2024-12-16 - Conseil municipal extraordinaire de Beaconsfield

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[0:09] Welcome to the special meeting
[0:10] of the municipal council of
[0:13] Monday, December the 16th. And
[0:17] now, the clerk will tell us the
[0:20] agenda.
[0:35] >> Could you say in your mic?
[0:39] >> Seconded.
[0:40] >> Okay. All in favour? All
[0:45] right. I think I'm going to
[0:47] reverse the question period
[0:48] because I think the presentation
[0:52] -- for the question period.
[1:21] [Speaking French]
[1:36] >> I will try to answer your
[1:39] question in my capacities. Your
[1:41] questions are related to the
[1:42] three-year capital expenditure
[1:45] program. So the first question
[1:47] is related to the anticipated
[1:50] amount that is expected to be
[1:52] borrowed or finance. For 2020,
[1:55] five we have a pretty good idea
[1:57] for the years and the amount
[1:58] that is expected to be borrowed
[2:01] depends on the approved contract
[2:02] by Council the moment of their
[2:05] realization. Available grants to
[2:07] be confirmed and available
[2:09] financial sources such as
[2:11] reserves. Your second question,
[2:14] a little related, is taking into
[2:16] account principal repayment or
[2:18] other debt retirement. What is
[2:21] the expected net increase and
[2:23] long term debt and this year? We
[2:25] will need to carry by the end of
[2:27] year 2027. Similar to the first
[2:29] answer, to your first question,
[2:32] the increase of the debt always
[2:34] depends of the available grants
[2:36] and the moment we borrow to
[2:37] finance the projects. Like I
[2:39] said, it's in the presentation.
[2:41] We will pay around $2 million a
[2:42] year in capital interests in our
[2:47] budget. Question number three,
[2:49] what is the projected tax
[2:51] increase for the average
[2:52] Beaconsfield household? That
[2:53] would be required to -- find the
[2:58] additional debt. We will find
[2:59] out if we have additional data
[3:00] after 2025. And also, it depends
[3:03] to some extent on the above
[3:05] answers as well. But operational
[3:08] cost of services and means to
[3:11] finance those costs other than
[3:15] taxation. And your fourth
[3:17] question is related to the why
[3:21] we do not put in the item in
[3:24] details in the capital
[3:25] expenditure programs. The reason
[3:28] is that we want to, we do this
[3:32] since 2018 where the decision
[3:34] does not provide more details.
[3:38] The City will provide more
[3:41] details after the approval of
[3:42] the CP in the -- in a way to
[3:44] maintain a healthy competition
[3:46] amongst bidders during the
[3:48] bidding process. We want to
[3:50] avoid giving those specific
[3:53] numbers during the adoption of
[3:54] the capital program. I believe
[3:57] that solves all the answers,
[3:59] Mister Mayor.
[4:00] >> Thank you, Mr. Boileau. And,
[4:03] now are there any questions on
[4:06] the budget from the floor,
[4:08] strictly on the budget?.
[4:13] >> Or capital programs.
[4:18] >> I knew so box.
[4:19] >> It's a special meeting, it's
[4:21] on the budget. We will have a
[4:24] regular meeting after.
[4:25] >> Totally on the budget. I was
[4:28] a good girl and watched my
[4:29] homework today. I watched the
[4:30] video and analyzed it and I went
[4:32] through all of the information
[4:34] because I always say everybody,
[4:37] democracy is very important. And
[4:38] it is. It starts here in the
[4:39] municipal area. If any of my
[4:42] questions -- I'm new to this. I
[4:44] usually do patient advocacy and
[4:46] other stuff. Just before we
[4:51] start --
[4:52] >> Could you give your name and
[4:54] your --
[4:56] >> Cheryl and Simon O on Sussex
[4:58] Drive. For the tax increases and
[5:00] the justification of the 3.28
[5:02] tax increase, I understand what
[5:04] was just said. And I understand
[5:06] that the inflation in the
[5:09] agglomeration costs are being
[5:10] cited as part of the
[5:14] justification. But I think he
[5:15] answered this in the time
[5:17] coming, we will see more
[5:18] detailed breakdown of what that
[5:22] -- what those increases mean to
[5:25] us. Oops, I lost my page. One
[5:29] second. Basically, it will be
[5:33] interesting to see the details
[5:34] for the breakdown for those
[5:36] increases. And I was also paying
[5:39] attention to mitigation plans
[5:41] for vulnerable populations and
[5:43] senior citizens on a fixed
[5:45] income. So I will be looking
[5:47] forward to hearing how we will
[5:49] help them out with taking into
[5:52] account the increases in the
[5:54] taxes. And of course, my big
[5:56] concern is the Public Security
[5:58] budget, the increase of public
[6:00] security spending. And you know
[6:03] this is an area of deep concern
[6:05] for me lately. I was wondering
[6:07] if you could elaborate what any
[6:08] new programs or equipment or
[6:11] initiatives are being talked
[6:14] about that would be related to
[6:17] the increase in the public
[6:19] security spending? And I do
[6:21] understand that that is probably
[6:23] related to the agglomeration as
[6:26] well. If you could expound on
[6:28] that a little bit. At the last
[6:30] meeting, I was talking about I
[6:31] would like to see a little more
[6:33] security.
