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Lands at the time of the written treaties. We also

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acknowledge the indigenous people who travelled these lands before the

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written treaties. Today, Chatham Kent neighbours, The Luna Pell at

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Elnapawi - Lait, also called Delaware Nation at Moraviantown, and

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the Unseed of Territory of Bykajuang - Wapu Island First

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Nation. Chatham Kent continues to be home to diverse First

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Nation, May T in Inuit Peoples. Chatham Kent is covered

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by treaty two, the Detroit Treaty of 1790. Treaty seven,

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Sombra Township Treaty of 1796. And Treaty 25 Longwoods Treaty

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of 1822. We also recognise that this region is subject

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to earlier Wampum Agreements, like the two Rowanpam and the

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dish with One Spoon Wampum. As beneficiaries of these treaties,

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we recognise our responsibilities, including our collective responsibilities to the

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Land and Water. Please be seated. Mr. Mayor, we do

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not have a supplementary agenda this evening. Rules of Declarament

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of Council meeting, the Municipality of Chatham Kent supports open

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meetings that welcome debate of public policy issues and an

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atmosphere of inclusiveness, integrity, civility, fairness, and respect for differing

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points of view. Anyone conducting themselves in a way that

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disturbs disrupts or impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting,

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interrupts her makes derogatory statements or hate speech, defamatory comments

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about Counselor's staff, speakers, or fellow members of the public

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may result in removal from the premises. This also applies

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to Deputations. We ask that you do not approach members

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if they are seated in the Council seats. The Public

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a less invited is not permitted to come into the

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gated horseshoe area. The use of posters signage and literature

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is also prohibited. Mr. Mayor, this evening, we have regrets

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from Councillor B. McGregor and Councillor Wright, and we have

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Councillor Allen participating virtually this evening. Disclosures of Procureanary Interest,

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Director Indirect for Open Session Agenda Items. I have not

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received any. And Deputations for this evening. One deputation was

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received with regards to item 13A, the Clearville Park Review,

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received from Wayne Ross, and it was emailed only. There

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were no deputations for Zoom or President this evening. We'll

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now move on to the consent agenda. We have two

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items that have been pulled from the Agenda. The first

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one is the Clearville Park Review. It's been pulled by

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Councillor Sakacci and Councillor McDonald, and the long - term

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financial plan has been pulled as a presentation by Gord

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Clinton, the Chief Financial Officer. Therefore, to be voted in

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one motion on the consent agenda, our items 13B and

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C, and items 14A. Councillor Anderson, Councillor Thompson, can I

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get you moved the consent agenda? Actually, Councillor Story. I

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am happy to move that. Happy to second, Mr. Chair.

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Any questions. Seeing them all put it to vote. Councillor

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Allen. Yes. I'm sorry, I'm just trying to open up

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one. All votes are in. And motion passes 15 to

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zero. I will start the item 13 infrastructure engineering services.

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13A, Clearville Park Review. Councillor Sakacci, go ahead. Thank you,

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Hannes. I'd like to move that administration, be directed to

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refer the report back with options and recommendations that, one,

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prioritize critical infrastructure and operational needs of the park. Two,

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identify opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and maximize existing assets,

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including transient sites. Three, explore revenue generating partnerships and investment

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opportunities. And four, provide council with a suitable options to

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support the long - term viability of Clearville while maintaining

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municipal ownership and operation. If I have a second, I

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can just kind of review my comments. Council McDonald? Yep,

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happy to second. Well, hey Council Scotchy. Yeah, thank you.

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I was able to do a detailed tour with the

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folks yesterday, and they had a lot of great questions,

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a lot of great comments. And I really think that

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we have a potential to look at that asset and

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come up with a more creative approach than we currently

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have on the floor, talking to staff. I think that

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we can find some commonalities in the situation. And, you

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know, in watching some of the presentations that we've had

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recently regarding our asset management plan, I think that, you

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know, Edward's team has really hit the nail on the

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head. If you don't invest in an asset, you lose

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the asset. So I think it's really important that we

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start to look at things differently. I know as a

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whole, there's a lot of individuals that feel that investing

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in nice to do things. It's not necessarily always the

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beneficial thing for our community. But I really think it's

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important to do nice to do things, because our community

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deserves to be nice and valued. So I'm hoping that

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we can look at different options to keep the park,

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and that's what this is saying, but also look at

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a more creative approach so we can ensure that it

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has long - term sustainability. And we can potentially look

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at phasing in. You know, the increases over a longer

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duration, as well as limiting some of the capital investments

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to make it more affordable for the folks out there.

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But I really think there's an opportunity for us to

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do things a lot better than we currently are. And

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I think that, uh, it's not speaking for him. I

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think Mr. Soldos team's okay with this deferral as well,

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as it's not something that needs to be done immediately.

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Thank you. Councillor McDonald. Yeah, I support Councillor Sakachi's motion.

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I think a lot of the users of Clearville Park

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are glad that we're not going to be divesting it

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at this point. And I think it's important to have

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a vision for the part, for the future users and

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the existing ones too. Um, and glad to see that

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we're considering the phase - in approach as well, because

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I know there were some concerns over, um, phasing it

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in over five years versus 10 or something different. So

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that's all. Thanks. No other question. I just want a

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quick comment as well. No, I very much agree with

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this approach. I think there's a huge opportunity out there.

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It's a, it's a wonderful park. And I think that

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with the right investment and the right to everybody looking

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at it in a creative way, I think we can

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make it even better, even better. Thank you. With that,

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we'll put it to vote. Councillor Allen. Yes. I'll vote

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to rent motion passes 15 to zero. Item 15, finance

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budget information technology and transformation. 15A, long - term financial

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plan. We have a presentation by Gord Quinton, the Chief

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Financial Officer, and his team.

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Mr. Mayor, members of Council. Before we begin, I'd like

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to introduce the team that will be updating Chatham Kent's

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long - term financial plan. Gord Quinton, CFO and Treasure.

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Matt Torrance, Director of Financial Services. Brock Priddle, Major of

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Corporate Accounting. Sean Hilderly, Manager of Asset and Quality Management.

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And myself, Steve Brown, Director of Budget Reformance Services. Gord,

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Brock, and myself will be introduced in this strategies, principles

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and components of long - term financial plan. Financial planning

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is critical to ensuring the ongoing sustainability of our community.

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It provides a roadmap that helps us balance today's needs.

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With tomorrow's responsibilities. To long - term planning, we can

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proactively maintain and replace essential infrastructure, such as roads, water

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systems, facilities, and other community assets before they become costly

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issues. It also helps ensure that we can continue delivering

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the service's residents rely on while adapting to changing needs

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and expectations. As our community grows, long - term financial

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planning allows us to identify future services and infrastructure requirements.

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Understand the associated costs and develop strategies to fund them

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responsibly. Most importantly, it supports financial sustainability by helping us

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manage risk. Make informed decisions. And avoid placing an unfair

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financial burden on future generations. In short, it helps ensure

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that our community remains resilient. Well - serviced, and financially

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healthy for years to come. A strategic financial framework is

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the first step toward a disciplined long - term financial

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plan. It establishes a clear foundation for decision - making,

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aligning priorities and ensuring that short - term actions support

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sustainable outcomes. Especially in a complex organisation this early structure

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brings consistently and transparency across budgeting cycles. Management, and council

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changes. The framework is built on three elements. Financial policies.

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Financial plans. And financial practices. Policies define the guardrails, plans

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translate those policies into forward - looking strategies. And practices

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drive day - to - day execution. In essence, policies

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informed plans and plans direct practices creating a connected system

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that reinforces sound financial management over time. Our Core Financial

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Principals formed a foundation of how we make financial decisions

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and guided long - term financial plan. For the community,

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these principles translate into predictability. Trust, and resilience. Compliance ensures

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that public funds are protected and managed responsibly. While accountability

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and transparency allow residents to see how financial decisions support

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services. Infrastructure, and Council's priorities. Sustainability helps stabilize tax rates

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and user fees by avoiding deferred costs and financial surprises.

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And flexibility ensures the municipality can respond to them both

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opportunities and challenges as they arise. Collectively, these principles support

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a community where infrastructure is maintained. Services are reliable. And

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financial decisions are made with both current and future residents

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in mind. Practical example of these principles in action is

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Chatham Kent's budget and asset management processes. Multier operating in

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capital budgets are prepared in compliance with legislative requirements and

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Council of the Proof Financial Policies. Supported by long -

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term forecasts and the asset management plan. These budgets are

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presented publicly with reports, summaries, and council deliberations available to

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residents, providing transparency into funding priorities. Tax impacts, and financial

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risks. Public consultation opportunities through Council meetings, budget discussions, and

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published materials allow residents to understand and comment on financial

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decisions before they are finalised. At the same time, autofinancial

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statements prepared accordants with PSAP standards and reviewed by external

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augers provide independent assurance of compliance and financial accountability. Reinforcing

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the Public Confidence in how Chatham Kent manages its financial

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resources. The purpose of the Missible Budget isn't just an

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annual financial exercise. It really is the primary tool we

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use to deliver on Council's long - term priorities and

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shape the future of our community. That means our approach

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has to go beyond a single year. We focus on

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multi - year planning and long - range forecasting so

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that we can balance two competing needs, maintaining the services,

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residents rely on today while also making room for new

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investments. And in some cases, difficult decisions on where to

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scale back. At the core of this approach, our three

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guiding principles. Affordability. Accountability. And value for money. These principles

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ensure that every decision we make is grounded in a

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full understanding of the cause, not just the immediate impact,

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but also the ongoing operating implications. Cashflow requirements, and long

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- term sustainability. We do this scrutinizing additions to the

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budget. For any new initiative or major change, we require

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a robust business case. This includes not only the financial

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implications, but also the expected community benefit. Associated risk. And

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how success will be measured. Importantly, we also violate the

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risk of not proceeding. Not just the risk of moving

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forward. This ensures we are making balanced, informed decisions, rather

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than reactive ones. Ultimately, this entire framework is about ensuring

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that we direct our limited resources towards initiatives that deliver

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the greatest value to the community. While maintaining long -

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term financial sustainability. In short, it's about being deliberate. Transparent,

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and strategic in how we align funding with priorities. Chatham

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Kent's revenue strategy is grounded in the principal that sustainable

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service requires stable, diversified, and predictable sources of income. The

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guiding principle of revenue framework emphasizes fairness. Transparency, and alignment

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with service delivery. The Mississippia Chatham Kent, including the Public

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Utilities Commission, generated total revenue of approximately 538 million in

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2025. With the primary source of that revenue being property

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taxes, which support core municipal services that benefit the entire

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community. At the same time, Chatham Kent deploys a user

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- pay principle for appropriate user fees, rates, and charges

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to recover the cost of the services that provide a

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direct or uneven benefit to specific users. This includes the

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Public Utilia's Commission, where water and wastewater rates fund their

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own respective divisions. Development charges are structured to ensure that

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growth pays its appropriate share of growth. Protecting existing taxpayers

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from subsidizing Development. Senior government funding should be treated as

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important, but unpredictable supplement in the municipalities long - term

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financial plan, primarily supporting major capital projects and subsidizing specific

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services. A prudent requires conservative assumptions. Alignment with funding priorities.

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And readiness to leverage opportunities without over - reliance on

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these uncertain grants. The revenue framework is supported by strong

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governance and long - term planning. Revenue decisions are integrated

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into the mall to your budget process. Informed by economic

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trends, assessment growth, demographic change, and legislative constraints. The Revenue

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Strategy helps deliver predictable taxes. Fair fees, and reliable services.

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Bylining revenue with benefits received, residents and businesses can better

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understand what they are paying for and why. Diversifying revenue

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sources reduces pressure on property taxes and approves the municipality's

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ability to maintain infrastructure. Respond to emerging needs, and invest

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in community priorities. The third

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core financial principle tonight is growth management. Which is aligning

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the community growth with infrastructure capacity and long - term

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financial planning. Growth management is about ensuring that occurs in

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a sustainable and financially responsible way. It helps align the

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pace and the location of community growth with a capacity

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of the municipalities infrastructure services and available resources. By coordinating

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land use planning infrastructure investments and long - term financial

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forecasting, growth management allows the municipality to anticipate future needs.

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And make it formed decisions about roads, water and wastewater

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systems, transit. Community facilities, and other public services. This approach

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supports orderly development helps avoid costly infrastructure shortfalls and ensures

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that growth contributes to the community's long - term financial

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sustainability. While maintaining the quality of life, uh, for residents

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and businesses. Strong infrastructure builds a strong future. Uh,

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smart capital investments. Today. Protect services, strength and communities, and

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prepare the next generation. Prefer Chatham Kent for the next

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generation. Uh, growth management decisions shape how communities evolve and

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how municipal services are delivered over time. By coordinating growth,

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planning with financial capacity, child seeks to support community vitality

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while protecting affordability and service sustainability. As you know, after,

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uh, period of decline, uh, recent years show strong population

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growth. As of July, 2025, Chatham population was estimated at

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just over 113, 000 residents. Reflecting continued growth across the

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municipality. In fact, since 2016, uh, Chatham Connect Experience population

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increase of over eight percent. Or over 8, 500 additional

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residents. This growth is significant, particularly when you'd in the

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context of the previous decade where population levels remain relatively

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stable or experienced periods of decline. This recent increase demonstrates

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the Chown Kent is an increasingly attractive place to live,

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work, and invest. Growth has been supported by a combination

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of factors, including Housing Development. Economic Opportunities, Immigration, and Communities

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Quality of Life. While population growth brings many benefits, including

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a larger labour force increased economic activity and a broader

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municipal tax base. It also creates additional demands for infrastructure,

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municipal services, housing, transportation networks. And community amenities. Some of

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the recent growth was accomplished by infilling a company. Without

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major infrastructure investments or capacity, uh, improvements. That room's no

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longer really available. And that infrastructure infrastructure improvements and expansion

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is of capacity are needed to sustain this growth. Understanding

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the population trends is critical to growth management. Accurate population

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forecasting helps ensure that infrastructure investments and financial planning are

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aligned with future needs. Allowing the municipality to proactively plan

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for growth rather than react to it after the capacity

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challenges that submerge. Ultimately, uh, these population increases reinforced importance

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of coordining land use planning infrastructure delivery and long -

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term financial strategies to ensure challenges to grow in a

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sustainable and physically responsible manner. Here, uh, you've seen this

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before. This is showing percent growth in communities in 2025.

