Test one. Test two. Test three. Test four, test five.
Test one. Test two, test three.
I'd like to call our meeting to order. Roll call.
Members of council present minus councillor. Jobin and councillor donor
who are off on personal leave. We'll move on to
the landed dollars. We acknowledge that we are in the
land surrounded by water originally inhabited by indigenous people who
have travelled this area since time immemorial. This territory is
within the lands honoured by the Wampum Treaties agreements between
the Onishnavi, the Shanilandapi, allied nations to peacefully share and
care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Specifically, we
would like to acknowledge the presence of three fires Confederacy,
the Ajivi, Ottawa, Badawatomi, Your and Juan. in call up
First Nation. We are dedicated to honouring Indigenous history, culture,
while remaining committed to moving forward respectfully with all First
Nations and within May T. For the members present any
disclosure beginning interests on the agenda as presented to you
this evening. Every number to have that duly noted. Mr.
Just a reminder to those in attendance of the rules
of decorum and council chambers. We ask that all people
at this meeting refrained from speaking out using inappropriate language
or otherwise disturbing the meeting. If we do have any
delegations this evening, we ask that those delegations be limited
to five minutes that those delegations speak only through the
chair, and that the delegation speak only to the matter
for which they delegated upon. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Great,
thank you. No delegations this evening. West, we do. The
emergency management. Our director of community safety fire chief, Wade
Bondi, and our deputy fire chief, Nicole Fields. And talked
about CS 2026 - 04 emergency management plan August 26.
Chief. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and good evening, Mayor McMaire,
members of council. I'm here tonight to present the new
revised emergency management plan for the town. It's been a
long time coming, and I'm glad to see it at
this point. What I'll do tonight is briefly walk you
through the management plan. I'll get into the report and
the recommendations that are attached there. If you could bring
up attachment one, please. The page one of 19.
So the plan, as you may know, the emergency management
in civil production act requires that all municipalities in Ontario
have an emergency management plan. The authority for the plan,
once it's approved by council, comes through that act. An
overview of the plan is that the plan's purpose is
to have a consistent approach to managing emergencies that happen
within the town. It assigns responsibilities to roles of staff
members within the town, as well as how we would
work with our assisting departments such as OPP, EMS Red
Cross, that type of thing. If you scroll down a
little bit. The plan maintenance, plan maintenance, it has to
be reviewed annually under the emergency management silver protection act
that review would fall to myself primarily. With consultation of
our emergency management committee, which is also defined later in
the plan. We see actually the next page. Part of
the act requires that the town assign an emergency management
program committee to approve all things emergency management within the
town. It was previously approved as a bylaw in 2025.
However, tonight later, one of the recommendations will be that
a comprehensive bylaw approve the committee, our emergency control group,
as well as the emergency management plan, all - in
- one bylaw, just to keep things consistent and to
keep things easier to update in the future. So under
that bylaw, which is proposed as 20 by - law
2026 - 081, our committee would be comprised of the
mayor, the CAO, our CEMC. Nope, back up a little
bit, please. The director of community and record services and
our director of public works and engineering services. Similarly, the
act requires that we have an emergency control group to
oversee things during an emergency. That would be the list
of essentially all our directors, along with the mayor and
CAO. As well as assigning a manager, the manager of
customer service as an emergency information officer, which is a
required position under the Act. The big change for this
plan is over the previous plan is this plan now
falls in line with the province's emergency management structure in
incident management system, or IMS, as it's called. This is
a system that's used in Ontario. It's very similar to
the incident command system that's used worldwide, and it makes
it very easy for other emergency organisations to walk in
and immediately know who does what within our emergency operation
system. Excuse me, centre. And it makes it makes coordination
between neighbouring municipalities, other organisations very easy. And the system
is also very adaptable to various emergencies. Within our plan
this time, we have a notification procedures for how that
emergency management group emergency control group. That was identified on
the previous page would be notified in the event of
an emergency. Um, I can, if you can make that
a little bit smaller, the page. I know it's very
hard to read, but I can tell you what it
says. So in the top left is an incident happens,
basically. The box to the right of that is the
normal response would happen. So if it was a flooding
incident, somebody from public works who was on call would
get the call. They would go out, assess the situation,
um, and then report back to, uh, the director of
public works. Um, who would also assess the situation for
the things that are in that large tall box there?
Um, if it's a serious, say in the example of
a flooding situation, if it is a flooding, a severe
flood, or it looks like it's going to be a
severe flied director Bartnik would contact the CEMC myself, and
we would discuss the questions that are in that box.
Basically, uh, is a normal response adequate. Could the incident
rapidly expand and affect a wide portion of the community?
Is a sport and coordination of the response required? And
as it is significant information management for the incident required,
if the yes to any of those questions, um, that
would mean that we should be opening up our emergency
operation centre, which would be handled by myself with the
assistance of directed furth through our mass notification system. If
you scroll down a little bit there. So with our
emergency operations centre, our EOC, uh, there's levels of activation.
Um, those of you that were involved in COVID times,
uh, we started out with, you can change the activation
level based on the emergency. Level one activation is just
basically the something going on. It's not big yet. But
we kind of keep an eye on it. That's kind
of the basics of how to think about it. Um,
it's generally myself, the CAO, keeping with, uh, whatever affected
departmental director. Um, flooding in the event would be public
works obviously. And then keeping the mayor and council apprised
of the situation as it unfolds or it resolves itself.
Um, communications are done through normal business communications. You don't,
um, you typically do not stand up your emergency operation
centre. So we're still working from our own offices, uh,
through normal business practices. Uh, level two activation is a
little bit higher level, um, what it is, is there's
an incident, but it's specifically targets one area of the
business of the town. So, um, something like. Oh, it's
hard to think of an example without going too big.
Um, so it's basically like, uh, COVID times. That was
a good example. Uh, we had myself the CAO and
we had the director of the community and recreation services
at the time dealing with facilities as well as OPP.
