[4:58] Okay, I welcome everybody and we acknowledge uh the land upon which we

[5:03] work and live, the first nations and their nations and recognize their

[5:06] connection to the land, water and community. We continue to learn, listen,

[5:10] and grow together. And saying that, welcome everybody call the meeting to

[5:13] order and approval of the agenda, please.

[5:16] We could hereby resolve that the agenda for the September 2nd, 2026 regular

[5:20] meeting of council be adopted as printed and circulated.

[5:23] » Okay. Can I get a mover in second, please? Moved by councelor Demer, second

[5:26] by councelor Young. All in favor? Opposed if any. And that's carried. Any

[5:31] disclosure of bearer interest? Not seeing any. And minutes from August

[5:36] 5th. >> We hereby resolve that the minutes of

[5:38] the August 5th, 2026 regular meeting of council be adopted as printed and

[5:42] circulated. >> Okay. Can I get a mover to second,

[5:45] please? Moved by councelor Banberry, second by councelor Barnes. All in

[5:48] favor? Opposed if any. And that's carried. Any business arising for the

[5:52] minutes? No, not seeing any. Okay, we're going to uh move our delegations up

[5:57] today in front of our um planning matters. So, our first uh delegation

[6:04] today is Oxir County Road Supervisors and it's a donation to our helping hands

[6:10] plant food bank. And if I could have Jim, if you could come forward, please.

[6:24] » Thank you, council. >> Um,

[6:28] as you are aware, I was the uh the chairperson for the Oxford County AORS

[6:34] trade show that was hosted in 2025. Um,

[6:40] we did very well. Uh it was the largest show to date with the most attendees and

[6:45] the most booths. Um we also did very well in uh generating revenue um for the

[6:53] association. Um part of hosting um is able to give back to the community. So,

[7:01] with that, we have um a rather large sum uh just over $91,000 that we will be

[7:09] donating back into the community. Uh the three hospitals, we will be donating um

[7:16] $22,946 to each one. Um, and I'm here today to

[7:23] present a check to the Blander Blenham uh, Helping Hands Food Bank for $5,711.

[7:34] » Fantastic. That's That is absolutely fantastic.

[7:38] Um, and >> we need to get some pictures.

[7:41] » Yes. And, uh, unfortunately, uh, Sue Burley, she couldn't come today. She's

[7:45] kind of the spearheaded of it. Um, I'll have Councelor Demer and myself. We both

[7:49] uh have helped at the uh food bank for a very long time. It was at my mom's house

[7:53] for forever. So, uh we're going to do the uh presentation.

[8:07] You >> want to go up here, you said?

[8:09] » Yeah. I think that was move your chairs. >> You want the chairs out of the way?

[8:12] » Yeah. Slide them out of the way.

[8:16] » It is a large check.

[8:36] Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. That's

[8:39] fantastic. There's that one there. >> Okay. Thank you. The official one.

[8:43] » All right.

[8:52] That's great.

[9:01] » I have a resolution for that one. >> Okay. Just make one more comment. Um

[9:06] I'll just make one more comment. Our um our food bank here uh it started um

[9:12] [clears throat] I don't know how many years ago now. A long time. Um, and just

[9:16] so everybody knows how it kind of started was uh um

[9:21] a couple of the parents uh uh noticed that their kids were taking extra food

[9:25] to school here in Drumble. And what it was is they were trying to the kids were

[9:30] helping some of the younger ones uh that maybe came to school that didn't have

[9:35] lunch. Um, so it didn't go unnoticed. And then a few uh of the parents, uh,

[9:40] Sue was one uh that started uh just kind of a little informal uh food bank uh at

[9:48] the school here. Um, I kind of got involved when they uh were looking for a

[9:53] place to store it. Um, it went to my mother's house. It was there for a long

[9:57] long time. And then uh one time we organized uh all the groups from every

[10:04] every place right across Blandford Blenham from churches uh I think it was

[10:09] uh fire whatever and we had a meeting right here in the in the basement here

[10:13] and that's where we formed um cuz we thought if it's happening in Drumble

[10:18] it's happening in in uh all of our communities and that's how we kind of

[10:21] got on to the Blland for Blenhan uh Helping Hands food bank. Um it's become

[10:26] townshipwide. Um it's absolutely the support from the community is un

[10:32] unbelievable. It really is. Uh we put a post out uh I think it was maybe a

[10:37] couple months ago that we were really low in food and we were really low not

[10:41] just food and money. The amount of food and and money that's come in has has

[10:46] been just beyond belief really. Um what's come in to support uh from our

[10:51] community. So, you know, we all all of us hitting here, you know, I think we're

[10:55] all good, but you never know when that day may come uh that uh you may struggle

[11:00] a little bit for food and stuff at home, and it's just uh great to have this

[11:04] support. This uh this check will go a long long ways. This will this will feed

[11:10] families for I would say probably a whole year or more of what we have. And

[11:16] uh not that I want people to stop donating because um it does dwindle very

[11:21] quickly when you start getting uh I think the most we ever had we had like

[11:25] 18 one time um right at Christmas time. So you think how much food you give 18

[11:30] people um and gift cards. Uh we try to give gift cards a lot because it gives

[11:34] people that normality of being able to uh go and buy a few of their own

[11:38] groceries. So uh uh once again thank you very much to your group. Please tell

[11:42] them that uh this will go along on ways in our community and thank you very

[11:46] much. Okay. And we have a resolution. Go ahead.

[11:50] » It hereby resolve that the delegation from the Oxford County Road Supervisors

[11:54] Association regarding a donation to helping hands Blander Blenham Food Bank

[11:57] be received as information. >> Okay. Can I get a move in a second,

[12:00] please? Moved by councelor Demer, second by councelor Young. Sorry I didn't uh

[12:04] let anybody else from council if you wanted to comment at all. Okay. All in

[12:08] favor and opposed if any. And that's carried. Thank you very much. Okay, our

[12:12] next uh our next uh uh delegation is Eric Gilbert uh manager of development

[12:18] planning and Don Ford. I believe you're coming as well.

[12:24] Welcome.

[12:30] Thank you. Uh so I'm here today to present the summary of the 2025 uh

[12:34] planning service delivered by the uh community planning service for the

[12:38] township of Brford Bunham. Uh the township is directly served by a

[12:42] development planner uh Dustin who you see regular basis but also there is a

[12:46] wide team uh behind Dustin uh including myself uh director community planning a

[12:52] manager of planning policy uh six other uh development planners who help to

[12:57] share the workload if there's uh peaks or or uh or complexity uh policy

[13:02] planners and GIS analysts. So uh with this uh wholesome team we're able to

[13:07] provide a comprehensive um and broad range of uh planning

[13:12] service both for county and uh township planning projects.

[13:17] Uh in 2025 uh we processed uh 21 development

[13:22] applications for lands within the township uh which represents 5% of the

[13:26] total of the application submitted countywide countywide.

[13:30] Um we we in the application numbers uh they do tend to uh eb and flow. Uh staff

[13:38] do along with with township staff we do monitor um approvals granted by council

[13:44] community adjustment and others. So if there's a routine um relief that's being

[13:48] requested and approved. Uh typically we would look at that through a

[13:52] housekeeping amendment and we would amend that provision so that going

[13:55] forward uh that relief maybe doesn't need to be requested every time. So

[13:59] that's sometimes why the numbers are fluctuate year-to-year.

[14:04] Uh last year staff also participated in pre-conultation meetings. Uh significant

[14:08] time was spent preparing uh for OOLT hearings. Um regular engaging uh both

[14:15] township staff and Oxford County public works staff to ensure that uh conditions

[14:20] of approval attached to uh minor variances, severances and subdivisions

[14:25] are appropriately satisfied. Uh last year as well we worked with public works

[14:30] to uh develop an updated uh waste water and wastewater capacity allocation uh

[14:35] policy. Uh we also delivered uh a webinar with public works for the

[14:40] development community throughout the county uh to explain the protocol and

[14:44] how it's administered. Uh we also coordinated three peer reviews last year

[14:49] as part of a development application review. Uh last year there was

[14:54] significant challenges um resulting from the Canada post strike. Uh so rather

[14:59] than mailing notices, we had to arrange for either courier uh delivery or we

[15:05] worked with township staff to do hand delivery in some cases to minimize uh

[15:09] costs and uh delays for those. Um we did that uh while continuing to ensure we

[15:15] met all the timelines. we didn't have a position where a developer could appeal

[15:19] a non-decision. Uh table one of the report provides an

[15:24] overview of the applications uh over the last 5 years and the type. Uh based on

[15:30] the applications processed last year and the approvals granted by both the king

[15:34] adjustment uh township and county councils and the land region committee

[15:38] uh 194 new residential lots or units were approved uh in the township last

[15:43] year. Uh we estimate that 13 building permits

[15:47] were issued for new dwelling units last year. And of the 13 new units, five were

[15:52] built in village of Platsville and the rest were in the rural areas in the

[15:56] township. Uh we currently estimate there's 565 approved unbuilt residential

[16:02] lots or units at the end of 2025 in the township. uh if we use a three-year

[16:07] building average, which would be 24 units per year, this represents 23 1/2

[16:12] years of approved supply, or if we use a 5-year building perimeter average, which

[16:16] is 25 units per year, that's 22.6 years of residential supply. Uh so the the

[16:23] township is uh in compliance with the PPS requirement to have um sufficient

[16:28] land uh for a three-year supply. Uh for 2026, uh staff are working

[16:35] through the implementation of the agricultural policy updates which will

[16:40] result in uh changes to the zoning pilot for agricultural properties. Uh we're

[16:45] also uh working through the rural dry industrial development policy review and

[16:50] likely a secondary plan to implement that. Uh we're looking to meet with

[16:55] township staff to review the planning services agreement. Um it was last uh

[17:00] executed in 2015. So there's a good opportunity to review that. Uh as well a

[17:06] review of planning application fees. Uh we were directed by county council to

[17:10] look for opportunities to um increase application fees to offset the cost of

[17:16] the development review uh function of our department. So we have a lot of good

[17:20] information that uh we can work with the township if the township is also

[17:23] interested in offsetting some of the costs that uh arise from development

[17:28] review. Uh the other portion of the department

[17:32] the policy team uh they've been very very busy uh over the last uh year and

[17:38] last few years. Uh probably in the last 5 years there's been more change to the

[17:42] planning act than the last 20 or 30 years. Uh so last year uh they commented

[17:47] on uh changes through bill 17 which allowed the minor variances as of right.

[17:53] So that's a good example where the province passed a regulation that said

[17:58] um if you're within a certain distance to a water course and you're in a a

[18:04] service residential piece of property uh you you only you had as of right minor

[18:10] variance of up to 10%. Uh the problem is that that wasn't mapped or we had no

[18:14] idea where that was. So we we our policy team worked to develop a GIS mapping

[18:19] layer so that building staff and the public uh can quickly see if they're in

[18:23] that area or not. Uh we also uh provided comments on a number of of regulatory

[18:29] proposals um including uh regulations on minimum lot sizes uh standarding

[18:35] official standardizing official plans and uh other provincial regulations that

[18:40] were posted uh as well the uh conservation authorities act and the

[18:46] merger that's occurring. Quite a comments on that. Uh and we also

[18:50] provided updated guidance and a suggested process for uh dealing with uh

[18:55] renewable energy projects or battery battery energy uh storage systems. Uh as

[19:01] uh we're likely getting close to another um round of procurement from the

[19:05] province for additional uh generation or storage.

[19:10] Uh we continue to monitor. There's a lot of provincial change that's approved in

[19:15] the planning act. it hasn't been oper operational operationalized yet through

[19:19] the regulations. Uh so a lot of our time is spent um monitoring for those

[19:24] proposals and providing uh feedback on those. And I will say you know we've had

[19:29] some success with some of the proposals and and and pushing back or offering

[19:34] suggestions uh ultimately that hopefully will be u more workable uh for

[19:39] implementation. Uh that I'll turn it over to Don.

[19:44] » Okay. Thank you Eric. Um so uh through the mayor of the council uh the notes

[19:50] you see uh regarding capacity of water and wastewater um uh the reference uh

[19:56] committed capacity conditional committed capacity and submit circulate that comes

[20:01] from that um allocation policy that Eric mentioned and I just wanted to um

[20:06] describe what's in each bucket. So in that committed capacity bucket uh that's

[20:12] registered plan of subdivision registered plan of condominiums uh site

[20:17] plan approvals including industrial commercial and institutional sub plan of

[20:21] subdivisions and consent to sever once all the conditions are fulfilled. Um

[20:27] then the conditionally committed capacity bucket that's the draft

[20:31] approved plan of subdivisions, draft approved plan of condominiums and the

[20:36] draft approved industrial uh commercial and institutional plan of subdivisions.

[20:42] And then finally to submit circulated bucket that's um circulated site plans

[20:46] or in some cases official plan amendments. So when we're looking at

[20:50] those notes that just uh helps describe those buckets. So um you'll note that we

[20:57] start the water in Drumo Princeton. In Drumo it's estimated that the current

[21:03] wells dynamic supply capacity and that's all the wells that are online and

[21:07] producing right now. That's what that refers to. Uh utilization is 49%

[21:13] uh with existing and committed capacity. And the utilization uh would be expected

[21:18] to be 86% of current capacity with conditionally committed and the submit

[21:23] circulated proposals leaving the forecasted unutilized capacity

[21:28] equivalent of 184 residential units in Princeton. The capacity equivalent of

[21:35] 100 units is 100% allocated currently based on committed and conditionally

[21:41] committed capacity and respecting wastewater treatment

[21:44] capacity in Drumbo. It's estimated that the current Drumble wastewater treatment

[21:49] plant uh utilization is 72% with the existing and committed capacity

[21:56] uh with unutilized capacity equivalent as it sits at 169 units. uh the

[22:02] utilization is expected to be 135% of the current capacity if the

[22:08] conditionally committed and submitted circulated proposals were included. So

[22:12] well over the capacity of the plant um after the expansion of the facility uh

[22:19] it for construction it's currently in the budget book for 2027.

[22:24] Uh this would represent then 92% if everything was going to be 92% of the

[22:30] expanded treatment capacity leaving the forecasted unutilized equivalent of 70

[22:35] residential units. Now this is a hard ceiling on the wastewater for the

[22:40] current receiver the drain that goes to the NT uh and so in terms of any future

[22:45] need expansion at that discharge. Uh in Platsville, it's estimated that the

[22:50] current Wells dynamic supply capacity utilization is 59% with the existing and

[22:56] committed capacity and the utilization would be 67%

[23:01] with the conditionally committed and submitted circulated proposals leaving

[23:05] the forecasted unutilized capacity equivalent of 455 units. And then with

[23:12] the wastewater treatment capacity, it's estimated that the wastewater treatment

[23:16] utilizes utilization sits at 63% with the existing uncommitted and uh with the

[23:23] remaining unutilized capacity of 454 units. The utilization expected to be

[23:29] 72% if the conditionally committed proposals are also included, which then

[23:34] leaves you with 339 residential units. So command community community planning

[23:39] and Oxford County public works water wastewater work together and update

[23:43] ourselves through the year on uh on growth and uh so that's uh that's uh how

[23:49] we ensure that the tracking is kept kept up with. Okay,

[23:54] » great. That's it. >> Okay. Any Thank you. Uh any questions

[23:58] from council around anybody?

[24:03] Um I just got a couple. um when it came to um I'll use Drumbo specifically as as

[24:11] the growth there. So the last as you know the last 10 years we've had no no

[24:16] waste treatment here for that growth. So when you're looking at those numbers um

[24:21] and I'm just looking at what's happening here in the village right as we speak

[24:25] right now. Are you looking at um those projected numbers to go up? I would I

[24:31] would presume is that >> oh maybe through mayor the council maybe

[24:36] I'll take that you're right the uh technicians that do the uh the um look

[24:43] at the capacity and how how long it takes to utilize the capacity do look at

[24:46] the building permits and the average of the previous 3 years or 5 years and in

[24:51] the case of Drumble that would be uh that would be suppressed but uh we have

[24:56] this capacity in place because of the number of uh of draft approved and

[25:02] submitted circulated files. So, we're ready for that growth. It's a matter now

[25:06] of it actually taking place. >> Yeah, it's and like I I'm not sure if

[25:11] you're familiar, but I I know right now like on Peterson Street, I think there's

[25:14] I think there's six foundations that are they're working on right right now. I

[25:18] think there's how many? Eight. Sorry. Eight. I just got told eight. There's a

[25:22] duplex just down the street that's going up. And I think there'll be another

[25:25] duplex next spring on the same property from what I'm told. And then there's the

[25:29] subdivision that's to the to the south here right now. Like it's the lands are

[25:34] all leveled and they're ready to go. Just just giving that little update.

[25:37] Yep. Go ahead. >> Yes. I I will say that it's weird for

[25:40] annual report to come in September. >> Yeah.

[25:43] » But what we do is we take all of the building permit data from the previous

[25:46] year which takes some time to assimulate.

[25:48] » Um and then we do the land supply analysis to determine you know what

[25:52] remaining lands are vacant or available and approved. And then we forward that

[25:56] to public works who then uh you know have their own annual year-end data and

[26:02] capacity and you know average daily demand and all the other fund

[26:07] information that they collect >> and then we put that into a chart. We

[26:10] have the trend the trend lines. >> Uh so every year we do monitor that and

[26:14] we're trying to account for you know if we have to up move something up because

[26:19] of increased growth >> that would show in the trend lines every

[26:22] year. I I I'm pretty sure that this year and especially next year, I'm

[26:28] pretty sure those long as the market's staying like right now it's I I hear a

[26:32] lot of people saying growth is slow, but it's actually very high here right now.

