[0:12] Test one. Test two. Test three. Test four, test five.
[1:13] Test one. Test two, test three.
[3:56] I'd like to call our meeting to order. Roll call.
[4:00] Members of council present minus councillor. Jobin and councillor donor
[4:09] who are off on personal leave. We'll move on to
[4:14] the landed dollars. We acknowledge that we are in the
[4:18] land surrounded by water originally inhabited by indigenous people who
[4:22] have travelled this area since time immemorial. This territory is
[4:26] within the lands honoured by the Wampum Treaties agreements between
[4:29] the Onishnavi, the Shanilandapi, allied nations to peacefully share and
[4:35] care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Specifically, we
[4:38] would like to acknowledge the presence of three fires Confederacy,
[4:41] the Ajivi, Ottawa, Badawatomi, Your and Juan. in call up
[4:45] First Nation. We are dedicated to honouring Indigenous history, culture,
[4:49] while remaining committed to moving forward respectfully with all First
[4:54] Nations and within May T. For the members present any
[4:58] disclosure beginning interests on the agenda as presented to you
[5:01] this evening. Every number to have that duly noted. Mr.
[5:16] Just a reminder to those in attendance of the rules
[5:18] of decorum and council chambers. We ask that all people
[5:21] at this meeting refrained from speaking out using inappropriate language
[5:28] or otherwise disturbing the meeting. If we do have any
[5:33] delegations this evening, we ask that those delegations be limited
[5:37] to five minutes that those delegations speak only through the
[5:41] chair, and that the delegation speak only to the matter
[5:45] for which they delegated upon. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Great,
[5:49] thank you. No delegations this evening. West, we do. The
[5:56] emergency management. Our director of community safety fire chief, Wade
[6:02] Bondi, and our deputy fire chief, Nicole Fields. And talked
[6:06] about CS 2026 - 04 emergency management plan August 26.
[6:12] Chief. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and good evening, Mayor McMaire,
[6:17] members of council. I'm here tonight to present the new
[6:21] revised emergency management plan for the town. It's been a
[6:25] long time coming, and I'm glad to see it at
[6:28] this point. What I'll do tonight is briefly walk you
[6:33] through the management plan. I'll get into the report and
[6:38] the recommendations that are attached there. If you could bring
[6:40] up attachment one, please. The page one of 19.
[6:58] So the plan, as you may know, the emergency management
[7:03] in civil production act requires that all municipalities in Ontario
[7:06] have an emergency management plan. The authority for the plan,
[7:12] once it's approved by council, comes through that act. An
[7:16] overview of the plan is that the plan's purpose is
[7:19] to have a consistent approach to managing emergencies that happen
[7:24] within the town. It assigns responsibilities to roles of staff
[7:29] members within the town, as well as how we would
[7:32] work with our assisting departments such as OPP, EMS Red
[7:39] Cross, that type of thing. If you scroll down a
[7:44] little bit. The plan maintenance, plan maintenance, it has to
[7:49] be reviewed annually under the emergency management silver protection act
[7:56] that review would fall to myself primarily. With consultation of
[8:01] our emergency management committee, which is also defined later in
[8:05] the plan. We see actually the next page. Part of
[8:09] the act requires that the town assign an emergency management
[8:13] program committee to approve all things emergency management within the
[8:16] town. It was previously approved as a bylaw in 2025.
[8:24] However, tonight later, one of the recommendations will be that
[8:27] a comprehensive bylaw approve the committee, our emergency control group,
[8:33] as well as the emergency management plan, all - in
[8:35] - one bylaw, just to keep things consistent and to
[8:37] keep things easier to update in the future. So under
[8:41] that bylaw, which is proposed as 20 by - law
[8:43] 2026 - 081, our committee would be comprised of the
[8:48] mayor, the CAO, our CEMC. Nope, back up a little
[8:52] bit, please. The director of community and record services and
[8:56] our director of public works and engineering services. Similarly, the
[9:01] act requires that we have an emergency control group to
[9:03] oversee things during an emergency. That would be the list
[9:08] of essentially all our directors, along with the mayor and
[9:11] CAO. As well as assigning a manager, the manager of
[9:17] customer service as an emergency information officer, which is a
[9:21] required position under the Act. The big change for this
[9:30] plan is over the previous plan is this plan now
[9:34] falls in line with the province's emergency management structure in
[9:38] incident management system, or IMS, as it's called. This is
[9:43] a system that's used in Ontario. It's very similar to
[9:47] the incident command system that's used worldwide, and it makes
[9:50] it very easy for other emergency organisations to walk in
[9:54] and immediately know who does what within our emergency operation
[9:58] system. Excuse me, centre. And it makes it makes coordination
[10:02] between neighbouring municipalities, other organisations very easy. And the system
[10:09] is also very adaptable to various emergencies. Within our plan
[10:13] this time, we have a notification procedures for how that
[10:18] emergency management group emergency control group. That was identified on
[10:22] the previous page would be notified in the event of
[10:25] an emergency. Um, I can, if you can make that
[10:28] a little bit smaller, the page. I know it's very
[10:31] hard to read, but I can tell you what it
[10:33] says. So in the top left is an incident happens,
[10:36] basically. The box to the right of that is the
[10:40] normal response would happen. So if it was a flooding
[10:45] incident, somebody from public works who was on call would
[10:49] get the call. They would go out, assess the situation,
[10:52] um, and then report back to, uh, the director of
[10:56] public works. Um, who would also assess the situation for
[11:01] the things that are in that large tall box there?
[11:04] Um, if it's a serious, say in the example of
[11:09] a flooding situation, if it is a flooding, a severe
[11:11] flood, or it looks like it's going to be a
[11:13] severe flied director Bartnik would contact the CEMC myself, and
[11:18] we would discuss the questions that are in that box.
[11:21] Basically, uh, is a normal response adequate. Could the incident
[11:26] rapidly expand and affect a wide portion of the community?
[11:31] Is a sport and coordination of the response required? And
[11:35] as it is significant information management for the incident required,
[11:39] if the yes to any of those questions, um, that
[11:43] would mean that we should be opening up our emergency
[11:46] operation centre, which would be handled by myself with the
[11:50] assistance of directed furth through our mass notification system. If
[11:56] you scroll down a little bit there. So with our
[12:00] emergency operations centre, our EOC, uh, there's levels of activation.
[12:04] Um, those of you that were involved in COVID times,
[12:10] uh, we started out with, you can change the activation
[12:14] level based on the emergency. Level one activation is just
[12:18] basically the something going on. It's not big yet. But
[12:22] we kind of keep an eye on it. That's kind
[12:24] of the basics of how to think about it. Um,
[12:27] it's generally myself, the CAO, keeping with, uh, whatever affected
[12:32] departmental director. Um, flooding in the event would be public
[12:36] works obviously. And then keeping the mayor and council apprised
[12:41] of the situation as it unfolds or it resolves itself.
[12:45] Um, communications are done through normal business communications. You don't,
[12:49] um, you typically do not stand up your emergency operation
[12:52] centre. So we're still working from our own offices, uh,
[12:55] through normal business practices. Uh, level two activation is a
[13:00] little bit higher level, um, what it is, is there's
[13:05] an incident, but it's specifically targets one area of the
[13:10] business of the town. So, um, something like. Oh, it's
[13:15] hard to think of an example without going too big.
[13:17] Um, so it's basically like, uh, COVID times. That was
[13:22] a good example. Uh, we had myself the CAO and
[13:25] we had the director of the community and recreation services
[13:29] at the time dealing with facilities as well as OPP.
