[0:03] All right, we will call this meeting to order.

[0:07] And I'll start with the event the land acknowledgement. We acknowledge that we

[0:11] are in Robinson Treaty territory. The land on which we are gathered is the

[0:15] traditional territory of Chimnissing and known as Bowating.

[0:18] Bowating is the home of the Garden River First Nations, Batchawana First Nations,

[0:23] and the historic Sault Ste. Marie Council. We honor and respect these

[0:27] indigenous people as the ancestors and traditional stewards of the land upon

[0:31] which we stand today. May our relationships with the land continue

[0:35] just to live and work in good relationship with one another.

[0:41] Moving the agenda, moved by Councillor Myers and seconded by Councillor Peever.

[0:47] » Be it resolved that Council hereby accepts the agenda for Tuesday, January

[0:51] 13th, 2026 and any addendums as presented.

[0:55] » Any questions with the agenda? On favor?

[0:58] » I. >> Uh disclosure of pecuniary interest, and

[1:03] none. Except previous meetings, moved by

[1:07] Councillor Christiansen and seconded by Councillor Shoemaker.

[1:10] » Be it resolved [clears throat] that Council hereby accepts the minutes of

[1:13] the regular Council meeting of December 9th, 2025 and any addendums as

[1:17] presented. >> Any questions about previous meetings?

[1:22] On favor? >> I.

[1:23] » Thank you. Questions and information arising out of

[1:27] minutes or otherwise on the agenda. Suggestions of our delegations, none.

[1:33] And staff reports. Fire report, January 2026 and 2026 fire fire budget, moved by

[1:40] Councillor Shoemaker and seconded by Councillor Peever.

[1:42] » Be it resolved that Council hereby accepts the January 2026 fire report

[1:47] and the 2026 fire department operating budget.

[1:54] » That's all in order.

[2:01] » [clears throat]

[2:04] » I just have a quick point there. I just wanted to bring forth before our

[2:09] distinguished fire chief speaks. I'm glad that we don't have the situation

[2:14] and the problems that the city is incurring with their audio visual and

[2:19] their vocals and everything. I'm glad that ours is all working great.

[2:35] I remember our owl was always on the fence.

[2:39] » [laughter]

[2:44] » Well, happy new year everyone. >> Happy new year.

[2:47] » Um so for council report, I just attached the fire department budget at

[2:50] the end of it. So I'll just start with that.

[2:57] Treating self-contained self-contained equipment.

[3:00] » [clears throat] >> So in 2024, the province passed as part

[3:02] of their budget they

[3:05] allocated $10 million each year.

[3:08] » [snorts] >> Um for fire department grants, fire

[3:10] departments could have they came up with the parameters and fire departments

[3:14] apply for whatever they needed that was within

[3:17] So last year we got $8,000. We bought a set of P fast free turnout

[3:22] gear. We sent I think 10 sets of gear away to

[3:26] We bought a second set of gloves and a second set of Nomex hoods for our

[3:29] department. So that was $8,000. So at

[3:33] the end of the last summer, they came up and said that

[3:36] doubled it for 2026. So Sam and I did an application for it

[3:40] and what we have applied for is four sets of P fast free turnout gear.

[3:45] So just to kind of go over that.

[3:48] So the number one cause of firefighter fatalities is cancer.

[3:53] Our gear uh is what we wear for every call we go

[3:56] on and when we're on the training. Unfortunately, it has what's called P

[3:59] Fas and that's that's an acronym [laughter] and I'm not even going to

[4:02] attempt to pronounce it, but it's called a forever chemical. And it wa- it's a

[4:06] waterproof material. Uh, unfortunately, they found out that

[4:09] that causes cancer. So, basically, our firefighters are exposed to cancer

[4:13] whenever they put on their turnout gear and all that.

[4:15] So, given I kind of made the

[4:20] assumption that we uh, we're going to switch to the P

[4:23] Fas turnout. The city has already. They have equipped all of their firefighters

[4:26] with the second set of gear. So, uh, the first set we got was last year. So, uh,

[4:31] when this grant was doubled, we put in the application that we're buying four

[4:34] more sets. Uh, they're going to give us five sets out of 18 total sets. So,

[4:38] we're So, you're going to see coming up uh, in

[4:41] your agenda, this is bylaw, isn't it? Yeah, it's bylaw coming up that's going

[4:45] to approve agreement between us and Tiffin Ontario so that they can give us

[4:50] money and So, they're going to they approved us

[4:53] for $19,300. >> Awesome.

[4:57] » Yeah, it is. I I hope they do it next year and they double it. Um,

[5:00] if that's the, you know, when I say double, I mean double from the first

[5:04] year. So, then we get another four sets. It's uh, it's not cheap. It's $4,000 a

[5:09] set. But, you know, you kind of have to go

[5:11] with the safety balance probabilities, right?

[5:15] There are different places that have SCBAs, but

[5:18] we don't wear SCBAs here. All right, we want to do it here.

[5:23] So, that's where that's going. And then, uh, fire prevention was uh,

[5:27] basically, keeping up our social media accounts and uh,

[5:31] Does anybody have any questions about that?

[5:35] So, I put the numbers in here and I put in the report after that that kind of

[5:38] goes over all the uh, everything that we're going to do.

[5:43] So, new apparatus and equipment, $22,000.

[5:47] Uh, Uh as I said, 19,380 that's going to be paid for by the province. So, we have

[5:52] five pairs of boots and two helmets that are coming up on their 10-year lifespan,

[5:56] so they have to be replaced. And then we kind of kept it thin here

[5:59] for 620 dollars for other equipment, but uh

[6:02] I think after 6 years I can find the same or cut up on my personal stuff as

[6:06] well.

[6:08] Okay, training.