[26:36] Um um I've even heard over here that it's you know could be more than 10 or

[26:41] already pre-sold in the in the the subdivision over here. So I think I

[26:45] think the numbers what I'm trying to get out I think the numbers over the next

[26:48] couple years I think are going to be higher. Um I guess the biggest thing for

[26:53] me is um when that big boom came through co time um we had no waste treatment

[26:59] here at all to expand and I guess my thing is I just don't want to be pardon

[27:04] the pun caught with our pants down um at the next you know if if another boom

[27:09] happens to come really quick I don't want to all of a sudden not have those

[27:12] services here um that we can use. So, I guess that's where I'm I'm kind of

[27:17] looking at. Now, just one other thing. When you mentioned 2027, is that for

[27:22] phase two of the waste treatment? Is that what you're talking about?

[27:26] » Right. That's for the next phase, the to take it up to 660 cubic meters a day.

[27:31] » Okay. >> Which will uh right now it's concluding

[27:33] the um the amendment to the environmental study report to take it up

[27:38] to 660. Okay. >> And that'll be filed uh this year. So

[27:41] then okay, >> we're ready to go ahead at that point.

[27:44] » Yeah. Yeah. I know that I've heard too that cow and drain on the far side that

[27:48] it's it's pretty much at capacity. And just for others here to know that if to

[27:53] go any higher, which if we just if someday down the road we get to the end

[27:58] of that life cycle, the next would probably be we would have to go right to

[28:02] the NET as a drain would probably be the option.

[28:05] » Yes. to through the mayor of the council it would be mean mean the net and it

[28:09] would mean um additional treatment plan as well. So yeah,

[28:14] » the costs start to become prohibitive, right? Because you have to more

[28:17] infrastructure to build. Yeah. >> Yeah. The nice part at least it's

[28:21] downhill. >> Yeah.

[28:22] » At least. Yeah. Um I don't know if I had Oh, yeah. Just one other thing. Um you

[28:27] mentioned about the the rural dry industrial and I call it the 401

[28:32] corridor. Um and it and it just mentions in your report that you're going to

[28:35] start this year and I'm looking at it at September already and I just wonder

[28:39] where we're at. um if there's any planning started um for this year when I

[28:45] I just go by your report. >> Sure. Uh so we had the numbers

[28:51] quantified through the Watson uh growth study.

[28:54] » Yeah. >> Uh so we have that quantified. They gave

[28:57] us some recommendations of where it should go in the hierarchy. Um we have a

[29:02] memo coming out in the next month or so uh to Paul staff saying potential

[29:08] approaches that we could take to it. Um likely it would involve something like a

[29:13] secondary plan. >> Yeah.

[29:15] » Uh to do that um we had in our work plan and in our our business plan and budget

[29:19] we have uh identified a couple of those. So that would likely be one of them.

[29:24] » Okay. >> Um what we need to gauge is if there's

[29:26] interest from uh other townships also for this or if it's um if it's

[29:32] restricted to to the township, we'd likely partner with you to undertake

[29:36] that plan. Um and then uh we also have a um

[29:43] report would come back to county council uh following the meetings we'd have with

[29:47] area staff and after the memo uh and then to get direction on a work program

[29:53] and starting that project. >> Okay.

[29:54] » But you'll see something shortly on >> shortly. Okay. I know I I know you I

[29:59] know you've heard me talk about this a lot. I it's uh it's very very critical

[30:04] to our township to get something moving. And um I know we have one approved

[30:08] property and I've been believe me I've been pounding trying to get that uh

[30:12] going up there but just in the uh for us uh our industrial growth here we have

[30:18] might as well say none. Um so it is very critical for us to keep that to keep

[30:23] that going. Um I think that's all I have here.

[30:28] I think that's all I have. Uh, councelor Demerson,

[30:31] » um, you mentioned in your discussion, um, some agricultural policy review, uh,

[30:37] that's pending this year. Could you talk a little bit more about that and and

[30:41] what that involves? >> Sure. So, through the mayor, uh, OPA

[30:46] 269, which is the agricultural policy rework, uh, that was approved by the

[30:50] province, uh, a couple years ago now. So, now what we're doing is, uh,

[30:54] amending the zoning bylaw to actually implement that. So, I know uh our policy

[30:58] staff has uh released a draft or a draft zoning bylaw provisions for those uh for

[31:06] for that area. Um it's a pretty significant rewrite of the agricultural

[31:11] zoning. Uh I know we're meet they're meeting with Josh and and the CBO to go

[31:16] through them those provisions to make sure uh they work for the township and

[31:21] um they're uh we get buy in uh from that. But then the uh thought is to to

[31:28] initiate those uh shortly and have them in place uh before the end of the second

[31:33] quarter next year. >> Very good. Thank you.

[31:36] » Okay. Anything else from council? Oh, not seeing anything. Thank you.

[31:41] Thank you very much. Be it hereby resolve that the delegation

[31:45] from Eric Gilbert, manager of development planning and Don Ford,

[31:48] senior manager of water and wastewater services, Oxford County, regarding the

[31:52] planning annual report be received as information.

[31:55] » Okay. Can I get a move in a second, please? Moved by councelor Bambry,

[31:58] second by councelor Barnes. Any comments at all? All in favor? And opposed, if

[32:03] any, and that's carried. Okay. And next up is Rhonda, our economic development

[32:08] director. Welcome, Rhonda. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[32:13] Apologies if I look a little disheveled. I was at five business visits in

[32:18] Blandford Blenham today and uh on and off rained on. I thought, "Oh my

[32:23] goodness, I planned the delegation at the end of this day. It was interesting

[32:27] timing for me." [laughter] Is this on?

[32:30] » Yep. >> Okay, great. Okay. Well,

[32:35] good afternoon. Um, thank you for having me on your council agenda today.

[32:43] Uh, many of you are familiar with rural Oxford economic development and how uh,

[32:47] we are here to help the businesses in Bford Blenham and the other four rural

[32:52] townships in Oxford County. Uh, the reason I wanted to come today midsummer

[32:57] uh, I did send a 2025 kind of year-to-ate snapshot earlier this spring

[33:02] just as an FYI. Um, but I wanted to come and speak with you and share a little

[33:08] bit more about some of the programs and projects that we're working on in 2026

[33:14] uh that directly tie to the 5-year strategic plan that was finalized in the

[33:19] fall of last year. So, I thought I would send that paper update in uh the early

[33:24] part of the year and then come and share a verbal update and kind of just let you

[33:27] know uh what we've been up to since um that very robust community engagement

[33:32] process took place last fall. Um and so that's why I'm here right now. Um I

[33:40] added this slide just because I know next time I come there may be new

[33:43] counselors uh around the tables that I am meeting. So, a little bit about rural

[33:48] Oxford economic development. We were established in 2014 as a nonprofit

[33:53] economic development agency here to support the businesses in the five rural

[33:58] townships in Oxford County. Uh we have a mandate to serve and focus on the

[34:02] diverse needs of the rural economies. Um and our five member municipalities as

[34:07] you know um appoint two representatives to serve on our governance board to help

[34:13] us set strategy, oversee operations and ensure financial responsibility. Um our

[34:18] team of two is myself and Crystal. Uh we are passionate and dedicated to

[34:23] supporting balanced growth in the townships of Banford, Blenham, Isor,

[34:26] Tavistock, Norwich, Southwest Oxford and Zora. [clears throat] So our mission is

[34:30] simple to support business growth and development across rural Oxford. Um I

[34:36] like to um emphasize the balanced piece. um economic development in a number of

[34:42] communities can look very different and in a rural context we have um the added

[34:47] task uh to be both prodevelopment and pro- agriculture at the same time and so

[34:53] uh we do have a healthy balance and healthy discussion around our board

[34:56] table and in our staff when we are contemplating and discussing different

[35:00] uh development topics. So just wanted to let you know that's a lot goes into that

[35:05] word balanced there. Um, so in addition to some of the programs that I'm going

[35:09] to speak to and the projects that we've been working on this year, um, just a

[35:14] reminder that we do work one-on-one with local businesses and businesses from

[35:19] outside of the area. Um, and we offer confidential site selection. Um, a lot

[35:25] of new businesses who are looking to locate here or expand,

[35:30] um, they may not know, [sighs] they may not know how to navigate the development

[35:35] process. And so for companies who have done it a few times over and they have

[35:39] all the local contacts and they know, you know, Dustin's awesome, they can

[35:43] just call Dustin. But there are other companies who need a little bit more

[35:46] handholding and a little bit more support and um development process and

[35:50] jargon and language. A lot of it can be really daunting and we can just kind of

[35:55] uh communicate that and help bridge that gap in misunderstandings that will often

[35:59] occur. So that's something that we can help facilitate. We we facilitate

[36:03] introductions to the planning team um or the building officials um where that

[36:08] makes sense and we will also organize facilitated meetings so that everybody's

[36:12] in the room hearing the same information together. Can't no one can play mom

[36:17] against dad in that situation. [laughter]

[36:19] Um we um do run marketing and promotion projects and referrals to service

[36:25] providers and community connections. Uh our whole focus of course supporting

[36:30] growth in rural Oxford. So, [sighs]

[36:35] uh, a little bit about how we divvy up our work. Um, 80% of the work that we do

[36:40] is focused on retention and expansion. So, a lot of that work will be

[36:46] predominantly with the local businesses here in the five townships, meeting with

[36:50] them, speaking with them, um, keeping our ear to the ground about what

[36:55] struggles they might be facing or encountering. And for those who are

[36:59] looking at growth, whether it's hiring another employee or making a small

[37:02] renovation or a big expansion and a big jump, uh we try to work with our

[37:07] business community to support them in that effort. That's where we spend 80%

[37:10] of our time, very grassroots. Uh the other 20% I would say is about

[37:15] investment attraction. So that again will be a lot of one-on-one and

[37:19] responding to investment inquiries uh that come in from outside of the area.

[37:23] uh that confidential site selection piece, a little bit of a matchmaking, um

[37:28] connecting to private uh listings and and online listings and trying to help

[37:37] people feel that they have access to the supports if they do choose um Oxford

[37:41] County for bringing their business. So, just to kind of give you a bit of that

[37:45] context, I'm going to jump into some of the programs that we've been working on

[37:49] this year. Um, one of the largest pieces of

[37:53] feedback we heard, actually it was a lot of great feedback at that strategic

[37:57] plan, but one loud piece of feedback that we heard was that um, our team has

[38:03] kind of become known for helping those rural backro businesses. And that is

[38:08] where we spent the 18 months prior to the strategic plan. So, I was actually

[38:12] really happy to hear that that is where people in the community thought that we

[38:16] were serving. Um that's just not the only area we serve. Uh as you know

[38:21] Oxford County is 2,000 square kilometers. We have a big region and so

[38:24] we have to try to focus our internal res resources very efficiently when we're

[38:29] doing our outreach work. Um so some of the elected officials and part who

[38:34] participated in our strategic plan at different um at different areas they

[38:40] said you're doing a great job in those really rural areas um but can you um

[38:45] maybe focus some time and resources into our builtup areas into our our smaller

[38:49] communities and see you know what kind of supports they may need. So,

[38:55] um, that action item specifically hit the top of our first year plan of our

[39:00] 5-year plan. So, we, uh, and right away jumped into this in the early part of

[39:06] the year, the rural downtown project. And what that was is we brought in mixed

[39:09] meeting um who worked with us on our strategy and we facilitated five roundt

[39:14] sessions one in each of the townships and we invited predominantly business

[39:19] community but other members of the community joined too which I thought was

[39:22] really showed a real engaging appetite to to contribute to the conversation. Um

[39:27] so with those five rural um downtown forums we basically boiled down all of

[39:33] the information. So we created a safe space. Mine and Crystal's job was to

[39:37] just listen and listen and listen because there are some things where

[39:42] you're like but we do that. Oh. Um but the our our role was to listen in those

[39:47] sessions. The facilitator created a brief uh a summary notes of what we had

[39:51] heard and um and in keeping with and I did

[39:58] actually share that brief in the on the last slide in one of the links if you're

[40:01] curious. Um so building on that rural downtown theme, we went strategic plan.

[40:06] We went to the forums. Um our annually we do try to get out um and created an

[40:12] outreach plan to speak with businesses directly at their place of business. And

[40:16] so we had a goal of reaching 20 businesses, four in each township. Um I

[40:22] don't want to brag, but we're kind of on track for like 30. Um this has been a

[40:26] really successful campaign this summer. we um decided to take some of the

[40:31] feedback we heard from that forum and we thought marketing support knowing what

[40:36] resources are available um some of this was just really lowlying fruit and so we

[40:41] had already had a plan to go meet with 20 rural downtown businesses we invited

[40:45] small business center and community employment services and I did a

[40:48] coordinated tour around the um five different villages and in uh rural

[40:53] Oxford and it's just been incredible and with that will come a business spotlight

[41:00] feature that will be for the world to share. But within those conversations,

[41:03] there's been some really rich information and really tangible ways

[41:06] that our organi our three organizations can can support and assist these

[41:11] businesses. So, um that's been exciting. And uh just to tie that loop once more,

[41:18] in 2027, we are formulating or working on a plan to further support the rural

[41:25] downtown businesses and the not every community has a downtown. So also rural

[41:31] and downtown, I should say. Um but we do have a project that will further tie

[41:35] that thread into 2027. So it's not just 2026 is one and done. We'll continue in

[41:41] that effort. We've supported the chambers of

[41:44] commerce. Um we've supported the tourism innovation grant for a fifth and final

[41:50] year. Um the Oxford County Career Expo is another initiative uh that uh takes

[41:56] place in March. Community employment services run that. And the little value

[42:00] ad that we offer is that we organize a rural municipalities booth um so that

[42:06] our municipalities can send a person for a couple of hours

[42:10] and share a booth rather than um stretch resources and them each individually

[42:15] having a booth. So we kind of organize that just as a value ad um as part of

[42:20] our contribution to the expo. And then

[42:26] um still to come and that should take us to the next slide. Still to come in

[42:31] 2026. Um so Discover Rural Oxford is I'm sure

[42:36] I'm sure you've heard about it by by now. We did run a pilot Discover Rural

[42:40] Oxford for the previous two years at Canada's outdoor farm show. We had a

[42:45] lovely little venue in front of the pond and it was delightful

[42:50] and we had received very positive comments and feedback last year and I

[42:57] don't want to say a challenge but now it kind of feels like a challenge but we

[43:01] received encouragement uh to make it bigger uh [laughter]

[43:06] this year. And so if any of you are familiar with Canada's outdoor farm

[43:09] show, you will know that the the former TD pavilion and how large it is. Uh we

[43:15] took a leap. Uh we are going to be half of that TD pavilion. It's now called the

[43:20] rural pavilion. We're going to [snorts] be um spotlighting 16 rural businesses

[43:25] or Oxford County businesses. We had to bring on a number of partners to to pull

[43:29] this one off and um it's going to be exciting with that. Uh it's a it's a

[43:35] business to consumer exhibit within the farm show which as you know is very

[43:39] businessto business very B2B. So we're really excited that it will be a large

[43:45] initiative that will really showcase predominantly rural businesses but

[43:49] Oxford County u businesses as well. Um so if you're coming out to the farm show

[43:54] and you need a ticket, let me know. We have a few uh we have to email them in

[43:58] advance. So just send me your email. Um, as I mentioned, uh, still to come

[44:03] for 2026, our aim for this summer was 20 rural downtown business visits. Um,

[44:11] we just finished 20 today and we have another two days out in the community,

[44:15] so we'll definitely reach uh 30 businesses. Um, also this fall, Oxford

[44:22] Connection FAM tour, that's a by-anual tour that's part of the investment

[44:26] attraction activities that we do. Um this one uh we host uh in concert with

[44:32] the economic development offices in Oxford County. We host 30 developers and

[44:36] industrial realators to promote growth in the region. Um we bring them in, we

[44:41] have a networking evening the night uh the night before, the next day we take

[44:44] them on a bus tour around Oxford County. Uh one stop each each of our offices get

[44:49] one stop. This year, our stop is going to be in Hixon at the County Line

[44:54] building where there's over 20,000 uh square feet of space available for

[44:59] lease. So, I want to make sure we've got some site selectors eyes on that

[45:02] location. Uh and last but not least, I'm hoping that in the new year, very early

[45:08] new year, when I come back with more stat related impacts um that uh I will

[45:14] be able to share that we have launched our new website with enhanced investment

[45:18] attraction features. Uh this is I've had a few different tools that I've wanted

[45:23] to uh incorporate into our website and I've had this idea and this vision for a

[45:28] few years now and as we've were building out our marketing and communications

[45:32] plan earlier this year, we found a tool that I'm hoping knocks all of our socks

[45:37] off and everybody is excited to send investment inquiries to your page on our

[45:44] website to see um some of these tools and build community profiles and all of

[45:49] this, but I'll let that be part of my next year's update. [laughter]

[45:54] Um, the last page is just if you want to drill down on any of the uh information

[45:59] on the key highlights that I've provided um some of the things we've been up to.