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Chatham Kent grew 1. 2 percent, over 1. 2 percent

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representing the highest single year growth rate recorded in more

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than 20 years since consistent population tracking began. This is

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a notable milestone and reflects increasing appeal of Chatham as

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a place to live, work, and raise the family. Shown

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on the map, Chatham's growth rate, exceeded that of many

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surrounding municipalities, as well as exceeded the provincial average during

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that period. The strong performance highlights that municipality is not,

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is not only participating in Ontario's broader growth trends, but

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growing out of pace is outstripping, men can paradies in

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the region. A key driver of this growth is in

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migration from elsewhere in on Ontario. More individuals and families

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are choosing to relocate to Chatham Kent. Attracted by factors

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such as Housing Affordability. Lower property taxes, our immunity investment

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plan incentives, employment opportunities, quality of life, and access to

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amenities. This trend is contributing to both population growth. And

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increased it demand for housing infrastructure and municipal services. These

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growth patterns reinforce the importance of proactive growth management. As

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more people choose to make Chatham Kent their home, the

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municipality must continue to align planning, infrastructure investments, and financial

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strategies to support sustainable growth and maintain the high quality

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services residents expect.

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Them, growth management. Uh, Chattamut's growth management approach is guided

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by integrated set of Council proved policy documents, including the

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official plan. The Council Growth Strategy Provincial Planning Statements, the

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Community Improvement Plans, and specific master plans. The long -

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00:22:12,913 --> 00:22:17,073
term financial plan serves as a financial framework that aligns

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these policies with municipal capacity. Affordable ability, and long -

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term sustainability. The official plan establishes where and how growth

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should occur with an emphasis on directing Development to designated

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settlement areas, supporting efficient infrastructure use, and protecting agricultural and

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environmental resources. The Council Girl Strategy builds on this foundation

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by prioritizing population growth, economic development, and community vitality, and

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then provincial planning statement requires municipality to build more housing

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where it's needed, make land available for development, create opportunities

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for economic development and job creation. And plan for our

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00:23:04,197 --> 00:23:10,000
appropriate transportation, water, sewer, and other infrastructure. Needs necessary to

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accommodate current and future needs. The Community Improvement Plan, one

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of our huge successes in John provides targeted financial tools

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to support Reikvestment, redevelopment, and intensification within existing communities. And

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master plans translate growth policy into actional infrastructure and service

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delivery requirements. Plan such as the water and wastewater master

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00:23:35,769 --> 00:23:40,289
plan, transportation mobility, master plan, stormwater master plan, parks and

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recreation master plan, Fire Master Plan and Housing Strategy identified

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the infrastructure investments, service levels, and capital priorities required to

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support the anticipated population and unemployment growth.

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Chap, can I experience a significant increase and residential development

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activity over the past decade? With housing annual housing units

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00:24:08,191 --> 00:24:12,490
approved through building permits, increasing from approximately 100 to 200

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00:24:12,530 --> 00:24:18,265
units between 2011 and 2018. To sustain levels exceeding 400

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00:24:18,305 --> 00:24:24,061
units, and only since 2020. The municipality reached a record

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high of 690 units in 2021. This upper trend reflects

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growing demand of her housing in Chatham Kent and aligns

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with broader municipal objectives. To attract residents, workforce growth, and

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strength and economic development. The increase in housing development also

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signals a corresponding need for municipal infrastructure, and services to

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ensure new growth is supported in a sustainable and financially

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responsible manner. As new residential units are added, demand increases

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for water and wastewater capacity, transportation infrastructure, stormwater management systems,

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parks and recreation facilities, emergency services, and other municipal assets.

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Growth - related investments are therefore required not only to

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accommodate new residents. But also to maintain service levels for

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existing communities. The sustained increase in. That growth is no

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longer a future planning assumption, but an active trend occurring

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00:25:25,611 --> 00:25:31,897
across the municipality. Accordingly, gross - related infrastructure investments must

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be planned. And implemented proactively to ensure development opportunities are

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not constrained by servicing limitations. In growth infrastructure will support

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housing supply objectives, facilitate economic development opportunities, and position Chatham

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Kent to accommodate forecasted population growth all maintaining its long

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- term sustainability.

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Chairman Kent's asset management approach focuses on building effective, robust,

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and data - driven asset management systems. Or AMS. Uh,

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this system supports responsible decision - making regarding the services

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provided to the public and the assets required to deliver

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00:26:19,423 --> 00:26:23,644
those services. The AMS is guided by Chatham Ken strategic

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asset management policy, provincial O - Reg - 588 -

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17. In the annual detailed asset management plans. A practical

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example of asset management planning and Chatham Kent is the

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improvement of asset data to support informed evidence - based

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decision - making. Through the Development of Detailed Asset Management

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Plans for Community Parks, the municipality completed a comprehensive inventory

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of park assets that did not previously existed following amalgamation.

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This work could provide a clear understanding of the assets

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available to residents, their condition, and the resources required to

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00:27:01,705 --> 00:27:06,327
maintain them. The enhanced data benefits both residents and the

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municipality. It improves public awareness of available amenities such as

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playgrounds and baseball diamonds, while also helping administration align service

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levels with available staffing and funding. By understanding what assets

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exist. And what it takes to maintain them, Council can

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make more informed decisions that support sustainable service delivery and

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00:27:26,789 --> 00:27:32,386
long - term financial planning. The life cycle of an

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00:27:32,386 --> 00:27:36,066
asset requires ongoing capital investment to ensure the asset continues

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to deliver the intended level of service to the community.

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While the initial acquisition of an asset often represents the

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largest investment, additional funding is required throughout its life for

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rehabilitation renewal and eventually replacement. Regular capital investments such as

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replacing major components, rehabilitating aging infrastructure, or upgrading equipment, help

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extend asset life, reduce operating risks, and avoid more costly

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00:28:02,635 --> 00:28:07,046
failures in the future. By planning for these investments over

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the entire life cycle of an asset. Municipalities can maintain

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00:28:10,549 --> 00:28:14,768
service levels, maximize the value of public assets, and manage

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long - term financial sustainability. Over the next four years,

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00:28:20,924 --> 00:28:23,375
the number on this slide will be adjusted. Based on

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master plans, budget allocations, disposal projections, and changes to levels

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of service. It bears mentioning that the financial accountability office

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00:28:33,152 --> 00:28:37,512
of Ontario indicates that the vast majority and potentially all

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of Ontario is 444 municipalities face an infrastructure funding gap.

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According to the association of municipalities of Ontario, or AMO,

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roughly 45 percent of Ontario's municipal infrastructure assets are in

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00:28:51,785 --> 00:28:56,509
a state of disrepair. Because Owned Source Revenues cannot fully

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00:28:56,509 --> 00:29:00,909
meet these demands. Municipalities are heavily lobbying the province for

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00:29:01,010 --> 00:29:04,509
a consistent and predictable funding source to address this issue.

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Asset management planning provides the foundation for a long -

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00:29:09,849 --> 00:29:13,409
term financial plan by identifying the future costs required to

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00:29:13,510 --> 00:29:18,709
maintain, renew, and replace municipal assets. It helps Council understand

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00:29:18,890 --> 00:29:23,509
upcoming infrastructure investment needs, prioritize projects based on risk and

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00:29:23,549 --> 00:29:27,967
service impacts, and make informed decisions about funding strategies. By

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00:29:27,967 --> 00:29:31,887
integrating asset management planning with long - term financial planning,

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00:29:32,068 --> 00:29:37,467
Dominicipality can proactively manage assets, avoid unexpected financial pressures, and

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00:29:37,467 --> 00:29:40,687
ensure the sustainable delivery of services for residents both now

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00:29:41,188 --> 00:29:48,227
and in the future. Two critical components of Chatham Kent's

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00:29:48,227 --> 00:29:51,427
financial strategy is our approach to cash investment and reserve

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00:29:51,448 --> 00:29:56,338
fund management. Together, these practices ensure we protect public funds,

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00:29:56,338 --> 00:30:00,098
maintain liquidity to meet our obligations and generate stable non

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00:30:00,138 --> 00:30:06,558
- taxation revenue. Our cash investment strategy is built on

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00:30:06,739 --> 00:30:11,118
a strong foundation of policy, legislation, and disciplined financial management.

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All investment activities are governed by Council's Investment Policy and

400
00:30:15,636 --> 00:30:21,476
comply with the municipal Act 2001, Ontario Regulation 438 -

401
00:30:21,657 --> 00:30:26,617
97. These frameworks ensure that everything we do prioritizes security

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00:30:26,798 --> 00:30:32,620
and transparency. Our objectives follow a clear hierarchy. First, we

403
00:30:32,620 --> 00:30:37,347
comply with all statutory requirements. Second, we preserve capital. Third,

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00:30:37,347 --> 00:30:40,707
we maintain sufficient liquidity. And finally, we aim to earn

405
00:30:40,808 --> 00:30:46,023
a competitive rate of return. Turning to reserve fund management.

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00:30:46,023 --> 00:30:48,343
This is the long - term foundation of our financial

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00:30:48,364 --> 00:30:52,541
health. Reserves are established for a specific purposes and funded

408
00:30:52,581 --> 00:30:57,421
based on asset lifecycle needs, capital forecasts, and long -

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00:30:57,421 --> 00:31:00,879
term planning assumptions. This ensures we're prepared for known future

410
00:31:00,980 --> 00:31:06,239
costs while remaining flexible for changing priorities. Importantly, reserves are

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00:31:06,279 --> 00:31:10,349
fully integrated into our financial framework. They support the annual

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00:31:10,450 --> 00:31:14,669
budget, capital planning, asset management planned, and long - term

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00:31:14,690 --> 00:31:19,539
financial strategy. This disciplined approach ensures we maintain adequate funding

414
00:31:19,539 --> 00:31:24,579
for infrastructure renewal. Replacement and contingencies while minimizing reliance on

415
00:31:24,619 --> 00:31:30,589
debt. Effective reserve management has direct visible benefits for the

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00:31:30,629 --> 00:31:34,335
community. It allows us to plan and deliver infrastructure investment

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00:31:34,516 --> 00:31:38,335
like roads, water systems, and municipal facilities in a stable

418
00:31:38,375 --> 00:31:42,672
and predictable way. This reduces service disruptions, avoids sharp tax

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00:31:42,712 --> 00:31:46,112
increases, and lowers borrowing costs. It also ensures we can

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00:31:46,213 --> 00:31:52,133
respond to unexpected events without significant financial strain. For taxpayers,

421
00:31:52,133 --> 00:31:57,804
it means smoother financial impacts over time. Sustained service levels,

422
00:31:57,804 --> 00:32:03,106
and confidence that municipal finances are being managed responsibly. In

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00:32:03,106 --> 00:32:07,826
2025, Chatham Ken generated 22. 1 million dollars in investment

424
00:32:07,847 --> 00:32:12,686
income through discipline cash management, strategic fixed income investments, and

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00:32:12,686 --> 00:32:16,704
the realization of gains on principally protected notes. Despite a

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00:32:16,704 --> 00:32:20,304
declining interest rate environment, we locked in higher yields and

427
00:32:20,304 --> 00:32:23,424
generated 8 million dollars in gains while fully protecting capital.

428
00:32:23,765 --> 00:32:28,224
This performance strengthened reserves reduced reliance on borrowing and created

429
00:32:28,405 --> 00:32:31,744
meaningful, non - tax revenue, helping to moderate future property

430
00:32:31,765 --> 00:32:33,184
tax pressures for residents.

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00:32:46,627 --> 00:32:49,086
The last of our core financial principles to talk about

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00:32:49,107 --> 00:32:55,576
tonight is debt management. Debt management ensures major community investments,

433
00:32:55,576 --> 00:32:59,176
our finance responsibly, balancing today is infrastructure needs with long

434
00:32:59,176 --> 00:33:04,629
- term financial sustainability. Chatham strategy, it grounded in a

435
00:33:04,669 --> 00:33:11,029
discipline, long - term approach that emphasizes financial sustainability, affordability,

436
00:33:11,290 --> 00:33:16,789
intergenerational fairness, recognising that while infrastructure investment is critical to

437
00:33:16,890 --> 00:33:26,709
growth and service delivery, financial decisions are equally important. Guided

438
00:33:26,709 --> 00:33:29,669
by the Municipal Act and aligned with the asset management

439
00:33:29,770 --> 00:33:33,659
plan. Priority ties as pay as you go funding for

440
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:41,392
lysucal maintenance. Through dedicated levies and reserves, ensuring users, fund

441
00:33:41,432 --> 00:33:46,032
current services, well, minimizing interest cost and pressures on future

442
00:33:46,072 --> 00:33:55,512
budgets. We used debt for major investments that provide long

443
00:33:55,512 --> 00:34:02,277
- term benefits to the community. So choosing the right

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00:34:02,938 --> 00:34:07,725
funding approach. Funding decisions are based on the type of

445
00:34:07,986 --> 00:34:17,174
investment. And who benefits from it. So important slide. It's

446
00:34:17,214 --> 00:34:20,763
Council of the Doris Pay as you go. Um, for

447
00:34:21,024 --> 00:34:27,323
things like road rehabilitation, life cycle renewal and routine infrastructure.