[6:12] So, there's been a lot of this bandied around, especially around this area,

[6:15] about the minimum standard for our firefighter training. So, um

[6:20] I'll start out with the first thing. Um in the last Southwest Oxford, my

[6:24] training record was short. So, according to the province I have no

[6:27] training. Jim has the training, but he trained

[6:32] under the old Ontario system, which was changed NFPA in 2013. There's an

[6:36] opportunity for him to be grandfathered. The chief that was on at that time to

[6:39] sign off his grandfather, anybody. So, according to the province he has no

[6:42] training. So, when this came out we said that July

[6:45] 1st, 2026 is going to be the deadline to have your firefighters trained if they

[6:49] started within the previous 3 years. Jim and I looked at that and we said that's

[6:53] actually a good time to retire. So, I said July 1st you're going to have

[6:56] a new chief and a new deputy chief. So, last year I went to our captains who

[7:00] are all qualified to be the chief, they all have the training.

[7:03] Uh and said okay, we we need a chief and a

[7:05] deputy chief and they all said well, it's not going to be us.

[7:08] So, went to planning. [clears throat]

[7:10] So, uh we have our new chief

[7:15] who will start July 1st. Um

[7:18] he runs a Fortune 500 company here in Tillsonburg. He has a masters in

[7:21] business. Uh he was a firefighter down south in

[7:24] West Lincoln Fire Department just outside Hamilton.

[7:27] He moved up here for work. He joined us. So, [snorts] he definitely has a good

[7:31] business head on his shoulders. Uh

[7:34] the person we have picked out for deputy chief lieutenant town chip, he works

[7:37] from home. He works for Toromont CAT and he takes care of the technical probably

[7:42] screws us up. The tech technician service portion of Caterpillar

[7:47] for material assistance. He's also ex-military. Smart smart

[7:51] people. So, they're all used to managing people.

[7:55] They're going to be trained I believe their last weekend of training is

[7:58] actually their weekend of training. So, we're just going to get them in

[8:01] under the wire for the mandatory minimum training. And after we report that that

[8:05] is going to bring us up to level duty

[8:08] we're not going to have any issues meeting the certification.

[8:11] The reason I have it up here is the legislation.

[8:14] So, this is I don't know if you want to write down this little rag and peruse it

[8:17] later it's up to you. So, just to this is the law. This is not a

[8:22] suggestion. This is not an NFPA standard. This is the law. You have to

[8:25] meet this. And I don't think I'm going to be kind of out of line by saying this

[8:29] cuz I've been saying this since today since today but the fire marshal's

[8:32] office has already gone and shut down half of our department.

[8:35] So, they're now being run by the fire department.

[8:38] So, they're being brought on this. In my opinion rightfully so.

[8:43] So, when you go down here there's three columns.

[8:45] There's a little bit saying how long the legislation takes and you know,

[8:50] some people can operate at one level if they're supervised by a person that has

[8:53] a certain

[8:55] Basically, when you go down here there's three columns. One is what part fire

[8:58] protection service are you providing? And then it says what the minimum

[9:01] certification is going to be and the deadline is. So, we are number

[9:05] eight. As per our fire regulating bylaw, we do interior attack, auto extrication,

[9:10] hazardous materials response, and fire suppression, operations under

[9:16] interior building, car rescue, auto extrication services, and hazardous

[9:20] materials. So,

[9:22] that means in the middle uh line there, they have to have their

[9:26] uh NFPA 1001 firefighter two.

[9:30] We put addition on that that we want them to have to have some hazardous

[9:33] materials that's NFPA 1071. And that has to be by July 1st, 2020

[9:37] 2026. So, that meets our prior reg in the bylaw.

[9:42] If you go down to number 16,

[9:46] to be a team lead on that, Fire Chief, uh in addition to that, they want you to

[9:50] have uh NFPA 1021, which is a standard for fire officer professional

[9:54] qualifications. So,

[9:57] once uh July 1st comes over, our captains already have that. So, we're

[10:01] waiting to be supervised to chief and deputy chief in time. So, we're that way

[10:04] through that.

[10:07] Is there any questions about that? I know a lot of departments are just

[10:10] saying that. We We've been working on this hard hard

[10:15] for two years. That was uh

[10:17] a good team. And that's a testament to the hard fighters that we have. I mean,

[10:20] they just once a person's done, they're like, "What do we do the next one?"

[10:24] » I just have a couple of points I just like to clear up.

[10:28] Is it time for you, Steve? Sorry.

[10:31] » So, I started I started with Peel Regional Police in

[10:34] 1987. I'm almost 60. I've got almost 40 years

[10:37] in emergency services. I'm good.

[10:42] » Like you all these years you spent and built and done and all the above and

[10:46] beyond you've done, is it have to do with this uh

[10:50] government regulations have you trained and have you tested or

[10:54] » Well, no, like I mean, we can have a whole conversation

[10:56] about that. >> Yeah, I I I like to Is it

[10:59] I think that first and foremost we discussed this about it being a money

[11:01] grab by the government thinking and asking and wanting to like

[11:05] everybody like you just I didn't know what the bachelor of arts was.

[11:08] » Mhm. >> But like

[11:11] and there are no records there like you can't find your records anywhere or your

[11:16] » No, they're destroyed. So, Jim and I you have to understand, Jim and I are

[11:19] getting up there. And I mean,

[11:21] I've been through a lot of crap in 40 years, to be perfectly honest with you.

[11:25] And even here. So, I I'm quite happy to let somebody else. I'm a firm believer

[11:28] that every 5 to 8 years you should have a change of leadership.

[11:31] Brings in new new ideas, new ways of doing things.

[11:35] And but so just

[11:40] So we have a program called Fire Q that we run the fire department off of.

[11:44] Captures our pages, our reports go on there, our pay is run through there. So

[11:48] that's this here. I've been kind of using it as a basic

[11:51] thing. Since these two have come on, they've

[11:54] gone through this and and like the stuff that they're doing with this right now

[11:57] is fantastic. Okay. Okay, they're they're more tech

[12:00] than younger than me. They're more tech than me.

[12:03] I guess you could say more evolved.