Um, so we were keeping tabs on the developing the
ever - changing situation and keeping the mayor and council
apprised of what we were doing as far as town
services as far as how we were taking care of
our employees and responding to the changing pandemic. And then
level three activation is a full activation. That is the
exercise that we do every year. Uh, that is to
practice that. We would come together in the emergency operations
centre. The entire emergency control group would be notified to
attend. We would all be in attendance, uh, for command
and coordination of the event of the incident as it
went along. Um. And obviously the mayor would be as
part of the community control group would be in attendance
or as alternate, which is the deputy mayor. One of
them would be in the tenants at all times. Uh,
in between the CAO, the mayor and myself, we would
keep the rest of Council of Prize to the situation
as an unfolded. Uh, if you can flop to the
next. So, uh, as I said, the emergency operation centre,
uh, is where we would, um, coordinate the control of
everything incident related. Um, activation, I went through. There are
people are activated through our mass notification system, activation levels
would be what is required at the time. Set up
procedures for the emergency operation centre. Uh, that's one of
the appendices. That is appended to the plan. Appendix one.
And that, uh, the location of our primary emergency operations
centre, our secondary emergency operation centre. Their setup is actually,
um, confidential information. Um, as you can imagine, uh, if
someone was to perform a malicious act and they wanted
to do more damage if they knew where we were.
And where we were controlling operations from they could impact
that emergency even more. So we, we keep things a
certain aspects of the emergency plan confidential. There's set up
procedures for the physical locations. Um, there's deactivation procedures that
are in another appendix. Um, very step - by -
step. You know, here's the resources we need. The physical
things we need, pen, pencils, that kind of thing. Um,
deactivation, same thing, a step - by - step. What
needs to happen as far as documentation, where the documentation
goes, uh, who closes down the emergency operations centre, um,
all those lovely type of things. It's very straightforward. For
that. Um, in the event of an emergency, a true
emergency, the head of council has the authority to declare
an emergency. Um, that declaration of an emergency can happen
independently of EOC operations. Um, they don't have to be
one in the same. Typically, if you have a declared
emergency, here you'll see is going to be operational. Um,
but it doesn't necessarily happen, have to happen that way.
Um, as an example of COVID, we only had a
partial activation of the AOC, but it was a declared
emergency. The mayor declared that emergency. So, um, and of
course when we declare an emergency, there's certain things that
have to happen. Uh, you have to notify, obviously town
council, the rest of town council, uh, the provincial emergency
operations centre by telephone and copy by facts, if you
can still believe they have a fax machine. And we
also notify the warden of the county of Essex and
the CEMC for the county of Essex. That's more of
a coordination piece. Um, the CEMC is when we have
an emergency, uh, as a group, we notify each other
just because there are neighbours and our emergency may affect
them. They're amazing. There's may affect us. So we keep
tight coordination, uh, during an emergency, um, but if the
formal declaration, you have to notify them for coordination. As
far as termination of an emergency, the plan is laid
out essentially as, uh, required by the act, uh, the
mayor can terminate an emergency. And also the premier of
Ontario contaminated emergency. Uh, in the event and emergency is
terminated. Basically, you have to notify the same people that
you notified when you were declaring the emergency. It just
makes sense. Um, another appendix to the emergency plan is
request for assistance. So any requests for outside assistance, that
is request from the provincial or federal governments. Um, those
requests have to come through this EEMC to the provincial
emergency operations centre. And there can be a significant delay
in getting either provincial or federal assistance. Depending on what
else is going on in the province and where the
federal resources are at the time, uh, obviously it's, it's
easy to imagine wildfire season. If we've got a hundred
and some wildfires going in Ontario and we ask for
something that they're using up there. It's already been deployed.
There could be a significant delay. Um, essentially, uh, we,
to make it a little bit easier as one of
the appendices to the plan, uh, we've drafted a request
for assistance based on a flooding example. Um, but it
can be easily tailored to any emergency. Um, that speeds
it up a little bit and that will make the
request quicker. But again, there could be a delay in
receiving those resources. And the way our emergency plans are
set up, uh, we count on being on our own,
uh, for a while along with our, um, mutually partners
and EMS OPP Red Cross like the typical partners that
we have locally. Additional plans I had mentioned a few
of them there. Um. The appendices and the annex plans.
Some of the plans, a council has previous approved. Um,
such as the information security incident, uh, developed by our
director of technology and client services. Some of the plans
are operational plans that are developed by the departments themselves
and approved at the director level, uh, within, within those
departments. Um. Training for all of this is done, uh,
annually. Uh, there is an actual, because this is a
new plan. It's now following the IMS system in Ontario.
Uh, there will be a significant training for all of
the emergency control group as well as their alternates in
September. I believe it's September 22nd, but don't quote me
on that. Um, and then as well for this, this
year's exercise, uh, we are going to have, uh, consultant
walk us through, uh, and exercise using this plan just
to make sure that everybody is very clear on the
roles. Um, and that you can easily see how each
of the sections, which I'll go through in a minute,
uh, how each of the sections work together, uh, who's
responsible for what and go from there. So this section
here, rolls and responsibilities. If you go to the page
up, please. Oh, no, sorry down. A little bit. Right
there. So this is basically the IMS layout. Like I
said, this is a very, it's a common thing throughout
Ontario. Um. The colour coding is an IMS colour coding.
So you'll see in our exercise this year, uh, we
have colour coded nameplates for each section. Uh, as well
as I have some chair covers to identify where the
command section is sitting, where are the operation section is
sitting. And that's the ease external agencies that come into
assist us. Um, they can easily identify, okay, I need
the commander. So they know where the green section is.
They can go over there and find it very easily.
Um, in the plan here, uh, we've identified primary positions
for each primary staff positions for each of the IMS
positions. So you can see the policy group is the
mayor and director of legislative and cleric services. The EOC
director is our CAO. The emergency information officers, our manager
of customer service that was declared earlier. Safety officer is
our director PNC liaison is myself, the CEMC. And the
operations planning logistics administration, emergency social services and continuity of
operations. You can see identified as the remaining directors within.
So, um, that's this section. And we'll go through in
too much detail, uh, there's a lot of information here.
There is common responsibilities that every position is responsible for,
um, listing the IMS forms that everybody should use such
as, you know, the check - in, the personal log,
uh, that kind of thing. And then if you go
down to the page below, the specific responsibilities for each
of those positions in that chart. Uh, if you scroll
down to the operations one and the next page, or
it's a few pages down. It's probably the easier one
to look at. Right there. So, uh, the operations section
chief. This one, this position, although, uh, director of public
works and engineering services is the primary assignment to this
one. This one really depends on what the emergency is.