[46:03] I didn't go through all of them, but um as you can see, I we are very busy uh

[46:08] twoerson team. We uh work really hard and very passionately to help the

[46:13] business community. Um and I think there's one last thing I should have

[46:17] said. One of the big items that came up on our strategic plan as well was to

[46:21] work more closely with our um rural municipalities and there's a number of

[46:25] ways um that we've been doing that and and to work more closely with Oxford

[46:30] County as well. A lot of that was happening informally. Um but we've

[46:34] definitely I've had uh increased connections, one-on-one connections with

[46:38] each of our rural CEOs. I've supported the Oxford County um uh planning

[46:43] visioning exercise attending and promoting that. Um we've developed a

[46:49] lead handling protocol for um the economic development group that meets

[46:53] quarterly. So there's different um ways behind the scenes that are all just

[46:57] administrative. But I I thought I would mention them just because it came up as

[47:02] hey maybe you guys could do this and we take that uh strategic plan seriously

[47:06] and we're having fun executing on it. So that's just a bit of what we've been up

[47:11] to in the first eight or nine months of this sum of this year. Um, thank you for

[47:17] your support. Thank you for the opportunity to serve your amazing

[47:20] community. >> Thank you, Rhonda.

[47:24] My mic up. Thank you, Rhonda. Um, I'll just make one comment. I know uh the

[47:29] rural mayor's breakfast that was done in uh the spring in April. Uh it was really

[47:34] good. I I really enjoyed it. I was uh as I told you, I was I think when I I

[47:39] mentioned there, I thought it was just a breakfast with the mayors. I didn't know

[47:42] it was a bunch of questions till about a week before, but it actually turned out

[47:45] I really actually uh I really actually did en enjoy it. Uh sometimes when

[47:50] you're sitting on a stool in front of a bunch of people and you don't know what

[47:53] the questions are coming, it can be a little nervous, but uh it honestly was

[47:57] really done well. I really I really did enjoy that part of it and I hope uh uh

[48:02] the next uh the next term whoever's there um that they get a chance to uh to

[48:08] uh contribute in that as well cuz it was very good.

[48:11] Thank you for saying that. I actually mentioned it at each of the north

[48:15] delegations. I did. I should have mentioned that one here. I was actually

[48:18] really proud of that because um I it actually coincided with um when I was at

[48:24] the Toronto School of Rottman finishing out my um Institute of Corporate

[48:29] Directors program. So I wasn't actually able to attend, but I kept getting

[48:33] messages that day like this event is so great. Like I was very involved with

[48:37] everything right up to the delivery date. But uh I heard that obviously

[48:42] Andrew the chamber did a fantastic job moderating and uh I heard a lot of

[48:46] really positive comments about you as well.

[48:48] » Yeah. And it was really uh the fellow that was doing the uh MCN of it or

[48:52] whatever you want to call it. He did a fantastic job. He was very professional.

[48:56] Didn't let things get off the rails and it was just done very well.

[48:59] » He's had a few bookings since. No booking requests.

[49:02] » Anything from council at all? >> No. Not see any. Thank you very much.

[49:07] » Thank you. >> Okay. Go ahead.

[49:09] » Be it hereby resolved that the delegation from Rhonda Stewart, economic

[49:13] development director, rural Oxford econom economic development regarding

[49:17] the year 1 update on the 2026 to 2030 strategic plan be received as

[49:21] information. >> Okay. Can I get a mover in a second?

[49:23] Moved by councelor Demer, second by councelor Banberry. Any comments? All in

[49:27] favor and opposed if any. And that's carried. Okay. And our last delegation

[49:32] is Max Masky uh on our security of our 2026 municipal election. Welcome Max.

[49:41] Good afternoon, counselors. Thanks for your time and your service. Um,

[49:48] apparently this year we're going to be going to a different format, which

[49:54] to a lot of people is foreign, you know, especially the older generations. and uh

[50:02] knowing that the internet you know is a hackable system and now that AI is

[50:08] creating more insecurities why allow people's electronic devices to be

[50:13] potentially compromised and I have had this and a lot of people

[50:18] I know have had compromised u you know appliances

[50:23] their computers hackable you know data information that's you know sensitive

[50:28] they're hacked and it's quite a problem. And I mean, here's just a few, you know,

[50:35] institutions that I I could have filled this book of, you know, what has been

[50:40] hacked and breached. You know, the CRA, Canadian Revenue Association, it's been

[50:45] hacked twice. RCMP twice. Uh, Cambridge Analytical, their data storage. Equifax,

[50:54] another data storage. House of Commons, uh, Government of Alberta, the Jardan

[51:00] Group, and every major bank have all had breaches or data hacks. And, uh, I don't

[51:08] know why they're after the information. You know, what nefarious or criminal

[51:11] activity they want to do with this. Um, the 2020 American election, you know,

[51:16] they were using Dominion and Smartmatic. you know, Dominion was developed by

[51:22] President Maduro of Venezuela to keep winning his elections

[51:27] and uh you know, these had compromised elections and I mean now we're going to

[51:33] Intellivote. Is that right, Sarah? Yeah, Intellote. You know, and I'm just

[51:38] wondering why do you think these criminals use internet instead of break

[51:41] and enter methods and it's because it's easy and quick and you can get away with

[51:46] it. Uh now everyone that votes electronically has given their email and

[51:51] cell phone you know uh access. I don't know if I I'm not a tech technique by

[51:58] any means but does it compromise us because we've got to use our devices.

[52:03] They've got our email and they've got our cell like I keep my cell phone

[52:08] private and I keep my email private. I I decide who I give it out to. And

[52:14] » we have a tornado warning. >> Tornado warning. So, we will

[52:18] » keep an keep an eye on it. >> Going to say the fire chief could take

[52:21] care of that.

[52:25] » Not a tornado. >> No. No. Actually, Cindy went through

[52:29] that, you know, years ago. Um, yeah. Because it's quick and easy. Uh, now

[52:35] everyone that votes electronically has given their email and cell phone access.

[52:39] Now, I I don't know how secure this is. I mean, hopefully you you can shed some

[52:44] light as to, you know, tell me. I know I know it says in the pamphlet here, it's

[52:49] safe and secure, but you got to tell me how it's going to be safe and secure.

[52:55] And, you know, who takes liability for if something is breached or compromised?

[53:01] And uh and there's also a chance of malware malware programs being installed

[53:07] uh for malicious activity. I don't know if you've heard what they're doing now

[53:11] with sorry this this will go on for yeah a

[53:17] while I'm sure what they're doing with children's

[53:22] pictures in school and how they're blackmailing

[53:26] you know teachers or teacher I mean uh parents you know this pedophilia and

[53:32] pornographic uh you know pictures you know AI can

[53:36] gener we don't even know what's real anymore, you know? I mean, I remember

[53:41] you had shown me, Mark, what you can do. You can take a picture of a room and how

[53:46] you can change the looks of it. And I just thought that's fascinating. And I

[53:50] mean, I I don't live in that realm, but it it's concerning me and it's

[53:56] concerning a lot of other people as well. Um, like paper voting only

[54:01] requires, you know, your presence and ID. That's it. And it's anonymous. you

[54:07] know, you go behind, you know, the block or the partition,

[54:12] you fill in your vote and you put it in, you know, whereas this this is a little

[54:16] more intensive, you know, where who who's going to have access to this later

[54:21] on, you know. Um, and nothing on the internet is secure. Um, I'm just

[54:28] wondering, has Telot signed a confident confidentiality or code of conduct uh

[54:34] agreement? Um what what is the cost? Is it a cost per vote or is it one

[54:42] um just standard fee for you know doing this? Um, and I mean if if it's a matter

[54:49] of money, you know, what is a trade-off? Is it better to have, you know, a paper

[54:55] vote where, okay, yeah, we may have to hire some, you know, township residents

[55:01] instead of giving this money to teleote out in Nova Scotia. Why don't we have

[55:06] our our residents here do the voting? It can't be that complicated and training

[55:10] can't be that hard, you know. Let's keep the money inside the township,

[55:16] you know. Um uh you can also have a hybrid system for

[55:21] those people that are gung-ho on getting you know I want to use my computer and

[55:25] my and my uh iPhone. Okay, let them do that. And for the people that listen I

[55:30] want to I want to have paper ballots. I'm familiar with that and I am more

[55:34] trustworthy of that. Let's have that. um

[55:40] you know I I mean here we've council's only given us one choice and I mean and

[55:46] it's to use the teleote and that's not really fair you know in a democracy you

[55:52] know people have choices you know and I

[55:59] I know in communist countries you're assigned a dictator in democracies we

[56:05] get to elect a dictator So we don't want that to happen, you

[56:09] know. So I mean is there a possibility that we can

[56:16] adjust this somehow?

[56:21] » I don't believe at this stage. I think it's it's too late. I I I'll just I'll

[56:25] just maybe I was writing a few notes down as you were talking. Are are you

[56:29] all you are you done or I'll let >> Yeah, go ahead. It's going to be a very

[56:33] short mark. >> Okay. So, so, um, I believe it's a set

[56:37] fee. Um, and I'll maybe let Sarah answer some of these questions. And I think the

[56:42] savings was roughly about 30,000, I believe. Um,

[56:46] » I guess about 30,000 savings by going this route.

[56:50] » 30,000 savings. >> Yes, I believe total cost.

[56:52] » I think that's I'm not sure what the total cost is, but I'll maybe let Sarah

[56:56] add to that. Um, and I know as far as electronic, um, we've actually our votes

[57:03] have been counted electronically the last three terms, I believe. So, you had

[57:08] the paper vote and you put it in. >> That's tabulation.

[57:11] » Yeah. And it was tabulated like electronically.

[57:13] » Yeah. But that's something different. >> Yep. But anyway, that's that's the way

[57:16] it was done. We actually took that computer chip, it's actually a jump

[57:20] drive, took it out, put it in our computer, and that's how the vote. So it

[57:23] it was theoretically it's still counted counted the same way pretty much. Um

[57:29] just just the other part um and and like I say, I'll let maybe Sarah um talk a

[57:34] little bit more about it, but um I guess in this in this world and and I don't do

[57:39] e transfers. I let the wife do that. But but even um I don't know even know if

[57:44] you were at uh I'm not sure if you were still at our work when they

[57:48] electronically put your you never got a paycheck anymore and it was

[57:52] electronically put right into your bank account, right? So it's it's really it's

[57:55] the same somebody has your information out there and and that's that's where

[58:00] our society is going. Um, I did I mention here when we were going to this

[58:05] that I found it odd that you know I had to go to to uh when I went there I had

[58:11] to show my ID and it was to a relative of of my wife's that I had to show my ID

[58:16] and my name's on the ballot and I found it kind of odd that I had to do that and

[58:20] now with the new new system you you get a code and everything and and

[58:24] » that's only nine digits or 10 digits, right?

[58:26] » Yeah. And we only get >> easily hackable. We only get uh um about

[58:32] 30% of the people that vote. That's that's almost standard um everywhere.

[58:37] It's about 30%. >> There's 26 of us.

[58:40] » Yeah. So people people don't vote. So the the thoughts around the table here

[58:45] and I think it was unanimous at the time is that uh hopefully this gets people to

[58:50] vote. Realistically there's no excuse not to vote but now there's absolutely

[58:56] zero excuse not to vote. Um, and as far as choices, you do have a choice. You

[59:02] can actually come here. Um, on the day of the election, there's going to be,

[59:06] and it's just posted it, there's actually a flyer right there. There's

[59:09] going to be, uh, in, uh, Platsville, Dumbo, and Princeton, there's going to

[59:14] be a spot where you can go on a specific day. You can go there. You don't have to

[59:18] use your device if you if you don't wish. They'll have a device there for

[59:22] you. >> Oh, okay.

[59:22] » You can Yeah. So, this has just just come out uh um this week. Um, so you can

[59:28] actually go there. You don't have to use your cell phone if you don't have a cell

[59:30] phone or a tablet. You can go there. You have uh you'll have in the mail you'll

[59:35] get a specific uh code that's to you. I think the password is your birthday. Is

[59:40] that correct? So you can actually go there. All you have to do is put your

[59:44] birthday in. It's no different than showing your ID at the

[59:46] » So you don't have to use your It's like tabulation.

[59:49] » That's right. So you don't have to use your own. You can uh And on election

[59:52] day, you can come here to the office as well. There'll be tablets set up here

[59:56] probably down here I'm presuming somewhere and and uh you can come and

[1:00:01] use our tablets here our cell phones uh you or you don't have to use your cell

[1:00:04] phone it'll be our tablets you can do your thing and walk out the door so that

[1:00:09] way you're not copyright >> now where is the chain of custody kept

[1:00:13] of the votes all the tabulations who gets that is

[1:00:17] that Intellivote >> I'll let I'll let Sarah answer that

[1:00:20] » so Intellivote is a web-based platform that would have all the results of the

[1:00:26] election and know who voted but not how they voted.

[1:00:30] » Um the the chain of command I believe you're referring to like the data where

[1:00:35] is it stored? >> Yes.

[1:00:37] » Um it would be stored on that Intellivote system

[1:00:40] » and they keep it but we don't. >> So if there's a dispute or if there's

[1:00:46] uh a recount who does a recount? So if it's I I can let you answer too,

[1:00:52] but if and tell me if I'm wrong here, but it it's the same like so before when

[1:00:57] we did the you know the paper in and it tabulated

[1:01:01] » for a recount I believe unless it's in within has to be back then I think it

[1:01:05] had to be within so many votes. It's just done exactly the same way. So those

[1:01:08] paper copies will go back in >> and it'll be done as exactly the same

[1:01:12] way. So on a recount it'll just be what the numbers come from there. Right.

[1:01:17] » The televote system would recount. Yes. Yes.

[1:01:20] » So there's no data going to be kept by Intellivote

[1:01:24] uh for uh email or telephone numbers.

[1:01:29] » Okay. Okay. Cuz I know some people are concerned about this. You know, you're

[1:01:33] opening up your >> you know sometimes your financial wallet

[1:01:38] that's held in your phone or in your computer. Like I I don't do anything

[1:01:42] sensitive on a computer. I want to see I want physical

[1:01:46] » just type guy. >> I haven't gone with the times yet

[1:01:48] either. So, we're we're in the same boat.

[1:01:50] » We'll vote together, Mark. >> I don't I don't do the e transfer

[1:01:53] either. It's a good thing I don't because I'd have a lot of stuff out of

[1:01:56] my house that I don't need if I had e transfer. So,

[1:01:58] » Oh, we're clearing junk out of our mail all the time and trying to get rid of

[1:02:02] these people. You can't do it. >> Yeah, but I think I think um I trusted

[1:02:08] that it's secure. Um that's that's my belief. Um I'm really hoping when the

[1:02:13] data comes in that the numbers are up from where we are. Um,

[1:02:18] I'm not not totally confident that numbers will be up, but I I honestly

[1:02:23] hope that those numbers of people voting. And my biggest concern was that

[1:02:28] we were going to take away the voting of the older people that don't do the

[1:02:33] electronic thing and bring the yellow one, the younger ones on board. I want

[1:02:38] both to do it. So that's why it's it's, you know, they can still be able to come

[1:02:42] here and vote and be able to go to a a station to vote as well.

[1:02:47] » I I know the younger crowd, they like their technology. Oh,

[1:02:51] » sorry. Things got to be getting closer.

[1:02:55] » Yeah. >> I I know the younger crowd, they feel

[1:02:58] like our generation is throwing them under the bus and they go, you know

[1:03:01] what? Why vote? What difference is it going to make? you know, they're saying,

[1:03:06] "Well, it's not the vote that counts, it's who counts the votes." And, you

[1:03:12] know, that's their attitude, but, you know, I understand what, you know,

[1:03:16] council is saying. You know, >> let's see if we can get more activity

[1:03:19] and more people responding to this. >> Yeah.

[1:03:23] » Yeah. You know, it should be a civic duty, too, you know, Mark. But but

[1:03:28] anyways, um if Sarah she can give me just a $30,000 savings, can I get a

[1:03:34] final figure or like what actually is it cost in this?

[1:03:37] » I would have to check and get back to you on that. Unfortunately, I don't have

[1:03:40] the price >> here available to me right now.

[1:03:43] » Yeah. >> Yeah. If I if I I think it's right

[1:03:46] around the savings was about 30,000 I believe. I'm just

[1:03:50] » Yeah. But >> yeah,

[1:03:51] » let's say we got 100,000 and usually we pay 130,000. And so we got a $30,000

[1:03:56] savings, like I want to know, like $100,000 to

[1:04:00] » Yeah. >> You know, uh to train people to be, you

[1:04:04] know, uh what do they call them? >> Uh working in the voting polls.

[1:04:09] » Yeah. >> You know, I I usually just see somebody

[1:04:11] at the front with a role book and when you come in, you show your ID, they

[1:04:15] stroke your name off, give you a ballot, and then you go there and then you stick

[1:04:18] it in the ballot. And it's a really simple process. And I

[1:04:22] » just wonder like we've got a fairly small township.

[1:04:25] » Yeah. >> Yep. Go ahead.