[12:05] I mean, I can do basic stuff with this, but they're going to take this and

[12:08] they're going to run with it. So as you can see on there, they're

[12:11] putting in uh just from January 1st, the number of trainings we've gone to. We're

[12:14] going to keep track of all the hours of training that we do, hours of calls,

[12:17] fire and rescue and orders, calls we've been to in the last few days.

[12:21] Uh everything is captured on there, the audio from our calls, everything. Like

[12:24] they're That's just an example that I would pick that on.

[12:27] And uh I know that Jim will do it. So

[12:30] uh it's going to be up to the new fire chief, but

[12:34] uh we can stay on as pump operators.

[12:36] » I was just going to say, are you going to stay on?

[12:38] » It That's So that's going to be up to the new fire chief.

[12:41] Uh I can stay on as a pump operator. Uh responding to medical emergencies and

[12:45] to do wildfire responses. I can't do structural firefighting or hazardous

[12:49] material. And I'm really good at that.

[12:52] » Well, >> What about 50?

[12:54] » I know July's a bit away, but uh I only have two words, and that's thank

[12:59] you. I I

[13:01] I've been the liaison to the fire department since I've been on council,

[13:05] and I've never had to ever worry once about going over there and making sure

[13:09] everything's done. Because of your leadership, and I just wanted to say

[13:12] thank you. >> And I don't think you're going to have

[13:14] any issue with the next two coming in. >> Well, I just wanted to talk about you

[13:17] cuz that there's another day and another uh meeting and another

[13:20] » I I tell my firefighters this, and just quickly listen. I'm an old timer. The

[13:23] only thing about comments is they used to take the truck out and not sign back

[13:26] in.

[13:28] You know, not football guys. >> Anyways, from Sault Ste. Marie, I know

[13:32] Mr. Gazzola, [clears throat] Norm played middle linebacker for the

[13:37] Toronto Argonauts. >> So, I used They used to have a Bob

[13:39] McCown used to have a sports show on at 4:00 every day. So, when I lived in

[13:43] Barrie, I used to sit and watch it. And they interviewed him right after he

[13:45] became the president of the Toronto Argonauts.

[13:49] And uh of course there I was a road sergeant down there. And uh so, Bob

[13:53] McCown was asking, "Hey, now that you're here, I'm going to choose your people.

[13:56] Like, are you going to have certain qualifications?" And he said um

[14:01] He said, "The key to being a successful supervisor is to never be the smartest

[14:05] person in the room." And I heard that Jeez, I didn't see.

[14:08] » [laughter] >> So, I kind of took that on. So, same

[14:10] with the fire department, I am not the smartest person in the room. There are

[14:13] firefighters here that are much smarter, much better qualified to lead this

[14:17] place, and to carry it on. I just happen to be the leader right

[14:20] now. >> So, that's going on the top of the way

[14:22] side. July 1st, uh we have two guys that are coming in that are really going to

[14:26] take this on and keep going. If we had nobody, I would be scared.

[14:29] But, we're planning for it, right? So, >> Right.

[14:31] » uh the pay that we did in the center, they were involved in that.

[14:34] They were uh a little bit involved in this.

[14:37] So, as we go through now, everything that we come up with uh all of the

[14:40] recertification apparatus equipment, they're going to be involved in it.

[14:43] May and June, I'm going to step back, and they're going to act as chief. And

[14:46] then July 1st, we'll pull the switch and the system matters much less.

[14:51] Got things squared. >> I know that I am very comfortable with

[14:55] knowing that you

[14:57] would not step away not knowing that you'd have someone

[15:00] there to really replace you. So, I appreciate you taking the time and

[15:04] effort to do that as well. That was huge for us because

[15:08] we know you know what you're doing. And I am very similar. Someone once told

[15:12] me, "Um if you want to be a leader, surround

[15:14] yourself with the best people." >> Yep.

[15:16] » And I firmly believe that, and I followed that from my intro of my

[15:20] career. So, I it's similar to what you're saying. I completely agree.

[15:24] » That's awesome. >> What happened to Stewart man? So first

[15:28] of all, for the record, I am very much in favor of this mandatory training.

[15:31] I agree with you Dave record. I think for too long we kind of just been kind

[15:34] of what we were doing it

[15:38] We're going We were doing it here. Like we were

[15:40] doing stuff that we probably shouldn't have been doing

[15:43] with training that we didn't have. But I stopped when they came on and we

[15:46] were kind of at the rock bottom. Uh and there's lots of departments out

[15:49] there that we know that because uh they haven't been funded

[15:53] and they've been ignored. Santa has been ignored and treated. So thank you to

[15:55] this council and previous council because we had to stop start right from

[15:58] the bottom. Start buying getting our trucks on online so that we have

[16:02] equipment to respond to the fires. Uh you know, finding out for 200 ft of our

[16:06] hose has been failed field testing

[16:09] um and then right up until the SCBA's. We're in a good spot. Thank you.

[16:14] » And sometimes if you don't um it's like out of place, lots of people

[16:18] get hurt. Cuz they're not which

[16:20] set up to do the job that we want them to do, right? So

[16:24] » I would say that all over the department you think Well, has anybody seen anybody

[16:27] here? So if I'm sure that you've heard that

[16:29] there's other councils that are passing biological resolutions to ask the

[16:33] province to extend this or cancel it. I work for the province. I'm going to

[16:36] cancel it. There's a reason why I must do it. Feel

[16:39] good is also known as a signal that we have any funding because Santa's

[16:42] actually a nice dude but I do it for fun.

[16:44] So really good.

[16:48] So as part of the training um So we have two Unfortunately, they

[16:52] haven't had the fire one or two courses here. So we had to get on board with

[16:55] Huly River Fire but it's a private company coming in and train them. So

[16:58] those two firefighters went last year, they did their fire one. They're going

[17:01] to be going this year to do their fire two. It's expensive but they're they're

[17:05] the last two to get done. Uh for example, the last firefighter we

[17:08] took on, uh he did uh two years planning to

[17:11] college for fire services. He just basically came to us and said, "Here's

[17:14] my certification." We spent $200,000. The one before that was from she came

[17:19] from uh Bruce Lyons Fire. She has her Fire 1. So, now we just have

[17:23] to get her Fire 2. The one before that, same thing. Did 2 years at Atlantic

[17:26] College, was previous summer student with us. Just came in here, I have all

[17:30] my search captain paid $0. So,

[17:34] there comes a point when we're just getting to the end of it, we just got to

[17:36] push her over. So,

[17:39] they will be training at at Bull River Fire.