448
00:34:27,323 --> 00:34:34,763
And the use of debt, which shares cost over a

449
00:34:34,803 --> 00:34:39,691
period of time. For things like new affordable housing, new

450
00:34:39,691 --> 00:34:43,842
major facilities and growth - related infrastructure. That is used

451
00:34:43,863 --> 00:34:47,202
sparring and only where it delivers clear value, such as

452
00:34:47,303 --> 00:34:53,126
a growth - related infrastructure and major strategic investment. This

453
00:34:53,166 --> 00:34:57,766
approach is supported by strong project prior titulation, defining criteria

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00:34:58,107 --> 00:35:01,766
for debt use, and prudent financial metrics to maintain sustainability

455
00:35:01,867 --> 00:35:09,974
and affordable debt levels. So, so, uh, you know, recent

456
00:35:10,075 --> 00:35:14,094
examples of various and examples, you know, rotary voltation, as

457
00:35:14,094 --> 00:35:21,094
you know, shaven paving and all the normal maintenance are

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00:35:21,134 --> 00:35:25,039
done by as you go system. Well, I made your

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00:35:25,039 --> 00:35:28,799
facility like the 72 unit Affordable Housing Build at 199

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00:35:29,060 --> 00:35:32,037
West Cort in Wallsberg. It was a perfect example of

461
00:35:32,698 --> 00:35:39,203
using both upper funding. And municipal debt to spread the

462
00:35:39,384 --> 00:35:45,197
cost over the generations that will benefit. Ongoing maintenance, both

463
00:35:45,378 --> 00:35:49,277
those projects, they're still funded annually within the operating budget,

464
00:35:49,277 --> 00:35:53,357
reforcing the principle of a lining costs with use and

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00:35:53,357 --> 00:36:01,642
preventing future financial pressures. Using the great funding tool. For

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00:36:01,682 --> 00:36:07,309
the right investment helps keeps taxes stable. Provide financial flexibility.

467
00:36:07,309 --> 00:36:11,789
And certificate ensures today's decisions remained fair for future generations.

468
00:36:13,056 --> 00:36:17,805
The strategy supports stable taxes and rates. Protects essential services.

469
00:36:18,501 --> 00:36:25,360
And ensures infrastructure investment remain affordable and timely. By prioritizing

470
00:36:25,541 --> 00:36:28,960
pay as you go funding and strong reserves, it reduces

471
00:36:29,141 --> 00:36:32,720
long - term costs, preserves financial flexibility, and builds trust

472
00:36:32,981 --> 00:36:42,330
through transparent, responsible, fiscal management. Our financial

473
00:36:42,351 --> 00:36:45,930
efficiency, particularly over the last decade, gives us the power

474
00:36:45,970 --> 00:36:53,786
to invest into our future. Um. Uh. Tons available tomorrow

475
00:36:53,887 --> 00:36:59,568
for investments in Chatham Kent. Are up to 900 million

476
00:36:59,669 --> 00:37:03,248
based on provincial government policy, and that's based on 2024

477
00:37:03,589 --> 00:37:07,814
financial results. As a result of Council of Prudent Decision

478
00:37:07,915 --> 00:37:11,174
- making and responsible financial stewardship, Chatham Count has maintained

479
00:37:11,275 --> 00:37:15,971
very low debt levels. Of debt. While preserving this financial

480
00:37:16,552 --> 00:37:25,929
flexibility. These discipline - ered. Of course, we don't suggest

481
00:37:26,110 --> 00:37:30,426
that we're going up to this limit. Uh, often there

482
00:37:30,426 --> 00:37:33,812
are other sources of revenues to fund debt payments. Uh,

483
00:37:34,073 --> 00:37:37,092
such as upper levels of governments. And the example of

484
00:37:37,092 --> 00:37:39,652
that was when we built River Gardens, we're two -

485
00:37:39,652 --> 00:37:43,332
thirds of the debt was paid by the province over

486
00:37:43,673 --> 00:37:48,729
the last 20 years. And Development Choice charges that are

487
00:37:49,390 --> 00:37:53,529
when a assets developed, and then the Housing fills in

488
00:37:54,030 --> 00:37:58,649
over the next decade debt is perfect for those cases

489
00:37:59,390 --> 00:38:02,729
to align the debt charges with the funds coming in.

490
00:38:06,612 --> 00:38:11,378
So in Collusion. The updated long - term financial plan

491
00:38:11,399 --> 00:38:14,018
will be presented to Council in the first quarter of

492
00:38:14,519 --> 00:38:21,504
2027. It's being updated, because now it's our asset management

493
00:38:21,544 --> 00:38:25,824
plan exercise. And remember this presentation was meant to follow

494
00:38:26,005 --> 00:38:29,504
Sean's presentation, uh, at your last council and sort of

495
00:38:29,504 --> 00:38:37,628
tie together. Um. We now have real data. Uh, as

496
00:38:37,649 --> 00:38:42,588
Brock said, uh, infrastructure gaps are across the province. It's

497
00:38:42,849 --> 00:38:46,668
in every municipality. Sounds like a scary number, but that's

498
00:38:46,668 --> 00:38:50,428
not to be a scary number, the infrastructure gap. It's

499
00:38:50,529 --> 00:38:55,660
what do you do moving forward. Uh, lobbing upper level

500
00:38:55,681 --> 00:39:00,780
as a government. We finally have real data to do

501
00:39:00,820 --> 00:39:05,420
that lobbying rather than guesses. And consistent data across the

502
00:39:05,420 --> 00:39:12,073
province, uh, through the asset management plan regulations. Um, so,

503
00:39:12,113 --> 00:39:14,633
so, so this will be a great foundation for the

504
00:39:14,633 --> 00:39:17,993
next council to build on. This will be delivered to

505
00:39:17,993 --> 00:39:23,935
them as part of their, uh, uh, orientation. Uh, and

506
00:39:24,356 --> 00:39:29,966
in Q1 of 2027. Really have all the options on

507
00:39:29,966 --> 00:39:34,766
the table for them as they develop the next council's

508
00:39:34,867 --> 00:39:41,014
term strategic priorities. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Any questions? Any

509
00:39:41,195 --> 00:39:47,621
questions Councillor Story followed by Councillor Bondi. Thank you, Mr.

510
00:39:47,642 --> 00:39:50,661
Chair. Thanks to all of you for that great presentation.

511
00:39:50,661 --> 00:39:52,741
I was going to ask, can you please do this

512
00:39:53,082 --> 00:39:55,701
at the beginning of next term for the next council?

513
00:39:55,701 --> 00:39:56,581
It's I'm glad to hear you're going to do that

514
00:39:56,682 --> 00:40:01,080
because this was very informative. I have a couple of

515
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:04,440
quick questions. The reserve piece, that's always a question that

516
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:08,520
we talk about all term and often one that I

517
00:40:08,541 --> 00:40:13,800
know I have challenged. I've had challenges describing to constituents

518
00:40:13,901 --> 00:40:17,000
because it's not always an obvious direct line to each

519
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:20,999
one. Is there a legal or legislative amount for how

520
00:40:21,020 --> 00:40:25,799
much we must have in our reserves? Thank you. Thank

521
00:40:25,839 --> 00:40:29,559
you, Mr. Barrett. No, there is, there is no legislative.

522
00:40:29,559 --> 00:40:31,799
As Chatham Kent, we started with 6 million in reserves.

523
00:40:32,759 --> 00:40:38,338
Um, and our working reserve because, uh, amalgamation, the rest

524
00:40:38,338 --> 00:40:42,338
was given back, uh, to any municipality how to surplus.

525
00:40:42,948 --> 00:40:45,967
We've been a Cecil and now building up these reserves

526
00:40:46,007 --> 00:40:52,311
to give financial flexibility. And. I would say one of

527
00:40:52,311 --> 00:40:54,311
the things that you always need to look at is

528
00:40:54,732 --> 00:41:00,351
your reserves to vet ratio. Yes. Or that's very, we

529
00:41:00,351 --> 00:41:04,446
worked on paying offer debt for the last decade. Now,

530
00:41:04,547 --> 00:41:07,006
now we're in that have that ability because we did

531
00:41:07,006 --> 00:41:09,326
that. We now have the ability to invest in Chatham

532
00:41:10,707 --> 00:41:15,486
to deal with summer for aging assets and plan for

533
00:41:15,526 --> 00:41:20,286
the future. Uh, so those reserved debt ratios will get

534
00:41:20,286 --> 00:41:23,086
more to that one into one ratio over the next

535
00:41:23,347 --> 00:41:28,220
term. Okay. So you would, in your opinion, it would

536
00:41:28,220 --> 00:41:30,380
make sense if we had, so how many, how much

537
00:41:30,380 --> 00:41:31,900
do we have in reserves right now? Do you have

538
00:41:31,900 --> 00:41:36,540
a general idea? Approximately 300 million. 300 million. Then she,

539
00:41:36,580 --> 00:41:39,340
if I'm understanding what you just said correctly, then 30

540
00:41:39,361 --> 00:41:43,663
million in reserves and 300 million in. That, that, that

541
00:41:43,663 --> 00:41:47,103
would be the, we're better than ideal now, being that

542
00:41:47,103 --> 00:41:49,243
we have almost no debt. That would be the, uh,

543
00:41:49,844 --> 00:41:54,143
chart of sweet spot as far as auditors or anyone

544
00:41:54,964 --> 00:41:58,463
looking. There's lots of municipalities that have twice amount of

545
00:41:58,484 --> 00:42:02,583
debt as they do in reserves. Uh. But, but that

546
00:42:03,244 --> 00:42:06,823
means, but one to one ratio is I guess what

547
00:42:06,823 --> 00:42:10,423
you would say is the ideal point. And remember this,

548
00:42:10,524 --> 00:42:14,263
this also includes the POC. Um, so we're looking at,

549
00:42:14,263 --> 00:42:17,703
uh, some, some major projects over the next few years

550
00:42:17,724 --> 00:42:20,749
on the PVC side as well. Okay. Thank you. And

551
00:42:21,090 --> 00:42:25,629
those reserves, it's not just 300 million and spread out.

552
00:42:25,629 --> 00:42:30,729
There's different uses for different, uh, departments, different projects. And

553
00:42:30,729 --> 00:42:33,389
we aren't necessarily, we can't necessarily use a reserve for

554
00:42:34,290 --> 00:42:36,829
one account into another CASON one hand. You're like, okay,

555
00:42:36,829 --> 00:42:39,709
we have 300 reserve. Why don't we take, uh, 20

556
00:42:40,050 --> 00:42:45,034
million in Chip away at the asset management. Uh, gap

557
00:42:45,074 --> 00:42:47,194
that we have, but it's not quite that simple, correct?

558
00:42:47,935 --> 00:42:49,834
It's not as simple. And a couple things to keep

559
00:42:49,834 --> 00:42:53,514
in mind, one, uh, we talked about investment income on,

560
00:42:53,514 --> 00:42:58,100
on those reserves. If we're making a return that's greater

561
00:42:59,081 --> 00:43:05,620
than the construction, inflation costs, we're doing well. And that's

562
00:43:05,620 --> 00:43:08,900
what we've been doing the last few years with our

563
00:43:08,940 --> 00:43:14,414
investment strategy. So, so we're able to, to provide more

564
00:43:14,435 --> 00:43:19,374
funding and to annual budgets. There are substantial part additions

565
00:43:20,195 --> 00:43:22,734
in the last multi - year budgets. It'll be much,

566
00:43:22,734 --> 00:43:24,014
we'll be able to do much more in the next

567
00:43:24,195 --> 00:43:30,280
multi - year budget and invest more. Have those, uh,

568
00:43:30,641 --> 00:43:35,605
annual returns that pay dividends to every resident. Sean Mc

569
00:43:36,586 --> 00:43:42,537
not having to raise taxes as much as otherwise. So,

570
00:43:42,577 --> 00:43:47,017
so when we start next term, when there is a

571
00:43:47,017 --> 00:43:52,678
new council in place. Will you be reviewing all of

572
00:43:52,678 --> 00:43:56,214
that with them? Cause I know it's. I know a

573
00:43:56,214 --> 00:43:58,854
question I've gotten throughout this term has been, well, you've

574
00:43:58,854 --> 00:44:01,814
got that much in reserves. Why aren't we spending it.

575
00:44:03,318 --> 00:44:06,617
And it's not, again, it's not quite that simple, is

576
00:44:06,617 --> 00:44:08,817
it, but I often have struggled to answer that effectively

577
00:44:08,838 --> 00:44:10,817
because it does seem like a large amount. And we

578
00:44:10,817 --> 00:44:13,777
do have roads we want paved and bridges we want

579
00:44:13,817 --> 00:44:15,537
repaired and that kind of thing. So I think it

580
00:44:15,638 --> 00:44:19,088
maybe there's. An easier explanation to share why we wouldn't

581
00:44:19,128 --> 00:44:22,385
just automatically. Use some of that to find that type

582
00:44:22,425 --> 00:44:29,641
of work. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. While the

583
00:44:29,641 --> 00:44:34,921
number has grown, um, you always have to look at

584
00:44:34,961 --> 00:44:37,561
it in comparison to what type of municipality we are

585
00:44:37,982 --> 00:44:40,921
and all the services that we supply as a single

586
00:44:41,342 --> 00:44:47,161
tier with the geography that we have about half of

587
00:44:47,161 --> 00:44:50,521
that old funds are reserves that are building up so

588
00:44:50,561 --> 00:44:53,321
that we can afford some of those pay as you

589
00:44:53,361 --> 00:45:01,673
go items. Good example of the third street bridge and

590
00:45:01,694 --> 00:45:05,673
Chatham, you know, I don't 12 million dollar project, whatever

591
00:45:06,014 --> 00:45:11,593
it was. That's the whole year of, of, of, of

592
00:45:11,694 --> 00:45:14,873
bridge funding almost, just in that one bridge. So we

593
00:45:15,374 --> 00:45:16,953
had, you know, so some of it's building up for

594
00:45:16,953 --> 00:45:21,673
that large mass of bridge. Um, we get, and we

595
00:45:21,713 --> 00:45:24,953
have several more of those mastered bridge. She was crossing

596
00:45:24,953 --> 00:45:28,073
the, uh, either tons or sitting ham river that are

597
00:45:28,073 --> 00:45:29,673
upcoming in the next few years that will need that

598
00:45:29,934 --> 00:45:34,793
10, 20 million dollar spend in one shot. So that's,

599
00:45:34,793 --> 00:45:40,073
you know, and that's for parks and everything arenas, they

600
00:45:40,094 --> 00:45:43,833
save up for our floor replacement every few years and

601
00:45:43,854 --> 00:45:46,153
on and on. So that's, like I say, about half

602
00:45:46,254 --> 00:45:49,513
the infrastructure. The other half, there's a, there's a couple

603
00:45:49,614 --> 00:45:53,913
mandated reserves, but the majority of it is, uh, Council

604
00:45:53,953 --> 00:45:57,993
Director Reserves for various, uh, items. You review it annually

605
00:45:58,094 --> 00:46:02,565
as part of the budget process. Provided the targets of

606
00:46:02,565 --> 00:46:04,365
where they'll be at the end of a multi -

607
00:46:04,365 --> 00:46:10,246
year budget. And our ultimate up to Council, whether. That's

608
00:46:10,246 --> 00:46:11,926
still a priority, what the money was set aside for

609
00:46:12,027 --> 00:46:13,526
or whether there's changes to be made to the plan.