If it's an ITA security issue, uh, director first would
be in this position. Um, if it's a fire emergency
myself, I would or Deputy Chief Kavanaugh would be in
this position. Um, if it's a police matter, OPP would
take operations lead. So that's the kind of the beauty
of IMS is that it can swap and move and
morph based on what the conditions are and what the
situation is. You can expand positions. So if you scroll
down a little bit. There's a bunch of functional units
that report to this section chief. Each of those units,
you may not, you may not need. You might need
them for the situation. Um, you know, you might not
need a public works person. You might not need a
health unit person. So any of the minor works that
would need say you didn't need a health unit person
in the EOC. Anything that was health unit related, that
section chief would take care of. So it's almost like
a supervisor of workers, any of your workers that aren't
there, the supervisor takes care of those duties. Um, so,
and if you need to, you can expand it and
you can add additional units under that section chief. So
it's, it's, it's hard to explain in the 15 minutes
that I have, but, um, it is, it is easily
expandable and easily contractable depending on the situation. So don't
want to go through all of the positions. Um, I
just want to hit on a couple of them. Page
15. It's the emergency social service. There are no next
one. There we go. Emergency social services section chief. Not
typically an IMS position. But, uh, crucial position, obviously. This
position is responsible for any evacuees. Uh, they're responsible for
coordination with Red Cross and emergency social services provided by
the city of Windsor through the county. It's just, um,
there's a lot to this position. Um, but it won't
always, it's one of those positions that won't always be
required if we're not evacuating people. May or may not
require full activation of this position. Um, certainly would be
notified as part of the emergency control group. But if
you scroll down a little bit. You can see the
functional units, the reception and transfer centre may not be
open, right? Um, registration in reunification is required only if
you have people evacuate. Uh, emergency resources require all sorts
of resources, whether it's transportation, whether it's housing, whether it's
mental health supports, um, any, any and all emergency resources
that people affected by the emergency could possibly need. So.
Um, and then the other one that is not typically
in IMS position is the next page. The continuity of
operations. Obviously recognise that as a municipal government, we have
to maintain some level of service. The people of the
town of Tecumseh need certain things to happen at certain
times. And, um, this position is geared towards seeing what
resources are required to keep those primary services going. Um,
so, uh. This one typically not in a separate IMS
position, but we feel it was important enough to be
on its own section, uh, to be activated pretty much
with every emergency. So, um, if you remember during COVID,
we had certain services that were not available, uh, just
due to a number of things. But this position would
be responsible for maintaining public information regarding what is available,
what's not available when things that are not available would
be available again. And where to go where residents can
go to get resources that they're looking for from the
town and services. I think that's all of my presentation.
So just quickly walk, like I said, as a lot
of information, um. Let me just go through the recommendations
of the report. Uh, so it is recommended that report
CS 202604 emergency management plan, August, 2026 be received. And
that the emergency management plan, August 2026 for the town
of the company presented at his attachment one. Through report
CS 2026 04 be approved. And further that bylaw 2026,
081 being a bylaw to adopt an emergency management plan
August of 2026 for the town of the come see
be considered for first, second, third and final readings tonight.
And with that, I'm available for questions, if there are
any. Thank you very much, Chief, for the presentation. Um,
any questions or comments. And go ahead. Uh, thank you.
Worship. I do see in the report that, um, it
will be available online and also printed in our two
fire halls. And, um, I've received some inquiries regarding the
battery plant, right? And just with its development. And I
realised that that falls under Windsor because it is in
winter. Um, does it make sense for us to link
or post Windsors or lectures? Just our neighbouring communities, emergency
plans at all. If residents have questions regarding any of
that, or, or would they just know they can go
to city wins or look for it. And pull it
off. Yeah. Um, thanks for the question. And through the
mayor, uh, Councillor Houston. Obviously it is actually a requirement
for municipalities to make their emergency plans available to the
public. Um, so that's why ours will be posted and
printed in various copies. Um, each municipality does typically have
theirs on their website. However, uh, the county of Essex,
I believe keeps one page that has the county plan
and then all of the lower tiers, including the city
of Windsor, I believe, um, but I can certainly talk
to Director of Verth and see what we can do
for that to make them more available. Go ahead, Council.
Thanks very much and through you. Um, thanks to the
report and also the context, um, provided here. And I
appreciate it because there was some other questions that I
had that were maybe about the operational plans. And I'm
just wondering if I can kind of touch on maybe
a few of those and you can answer or, or,
uh, or defer and have a look at those later.
But, um, it's my two questions. And we talked a
little bit about the, um. What was the. Person responsible
for director and community, uh, recreation services their title. There
is a very, have a, um, in the evacuation plan.
Is there an accounting in there for things like accessibility?
I notice we have a lot of things in there
for like translation services and dietary requirements and things. But
accessibility and the needs for, um, for citizens who require,
um, assisted devices and those sorts of things. Are those
considered in that annex plan and that, that operational plan.
Uh, thank you. And through the mayor, yes, they are.
Um, actually our GIS technician maintains a list of people
that know they're going to need assistance. Um, he keeps
a database. So I would encourage anyone listening or anyone
you talk to that does need assistance. Please call the
town and register yourself as such. Um, so we can
concentrate. If you're in the affected area, we know you're
there and we know you've got to come get you.
That's really great. Um, and good for maybe an education,
um, out to the community because, um, pretty passionate about
accessibility because we'll all need it eventually in some form
or another. So it's always good to have that, um,
that forethought to, um, to put yourself on the list.
Um, and a lot of the coordination and the components
of the entire team really reliant on, and this will
be a question for director of earth maybe. A really
reliant on a robust communication structure. And so if the
disaster happens to affect like telecommunications or the internet or
any of those things, how does our emergency response adjust
to that, um, reduction in capabilities. Yeah. Um, through the
mayor, I'll start to answer. And I'm sure Dr. Perth
want to add some more into it. So, uh, one
of the requirements of the act is that emergency operations
centre have backups and backups to backups. So for everything,
uh, technology and communication related. So we do have multiple
systems in place. Um, backup things like this, you know,
backup generators at communication cell tower sites and that kind
of thing. Um, we do actually have copper phone lines
still, um, for a backups. Um, uh, I guess if
you wanted to add a little more to that, Sean?