[17:43] We'll be Hershey's Fire emergency conference in Huntsville. We used to go

[17:47] to that. I personally never been there because there was never an agenda that I

[17:50] could see the purpose of going over there.

[17:52] This year they do. And it's going to be all about the new

[17:54] standards that are coming up with bunker gear,

[17:56] SCBA's. I think there's something coming down the pipeline with SCBA's, so I

[18:00] think it's worth watching at this time. And other things that are coming down

[18:03] the pipeline for the fire department training.

[18:06] Now, as I said before, we are eligible for $6,000 in funding from DES because

[18:11] we granted the response medical calls the same.

[18:15] They just put that in for this year, so we got 2025 back.

[18:18] So, for 2026, I put $4,000 from that number into the

[18:24] $15,000 of training. Now, this is not a grant, this is a reimbursement. We have

[18:28] to spend the money to get it back. At the end of the year, they make puts it

[18:31] in, they pay us the $6,000. So, we've got $4,000 to get

[18:36] firefighters trained in medical So, first responder training

[18:41] » [laughter] >> is there, that's a 40-hour course.

[18:43] That's a 2-weekend course. Bull River Regional Fire.

[18:46] So, we will send as many people here to do that. There's another 40-hour course

[18:50] after that, which is emergency first responder. The

[18:54] three that went last year to emergency first responder, they want to go to that

[18:58] and I'm quite happy to let them go to that one.

[19:01] Like that's basic pure BC

[19:04] what is a paramedic at that level. And we'll pay for that. It's all

[19:07] So, we're going to

[19:10] have them go to the courses that we get in $4,000 and

[19:14] that's going to be paid for by DC 7. Does anybody have any questions over

[19:18] here? No? Okay.

[19:21] Uh recertification of apparatus equipment

[19:23] is what we have to do every year. Both our pumpers have to get pump tested. The

[19:26] boys have commercial vehicles, so they have to go and get their commercial

[19:29] vehicle safety. Uh we also have to do flow testing on

[19:32] our SCBA's and our gas monitors. Usually once a year has to

[19:39] The new ones are just >> But I'm sorry, didn't you just drop

[19:41] them? >> Yeah, every year they have to get flow

[19:42] tested. >> We just bought them and we get them and

[19:44] now they have to recertify them. >> Well, not recertify. So, they were flow

[19:47] tested like in the fall. So, we get to save money, we get our

[19:53] SCBA's flow tested in February when they come to Steel Tank to do their flow

[19:59] So, we save money on >> So, every February we get

[20:02] » Yeah, so it's just going to fall on regular service.

[20:04] » Yeah, February, March, any of that. >> Save us travel time.

[20:08] Now, the journal entries are not going to

[20:10] match last year's. So, the year before was this assistant chief standing

[20:15] Yeah, so when we had a cess last year we transferred over to Simpson County and

[20:18] it was all new journal entries. So, for like last year, you'll see repair

[20:22] maintenance of vehicles. We also have one that was like annual expense or

[20:25] truck expense or something. Said, "What's the difference?" And I don't

[20:27] know. So, we've taken out truck expense. We've

[20:30] taken out fire prevention. It was like $400 a year. There's no point having a

[20:34] journal entry for $400 a year on a $1.6 million budget. We're just going to roll

[20:38] that into the fire station. So, it's not going to be as neat and clean this year

[20:41] transferring over, but uh

[20:44] we just kind of brought everything down. We used to have every truck fuel for

[20:48] every truck. We used to have fuel. There's no point in

[20:53] So, uh repair maintenance of vehicles, our two pumpers, there's priming oil on

[20:57] there and they need a service. So, when they come to do our

[21:00] pump testing, they're going to stick around for an extra day and they're

[21:02] going to do the service that's required on our pumpers. That's another 2,000 on

[21:06] that, which hopefully we won't have to use.

[21:11] Our licenses and permits are the same as the other years.

[21:14] It includes our radio tower rental from Spectrum,

[21:17] fire key, which I just showed you. Payment to the Receiver General for

[21:22] radio authorizations, and DZ renewal of testing and physical exam. I think we

[21:27] only have one person get through the license this

[21:30] year. There shouldn't be too much on that.

[21:33] And then fire stations basically they're

[21:38] So, okay.

[21:43] So, after you get the $19,380 from the grant, 6,000 from DES app, that

[21:47] basically runs us about 89 and change. Just from experience, we're usually

[21:52] between the 90 and 95 mark. So, we're not above last year's or

[21:57] we're a little running a little below what we're trying to provide for the

[21:59] residents. Any questions on that?

[22:13] » Finance. All in favor for the airport motion.

[22:18] I.

[22:22] Thank you very much, Steve. >> You're welcome.

[22:24] » Uh treasure >> Do you need anything else?

[22:26] » I don't think so. Don't worry about it. >> [clears throat]

[22:31] » Treasurer's reports, check logs, and revenues for November 2020. I have

[22:36] a motion and second by Council Hutchinson.

[22:39] » I move to dissolve the council here and accept the treasurer's report to the

[22:42] books, check logs, and revenues for November 2020

[22:47] Any questions about the treasurer's report?

[22:52] All in favor? Thank you.

[22:56] There is no planning. Bylaws. Bylaw 2026-01,

[23:01] naming boards and committees. moved by Council Weir, seconded by Council

[23:05] Hutchinson. >> Be it resolved that Council approves

[23:08] Bylaw 2026-01, Naming Boards and Committees for the Council of Fort Erie,

[23:13] be given a first, second, and third reading and finally passed this 22nd day

[23:17] of January, 2026. >> Any questions about the boards and

[23:21] committees? >> [laughter]

[23:24] » I'm just curious when and when the strategic planning

[23:29] » Pardon? >> The strategic planning committee.