[6:34] >> Some of your questions are
[6:35] related to the agglomeration
[6:38] budget. Not the local budgets.
[6:40] >> Yeah. If in the future we can
[6:42] have that. Be sickly, I think
[6:46] I'm at the end here. Oh, well, I
[6:53] just wanted to ask about the
[6:54] community programs. Okay, okay.
[7:00] Yeah, the community focused
[7:02] spending. How we can know if the
[7:04] budget supports programs for
[7:07] youth, seniors and vulnerable
[7:09] populations. And are there any
[7:11] reductions in the recreational
[7:12] or cultural activities that
[7:14] would impact community
[7:16] engagement at all? And I think I
[7:20] will do have to learn more about
[7:21] the agglomeration because I do
[7:22] think a lot of the questions go
[7:25] to that area. But I think for
[7:28] the future, if the public can
[7:31] understand even more about this,
[7:33] maybe it's because I am late
[7:34] coming to the party. If we can
[7:37] understand more services
[7:40] Beaconsfield gets from the city
[7:42] in return for all the money we
[7:43] are paying. I know there's a big
[7:46] -- I know this is a big effort
[7:47] on your part to look at that.
[7:53] But that's pretty much my
[7:55] question.
[7:56] >> Yeah. By the way, on the
[8:00] agglomeration budget, there was
[8:03] a permission that site for the
[8:06] last couple of weeks. I think it
[8:09] ended last week. Where you
[8:12] could've asked all the questions
[8:14] you had related to the
[8:17] agglomeration. Unfortunately,
[8:20] people from the municipalities
[8:23] don't seem to know or go to the
[8:27] agglomeration and ask questions
[8:30] about the agglomeration budget.
[8:34] That budget has a huge impact on
[8:37] your taxes. A huge impact on
[8:39] your taxes. And you will see
[8:41] this year that when we look at
[8:43] the real estate taxes overall, I
[8:46] think it is 70% of it that goes
[8:49] to the agglomeration. I think
[8:53] it's about 70%, right?
[8:56] >> About 70%.
[8:57] >> About 70% of the real estate
[9:00] taxes go to the agglomeration.
[9:02] So, it is a big chunk of your
[9:06] budget, your taxes. And I wish
[9:11] that our residents would get
[9:12] much more interested in the
[9:15] agglomeration and the weight
[9:18] functions, and how it impacts
[9:20] your daily life and your taxes.
[9:24] And now, --
[9:28] >> I will try to answer some of
[9:29] your concerns that you mentioned
[9:31] a lot. Please feel free, you can
[9:33] write to me at another time if
[9:36] you have more questions. But
[9:39] speaking of Public Security,
[9:40] when it's our budget, it's
[9:42] really the police and the fire
[9:43] department, which is the
[9:45] agglomeration. The increases are
[9:46] quite hefty every year, I find.
[9:50] I think the mayor would agree
[9:51] with that as well. And about
[9:54] community services, we didn't
[9:56] take out any money from
[9:58] community services. In fact,
[10:00] we've added some money for
[10:02] summer students to work in the
[10:05] connect project which would be
[10:06] an area that is very interesting
[10:08] for which we have gotten a price
[10:10] on October 12th. We've added a
[10:15] resource for the summer period.
[10:17] We can -- this program that we
[10:19] are working with Beaconsfield.
[10:22] We've added some manpower or
[10:26] women power, people power, I
[10:28] don't know anymore how we say
[10:30] this, but that is some people to
[10:32] do better cleanup and during the
[10:36] summer in our parks are, public
[10:39] spaces, the green spaces and
[10:42] parks. In a nutshell, that is
[10:44] what I would answer to your
[10:46] questions.
[10:47] >> Yeah. By the way, the police,
[10:51] the SPVM budget I think was
[10:54] exceeded by about $50 million in
[11:00] 2024. And it is due to all the
[11:04] demonstrations, all the
[11:05] activities where the police had
[11:08] to get involved. In the 2025
[11:13] budget, it is coming back to the
[11:15] same amount as it was in the
[11:19] previous year. Again, we are
[11:22] looking at a huge deficit in
[11:25] 2025, in the police budget in
[11:27] the agglomeration,
[11:30] unfortunately.