[13:35] Um, so we were keeping tabs on the developing the
[13:38] ever - changing situation and keeping the mayor and council
[13:43] apprised of what we were doing as far as town
[13:44] services as far as how we were taking care of
[13:46] our employees and responding to the changing pandemic. And then
[13:53] level three activation is a full activation. That is the
[13:57] exercise that we do every year. Uh, that is to
[14:00] practice that. We would come together in the emergency operations
[14:03] centre. The entire emergency control group would be notified to
[14:07] attend. We would all be in attendance, uh, for command
[14:11] and coordination of the event of the incident as it
[14:14] went along. Um. And obviously the mayor would be as
[14:22] part of the community control group would be in attendance
[14:25] or as alternate, which is the deputy mayor. One of
[14:28] them would be in the tenants at all times. Uh,
[14:30] in between the CAO, the mayor and myself, we would
[14:34] keep the rest of Council of Prize to the situation
[14:36] as an unfolded. Uh, if you can flop to the
[14:42] next. So, uh, as I said, the emergency operation centre,
[14:46] uh, is where we would, um, coordinate the control of
[14:51] everything incident related. Um, activation, I went through. There are
[14:57] people are activated through our mass notification system, activation levels
[15:01] would be what is required at the time. Set up
[15:09] procedures for the emergency operation centre. Uh, that's one of
[15:13] the appendices. That is appended to the plan. Appendix one.
[15:19] And that, uh, the location of our primary emergency operations
[15:24] centre, our secondary emergency operation centre. Their setup is actually,
[15:29] um, confidential information. Um, as you can imagine, uh, if
[15:35] someone was to perform a malicious act and they wanted
[15:39] to do more damage if they knew where we were.
[15:43] And where we were controlling operations from they could impact
[15:46] that emergency even more. So we, we keep things a
[15:50] certain aspects of the emergency plan confidential. There's set up
[15:55] procedures for the physical locations. Um, there's deactivation procedures that
[16:00] are in another appendix. Um, very step - by -
[16:02] step. You know, here's the resources we need. The physical
[16:07] things we need, pen, pencils, that kind of thing. Um,
[16:10] deactivation, same thing, a step - by - step. What
[16:14] needs to happen as far as documentation, where the documentation
[16:16] goes, uh, who closes down the emergency operations centre, um,
[16:21] all those lovely type of things. It's very straightforward. For
[16:25] that. Um, in the event of an emergency, a true
[16:30] emergency, the head of council has the authority to declare
[16:32] an emergency. Um, that declaration of an emergency can happen
[16:37] independently of EOC operations. Um, they don't have to be
[16:41] one in the same. Typically, if you have a declared
[16:45] emergency, here you'll see is going to be operational. Um,
[16:48] but it doesn't necessarily happen, have to happen that way.
[16:52] Um, as an example of COVID, we only had a
[16:54] partial activation of the AOC, but it was a declared
[16:57] emergency. The mayor declared that emergency. So, um, and of
[17:02] course when we declare an emergency, there's certain things that
[17:04] have to happen. Uh, you have to notify, obviously town
[17:08] council, the rest of town council, uh, the provincial emergency
[17:11] operations centre by telephone and copy by facts, if you
[17:18] can still believe they have a fax machine. And we
[17:21] also notify the warden of the county of Essex and
[17:23] the CEMC for the county of Essex. That's more of
[17:26] a coordination piece. Um, the CEMC is when we have
[17:29] an emergency, uh, as a group, we notify each other
[17:33] just because there are neighbours and our emergency may affect
[17:36] them. They're amazing. There's may affect us. So we keep
[17:39] tight coordination, uh, during an emergency, um, but if the
[17:43] formal declaration, you have to notify them for coordination. As
[17:50] far as termination of an emergency, the plan is laid
[17:54] out essentially as, uh, required by the act, uh, the
[17:59] mayor can terminate an emergency. And also the premier of
[18:03] Ontario contaminated emergency. Uh, in the event and emergency is
[18:07] terminated. Basically, you have to notify the same people that
[18:10] you notified when you were declaring the emergency. It just
[18:14] makes sense. Um, another appendix to the emergency plan is
[18:21] request for assistance. So any requests for outside assistance, that
[18:25] is request from the provincial or federal governments. Um, those
[18:30] requests have to come through this EEMC to the provincial
[18:33] emergency operations centre. And there can be a significant delay
[18:39] in getting either provincial or federal assistance. Depending on what
[18:44] else is going on in the province and where the
[18:46] federal resources are at the time, uh, obviously it's, it's
[18:51] easy to imagine wildfire season. If we've got a hundred
[18:54] and some wildfires going in Ontario and we ask for
[18:57] something that they're using up there. It's already been deployed.
[19:01] There could be a significant delay. Um, essentially, uh, we,
[19:06] to make it a little bit easier as one of
[19:08] the appendices to the plan, uh, we've drafted a request
[19:13] for assistance based on a flooding example. Um, but it
[19:16] can be easily tailored to any emergency. Um, that speeds
[19:19] it up a little bit and that will make the
[19:20] request quicker. But again, there could be a delay in
[19:23] receiving those resources. And the way our emergency plans are
[19:26] set up, uh, we count on being on our own,
[19:30] uh, for a while along with our, um, mutually partners
[19:36] and EMS OPP Red Cross like the typical partners that
[19:39] we have locally. Additional plans I had mentioned a few
[19:46] of them there. Um. The appendices and the annex plans.
[19:52] Some of the plans, a council has previous approved. Um,
[19:55] such as the information security incident, uh, developed by our
[20:00] director of technology and client services. Some of the plans
[20:04] are operational plans that are developed by the departments themselves
[20:08] and approved at the director level, uh, within, within those
[20:12] departments. Um. Training for all of this is done, uh,
[20:18] annually. Uh, there is an actual, because this is a
[20:22] new plan. It's now following the IMS system in Ontario.
[20:25] Uh, there will be a significant training for all of
[20:27] the emergency control group as well as their alternates in
[20:31] September. I believe it's September 22nd, but don't quote me
[20:34] on that. Um, and then as well for this, this
[20:37] year's exercise, uh, we are going to have, uh, consultant
[20:41] walk us through, uh, and exercise using this plan just
[20:45] to make sure that everybody is very clear on the
[20:47] roles. Um, and that you can easily see how each
[20:51] of the sections, which I'll go through in a minute,
[20:54] uh, how each of the sections work together, uh, who's
[20:57] responsible for what and go from there. So this section
[21:02] here, rolls and responsibilities. If you go to the page
[21:06] up, please. Oh, no, sorry down. A little bit. Right
[21:14] there. So this is basically the IMS layout. Like I
[21:18] said, this is a very, it's a common thing throughout
[21:21] Ontario. Um. The colour coding is an IMS colour coding.
[21:28] So you'll see in our exercise this year, uh, we
[21:31] have colour coded nameplates for each section. Uh, as well
[21:35] as I have some chair covers to identify where the
[21:39] command section is sitting, where are the operation section is
[21:42] sitting. And that's the ease external agencies that come into
[21:45] assist us. Um, they can easily identify, okay, I need
[21:49] the commander. So they know where the green section is.
[21:52] They can go over there and find it very easily.
[21:54] Um, in the plan here, uh, we've identified primary positions
[21:59] for each primary staff positions for each of the IMS
[22:03] positions. So you can see the policy group is the
[22:05] mayor and director of legislative and cleric services. The EOC
[22:09] director is our CAO. The emergency information officers, our manager
[22:14] of customer service that was declared earlier. Safety officer is
[22:18] our director PNC liaison is myself, the CEMC. And the
[22:25] operations planning logistics administration, emergency social services and continuity of
[22:29] operations. You can see identified as the remaining directors within.
[22:35] So, um, that's this section. And we'll go through in
[22:38] too much detail, uh, there's a lot of information here.
[22:41] There is common responsibilities that every position is responsible for,
[22:46] um, listing the IMS forms that everybody should use such
[22:51] as, you know, the check - in, the personal log,
[22:54] uh, that kind of thing. And then if you go
[22:56] down to the page below, the specific responsibilities for each
[23:00] of those positions in that chart. Uh, if you scroll
[23:03] down to the operations one and the next page, or
[23:05] it's a few pages down. It's probably the easier one
[23:07] to look at. Right there. So, uh, the operations section
[23:16] chief. This one, this position, although, uh, director of public
[23:20] works and engineering services is the primary assignment to this
[23:23] one. This one really depends on what the emergency is.