[23:32] When will we be meeting?

[23:36] » That is a good question. >> That's at the call of the Council.

[23:41] » Okay. >> Not Not me.

[23:43] » [laughter] >> And that goes back to the previous

[23:48] mayor. >> Yes.

[23:49] » Um because generally speaking, when a committee has

[23:54] not been meeting regularly and you form it reform it, then you have giving

[24:00] some kind of a mandate or some parameters, at least.

[24:05] » To be determined. >> [laughter]

[24:08] » We will uh figure that out and look at that to you as soon as

[24:12] » Any other questions about that? All in favor?

[24:16] » I want to make one comment about L and M. These are both uh not just strategic

[24:22] planning, but the assisted house committee, which is what it's been

[24:26] called. Um they're both inactive. And that was the

[24:31] one that was looking into a assisted 10-unit or 12-unit assisted living

[24:37] um thing. So, I it's sort of there if and when we decide to go that road or

[24:44] something. >> Yeah.

[24:48] » Anyone else? All in favor?

[24:52] » I thank you. >> Bylaw 2026-02,

[24:57] Interim Tax levy moved by Council Chutskoff, seconded by Council Lauer.

[25:01] » Be it resolved that Council hereby approves Bylaw 2026-013 interim tax levy

[25:06] for the Township of Brancepeth be given a first, second, and third reading and

[25:10] finally passed this 13th day of January 2026.

[25:14] » Any questions about the tax levy? All in favor?

[25:18] » Aye. >> Thank you.

[25:20] Bylaw 2026-03 borrowing bylaw moved by Council

[25:24] Christiansen, seconded by Council Couture.

[25:27] » Be it resolved that Council hereby approves Bylaw 2026-03

[25:31] borrowing bylaw for the Township of Brancepeth be given

[25:34] a first, second, and third reading and finally passed this 13th day of January

[25:38] 2026. >> Any questions about borrowing bylaw?

[25:42] » We do this every year just to keep track.

[25:44] » [laughter] >> All in favor?

[25:46] » Aye. >> Thank you.

[25:48] Bylaw 2026-04 fire protection grant agreement with

[25:52] Transource Utility Management Ontario moved by Council Christiansen, seconded

[25:55] by Council Couture. >> Be it resolved that Council hereby

[25:59] approves Bylaw 2026-04 fire protection agreement with Teck Com be given a

[26:04] first, second, and third reading and finally passed this 13th day of January

[26:08] 2026. >> Any questions about the grant agreement?

[26:14] All in favor? >> Aye.

[26:16] » Thank you. Bylaw 2026-05

[26:20] user fees and charges and grant agreement moved by Council Chutskoff,

[26:23] seconded by Council Couture. >> Be it resolved that Bylaw 2026-05 being

[26:28] a bylaw to establish and require payment of various fees [snorts] and charges be

[26:32] given a first, second, and third reading and finally passed this 13th day of

[26:36] January 2026. >> Any questions [clears throat] about user

[26:39] fees and charges? All in favor?

[26:41] » Aye. >> Thank you.

[26:44] Motions and notice of motions. Bonnie Bridge replacement approval for

[26:48] additional engineering services moved by Council Christiansen, seconded by

[26:52] Councillor Puddicombe. Be it resolved that Council

[26:55] [clears throat] receive the request from Colmac Engineering dated December 25th

[26:59] regarding additional engineering services required for the Gananoque

[27:02] River Bridge rehabilitation project. And that Council approve the additional

[27:06] engineering fees in the amount of $26,950

[27:10] excluding the HST for pile foundation redesign, additional

[27:14] inspections, extended construction duration, and related engineering work

[27:18] as outlined in correspondence. And further that Council authorize staff

[27:22] to allocate the additional cost of the Gananoque River Bridge

[27:25] capital project budget funded through existing capital road allocations.

[27:31] » Any questions? Councillor Puddicombe.

[27:35] » [laughter]

[27:39] » Mhm. >> Yeah.

[27:42] Anyone else?

[27:45] » [clears throat] >> Councillor Fabbro.

[27:46] » I I think that I got to say

[27:49] I think that we should have to challenge this because um

[27:54] in good faith we took them at their word and did what

[27:58] they told us. And they gave us some and we did a lot of work on this. We had a

[28:03] lot of bunch theory thinking and finalizing maybe human your your

[28:09] expertise went out and I I just think that

[28:13] I can't understand some of the pricing for the hourly rate that they get and I

[28:17] want a breakdown of it. I think I'm entitled to that because of the money

[28:20] they were putting out. Like I work hard and I know what I make.

[28:24] I don't have a ring on my finger that says I'm an engineer and I'm not down

[28:29] the engineers. They are very important in the the process in the life of the

[28:33] way that the world is being built. But and I maybe I shouldn't even say how

[28:38] much they get an hour but I want to know what they do for 19 hours and I want to

[28:42] know how it's broken down cuz I'm sure that if I go into the

[28:47] office and say that Mark, I want you to do this and type this letter for me. I'm

[28:51] the CEO, I know what I'm getting paid and I know what you're getting paid and

[28:55] I hope that I'm not getting out there bad, but I want to

[28:59] know why it cost that much money for two people for 28 hours and 19 hours.

[29:07] That's all I wanted to ask. >> I absolutely hear you. Um, we all know

[29:12] that they charge a service fee. They're not going to put their actual hourly

[29:15] rate on there because there's service fee that they charge us, of course.

[29:19] Um, we can definitely ask for a breakdown

[29:23] of those costs. However, we have challenged it three times.

[29:29] » Oh. I know I know we did it once. >> But we have challenged it a few times.

[29:34] Um,

[29:37] I feel like this is our bottom line. They're not going to budget anymore cuz

[29:41] we we've gone at them a few times already.