[1:04:27] » Three, Mr. Mayor. Two members of council. I just wanted to add a few uh a

[1:04:30] few points. The uh the Association of Municipal Clerks and Treasures of

[1:04:33] Ontario did a really comprehensive report summarizing um I guess it be 12

[1:04:38] years of data on electronic voting when that became common place in the province

[1:04:43] um for the first time in 2014. And I I think a few of the stats that really

[1:04:47] stuck out to this council when they made the previous decision um had to do with,

[1:04:52] you know, the increasing commonality of online voting. It being generally

[1:04:56] regarded as a success. And I think that uh that broad success that we're

[1:05:00] noticing across the province has nothing to do with the cost savings. I mean, I

[1:05:04] think it was it was evident here that, you know, you can't put a price on

[1:05:07] democracy. The cost savings was a uh >> was certainly a benefit, but it

[1:05:12] certainly didn't influence the decision. I think the largest part of online

[1:05:15] voting, having been a clerk myself for, you know, previous to this position for

[1:05:18] almost a decade, um, is accessibility. You know, especially in rural

[1:05:22] municipalities when you don't have a single growth center where the majority

[1:05:26] of your population is centralized. having that ability for folks to to cast

[1:05:31] their ballot remotely. Yeah. >> Or to visit a you know a range of

[1:05:34] different locations or you know in the absence of polls like in a municipality

[1:05:38] such as Blandford Benham >> um greatly enhances the accessibility of

[1:05:42] an election and formed a large part of this council's decision. I guess it

[1:05:45] would have been last year at this point. >> So I I just wanted to make that really

[1:05:49] clear that the you know the cost savings as much as it was highlighted and it's a

[1:05:53] you know the reason that Sarah doesn't have the number off the top of her head

[1:05:55] is because it's a per elector fee. So, I believe it works out to 85 cents per

[1:05:59] elector if I'm remembering correctly on what the So, we didn't have our full

[1:06:02] elector count. We don't know what that true cost is of the election, but it was

[1:06:06] never about the cost savings. It was always about the

[1:06:09] » um you know, the accessibility, the hope that you're going to increase voter

[1:06:12] turnout and uh you know, still being able to have those physical locations

[1:06:16] where people can come and uh can come and visit a poll. I mean, I remember

[1:06:20] running the the last municipal election in the town of Elmer, and it was uh it

[1:06:24] was the first time that they had run uh online voting. And some of the feedback

[1:06:28] that we heard from individuals that were visiting the voter assistance center,

[1:06:31] which is exactly what we'll have here, is that as much as they, you know, had

[1:06:35] the skills or the ability to cast their ballot online, they still wanted to

[1:06:38] visit a physical location. They liked the social aspect of going out and

[1:06:42] voting. And I think, uh, you know, our clerk's team have done a really good job

[1:06:45] of sort of preserving that that sentiment as a part of this election.

[1:06:49] And we're hopeful that the uh you know the enhanced accessibility for this

[1:06:52] election will have a positive impact on voter turnout.

[1:06:54] » Yeah, we you're right because it's a social event. You know, in days gone by

[1:06:58] we didn't have internet. You know, entertainment didn't come into your home

[1:07:02] like it does nowadays where you know and it's it's a way to meet your neighbors

[1:07:06] and friends you haven't seen for a while or farmers and you know it was a social

[1:07:11] event and I kind of like that too, you know.

[1:07:14] » Hope we'll see you here. >> Yeah.

[1:07:17] Well, okay. councilors, thank you much. Thanks very much for your time and your

[1:07:22] service and good luck in the elections. >> Thank you, Max. Thanks a lot.

[1:07:25] » Okay, go ahead. >> We'd hereby resolve that the delegation

[1:07:30] from Max Mashki, resident, regarding security of the 2026 municipal election

[1:07:34] be received as information. >> Okay. Could I get a mover in a second,

[1:07:38] please? By councelor Young, second by councelor Demerest. Any comments? All in

[1:07:42] favor? And opposed, if any. And that's carried. I'm just going to take about a

[1:07:47] one minute, maybe a two-minute break, maybe longer. I want to touch base with

[1:07:52] a couple people here and make sure that these alarms that are coming, we don't

[1:07:55] have something coming right behind us. So, I'm just going to take a very quick

[1:07:58] break and uh make sure that we're all safe cuz I don't want anybody to uh not

[1:08:03] get out of here. So, if we can just do that quickly and do that. Okay.

[1:08:40] Okay. Just like staff need to get home, right?

[1:08:43] » Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> So,

[1:08:45] » we'll do this. We'll do this. We'll do this very as quick as we possibly can.

[1:08:48] Absolutely. Okay. Uh where are we now? We'll go back to planning. If you want

[1:08:55] to go ahead with that resolution. Be it hereby resolve that council move into

[1:08:59] committee of adjustment at 5:04 p.m. and further that mayor Peterson chair the

[1:09:03] public meeting. >> Okay. Can I get a mover in a second

[1:09:05] please? Moved by councelor Demer second by councelor Banbury. All in favor? Post

[1:09:09] if any and that's carried. Okay. I'm officially opening this public meeting

[1:09:13] which is being held under the planning act for the purpose of hearing minor

[1:09:16] varance applications allowing for any person in attendance the opportunity to

[1:09:20] make a presentation to council. like to advise those in attendance that if you

[1:09:23] wish to receive notification of the committee's decision, they should sign

[1:09:26] the sheet on the shelf by the door at the rear of the room. Would like to

[1:09:29] advise those in attendance that the Ontario Land Tribunal has a power to

[1:09:32] dismiss an appeal if an appellent is not provided the committee with oral

[1:09:36] submissions at a public meeting or written submission before decision has

[1:09:39] been rendered by the committee. I would now ask committee members to state any

[1:09:43] disclosure or peculiar interest and general nature thereof.

[1:09:47] Not seeing any. There is one application to be heard today. MVA04-26

[1:09:52] for Greg Voyen Investment Corporation for a property located at 104 Hill

[1:09:57] Cresant. And Dustin, if you could present that.

[1:09:59] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and good afternoon, uh, members of council,

[1:10:02] staff, and those in attendance here today. The application before you

[1:10:05] concerns a currently vacant lot approximately 831 m square in size, and

[1:10:11] it's located in what's locally known as the Platville estate subdivision. Um

[1:10:15] council was likely aware that the plastois estate subdivision is in

[1:10:18] various stages of development at this time. Um but this lot is vacant. The

[1:10:24] proposal before you is for a single detached dwelling and a variance is

[1:10:28] being requested in order to allow a reduction to the exterior side yard from

[1:10:32] 7.5 m to 6.8 m. Uh council may be wondering where the exterior sideyard

[1:10:38] is. Well, that's on the west side. However, at this time, there is no road

[1:10:43] built on the west side of the property, but in the future, if the subdivision

[1:10:47] were to be expanded, there would be a road extended. So, we can look at this

[1:10:51] as a preemptive application um to deal with this now rather than

[1:10:55] wait to a road actually be developed. As a result of the circulations to

[1:11:00] departments and agencies, no comments were received, nor were any comments

[1:11:04] received as a result of the public circulation.

[1:11:08] uh planning staff have reviewed the application and in our opinion it is

[1:11:12] supportable. Um it there is sufficient space that will still exist between the

[1:11:17] eventual road and the uh single detached dwelling itself and the director of

[1:11:22] public works has indicated there wouldn't be any concerns in terms of

[1:11:24] maintenance for that future road. Uh the future sight triangle which would be

[1:11:29] located on the uh southwest um portion of the property uh will be maintained as

[1:11:35] the driveway in the garage would be located on the east side of the

[1:11:38] property. As council may recall from last year uh

[1:11:42] a similar request was asked for 77 workman Crescent which is south of the

[1:11:47] subject lands. Um and in our opinion this request is very similar to that as

[1:11:52] and would not be out of uh the ordinary in this this neighborhood. So with all

[1:11:57] that being said, we are here to recommend approval of the application.

[1:12:04] Okay. Uh does the applicant uh have any comments or anything to say concerning

[1:12:09] the application, the recommendations or the conditions outlined in this report?

[1:12:14] I'm not seeing anything. Uh do any members of the committee have any

[1:12:18] questions or comments they wish to make? Not see any. Uh, is there any person

[1:12:23] from the audience who wishes to provide comments in support or opposition of

[1:12:27] this application? And if so, please state your name and address as you rise

[1:12:30] to speak to this issue. Not seeing anything. Okay.

[1:12:36] Uh, is there a verbal motion from the committee to accept this application

[1:12:40] with conditions noted or to deny the application? Okay. Councelor Demer.

[1:12:44] Okay. Uh, moved by councelor Demer, second by councelor Banbury um to accept

[1:12:48] this application. All in favor? opposed if any and that's carried. That was

[1:12:54] unanimous. Uh and one thing that I forgot to do while we're passing this

[1:13:00] around, I need a uh committee of adjustments uh minutes for August 5th. I

[1:13:06] need a verbal move by councelor Demer, second by

[1:13:11] councelor Barnes. All in favor and opposed if any. And that's carried.

[1:13:16] Okay.

[1:13:19] Be it hereby resolved that the committee rise at 5:08 p.m. and that the open

[1:13:25] council meeting resumes. >> Okay. Could I get a move in a second?

[1:13:28] Moved by council bar and second by council Young. All in favor? Opposed if

[1:13:31] any. And that's carried. Okay. And our second. We have a resolution. Go ahead.

[1:13:43] Be it hereby resolve that council move into public meeting under the P planning

[1:13:46] act to consider one application for zone change that in 12603 high view estate

[1:13:50] limited and further that mayor Peterson chair the public meeting

[1:13:53] » okay move in a second please moved by councelor Demer second by councelor

[1:13:56] Banberry all in favor opposed if any and that's carried I'm officially opening

[1:14:00] this public meeting which is being held under the planning act for the purpose

[1:14:03] of hearing an application for a zone change in the township of blander Benham

[1:14:07] like to advise those in attendance that the atera land tribunal has power to

[1:14:10] dismiss an appeal and if appellant has not provided council with oral

[1:14:14] submissions at a public meeting or written submissions before a bylaws

[1:14:16] pause passed pursuant to recent changes under bill 185 appeals are now generally

[1:14:22] limited to the applicant or registered owner a public body specific persons or

[1:14:26] the minister like to ask those in attendance that if

[1:14:30] you wish to receive notification of council's decision should sign the sheet

[1:14:33] by the door at the rear of the room and please include your email address to

[1:14:37] receive future correspondence. Now ask council member to state any disclosure

[1:14:40] of peculiar interest or general nature thereof. Not see any. There is one

[1:14:45] application being considered today. an application for an official plan

[1:14:48] amendment and zone change ZN1-2603 High View Estates Limited for the lands

[1:14:53] legally described as lot 16 part lots 15 and 17 concession 9 Ben Blenham which

[1:15:02] are to be partially reszoned from general agricultural zone A2 to special

[1:15:06] rural residential zone RSP and Dustin if you can present that please.

[1:15:10] » Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh for council's information on August 6th, 2016, the

[1:15:15] land division committee approved severance B26291,

[1:15:20] which looked to sever 136 acres of agricultural land, convey it to the farm

[1:15:24] to the east, and would retain 2 acres of land, which would be a rural residential

[1:15:30] uh property. Uh the existing single detached dwelling would would remain on

[1:15:35] the lot to be retained as well. Uh the proposal in front of you here today is

[1:15:39] to reszone the retain lot which is a 2acre parcel from A2 to an RR special

[1:15:45] zone and that RR special zone is required in order to uh permit a reduced

[1:15:50] um lot frontage from 35 m down to 10 m as a result of this circulation to

[1:15:56] departments and agencies. No comments were received nor were any comments

[1:15:59] received as a result of the public circulation.

[1:16:02] Uh both the severance application and the zone change application have been

[1:16:06] reviewed by planning staff and we are of the opinion that the proposal is

[1:16:10] compliant with both the PPS and the official plan. Uh the resulting farm

[1:16:15] parcel will still allow for flexibility in various farm types in the future and

[1:16:20] the resulting residential lot is sufficient in terms of size to allow for

[1:16:24] the amenity space that's required off-site parking and private services as

[1:16:28] well. Uh the the requested 10 m frontage has been reviewed by staff and we

[1:16:34] believe in this uh instance it is sufficient. Um it will be sufficient to

[1:16:38] allow for emergency access and no concerns have been raised as a result of

[1:16:42] circulation into departments and agencies and we are here recommending

[1:16:46] approval in principle tonight and once we have received um the necessary uh

[1:16:52] survey uh we will bring this back for future consideration by council. Um I

[1:16:58] will note that this uh property is subject to two severances not just the

[1:17:02] one I mentioned. Um the first seance which was B uh B26

[1:17:08] 211 I believe uh has to be finished first before the second severance can be

[1:17:13] completed. So that's why we're here recommending an approval in principle

[1:17:16] and we'll come back at a later date. >> Okay. Thank you. Are there any uh

[1:17:22] planning questions from council regarding the staff report?

[1:17:26] No, I see. Does the applicant or agent wish to speak regarding this

[1:17:30] application? Okay. Um, are there any members of

[1:17:35] council that have any questions or require any further information?

[1:17:39] Are there any interested parties in attendance wish to speak to this

[1:17:42] application? Oh, I see any. Um, do see uh nothing there. Any final comments or

[1:17:49] questions from council? Nope. This application will be dealt with by

[1:17:53] council at it regular meeting following this public meeting. I will officially

[1:17:56] close this public meeting and a resolution to rise.

[1:17:59] » It hereby resolve that the public meeting be adjourned and that the

[1:18:02] regular meeting of council reconvene. >> Okay. Can I get a mover in second,

[1:18:05] please? Move by councelor Demer second by councelor Young. All in favor and

[1:18:09] opposed if any. And that's carried. Okay. And then you'll have

[1:18:13] » be it hereby resolve that the council of the township of Bford Blenham approve

[1:18:17] principle the zone change application submitted by high view estate limited

[1:18:20] file number ZN12603 whereby the lands described as lot 16

[1:18:25] part lots 15 and 17 concession 9 blenham are to be partially reszoned from

[1:18:30] general agricultural zone A2 to special rural residential zone RSP.

[1:18:35] » Okay. Can I get a move in a second please? Moved by councelor Barnes.

[1:18:38] Second by councelor Young. All in favor post if any. And that's Carrie. Thank

[1:18:42] you. Um, okay. So, we're into I'm just going to maybe ask uh CEO here. Um, as

[1:18:51] we go through, I'm I'm a little concerned about this weather that keeps

[1:18:54] popping up. Um, is there stuff here um as I get to it, if there's stuff that we

[1:19:00] can push off to the next meeting that isn't um 100% needs to be on here, I'm

[1:19:06] just kind of recommending that maybe we go there. Um I'm just wondering about

[1:19:10] your thoughts. I don't want to see anybody get stuck here um in this

[1:19:14] weather. >> Certainly. Uh thank you for that, Mr.

[1:19:17] Mayor. To members of council, um you know, this is this is your agenda.

[1:19:20] Certainly understand the uh the rationale behind that. My recommendation

[1:19:24] might be to receive some of the monthly reports for information. Um perhaps

[1:19:28] members of council could just ask questions directly if they have them

[1:19:31] » and that would save the uh the presentation time.

[1:19:34] » Okay. All right. If there's anything that that staff wants to

[1:19:39] say in their thing, go ahead and do it. Okay, let's do the uh correspondence

[1:19:43] very quickly. Um, go ahead, Sarah. >> Be it hereby resolved that the general

[1:19:49] correspondence items be received as information.

[1:19:52] » Okay. Can I get a mover in second, please? Uh, move by councelor Dammer,

[1:19:55] second by councelor Bber Mayberry, [clears throat]

[1:19:58] Mayberry Banbury. All in favor and opposing and that's carried.

[1:20:05] » [laughter] >> Thank you.

[1:20:09] » Okay. Um, so our next staff report is Adams.

[1:20:14] I'll >> jump in there real quick.

[1:20:18] » Good evening, council. Uh, I've just got a section 78 request to bring to

[1:20:24] council. Um, it's for uh covering a portion of the Millville drain on

[1:20:30] Highway 2. Um to do so this will require a new engineers report under section 78.

[1:20:37] Uh to do that we will have to advise GRCA of the proposed drainage work.

[1:20:41] » Okay. Council okay with that? Any questions or comments on it?

[1:20:47] » Okay. Go ahead. >> Be it hereby resolve that report DS2601

[1:20:50] be received as information and further that council instruct staff to notify

[1:20:53] GRC of their intent to appoint the engineer under section 78 of the

[1:20:57] drainage act for the Melville drain. >> Okay. I move a second please. It's moved

[1:21:01] by councelor Young, second by councelor Demerest. All in favor? Post if any

[1:21:06] carry. Jim Borton.

[1:21:12] Yeah.

[1:21:16] Afternoon, council. Um, looking at the radar and the

[1:21:20] warning, it is for a thunderstorm, high winds event.

[1:21:24] » Um, most of it looks to be more to the north of us, but um, they are

[1:21:28] recommending if something does happen to take shelter. So,

[1:21:31] » okay, >> as a precaution, beware.

[1:21:34] » Okay. >> Uh, first report is for a four-way stop

[1:21:39] at Center Street and Pinkham. Um, this was brought forward during a public

[1:21:44] meeting that we had for a um subdivision application on Henry Street. Um, staff

[1:21:50] looked at this. We did some traffic counts. Um,

[1:21:55] very low. Uh, most of the concern

[1:22:00] I can't override it. Sorry. >> That's a loud one.

[1:22:03] » Sorry about that. And and my notifier is off. So, but and I can't override it.

[1:22:09] » You know what? Shakes like [laughter]

[1:22:13] » it might blow away in a minute. >> I've got it on do not disturb, but if

[1:22:17] it's an emergency alert, it goes through. Yeah. Sorry.