[23:28] If it's an ITA security issue, uh, director first would
[23:31] be in this position. Um, if it's a fire emergency
[23:35] myself, I would or Deputy Chief Kavanaugh would be in
[23:39] this position. Um, if it's a police matter, OPP would
[23:42] take operations lead. So that's the kind of the beauty
[23:45] of IMS is that it can swap and move and
[23:49] morph based on what the conditions are and what the
[23:51] situation is. You can expand positions. So if you scroll
[23:56] down a little bit. There's a bunch of functional units
[23:59] that report to this section chief. Each of those units,
[24:05] you may not, you may not need. You might need
[24:07] them for the situation. Um, you know, you might not
[24:10] need a public works person. You might not need a
[24:12] health unit person. So any of the minor works that
[24:16] would need say you didn't need a health unit person
[24:19] in the EOC. Anything that was health unit related, that
[24:24] section chief would take care of. So it's almost like
[24:27] a supervisor of workers, any of your workers that aren't
[24:30] there, the supervisor takes care of those duties. Um, so,
[24:35] and if you need to, you can expand it and
[24:36] you can add additional units under that section chief. So
[24:40] it's, it's, it's hard to explain in the 15 minutes
[24:45] that I have, but, um, it is, it is easily
[24:48] expandable and easily contractable depending on the situation. So don't
[24:53] want to go through all of the positions. Um, I
[24:57] just want to hit on a couple of them. Page
[25:02] 15. It's the emergency social service. There are no next
[25:08] one. There we go. Emergency social services section chief. Not
[25:14] typically an IMS position. But, uh, crucial position, obviously. This
[25:21] position is responsible for any evacuees. Uh, they're responsible for
[25:26] coordination with Red Cross and emergency social services provided by
[25:30] the city of Windsor through the county. It's just, um,
[25:35] there's a lot to this position. Um, but it won't
[25:38] always, it's one of those positions that won't always be
[25:40] required if we're not evacuating people. May or may not
[25:45] require full activation of this position. Um, certainly would be
[25:48] notified as part of the emergency control group. But if
[25:52] you scroll down a little bit. You can see the
[25:55] functional units, the reception and transfer centre may not be
[25:57] open, right? Um, registration in reunification is required only if
[26:01] you have people evacuate. Uh, emergency resources require all sorts
[26:08] of resources, whether it's transportation, whether it's housing, whether it's
[26:11] mental health supports, um, any, any and all emergency resources
[26:16] that people affected by the emergency could possibly need. So.
[26:22] Um, and then the other one that is not typically
[26:25] in IMS position is the next page. The continuity of
[26:29] operations. Obviously recognise that as a municipal government, we have
[26:37] to maintain some level of service. The people of the
[26:39] town of Tecumseh need certain things to happen at certain
[26:43] times. And, um, this position is geared towards seeing what
[26:49] resources are required to keep those primary services going. Um,
[26:54] so, uh. This one typically not in a separate IMS
[26:59] position, but we feel it was important enough to be
[27:02] on its own section, uh, to be activated pretty much
[27:08] with every emergency. So, um, if you remember during COVID,
[27:12] we had certain services that were not available, uh, just
[27:17] due to a number of things. But this position would
[27:21] be responsible for maintaining public information regarding what is available,
[27:25] what's not available when things that are not available would
[27:28] be available again. And where to go where residents can
[27:31] go to get resources that they're looking for from the
[27:33] town and services. I think that's all of my presentation.
[27:41] So just quickly walk, like I said, as a lot
[27:44] of information, um. Let me just go through the recommendations
[27:49] of the report. Uh, so it is recommended that report
[27:53] CS 202604 emergency management plan, August, 2026 be received. And
[27:59] that the emergency management plan, August 2026 for the town
[28:02] of the company presented at his attachment one. Through report
[28:06] CS 2026 04 be approved. And further that bylaw 2026,
[28:11] 081 being a bylaw to adopt an emergency management plan
[28:15] August of 2026 for the town of the come see
[28:17] be considered for first, second, third and final readings tonight.
[28:21] And with that, I'm available for questions, if there are
[28:24] any. Thank you very much, Chief, for the presentation. Um,
[28:27] any questions or comments. And go ahead. Uh, thank you.
[28:32] Worship. I do see in the report that, um, it
[28:35] will be available online and also printed in our two
[28:39] fire halls. And, um, I've received some inquiries regarding the
[28:45] battery plant, right? And just with its development. And I
[28:48] realised that that falls under Windsor because it is in
[28:51] winter. Um, does it make sense for us to link
[28:55] or post Windsors or lectures? Just our neighbouring communities, emergency
[29:00] plans at all. If residents have questions regarding any of
[29:04] that, or, or would they just know they can go
[29:08] to city wins or look for it. And pull it
[29:10] off. Yeah. Um, thanks for the question. And through the
[29:14] mayor, uh, Councillor Houston. Obviously it is actually a requirement
[29:19] for municipalities to make their emergency plans available to the
[29:22] public. Um, so that's why ours will be posted and
[29:25] printed in various copies. Um, each municipality does typically have
[29:30] theirs on their website. However, uh, the county of Essex,
[29:34] I believe keeps one page that has the county plan
[29:37] and then all of the lower tiers, including the city
[29:40] of Windsor, I believe, um, but I can certainly talk
[29:42] to Director of Verth and see what we can do
[29:44] for that to make them more available. Go ahead, Council.
[29:53] Thanks very much and through you. Um, thanks to the
[29:57] report and also the context, um, provided here. And I
[30:00] appreciate it because there was some other questions that I
[30:01] had that were maybe about the operational plans. And I'm
[30:06] just wondering if I can kind of touch on maybe
[30:08] a few of those and you can answer or, or,
[30:11] uh, or defer and have a look at those later.
[30:15] But, um, it's my two questions. And we talked a
[30:19] little bit about the, um. What was the. Person responsible
[30:26] for director and community, uh, recreation services their title. There
[30:34] is a very, have a, um, in the evacuation plan.
[30:39] Is there an accounting in there for things like accessibility?
[30:41] I notice we have a lot of things in there
[30:43] for like translation services and dietary requirements and things. But
[30:48] accessibility and the needs for, um, for citizens who require,
[30:55] um, assisted devices and those sorts of things. Are those
[30:58] considered in that annex plan and that, that operational plan.
[31:03] Uh, thank you. And through the mayor, yes, they are.
[31:06] Um, actually our GIS technician maintains a list of people
[31:10] that know they're going to need assistance. Um, he keeps
[31:13] a database. So I would encourage anyone listening or anyone
[31:17] you talk to that does need assistance. Please call the
[31:20] town and register yourself as such. Um, so we can
[31:23] concentrate. If you're in the affected area, we know you're
[31:26] there and we know you've got to come get you.
[31:28] That's really great. Um, and good for maybe an education,
[31:33] um, out to the community because, um, pretty passionate about
[31:37] accessibility because we'll all need it eventually in some form
[31:41] or another. So it's always good to have that, um,
[31:44] that forethought to, um, to put yourself on the list.
[31:47] Um, and a lot of the coordination and the components
[31:54] of the entire team really reliant on, and this will
[31:58] be a question for director of earth maybe. A really
[32:02] reliant on a robust communication structure. And so if the
[32:05] disaster happens to affect like telecommunications or the internet or
[32:08] any of those things, how does our emergency response adjust
[32:13] to that, um, reduction in capabilities. Yeah. Um, through the
[32:21] mayor, I'll start to answer. And I'm sure Dr. Perth
[32:24] want to add some more into it. So, uh, one
[32:27] of the requirements of the act is that emergency operations
[32:30] centre have backups and backups to backups. So for everything,
[32:34] uh, technology and communication related. So we do have multiple
[32:38] systems in place. Um, backup things like this, you know,
[32:42] backup generators at communication cell tower sites and that kind
[32:46] of thing. Um, we do actually have copper phone lines
[32:49] still, um, for a backups. Um, uh, I guess if
[32:54] you wanted to add a little more to that, Sean?