[29:44] But uh yeah, we can definitely ask for a breakdown

[29:48] so that we can understand what those fees are going towards.

[29:50] » You can put my name in there if you want. Say Counselor Caputo

[29:54] along with other counselors would like to know the breakdown, please. And what

[29:58] are our buying for our dollars cuz I have to answer to somebody else.

[30:03] And they're called the constituents. And so I don't know if you got calls,

[30:07] but I got two.

[30:11] Was there a funding there, too? Where the bridge was or was it somewhere

[30:14] else? I'm sorry, that's another topic. But that's what I wanted to say. I said

[30:19] it. >> [snorts]

[30:21] [clears throat] >> Yeah, that for for clarification,

[30:24] Counselor Caputo, um with regards to Telic

[30:28] and moving forward, um

[30:31] with contracts, um

[30:38] lessons learned uh with Telic, uh we probably should have went after, uh um,

[30:45] a stipulated price from them, which is all encompassing.

[30:50] Uh, at which point when there are extras,

[30:54] uh, for this, then, um, it needs to come to be approved. Um, however,

[31:00] that was not the case, um, and so, uh, un- [clears throat]

[31:06] fortunately, fortunately, Meg was able to, uh,

[31:10] negotiate with them to get that pricing down,

[31:13] but that is where we'll be with that, just in the

[31:18] realm of contracts. >> And we have a, we're signatory to them.

[31:24] Every so many years our bridges and everything have to be checked and done

[31:28] by them? >> No.

[31:30] » Not signatory to them, so another agency can come in and check and do them?

[31:36] » They do have to be reviewed for assessment for the church. Federal

[31:40] highway department. >> Okay.

[31:41] » Yeah. >> And I'm not thinking out loud.

[31:44] » No, no. >> I'm just I just I just try to fathom in

[31:47] my humble way of life.

[31:53] » We were in the wrong >> I think I got the wrong profession.

[31:55] » [laughter] >> I think we were in the wrong profession.

[31:57] I agree. >> But I just had to vent. Um, thank you

[31:59] for letting me vent. [laughter] >> Absolutely. No worries.

[32:01] » I wasn't going to, but I did. >> No,

[32:04] I it's important. We definitely These are huge numbers, and we are a small

[32:08] township. It is important. >> Any other comments, questions?

[32:14] » I want to drive your car. >> I want to drive your

[32:16] » [laughter] >> Thank you.

[32:20] I just want to see them on the agenda. Yeah.

[32:27] Uh, unauthorized motorized vehicle use, King's Park Road. Moved by Councilwoman

[32:32] Peters, seconded by Councilman Beer. >> Be it resolved that [clears throat]

[32:35] Council receives the information regarding residents' complaints

[32:38] regarding unauthorized motorized vehicles

[32:51] » Um >> Okay, so um

[32:55] I'm just sitting at home and I'm getting two well, one pretty much after the

[33:01] other phone calls and one was in in um

[33:08] in a worrisome state he was because uh they were tearing up the park and they

[33:14] were just and tried to intervene which I told don't ever do again.

[33:18] I said leave that for somebody else to do or call the police. I got advice from

[33:23] I called the mayor and I got advice. I told them uh the family what to do.

[33:28] But I should never got out of my truck and

[33:31] drove over there. This park is not known, but I was flipped off and told

[33:37] things and yelled at. So now I was worried cuz I they know where I live and

[33:40] that, but they're just they're just kids and they're just trying to have fun, but

[33:45] go have fun somewhere else is what I always said. Like I'm not mad cuz you're

[33:48] riding your bike, >> [laughter]

[33:49] » but look what you've done to the park. We got families and babies and they lay

[33:54] in the grass and and it wasn't being heard.

[33:58] So now they're all going to take care of it and then all of a sudden it started

[34:00] snowing for 20 days in February and December

[34:03] and I got the call again from another neighbor on the Dean Drake Road and it

[34:08] was about the skids and they were just

[34:11] jumping and kids were still playing on the swings which was another alarming

[34:16] fact to me. We brought this up before about the

[34:19] parks and what we were going to do and how we were going to fix it. I know we

[34:24] go in there maybe with uh Mayor through you to the financial treasure. Then we

[34:28] go in there with our riding lawnmowers and we service the area. We make it

[34:31] pretty and they the road crew does a great job and at

[34:36] the behest of two or three bad apples, we have a township of people that are

[34:41] in not able to use it and are going. It is

[34:44] a little boggy and muddy, which makes it better for bikes and spinning, but we

[34:49] have to do something to stop them from entering.

[34:54] And if that's a a removable pole where they can move it and then go in at our

[34:59] only knowledge

[35:02] But I don't know what we have to do. We have to address it and we've done

[35:05] signage and that doesn't do anything.

[35:09] » Yeah. >> We have a park specific fund that we can

[35:13] look at leveraging for this as well as possible grants.

[35:17] » I just >> See what kind of options are out there

[35:20] to help prevent that. >> I'd like to put that forward for like

[35:24] the spring as soon as we can >> Absolutely.

[35:26] » to get it done and looked at, please. >> Yep.

[35:29] Yep. It's definitely [clears throat] on our radar. So, when we get information,

[35:33] we'll bring it back to council and see what that looks like.

[35:37] Yeah. Any other questions or comments?

[35:41] » Just more of a comment along the same lines that

[35:45] the new park for early on is also seeing the same

[35:50] issues with snowmobiles running over the new equipment.

[35:54] » No. [clears throat] >> Yeah. So,

[35:57] you know, it's just um

[36:00] » That's supposed to be on this property, right? It's private.

[36:03] » It's it's public

[36:05] property, but however, when we did put >> Sorry.

[36:08] » No, no, that's okay. >> When we did put in the park over here,

[36:12] we did agree that we would have a fence around it. So,

[36:15] » Correct. >> Yes, that is what we're going to look

[36:17] at. >> Yeah, we're going to look at that as

[36:18] well. So, it's definitely on our radar. So, we'll get to that.