[1:22:21] » That's okay. Um most of the concerns were um raised during um large events

[1:22:28] being held at the park when there sees the most traffic. We did leave our

[1:22:32] traffic counters out during an event um over the weekend. However, um looking at

[1:22:39] all that data, it did not meet um the our TAC guidelines uh which is the uh

[1:22:46] transportation of Canada guidelines. Um however under the municipal act uh

[1:22:51] municipality does have the authority to uh create a bylaw to um enact uh a

[1:23:00] four-way stop where they deem necessary. Um I did pull collision data. There

[1:23:05] wasn't anything in the last 5 years. However, speaking with residents along

[1:23:10] that area, um many of them either witnessed or were involved with um close

[1:23:17] calls. Um, the biggest one that I heard was everybody already thinks that it's a

[1:23:22] four-way stop. So, they're stopped on Center Street, they see a vehicle coming

[1:23:25] on Pinkham, they automatically think that they're going to stop. Um,

[1:23:29] fortunately, it is 50 km residential um a narrow uh not a long street where

[1:23:36] there's not a lot of speed being built up. Typically, they're turning on center

[1:23:39] street anyways. So, both vehicles have time to react when they realize that the

[1:23:43] other one isn't stopping, which is why we don't have the collision data. Um so

[1:23:48] at this time staff is recommending um that we do move that to a four-way stop

[1:23:53] rather than the current stop that is only on Center Street. Um

[1:23:59] very low budget items for stop signs, line painting um can be absorbed with

[1:24:04] the 2026 um current operating budget. >> Any questions on their comments? Council

[1:24:11] » um I guess not so much a question as it's as just a comment. We don't, you

[1:24:16] know, we don't always have an opportunity to be preemptive about these

[1:24:19] things. >> And um I know this is a a big concern

[1:24:23] for um you people that that live along th those two streets and and you know

[1:24:27] it's not anecdotal. They're seeing what's happening. Um I appreciate that

[1:24:31] we you know we need traffic studies and those sort of things, but I think in

[1:24:34] this instance, like you said, low it's low cost and um I think it'll bring

[1:24:39] comfort. That park's not going to get any less busy. um with the development

[1:24:45] that's going on, etc. You know, we're just going to get more traffic over

[1:24:49] time. So, you know, I think it's I think it's a good uh it's a good idea.

[1:24:55] » The one thing I like about it, I know we always talk about the TA I think it's

[1:24:58] TAC analysis and stuff, but sometimes I've always said this, sometimes common

[1:25:03] sense has to go over numbers. I think it's a good one. Um I think I know for a

[1:25:10] fact there's more coming. um Mil Street in Platsville. I've had several

[1:25:15] conversations about moving some four-way stops and I know that they've sent that

[1:25:19] into that Oxford County. So, there's going to be more coming. Um uh you know,

[1:25:25] to delay somebody a matter of a few seconds. If it saves a life, it's 100%

[1:25:29] worth it. So, anything else? Okay, go ahead. He had hereby resolve that report

[1:25:34] PW2615 be received as information and further that council approve the

[1:25:38] installation of the four-way stop at Center Street and Pinkham Street.

[1:25:42] » Okay, move in a second, please. Moved by councelor Barnes, second by councelor

[1:25:45] Demers. Any comments? All in favor? Opposed if any. And that's carried. So

[1:25:50] the monthly reports we're just going to receive as information if anybody

[1:25:53] » if I could just add one little comment um for the monthly report. I know um

[1:25:58] everyone has been curious about the the fill. Um the majority of the fill has

[1:26:03] been moved. Um we will should be finished this month or this month this

[1:26:08] week. Um moving the remainder of the fill. Um as we know construction will be

[1:26:12] starting in Princeton. Um they started moving in this week with some work being

[1:26:16] done but all the fill so all the heavy trucks will not be driving on any of the

[1:26:21] top lift asphalt. That will all be done. >> So I know council was had questions on

[1:26:25] that. Okay. Anything else on his monthly?

[1:26:29] » Nope. Go ahead. >> Be it hereby resolve that report PW2617

[1:26:33] be received as information. >> Okay. You can move in a second, please.

[1:26:36] Moved by councelor Demer, second by council Banberry. All in favor? If

[1:26:40] anyone and that's carried. And your last one.

[1:26:42] » So this is on uh the township vehicles. Um so this is an updated report. If you

[1:26:47] remember uh early in June, this report did come forward. I've added some more

[1:26:52] um information on it. Um, so all our fleet vehicles now comprise under the

[1:26:58] public works department. Uh, this is something new, less than a year, just

[1:27:03] over a year old. Um, but typically in our plan, uh, we have a 10-year life

[1:27:09] expectancy with these pickup trucks. Um past history has always been um public

[1:27:16] works gets uh a new vehicle 1,500 typically for myself, 2500 for the

[1:27:23] supervisor with the intent that those vehicles um typically on a 3year cycle

[1:27:28] with public works then go to community services

[1:27:32] um after that for the remaining 7 years of the life. public works uses the

[1:27:38] vehicles more and puts higher kilometers on them. Uh which is typically why we

[1:27:42] would get them as a new vehicle before they move to community services where um

[1:27:46] the kilometers are less typically in the winter time. Um they're not being used

[1:27:51] as much. They're sitting around at the arena so it's a little bit easier to um

[1:27:56] justify those vehicles being over there. Um

[1:28:01] now that fleet is completely under um one umbrella, we have the ability to uh

[1:28:07] which now includes um the building as well as the the drainage vehicles. Um so

[1:28:14] we are now able to use utilize those vehicles. So

[1:28:19] um for instance um raised truck for the building we

[1:28:26] bought purchased in 2024. we could look at moving Trevor's truck

[1:28:30] in or to Trevor's department community services in 2027 using um the building

[1:28:37] reserve if there was enough funds there to buy a new vehicle for um the building

[1:28:42] department. Um it takes a little bit um leniency or less pressure off of the

[1:28:49] public works equipment budget where typically everything was purchased

[1:28:52] before. Uh gives us some flexibility. with that flexibility. Uh I'm also

[1:28:58] recommending that um the director's truck be used also for the

[1:29:06] administration building. Um we don't need a a truck here. Um I'm

[1:29:14] recommending a Toyota RAV 4. Um Toyota is one of our main tax graders here. I

[1:29:22] think it would be really good for the a good look for the township. Um, if we

[1:29:27] move to something like that, it saves with the opportunity of it

[1:29:32] being here. It gives other staff members in the

[1:29:36] building an opportunity to use that vehicle if they're going to a conference

[1:29:40] rather than their personal vehicle. Um, it'll save operating costs for mileage.

[1:29:46] Um, I did have in here under the financial report just under $3,000 is

[1:29:52] typically spent per year on mileage. Um, we recognize at least 50% possibly even

[1:29:57] 75% of that as a savings. Um, the overall cost at the beginning

[1:30:04] um the SUV 45 to 50,000 right now trucks are 60 to 65,000. Uh we do have budgeted

[1:30:13] um 60,000 um currently. So there would be um obviously a capital savings as

[1:30:19] well for that vehicle. Um maintenance on these vehicles, as I

[1:30:26] said, this is kind of a new program. Um I've

[1:30:31] looked after it for a year. It's kind of been spread out before um amongst the

[1:30:36] other departments. So we can see where this is going to go. This isn't um a

[1:30:42] hard fast 10 years, we get rid of that vehicle. If we're seeing that the

[1:30:48] vehicle is still has good life in it, low kilometers on it, low maintenance on

[1:30:54] it, we can look to extend that, use other vehicles, perhaps push off

[1:31:00] purchasing of a new vehicle. Um it's a very fluid plan. Um obviously, we'll

[1:31:05] have a lot more data further we get into the program. Um but yeah, my

[1:31:11] recommendation right now is we move to uh an SUV that would be utilized by the

[1:31:17] director of public works uh as well as have the opportunity other staff to use

[1:31:22] that vehicle. Um, and with the utilization of the trucks coming from

[1:31:27] building and drainage, um, we won't see any issues transferring those vehicles

[1:31:33] to, uh, community service to ensure that our fleet requirements are met across

[1:31:39] all departments. >> Okay. Any questions or comments?

[1:31:45] » Councelor Banbury and then Councelor De. [clears throat]

[1:31:49] » Excuse me. To you, Mr. Mayor. Um, are we looking at a a hybrid or a gas power or

[1:31:57] diesel gas or hit a diesel? >> Yeah. Uh, three, Mr. Mayor. Um, my

[1:32:02] thought is what's been, excuse me, I'll try and spit this out. What has been

[1:32:07] discussed before is when we have an opportunity to go green, um, we will

[1:32:13] look at taking advantage of that. So, at this time with the budget number that we

[1:32:18] have, looking at the the SUVs, um I would be looking at a hybrid model um

[1:32:24] just for that reason. We don't have the infrastructure in the township to do

[1:32:28] full electric. Um I'm still not completely sold on full electric with

[1:32:32] the ranges that they do, but um I believe at this time a hybrid would be

[1:32:36] warranted. >> My daughter

[1:32:39] [clears throat] for she saves an awful lot of money on

[1:32:42] gas. >> Yeah. Councelor Dmers.

[1:32:45] » Um I just uh I wanted to thank you for bringing this report back and

[1:32:48] clarifying. Uh makes makes perfect sense. I also wanted to thank you for uh

[1:32:53] you know taking on um the whole fleet project. Um because because it has been

[1:32:59] done that way before it there hasn't been sort of this comprehensive review.

[1:33:03] So I just want to say I appreciate what you're doing here and and thanks for

[1:33:06] bringing the report back. Um um and thanks for recognizing that the director

[1:33:10] might not necessarily need it tripped out. [laughter]

[1:33:13] um 2500 um you know but but to be fair right um

[1:33:19] you you've stepped back from that and recognized what you really need and and

[1:33:23] that's the solution we're after. So I just wanted to to to say that I

[1:33:26] appreciate what your recommendation is here and I I think it's great.

[1:33:32] » Anything else from council? Have we looked into any

[1:33:37] possibility of Toyota sponsoring any of it or anything? I I

[1:33:43] know they have in other municipal like Woodstock I believe got

[1:33:48] I believe they got a this keeps going. We might have to pause our meeting. Um I

[1:33:53] think uh Woodstock actually did get something for free from them. I don't

[1:33:58] know. Just just a question but >> something we can look at.

[1:34:02] » Yeah. And if you actually if you want to save some money, Drew has a whole pile

[1:34:06] of Toyota Rav 4s sitting in Brightite that [laughter] maybe we can. I don't

[1:34:09] know how bad they are, but maybe we can do that.

[1:34:12] » Okay. >> I was just going to mention that.

[1:34:13] » Yeah, go ahead. Be it hereby resolve that report PW2618 be received as

[1:34:19] information and that council allow the director of public works to purchase a

[1:34:23] hybrid SUV style vehicle and further that the director of public works

[1:34:27] purchases the hybrid SUV in accordance with the municipal by Ontario

[1:34:31] procurement directive. >> Okay. Can I get move in a second please?

[1:34:34] Moved by councelor Bry second second by councelor Demerest. All in favor if any

[1:34:39] and that's carried. Um, I'm just going to I'm just going to take another pause

[1:34:44] here again. Um, just for another minute here. I know I may be delaying our

[1:34:48] meeting, but I am very concerned about these weather warnings that keep coming

[1:34:52] over our phone. And I'm just want to uh I know I can't I'm not trying to put

[1:34:59] anybody

[1:37:47] Yeah. Okay. >> Okay. As soon as we're online, you let

[1:37:50] me know.

[1:37:54] » Okay. Due to uh storm uh around us, as you've probably heard uh everybody with

[1:37:59] our phones going off, we are going to um resume this meeting tomorrow at 1:30. So

[1:38:05] we will uh leave the meeting now and we will resume then.

[1:38:10] » Sorry. Did we want that um FC 2611 resolution read? Okay.

[1:38:17] » Be it hereby resolved that council recess the meeting at 5:33 p.m. and

[1:38:22] further that council will adjourn to meet again on Thursday, September the

[1:38:27] 3rd at 1:30 p.m. >> Okay. All in favor? Post if any and

[1:38:32] that's all. You move a second. Moved by councelor Demer, second by councelor

[1:38:35] Banbury. All in favor? Opposed if any. And that's carried. We'll see everybody

[1:38:38] tomorrow. Everybody go.

[1:44:14] Okay. All right. We'll start the meeting up and we acknowledge the land upon

[1:44:18] which we work and live. The First Nations and their nations have

[1:44:21] recognized our connection to the land, water, and community. We continue to

[1:44:24] learn, listen, and grow together. Uh, welcome everybody back. We'll uh see if

[1:44:29] we can finish our meeting without any stormy weather today. Um where we left

[1:44:33] off was in our report was with uh Trevor Bear, but unfortunately he can't be here

[1:44:38] for about a few minutes. So we're going to skip over and start with our director

[1:44:42] of uh protective services, Drew Davidson, for his uh three reports.

[1:44:48] Welcome, Drew.

[1:44:53] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, council.

[1:44:58] Uh, first report is the monthly report for July. Uh, seems a little while ago.

[1:45:05] Uh, it's kind of ironic that the first thing at the top of the page is talking

[1:45:08] about power outages, but we did have a storm come through on July 1st as well,

[1:45:13] uh, which we, uh, ended up opening up some cooling/charging centers uh, around

[1:45:20] the in Platsole and in Princeton. And uh we did have people attend uh as the word

[1:45:25] got out that they could uh they could come there. So we learned some lessons

[1:45:29] which we uh took forward into just last week. So that was uh that was pretty

[1:45:35] good. Uh we did uh our annual testing on our trucks has been completed. Any truck

[1:45:40] that has a onboard pump permanently uh has to be annually tested. So that was a

[1:45:44] two-day process where they come out and we got all our apparatus through that.

[1:45:48] Uh we were the recipients of four sensory kits and these were provided by

[1:45:53] uh North City Insurance and the fire safety council and basically what it is

[1:45:58] there's one on uh each pumper now and uh sometimes we come across situations

[1:46:03] where they can be traumatic and and some people are overwhelmed and there's some

[1:46:07] sensory kits, some items in there that we're able to give to the person that's

[1:46:12] maybe having a little difficulty comprehending what is happening and that

[1:46:15] type of thing. So, just a little toolbox that's uh that's on the truck to help

[1:46:19] firefighters and the public when we come across those situations.

[1:46:25] Uh a big one here is uh firefighter recruitment is coming up here on

[1:46:30] September 21st. Uh we are holding it in Princeton at station uh 81. Uh it is for

[1:46:36] the entire township. Uh in Princeton uh there's four firefighters. Drumble.

[1:46:41] There's one and we're looking for two in Bright. And the uh the reason is not uh

[1:46:48] surprising uh that we're looking for more in Princeton right at this moment.

[1:46:52] Uh over the years uh Platsville and Drumble have gone through the turnover

[1:46:57] where the the senior firefighters have retired and and new ones have come on.

[1:47:02] And that's happening now in Princeton as well where the members that have been on

[1:47:06] 15 20 years, they're they're starting to retire. they they wanted to see the the

[1:47:10] building open and then and that was their their saving the go out in a blaze

[1:47:15] of glory there. So we are looking for four. That's kind of why the the bigger

[1:47:20] number is in Princeton there. So hopefully uh if you're available uh on

[1:47:24] the Monday evening, come out and uh there's an information evening there. Uh

[1:47:29] one thing that is not on here uh we are at the the farm show is next week. Uh as

[1:47:34] was mentioned before, Blford Bunn will be representing on the Tuesday which is

[1:47:38] the 15th. So if you're there on the Tuesday, uh please come around the

[1:47:41] information tent and uh we will have one fire apparatus there as well for fire

[1:47:46] protection on the Tuesday. So with that, that's the monthly report for July.

[1:47:52] » Okay, any questions on the report?

[1:47:57] » Not seeing any. Okay. >> We hereby resolve that report FC2609

[1:48:03] be received as information. >> Okay. Can I get a mover in a second,

[1:48:06] please? Moved by councelor Bry. Second. Moved by councelor Demer. Second by

[1:48:10] councelor Banbury. Uh any comments at all? All in favor and opposed if any.

[1:48:16] And that's carried. Thank you, Drew. And your next one.

[1:48:19] » Next report is a wrap-up report on camp 85 which was held uh July 7th to 11th

[1:48:24] there. And uh it's crazy. planning has already started for next year, but uh

[1:48:30] yeah, this was the fourth year that we were uh that we held the camp. Um to

[1:48:35] date, we have had 80 youth uh go through our program. So, I think that's uh

[1:48:39] that's excellent for something that we've uh only had around for four years.

[1:48:44] Uh again, we have learned some lessons, some different tweaks that we're having

[1:48:49] going to do next year. uh next year is for uh the young males in the uh

[1:48:55] township and it will be held July 6th to the 10th. Uh I would like to thank

[1:49:01] everybody in the community uh staff and the council for supporting this uh

[1:49:06] coming out. Uh we even uh had our deputy mayor uh do a few words at graduation uh

[1:49:12] that day. So thank you for that. uh we are one very interesting thing is

[1:49:18] just the way that the uh doesn't matter if it's uh the young ladies or young men

[1:49:23] that join that come to that it's just the camaraderie that comes very quickly

[1:49:27] um just a quick story of what part of that uh we had two people that were from

[1:49:32] out of the township uh down towards Ingresol didn't know each other at all

[1:49:37] um ended up uh talking on the first day and the rest of the the time they

[1:49:42] carpooled together it was just they got to know that, you know, it's just the

[1:49:45] way we come together. The firefighters that take time, take holidays, their

[1:49:49] regular um jobs to come and support this uh is just fantastic. There's some

[1:49:54] pictures there. OP, EMS, everyone that comes around there. Uh we had 16 uh

[1:49:59] participants this year. Uh we were at 18 unfortunately last minute a couple of

[1:50:03] them couldn't couldn't attend, but uh uh again it was an overwhelming success for

[1:50:08] the township. Uh actually last week uh I was in Drumble and looked at the

[1:50:13] sidewalk. I'm like that t-shirt looks familiar and there's a couple green

[1:50:16] t-shirts from volunteers that were at the camp. So we're getting the name out

[1:50:19] there. Um and I I think it's just a resounding success for the township. So

[1:50:24] that that's uh kind of the wrap-up on camp 85.