610
00:46:14,513 --> 00:46:18,012
Thanks, Courtz. So maybe I'll ask them some more questions.

611
00:46:18,012 --> 00:46:20,492
The reasonable way to maybe explain it for a personal

612
00:46:20,993 --> 00:46:23,032
that I'm, I like to buy a new vehicle. I

613
00:46:23,032 --> 00:46:25,367
don't have the money I need quite yet. So I'm

614
00:46:25,548 --> 00:46:27,687
going to save up essentially for a certain number of

615
00:46:27,687 --> 00:46:29,127
years till I have enough money to buy the new

616
00:46:29,148 --> 00:46:30,967
current that I'm going to use that money in that

617
00:46:30,967 --> 00:46:33,287
account to buy that new car or replace my old

618
00:46:33,327 --> 00:46:36,167
car, what have you. So just in a relatable example

619
00:46:36,188 --> 00:46:41,207
in our own. It's relatable, but often that decision would

620
00:46:41,228 --> 00:46:44,967
be a combination of some of reserves that you think

621
00:46:44,988 --> 00:46:46,967
that you have in your bank account and perhaps some

622
00:46:46,967 --> 00:46:51,753
debt as well. Reasonable debt. You don't put 20 year

623
00:46:51,774 --> 00:46:53,673
debt on a car that's only going to last 10

624
00:46:53,713 --> 00:46:58,160
years, for example. And those payments need to be affordable.

625
00:46:59,592 --> 00:47:04,553
In your budget. So, so it's that balance. And really

626
00:47:04,734 --> 00:47:07,033
to a car example. Are you buying a 70, 000

627
00:47:07,054 --> 00:47:09,833
dollar car or 40, 000 car because of you basing

628
00:47:09,934 --> 00:47:15,113
what you're buying based on between your reserve balances, what's

629
00:47:15,153 --> 00:47:17,513
in your bank yet and other costs that you have

630
00:47:18,014 --> 00:47:21,153
and your ability to whirl, uh, where you're at. So

631
00:47:21,454 --> 00:47:26,633
and that's what council's decisions are, you know, what is

632
00:47:26,673 --> 00:47:31,279
reasonable. And in light of growth as well. Thank you.

633
00:47:31,540 --> 00:47:33,359
Are you almost done? I just have one quick one.

634
00:47:33,359 --> 00:47:37,099
Sorry. Thank you Mr. Mayor for the, uh, flexibility. The

635
00:47:37,099 --> 00:47:39,679
22. 1 million in non - tax revenue. Where does

636
00:47:39,679 --> 00:47:43,745
that go? And that's it. Thank you. Yeah. Uh, so

637
00:47:43,766 --> 00:47:46,525
we have a budget, interesting income. That's one of the

638
00:47:46,525 --> 00:47:50,907
things that Lord, the tax increase over this term. Uh,

639
00:47:51,168 --> 00:47:54,725
there was a substantial increase. In that now that we

640
00:47:54,746 --> 00:48:04,236
further developed. This financing strategy. There'll be, uh, further, uh.

641
00:48:06,401 --> 00:48:10,380
Addition to revenues non tax revenues, which is about every

642
00:48:10,380 --> 00:48:15,068
way he wants. In the upcoming budgets, uh, that'll again,

643
00:48:15,068 --> 00:48:21,227
uh, Laura, the tax increase that we need. Councillor Bondi

644
00:48:21,248 --> 00:48:24,407
followed by Councillor Harrigan. Uh, thank you, Mary Candiff. Um,

645
00:48:24,688 --> 00:48:28,667
well, gentlemen, that's a very rosy economic picture you've painted.

646
00:48:28,667 --> 00:48:30,147
So I'm just one of the people at home. I

647
00:48:30,147 --> 00:48:32,347
just wonder why their taxes keep going up year after

648
00:48:32,368 --> 00:48:36,347
year, but that's that. Now my question is you talk

649
00:48:36,347 --> 00:48:39,227
a lot about growth and population growth in the municipality.

650
00:48:39,227 --> 00:48:40,987
So how do we know this? Like you have a

651
00:48:41,008 --> 00:48:45,047
very specific number of 1. 23 percent in 2025, but

652
00:48:45,047 --> 00:48:48,107
we just completed the national census like six months ago.

653
00:48:48,107 --> 00:48:50,107
So for instance, I have three kids the last couple

654
00:48:50,107 --> 00:48:52,187
of years. They've gone off to school and they didn't

655
00:48:52,187 --> 00:48:54,533
report that to anybody. And nobody asked. So how do

656
00:48:54,533 --> 00:48:58,053
you have such a specific without a census? Like who's

657
00:48:58,053 --> 00:49:02,208
County. So, uh, turn over to Bruce for a better

658
00:49:02,229 --> 00:49:05,008
answer, but that census is once every five years, right?

659
00:49:05,008 --> 00:49:08,928
And so there are interim estimates, uh, done. So this

660
00:49:08,928 --> 00:49:12,266
is an estimate, not fact. Yes. But I'll let Bruce

661
00:49:12,266 --> 00:49:15,786
talk to, cause those populations came from one of versus

662
00:49:16,287 --> 00:49:22,552
staff report. Yeah. So each year annually in July stats

663
00:49:22,653 --> 00:49:27,592
can does release a, uh, a projection of what the

664
00:49:27,693 --> 00:49:31,112
growth and population is. But, um, you're right. The census

665
00:49:31,213 --> 00:49:34,792
happens every five years. Um, the first tranches of that

666
00:49:34,832 --> 00:49:38,072
data will come out early next year in terms of

667
00:49:38,112 --> 00:49:41,432
the next census. But they're pretty accurate projections that they

668
00:49:41,432 --> 00:49:45,592
do on an annual basis. Well, pretty accurate. 1. 23

669
00:49:45,693 --> 00:49:48,712
percent in 2025. I'm just stating what the report were

670
00:49:48,712 --> 00:49:52,119
you guys just told us. Like I'm just curious, that's,

671
00:49:52,159 --> 00:49:54,599
that's not a real number then. That's a projection. It's

672
00:49:54,620 --> 00:49:59,639
a guess. That can, well, they're guessing. Not you. There

673
00:49:59,679 --> 00:50:02,981
it is. Okay. So it's a guest. Okay. Thanks. Councillor

674
00:50:03,021 --> 00:50:07,255
Harrigan followed by Councillor Anderson. Uh, thank you through the

675
00:50:07,356 --> 00:50:12,135
mayor. Some of Councillor stories questions touched on what I

676
00:50:12,135 --> 00:50:13,975
had written down, but I guess I will just ask

677
00:50:14,015 --> 00:50:18,535
the question, uh, Gord, how would you respond to what

678
00:50:18,575 --> 00:50:21,575
sometimes we commonly hear from residents or constituents when they

679
00:50:21,575 --> 00:50:24,215
say don't take on more debt, pay off your debt

680
00:50:24,236 --> 00:50:26,455
as quick as possible and try to have no debt

681
00:50:26,716 --> 00:50:29,815
is that similar to when people say, you know, don't

682
00:50:29,855 --> 00:50:31,255
rush to pay off your mortgage if you're not saving

683
00:50:31,295 --> 00:50:33,815
for your retirement or like what kind of more local

684
00:50:33,996 --> 00:50:37,415
analogy can we give and what's the risk to us

685
00:50:37,756 --> 00:50:43,341
if we choose not to take on any debt. I

686
00:50:43,381 --> 00:50:48,541
guess analogy. Perfect people can relate to as a house,

687
00:50:48,581 --> 00:50:54,726
house purchased. Young family just into the workforce, maybe have

688
00:50:55,787 --> 00:51:02,724
saved up. Enough or down payment. You could continue to

689
00:51:02,825 --> 00:51:05,524
save and pay cash for that house, but it might

690
00:51:05,564 --> 00:51:08,044
take you 20 years before you're able to afford to

691
00:51:08,044 --> 00:51:13,968
afford that house. Is it better for inner, you know,

692
00:51:13,968 --> 00:51:18,104
part of the international equity. To have that larger house

693
00:51:18,365 --> 00:51:21,304
when you have the growing family and actually need the

694
00:51:21,304 --> 00:51:25,829
space. Rather than save money all your life to have.

695
00:51:28,660 --> 00:51:32,159
To have the full payment and fall when you're about

696
00:51:32,180 --> 00:51:36,160
to retire. And, uh. You know, in a personal example,

697
00:51:36,160 --> 00:51:39,628
of course, the limited lifespan. You know, scholars don't have

698
00:51:39,628 --> 00:51:44,916
that limited lifespan. We're always going to be here. One

699
00:51:44,937 --> 00:51:50,436
shaper or another. We're always here and we're always growing.

700
00:51:50,436 --> 00:51:55,360
So, so we have to. Or that sort of example

701
00:51:55,400 --> 00:52:01,200
for people to understand. This council has made lots of

702
00:52:01,240 --> 00:52:06,774
decisions on issue debt. It just hasn't happened yet, uh,

703
00:52:06,895 --> 00:52:11,794
because it is issued when the project is completed. So

704
00:52:11,935 --> 00:52:16,474
the wall sparked housing project, for example, it'll be late

705
00:52:16,575 --> 00:52:21,834
2028 before the next council actually issues the debt and

706
00:52:21,855 --> 00:52:25,594
starts clock on a 2025, 30 year diventure on that

707
00:52:25,634 --> 00:52:31,036
project. And is that like lifespan of the asset? What

708
00:52:31,036 --> 00:52:32,796
helps guide staff as to whether or not we should

709
00:52:32,796 --> 00:52:35,356
be pulling something from reserves or taking, we use the

710
00:52:35,356 --> 00:52:37,276
term like using DeVentures for it, right? Which really means

711
00:52:37,316 --> 00:52:39,796
we're going to borrow to get the projects done. Is

712
00:52:39,796 --> 00:52:42,236
there guidelines that staff have internally when they present to

713
00:52:42,276 --> 00:52:52,050
Council on that. Yeah. Yes. Mainly, mainly matching lifespan, but

714
00:52:52,891 --> 00:52:57,510
of course, you know, Barbarna, we're also not issuing 75

715
00:52:57,771 --> 00:53:01,030
year debt on that housing unit. You know, that saved

716
00:53:01,131 --> 00:53:04,369
life span 75 to 100 years. At some point it

717
00:53:04,369 --> 00:53:06,849
has to be reasonable. And there's maximums that were even

718
00:53:06,889 --> 00:53:09,529
allowed to borrow 40 year off the top of my

719
00:53:09,529 --> 00:53:11,329
head. It's a maximum length of the time that we

720
00:53:11,430 --> 00:53:15,987
even could borrow. Um, and you just have to weigh

721
00:53:16,088 --> 00:53:22,109
the cost of borrowing. We have some, uh, it's now

722
00:53:22,130 --> 00:53:23,709
been paid off, but we had some debt on our

723
00:53:23,970 --> 00:53:28,770
books that was at. 10 percent interests. That we inherited

724
00:53:28,791 --> 00:53:33,170
an amalgamation. And we have some debts that we issued

725
00:53:35,751 --> 00:53:37,970
back 20 years ago that had now paid off that

726
00:53:37,991 --> 00:53:40,786
were only at two and a half percent. So you

727
00:53:40,786 --> 00:53:43,586
got to compare that cost, that carrying cost of debt

728
00:53:44,247 --> 00:53:52,231
versus what, what's the cost of waiting. For example. I

729
00:53:52,231 --> 00:53:55,271
know life at chat, we talked about arenas about four

730
00:53:55,311 --> 00:54:00,923
or five times. You know, you can go from, we

731
00:54:00,963 --> 00:54:05,403
cut up our old 25 million in 2001 and how

732
00:54:05,403 --> 00:54:09,723
to arena. Now we're talking the 160 million for the

733
00:54:09,723 --> 00:54:13,003
whole complex in the Recoration Master Plan. So things change

734
00:54:13,024 --> 00:54:15,803
over time. And you need to weigh that cost of

735
00:54:15,824 --> 00:54:19,383
debt versus the cost of not building and not, uh,

736
00:54:19,383 --> 00:54:21,723
and, uh, I guess the other part that's proven in

737
00:54:21,723 --> 00:54:26,958
the asset management, our assets are aging. And we can't

738
00:54:27,379 --> 00:54:32,491
let them all. Get old at the same time or

739
00:54:32,512 --> 00:54:34,331
how, how could you possibly, you know, we do have

740
00:54:34,371 --> 00:54:37,211
limits on what we can borrow and the, uh, payments

741
00:54:37,251 --> 00:54:40,331
on debt that we can make. So you got to

742
00:54:40,331 --> 00:54:45,238
keep up on your assets. Um. We're, our balance sheet

743
00:54:45,259 --> 00:54:47,078
is telling us now's the time to invest in Chad

744
00:54:47,118 --> 00:54:50,918
of Kent and, and invest in many of our aging

745
00:54:50,958 --> 00:54:55,926
assets. To Council to cite hell. Great. And I will

746
00:54:55,926 --> 00:54:58,406
just, um, put a plug in for the capital project

747
00:54:58,827 --> 00:55:00,966
explorer that's in our life budget tool, which is a

748
00:55:00,966 --> 00:55:03,366
really great way for residents to see all of the

749
00:55:03,406 --> 00:55:06,806
different projects that we're investing in all at once. Um,

750
00:55:07,067 --> 00:55:14,806
last question. Thank you, Markannef. Um, you mentioned, uh, generating

751
00:55:14,827 --> 00:55:19,686
revenue from non tax sources. So can you talk about,

752
00:55:19,686 --> 00:55:22,566
uh, what you mean by that. And if there are

753
00:55:22,606 --> 00:55:27,206
other non tax revenue generating sources that could be in

754
00:55:27,246 --> 00:55:30,366
our future without it being user fees, because I think

755
00:55:30,667 --> 00:55:34,886
outside of our taxes are a concern user fees is

756
00:55:34,926 --> 00:55:39,526
another concern that we hear as, um, council. Yeah. Crack.