Sure. Thank you, chief. And through you your worship, uh,
to Councillor Higgison. Yeah. Not only in an emergency situation,
but just day - to - day operations of several
of our municipal sites. There are redundancies built in for
communications, say internet. Our main sites that are identified as
EOCs has have at least three redundant internet connections. In
addition to the chief mentioning not only voiceover IP phone
lines, but the traditional copper lines, uh, which we still
rely on in an emergency. Um, many of our facilities
do have backup generators. We do have secondary and tertiary
sites for NEOC. Uh, we just celebrated the anniversary of
the 03 blackout last week. And I remember that and
firing up generators to run photocopiers to hand out flyers
to our residents. So fast forward 23 years. We've come
a long way with communications with the mass notification. Um,
again, to your, your, your point about, uh, registering for
accessibility. We also encourage residents to register for notification and
emergencies through, uh, to come see alerts. ca. Where we
can, uh, I think the byline is, uh, help us
help you. If we need to reach you in an
emergency, make sure we have your up - to -
date contact information. So again, not only in an emergency,
but day - to - day, we strive to build
in redundancies for the areas that you've mentioned. Thanks for
that. And so as far as kind of a blast
out to those who would be affected by something, if
there was registering through that service, is there an all
that goes down? And the worst case of scenarios. Is
there a, like, is it kind of a physical, we
know where you physically are and we deliver something to
you or go knock on your door. How does that
actually, how do they get notified. Yeah. That's a good
question. Um, we do, one thing I didn't mention is
we do have, uh, access to the provincial alert system
as well. Um, now again, that, that depends on you
having power on your cell phone, right? Um, but worst
case scenario. We have 42 volunteer firefighters. That'll go door
to door and either tell you what's going on or
get you out of your house. So we do have,
you know, obviously that's not the best situation, but if
we need to, we will do that. Thanks for that.
I'm ever cognizant of how connected we are and how,
uh, vulnerable that is. Um, so I can appreciate that
there's, uh, that's really labour and resource intensive, but I
appreciate that there is that, um, ability to respond in
that way. So thanks. Anything further? Deprimir. Just a quick
question in regards to the chief through you chair. One
of the points of the common responsibilities they talk about
here in page seven is that all members need to
complete required training. Can you say that we have a
hundred percent compliance that those members have the required train
at this point? Are there still some that still need
to complete the training? Um, uh, the requirement under the
act is for the primary members to be trained, uh,
which we have done every year. Um, so that is
completed. The alternate, we have, it's been not as robust
as I would like. Um, but again, as I mentioned,
this is as format of this plan is vastly different
from the old one, uh, we're going to run everybody
primary members and their alternates to the same training. So
everybody has the same understanding. Yeah, I just want to
make sure that, uh, you do have the compliance in
that regard before adopting this. So thank you. Any further
questions or comments on, on the chief. And there is
a recommendation that's being put on floor. Council You said
moves and then Councillor Tony support. On a motion on
in favor. Pose, that motion carries. Thank you. Our next
delegation from our, uh, clerk. We'll see number 145 chases.
Frivolous and unreasonable complaints policy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um,
report LCS 2026 13 first came to the regular council
meeting back on July 28th. At that time council asked
that that, um, report and proposed policy return to a
later council meeting in order to allow some additional time
for, um, for council and the public to review. Um,
and so that's what is before council this evening. Um,
in order to hopefully assist, I've prepared a presentation that
I'm hoping to walk through, uh, for council's benefit. If
we can pull that up and next page. So town
staff is receiving increasingly repetitive frivolous fixatious and or unreasonable
complaints. Um, while the overall vast majority of interactions between
town staff and the public are positive and the vast
majority of complaints that are filed, whether they're, um, bylaw,
you know, town bylaw complaints or complaints concerning town services.
The vast majority of those are typical complaints and are
resolved, um, with, with resort to the town's complaint policy
and utilising the city works reporting system. However, town staff
have reported to legal, uh, that instances of misuse or
abuse of the town's complaint procedures has increased. And has
done so to the point where, um, town staff and
including by law enforcement are now spending a disproportionate amount
of time, um, on, on what is truly a small
number of frivolous fixatious or unreasonable complaints. Next slide. There's
currently no formal process for addressing these unique situations where
what is truly a small number of members of the
public. Again, misuse or abuse the towns complaint system by
making and sometimes continuing the make repetitive frivolous fixatious or
unreasonable complaints. The proposed policy is not about silencing critics
of the town or shutting down legitimate complaints or agreements.
It's about providing town staff with additional tools to use
in truly exceptional cases where the complaint system viewed objectively
is being misused or is being intentionally used for retaliation
and or harassment. Next slide. I want to disproportionate amount
of staff time is being monopolized by a small number
of those repeating frivolous or vexatious complaints. This leads to
a draining of staff time. And in some cases has
led to harassment of town staff. When this happens, time
and resources that otherwise could be used to resolve legitimate
complaints is now wasted or delayed. The result of this
is a disservice to the rest of our town residents
who have a right to expect complaints to be reviewed
and addressed in a timely manner. And more importantly, this
raises the need to balance the town's legal obligation to
protect our staff's mental and emotional well - being. Well,
at the same time, optimizing how the town is going
to allocate what are truly limited resources. Next slide. Some
of the goals. Of the policy is to protect the
complaint process for misuse. Create a fair and consistent process
for identifying and managing inappropriate complaint behaviour. Protect staff time
and town resources by reducing unnecessary and or repeat investigations.