[32:59] Sure. Thank you, chief. And through you your worship, uh,
[33:01] to Councillor Higgison. Yeah. Not only in an emergency situation,
[33:06] but just day - to - day operations of several
[33:08] of our municipal sites. There are redundancies built in for
[33:11] communications, say internet. Our main sites that are identified as
[33:15] EOCs has have at least three redundant internet connections. In
[33:20] addition to the chief mentioning not only voiceover IP phone
[33:24] lines, but the traditional copper lines, uh, which we still
[33:27] rely on in an emergency. Um, many of our facilities
[33:31] do have backup generators. We do have secondary and tertiary
[33:35] sites for NEOC. Uh, we just celebrated the anniversary of
[33:39] the 03 blackout last week. And I remember that and
[33:42] firing up generators to run photocopiers to hand out flyers
[33:46] to our residents. So fast forward 23 years. We've come
[33:51] a long way with communications with the mass notification. Um,
[33:55] again, to your, your, your point about, uh, registering for
[33:57] accessibility. We also encourage residents to register for notification and
[34:02] emergencies through, uh, to come see alerts. ca. Where we
[34:07] can, uh, I think the byline is, uh, help us
[34:10] help you. If we need to reach you in an
[34:13] emergency, make sure we have your up - to -
[34:15] date contact information. So again, not only in an emergency,
[34:19] but day - to - day, we strive to build
[34:21] in redundancies for the areas that you've mentioned. Thanks for
[34:26] that. And so as far as kind of a blast
[34:28] out to those who would be affected by something, if
[34:31] there was registering through that service, is there an all
[34:36] that goes down? And the worst case of scenarios. Is
[34:39] there a, like, is it kind of a physical, we
[34:42] know where you physically are and we deliver something to
[34:44] you or go knock on your door. How does that
[34:45] actually, how do they get notified. Yeah. That's a good
[34:53] question. Um, we do, one thing I didn't mention is
[34:55] we do have, uh, access to the provincial alert system
[34:59] as well. Um, now again, that, that depends on you
[35:03] having power on your cell phone, right? Um, but worst
[35:07] case scenario. We have 42 volunteer firefighters. That'll go door
[35:12] to door and either tell you what's going on or
[35:15] get you out of your house. So we do have,
[35:18] you know, obviously that's not the best situation, but if
[35:20] we need to, we will do that. Thanks for that.
[35:24] I'm ever cognizant of how connected we are and how,
[35:28] uh, vulnerable that is. Um, so I can appreciate that
[35:31] there's, uh, that's really labour and resource intensive, but I
[35:34] appreciate that there is that, um, ability to respond in
[35:37] that way. So thanks. Anything further? Deprimir. Just a quick
[35:44] question in regards to the chief through you chair. One
[35:49] of the points of the common responsibilities they talk about
[35:52] here in page seven is that all members need to
[35:55] complete required training. Can you say that we have a
[35:59] hundred percent compliance that those members have the required train
[36:04] at this point? Are there still some that still need
[36:07] to complete the training? Um, uh, the requirement under the
[36:12] act is for the primary members to be trained, uh,
[36:14] which we have done every year. Um, so that is
[36:17] completed. The alternate, we have, it's been not as robust
[36:23] as I would like. Um, but again, as I mentioned,
[36:26] this is as format of this plan is vastly different
[36:30] from the old one, uh, we're going to run everybody
[36:33] primary members and their alternates to the same training. So
[36:36] everybody has the same understanding. Yeah, I just want to
[36:39] make sure that, uh, you do have the compliance in
[36:42] that regard before adopting this. So thank you. Any further
[36:47] questions or comments on, on the chief. And there is
[36:50] a recommendation that's being put on floor. Council You said
[36:53] moves and then Councillor Tony support. On a motion on
[36:57] in favor. Pose, that motion carries. Thank you. Our next
[37:05] delegation from our, uh, clerk. We'll see number 145 chases.
[37:13] Frivolous and unreasonable complaints policy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um,
[37:20] report LCS 2026 13 first came to the regular council
[37:24] meeting back on July 28th. At that time council asked
[37:28] that that, um, report and proposed policy return to a
[37:33] later council meeting in order to allow some additional time
[37:36] for, um, for council and the public to review. Um,
[37:39] and so that's what is before council this evening. Um,
[37:44] in order to hopefully assist, I've prepared a presentation that
[37:47] I'm hoping to walk through, uh, for council's benefit. If
[37:51] we can pull that up and next page. So town
[37:56] staff is receiving increasingly repetitive frivolous fixatious and or unreasonable
[38:02] complaints. Um, while the overall vast majority of interactions between
[38:08] town staff and the public are positive and the vast
[38:11] majority of complaints that are filed, whether they're, um, bylaw,
[38:17] you know, town bylaw complaints or complaints concerning town services.
[38:23] The vast majority of those are typical complaints and are
[38:27] resolved, um, with, with resort to the town's complaint policy
[38:33] and utilising the city works reporting system. However, town staff
[38:39] have reported to legal, uh, that instances of misuse or
[38:45] abuse of the town's complaint procedures has increased. And has
[38:49] done so to the point where, um, town staff and
[38:53] including by law enforcement are now spending a disproportionate amount
[38:56] of time, um, on, on what is truly a small
[39:01] number of frivolous fixatious or unreasonable complaints. Next slide. There's
[39:10] currently no formal process for addressing these unique situations where
[39:15] what is truly a small number of members of the
[39:18] public. Again, misuse or abuse the towns complaint system by
[39:25] making and sometimes continuing the make repetitive frivolous fixatious or
[39:30] unreasonable complaints. The proposed policy is not about silencing critics
[39:35] of the town or shutting down legitimate complaints or agreements.
[39:40] It's about providing town staff with additional tools to use
[39:45] in truly exceptional cases where the complaint system viewed objectively
[39:50] is being misused or is being intentionally used for retaliation
[39:55] and or harassment. Next slide. I want to disproportionate amount
[40:01] of staff time is being monopolized by a small number
[40:04] of those repeating frivolous or vexatious complaints. This leads to
[40:09] a draining of staff time. And in some cases has
[40:12] led to harassment of town staff. When this happens, time
[40:17] and resources that otherwise could be used to resolve legitimate
[40:20] complaints is now wasted or delayed. The result of this
[40:25] is a disservice to the rest of our town residents
[40:27] who have a right to expect complaints to be reviewed
[40:30] and addressed in a timely manner. And more importantly, this
[40:36] raises the need to balance the town's legal obligation to
[40:41] protect our staff's mental and emotional well - being. Well,
[40:45] at the same time, optimizing how the town is going
[40:48] to allocate what are truly limited resources. Next slide. Some
[40:56] of the goals. Of the policy is to protect the
[41:00] complaint process for misuse. Create a fair and consistent process
[41:04] for identifying and managing inappropriate complaint behaviour. Protect staff time
[41:12] and town resources by reducing unnecessary and or repeat investigations.