[1:50:28] » Any questions on it at all? >> I I just have a quick question, Drew. Um

[1:50:34] when if our numbers are aiming for 20 and um you can't fill that 20 with

[1:50:40] residents in Blford Blendum then you will put it outside. Is that kind of

[1:50:45] what how that will look? If if you can't fill that with

[1:50:49] » Yeah. And uh last year uh right at the last minute we'll be a little more

[1:50:53] prepared this year. Uh we were at the high school and what was the career day

[1:50:57] uh Trevor? It the career day that was at the high school. We had some pamphlets

[1:51:01] there. So this year we're going to be a little more prepared and that was at

[1:51:04] which high school was that or that was at the

[1:51:07] » expo? >> At the career expo there type idea where

[1:51:09] they bring the youth through. So um we want to get the word out more. Uh yes

[1:51:15] playing for blend residents will always have first crack at being at the camp

[1:51:18] but if we have to fill those spots we want to get the word out a little bit

[1:51:21] more. >> Yeah.

[1:51:22] » And I you just made me think this as as you said that about the career fair. Um

[1:51:27] there probably is an opportunity to even share it at the high schools because

[1:51:30] there's not many of them that our our township would

[1:51:35] » Yes. >> attend. So we could probably look at

[1:51:38] that if needed as well. >> Absolutely. And and the more that um

[1:51:42] participants that come through this are in the high schools and talk about wear

[1:51:45] the t-shirts, ask the questions, >> um I don't think we'll have a a problem

[1:51:49] at all of filling those spots. >> Yeah. Awesome. Thanks.

[1:51:53] » Any other questions? Nope.

[1:51:56] » We hereby resolve that report FC 2610 be received as information.

[1:52:01] » Can I get a move in a second? Moved by councelor Barnes, second by councelor uh

[1:52:04] Demerst. Any comments at all? Just make a quick one. I know I I was

[1:52:10] away on holidays for one day and had something else at the end, but I try to

[1:52:13] stop in to them and the one thing and I think I've said this before is that um

[1:52:18] how I see them all laughing and and and having a good time, but when the when

[1:52:23] the actually events come on that the things that they were being taught that

[1:52:27] that smile kind of went away and it was the seriousness of of of them. And when

[1:52:32] you're talking, you know, kids that are that age, um it's hard to keep them

[1:52:36] focused sometimes. But, uh I really commend all your guys and yourself for

[1:52:40] for uh keeping that because they really were focused and they really were they

[1:52:45] did want to do that task. I know that the one time I came in and they had

[1:52:49] already done and they asked this girl to do the task again and she did it again

[1:52:53] and it was like it was like serious. I'm going to get uh as fast as I can. So, it

[1:52:58] was really good to see and uh I commend all you and your staff for doing that.

[1:53:02] So, thank you. >> Sorry, I just have one other thing to

[1:53:05] add. I think when I was out, I was asking um you and Michelle and some of

[1:53:09] the past participants have now come to our recruitment nights. Is that

[1:53:15] correct? Like, so we're seeing that. >> Yeah, we had our first one apply last

[1:53:19] year. Um unsuccessful. There's only one spot, but I think we will see more

[1:53:24] coming here in the very near future. >> Awesome. which is exactly what kind of

[1:53:27] the goal is. It's so it's >> recruitment and retention.

[1:53:30] » Awesome. >> Yeah, absolutely.

[1:53:31] » Yep. >> Anything else from council?

[1:53:34] [clears throat] >> No.

[1:53:35] » In favor? >> Yep. All those in favor and oppos if

[1:53:38] any. And that's carried. >> You knew exactly what I was going to

[1:53:41] ask. Okay. And your last one. Uh the last report is uh to do with the

[1:53:48] skills development uh grant fund. There uh staff has been working on this uh

[1:53:53] since uh 2024. Uh this is specifically for the grow portion of the grant. Um we

[1:54:00] submit all our information that they asked for and then it seems like a

[1:54:03] couple months go by and then we'll get some communication back and they're

[1:54:06] looking for something else something else. Um kind of the last step here what

[1:54:11] they've asked for is an endorsement from council for this as well uh from two

[1:54:16] neighboring municipalities. Uh we feel that uh since they are still

[1:54:21] communicating with us, we are still in good standing at this grant. and it is

[1:54:25] still moving forward. Uh what they're it's more geared to making sure that it

[1:54:30] is for training purposes not just for one station but for a whole and

[1:54:34] neighboring municipalities. Uh we have made sure that we have uh put that

[1:54:38] matrix in there and just to give council a brief rundown of what we have lined up

[1:54:43] for the station next year. Um to date uh our medical training will be there at

[1:54:49] the end of this year for our township. Uh we have five courses that will be

[1:54:53] hosted there for the fire training college. Uh three courses that will be

[1:54:57] tra held there for risk training purposes. Uh so to date we have uh 225

[1:55:04] training seats that have been assigned for that station to put in that matrix

[1:55:08] to um go with the fund and what they're asking for there. So today we're just

[1:55:14] looking for endorsement from council to uh to go with the keep going with the

[1:55:18] grant. >> Thank you. Any questions from council at

[1:55:21] all? >> Nope. I see any.

[1:55:25] » Be it hereby resolve that report FC 2611 regarding the skills development fund

[1:55:30] SDF capital stream grow pathway application associated with the

[1:55:35] completed fire station 81 Princeton. We received his information. It being noted

[1:55:40] that approximately 50% of the 10,000 foot facility is dedicated to

[1:55:44] firefighting, firefighter skills development, training, and related

[1:55:49] learning activities. And that council endorses the township's application for

[1:55:53] skills development fund capital stream funding to recognize and support the

[1:55:57] skills development infrastructure incorporated into the completed facility

[1:56:01] and that council authorizes staff to continue developing partnerships and

[1:56:06] training opportunities with neighboring municipalities. the Ontario Fire College

[1:56:10] and other recognized training part providers to maximize the use and

[1:56:15] regional benefit of the facility. And further that council directs the

[1:56:19] municipal clerk to circulate a request for regional support of the township of

[1:56:23] Blandford Blenham SDF capital stream grow pathway application to all

[1:56:28] Riftstock member municipalities. >> Thank you very much. Can I get a mover

[1:56:32] in a second, please? Moved by councelor Banbury, second by councelor Demerest.

[1:56:35] Any comments on that at all? No, I just think it's it's fantastic. What a great

[1:56:40] facility. I think we've all been through it and seen it. Uh uh it's a great

[1:56:44] facility. It's going to be great for training uh uh not just of the the

[1:56:48] firefighters we have now, but future uh for all over the whole county. So, I

[1:56:52] think it's a great facility and and a great job. So, okay. Uh all in favor

[1:56:57] post if any. And that's carried. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh and we'll go

[1:57:02] back to Trevor now.

[1:57:09] Welcome Trevor, manager of community [clears throat] services. Welcome.

[1:57:12] » Good afternoon council or good morning I guess. Um just here to do two reports

[1:57:17] today. One report is my monthly report for the community services department.

[1:57:21] Um during the month of August we had four

[1:57:25] hosted four tournaments. Three um minor tournaments and one harvest carnival

[1:57:29] which is an adult tournament in the Drumbo Park. Um the Drumbo accessible

[1:57:34] playground got opened up. Um we are going to plan a grand opening for it as

[1:57:38] well. At this time we're still planning with F about that. Um they're

[1:57:42] recommending not to do a grand opening during um election time. So it might be

[1:57:48] in the spring um because of the it's a playground and they agree um but we're

[1:57:54] still working on that. They said after the election and then after they

[1:57:57] realized it was a playground they said maybe do it in the spring. So, but we

[1:58:00] are going to be we're in talks with them. So, um splash pads will be open

[1:58:05] till the end of September like normal. Um

[1:58:09] we had we hosted the Princeton playground accessible grand opening. We

[1:58:13] had a good turnout for it. Um um lots of positive feedback about it at

[1:58:18] the time. So, um went over pretty good. Um in our cemeteries, the drum Princeton

[1:58:24] cemetery had the decoration day. Um, again, turnout was good at it and people

[1:58:30] were um happy in there and um Bruce did a

[1:58:34] good job of doing the MCing. So um we are also working with the um Platel

[1:58:43] Gate project um committee. I guess they're not a committee, but it's the

[1:58:46] Platal Heritage Heritage um society is doing it. Um they plan on doing some

[1:58:51] work this spring yet or this fall at the gates. Well, um still with talking to

[1:58:57] them and reviewing with them, so working with them. So, um the arena's getting

[1:59:00] ready to build some ice. We started um on the long weekend there building ice.

[1:59:04] Um with the storm, obviously we were going to start last week, but we could

[1:59:08] not cuz we had no hydro. So, um but I think we'll have it in time for our

[1:59:13] first rental still. So, um Helping Hands Food Bank, it's been moved to the Drumo

[1:59:18] booth in the month of August. Um seems to be going pretty successful over

[1:59:22] there. um organizers of the helping hand food bank really like really like it in

[1:59:27] there. So um and have um bigger plans in the future for more for doing more

[1:59:32] things, but it's it'll be a work in process to see how it all works out. Um

[1:59:38] and staff are going to release the RFI for the township um camp probably the

[1:59:45] middle of September or October.

[1:59:51] Um, and then the bright accessible

[1:59:54] playground project, we are still working on that. We'll keep also updated as we

[1:59:58] get moving on that. So, we have till September 10th next year to have that

[2:00:02] done. So,

[2:00:07] okay, that's it. Uh, any questions on the report?

[2:00:12] » Nope, I'm not seeing any. Okay, go ahead.

[2:00:14] » We hereby resolve that report CS 2617 be received as information.

[2:00:19] » Can I get a mover in a second, please? moved by councelor Barnes, second by

[2:00:22] councelor Young. Uh any comments? No, I always like to make something

[2:00:27] comment. But anyway, just want to say our parks look absolutely fantastic. I I

[2:00:31] know this summer I've walked through our park especially in Drumo here um and

[2:00:36] spoke to a lot of people residents ball teams from outside and uh a lot of their

[2:00:41] comments are they can't believe what our parks are compared to uh and some of

[2:00:45] these people come from large cities and they are commenting on how our parks are

[2:00:50] as nice or better than most of the urban parks. So kudos to you and your staff

[2:00:55] and for council and staff's direction on uh approving all the additions that we

[2:01:00] put in the park and all the uh groups throughout the township that help to do

[2:01:05] that. So very good. Okay. Uh all in favor and opposed if any and that's

[2:01:10] carried. Thank you Trevor. And your next one?

[2:01:13] » Yes. Um just um here to do the community sport and the recreation infrastructure

[2:01:18] fund stream one um grant approval. Um we'd like to move forward and um put a

[2:01:25] proposal in for this grant. It's open till December 22nd. It's 50% of our

[2:01:29] assets um we can apply for 50% of the funding for our assets in our asset

[2:01:34] management plan moving forward. So, we'd like to move forward with that and um

[2:01:39] apply for the next um items that are in our asset management

[2:01:44] plan. It it's um items that will be done in 2029.

[2:01:48] So, um just looking for council's approval for um

[2:01:54] getting or applying for the funding for that.

[2:01:57] » Okay. Any comments on it at all? >> Nope, not see any. Go ahead. We hereby

[2:02:03] resolve that report CS2618 be received as information and that

[2:02:07] council authorize staff to prepare and submit an application to the community

[2:02:11] sport and recreation infrastructure fund CSRF stream 1 repair and rehabilitation

[2:02:16] for capital improvements to the Platsville Memorial Community Arena and

[2:02:20] further that staff were work with the director of finance to finalize the

[2:02:24] proposed project scope, budget, municipal contribution and project

[2:02:28] timelines prior to submission to ensure the proposed improvements. ments are

[2:02:32] financially achievable, eligible under the funding program, and aligned with

[2:02:35] the township's long-term capital plan. >> Okay. Can I get a move in a second,

[2:02:38] please? Moved by councelor Banbury, second by councelor Demer. Any uh

[2:02:42] comments on that at all? No. Yeah, we need to I always comment. We need to uh

[2:02:48] this is a perfect example of why we need to keep uh a lot of these things that

[2:02:53] even though we it may be future stuff on our um on our radar because when these

[2:02:59] projects come come forward, they have to be in our our capital forecast in order

[2:03:03] for us to apply for any of them. So, if we keep if we keep putting these things

[2:03:07] on there and as the funding comes along, it's it's definitely beneficial for us

[2:03:12] um if we can get some of these uh [clears throat] through grant funding.

[2:03:15] So for sure, >> Counc

[2:03:17] a little bit too, when we get these grants and we plan for them going

[2:03:20] forward, it helps us shore up our reserves.

[2:03:23] » Yeah. >> So because it directly offsets we would

[2:03:25] we would have otherwise spent. So um yeah, if we can, you know, we've been

[2:03:30] doing a great job like all staff have been doing a great job of staying ahead

[2:03:33] of this stuff and making sure that, you know, we're applying for uh anything

[2:03:37] that comes available. So, um, we might not always get it, but, um, you know, we

[2:03:42] have to take the time to to do the work to to get it done.

[2:03:46] » Yeah, absolutely. For sure. Okay. Anything else? All in favor? Post to

[2:03:51] Fenny and that's carried. >> Thank you. Thank you, Trevor.

[2:03:54] » Y, thanks. >> Okay, so we're down to I believe

[2:04:00] 10 10J. Uh, Josh Brick, our chief administrator on fire station 81. Okay.

[2:04:07] and Drew as well >> and Denise is also nice

[2:04:09] » and Denise. All right.

[2:04:16] » Thank you uh through you Mr. Mayor and two members of council. Before getting

[2:04:20] into the detail of the report, I wanted to acknowledge uh that the notice of

[2:04:24] motion that's on the agenda this morning. Um that's regarding capital

[2:04:28] project closeout reporting. So, while council hasn't yet considered or

[2:04:32] approved that notice of motion that was put forward by councelor Demerest, um

[2:04:36] staff felt the underlying concept was particularly useful in this circumstance

[2:04:39] given that we've uh we've finished off a major capital project. So, as a result,

[2:04:44] uh staff used many of the principles that were included in that notice of

[2:04:47] motion in preparing tonight's report and we thought that this provided council

[2:04:51] with a good practical example of what that type of reporting could look like

[2:04:54] moving forward and what we would be aiming towards. Uh, station 81 was

[2:04:58] completed substantially on budget with approximately a $50,000 variance on the

[2:05:03] total capital cost of $3.08 million. Um, all said, uh, we had sort of accounted

[2:05:10] for about a 10% contingency on this type of project work because what we had

[2:05:13] heard from the, uh, the project engineer and ending at about a 1.7% variance was

[2:05:19] something that we were really pleased with. We thought that that presented

[2:05:22] tremendous value. Uh, another really important note is, you know, in

[2:05:26] reviewing sort of the final project costs for this work comparative to other

[2:05:30] capital facilities that have been built approximate to the township plan for

[2:05:33] Benham, we felt that uh, again, this was tremendous value for the community

[2:05:37] largely on budget and uh, this is a really significant piece of

[2:05:40] infrastructure that's going to benefit not only our own community but

[2:05:43] surrounding communities for over 50 years.