757
00:55:39,526 --> 00:55:41,766
User fees are the next largest group. And that includes

758
00:55:42,027 --> 00:55:45,366
the PUC water and wastewater eights. User fees are of

759
00:55:45,366 --> 00:55:49,468
course are in the next highest one. Of course, ideally,

760
00:55:49,468 --> 00:55:54,888
uh, back downper level government grants, um, having predictable, uh,

761
00:55:55,889 --> 00:56:00,995
long - term permanent funding in place. You know, we

762
00:56:01,035 --> 00:56:06,275
talked at this Council many times about the OCIF cap,

763
00:56:06,275 --> 00:56:10,073
for example. You know, we're messing out with on 19.

764
00:56:10,073 --> 00:56:13,993
3 million dollars a year. What a change that would

765
00:56:13,993 --> 00:56:17,993
make and reinvesting into Chattanoogan if we knew for the

766
00:56:17,993 --> 00:56:20,504
next decade, we had that money coming in. Um, but

767
00:56:20,525 --> 00:56:24,024
then the other non sourced. So the, uh, our Vespa

768
00:56:24,064 --> 00:56:27,225
portfolio is one of them. Um, that we talked about,

769
00:56:27,225 --> 00:56:29,945
but, but then there's, uh, that was the whole idea

770
00:56:30,126 --> 00:56:33,465
of the, uh, waste energy plant was to even increase

771
00:56:33,566 --> 00:56:37,920
more. Uh, on those returns above what we're making on

772
00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:43,440
our current investment portfolio to have new revenues, uh, to

773
00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:47,629
displace the need for increased access. Uh, we need to

774
00:56:47,970 --> 00:56:54,755
keep on exploring. Any of those possibilities. Naming rights, uh,

775
00:56:54,956 --> 00:57:00,459
all, all those types of non tax sources. Great. Thank

776
00:57:00,459 --> 00:57:02,779
you for the presentation and for your responses to my

777
00:57:02,880 --> 00:57:08,065
questions. Councillor Anderson followed by Councillor Zakatchi. Thank you, Mr.

778
00:57:08,065 --> 00:57:10,565
Mayor and through you. Um, thank you for that. I

779
00:57:10,586 --> 00:57:14,485
just want to kind of piggyback off of Councillor Harrigan

780
00:57:14,506 --> 00:57:19,925
quickly to better understand. So our healthy reserve versus debt

781
00:57:19,946 --> 00:57:22,165
gives us better borrowing power to get up to that

782
00:57:22,346 --> 00:57:24,645
900 million dollars should we ever need it. Is that

783
00:57:24,645 --> 00:57:30,389
correct? Cracked. Uh, we get most of our boring through

784
00:57:30,429 --> 00:57:33,749
infrastructure on trail, but, but to do that, it's not

785
00:57:33,789 --> 00:57:38,069
only that municipal debt limit that we flashed on the

786
00:57:38,069 --> 00:57:44,149
screen. But it's also the credit worthiness of a municipality.

787
00:57:44,964 --> 00:57:48,303
And, you know, do those that are lending us the

788
00:57:48,343 --> 00:57:53,405
money feel that we're confident. Are they confident that we

789
00:57:53,405 --> 00:58:00,138
can repay those debts? Um. So the credit worthiness is

790
00:58:00,239 --> 00:58:04,058
very important and with no debt or almost no doubt

791
00:58:04,079 --> 00:58:07,328
on your balance sheet. You're really in the ideal spot

792
00:58:08,069 --> 00:58:11,589
to get the best rates you can. Thank you. Um,

793
00:58:11,610 --> 00:58:15,589
and then just so I can best understand when we

794
00:58:15,589 --> 00:58:18,789
talk about not using the reserves and kind of going

795
00:58:19,290 --> 00:58:22,069
into debt. Would that be like not pulling out of

796
00:58:22,069 --> 00:58:26,549
your RRSPs to buy a car at zero percent interest?

797
00:58:26,589 --> 00:58:28,069
Do you know what I mean when you could finance

798
00:58:28,069 --> 00:58:30,629
it over seven years at zero percent? Is that kind

799
00:58:30,629 --> 00:58:32,309
of what we're talking about the debt we take on.

800
00:58:32,309 --> 00:58:34,229
So we have a monthly payment rather than pulling out

801
00:58:34,269 --> 00:58:40,149
of our reserve. That's absolutely correct. Uh, you know, we're

802
00:58:40,170 --> 00:58:43,044
not just here one time. You know, you can take

803
00:58:43,145 --> 00:58:49,068
300 million, spend it on one project. Gone forever. It's

804
00:58:49,169 --> 00:58:55,148
producing a annual income greater than the, uh, costs of

805
00:58:55,188 --> 00:58:59,992
inflation. And, uh, but, but ultimately, you know, some of

806
00:58:59,992 --> 00:59:01,672
those, I do want to say it's not that we

807
00:59:01,773 --> 00:59:05,479
want to keep. 300 in reserves either. Some of that

808
00:59:05,519 --> 00:59:09,559
is building up for specific projects that are on the

809
00:59:09,580 --> 00:59:14,839
horizon. POC reserves, for example, they've been building the reserves

810
00:59:15,100 --> 00:59:20,781
for the last five years. To get ready for some

811
00:59:20,802 --> 00:59:24,461
massive construction projects that they're in capacity issues at their

812
00:59:24,461 --> 00:59:28,781
face with. So, so some of that reserve balances actually

813
00:59:28,821 --> 00:59:34,485
will be. At least allies and that decision made. Going

814
00:59:34,485 --> 00:59:37,205
back to the PUC. Do they draw down half of

815
00:59:37,205 --> 00:59:39,105
the reserves and the rest goes to debt? You know,

816
00:59:39,105 --> 00:59:41,765
they got, they'll have to make those decisions on, on

817
00:59:41,866 --> 00:59:47,605
what, what's the best trade - off between having money

818
00:59:47,626 --> 00:59:51,205
in the bank versus, uh, the size of the debt

819
00:59:51,386 --> 00:59:55,811
that they're issued. Thank you. And, and is it, is

820
00:59:55,832 --> 00:59:59,011
it fair to say that some of those reserves are

821
00:59:59,051 --> 01:00:02,211
similar to an RSP? Well, others you can pull from

822
01:00:02,232 --> 01:00:04,851
quite easily like a tax resaving. Is that fair to

823
01:00:04,851 --> 01:00:07,251
say? And that's why we have it invested that way.

824
01:00:07,251 --> 01:00:12,828
Yeah. Yes. Uh, independent of the amount reserves, we take

825
01:00:13,249 --> 01:00:16,828
an investment strategy. We know we're not pulling all the

826
01:00:16,828 --> 01:00:21,260
money out. In one year. Um, so some of our

827
01:00:21,300 --> 01:00:27,027
investments are a five year investment. Or so. So, so

828
01:00:27,368 --> 01:00:30,547
we're strategically making sure we have enough money available for

829
01:00:30,568 --> 01:00:33,347
that cash flow for the projected spending, you know, if

830
01:00:33,347 --> 01:00:37,187
there's a major PUC plant in 2028 or something like

831
01:00:37,227 --> 01:00:40,387
we got to be able to predict in advance, when

832
01:00:40,387 --> 01:00:43,187
will we need those funds more like your tax re

833
01:00:43,208 --> 01:00:48,288
- savings account. You draw it out really quick. And,

834
01:00:48,288 --> 01:00:51,628
but, but we do have liquidity in our investments, uh,

835
01:00:52,949 --> 01:00:55,568
anything could be cashed out if there was a reason.

836
01:00:55,999 --> 01:00:59,890
To do that. All right. Uh, thank you very much

837
01:00:59,911 --> 01:01:02,690
for this presentation. I know I have endless conversations with

838
01:01:03,111 --> 01:01:05,410
all three of you trying to wrap my brain around

839
01:01:05,450 --> 01:01:07,890
this, uh, I definitely appreciate the work that you guys

840
01:01:07,930 --> 01:01:10,850
do and in how you invest our money and utilise,

841
01:01:10,850 --> 01:01:12,890
uh, taxpayer dollars in any funding that we get. So

842
01:01:13,591 --> 01:01:18,850
thank you for the presentation Councillor Sakacci. Thank you, Mayor

843
01:01:18,890 --> 01:01:23,410
Kenneth, through you. Um, Gordon, in preparation for your presentation,

844
01:01:23,431 --> 01:01:25,410
I read through the BMA study a little bit, talking

845
01:01:25,431 --> 01:01:28,690
about like our debt load, just some copy and paste

846
01:01:28,730 --> 01:01:33,410
here that. So it's significantly, both the average is 686

847
01:01:34,391 --> 01:01:37,810
per person. Ours is around 181. So one thing that

848
01:01:37,850 --> 01:01:41,250
I've always had a hard time with, and I'm always,

849
01:01:41,250 --> 01:01:44,210
you know, open to asking questions that I don't understand.

850
01:01:44,210 --> 01:01:47,490
And there's two of them. So when we're looking at,

851
01:01:47,490 --> 01:01:51,332
um. Inflation, a lot of people look at their taxes

852
01:01:51,673 --> 01:01:54,932
and they say the inflation. So the Inflation this year

853
01:01:55,353 --> 01:02:00,052
is let's say three percent. A lot of people don't

854
01:02:00,713 --> 01:02:05,012
discuss the pressures of, you know, construction, inflation as well

855
01:02:05,012 --> 01:02:09,412
as, uh, raw materials, roads, you know, those types of

856
01:02:09,452 --> 01:02:12,052
things that we're paying equipment and all that. So I

857
01:02:12,092 --> 01:02:15,892
know that when we're borrowing money, generally speaking, you know,

858
01:02:15,892 --> 01:02:17,972
less than 101 from you, you know, my first term

859
01:02:18,012 --> 01:02:21,012
was, it's supposed to be used for like a capital

860
01:02:21,113 --> 01:02:27,492
projects. Um, but when do we from, from, uh, like,

861
01:02:27,492 --> 01:02:30,292
you know, debenture standpoint look at if the Inflation of

862
01:02:30,873 --> 01:02:34,372
roads, for instance, I'll give you an example, Mayor Canef's

863
01:02:34,412 --> 01:02:37,572
motion to, uh, for the gravel road conversion. So we're

864
01:02:37,673 --> 01:02:40,692
actually borrowing money. So for borrowing money, let's say you

865
01:02:40,692 --> 01:02:42,372
were boring at four percent because we have an excellent

866
01:02:42,473 --> 01:02:45,252
credit rating. But the Inflation over the next 10 years

867
01:02:45,753 --> 01:02:48,992
of, of those, that gravel, you know, the cement, the

868
01:02:48,992 --> 01:02:52,132
asphalt, the bridges are actually like 10, 12, 13, 14

869
01:02:52,313 --> 01:02:55,972
percent. That's actually compounding. Wouldn't it make more sense if

870
01:02:56,012 --> 01:02:59,572
we gauge the economy better to say, you know, I

871
01:02:59,572 --> 01:03:03,172
know it might be for operational or life cycle. Do

872
01:03:03,172 --> 01:03:05,092
you ever take that to scale? Because I know generally

873
01:03:05,193 --> 01:03:08,852
when we're having budget discussions, it's all about capital expenditures

874
01:03:09,193 --> 01:03:11,732
one time funding. Those types of things. And I've never

875
01:03:11,772 --> 01:03:15,172
really understood that with knowing that how much, especially through

876
01:03:15,193 --> 01:03:18,772
COVID how much our materials and work went through, went

877
01:03:18,772 --> 01:03:20,772
up, sorry. Yeah. Thank you very much for the question.

878
01:03:20,812 --> 01:03:23,412
So for operating costs, you definitely never want to borrow

879
01:03:23,452 --> 01:03:25,552
because you have the operating costs next year too. And

880
01:03:25,552 --> 01:03:30,132
so now you've added that, that charges on top of

881
01:03:30,553 --> 01:03:33,572
that operating cost if you paid for this year's operating

882
01:03:33,612 --> 01:03:39,092
costs with that. So, but, but for the lifecycle replacement

883
01:03:39,513 --> 01:03:43,092
of, you know, replacing a bridge down a certain road

884
01:03:43,273 --> 01:03:47,572
with the vaccine bridge, um, we, we did have to

885
01:03:47,673 --> 01:03:51,092
borrow as Chatham Kenton early years because we didn't have

886
01:03:51,113 --> 01:03:56,292
anything in reserves. And we had bridges at the Brinker

887
01:03:56,292 --> 01:04:02,108
failure. So that's why the Councils of the day targeted

888
01:04:02,209 --> 01:04:04,988
getting to the stage, which we've been in the last

889
01:04:05,028 --> 01:04:07,708
decade where we're on a pay as you go on

890
01:04:07,889 --> 01:04:12,108
replacing an asset with axiom asset. Um, just, just a

891
01:04:12,148 --> 01:04:15,527
new replacing out all bridge with a new bridge. Um.

