked about what some people call a toxic environment at city hall, Mayor Bradley said he thinks the solution is the election that's coming up October 22, 2018.
"My commitment is to the economic partnership, to the research park and to the Sarnia Police Service where I am directly involved," he said. "In the issue of how city hall operates, council has decided not to let me be engaged in that and the question I would say to the public is, how is that working?"
The mayor listed Centennial Park, the harbour, the Donohue Bridge, and the city's relationship with its employees as issues of concern.
Sanctions were imposed on Bradley and his pay was suspended for periods of time in both 2016 and 2017 for workplace harassment and violating council's code of conduct.
-With files from Dave Dentinger