[41:18] And provide enforcement options. When other restrictive measures have not
[41:25] worked. Next slide. Next slide again, please. So just briefly,
[41:33] um, complaints that could be captured by the policy generally
[41:37] fall into one of three different categories. So I've mentioned
[41:40] frivolous. So that's a complaint when viewed objectively is trivial
[41:44] in nature or does not merit further town action. Vexatious
[41:48] complaints. That is one again that when viewed has been
[41:52] submitted without merit and in bad faith, either intended to
[41:56] cause harm or made solely to cause an annoyance or
[42:00] unduly burden town resources. And then the last category which
[42:05] captures the majority of these types of complaints are what
[42:09] I call targeted repetitive and or unreasonable. So this is
[42:13] a complaint submitted about the same address or the same
[42:17] individual, the same subject matter. Where no new information or
[42:21] change of circumstances exist. And there appears to be, or
[42:26] what develops is a pattern of targeting or it appears
[42:29] that the complaint could be viewed as being retaliatory in
[42:33] nature. Next slide. Just quickly, and the policy, one thing
[42:40] that's, I think, of benefits of the policy is there's
[42:43] some guidance as far as, uh, examples, uh, that can
[42:47] assist staff when they're facing a potential situation, uh, where
[42:52] there's a frivolous complaint. Um, so the policy provides a
[42:56] number of examples. I just took a few here. For
[42:59] example. So, um, you know, when the complaint concerns an
[43:04] issue with staff that has already been investigated and determined
[43:07] to be groundless and those complaints continue on the same
[43:11] exact issue that's already been investigated and determined to be
[43:15] groundless. Um, it could be situations where the complaint makes
[43:20] unreasonable or aggressive or harassing demands on staff. Um, by
[43:24] insisting on responses within an unreasonable timeline. Uh, it could
[43:29] be refusing to accept when they're advised that the issue
[43:32] falls outside the scope of the town's jurisdiction. Or would
[43:38] sometimes happens is where the complaint is unhappy with the
[43:42] report or the results of the investigation. And that complaint
[43:46] continues and repeatedly challenges the findings of that investigation, either
[43:51] complaining about the outcome or denying that an adequate response
[43:55] has been given. Next slide. Um, one section, uh, that
[44:02] I wanted to quote from the policy is 5. 5
[44:05] and it concerns, how do we go about identifying these
[44:08] unreasonable complaints? Um, so deciding whether complaint conduct is frivolous
[44:14] fixations are unreasonable requires a flexible approach considering all circumstances.
[44:19] There's no rigid tests for determining whether conduct is along
[44:24] frivolous fixations or unreasonable. The key question is whether there
[44:28] is conduct or a pattern of conduct that is likely
[44:31] caused distress, disruption or irritation without a proper or justified
[44:36] cause. So town employees must, if, if they are faced
[44:41] with a potential situation like this, they must seek to
[44:44] establish through the documented words and actions of the complaint
[44:49] in themselves. So that would be copies of emails, letters,
[44:53] social media posts, voicemails, notes, coming from the complaint themselves
[44:59] that established that the conduct is frivolous vexatious or unreasonable.
[45:05] The town staff needs to prove that and establish that
[45:10] before applying any further restrictions that are outlined in the
[45:14] policy. Next slide. So as far as the process, um,
[45:20] documentation is going to be key in those unfortunate rare
[45:25] situations where we need to consider, um, designated, complaints or
[45:31] a complaint as being frivolous or vexatious. So decisions must
[45:35] rely entirely on verifiable, documented interactions, documentation should never contain
[45:42] vague assumptions or personal feelings. And it's critically important that
[45:46] staff log precise records of every letter, email, phone call
[45:50] or in - person interaction. Once a pattern of unreasonable
[45:56] behaviour appears to be clear and documented, staff would report
[46:00] that to their department director for review. So it's now
[46:03] at a first level of review. Where the direct, where
[46:08] that department director reviews and determines that a complaint may
[46:11] qualify for designation. Then the matter is then revert for
[46:16] a secondary legal review, uh, with the director of legislative
[46:20] services. Legislative services would then conduct a Folsom legal review
[46:27] of the matter. Reviewing all relevant contexts, historical data. Uh,
[46:32] they'll look at such things as the number of similar
[46:34] complaints. By the same resident, the tone and manner of
[46:38] communications, the circumstances, and the sensitivity of the subject matter.
[46:43] Based on that secondary review, the director of legislative services
[46:48] shall decide whether or not designation is warranted and obtain
[46:52] authorization from the chief administrative officer. Once that decision has
[46:58] been made, that a complaint follows within the scope of
[47:01] the policy. Notification is made to the resident. And relevant
[47:06] staff as appropriate. Um, the director at that time may
[47:11] either issue to the resident, to the complaint, either a
[47:15] written morning letter or a written designation letter. And that
[47:19] letter will outline, um, a summary of the director's findings
[47:24] and reasoning and the decision that's been made. And whether
[47:28] it's a warning letter or a designation letter, uh, that
[47:31] letter may include restrictions to be applied and the duration
[47:35] of those restrictions. So let's talk about that next restrictions
[47:39] and enforcement. Typically when it comes to restrictions, so once
[47:46] a decision, as reviewed multi - leveled, um, decision to
[47:51] designate that complaint or complainant as frivolous or vexatious, then
[47:57] the restrictions are typically one of three types, generally speaking.
[48:02] Uh, the single contact restriction. So we're, where the individual
[48:06] is directed to, um, going forward. And for a specified
[48:09] time period to communicate with only one specific assigned staff
[48:14] member, um, the channel blocking restriction. So the individual is
[48:19] directed to restrict their interactions, uh, to a particular form,
[48:23] maybe strictly to writing or to a secure online portal.
[48:28] And then the non - response restriction, um, and so
[48:33] that relates to individuals who send repeated identical messages after
[48:38] a case is closed. Staff will be directed to file
[48:42] further communications that they receive to continue to keep a
[48:45] record. But they would be in this instructed not to
[48:50] reply. Um, and then the variation of other restrictions that
[48:55] can be applied. Those are the three general categories. Sometimes
[48:58] if physical meetings are required, then the town may mandate
[49:02] that a third party witness. Always be present at those
[49:04] meetings. Um, but typically those are the main restrictions. So
[49:11] what happens when those restrictions are imposed and they do
[49:15] not serve to deter that frivolous fixatious or unreasonable behaviour
[49:20] or conduct. Uh, then the policy has proposed to counsel
[49:25] this evening, contemplates the possibility of using administrative monetary penalties,
[49:30] uh, to further deter the behaviour. Um, the imposing those
[49:35] penalties would be considered only as a last resort after
[49:39] it's demonstrated that these other restrictive actions are not resulting
[49:43] in compliance. And then going further, other last resort measures,
[49:49] um, in order of increasing severity would include, uh, possibly
[49:55] serving a no trespass order. Um, based on the town's
[49:59] visitor conduct policy, uh, there could be a possible referral
[50:03] to the Ontario provincial police or other authorities as appropriate.
[50:07] And there may be the taking of further legal action
[50:10] as maybe appropriate. For a policy like this to remain
[50:17] legally sound, the policy must heavily, uh, protect due process
[50:22] and the complaints rights. So the individual who's had this
[50:27] designation imposed in restrictions imposed against them. We'll have a
[50:31] right to appeal the decision the designate. They'll have 14
[50:34] days to do that. And furthermore, these restrictions, um. Would
[50:39] not normally be permit. They would permanent. They would carry
[50:43] a review dates in order to assess if the behaviour
[50:46] is improved and the restrictions can then be removed. Um,
[50:50] and then finally one point on the policy is that
[50:54] the policy will enforce what is typically called a blank
[50:57] slate rule. So just because that individual has been designated,
[51:03] um, as having filed or engaged in behaviour, that's frivolous
[51:08] or vexatious. If not in the same individual, brings forward
[51:12] a completely new, unrelated complaint in the future. It will
[51:17] have to be evaluated independently on its own merits. Some
[51:23] best practices. Consistency across all departments is going to be
[51:28] vital. Again, we talked, I talked about the importance of
[51:30] documenting interactions and keeping precise objective notes. Um, you know,
[51:36] during some of those difficult interactions, it's, it's absolutely crucial
[51:40] that town staff remain completely professional. And deescalate, um, do
[51:45] not match any hostile energy that may come from those
[51:48] complaints. Um, it's critically important that, you know, individual town
[51:54] staff does not decide independently to take action. So do
[51:58] not ghost an individual or stop replying on your own
[52:00] initiative because you feel it's frivolous or vexatious. You must
[52:04] continue normal service and normal protocols until management formerly authorizes
[52:10] that restriction. Um, and then sharing data across departments, um,
[52:16] will be important. Um, so that we can track if
[52:18] a complaint is trying to perhaps bypass one department by
[52:22] targeting, uh, another. I would anticipate that directors, managers and
[52:28] other staff as appropriate would, would receive, um, training on
[52:32] this, on this new policy to work out some of
[52:36] the steps that would be required in order to go
[52:39] through, um, in cases where there needs to be potentially
[52:43] a designation. Uh, and then lastly, um, there's a number
[52:47] of municipalities that have similar policies in place. I've just
[52:51] named a few. And then going back to, uh, I
[52:55] believe it was July of 2025, uh, town of LaSalle
[52:59] council gave direction to their administration, um, to look to
[53:03] draft and implement a similar policy in order to curb
[53:07] the misuse of municipal bylaws and municipal services. I don't
[53:10] believe that policy's been finalised. Um, but, but they did
[53:14] receive, um, direction, uh, from the talent La Sommers are
[53:21] that the report be received and supported. And if so,
[53:25] that a bylaw be prepared and returned for consideration to
[53:29] adopt this policy, adopt a vexatious frivolous and unreasonable complaints
[53:34] policy number 145 and to provide for administrative monetary penalties
[53:39] for further enforcement when required. Um, happy to answer any
[53:43] questions that the councillors may have this evening. Questions or
[53:48] comments. Go ahead. Uh, just a comment.