892
01:04:16,310 --> 01:04:20,049
But if you're replacing that old Tulane bridge with the

893
01:04:20,070 --> 01:04:23,569
four lane bridge because you're expanding the highway because of

894
01:04:23,569 --> 01:04:27,649
the growth in the new subdivisions happening, that's a different

895
01:04:27,649 --> 01:04:33,729
type of asset. You might have a quarter to half

896
01:04:33,910 --> 01:04:36,049
the cost put aside in reserves that were building in

897
01:04:36,089 --> 01:04:41,661
your lifecycle reserves. To replace the narrow road. But now

898
01:04:41,762 --> 01:04:45,661
you're building something for the next generation for all those

899
01:04:45,682 --> 01:04:47,581
houses that are going to be built in that certain

900
01:04:47,581 --> 01:04:49,981
area when you're winding the road. So that, so that's

901
01:04:50,021 --> 01:04:55,019
the idea of, um. Real Estrategically using your debt at

902
01:04:55,019 --> 01:05:01,014
the right time. Um, basically saving your capacity to use

903
01:05:01,054 --> 01:05:04,214
it when in times like right now, when growth is

904
01:05:04,254 --> 01:05:11,814
happening all over Chatham and our capacities, uh, running out

905
01:05:12,555 --> 01:05:19,894
quickly. So, so if you use that on, if we

906
01:05:19,894 --> 01:05:23,734
had to already hide 400 million dollars of debt on

907
01:05:23,734 --> 01:05:28,186
our books. Just to spread those pay as you go

908
01:05:28,367 --> 01:05:32,426
things that we have over 10 years, you're basically just

909
01:05:33,087 --> 01:05:36,351
adding interest on top of those costs. And it keeps

910
01:05:36,391 --> 01:05:38,991
on spiraling out of control. And you wouldn't have the

911
01:05:39,031 --> 01:05:41,752
capacity. To grow as a community, which we do now.

912
01:05:43,949 --> 01:05:47,128
Thanks just too quick questions. The second one would be,

913
01:05:47,128 --> 01:05:50,648
um, looking at the numbers now, if, if we decided

914
01:05:50,749 --> 01:05:53,768
not to take on any more debt, we would essentially,

915
01:05:53,768 --> 01:05:56,648
I'm just paraphrasing around two years be debt - free,

916
01:05:56,648 --> 01:06:02,124
essentially. We have a vote for tax - based debt.

917
01:06:02,124 --> 01:06:04,124
We have about four million dollars of debt at the

918
01:06:04,124 --> 01:06:08,124
end of this Council term on the books. It scheduled

919
01:06:08,145 --> 01:06:12,104
payments over a four - year period, but in the

920
01:06:12,104 --> 01:06:14,764
grand scheme of things, uh, comparing in the BMA study,

921
01:06:14,764 --> 01:06:17,918
we were basically. You know, we're pretty well debt -

922
01:06:17,918 --> 01:06:19,758
free right now. There's just a few moments. You can

923
01:06:19,758 --> 01:06:20,958
just say that one more time, though, if you don't

924
01:06:20,998 --> 01:06:23,838
mind. We're basically debt - free. Okay, just wanted just

925
01:06:23,838 --> 01:06:25,278
because of some of the narrative that it's out there

926
01:06:25,318 --> 01:06:28,238
right now is the exact opposite of that. So I

927
01:06:28,238 --> 01:06:31,438
think it's important for that sediment to be said, yeah.

928
01:06:32,179 --> 01:06:34,638
And then this last question for me is that where

929
01:06:34,638 --> 01:06:35,998
I do have a little bit of a hard time

930
01:06:36,019 --> 01:06:39,758
understanding is, we don't have to go back to the

931
01:06:39,758 --> 01:06:42,958
discussion about the governance regarding the PUC. But when we're

932
01:06:42,958 --> 01:06:46,558
doing Laker asset management plan, when we're doing the infrastructure

933
01:06:46,739 --> 01:06:53,158
gap, we're including, um, PUC infrastructure in there, where it

934
01:06:53,158 --> 01:06:56,298
gets really confusing when you see this massive number, um,

935
01:06:56,499 --> 01:06:58,878
when a lot of that, that, that money and that

936
01:06:58,878 --> 01:07:03,118
monetary aspects isn't actually tax - based funded. It's user

937
01:07:03,139 --> 01:07:05,158
rate funded. And I'm just trying to, you know, I

938
01:07:05,158 --> 01:07:09,038
don't want to CFO, but just, just a calm and

939
01:07:09,038 --> 01:07:11,838
answer in regards to like, why are we including an

940
01:07:11,838 --> 01:07:14,958
asset that's not technically ours in these because it does

941
01:07:15,059 --> 01:07:18,558
balloon the number and it's not related to actual tax

942
01:07:18,739 --> 01:07:22,851
task asks in the future. A couple of reasons. Um,

943
01:07:23,772 --> 01:07:28,231
only municipal PUC can't borough. It can only immunicipality can

944
01:07:28,252 --> 01:07:32,117
whirl and then lend that money. To the POC for

945
01:07:32,298 --> 01:07:36,435
modern wastewater projects. Um, so it's on our balance sheet.

946
01:07:36,435 --> 01:07:41,795
It's on, um, that provincial, uh, deployment of the 900

947
01:07:41,896 --> 01:07:47,290
million that's calculated. With PUC rates in that calculation and

948
01:07:47,290 --> 01:07:50,970
PUC debt levels. So, so, but, so the province is

949
01:07:50,970 --> 01:07:53,930
looking at us as a whole, um, they're not dividing

950
01:07:54,191 --> 01:07:56,730
it up. Now things like the BMA studies, slice and

951
01:07:56,730 --> 01:08:02,330
dice and split out debt between water wastewater debt and

952
01:08:02,351 --> 01:08:06,490
the municipal debt to get that dollar, um, cause present

953
01:08:07,391 --> 01:08:09,930
in each of those, but that it's basically due to

954
01:08:09,970 --> 01:08:13,610
legislations where we have to, uh, combining it. It's all

955
01:08:13,631 --> 01:08:17,076
one of our financial statements. But there's also legislation on

956
01:08:17,116 --> 01:08:21,956
the PUC first, for example, that water rates need to

957
01:08:21,956 --> 01:08:26,199
pay for a hundred percent of water costs. Prior to

958
01:08:26,420 --> 01:08:30,239
lockerton. There was the opportunity for taxes to subsidize rates

959
01:08:30,260 --> 01:08:33,199
or rates of socialized taxes. It was sort of a

960
01:08:33,239 --> 01:08:35,999
free for all. That's no longer the case since Walkerton

961
01:08:36,180 --> 01:08:38,239
and the lack of investments that were made in water

962
01:08:38,420 --> 01:08:41,999
systems prior to that. Um, uh, so since a walkthroughed

963
01:08:42,039 --> 01:08:46,319
tragedy, it's legislated that those water rates pay for all

964
01:08:46,420 --> 01:08:54,816
water costs, including the debt. Seeing all the questions, one

965
01:08:54,856 --> 01:08:57,056
quick comment as well. I think Council should be very

966
01:08:57,077 --> 01:09:00,548
proud of themselves collectively. That the strong balance sheet we're

967
01:09:00,548 --> 01:09:02,788
passing to the next Council. Does it allow them a

968
01:09:02,788 --> 01:09:07,668
lot of opportunities for strategic investment and strategic direction? So,

969
01:09:07,769 --> 01:09:10,548
so thanks for Council for the network the last four

970
01:09:10,548 --> 01:09:13,908
years for us putting together such a strong balance sheet.

971
01:09:13,908 --> 01:09:17,386
Queen Ford. With that, we'll move on to notice of

972
01:09:17,386 --> 01:09:21,066
motion. I've got five of them, uh, Councillor McDonald's Councillor

973
01:09:21,106 --> 01:09:24,346
Scotchy, Councillor Hall, Councillor Harrigan and Councillor Seagars. I'll go

974
01:09:24,346 --> 01:09:27,973
in that order. Council, Sir McDonald, go ahead. Great. Thank

975
01:09:28,013 --> 01:09:30,613
you. Um, aye Councillor McDonald here by provide notice that

976
01:09:30,653 --> 01:09:33,333
I will bring forward the following motion at the August

977
01:09:33,354 --> 01:09:37,733
10th, 2026 Council meeting for discussion and voting. Whereas administration

978
01:09:37,914 --> 01:09:40,613
has undertaking a review of user fees and the consistent

979
01:09:40,634 --> 01:09:45,413
application of Council proved fee policies. And whereas the First

980
01:09:45,434 --> 01:09:49,333
Ridgetown Scout group and the IODE Ridgetown Confederation chapter have

981
01:09:49,434 --> 01:09:52,533
historically used the Ridgetown Rotary Youth Centre at no cost

982
01:09:52,573 --> 01:09:56,293
for their programs and community activities. Therefore, be it resolved

983
01:09:56,474 --> 01:09:59,893
that administration be directed to negotiate agreements with the First

984
01:09:59,914 --> 01:10:04,453
Ridgetown Scout group and the IODE Ridgetown Confederation chapter to

985
01:10:04,453 --> 01:10:07,413
formalize their continued use of the Ridgetown Rotary Youth Centre

986
01:10:07,413 --> 01:10:10,053
at no cost consistent with their historic use of the

987
01:10:10,074 --> 01:10:13,333
facility and that such agreements be executed by the general

988
01:10:13,373 --> 01:10:17,893
manager, Infrastructure and Engineering Services subject to the satisfaction of

989
01:10:17,893 --> 01:10:23,482
the director legal services. Councillor Scott Chief, Holver Council Hall.

990
01:10:23,482 --> 01:10:27,482
Thank you. Councillor Anthony Sigacci here provide notice that I'd

991
01:10:27,482 --> 01:10:29,802
be bearing into following motion for voting discussion on the

992
01:10:29,903 --> 01:10:34,202
August 10th meeting of Council. That Council discuss areas of

993
01:10:34,223 --> 01:10:38,442
concern for potential placements of additional CCTV cameras and direct

994
01:10:38,543 --> 01:10:42,202
administration to investigate areas of concern by Council and Residence

995
01:10:42,623 --> 01:10:45,482
a report back on potential locations where the installation of

996
01:10:45,583 --> 01:10:50,442
CCTV cameras may provide significant public, uh, benefit, including but

997
01:10:50,482 --> 01:10:53,802
not limited to Areo and Mitchell's Bay in areas that

998
01:10:53,802 --> 01:10:57,722
experience a large influx of people in continued vandalism for

999
01:10:57,722 --> 01:11:02,522
discussion. Be it resolved that administration's last CK Police present

1000
01:11:02,623 --> 01:11:08,042
available options estimated costs, funding opportunities, and any privacy or

1001
01:11:08,143 --> 01:11:13,562
operational considerations for Council Review and Discussion. Councillor Hall followed

1002
01:11:13,562 --> 01:11:16,226
by Councillor Harrigan. Thank you. I Councillor Aaron Hall here

1003
01:11:16,327 --> 01:11:17,986
by providing notice at all. I'll bring forward the following

1004
01:11:18,026 --> 01:11:20,786
motion at the August 10th, 2026 Council Meaning for Discussion

1005
01:11:20,967 --> 01:11:23,586
and Voting. Whereas a priority for this term of Council

1006
01:11:23,586 --> 01:11:26,786
is to improve sustainable mobility and to integrate a complete

1007
01:11:26,887 --> 01:11:29,666
streets design into all right - of - way projects.

1008
01:11:29,666 --> 01:11:33,106
And whereas a sustainable mobility master plan focused on cycling,

1009
01:11:33,106 --> 01:11:37,746
transit, pedestrian accessibility, and roadway infrastructure is underway. And whereas

1010
01:11:37,767 --> 01:11:40,546
several rail crossings exist in the community of Wallaceburg and

1011
01:11:40,546 --> 01:11:43,246
have not been used for rail in several years. And

1012
01:11:43,246 --> 01:11:45,666
whereas a rail crossing on Defran Avenue was paved over

1013
01:11:45,687 --> 01:11:49,986
during a recent rehabilitation project. And whereas community members and

1014
01:11:50,026 --> 01:11:52,626
Wallace were have expressed concern about the condition and usefulness

1015
01:11:52,666 --> 01:11:55,826
of rail crossings across the community. Therefore, be it resolved

1016
01:11:56,007 --> 01:11:58,786
that administration be directed to present an open session report

1017
01:11:58,826 --> 01:12:02,466
to Council on the number of rail crossings in Walsburg.