And provide enforcement options. When other restrictive measures have not
worked. Next slide. Next slide again, please. So just briefly,
um, complaints that could be captured by the policy generally
fall into one of three different categories. So I've mentioned
frivolous. So that's a complaint when viewed objectively is trivial
in nature or does not merit further town action. Vexatious
complaints. That is one again that when viewed has been
submitted without merit and in bad faith, either intended to
cause harm or made solely to cause an annoyance or
unduly burden town resources. And then the last category which
captures the majority of these types of complaints are what
I call targeted repetitive and or unreasonable. So this is
a complaint submitted about the same address or the same
individual, the same subject matter. Where no new information or
change of circumstances exist. And there appears to be, or
what develops is a pattern of targeting or it appears
that the complaint could be viewed as being retaliatory in
nature. Next slide. Just quickly, and the policy, one thing
that's, I think, of benefits of the policy is there's
some guidance as far as, uh, examples, uh, that can
assist staff when they're facing a potential situation, uh, where
there's a frivolous complaint. Um, so the policy provides a
number of examples. I just took a few here. For
example. So, um, you know, when the complaint concerns an
issue with staff that has already been investigated and determined
to be groundless and those complaints continue on the same
exact issue that's already been investigated and determined to be
groundless. Um, it could be situations where the complaint makes
unreasonable or aggressive or harassing demands on staff. Um, by
insisting on responses within an unreasonable timeline. Uh, it could
be refusing to accept when they're advised that the issue
falls outside the scope of the town's jurisdiction. Or would
sometimes happens is where the complaint is unhappy with the
report or the results of the investigation. And that complaint
continues and repeatedly challenges the findings of that investigation, either
complaining about the outcome or denying that an adequate response
has been given. Next slide. Um, one section, uh, that
I wanted to quote from the policy is 5. 5
and it concerns, how do we go about identifying these
unreasonable complaints? Um, so deciding whether complaint conduct is frivolous
fixations are unreasonable requires a flexible approach considering all circumstances.
There's no rigid tests for determining whether conduct is along
frivolous fixations or unreasonable. The key question is whether there
is conduct or a pattern of conduct that is likely
caused distress, disruption or irritation without a proper or justified
cause. So town employees must, if, if they are faced
with a potential situation like this, they must seek to
establish through the documented words and actions of the complaint
in themselves. So that would be copies of emails, letters,
social media posts, voicemails, notes, coming from the complaint themselves
that established that the conduct is frivolous vexatious or unreasonable.
The town staff needs to prove that and establish that
before applying any further restrictions that are outlined in the
policy. Next slide. So as far as the process, um,
documentation is going to be key in those unfortunate rare
situations where we need to consider, um, designated, complaints or
a complaint as being frivolous or vexatious. So decisions must
rely entirely on verifiable, documented interactions, documentation should never contain
vague assumptions or personal feelings. And it's critically important that
staff log precise records of every letter, email, phone call
or in - person interaction. Once a pattern of unreasonable
behaviour appears to be clear and documented, staff would report
that to their department director for review. So it's now
at a first level of review. Where the direct, where
that department director reviews and determines that a complaint may
qualify for designation. Then the matter is then revert for
a secondary legal review, uh, with the director of legislative
services. Legislative services would then conduct a Folsom legal review
of the matter. Reviewing all relevant contexts, historical data. Uh,
they'll look at such things as the number of similar
complaints. By the same resident, the tone and manner of
communications, the circumstances, and the sensitivity of the subject matter.
Based on that secondary review, the director of legislative services
shall decide whether or not designation is warranted and obtain
authorization from the chief administrative officer. Once that decision has
been made, that a complaint follows within the scope of
the policy. Notification is made to the resident. And relevant
staff as appropriate. Um, the director at that time may
either issue to the resident, to the complaint, either a
written morning letter or a written designation letter. And that
letter will outline, um, a summary of the director's findings
and reasoning and the decision that's been made. And whether
it's a warning letter or a designation letter, uh, that
letter may include restrictions to be applied and the duration
of those restrictions. So let's talk about that next restrictions
and enforcement. Typically when it comes to restrictions, so once
a decision, as reviewed multi - leveled, um, decision to
designate that complaint or complainant as frivolous or vexatious, then
the restrictions are typically one of three types, generally speaking.
Uh, the single contact restriction. So we're, where the individual
is directed to, um, going forward. And for a specified
time period to communicate with only one specific assigned staff
member, um, the channel blocking restriction. So the individual is
directed to restrict their interactions, uh, to a particular form,
maybe strictly to writing or to a secure online portal.
And then the non - response restriction, um, and so
that relates to individuals who send repeated identical messages after
a case is closed. Staff will be directed to file
further communications that they receive to continue to keep a
record. But they would be in this instructed not to
reply. Um, and then the variation of other restrictions that
can be applied. Those are the three general categories. Sometimes
if physical meetings are required, then the town may mandate
that a third party witness. Always be present at those
meetings. Um, but typically those are the main restrictions. So
what happens when those restrictions are imposed and they do
not serve to deter that frivolous fixatious or unreasonable behaviour
or conduct. Uh, then the policy has proposed to counsel
this evening, contemplates the possibility of using administrative monetary penalties,
uh, to further deter the behaviour. Um, the imposing those
penalties would be considered only as a last resort after
it's demonstrated that these other restrictive actions are not resulting
in compliance. And then going further, other last resort measures,
um, in order of increasing severity would include, uh, possibly
serving a no trespass order. Um, based on the town's
visitor conduct policy, uh, there could be a possible referral
to the Ontario provincial police or other authorities as appropriate.