[2:05:47] the uh the structure of the report. It represents a chronological order of

[2:05:51] events that's led to the grand opening and project closeout. Uh staff have

[2:05:55] appended all corresponding staff reports and associated council direction on this

[2:05:59] item going back to late 2021 when council initially received a business

[2:06:03] plan from staff that was evaluating the uh sort of costbenefit analysis of

[2:06:07] keeping the uh previous facility and undertaking renovations versus building

[2:06:11] a new uh a new facility. Staff also offer commentary within the report on

[2:06:16] minor changes in project scope throughout the project and uh key

[2:06:19] lessons learned to help improve future capital project delivery. Um before I

[2:06:24] hand it over to the director of protective services, fire chief and the

[2:06:27] director of finance, treasurer, uh they're going to provide some more

[2:06:31] detailed operational and financial discussion, but I did want to take the

[2:06:34] opportunity to draw your attention to the publicly reported sale of 67 Main

[2:06:39] Street South in Princeton. Um, so as council is aware, we haven't been able

[2:06:42] to share those results. We haven't had a meeting since that closed where we were

[2:06:46] able to share it. However, uh, I am happy to report that, uh, the deal

[2:06:51] closed in late July. Uh, the final sale price for 67 Main Street South was

[2:06:56] $71,000, um, which was approximately $50,000 over

[2:07:00] the listed asking price. Uh, council opted to select the highest offer in

[2:07:05] that circumstance. um after reviewing the the different submissions that was

[2:07:10] uh just represented the best value for the township. It was a compatible use

[2:07:13] with the community and uh I think that we got a a good deal on that. Um the

[2:07:18] proceeds of that sale are going to be placed in the fire capital reserve to

[2:07:21] future ser uh to service future debt obligations and offset the total cost of

[2:07:26] this project. So at this point I'll hand it over to the director of protective

[2:07:28] services, fire chief uh Drew Davidson for an operational overview of that

[2:07:32] project. >> Thank you. Um, I'm going to touch on uh

[2:07:36] kind of the lessons learned uh section of this uh as we went through this

[2:07:40] process here. Um, starting with kind of when we started uh construction a little

[2:07:45] bit. Uh, the first item was uh weather and when we started a project like that,

[2:07:51] we actually missed by one week in uh when the snow started coming in in the

[2:07:57] weather uh with the roof going on there. So, uh, going forward, uh, a little more

[2:08:02] cognizant of when we start a project. Uh, we started the last week of August

[2:08:07] on this project here. If we would have started a couple weeks before, we would

[2:08:10] have been 100% dried in before the snow was started flying. That said, the the

[2:08:16] roof still was finalized on Christmas Eve is when it was completed, but uh, we

[2:08:20] could have hit that just a little bit sooner and and save some grief all over

[2:08:24] there. Um, another item was the um, water management, storm water

[2:08:29] management. Um, you know, practicing what we preach and uh, out there it

[2:08:35] seems like, well, you're just putting ashalt down out there. You can just dump

[2:08:37] it into the ditch and we can all go on. But we ask anybody coming into our

[2:08:42] township to put into that plan and put in that management. And, uh, as a

[2:08:47] township, we follow those those rules and we put that in. Even though you

[2:08:50] can't see it, it's there. And, and we do that as well.

[2:08:53] Uh, I think we should be proud. I've had three uh different municipalities come

[2:08:58] through um either fire chiefs or fire chiefs and their CEO and to take a look

[2:09:05] at what we did because they still can't understand how we did it for that price.

[2:09:10] They they look at it, they they understand what's there and what it cost

[2:09:15] to get there. And the fact that we are now having people come and approach us

[2:09:19] on how did you do this? What were the steps taken? It says blame for blame in

[2:09:23] pretty good light on that front there. Um

[2:09:28] something that council uh did that made a vast uh made the project go very well

[2:09:34] is they approved um our engineer um somebody who knew fireh halls, knows how

[2:09:38] to do fireh halls uh was there. And I'll say sometimes you pick up the phone and

[2:09:43] somebody on the other end doesn't answer all the time and it can be kind of a

[2:09:47] annoying. Uh when I had to call Nelson or his team with a with a question like

[2:09:52] that, there was always a response and he looked after it. Um just a standup uh

[2:09:58] company that uh was able to navigate us through the build of this process. I

[2:10:03] think the biggest takeaway that I feel and I didn't even see this one coming

[2:10:08] was being there after the building is open.

[2:10:13] Every not well the first week we had every day but we still have people

[2:10:17] coming to the door and they want to see the fire hall. They want to see what

[2:10:22] their money was put towards and being there instead of the doors being closed

[2:10:26] and nobody around being there and having the doors open and taking them through

[2:10:30] explaining it there. And kind of the the best part of that was u a lady came with

[2:10:36] a friend of theirs and and a little child um from out of province and her

[2:10:42] words were I wanted to show my friend our fire hall. I thought that was very

[2:10:46] important. And I picked up on the word power fire hall and just that that

[2:10:51] narrative and getting it out there that it isn't just a fire station for 20

[2:10:55] firefighters. It's for the community. And I thought that was very important.

[2:10:59] And then it it Sean again on Wednesday night um with the damage and stuff that

[2:11:04] was around Blander Blenham. That generator kicked in. That was our um

[2:11:09] headquarters. Uh all four department or all four stations were there. Uh we ran

[2:11:14] a our own little dispatch area there of what roads were open, what roads were

[2:11:20] closed because we knew that as this progressed that the SEO calls were going

[2:11:25] to come in unfortunately people running generators like that and we were able to

[2:11:28] kind of have that headquarters there and that building served that purpose 100%

[2:11:33] on that front. But just I was proud that the township residents are thinking of

[2:11:38] it as their fireh hall and that's the way it should be. So those are kind of

[2:11:41] the takeaways that I saw in that front.

[2:11:46] » All right. Uh at this point we'll ask the director of finance treasurer to

[2:11:49] provide uh an overview of the financial uh implications of this capital work.

[2:11:54] » Sure. So this project um was a multi-year project. So, it was kind of

[2:11:59] hard to see the overall price when looking at the budgets because uh I know

[2:12:04] with this year's budget, we had an amount in there that was really far

[2:12:08] greater than what it should have been because there was more work done last

[2:12:10] year than what we had anticipated. Um but you can see from the breakdown of

[2:12:15] the costs that the overall um price of the fireh hall was just over $3 million

[2:12:22] um 3.08 08. Um, and I did outline um many of those costs were approved either

[2:12:29] in um one of the budgets 24 256 or in

[2:12:34] separate um council reports that were brought forward to council. Um and the

[2:12:38] financing for those um costs um the previous two years were financed through

[2:12:44] reserves um with council approving a $2 million debenture. So that's not done

[2:12:49] until um the project is completed. So, we will be receiving those funds um

[2:12:54] through the OLC through the county um prior to the end of the year

[2:13:00] and we are hoping to see some development in our township. We do

[2:13:04] anticipate we did use 2 million uh sorry $200,000 already to um help finance the

[2:13:09] fire hall last year um that we will be collecting some more DCs and some of

[2:13:13] those DCs we'll be able to put towards the debenture payments on that.

[2:13:18] » Okay, good. Okay, thank you. Uh any questions from council at all?

[2:13:25] » Councelor Bamry. >> Yeah, there's a lot of Phil hauled into

[2:13:28] uh from the other project. So, how did that work out? Did that save us some

[2:13:32] money or um save both departments some money?

[2:13:38] » Well, it gave us a spot to put the fill. Absolutely. And and we needed the fill

[2:13:42] to use that that >> otherwise would have had it's going to

[2:13:45] cost. Y >> any other questions from council?

[2:13:53] » Uh just um curious with the the generator comment that you made about uh

[2:13:59] um the calls from other did you I know this was maybe a hard because this was a

[2:14:04] very major significant event here for for a lot of hydro outage but did you

[2:14:09] find because I know we've been trying to put some uh communication out there

[2:14:13] online and everything. Did you find that those numbers were they up this time do

[2:14:19] you think or did were they kind of the same compared to like what other times?

[2:14:22] I know it's hard because like I say this was a massive event where we had a lot

[2:14:27] more people using generators than than before. But did you have very many of

[2:14:32] those coming through was you know CO issues and stuff like that or

[2:14:38] » actual seal calls. Is that what you're asking? Yeah.

[2:14:40] » Um yes. Uh un unfortunately uh yeah we we had

[2:14:49] I want to say four um Friday morning like it it seemed it

[2:14:55] didn't didn't happen right away but uh as as it prolonged um yes we were I

[2:15:01] would have to get the exact numbers for you but

[2:15:03] » I was just curious >> unfortunately um and we are going to

[2:15:06] work on some uh generator safety that uh usage type thing. Uh drove through

[2:15:13] the villages uh on the Thursday and Friday. Um stopped at a couple places,

[2:15:18] but I know there's a lot of places that I could see the generator and it was

[2:15:21] just on the edge of the garage. >> Y

[2:15:23] » and and people don't uh need to be educated that that the exhaust can come

[2:15:29] back in other ports in your house. And uh unfortunately, we did have a few of

[2:15:33] those calls and a couple of them ended up having to be transported to the

[2:15:37] hospital because of because of the readings.

[2:15:40] You know, even even mine will shut off automatically if it if it detects it.

[2:15:45] And I had mine at a spot where it was actually blowing towards a a brick wall.

[2:15:51] And it was about maybe I would say about 7 or 8 ft away from where the exhaust

[2:15:57] was blowing. And it shut my and I I thought it was out of gas. I went out

[2:16:01] looking and I figured it out. It actually was because it was even though

[2:16:05] it was outside, it was away from the house enough. But just from the exhaust

[2:16:09] blowing on the on the brick wall was enough to shut my generator off. So was

[2:16:14] kind of and I hadn't used this one before, but it was just kind of a

[2:16:17] learning curve for me too. But I wonder if you know I know it's maybe too late

[2:16:21] now, but even you know we got the fair coming up and some of those. And I think

[2:16:25] if we do uh some of those uh town hall meetings where we've had information,

[2:16:29] that might be a great time to uh uh you know, next year or whatever to have some

[2:16:34] of those uh generator conversations cuz I know some people still think that they

[2:16:38] can put it in the garage and be and be okay, but uh education is key for that

[2:16:43] for sure. >> Yeah.

[2:16:44] » Okay. Thank you. Uh any other questions at all?

[2:16:48] » Nope. Go ahead. Be it hereby resolve that report CAO 2625 be received as

[2:16:53] information >> and move in a second. Please move by

[2:16:56] councelor Denver. Second by councelor Young. Any comments? Councelor Demer.

[2:17:00] » Yeah. Nope. I just want to thank um staff for for pulling that together uh

[2:17:04] so quickly. It it's something I know that I've been talking about for a

[2:17:07] while. So I appreciate uh I appreciate having that report today. Um I think the

[2:17:13] postmortm uh process is really important. And I think, you know, we're

[2:17:17] going to find over time that um not just your department will learn lessons, but

[2:17:23] you know, those those uh takeaways will, you know, um will uh sort of go across

[2:17:29] the the rest of staff as well. Um I guess the only thing um that I I sort of

[2:17:35] noted from the takeaways and I I I guess I would caution you on is that is with

[2:17:40] respect to the engineering. Um, we had a great experience obviously this time

[2:17:44] with the experience that that the engineer had, but I still, you know, I

[2:17:48] do think that, um, and the CIO and I have talked about this quite a bit, um,

[2:17:54] that we need to think about, um, uh, you know, tendering, um, looking for options

[2:18:01] with respect to professional services, just like we do for capital assets in

[2:18:05] order to ensure that, you know, from a fiscally responsible uh, perspective

[2:18:09] that we're we're getting the best Certainly, you know, um, uh, experience

[2:18:15] has to play into it, but I guess, like I say, I would just caution, you know, um,

[2:18:21] not just going to the default. It worked great this time. That's great. But I I

[2:18:26] just want to be careful that that's not the takeaway uh, from this particular

[2:18:30] project. So, >> anything else from council?

[2:18:35] » Nope. Okay. >> All those in favor?

[2:18:37] » Yep. All in favor? Opposed, if any, and that's carried. Thank you very much.

[2:18:43] Okay. And next one is Denise. Uh our second quarter variance report.

[2:18:49] » So this is the second quarter variance report. So to the end of June. Um so

[2:18:53] there's both an operating and a capital report with the capital report showing

[2:18:58] what projects have been completed and if there's any sort of anticipated

[2:19:02] variances um for project completion.

[2:19:06] Um yeah, we'll just continue monitoring things for the rest of the year. looking

[2:19:11] looking fine for now. >> Okay. Any questions at all?

[2:19:16] » Nope. Don't see any. Go ahead. >> Be it hereby resolve that report TR2608

[2:19:20] be received as information. >> Okay. Can I get a move in a second,

[2:19:23] please? Moved by council barn, second by councelor Vanbury. Any comments? All in

[2:19:28] favor? Opposed if any. And that's carried.

[2:19:31] Thank you, Denise. Okay. And our next one is from Sarah, uh, director of

[2:19:36] corporate services and our clerk. Good morning, members of council. You

[2:19:40] have before you report DC 2612 regarding the joint compliance audit committee.

[2:19:45] Per the municipal elections act by October 1st of an election year. The

[2:19:49] compliance audit committee must be appointed for the upcoming term. The act

[2:19:53] sets out the purposes of the joint compliance sorry of the compliance audit

[2:19:57] committee. The purpose being that the committee review applications for

[2:20:01] campaign finance audits, determine whether audits should proceed, and

[2:20:05] proceed appoints auditors where appropriate. The committee also reviews

[2:20:08] audit findings to determine whether legal legal proceedings shall be

[2:20:12] initiated. Oxford County municipalities work

[2:20:16] together to appoint a joint compliance audit committee. And from the 2022 to

[2:20:20] 2026 term, Oxford area clerks are proposing to appoint four returning

[2:20:25] members and two new members. There's a small financial consideration required

[2:20:30] for training and orientation and other costs are only borne if the municipality

[2:20:33] experiences a financial audit request. There is a bylaw proposed to be passed

[2:20:38] at this meeting should council council wish to propo uh appoint the proposed

[2:20:42] committee members.

[2:20:46] » Okay. Any questions on that at all? Oh, I see some names on there that have

[2:20:52] been around for a long time in this area for sure. former CEO even on there.

[2:20:57] » See there's job for you after after someday. [laughter]

[2:21:02] » Okay. Can I get a mover or resolved that report DC2612 be received

[2:21:07] as information and that council approved the formation of a joint compliance

[2:21:11] audit committee with the other Oxford County municipalities for the 2026 to

[2:21:15] 2030 term and that the following members be appointed to the joint compliance

[2:21:19] audit committee. David Morris, Carol Simons, Keith Rying, Christine Scrimmer,

[2:21:24] David Nusco, and Kyle Krueger. And further that the above appointments be

[2:21:28] formalized by bylaw 25592026. >> Can I get a move in a second, please?

[2:21:34] Moved by councelor Demer, second by councelor Young. Any comments? All in

[2:21:37] favor? Post if any. And that's carried. Thank you. And your next one.

[2:21:43] » You have before you report DC 2613 regarding the lame duck threshold. After

[2:21:49] the certification of candidates, which happened on Monday, August 24th, 2026,

[2:21:54] council is not in a lame duck position with four of the current five members

[2:21:58] running for office. There is still possibility that the council will be in

[2:22:03] lame duck position after election day on Monday, October 26. If fewer than four

[2:22:07] incumbents are elected to office, staff will report on the number November 4th,

[2:22:12] 2026 meeting on the status. >> Okay. Can I get a move? Oh, any comments

[2:22:18] on that? Can I get a move or a second, please? Oh, God, I'm getting ready to

[2:22:22] get out of here today. >> Thank you.

[2:22:26] » Be it here by resol report DC2613 be received as information.

[2:22:30] » I got a mover in a second, please. Move by Cassie Young, second by councelor

[2:22:34] Demerst. Any comments on that? All in favor? Opposed if any. And that's

[2:22:39] carried. Sorry, I'm not trying to rush you. Uh any reports from council

[2:22:44] members? I do have a list here in front of me.

[2:22:48] I'll read my list and if anybody has anything else left, uh Drumble Fair is

[2:22:52] September 26th, 27th. Uh from 9:00 to 5:00 and then 9 till 4:30.

[2:22:59] Uh there's a trivia night supporting Helping Hands uh Blford Plenum Food Bank

[2:23:03] on Saturday, September 26 at 8:00 at Trails Edge. Um, for $25 you'll get your

[2:23:09] spot and an advertiser platter uh while supporting our food bank, which is

[2:23:14] fantastic. Uh, Music in the Park uh in Princeton runs Thursday nights till

[2:23:19] September 24th from 6:30 to 7:30. Uh, Music in the Park uh in Platsville runs

[2:23:26] Tuesday nights until September 10th, 5:30 to 7:30. I don't know if they're

[2:23:30] going to try and schedule >> Thursday nights.

[2:23:33] » What did I say? Sorry. Thursday. Yep. I I don't know if they're going to try and

[2:23:37] reschedule the one that got rained out last week. I know there was talk about

[2:23:40] it, so maybe uh it'll be extended a little bit. Um I do have here a um this

[2:23:47] is a certificate for the township. It's from our MP, Arpanana, for our 50th

[2:23:53] anniversary. I've had it in my vehicle for a little bit. Thought I better get

[2:23:56] it out here. Um anyway, it's uh fantastic to have that. We can display

[2:24:00] that upstairs. That go upstairs in our office. Um I know it was mentioned about

[2:24:05] the farm show. Um our Dumbo Lions Club as well as Plasville Lions Club will be

[2:24:11] working there as well the whole week um in the food tent. I'll be there on

[2:24:16] Thursday if anybody happens to come around. I may be cooking your food for

[2:24:19] you. Um and just one other thing I just I think I'll bring it up now. Um with

[2:24:24] our whole weather event what we had on on last Wednesday. Um, I don't know,

[2:24:29] Bruce, you've been on one term longer than me, and I don't ever remember, uh,

[2:24:34] a night where it got as bad as it did, as quick as it

[2:24:39] did. And it was actually quite scary. And I know a lot of the members here,

[2:24:43] uh, you know, either stayed around here or or turned around or whatever. Um, so

[2:24:50] I think we have to do something with our procedural. Um my recommendation is

[2:24:56] going to be if if we get a if we get a a a beep on our phone for a warning

[2:25:02] wherever we get it um meeting's over. I think uh you know what how many times

[2:25:07] have we had though that this was kind of I think all of us I I mean I've been on

[2:25:11] ball diamonds. I've been wherever and you hear it and you're looking around

[2:25:14] going I don't see anything. And 90% of the time those storms have blown by 5

[2:25:20] miles this way, 5 miles that way, wherever. and we've all been safe. But I

[2:25:24] think the learning lesson from last Wednesday was you know what, mother

[2:25:28] nature is uh is very unpredictable. And I think from now on that uh procedurally

[2:25:35] um if we get a warning, there's nothing more important in this agenda right here

[2:25:42] than anybody here or anybody else that's here. So I think that's something going

[2:25:46] forward we really have to look at. Let's hope we don't have to use it. But I

[2:25:50] think that should be that way we're not I know I'm asking a couple fellows over

[2:25:55] here, you know, what's their uh what's their thought and and I'm you know I

[2:26:00] don't want to think that they have to be responsible. They say ah it's okay and

[2:26:03] we all stay here and something happens. So I think procedurally we have to have

[2:26:07] something written in stone here to say if that warning comes over we just stop

[2:26:12] the meeting and and that's it for the day. I think that way it protects us

[2:26:16] all. That's the most important important thing. If anything would have happened

[2:26:19] to anybody here, um I would have never forgot to give myself honestly. Um I

[2:26:24] would thought about it after I got home that first time when I stopped the

[2:26:28] meeting and I I kept saying I should have just canceled it then. So this way

[2:26:32] I think going forward uh I'll leave it up to the powers that be here to come up

[2:26:36] with something. We can approve it. But I think that's the safest way going

[2:26:40] forward that we have to deal with this and and move on for it. That way nobody

[2:26:45] is in question of whether we cancel it or not. So that's all I have on my list.