1018
01:12:02,466 --> 01:12:05,266
Their condition and the cost to remove them. Furthermore, a

1019
01:12:05,266 --> 01:12:08,226
status and property standards update on the rail bridge over

1020
01:12:08,327 --> 01:12:10,466
the Suddenhand River in Wall Street B included in the

1021
01:12:10,487 --> 01:12:14,146
report. And furthermore, administration be directed to prepare a presentation

1022
01:12:14,487 --> 01:12:16,866
in closed session to the new Council about the history

1023
01:12:17,047 --> 01:12:19,106
and current status of the rail system throughout the community

1024
01:12:19,106 --> 01:12:27,931
of Wellsburg. Councillor Harrigan followed by Councillor Seymour Gregor. Thank

1025
01:12:27,931 --> 01:12:30,571
you Mayor Kenneth. I Councillor Harrigan hereby give notice that

1026
01:12:30,611 --> 01:12:33,291
I will bring forward the following motion for debate and

1027
01:12:33,331 --> 01:12:37,371
discussion and voting at the August 10 Council meeting. Whereas

1028
01:12:37,411 --> 01:12:41,371
across the province renovations to existing rental properties can result

1029
01:12:41,392 --> 01:12:44,571
in the loss of necessary forms of attainable rental housing

1030
01:12:44,592 --> 01:12:48,651
for families, particularly the reduction of multi - bedroom rental

1031
01:12:48,651 --> 01:12:52,011
units. And whereas as part of Council's decision to pass

1032
01:12:52,112 --> 01:12:57,131
a rental renovation license bylaw Council directed administration to pursue

1033
01:12:57,392 --> 01:13:01,211
advocacy efforts with the province, recommending a province - wide

1034
01:13:01,211 --> 01:13:05,691
approach to reducing Renovictions. And whereas not all renovations that

1035
01:13:05,872 --> 01:13:09,131
could result in displacement of families from multi - bedroom

1036
01:13:09,312 --> 01:13:13,451
rental units would be an inappropriate renoviction, but may still

1037
01:13:13,472 --> 01:13:16,891
result in the loss of attainable housing options for Chatham

1038
01:13:16,992 --> 01:13:20,811
Kent citizens. And whereas Chatham Kent Municipal Council is not

1039
01:13:20,992 --> 01:13:25,211
fully in control of decisions related to conversion or renovation

1040
01:13:25,232 --> 01:13:28,091
of rental units due to the powers conferred by the

1041
01:13:28,272 --> 01:13:31,051
province on the Landlord Tenant Board and the Ontario Lands

1042
01:13:31,091 --> 01:13:35,771
Tribunal. Now therefore Council Direct Administration to pursue Advocacy to

1043
01:13:35,771 --> 01:13:39,211
the province, seeking a provincial wide strategy to avoid the

1044
01:13:39,312 --> 01:13:42,491
loss of multi - bedroom rental properties to help ensure

1045
01:13:42,992 --> 01:13:48,599
ongoing availability of these attainable rental housing forms. Councillor C.

1046
01:13:48,599 --> 01:13:52,713
McGregor. Um, I hereby bring notice of motion to come

1047
01:13:52,713 --> 01:13:56,369
to the August 10th meeting for discussion and voting. Whereas

1048
01:13:56,369 --> 01:14:00,849
the Aloe Stonehouse or Lou Stonehouse, pedestrian bridge in the

1049
01:14:00,889 --> 01:14:03,249
Community of Walsburg has been vandalized for the second time

1050
01:14:03,270 --> 01:14:08,209
this year, resulting in significant damage to the electrical infrastructure

1051
01:14:08,470 --> 01:14:11,489
that operates the bridge and renders the Lyft Span in

1052
01:14:11,670 --> 01:14:16,689
ARProl. And whereas repeated acts of vandalism against critical municipal

1053
01:14:16,710 --> 01:14:21,169
infrastructure result in increased costs to taxpayers, disruption to public

1054
01:14:21,270 --> 01:14:25,249
access and impact to community events and services. Now therefore

1055
01:14:25,670 --> 01:14:28,929
be it resolved that administration be directed to prepare a

1056
01:14:28,929 --> 01:14:33,489
report outlining options, costs, and recommendations for enhanced security measures

1057
01:14:33,750 --> 01:14:39,009
at the Lou Stonehouse pedestrian bridge following the repeated incidents

1058
01:14:39,030 --> 01:14:43,649
of vandalism, including but not limited to improve surveillance, access

1059
01:14:43,670 --> 01:14:48,289
controls, lighting, intrusion detection, physical security enhancement, and any other

1060
01:14:48,329 --> 01:14:53,729
measures deemed appropriate to protect the critical municipal infrastructure and

1061
01:14:53,729 --> 01:14:57,169
further that the report include estimated costs associated with the

1062
01:14:57,350 --> 01:15:02,449
recent vandalism, anticipated repair timelines, potential funding sources for both

1063
01:15:02,630 --> 01:15:07,889
repairs and any recommended security enhancements and any operational impacts

1064
01:15:08,150 --> 01:15:11,009
resulting from the bridge being out of service and an

1065
01:15:11,009 --> 01:15:14,769
estimated timeline for returning the report to Council for consideration.

1066
01:15:14,769 --> 01:15:16,609
And I hope when it comes back for discussion that

1067
01:15:16,649 --> 01:15:18,849
I can pull a couple of those things because it's

1068
01:15:18,849 --> 01:15:21,809
been repaired by the time I get back here in

1069
01:15:21,849 --> 01:15:25,249
August. So thank you. Hey, we'll go to close session

1070
01:15:25,249 --> 01:15:28,529
reports. Councillor Hall and the Councillor McDonald, can I get

1071
01:15:28,529 --> 01:15:31,489
you the second? Thank you Mayor Kat. If confidentiality and

1072
01:15:31,489 --> 01:15:33,569
close session meetings, close session meetings of Councillor held to

1073
01:15:33,609 --> 01:15:36,289
discuss sensitive matters such as legal issues, personnel matters or

1074
01:15:36,329 --> 01:15:39,969
property negotiations. These sessions are governed by strict companiantiality to

1075
01:15:39,990 --> 01:15:43,569
protect the interests of the municipality and individuals involved. Council

1076
01:15:43,569 --> 01:15:45,889
members and staff are legally and ethically bound to maintain

1077
01:15:45,929 --> 01:15:51,009
discretion and any disclosure information discussed in close session may

1078
01:15:51,030 --> 01:15:54,369
result in penalties or legal consequences. I have three reports.

1079
01:15:54,369 --> 01:15:59,089
Mayor Caneff, closed session report for from Monday June 22nd

1080
01:15:59,110 --> 01:16:03,249
Council received information on labour relations or contract negotiations with

1081
01:16:03,289 --> 01:16:07,889
regard to EMS contract adjustment section 2392D of the Municipal

1082
01:16:07,929 --> 01:16:11,809
Act Labour Relations or Contract Negotiations with regard to fire

1083
01:16:11,830 --> 01:16:16,449
response in Wallaceburg Section 239 2D of the Municipal Act.

1084
01:16:16,449 --> 01:16:19,809
Council directed administration on proposed disposition of land by the

1085
01:16:19,849 --> 01:16:24,929
Municipality with regard to offered a purchase PIN - 00938

1086
01:16:25,270 --> 01:16:29,569
1076 Second Street Irio. Section 239 to sea of the

1087
01:16:29,590 --> 01:16:32,801
Municipal Act. Litigation and advice that a subject is solicitor

1088
01:16:32,841 --> 01:16:36,961
client privilege with regard to OLT Appeal 49 Taylor Av

1089
01:16:36,982 --> 01:16:40,721
Chatham, section 239 to E and F of Myst Black.

1090
01:16:42,147 --> 01:16:47,166
Close session report from Monday, July 13th, 2026. Council direct

1091
01:16:47,347 --> 01:16:51,006
administration on proposed disposition of land by the Municipality with

1092
01:16:51,027 --> 01:16:55,726
regard to offer to purchase PIN - 00938 - 1079

1093
01:16:56,227 --> 01:16:59,646
5th Street Community of Irio Section 239 2C of the

1094
01:16:59,686 --> 01:17:03,406
Municipal Act proposed disposition of land by the Municipality with

1095
01:17:03,427 --> 01:17:09,806
regard to offered a purchase. PIN 00938 1080 Samson Street

1096
01:17:09,806 --> 01:17:13,166
Community of Irio Section 239 2C of the Municipal Act.

1097
01:17:15,180 --> 01:17:17,879
Proposed disposition of land by the Municipality and advice that

1098
01:17:17,919 --> 01:17:22,439
is subject to solicitor client privilege with regard to properties

1099
01:17:22,620 --> 01:17:27,200
in Bothwell Section 239 2C of the Municipal Act. Proposed

1100
01:17:27,541 --> 01:17:30,960
acquisition of land by the Municipality and a position planned

1101
01:17:30,960 --> 01:17:34,400
procedure or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried

1102
01:17:34,421 --> 01:17:37,520
on by or on behalf of the municipality with regard

1103
01:17:37,520 --> 01:17:41,520
to strategic future land needs Section 239 to see and

1104
01:17:41,560 --> 01:17:44,667
K of the Municipal Act. And finally close session report

1105
01:17:44,688 --> 01:17:50,720
from today Monday, July 27th, 2026. Council directed administration on

1106
01:17:50,821 --> 01:17:53,680
litigation and advice that is subject to solicitor client privilege

1107
01:17:54,181 --> 01:17:58,560
with regard to OLT appeal nine Sarah Crescent Chatham section

1108
01:17:58,661 --> 01:18:04,080
239 2D of the Municipal Act and Section 239 2ENF

1109
01:18:04,261 --> 01:18:09,044
of the MISCLACT. And I so move, Mr. Kenneth. And

1110
01:18:09,084 --> 01:18:15,212
I'll second. Any questions seeing non - product vote. Councillor

1111
01:18:15,233 --> 01:18:24,578
Allen. Although you're in motion passes 15 to 0.

1112
01:18:25,727 --> 01:18:28,426
Communication items Councillor Doyle and Council Juvenile. Going to get

1113
01:18:28,426 --> 01:18:31,524
you to move those please. I move those. And so

1114
01:18:31,705 --> 01:18:37,595
seconded. Any questions. Anyone opposed motion carries non - agenda

1115
01:18:37,635 --> 01:18:44,608
business. Councillor Story. Thank you Mr. Chair. I know we

1116
01:18:44,629 --> 01:18:47,248
ran out of time at our last meeting. So the

1117
01:18:47,349 --> 01:18:49,888
timeframe's a little shorter for this, but I wanted just

1118
01:18:49,888 --> 01:18:53,888
to flag for folks that the ERO, the Environmental Restrict

1119
01:18:53,888 --> 01:18:59,728
of Ontario posting for the anaerobic digester, uh, waste disposal

1120
01:18:59,909 --> 01:19:03,728
project with municipality of Chatham Kent and Greenfield Global has

1121
01:19:03,728 --> 01:19:08,097
been reopened. For an additional 30 days because there was

1122
01:19:08,358 --> 01:19:14,235
discrepancy in the ERO posting. Which was brought to their

1123
01:19:14,235 --> 01:19:17,675
attention. So just as a quick recap for that, the

1124
01:19:17,936 --> 01:19:22,795
facility is now proposed to operate 24 hours a day,

1125
01:19:22,795 --> 01:19:25,195
seven days a week while receiving waste and truck traffic

1126
01:19:25,235 --> 01:19:28,555
between 8 a. m. and 7 p. m. seven days

1127
01:19:28,656 --> 01:19:34,755
per week. So it's been open for, it was open,

1128
01:19:34,755 --> 01:19:38,115
an additional reopened, sorry, reopened for an additional 30 days

1129
01:19:38,776 --> 01:19:41,555
start in June 29th. Unfortunately, we weren't at Council for

1130
01:19:41,736 --> 01:19:46,195
me to flag that. So it closes July 29th, which

1131
01:19:46,456 --> 01:19:48,995
is in two days. So hopefully if you have any

1132
01:19:48,995 --> 01:19:51,555
other comments that you are, you may not have been

1133
01:19:51,595 --> 01:19:54,035
able to share the first time it is back open

1134
01:19:54,216 --> 01:19:58,675
for public comment until July 29th on the Environmental Registry

1135
01:19:58,696 --> 01:20:04,315
of Ontario website. Thank you very much. Mr. Taylor, is

1136
01:20:04,315 --> 01:20:06,838
there anything you want to clarify with the ERO. Or

1137
01:20:07,179 --> 01:20:11,273
this title. Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. Yeah. Uh, Dave

1138
01:20:11,294 --> 01:20:14,073
Taylor, Deputy CAO, one of the staff working on this

1139
01:20:14,094 --> 01:20:18,073
project. Yeah. So I think the wording in the ERO

1140
01:20:18,113 --> 01:20:20,713
posting does describe it as reopen, but it's really an

1141
01:20:20,753 --> 01:20:23,273
extension of time is what's happened here. So there is

1142
01:20:23,273 --> 01:20:26,313
that opportunity as Councillor Story summarized for, uh, citizens to

1143
01:20:26,353 --> 01:20:31,833
provide their comments. Uh, through that posting. And, um, there

1144
01:20:31,854 --> 01:20:33,753
was, you know, I think the way that it's described

1145
01:20:33,774 --> 01:20:36,773
on the, on the posting is that there were, um,

1146
01:20:36,894 --> 01:20:39,673
clarification of the hours of operation and the type of

1147
01:20:39,694 --> 01:20:42,233
waste disposal site. And so the ministry made the determination

1148
01:20:42,273 --> 01:20:44,793
that they wanted to, uh, leave that period of time

1149
01:20:44,894 --> 01:20:47,993
open for further comment from, uh, from the public. So,

1150
01:20:47,993 --> 01:20:51,753
um, certainly that, that period is open as Councillor story

1151
01:20:51,793 --> 01:20:58,234
indicated until July 29th. Thank you. I'm literally reading what

1152
01:20:58,234 --> 01:21:01,087
the MEC sent me. So I'm just not, I'm not

1153
01:21:01,087 --> 01:21:03,007
trying to editorialize. I'm just reading what was sent to

1154
01:21:03,007 --> 01:21:07,067
me. Thank you. Councillor Seymour Gregor. Thank you. And, uh,

1155
01:21:07,067 --> 01:21:09,887
I just wanted to send out an invitation to all

1156
01:21:09,908 --> 01:21:13,967
of Council and all of the communities that the weekend

1157
01:21:14,148 --> 01:21:18,487
before our next Council meeting is Wambo in Wallaceburg. So

1158
01:21:18,487 --> 01:21:23,327
the Wolfsburg Antique Boat Motor celebration that we have had,

1159
01:21:23,327 --> 01:21:26,447
I think we're heading into and Councillor Hall can correct

1160
01:21:26,487 --> 01:21:29,167
me. I think we're heading into year 31 in our

1161
01:21:29,167 --> 01:21:33,407
community. It's the biggest event that happens within our community

1162
01:21:33,588 --> 01:21:35,327
in the summer. And it's always great. There's so much

1163
01:21:35,428 --> 01:21:38,527
entertainment things to do. And I do hear, if you

1164
01:21:38,527 --> 01:21:41,887
have children or whatever, we do have a, it's an

1165
01:21:41,887 --> 01:21:44,127
animated, it's a raffi experience that is going to be

1166
01:21:44,228 --> 01:21:47,807
happening in, in the park early on Saturday morning, which

1167
01:21:47,807 --> 01:21:51,007
should be a really neat and different addition to WAMBO

1168
01:21:51,047 --> 01:21:53,087
this year. But, um, so if you're out and about

1169
01:21:53,127 --> 01:21:57,958
and around, great time to come to Wallaceburg. Thanks. Councillor

1170
01:21:57,998 --> 01:22:03,412
Juvenville. Thank you Mayor Canif. I just have, um, two

1171
01:22:03,452 --> 01:22:06,932
questions or issues that I just, just seeking further information

1172
01:22:07,433 --> 01:22:10,852
or clarification on. I've been contacted by residents of Dresden

1173
01:22:11,193 --> 01:22:15,012
on two separate issues. Uh, the first one is just,

1174
01:22:15,012 --> 01:22:19,252
um, there are homeless individuals living in Dresden. So a

1175
01:22:19,252 --> 01:22:22,352
lot of people have been reaching out with concerns. Um,

1176
01:22:22,873 --> 01:22:25,972
so just wondering if we can get an update on

1177
01:22:27,353 --> 01:22:31,172
how the homeless issue is, is being addressed in Dresden

1178
01:22:32,153 --> 01:22:37,812
and confirmation that, um, there are no suitable locations in

1179
01:22:37,833 --> 01:22:41,652
Dresden for any type of encampment. So that's the first

1180
01:22:42,313 --> 01:22:46,933
question I have. I think.