And there may be the taking of further legal action
as maybe appropriate. For a policy like this to remain
legally sound, the policy must heavily, uh, protect due process
and the complaints rights. So the individual who's had this
designation imposed in restrictions imposed against them. We'll have a
right to appeal the decision the designate. They'll have 14
days to do that. And furthermore, these restrictions, um. Would
not normally be permit. They would permanent. They would carry
a review dates in order to assess if the behaviour
is improved and the restrictions can then be removed. Um,
and then finally one point on the policy is that
the policy will enforce what is typically called a blank
slate rule. So just because that individual has been designated,
um, as having filed or engaged in behaviour, that's frivolous
or vexatious. If not in the same individual, brings forward
a completely new, unrelated complaint in the future. It will
have to be evaluated independently on its own merits. Some
best practices. Consistency across all departments is going to be
vital. Again, we talked, I talked about the importance of
documenting interactions and keeping precise objective notes. Um, you know,
during some of those difficult interactions, it's, it's absolutely crucial
that town staff remain completely professional. And deescalate, um, do
not match any hostile energy that may come from those
complaints. Um, it's critically important that, you know, individual town
staff does not decide independently to take action. So do
not ghost an individual or stop replying on your own
initiative because you feel it's frivolous or vexatious. You must
continue normal service and normal protocols until management formerly authorizes
that restriction. Um, and then sharing data across departments, um,
will be important. Um, so that we can track if
a complaint is trying to perhaps bypass one department by
targeting, uh, another. I would anticipate that directors, managers and
other staff as appropriate would, would receive, um, training on
this, on this new policy to work out some of
the steps that would be required in order to go
through, um, in cases where there needs to be potentially
a designation. Uh, and then lastly, um, there's a number
of municipalities that have similar policies in place. I've just
named a few. And then going back to, uh, I
believe it was July of 2025, uh, town of LaSalle
council gave direction to their administration, um, to look to
draft and implement a similar policy in order to curb
the misuse of municipal bylaws and municipal services. I don't
believe that policy's been finalised. Um, but, but they did
receive, um, direction, uh, from the talent La Sommers are
that the report be received and supported. And if so,
that a bylaw be prepared and returned for consideration to
adopt this policy, adopt a vexatious frivolous and unreasonable complaints
policy number 145 and to provide for administrative monetary penalties
for further enforcement when required. Um, happy to answer any
questions that the councillors may have this evening. Questions or
comments. Go ahead. Uh, just a comment.
Normally I say, you know, thank you for this report
and whatever. I'm sad that we're here. Um, it's disappointing
that we have to have a policy like this. But,
um, the alternative is, is to watch capable and well
- intentioned people opt out of serving their community. Um,
and this job is supposed to be hard, but it's
supposed to be hard because the work is demanding and
not because, uh, people make it unbearable to do the
job. Um, that goes for staff here for council members.
Um, for people serving the public. And. I appreciate that
the process here and the determination, it's all transparent. Um,
because I think situations like this, uh, we don't like
to talk about them. We don't like to reveal them
because as you said, they are few and far between.
But the escalation of them is, um, borders on dangerous.
And it's our obligation. To protect people that work here
and to enforce the type of, of community, um, and
protection for community members. Um, that is afforded. And that's
just not just physical, but it's also the protection of
the rights that you have to access services. And if
staff time is taken up doing these things, then it
prevents those from being able to happen. So, um, I'm
sad that we're here, but supportive of the policy and
happy to move the, um, the recommendations. Any further questions
or comments, go ahead. Thank you, Worship. I support the
policy and I believe we've got, we've got an obligation
and take care of our employees. Um, take care of,
uh, the residents, uh, and when our time and effort
is being, uh, drained on, on, uh, some of the
examples, you know, that we heard here, um, we're not
getting to those legitimate complaints or we're taking time away
from, uh, activities that, you know, should be happening elsewhere.
So, um, supportive of the policy and, uh, happy to
second it. Go ahead, councillor. Theory you, Mr. Mayor, just
a quick comment. Um, no way this is telling our
citizens are not allowed to talk to us. They're not
allowed to complain. This is not at all. Some people
put it on Facebook as misinformation. This is about the
people that one percent of the people that just don't
want to listen, they don't want the answer that we
have given them. And they want us to change everything
just for them. Uh, and I agree. Our staff should
not have to be harassed. Council should not have to
be harassed. Uh, nobody wants to be harassed that way
in your own workplace. You don't want to be harassed
by citizens or customers or things like that. We all
have an obligation to talk to each other. And a
professional nice manner. And if you can't do that, then
don't call us. Thank you. Go ahead. Hey, thank you,
Chair. Uh, just a couple items. I know the members
of council missing tonight. That's unfortunate. One is legitimately on,
on personal leave and well - deserved. So again, we
can't, uh, fault members for that. Um, just a couple
points and maybe questions. I know we've always been stressed
as elected officials that our job is to develop policy
and administration is to implement it. And so this policy
again to me, it came out of nowhere. It came
out of me at a council meeting. And you know,
that the concerning point of that is it bypass. We
usually have mayor CO meeting where these are vetted. Obviously
this is a policy. It should have went to the
policy priorities meeting that what didn't happen. So it seemed
like it's being rushed. And I know we've had time
to review. But I'd like to have wholesome discussion. I
know there's a lot of things in here that, that
makes sense. That's important to put as policy. But there
are a lot of questions that I have in terms
of comments. So I'll just state a few here. You
know, in terms of, you know, the report, it recommends
three or more complaints over 12 months. And that to
me is artificials objective. You know, why three, not two,
not four, not five. Uh, I don't like to put
a number to it because things can happen in a
year. That these completes happen. I know there's parameters in
there that talk about, you know, who decides interprets that
a complaint is frivolous. So I would like to see,
you know, council being a prize or included in this
process. And we're not there at all. And we're the
elected officials. So when we do get to complaints, they
call us. And sometimes it doesn't make sense. And so,
uh, you know, in terms of the clerk's office making
decisions, in terms of being the judge and the jury
and all that aspect, uh, there may be times that,
you know, as an elected official, I don't think it
is unreasonable complaint. So that, that's the issue I have
is that, you know, the number, the limit. And that
council's not included as part of this, where it does
get to those high end where we should be apprised
because we are the voice. And if residents are frustrated
and they're complaining, they're obviously not getting an answer. And
when they talk to us and they call us, you
know, then I feel like I'm in the middle where
I have to go to administration. And get the circle
where it starts spitting. So, you know, page four has
a list of unreasonable conduct. Again, who decides what is
unreasonable? You know, we have policies, instruments at place right
now that deal with fixatious comments and complaints. And so
to leave the decision, uh, solely on the clerk, you
know, I can't support that. So I would like more
wholesome discussion on to see if we can include that,
eliminate the limit so that people can complain. Cause that's
part of our job is to listen and be the
voice of the residence when they do have that. And
again, I don't want, I'm not comfortable delegating that, you
know, to that authority to, to solely the clerk's office.
So I don't, also the other part that, that has
bothersome as the indirect, implied intimidation factor, where people will
see this as I'm only allowed three complaints. And if
I'm deemed, you know, frivolous now, they could possibly, and
again, it's extreme situation where they can charge me now.