[53:59] Normally I say, you know, thank you for this report
[54:01] and whatever. I'm sad that we're here. Um, it's disappointing
[54:04] that we have to have a policy like this. But,
[54:07] um, the alternative is, is to watch capable and well
[54:13] - intentioned people opt out of serving their community. Um,
[54:16] and this job is supposed to be hard, but it's
[54:18] supposed to be hard because the work is demanding and
[54:21] not because, uh, people make it unbearable to do the
[54:24] job. Um, that goes for staff here for council members.
[54:31] Um, for people serving the public. And. I appreciate that
[54:39] the process here and the determination, it's all transparent. Um,
[54:45] because I think situations like this, uh, we don't like
[54:48] to talk about them. We don't like to reveal them
[54:50] because as you said, they are few and far between.
[54:54] But the escalation of them is, um, borders on dangerous.
[54:58] And it's our obligation. To protect people that work here
[55:02] and to enforce the type of, of community, um, and
[55:07] protection for community members. Um, that is afforded. And that's
[55:12] just not just physical, but it's also the protection of
[55:15] the rights that you have to access services. And if
[55:20] staff time is taken up doing these things, then it
[55:23] prevents those from being able to happen. So, um, I'm
[55:27] sad that we're here, but supportive of the policy and
[55:30] happy to move the, um, the recommendations. Any further questions
[55:38] or comments, go ahead. Thank you, Worship. I support the
[55:42] policy and I believe we've got, we've got an obligation
[55:45] and take care of our employees. Um, take care of,
[55:48] uh, the residents, uh, and when our time and effort
[55:51] is being, uh, drained on, on, uh, some of the
[55:57] examples, you know, that we heard here, um, we're not
[56:00] getting to those legitimate complaints or we're taking time away
[56:05] from, uh, activities that, you know, should be happening elsewhere.
[56:11] So, um, supportive of the policy and, uh, happy to
[56:15] second it. Go ahead, councillor. Theory you, Mr. Mayor, just
[56:24] a quick comment. Um, no way this is telling our
[56:27] citizens are not allowed to talk to us. They're not
[56:29] allowed to complain. This is not at all. Some people
[56:32] put it on Facebook as misinformation. This is about the
[56:35] people that one percent of the people that just don't
[56:38] want to listen, they don't want the answer that we
[56:40] have given them. And they want us to change everything
[56:43] just for them. Uh, and I agree. Our staff should
[56:46] not have to be harassed. Council should not have to
[56:48] be harassed. Uh, nobody wants to be harassed that way
[56:51] in your own workplace. You don't want to be harassed
[56:53] by citizens or customers or things like that. We all
[56:56] have an obligation to talk to each other. And a
[56:58] professional nice manner. And if you can't do that, then
[57:01] don't call us. Thank you. Go ahead. Hey, thank you,
[57:09] Chair. Uh, just a couple items. I know the members
[57:12] of council missing tonight. That's unfortunate. One is legitimately on,
[57:16] on personal leave and well - deserved. So again, we
[57:19] can't, uh, fault members for that. Um, just a couple
[57:25] points and maybe questions. I know we've always been stressed
[57:30] as elected officials that our job is to develop policy
[57:33] and administration is to implement it. And so this policy
[57:37] again to me, it came out of nowhere. It came
[57:40] out of me at a council meeting. And you know,
[57:43] that the concerning point of that is it bypass. We
[57:46] usually have mayor CO meeting where these are vetted. Obviously
[57:50] this is a policy. It should have went to the
[57:51] policy priorities meeting that what didn't happen. So it seemed
[57:55] like it's being rushed. And I know we've had time
[57:58] to review. But I'd like to have wholesome discussion. I
[58:01] know there's a lot of things in here that, that
[58:03] makes sense. That's important to put as policy. But there
[58:08] are a lot of questions that I have in terms
[58:09] of comments. So I'll just state a few here. You
[58:13] know, in terms of, you know, the report, it recommends
[58:16] three or more complaints over 12 months. And that to
[58:19] me is artificials objective. You know, why three, not two,
[58:22] not four, not five. Uh, I don't like to put
[58:25] a number to it because things can happen in a
[58:28] year. That these completes happen. I know there's parameters in
[58:34] there that talk about, you know, who decides interprets that
[58:37] a complaint is frivolous. So I would like to see,
[58:41] you know, council being a prize or included in this
[58:43] process. And we're not there at all. And we're the
[58:46] elected officials. So when we do get to complaints, they
[58:49] call us. And sometimes it doesn't make sense. And so,
[58:55] uh, you know, in terms of the clerk's office making
[58:57] decisions, in terms of being the judge and the jury
[59:00] and all that aspect, uh, there may be times that,
[59:04] you know, as an elected official, I don't think it
[59:06] is unreasonable complaint. So that, that's the issue I have
[59:09] is that, you know, the number, the limit. And that
[59:14] council's not included as part of this, where it does
[59:17] get to those high end where we should be apprised
[59:22] because we are the voice. And if residents are frustrated
[59:25] and they're complaining, they're obviously not getting an answer. And
[59:28] when they talk to us and they call us, you
[59:31] know, then I feel like I'm in the middle where
[59:34] I have to go to administration. And get the circle
[59:37] where it starts spitting. So, you know, page four has
[59:41] a list of unreasonable conduct. Again, who decides what is
[59:45] unreasonable? You know, we have policies, instruments at place right
[59:49] now that deal with fixatious comments and complaints. And so
[59:53] to leave the decision, uh, solely on the clerk, you
[59:57] know, I can't support that. So I would like more
[59:59] wholesome discussion on to see if we can include that,
[1:00:03] eliminate the limit so that people can complain. Cause that's
[1:00:08] part of our job is to listen and be the
[1:00:10] voice of the residence when they do have that. And
[1:00:13] again, I don't want, I'm not comfortable delegating that, you
[1:00:18] know, to that authority to, to solely the clerk's office.
[1:00:22] So I don't, also the other part that, that has
[1:00:26] bothersome as the indirect, implied intimidation factor, where people will
[1:00:31] see this as I'm only allowed three complaints. And if
[1:00:36] I'm deemed, you know, frivolous now, they could possibly, and
[1:00:42] again, it's extreme situation where they can charge me now.
[1:00:46] So, you know, where is that. I call it appeal
[1:00:51] right of our residence if they're in these situations. So
[1:00:54] I can't support it as written. If there's amendments to
[1:00:57] it or if, uh, you know, when it comes back
[1:00:59] for bylaw, uh, the amendments for that, I would consider
[1:01:03] that. But as written right now, those are the concerns
[1:01:05] I have. Go ahead through your, Mr. Mayor, just a
[1:01:13] couple of comments. The reference to the three complaint within
[1:01:18] a year. That's really just a threshold for which could
[1:01:23] possibly engage or review. And that provision is, is referenced
[1:01:29] that it's only in circumstances where by law enforcement has
[1:01:32] already investigated and rendered a decision. And so if three
[1:01:36] complaints continue. So if a second complaint, a third complaint
[1:01:41] regarding a matter, uh, by law enforcement's already made a
[1:01:45] decision. And the new facts, no new circumstances introduced, then
[1:01:50] that, that could form the basis. So three was, was
[1:01:54] chosen as, as a threshold, um, you know, is the
[1:01:58] appropriate threshold five? Is it six? Is it seven? I
[1:02:01] don't know. But that was the rationale behind that provision.