[36:23] » Thanks, that helps a lot. You're right, it's the first I've heard of a problem.

[36:26] I went and examined it. It's beautiful. >> Yeah, it is. I was very impressed.

[36:30] » For sure. >> So.

[36:33] » Any other questions or comments? All in favor?

[36:37] » I. >> Uh correspondence. Moved by the road

[36:41] bridge contractual clause and timelines. Moved by Councillor Christiansen,

[36:46] seconded by Councillor Pincott. >> Be it resolved that Council receives the

[36:50] correspondence regarding the closing of side road restoration with the expected

[36:54] resumption >> and completion dates of June 1st, 2026

[36:57] and June 12th, 2026 respectively. And the gaining of both roads as

[37:01] information. >> Uh just to confirm, Megan, is that June

[37:05] 1st to June 12th or June 1st and June 12th?

[37:09] » June 1st to >> to to

[37:13] » Any questions or comments on that? >> Um did anybody else get any calls about

[37:18] taking flight going down the road to the bridge?

[37:23] It I went and I didn't go more than 30 km an hour, but you do it a little

[37:28] faster and you can There is a little bit of a

[37:31] » Yeah. >> So I thought it I just blamed it on the

[37:33] snow, but apparently this is before the snow. I don't even know that.

[37:37] » Okay. >> I'm sure they'll take care of it between

[37:40] June 11th and

[37:44] » Any other questions or comments? All in favor?

[37:48] » I. >> Thank you.

[37:50] Minutes of boards and committees. Public Library Board of Trustees, December

[37:54] 2025. Moved by Councillor Truchenko, seconded by Councillor Christiansen.

[37:59] » Be it resolved that Council will hereby accept the Library Board minutes for

[38:03] December 2025 as information. Any questions about reading minutes for

[38:07] the Library Board? >> All in

[38:10] All in favor? >> I.

[38:12] » Thank you. New business. Emergency Management

[38:16] Services. Moved by Councillor Truchenko, seconded [laughter] by Councillor

[38:19] Pincott. >> Be it resolved that Council receives the

[38:22] quotation services by Phoenix Emergency Management project and commission in

[38:27] full with the actual staff. >> Questions about the Phoenix Emergency

[38:34] Management. This is a full, right? >> Yeah.

[38:38] » I checked this for comments.

[38:44] So, I think they provided three options for

[38:48] service, somewhere in the middle, and then a basic option.

[38:54] Um and this is being presented purely because we've gone through a number of

[38:58] CMCs and we don't have a dedicated person that is qualified to hold that

[39:04] position in the township. Um I don't

[39:08] personally know how I feel about some third party doing it. However,

[39:13] um they are experts in the field and I

[39:16] would trust them to do the right thing. I don't know how council feels about

[39:21] that. We've put it out there a number of times to look for someone, but

[39:25] we haven't had any luck in obtaining and retaining the person for

[39:30] that position.

[39:48] » So, um

[39:49] Mayor, my question would be um I know that when we had um

[39:55] someone in that position um

[39:58] for the township uh they were being paid >> There's a remuneration, yes, correct.

[40:05] » And just from my just my quick calculation, I would say that from what

[40:12] we were um providing had we had someone on

[40:17] full-time >> [laughter]

[40:18] » that we would be very close to the full option.

[40:22] » Full service >> Full service option, correct.

[40:25] » Um, I don't know if this is exactly >> Is it a significant difference?

[40:29] » Yes. >> Is it? Okay.

[40:30] » Yeah, it is a significant difference. So, I don't want to give the exact

[40:35] amounts for the honorarium per year. But, it's a significant difference.

[40:40] So, let's say if um I would say less than 50%.

[40:46] » Okay. So, that's >> last part again, Nick.

[40:48] » Less than 50% of difference. >> Yeah.

[40:51] If they get paid the honorarium times 12 >> Yeah.

[40:55] » and then an annual rate of the amount that I got in this year

[41:00] for 2026 at [snorts and clears throat] uh 2500

[41:04] It's almost 42% that I think in my quick guessing the year's

[41:09] » Yes, yes. >> That's why I like being in a room with

[41:11] smart people. >> [laughter]

[41:15] » Then you have to put on the 13% and just P which I can't figure.

[41:19] » True. True. >> So, they come here for a course and they

[41:24] teach us. >> So, they would [clears throat] have to

[41:27] by law provide I I think Even Fay had mentioned during our

[41:33] training that it's one to two courses per year

[41:35] » Yeah. >> um of training just so that like

[41:38] whoever's on that committee >> Yeah.

[41:40] » would be involved in like knowing all the safety and the things that we do.

[41:45] Like this year we did training >> Yeah.

[41:48] » Like then we weren't This year we did training about um

[41:52] ice drops. So, every year can be a different theme

[41:56] of some sort of emergency that we can and they can do table tops of exercises.

[42:02] » I was in a course that we had here at the past council.

[42:06] And I was on it and uh pretty enlightening and very knowledgeable and

[42:12] uh preparedness was good because we had a PMT uh

[42:16] director. Well, he was uh

[42:18] pretty up and on it for quite a few years he was doing it.

[42:23] And hopefully never have to use it, but it's something that we have to

[42:27] have. >> Yeah, for sure. I agree.

[42:30] Um so, I am the acting CEMC right now. Um and quite honestly, like it is

[42:35] something I take very seriously. You have to really be on call 24/7 365.

[42:40] » [laughter] >> Cuz you don't know when something's

[42:42] going to happen, right? Um so, it's I I don't want to say it's a lot of

[42:47] pressure, but like again, I take it seriously. I want to be available should

[42:50] anything happen. Um if we had a service

[42:55] available to do that for us, it's probably I don't want to say it's

[43:00] more reliable, but it's they're they're reliable. They're they're there for us,

[43:03] right? >> Yeah.

[43:04] » And they will make sure that we are compliant with the law every year.

[43:09] » So, we have to decide on basic number one or number two, boss?