[11:35] Is this related to the budget?
[11:37] >> Yes it is. Hello. I am
[11:39] Nicole. I am going to say --
[11:43] piggybacking on what she was
[11:44] saying about the police budget.
[11:47] I believe that Beaconsfield is
[11:50] spending over 6 million on
[11:52] policing this year. Could you
[11:54] pull up the budget, specifically
[11:56] for police?
[12:01] >> Well, 6 million for the
[12:03] police is what we pay as a share
[12:06] to the agglomeration. We don't
[12:08] manage that budget.
[12:09] >> I know that. But what are the
[12:13] things -- one way Beaconsfield
[12:14] could end up saving money is by
[12:17] partially defunding and
[12:19] certainly detail asking, it's
[12:20] what he was talking about. You
[12:22] know, the Beaconsfield --
[12:25] Beaconsfield relies on your
[12:28] traditional first responders,
[12:30] police, fire, ambulance, public
[12:32] security. But Baie-D'Urfé and
[12:36] Pointe-Claire, they both have
[12:40] alternative deep tasking first
[12:43] responders, civilian first
[12:44] responders. For example, they
[12:46] have, in addition to the
[12:47] traditional ones, they will have
[12:51] -- who will help the police with
[12:53] search and rescue. If a person
[12:56] goes missing, there are
[12:57] volunteers to help find missing
[13:00] persons. So that's wonderful.
[13:03] Certainly, we could bring that
[13:04] in. There is also -- Bader fee
[13:07] has volunteer seasons on patrol.
[13:09] >> Could you come to your
[13:10] question?
[13:11] >> Yeah. The question is why
[13:15] doesn't Beaconsfield do more
[13:17] indeed tasking? From a personal
[13:20] -- as a person on the autism
[13:22] spectrum, I have had negative
[13:25] encounters with police but I
[13:26] didn't need police.
[13:28] >> Are you talking about the
[13:29] police? Or the municipal patrol?
[13:31] >> I'm talking about the police
[13:34] and I am from Toronto. Toronto
[13:37] has -- she's a nurse.
[13:38] >> I think you should go to the
[13:41] agglomeration asked questions
[13:42] about the police. It is not
[13:45] under our control. It's under
[13:48] the jurisdiction of the
[13:49] agglomeration and you are
[13:50] welcome to ask your questions at
[13:52] the agglomeration.
[13:55] >> But one thing I was going to,
[13:57] say I know the police budget is
[13:58] under the agglomeration. But one
[14:00] thing that Beaconsfield could
[14:02] do, and I'm sure you could find
[14:04] something somewhere in the
[14:05] budget to fund this, is to
[14:11] provide a community crisis
[14:13] service. Instead of having
[14:14] police come when a person is
[14:16] having a mental health crisis or
[14:20] a neurological crisis, if the
[14:22] person is not armed, you could
[14:28] have a volunteer citizen who
[14:31] would be specially trained to
[14:34] become first responders. The
[14:35] city of Toronto does. That it's
[14:37] called the Toronto community
[14:38] crisis service. It works
[14:40] wonderful.
[14:41] >> Thank you very much for your
[14:42] suggestions. We will pass them
[14:43] on. Thank you.
[14:44] >> Another thing I was going to
[14:46] say, and this does have to do
[14:47] the budget, the budget is the
[14:50] one time that the dog pound is
[14:53] brought up. Okay? You can pull
[14:56] it up. It is in the tariffs.
[14:58] Because it says that a 50 dollar
[15:01] dog pound, feet if the dog is
[15:02] not licensed. This morning, just
[15:08] out of my own curiosity, what I
[15:10] did --
[15:11] >> Could you get to your
[15:12] question? Because we cannot give
[15:13] you half an hour of speeches.
[15:16] >> It's not. I talked to this
[15:21] architectural firm and got an
[15:22] estimate for redoing the dog
[15:25] pound. And they took one look at
[15:26] the pictures that I've taken of
[15:28] it through the window, not
[15:31] inside. But they saw some
[15:32] pictures, of a saw the tiny
[15:33] cages the dogs were in.
[15:35] >> What is your question?
[15:36] >> My question is, why does the
[15:40] city keep covering up the fact
[15:42] that there is a space where dogs
[15:45] are held? Why is the City
[15:47] covering up the fact that there
[15:49] is not a separate space for
[15:52] eating, sleeping, and
[15:54] elimination? There is no outdoor
[15:56] outs -- access to the cage. Is
[15:58] there really tiny. Why does the
[15:59] city not bring up the fact that
[16:02] the storage room, which is twice
[16:04] the size of the candle room, has
[16:07] --
[16:08] >> Thank you for your question.