[1:02:06] Um. Some of the other comments. The policy, I think
[1:02:16] is closest for appropriate review. Um, by administration, because it
[1:02:23] relates to operations. It truly appears to be an operational.
[1:02:28] And when, you know, whether it's by law enforcement or
[1:02:30] other town staff are engaging with the public as part
[1:02:34] of their normal daily operations. And again, it's just, um,
[1:02:41] you know, the last comment, um, and I tried to
[1:02:46] reiterate that in the presentation is the goal here is
[1:02:49] not to create a chilling effect so that residents think
[1:02:53] if they file a complaint, they're going to be hit
[1:02:55] with a sanction or, or restriction. The policy is, I
[1:03:01] think thoroughly designed with multi - levels of review by
[1:03:06] different individuals. So it's, it's, you know, it's not just
[1:03:11] clerks. Um, the CAO could be involved. Another department director
[1:03:15] could be involved. Outside legal in some cases could be
[1:03:19] involved. Were they come in for a review? So it
[1:03:23] purposely has that multi - level review. And then, um,
[1:03:28] as I, as I referenced, there's definitely appeal rights that
[1:03:30] go with that. So we tried to create that proper
[1:03:33] balance with the, um, with the policy. And so this
[1:03:37] is my comments through you, Mr. Mayor. And I'll leave
[1:03:40] it at that. I think one thing we've got to
[1:03:46] remember as well. Under the occupation of held safety act
[1:03:49] Bill 168. Where the border governors. And we have the
[1:03:53] responsibility. To provide a safe working environment for each and
[1:03:57] every one, regardless if it's our public work. Folks out
[1:04:00] there on the street. Or our CSRs who are here.
[1:04:06] We've seen it. We've seen it where they've been threatened.
[1:04:11] And so forth. The beauty of the whole thing is
[1:04:13] yes, it's less than one percent. But it only takes
[1:04:18] one. And I think that's what we, the whole issue
[1:04:22] is here. And we've heard it. I mean, we've, we've
[1:04:24] had some over a two year period, put 26 complaints
[1:04:27] on the same thing. It's been dealt with the staff
[1:04:33] time itself and that entered departmental work that has to
[1:04:37] be done. Um, it costs money. Big money taxpayers money.
[1:04:44] And so I think there has to be an understanding.
[1:04:47] And yes, there's going to have to be an educational
[1:04:48] piece. We don't, we're not basically putting up a roadblock
[1:04:53] and telling people they can't, you know, make a complaint.
[1:04:56] I mean, obviously, uh, they can make a complaint. I
[1:04:59] mean, that's what we're here for. I mean, uh, and,
[1:05:03] uh, and done through the proper channels and so forth.
[1:05:08] But my, my biggest piece is providing a safe working
[1:05:13] environment for our citizens as well as our own employees.
[1:05:21] It's critical that we do that. Because at the end
[1:05:25] of the day, the buck stops here. On us. And
[1:05:29] we're the ones that are responsible. And even though sometimes
[1:05:35] look at council and really don't understand the full responsibility
[1:05:40] that we have, we're part of the border governors. Just
[1:05:43] like any of the corporation. And so, uh, a lot
[1:05:47] of work has gone into, uh, this policy development by,
[1:05:53] uh, the clerk's office. And, uh, it's basically protecting against
[1:06:02] issues that could confront. I mean, I just remember, um,
[1:06:09] October, not October, April 6th, 2023 when 400 people went
[1:06:13] into a Civic Centre. And at the county. And we
[1:06:19] heard the threats. We had folks that came in there
[1:06:24] with fatigues and Bowie knives. And threatening counsel and administration
[1:06:30] in particular. The whole security piece has been changed at
[1:06:36] the county level, that unfortunate thing. This is the House
[1:06:39] of Democracy. It's the ability for people to come in.
[1:06:45] And serve the public. But I do tend to agree
[1:06:53] in terms of some of the things. Maybe the development
[1:06:56] of it. Maybe council wasn't in. At the forefront in
[1:07:02] the full delivery. But we'd be naive to say that.
[1:07:06] We haven't seen what's transpired in the last few years.
[1:07:09] We know it. And I can tell you just recently
[1:07:14] without adding names to it, but there was an individual
[1:07:19] that came into this building and threatened one of our
[1:07:22] employees. And the comments were made. I know where you
[1:07:26] live. And so this is why it's important for us
[1:07:30] to, uh, to establish guardrails to protect our. Our integrity,
[1:07:39] but also protect our employees as we move forward. So
[1:07:43] I think the policy has been well developed. And, uh,
[1:07:48] and I fully support, uh, administrations bringing forward because they
[1:07:53] are the front lines. They are our face. They're here.
[1:07:59] Every day, uh, on our behalf, you know, delivering services
[1:08:05] and certainty policies. So I think it's, it's important for
[1:08:07] us to, uh, make sure that we remember what our
[1:08:12] responsibilities are to our employees. Go ahead. Thank you through
[1:08:20] you. It's really frustrating to hear. The suggestions
[1:08:30] of council being more involved. We either trust our staff
[1:08:33] where we don't. Our staff are the ones who are
[1:08:39] on the front lines of this. We are, as council
[1:08:42] members, um, putting our own names out there to take
[1:08:46] these calls and to take these complaints. And we take
[1:08:49] that seriously. Um, and our, our staff are the ones
[1:08:54] who not only have to experience it, but do have
[1:08:56] to deal with it as a part of their regular
[1:08:58] job. And to me, this policy and it's rationale. It's,
[1:09:08] it's execution. Uh, I trust staff to do right by
[1:09:12] our citizens. I trust that if there is a process
[1:09:17] that they have questions of members of council that they'll
[1:09:21] ask us. And ultimately the discussion about this policy happens
[1:09:28] here in this room. Um, it's happening now. So I
[1:09:34] don't need further time to look at this. And, and
[1:09:39] decide whether this is something that, uh, is necessary. This
[1:09:44] is the place that we decide. Um, this is the
[1:09:47] place where we have those discussions. It's been now in
[1:09:50] front of us twice. Deferred once and is now in
[1:09:52] front of us again. So it's time to, uh, decide
[1:09:56] on whether we're moving forward with, forward with this. It's
[1:09:58] been moved and seconded. And I think we're in the
[1:10:01] position now where we say this is something that we're
[1:10:05] looking forward to coming back. Um, as a bylaw. And
[1:10:10] I just think that's where we're at. And it's frustrating
[1:10:12] to hear the opposite because I think that's, uh, it's
[1:10:15] our job here to deal with stuff like this. And
[1:10:18] I think we're there. Go ahead. Yeah. Just to provide
[1:10:25] further clarification in terms of occupational health. Obviously the good
[1:10:31] policy in here that addresses that. And to go back
[1:10:34] to the county vessex, I didn't see up there. The
[1:10:36] county of Essex implementing a Vixatious frivolous complaint policy, even
[1:10:40] though they did have that issue back in April a
[1:10:43] few years ago. So again, you know, our region, we'd
[1:10:46] be the first implementing, which is good. But obviously for
[1:10:50] those, you know, sensitive, um, abusive occupational health type, of
[1:10:59] protection. That's important. So what I'm saying again, I go
[1:11:02] back to, I like in the policy, but there's parts
[1:11:05] of it. And, you know, if we come up with
[1:11:07] examples is the clerk's office will be deciding if a
[1:11:12] call that comes in a regular complaint of down the
[1:11:16] street. And they get an answer. And they don't like
[1:11:19] the answer and they feel that they didn't get the
[1:11:22] answer. And they call again within that 12 month that
[1:11:25] they're going to be shut down. And I want council
[1:11:27] to be able to bring those forward. And if not,
[1:11:31] you're eliminating my role as a representative, a voice of
[1:11:33] those individuals. So I'm talking about the low to mid
[1:11:37] type of complaints. Not the health and safety components. So
[1:11:41] that's the part I have issues with. And that's why,
[1:11:44] you know, unless it's addressed it here, I can't support
[1:11:45] it as written. But in fact, uh, Deputy Mayor, if
[1:11:51] somebody, um, doesn't like obviously, um, decision, you know, from
[1:11:56] the policy, from, from administration, they can call us. There's
[1:12:01] nothing in policy. They can't call us. And, uh, and
[1:12:06] have a discussion and so forth. I think it's not
[1:12:11] saying that all of a sudden we're just slamming a
[1:12:13] door shut and nobody can tall us. It's still there.