So, you know, where is that. I call it appeal
right of our residence if they're in these situations. So
I can't support it as written. If there's amendments to
it or if, uh, you know, when it comes back
for bylaw, uh, the amendments for that, I would consider
that. But as written right now, those are the concerns
I have. Go ahead through your, Mr. Mayor, just a
couple of comments. The reference to the three complaint within
a year. That's really just a threshold for which could
possibly engage or review. And that provision is, is referenced
that it's only in circumstances where by law enforcement has
already investigated and rendered a decision. And so if three
complaints continue. So if a second complaint, a third complaint
regarding a matter, uh, by law enforcement's already made a
decision. And the new facts, no new circumstances introduced, then
that, that could form the basis. So three was, was
chosen as, as a threshold, um, you know, is the
appropriate threshold five? Is it six? Is it seven? I
don't know. But that was the rationale behind that provision.
Um. Some of the other comments. The policy, I think
is closest for appropriate review. Um, by administration, because it
relates to operations. It truly appears to be an operational.
And when, you know, whether it's by law enforcement or
other town staff are engaging with the public as part
of their normal daily operations. And again, it's just, um,
you know, the last comment, um, and I tried to
reiterate that in the presentation is the goal here is
not to create a chilling effect so that residents think
if they file a complaint, they're going to be hit
with a sanction or, or restriction. The policy is, I
think thoroughly designed with multi - levels of review by
different individuals. So it's, it's, you know, it's not just
clerks. Um, the CAO could be involved. Another department director
could be involved. Outside legal in some cases could be
involved. Were they come in for a review? So it
purposely has that multi - level review. And then, um,
as I, as I referenced, there's definitely appeal rights that
go with that. So we tried to create that proper
balance with the, um, with the policy. And so this
is my comments through you, Mr. Mayor. And I'll leave
it at that. I think one thing we've got to
remember as well. Under the occupation of held safety act
Bill 168. Where the border governors. And we have the
responsibility. To provide a safe working environment for each and
every one, regardless if it's our public work. Folks out
there on the street. Or our CSRs who are here.
We've seen it. We've seen it where they've been threatened.
And so forth. The beauty of the whole thing is
yes, it's less than one percent. But it only takes
one. And I think that's what we, the whole issue
is here. And we've heard it. I mean, we've, we've
had some over a two year period, put 26 complaints
on the same thing. It's been dealt with the staff
time itself and that entered departmental work that has to
be done. Um, it costs money. Big money taxpayers money.
And so I think there has to be an understanding.
And yes, there's going to have to be an educational
piece. We don't, we're not basically putting up a roadblock
and telling people they can't, you know, make a complaint.
I mean, obviously, uh, they can make a complaint. I
mean, that's what we're here for. I mean, uh, and,
uh, and done through the proper channels and so forth.
But my, my biggest piece is providing a safe working
environment for our citizens as well as our own employees.
It's critical that we do that. Because at the end
of the day, the buck stops here. On us. And
we're the ones that are responsible. And even though sometimes
look at council and really don't understand the full responsibility
that we have, we're part of the border governors. Just
like any of the corporation. And so, uh, a lot
of work has gone into, uh, this policy development by,
uh, the clerk's office. And, uh, it's basically protecting against
issues that could confront. I mean, I just remember, um,
October, not October, April 6th, 2023 when 400 people went
into a Civic Centre. And at the county. And we
heard the threats. We had folks that came in there
with fatigues and Bowie knives. And threatening counsel and administration
in particular. The whole security piece has been changed at
the county level, that unfortunate thing. This is the House
of Democracy. It's the ability for people to come in.
And serve the public. But I do tend to agree
in terms of some of the things. Maybe the development
of it. Maybe council wasn't in. At the forefront in
the full delivery. But we'd be naive to say that.
We haven't seen what's transpired in the last few years.
We know it. And I can tell you just recently
without adding names to it, but there was an individual
that came into this building and threatened one of our
employees. And the comments were made. I know where you
live. And so this is why it's important for us
to, uh, to establish guardrails to protect our. Our integrity,
but also protect our employees as we move forward. So
I think the policy has been well developed. And, uh,
and I fully support, uh, administrations bringing forward because they
are the front lines. They are our face. They're here.
Every day, uh, on our behalf, you know, delivering services
and certainty policies. So I think it's, it's important for
us to, uh, make sure that we remember what our
responsibilities are to our employees. Go ahead. Thank you through
you. It's really frustrating to hear. The suggestions
of council being more involved. We either trust our staff
where we don't. Our staff are the ones who are
on the front lines of this. We are, as council
members, um, putting our own names out there to take
these calls and to take these complaints. And we take
that seriously. Um, and our, our staff are the ones
who not only have to experience it, but do have
to deal with it as a part of their regular
job. And to me, this policy and it's rationale. It's,
it's execution. Uh, I trust staff to do right by
our citizens. I trust that if there is a process
that they have questions of members of council that they'll
ask us. And ultimately the discussion about this policy happens
here in this room. Um, it's happening now. So I
don't need further time to look at this. And, and
decide whether this is something that, uh, is necessary. This
is the place that we decide. Um, this is the
place where we have those discussions. It's been now in
front of us twice. Deferred once and is now in
front of us again. So it's time to, uh, decide
on whether we're moving forward with, forward with this. It's
been moved and seconded. And I think we're in the
position now where we say this is something that we're
looking forward to coming back. Um, as a bylaw. And
I just think that's where we're at. And it's frustrating
to hear the opposite because I think that's, uh, it's
our job here to deal with stuff like this. And
I think we're there. Go ahead. Yeah. Just to provide
further clarification in terms of occupational health. Obviously the good
policy in here that addresses that. And to go back
to the county vessex, I didn't see up there. The
county of Essex implementing a Vixatious frivolous complaint policy, even
though they did have that issue back in April a
few years ago. So again, you know, our region, we'd
be the first implementing, which is good. But obviously for
those, you know, sensitive, um, abusive occupational health type, of
protection. That's important. So what I'm saying again, I go
back to, I like in the policy, but there's parts
of it. And, you know, if we come up with
examples is the clerk's office will be deciding if a
call that comes in a regular complaint of down the
street. And they get an answer. And they don't like
the answer and they feel that they didn't get the
answer. And they call again within that 12 month that
they're going to be shut down. And I want council
to be able to bring those forward. And if not,
you're eliminating my role as a representative, a voice of
those individuals. So I'm talking about the low to mid
type of complaints. Not the health and safety components. So
that's the part I have issues with. And that's why,
you know, unless it's addressed it here, I can't support
it as written. But in fact, uh, Deputy Mayor, if
somebody, um, doesn't like obviously, um, decision, you know, from
the policy, from, from administration, they can call us. There's
nothing in policy. They can't call us. And, uh, and
have a discussion and so forth. I think it's not
saying that all of a sudden we're just slamming a
door shut and nobody can tall us. It's still there.