[2:26:50] Does any council member >> I was just wondering would it be

[2:26:53] possible for us to have a little informal report from Jim Gordon

[2:26:56] regarding the roads and closures and flooding and that sort of thing?

[2:27:00] » Yep.

[2:27:03] » He's nodding his head that he'd absolutely love to do that. Maybe could

[2:27:06] you do that maybe for the next meeting? Well, I know we'll hear it through the

[2:27:10] next meeting, but I just wonder if there's

[2:27:12] » any any highlights at all. >> Uh, yeah. So,

[2:27:16] » if if you maybe could come to the mic that way, you're on [clears throat]

[2:27:21] » I know it's unusual to do this, but

[2:27:29] » uh through you, Mr. Mayor. Uh yeah, it was um

[2:27:33] very much to the north was the the worst the heavily damaged north of the 401. Um

[2:27:40] I don't think there was uh a single road that didn't have at least uh one tree

[2:27:44] down on it. Um many had hydrol lines, so we were forced to close the road um for

[2:27:52] the safety. Um but staff was in till midnight um the

[2:27:58] day of the storm. back again on Thursday. Uh with the priority of

[2:28:03] getting the roads, trees off, just pushing them off to the side. We

[2:28:07] probably have, I would say, at least two weeks of cleanup that we will be looking

[2:28:11] at doing the next couple of weeks to get all that all picked up. Um and then

[2:28:16] again, we had staff over the weekend in um just checking on the roads that um

[2:28:22] did have hydro lines down. Hydro will typically cut the tree off the line,

[2:28:26] repair the line, leave the tree where it is. Um, so we had staff in cleaning

[2:28:30] those trees off um to get the roads open again. So everything is back open. Um,

[2:28:36] as of uh Saturday, we had all the roads that were closed back open. Um, but we

[2:28:41] do have a a lot of cleanup that uh we will be doing over the next few weeks.

[2:28:48] And you know, just just to add that to that, too. I know out at the the yard

[2:28:53] here, the amount of yard waste. Uh I had several people calling me, hey, it's

[2:28:57] right out to the road. And I think like 2 hours later, hey, it's right out to

[2:29:00] the road. And and I know our staff and I was there last night taking some stuff

[2:29:04] out and we still like the pile out there. I you must have 10 or 15 bins

[2:29:08] full of of brush right now that's in there, not let not alone what's still to

[2:29:12] come in. Just another thing too, like I say, kudos to all our our workers that

[2:29:17] put in all those extra hours and the the linesmen the the same thing that put in

[2:29:21] all the extra hour. And I know Drew talked about our emergency services

[2:29:25] people as well, but there was so many uh farmers that were out there with their

[2:29:32] front end loaders and like immediately afterwards too that were you know just

[2:29:38] pushing the stuff off the road and uh you know like helping out just in

[2:29:42] general helping everybody out uh with that. So kudos to everybody for coming

[2:29:46] coming on board for that. So perfect. Yep. Go ahead.

[2:29:50] » One other thing, Jim, while you're here, it just came to mind. There was a tree.

[2:29:54] It's really a cowboy ship, I guess. It's right next to our little barn there on

[2:29:59] the corner at Princeton. >> Yep.

[2:30:00] » That tree blew down and went over, I guess, on a bell line. It's pretty big,

[2:30:05] thick cable like that. Maybe two of them. Anyway, knocked them right

[2:30:09] through. Snap the post out. And also the uh speed sign, limiting sign, you know,

[2:30:15] that flashes when you go too fast. It's laying flat face down has been

[2:30:20] since the storm on on the shoulder of the road. So, I don't know whether the

[2:30:23] county knows about that. Um, as far as the tree goes, I think it was probably

[2:30:28] half on the township property or on the county property and half on our

[2:30:32] property. I wouldn't have any issue with cleaning

[2:30:36] it up, but I don't want to be messing around with metal wires on the ground. I

[2:30:40] know they're not hydro wires, but we don't want to touch that any liability

[2:30:45] involved. So, I don't know whether you can look into that or not, but I don't

[2:30:49] know. Would they not have somebody driving around checking on things?

[2:30:53] » Uh, three, Mr. Mayor. Um, more than likely they're aware that their

[2:30:57] infrastructure is down on the ground. Um, what we're finding with some of the

[2:31:01] overhead wires is there are um they don't they don't use them anymore.

[2:31:06] Everything's been put underground. So, their response time to get when a hydro

[2:31:10] when a a bell line or Rogers line um that has been overhead comes down

[2:31:15] usually takes a little bit longer. Um but yeah, I will certainly follow up

[2:31:20] with the county. Um I'm sure they're aware that the signs and stuff that are

[2:31:24] down. Um obviously our priorities been to get the roads open.

[2:31:28] » Sure. I know. I took uh I've taken pictures

[2:31:33] like there's a sign right straight out of the office that said stop ahead and

[2:31:36] the crossing down by my place the the arm had swung over and there's another

[2:31:42] sign up on the main corner that's been missing. I took pictures of them and I I

[2:31:46] emailed him to Frank Gross just saying hey I know it's not a high priority but

[2:31:50] these things and I know they've fixed some of them already. So yeah, if if

[2:31:54] even if you do that when you're going by just take a picture, send it in,

[2:31:57] whatever. I'm sure they'll they'll look after it. And you know, the other part

[2:32:01] is you you look at how long everybody's seen the I think it's Val Ar is the

[2:32:06] contractor that's been around here uh replacing hydrop poles all over. Like

[2:32:11] they've replaced probably a thousand poles plus in this township. I can't

[2:32:15] imagine what it would have been like without that infrastructure already

[2:32:19] replaced. How how much more we would have had down in here cuz they've

[2:32:24] replaced a lot of poles all over. and they went around and checked all the

[2:32:28] poles to see if they needed to be replaced. So, I can't imagine what our

[2:32:32] hydro would have been like without all those poles that have already been

[2:32:35] replaced. So, anything else from council council?

[2:32:39] » Yeah, just a question with respect to um some of the diseased trees along the

[2:32:45] side of the road. I know that some of them are um on properties on residents

[2:32:50] properties. Um some of them are ours and I think the storm was pretty

[2:32:54] indiscriminate. So, I'm not saying you know, the trees that came down were were

[2:32:58] the ones that were marked to come down, but it does um make me think about, you

[2:33:03] know, it seems like we have a quite a few marked to come down, and I just

[2:33:08] wondered what the plan is for that. I'm sure, you know, others are wondering if

[2:33:13] it's wrong. >> Yep, for sure. Um so, we do do regular

[2:33:16] checks on our roadside for these um any trees that look bad. Um our we do have

[2:33:23] an arborist that we typically use for the tree service. Um so they will go out

[2:33:27] and actually if we are unsure whether it's needs to come down or not. Uh we do

[2:33:33] rely on a professional opinion from an arborist. Um but yeah we do have um a

[2:33:41] fairly decent sized budget operating to look after these trees. Um, and if

[2:33:46] anybody has questions, whether it's uh a resident, whether it's their tree or the

[2:33:50] township's tree, by all means, call into the office and we can have someone go

[2:33:54] out and have a look. >> Thank you.

[2:33:57] » Okay. Anything else from council at all? >> Nope. I think we're good. Thank you,

[2:34:01] Jim. >> Thank you.

[2:34:02] » Okay. Uh, unfinished business and motions, notice motions. Councelor

[2:34:08] Demers, >> can I just go ahead and read that?

[2:34:11] » Yep. Absolutely. Um whereas transparency, fiscal

[2:34:14] accountability, and long-term financial sustainability are core pillars of

[2:34:18] municipal government governance within the township of BL for Benham. And

[2:34:23] whereas council benefits from consistent and standardized reporting practices to

[2:34:28] support informed decisionm and effective steward stewardship of municipal assets

[2:34:33] and resources. And whereas the township procedural bylaw establishes the

[2:34:38] framework through which information is presented to council and decisions are

[2:34:42] made. Now therefore be it resolved that council direct staff to prepare an

[2:34:46] amendment to the township's procedural bylaw to incorporate the following

[2:34:50] reporting requirements. Number one, major capital projects completion

[2:34:54] reporting. a requirement that designated municipal capital infrastructure

[2:34:59] projects based on criteria to be established within the procurement bylaw

[2:35:03] be subject to a mandatory project closeout report to be presented to

[2:35:08] council within 60 days of substantial completion and to include at a minimum a

[2:35:14] comparison of final project expenditures against the approved project budget a

[2:35:18] summary and explanation of any significant financial scope material

[2:35:23] schedule and timeline variances Identification

[2:35:26] of any unresolved deficiencies, warranty matters or outstanding items and key

[2:35:31] lessons learned, operational considerations and recommendations

[2:35:36] intended to improve future capital project delivery, budgeting, procurement

[2:35:40] practices and project management. Number two, service level enhancement life

[2:35:46] cycle analysis. Um, a requirement that any staff report recommending the

[2:35:51] introduction of a new municipal service or the enhancement or expansion of an

[2:35:56] existing service level include an analysis of anticipated lifestyle

[2:36:01] lifestyle life cycle costs associated with the proposal, expected operating

[2:36:06] and maintenance impacts, future capital replacement and renewal obligations,

[2:36:11] asset management implications, and any impacts on the township's long-term

[2:36:16] financial planning and assumptions. and asset management plan. The intent of

[2:36:20] this analysis is to support informed decision- making and ensure that

[2:36:24] municipal asset management information remains current, relevant, and

[2:36:27] reflective of council's strategic priorities and service delivery

[2:36:31] objectives. >> Okay,

[2:36:34] just going to ask procedurally, do I have to get a I know we have the mover.

[2:36:37] Do I get a seconder before we discuss this? Okay, moved by councelor Demerst,

[2:36:42] second by councelor Vanbury. Okay. And now if you uh would you like to add

[2:36:46] anything further to that? >> Um you know I know we've talked a little

[2:36:50] bit today about the postmortem reporting. I just wanted to touch on the

[2:36:53] service level enhancement life cycle analysis. This is really um you know

[2:36:59] when when we get or or any municipality um has a decision in front of them uh to

[2:37:05] invest in in an asset or a change in service level. um we often get the cost

[2:37:10] of the asset or or the the initial cost of something but um what I'm suggesting

[2:37:17] here is that we have a a more um complete report that suggests to us or

[2:37:23] tells us what um the cost of ownership is um of that particular asset over its

[2:37:30] life. Um, and what that does is gives us an opportunity to here an example. If we

[2:37:38] have a um if we get um a quote for X and it's $10,000 and we get another quote um

[2:37:46] for the same thing and it's uh $12,000, we we take the $10,000. It's cheaper.

[2:37:51] But in that in that report, we don't always know what it's going to cost us

[2:37:55] to maintain that asset or its useful life. And that even that $12,000 asset

[2:38:01] might cost us a lot more. The filters might be more expensive. The this might

[2:38:04] be more expensive. The that might be, you know, the warranty cost, the this,

[2:38:07] the that. So when when something comes to us, we're only really getting part of

[2:38:11] the picture. >> Yeah.

[2:38:12] » So what I'm suggesting here is that we get a more complete u picture when we

[2:38:17] when we have to um approve or deny some of these things. Did I Does that make

[2:38:22] sense, Josh? Did I Yeah. >> Yeah. Certainly a three, Mr. Mayor. And

[2:38:26] just based on previous discussions with councelor Demerest, I I couldn't agree

[2:38:29] more. I think that that uh and again staff are are going to try and build

[2:38:33] that mentality into our report uh preparation in the interim until that

[2:38:37] amendment to the procurement policy can come forward for council consideration.

[2:38:41] But I think that we've heard those uh those recommendations loud and clear and

[2:38:45] uh it it's a best practice for us to try and integrate them into our uh our

[2:38:49] actions moving forward. And if I could add for a moment too, like this isn't

[2:38:53] something that anyone of us would expect to happen overnight. It's a little bit

[2:38:58] of a work in pro progress. It's not something that's typically done. Is that

[2:39:02] a fair thing to say? At the municipal level, but I think it is key to

[2:39:06] decision-m and my hope is that, you know, as as we um evolve this type of

[2:39:13] reporting that that others will will take it up as well and understand its

[2:39:16] value. >> Yeah. You know what? Just one thing I

[2:39:20] could think of just off top of the head that I noticed was at the the county

[2:39:24] level when they were looking for um trucks. So the it come in to order um

[2:39:31] electric vehicles and but the costing of electric truck is more than a a gas

[2:39:38] truck, diesel, whatever um to buy. But then in the report that come back

[2:39:44] the maintenance costs of uh an electric vehicle were a lot less than than the

[2:39:50] gas. So then exactly what you're saying one may be more but in the long term it

[2:39:56] it's saves you money and for us as council it we only can make a a decision

[2:40:03] on what information we have in front of us and anytime we can have more

[2:40:06] information for those. And it was I I really uh liked the final report on the

[2:40:12] fireh hall. That was really good because you know before it probably would have

[2:40:16] just been you know it cost us this much more than whatever and we moved on and

[2:40:22] and went yep okay this way it's more detailed. I it actually was a good

[2:40:26] report to see and it's uh good for council and actually it's good for for

[2:40:30] staff too to see where we are in tracking and I know uh director Davidson

[2:40:34] mentioned you know some things that they would do different down the road because

[2:40:38] that was a learning experience for them from that whole report. So I think it's

[2:40:41] a a good idea. I like it going forward. Okay. Anything else? Okay. And we do

[2:40:48] vote on that now. Right. Okay. All in favor and opposed if any. And that's

[2:40:52] carried. Perfect. Thank you, Councelor Demers. Okay, any new business?

[2:40:58] Not see any. And we'll go into close session.

[2:41:01] » Be it hereby resolve the council move into close session under the authority

[2:41:05] of section 239 of the municipal act at 10:57 a.m. to discuss a personal matters

[2:41:11] about an identifiable individual, including municipal employee section

[2:41:15] 2392B regarding CAO 2626 personal matters about an identifiable

[2:41:21] individual. Can I get a mover in a second, please? Moved by councelor

[2:41:25] Demer, second by councelor Barnes. All in favor? Opposed if any. And that's

[2:41:30] carried. >> Okay, I got to go. All staff stick

[2:41:33] around

[2:53:30] Okay. All right. Go ahead. We hereby resolve that council adjourn from close

[2:53:34] session at 11:09 a.m. and that the open meeting of council resumed and that

[2:53:39] council provide a direction to regarding report CAO 2626.

[2:53:44] Okay. >> Can I get a move in a second, please?

[2:53:46] Moved by councelor Demer, second by councelor Young. All in favor? Opposed

[2:53:50] if any. And that's carried. And now we're into bylaws.

[2:53:55] » Be it hereby resolve that the following bylaws be now read a first and second

[2:53:58] time. A 2559 2026 being a bylaw to appoint a joint compliance audit

[2:54:03] committee for the 2026 to 2030 term of council and B. 2560 2026 being a bilot

[2:54:09] to confirm the proceedings of council. >> Okay. Can I get a move in a second?

[2:54:13] Moved by councelor Barnes. Second by councelor Banberry. All in favor? Post

[2:54:16] if any. And that's carried. Go ahead. Be it hereby resolved that the following

[2:54:21] bylaws be read now a third and final time. A bylaw 2559 2026 being a bylaw to

[2:54:27] appoint a joint compliance audit committee for the 2026 2030 term of

[2:54:31] council and B 2560 2026 being a bylaw to confirm the proceedings of council.

[2:54:37] » Okay. Can I get a move in a second please? Moved by councelor Demer second

[2:54:40] by councelor Young. All in favor post opposed if any and that's carried. Thank

[2:54:43] you. Uh anything under other? No. and adjournment for our next meeting.

[2:54:52] » Be it hereby resolved, whereas the business before council has

[2:54:57] been completed at 11:11 a.m. Be it hereby resolved that council adjourn to

[2:55:01] meet again on Wednesday, September 16th, 2026 at 4 p.m. Can

[2:55:05] » I get a mover and second, please? Moved by councelor Young, second by councelor

[2:55:09] Demer. All in favor and opposed if any. And that's carried. Thank you.

Township of Blandford-Blenheim Council Meeting – September 2 & 8, 2026

Transcript