[1:12:17] And I would expect that that's not going to change
[1:12:19] because, uh, elected officials, you know, everybody's got our number.
[1:12:25] Uh, and they will call. It. If nothing
[1:12:35] further, then are you prepared to move. No, I support.
[1:12:40] And it's supported by a council Houston on the motion.
[1:13:06] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I recorded vote has been requested
[1:13:10] on the motion as moved by Councillor Higginson, seconded by
[1:13:14] Councillor Houston. Uh, the motion states that report LCS 2026
[1:13:19] 17, vexatious and privileged complaints policy number 145 be received.
[1:13:24] And that a bylaw be prepared to adopt the Vexus
[1:13:27] vectus frivolous and unreasonable complaints policy number 45. And they
[1:13:32] provide for administrative monetary penalties for further enforcement when required.
[1:13:37] Uh, the recorded vote was requested by the deputy mayor.
[1:13:42] Deputy Mayor Buchetti, how do you vote on the question
[1:13:45] opposed. Mayor McNamara, how do you vote? Sport.
[1:13:55] Councillor Tonio, how do you vote? Support. Councillor Higginson, how
[1:14:03] do you vote? Support. Houston, how do you vote? Support.
[1:14:13] With a recorded vote of foreign support and one opposed,
[1:14:17] the motion has stated carries. All right. Thank you. Thank
[1:14:23] you. We have
[1:14:33] no communication pieces to deal with. I don't believe. Madam
[1:14:37] Deputy clerk. And so we'll move on to reports. We
[1:14:40] have PWES 2026 44. Sylvester and Deso Drive trunk stone
[1:14:46] sort of project tender award. Mr. Bartney. Thank you, your
[1:14:53] worship. Uh, so this trunk storm sewer is a component
[1:14:57] of the East Town line drain and manning road secondary
[1:14:59] plan area stormwater management facility solution. Uh, it will provide
[1:15:05] stormwater management controls, uh, for the east online drain watershed
[1:15:09] south of county road 22. Uh, provides, uh, stormwater outlet
[1:15:14] for the Westlake drive in the north area of the
[1:15:16] Manning Roads that canary plan area, including Petreta lands. That
[1:15:19] include the recently constructed hotel, uh, and the ongoing fuse
[1:15:25] apartments. The town put out a request for tenders, uh,
[1:15:31] posted on the bids and tenders, uh, website, the tender
[1:15:35] closed August 17th. And we did receive eight submissions. Uh,
[1:15:40] you can see them there up on the screen ranging
[1:15:42] from about four million down to 5. 2 million. Major
[1:15:47] construction was low tenderer. Uh, it is anticipated construction. We'll
[1:15:52] commence by October 5th. The project as a whole is
[1:15:56] over budget specifically in the storm store life cycle reserve.
[1:16:01] This is mainly due to a number of reasons. One
[1:16:05] significant increase in the storms who resize, um, this, uh,
[1:16:09] this kind of evolved during the detailed design and the
[1:16:12] stormwater modelling that was completed. Additional relocation work, uh, needed
[1:16:18] to actually install the storm sewer, which included relocation of,
[1:16:23] uh, parts of the sanitary sewer and also, uh, parts
[1:16:26] of the waterme to actually physically get the storm sewer
[1:16:29] into the ground. Um, and then obviously inflation, uh, the
[1:16:33] budget was set back, uh, in October of 2025. And
[1:16:37] since then, we've seen, uh, raising oil and gas prices,
[1:16:41] tariffs, uh, and the, uh, the ongoing conflict in the
[1:16:44] Middle East, uh, which have some impacts on costs and
[1:16:51] construction costs. So while the project is over budget, uh,
[1:16:54] it is very unusual to receive this amount of interest
[1:16:57] from contractors at this time of year. So administration is
[1:17:00] glad to see that there were eight submissions. And it
[1:17:05] was a very competitive process. If council may recall, we
[1:17:09] have had in recent years tendered projects where we have
[1:17:13] received, uh, one tender and in one case, we did
[1:17:16] receive zero tenders where we had to re - tender.
[1:17:19] So seeing this amount of interest, um, it's very good.
[1:17:25] I would also like to note that there are anticipated
[1:17:27] recoveries of approximately 450, 000, uh, for the trunk storms
[1:17:32] tour, uh, and that's as part of the, uh, MERSPA
[1:17:35] cost sharing agreement. Uh, the recommendations, it is recommended that
[1:17:42] the report be received. And that the tender for the
[1:17:45] Sylvester and Desert drive trunk storms who were project in
[1:17:48] the amount of four million fifty, be awarded to major
[1:17:55] construction, 2010 limited. And further, that bylaw 2026 - 83
[1:18:02] be considered for first, second, third, and final readings. To
[1:18:05] authorize a mayor in clerk to execute an agreement with
[1:18:08] major construction. 2010 limited and that the clerk be authorized
[1:18:13] to do so to do other such further and other
[1:18:16] acts which may be necessary to implement and give effect
[1:18:18] to the set agreement satisfactory informed to the town solicitor.
[1:18:23] And furthermore, that council authorize an increase in funding allocation
[1:18:27] of 823, 400 dollars for a total budget requirement of
[1:18:34] 4, 803, 400 as follows. And on the screen there,
[1:18:39] you'll see that the allocation from the road lifecycle reserve
[1:18:43] did decrease. From about 2. 7 million down to 1.
[1:18:48] 8 million with the storm sewer life cycle reserve, uh,
[1:18:52] increasing from, uh, 1. 2 million to about 2. 9
[1:18:57] million. If there are any questions, I would be happy
[1:19:02] to take them. Thank you. I notice while major concern,
[1:19:08] are they local? I've never, never heard of them. Uh,
[1:19:11] yep. They are local. They did a project for the
[1:19:15] town. I want to say 2017. We did some various
[1:19:20] water main works along Counter Road 42 and allowing intersection
[1:19:24] road. Uh, so they have done work in the town.
[1:19:27] Um, but it has been a while since they have
[1:19:29] submitted. So. Okay. Any question for any questions or comments
[1:19:35] and recommendations before us, members of the council, council Houston
[1:19:38] move, Councillor Sport. On the motion on favors of any
[1:19:43] that's carried. Bye bye loss, uh, Mr. Clark.
[1:20:00] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, by lust of this evening
[1:20:03] for first and second reading, by the 2026 081 emergency
[1:20:07] management plan, August, 2026. And by law 2026 083, tender
[1:20:12] award for Sylvester and Desreled Drive. And if it's also
[1:20:15] council swished this evening, those two referenced bylaws also be
[1:20:19] read a third and final time. All right. Thank you.
[1:20:23] Move by Councillor Houston, two readings. And Councillor Higginson. Any
[1:20:27] questions or comments. Hearing none of favor? What was offending
[1:20:31] that's carry. And three readings now. Rereading is now in
[1:20:35] order. Deputy Merritt McGhetty and councillor Tony. On emotional in
[1:20:39] favor. Pose, if any, that is carried. That's it for
[1:20:48] business. And, uh, nothing further than the German is in
[1:20:53] order. Counciltonio, Councillor Higginson on a motion. All in favor.
[1:20:58] Bowser Fenny that's carried this meeting is now adjourned.