And I would expect that that's not going to change
because, uh, elected officials, you know, everybody's got our number.
Uh, and they will call. It. If nothing
further, then are you prepared to move. No, I support.
And it's supported by a council Houston on the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I recorded vote has been requested
on the motion as moved by Councillor Higginson, seconded by
Councillor Houston. Uh, the motion states that report LCS 2026
17, vexatious and privileged complaints policy number 145 be received.
And that a bylaw be prepared to adopt the Vexus
vectus frivolous and unreasonable complaints policy number 45. And they
provide for administrative monetary penalties for further enforcement when required.
Uh, the recorded vote was requested by the deputy mayor.
Deputy Mayor Buchetti, how do you vote on the question
opposed. Mayor McNamara, how do you vote? Sport.
Councillor Tonio, how do you vote? Support. Councillor Higginson, how
do you vote? Support. Houston, how do you vote? Support.
With a recorded vote of foreign support and one opposed,
the motion has stated carries. All right. Thank you. Thank
you. We have
no communication pieces to deal with. I don't believe. Madam
Deputy clerk. And so we'll move on to reports. We
have PWES 2026 44. Sylvester and Deso Drive trunk stone
sort of project tender award. Mr. Bartney. Thank you, your
worship. Uh, so this trunk storm sewer is a component
of the East Town line drain and manning road secondary
plan area stormwater management facility solution. Uh, it will provide
stormwater management controls, uh, for the east online drain watershed
south of county road 22. Uh, provides, uh, stormwater outlet
for the Westlake drive in the north area of the
Manning Roads that canary plan area, including Petreta lands. That
include the recently constructed hotel, uh, and the ongoing fuse
apartments. The town put out a request for tenders, uh,
posted on the bids and tenders, uh, website, the tender
closed August 17th. And we did receive eight submissions. Uh,
you can see them there up on the screen ranging
from about four million down to 5. 2 million. Major
construction was low tenderer. Uh, it is anticipated construction. We'll
commence by October 5th. The project as a whole is
over budget specifically in the storm store life cycle reserve.
This is mainly due to a number of reasons. One
significant increase in the storms who resize, um, this, uh,
this kind of evolved during the detailed design and the
stormwater modelling that was completed. Additional relocation work, uh, needed
to actually install the storm sewer, which included relocation of,
uh, parts of the sanitary sewer and also, uh, parts
of the waterme to actually physically get the storm sewer
into the ground. Um, and then obviously inflation, uh, the
budget was set back, uh, in October of 2025. And
since then, we've seen, uh, raising oil and gas prices,
tariffs, uh, and the, uh, the ongoing conflict in the
Middle East, uh, which have some impacts on costs and
construction costs. So while the project is over budget, uh,
it is very unusual to receive this amount of interest
from contractors at this time of year. So administration is
glad to see that there were eight submissions. And it
was a very competitive process. If council may recall, we
have had in recent years tendered projects where we have
received, uh, one tender and in one case, we did
receive zero tenders where we had to re - tender.
So seeing this amount of interest, um, it's very good.
I would also like to note that there are anticipated
recoveries of approximately 450, 000, uh, for the trunk storms
tour, uh, and that's as part of the, uh, MERSPA
cost sharing agreement. Uh, the recommendations, it is recommended that
the report be received. And that the tender for the
Sylvester and Desert drive trunk storms who were project in
the amount of four million fifty, be awarded to major
construction, 2010 limited. And further, that bylaw 2026 - 83
be considered for first, second, third, and final readings. To
authorize a mayor in clerk to execute an agreement with
major construction. 2010 limited and that the clerk be authorized
to do so to do other such further and other
acts which may be necessary to implement and give effect
to the set agreement satisfactory informed to the town solicitor.
And furthermore, that council authorize an increase in funding allocation
of 823, 400 dollars for a total budget requirement of
4, 803, 400 as follows. And on the screen there,
you'll see that the allocation from the road lifecycle reserve
did decrease. From about 2. 7 million down to 1.
8 million with the storm sewer life cycle reserve, uh,
increasing from, uh, 1. 2 million to about 2. 9
million. If there are any questions, I would be happy
to take them. Thank you. I notice while major concern,
are they local? I've never, never heard of them. Uh,
yep. They are local. They did a project for the
town. I want to say 2017. We did some various
water main works along Counter Road 42 and allowing intersection
road. Uh, so they have done work in the town.
Um, but it has been a while since they have
submitted. So. Okay. Any question for any questions or comments
and recommendations before us, members of the council, council Houston
move, Councillor Sport. On the motion on favors of any
that's carried. Bye bye loss, uh, Mr. Clark.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, by lust of this evening
for first and second reading, by the 2026 081 emergency
management plan, August, 2026. And by law 2026 083, tender
award for Sylvester and Desreled Drive. And if it's also
council swished this evening, those two referenced bylaws also be
read a third and final time. All right. Thank you.
Move by Councillor Houston, two readings. And Councillor Higginson. Any
questions or comments. Hearing none of favor? What was offending
that's carry. And three readings now. Rereading is now in
order. Deputy Merritt McGhetty and councillor Tony. On emotional in
favor. Pose, if any, that is carried. That's it for
business. And, uh, nothing further than the German is in
order. Counciltonio, Councillor Higginson on a motion. All in favor.
Bowser Fenny that's carried this meeting is now adjourned.