[16:09] I will ask Mr. Boileau to
[16:11] answer. No, this is it. That's
[16:14] it.
[16:15] >> My question is, what is the
[16:17] city of Beaconsfield going to do
[16:19] to expand it? It's only $5
[16:23] million and we could get a
[16:27] fundraising campaign to try to
[16:29] raise money to get the 5
[16:31] million.
[16:32] >> Thank you very much. I will
[16:34] ask Mr. Boileau to answer your
[16:36] question.
[16:37] >> The city of Beaconsfield does
[16:38] not have a dog pound, there is a
[16:41] little shelter that is available
[16:44] for the occasionally found dog.
[16:49] That is straight. Normally,
[16:53] within a few hours, it is back
[16:55] to the --. There is nothing in
[16:57] the budget for any improvement
[16:59] of the dog. Down there is
[17:01] nothing in the program for $5
[17:04] million for a dog pound in
[17:06] Beaconsfield. We do have --
[17:08] normally, the dogs are returned
[17:09] to their owners. Thank you.
[17:12] >> And there was a husky who was
[17:13] there for three days. A Husky
[17:14] needs a lot of exercise. I've
[17:16] been gathering data on the
[17:18] animals myself. And I'm going to
[17:21] set up an organization. To take
[17:24] over that pound.
[17:25] >> If you do not stop now --
[17:36] any other questions?
[17:53] This is on the budget, right?
[17:54] >> Yes.
[17:55] >> Okay.
[17:56] >> Can you hear me? Or needs to
[17:59] be plugged? You can hear me?
[18:01] >> Identify yourself. Could you
[18:05] identify yourself, please.
[18:06] >> I am about to. I just wanted
[18:08] to make sure you can hear me.
[18:09] You can hear me? Great. My name
[18:11] is Alison smiley. I'm on the
[18:14] north side, over 25 years. I'm
[18:18] inquiring about the expenditures
[18:20] outlined in bylaw 163 and 164
[18:24] that pertain to structural
[18:27] rehabilitation work of water
[18:28] mains and sewer pipes. Will the
[18:30] City be directing funds to basin
[18:33] 21, which is located on the
[18:35] north side and has the largest
[18:37] number of pipes?
[18:38] >> This is not on the agenda. It
[18:41] was a special counsel. If you
[18:43] want to come back after to the
[18:45] regular Council, you can ask
[18:47] your questions. In the meantime,
[18:48] we are looking at the adoption
[18:49] of the budget.
[18:50] >> I know. I read the first
[18:52] agenda.
[18:53] >> No, you can come back at a
[18:55] regular meeting and ask your
[18:57] question.
[19:03] - Non, c'est l'adoption du
[19:05] budget. C'est pas une
[19:06] question...
[19:07] - Oui.
[19:09] In your first agenda. So I
[19:11] specifically split to make sure
[19:12] that I read it that way. On the
[19:19] agenda, you had one agenda and
[19:20] then you have the other agenda.
[19:21] The first meeting had an agenda.
[19:23] In there, you have the
[19:24] expenditures. Under the
[19:25] expenditures, it talks about
[19:26] bylaw 163 and 160. For if I got
[19:29] it mixed up --
[19:34] >> Come back to the regular
[19:37] council which will start at
[19:38] 8:00. And you can come back with
[19:39] your question. Thank you. No
[19:44] more questions. We thank you
[19:46] very much. Thank you very much.
[19:51] >> It is not safe.
[19:53] >> Thank you very much. I will
[19:57] ask Mr. house to take care of
[20:00] it. - Appelle la police. Appelle
[20:07] la police. Appelle la police.
[20:23] - Donc...
[20:24] >> An option of the three-year
[20:25] capital expenditure program for
[20:27] 2025 2026, and 2027.
[20:30] >> Proposed.
[20:31] >> Seconded.
[20:33] >> All in favour? - Adoption du
[20:39] budget 2025 de la Ville de
[20:42] Beaconsfield.
[20:45] >> Proposed.
[20:46] >> Second.
[20:47] >> All in favour? - À
[20:50] l'unanimité. Closing of the
[20:54] meeting.
[20:55] >> We are now closing this
[20:58] meeting. La levée de la séance,
[21:00] de la réunion. Et la prochaine
[21:03] réunion qui va être la séance
[21:06] ordinaire du conseil municipal
[21:08] va débuter à 8 heures.
[21:11] - Est-ce qu'on peut voter?
[21:14] - Est-ce qu'il y a un vote?
[21:18] - J'appuie.
[21:19] - Tout le monde en faveur? Oui?
[21:21] - À l'unanimité. C'est bien.
[21:23] - On termine ça.