[43:15] » So, yeah, so we don't have to. If you choose

[43:19] If you as a council if you decide we don't want

[43:23] to go with this company, we don't have to. It just means that someone needs to

[43:28] remain in that position to keep us compliant every year.

[43:32] » And that starts at the beginning of every year, Mayor?

[43:35] Through you to >> so, so for for compliance, yes.

[43:39] » So, there's a There was a 90-day quote number on it that's from when they sent

[43:43] us this numbers. We have 90 days to say yes, we're going to go with uh

[43:48] quote from Phoenix Emergency Management, or there are other ones that we can put

[43:53] a feeler out to and maybe get a pricing from.

[43:56] » Well, we can definitely look into that for you.

[43:58] » I mean, I I know you're busy busy. You and David are doing a great job. I I

[44:02] I've been listening and hearing, but uh

[44:06] Yeah, we have to we have to get this. >> So this quote, yes, everybody who puts

[44:11] out a quote is is available for 90 days. If we choose to to

[44:16] operate [laughter] with them, they can renew the quote if we don't decide in

[44:19] the next >> Yeah, we don't have anybody in Cesarean

[44:22] and they're right from the library already have them.

[44:26] We do have one in Cesarean? >> No, that's a different one.

[44:30] » Yeah, that is >> We don't know that's the fair stuff,

[44:33] yeah. So I don't know that there's one here in

[44:36] town. That's probably the closest one in town.

[44:40] » So we have from now till March to decide?

[44:45] » You don't have to decide tonight. Um I I am in the position for now.

[44:52] I prefer to have someone more qualified than myself to do it, but again, there's

[44:57] not there's no there's no there's no actual hold over our head to say you

[45:01] need to decide right now. I definitely want council to think about

[45:05] it. Again, I I'm not necessarily convinced that we go with someone who's

[45:10] out of town either cuz they don't know our place like we do, right?

[45:13] » Right. >> Um so I completely get it. I would

[45:15] rather have somebody close to us that is qualified to do this. Um that that would

[45:20] be my preference, but to date we haven't had any luck

[45:24] » in the library >> obtaining obtaining somebody that has

[45:27] those qualifications. >> Okay.

[45:33] So now what happens is it's going to go on a on a calendar mirror and then

[45:37] a reminder comes up to us in two months and says, "Okay, six months

[45:41] is up." >> Okay. The next meeting or whatever.

[45:45] Yeah, we'll bring it back to the next meeting.

[45:47] » Yeah, well, absolutely. Information more than we will give input. Okay.

[45:50] » Yeah. >> Thank you.

[45:51] » Yeah, absolutely. Like I say, it's something that we should definitely be

[45:54] thinking of and just the longer the year goes in, we have to consider those

[45:58] trainings to make sure that we're compliant. Uh we did it really late last

[46:02] year. They have to be in before November. Just Yeah.

[46:07] They have to be in before November, so. >> Cool.

[46:10] » So, something to think about. >> And we might not be here in November.

[46:16] » Fair enough. Fair enough. >> a Isn't this [laughter] an election

[46:19] year? >> I was like, "What?" Yeah, fair enough.

[46:21] You're not wrong. Yeah. >> October is the

[46:23] election year. >> Yeah, October.

[46:26] October, yeah. All right. So, to

[46:30] receive So, we will We will update our resolution to say Well, I guess it's the

[46:37] same. We're not going to update it. Yeah, it's as information is provided

[46:40] direction to staff. So, our direction to staff is let's reassess it for next

[46:44] meeting. And [clears throat] all in favor?

[46:47] » Aye. >> Thank you.

[46:49] Uh Vulcan Fire Safety moved by Councillor Weir, seconded by Councillor

[46:53] Christiansen. >> Be it resolved that Council approves the

[46:56] quotation from Vulcan Fire and Safety Systems Limited

[47:00] for our fire safety deficiency repairs and authorizes the staff to proceed.

[47:06] » Any questions about the Vulcan Fire Safety? So, I

[47:10] have to imagine this is something we should do every year.

[47:13] » Yes. >> Uh it's an assessment that's done and

[47:15] then they will do the assessment and then make any necessary repairs that are

[47:20] » [laughter] >> Agreed.

[47:22] » So, when we did our annual inspection, some of the things listed on this quote

[47:26] were absent. So, we are not in compliance with the

[47:30] code yet, but once we pass this, then we will be compliant.

[47:34] » Any questions, comments? All in favor?

[47:37] » Aye. >> Thank you.

[47:40] And insurance renewal moved by Councillor Christiansen, seconded by

[47:44] Councillor Weir.

[47:47] » Be it resolved that Council approves the insurance renewal proposal by Marsh

[47:51] Insurance for the policy term of February 15th, 2026 to February 15th,

[47:56] 2027 and authorizes the staff to proceed.

[48:00] » Uh now, my understanding, if you correct me if I'm wrong, that there are no

[48:04] changes to policy and the rates are the same. So, it's just a

[48:08] renewal. Any questions or comments about that?

[48:13] All in favor?

[48:16] I guess we're good. Are you good? >> Yep. Sorry.

[48:19] » No, no, all good. Thank you. >> I was just reading what we had in

[48:21] coverage. >> Yep.

[48:24] » Uh counselor >> Hello. Confirming bylaw 2026-06

[48:28] moved by counselor Peddle, seconded by counselor Hutchinson. Be it resolved

[48:32] that bylaw 2026-06 being a bylaw to confirm the proceedings of the council

[48:37] up to and including January 13th, 2026, be given a first, second, and third

[48:42] reading and finally passed this 13th day of January 2026. All in favor?

[48:47] » Aye. >> And adjournment moved by counselor Weir,

[48:51] seconded by counselor Peddle. Be it resolved that council here by

[48:55] adjourns at 6:49 p.m. to meet again for the next regular

[49:01] meeting on Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. or at the call of the

[49:06] mayor. All in favor? >> Aye.

[49:08] » Thank you. Thank you very much, council.

Prince Township Council Meeting - 13th Jan 2026

Transcript