1181
01:23:49,205 --> 01:23:54,464
Okay. Thanks, Judy. Uh, sorry, Jodi. One more question for

1182
01:23:54,464 --> 01:23:59,184
people, if, if the situation presents itself again, what is

1183
01:23:59,184 --> 01:24:04,064
the best, what should people do if they have questions

1184
01:24:04,165 --> 01:24:09,104
or concerns? What's their best method of communicating what their

1185
01:24:09,104 --> 01:24:17,473
concerns are. You're pleased direct any concerned residents to contact

1186
01:24:17,974 --> 01:24:21,553
311 so that we can log the information. We can

1187
01:24:21,553 --> 01:24:24,833
track the information and the information gets sent directly to

1188
01:24:24,934 --> 01:24:28,193
the staff so that we can, um, appropriately action that

1189
01:24:28,233 --> 01:24:31,553
information. So if we could ask people to contact 311,

1190
01:24:31,553 --> 01:24:34,647
that would be wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Judy. Oh

1191
01:24:34,687 --> 01:24:39,714
my goodness. Sorry. Jodi. Sorry. It's not even a long

1192
01:24:39,754 --> 01:24:43,934
meeting. Okay. Thank you, Jodi. Uh, my second question, um,

1193
01:24:43,934 --> 01:24:48,354
I have been contacted by, uh, different individuals from Dresden

1194
01:24:49,255 --> 01:24:55,154
who indicated that, uh, trucks as in like tractor trailers

1195
01:24:56,455 --> 01:25:01,874
with a cube trailer and tanker trucks were driving through

1196
01:25:02,775 --> 01:25:07,600
Dresden. Again, this is all secondary information coming to me.

1197
01:25:07,600 --> 01:25:11,480
Um, they potentially were York One trucks. I don't know

1198
01:25:11,480 --> 01:25:13,920
if that is, I don't know if that's been confirmed

1199
01:25:13,941 --> 01:25:17,720
or anything. Um, and they were speeding. So again, I

1200
01:25:17,720 --> 01:25:23,430
guess their questions and concerns are maybe wrapping around. The

1201
01:25:23,451 --> 01:25:26,710
knowledge previously that we were informed that there were proposed

1202
01:25:27,131 --> 01:25:30,950
truck routes from York 1. And none of those truck

1203
01:25:30,990 --> 01:25:33,990
routes had indicated that they would be coming through Dresden

1204
01:25:34,011 --> 01:25:38,150
proper. So people are just reaching out asking, are these

1205
01:25:38,171 --> 01:25:40,870
trucks going to be going through Dresden? Were they York

1206
01:25:40,910 --> 01:25:45,058
one trucks. Um, and I didn't really have any answers.

1207
01:25:45,058 --> 01:25:49,866
So. Mr. Duben, go ahead. Yeah. Perhaps I can address

1208
01:25:49,906 --> 01:25:54,746
that. So, um, the report that there were some trucks

1209
01:25:55,007 --> 01:25:57,226
in Dresden was brought to my attention. We sent out

1210
01:25:57,727 --> 01:26:02,326
folks from our Bila or our building enforcement group. And

1211
01:26:02,367 --> 01:26:05,386
they didn't see any trucking activity happening on the York

1212
01:26:05,426 --> 01:26:07,066
one side at all. Uh, they will be heading out

1213
01:26:07,106 --> 01:26:10,426
there again tomorrow. Just make sure. Um, so it's hard

1214
01:26:10,426 --> 01:26:13,706
to speculate. We also checked with CK Police and they

1215
01:26:13,706 --> 01:26:16,986
didn't have any other complaints of from anyone that the

1216
01:26:17,026 --> 01:26:20,566
traffic concerns in Dresden was speeding trucks or stuff. I'm

1217
01:26:20,566 --> 01:26:22,186
not saying it didn't happen. It's just unfortunately we don't

1218
01:26:22,207 --> 01:26:26,026
have enough information to be able to, uh, identify it.

1219
01:26:26,026 --> 01:26:28,966
So I would just encourage anyone, if he sees, uh,

1220
01:26:29,167 --> 01:26:32,906
vehicle speeding through any community, not just Dresden and not

1221
01:26:32,946 --> 01:26:37,226
related to, uh, to York One. Please call the police.

1222
01:26:37,226 --> 01:26:39,146
Or at the very least, take note of, of what

1223
01:26:39,186 --> 01:26:41,946
kind of vehicles and what time, um, because we do

1224
01:26:42,287 --> 01:26:46,346
have the ability in some cases with CCTV cameras to

1225
01:26:46,367 --> 01:26:48,666
at least try to track that down. So, uh, I

1226
01:26:48,687 --> 01:26:50,906
can tell you there doesn't seem to be any evidence

1227
01:26:51,007 --> 01:26:54,586
that anything was heading to York One. I also saw

1228
01:26:54,687 --> 01:26:56,986
one of the reports which indicated that the trucks were

1229
01:26:57,007 --> 01:27:00,186
on marked. So that doesn't help either because then we

1230
01:27:00,367 --> 01:27:03,066
have no, that's not the person's problem, but we have

1231
01:27:03,087 --> 01:27:05,306
no way of telling for sure. So I would just

1232
01:27:05,346 --> 01:27:07,866
urge the public, uh, you know, if somebody's breaking the

1233
01:27:07,967 --> 01:27:12,826
law, call 911. If you're looking for information, uh, that

1234
01:27:12,826 --> 01:27:15,546
is not sort of, uh, urgent in nature that the

1235
01:27:15,647 --> 01:27:19,626
municipality will have, then certainly call 311. Uh, we are

1236
01:27:19,807 --> 01:27:22,986
continuing to monitor, uh, the Orc One site for any

1237
01:27:23,007 --> 01:27:26,666
activity that's contrary to any uses that they're not allowed

1238
01:27:26,706 --> 01:27:30,106
to perform. And if that happens, certainly council will be

1239
01:27:30,106 --> 01:27:32,346
made aware. And then we'll be seeking direction from Council

1240
01:27:32,386 --> 01:27:35,386
as to what, what steps to take. So, uh, I

1241
01:27:35,426 --> 01:27:37,306
agree with the Councillor. It may very well be that

1242
01:27:37,327 --> 01:27:40,266
I believe last week there was a newspaper article that

1243
01:27:40,287 --> 01:27:43,546
talked about how many trucks may be seen through Dresden.

1244
01:27:43,546 --> 01:27:46,506
So perhaps when somebody saw some trucks, they thought, geez,

1245
01:27:46,506 --> 01:27:48,906
this has already started. So it's possible. Uh, but if

1246
01:27:48,927 --> 01:27:51,706
any more information is out there, our CK Police says,

1247
01:27:51,887 --> 01:27:54,746
has confirmed they're happy to look into it further. Okay.

1248
01:27:54,786 --> 01:28:00,703
Thank you very much. Councillor Anderson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1249
01:28:00,703 --> 01:28:05,663
Um, just two things. First, we're very excited that the

1250
01:28:05,684 --> 01:28:09,583
Hogs for Hospice has decided to, uh, put Wheatley back

1251
01:28:09,623 --> 01:28:13,743
on their route, uh, for this weekend. Um, we're looking

1252
01:28:14,004 --> 01:28:21,823
forward to welcoming about 2000 motorcycles into the town square.

1253
01:28:21,823 --> 01:28:25,263
Um, on Saturday, they'll be there between 12 and four.

1254
01:28:25,263 --> 01:28:27,503
Uh, so please come on out. You'll never see anything

1255
01:28:27,524 --> 01:28:32,303
like it in your life. It's amazing. And I want

1256
01:28:32,303 --> 01:28:33,743
to thank all the volunteers that have put that together

1257
01:28:34,244 --> 01:28:37,823
and that cross collaboration between, uh, the municipality of Leamington,

1258
01:28:37,823 --> 01:28:40,063
uh, and Chatham Kent that has made this possible for

1259
01:28:40,103 --> 01:28:46,340
us. Secondly, a good friend of mine, the grandchief of

1260
01:28:46,340 --> 01:28:50,780
the Initiative Agnesian, um, Linda Debosque, I was having conversations

1261
01:28:50,820 --> 01:28:53,480
with her about the fires that they had experienced. Um,

1262
01:28:53,681 --> 01:28:55,420
the devastation that they had in one of their towns

1263
01:28:55,460 --> 01:28:59,740
called Nami, um, and, and through our conversation and not

1264
01:28:59,780 --> 01:29:04,300
in my, uh, Council role, but in my nurses's role,

1265
01:29:04,300 --> 01:29:07,180
um, I took a flight there and, uh, was able

1266
01:29:07,180 --> 01:29:10,620
to go, uh, with the community, uh, back into their

1267
01:29:10,641 --> 01:29:13,900
town for the first time, um, and I just want

1268
01:29:13,921 --> 01:29:18,540
to bring to light the yes devastation, but also the

1269
01:29:18,561 --> 01:29:21,660
amazing resilience, um, and the spirit of those people and

1270
01:29:21,660 --> 01:29:24,620
the strength that they give. And their outlook on their

1271
01:29:24,620 --> 01:29:27,020
future and on their past and wanting to preserve both

1272
01:29:27,020 --> 01:29:36,089
of those things. So, um, Scodin, uh, Meg Reach. Okay,

1273
01:29:36,089 --> 01:29:39,289
we'll move on to reading the bylaws. Councillor C. McGregor

1274
01:29:39,310 --> 01:29:41,449
and Councillor Krug and he do the first and second,

1275
01:29:41,449 --> 01:29:48,371
please. Happy to move. Second. Any questions anyone opposed motion

1276
01:29:48,411 --> 01:29:51,731
carried third and final reading Council McGrayland Councillor Finn, please.

1277
01:29:53,300 --> 01:30:00,189
I will put forth. Second name. Any questions seeing none.

1278
01:30:00,189 --> 01:30:05,607
Motion carries. We'll move to the Resolution of Council. And

1279
01:30:05,647 --> 01:30:08,407
we're going to have someone who's the birthday boy today.

1280
01:30:08,407 --> 01:30:10,327
He will wrap it up. And this is in lieu

1281
01:30:10,348 --> 01:30:16,007
of us singing happy birthday to you. So moved. To

1282
01:30:16,047 --> 01:30:20,200
the not singing to you. Is that. Councillor Hall. Thank

1283
01:30:20,200 --> 01:30:23,320
you. Um, I moved the Chano Council Council adjourned to

1284
01:30:23,341 --> 01:30:25,800
its next meeting to be held on Monday, August 10th,

1285
01:30:25,840 --> 01:30:28,760
2026. And that Chatham Council authorized itself to me in

1286
01:30:28,800 --> 01:30:30,840
closed session on that day to discuss any matters permitted

1287
01:30:30,880 --> 01:30:37,016
by the Municipal Act. Second, we're happy to make it

1288
01:30:37,016 --> 01:30:39,326
a special meeting just for you. Anyone opposed to wrapping

1289
01:30:39,366 --> 01:30:43,031
it up. Seeing none. Have a great evening, everyone.

1290
01:30:53,782 --> 01:31:02,974
We are your TV. Connect with us. You are TV.

1291
01:31:03,670 --> 01:31:07,126
Truly local. Get ready to roll the dice and make

1292
01:31:07,166 --> 01:31:11,320
some strategic moves in another season of boarded up. Learn

1293
01:31:11,320 --> 01:31:13,320
about a new game that you've never even played before.

1294
01:31:14,424 --> 01:31:17,123
Check your local listings for times and dates only on

1295
01:31:17,224 --> 01:31:23,549
your TV. Hi, I'm Tyler Harwood. A firefighter with Chatham

1296
01:31:23,589 --> 01:31:26,429
Fire. So we are proud to partner with your TV

1297
01:31:26,610 --> 01:31:29,389
Chatham. If you live in an apartment, the extremely important

1298
01:31:29,970 --> 01:31:33,389
to treat every alarm, like it's an actual fire. The

1299
01:31:33,389 --> 01:31:35,949
earlier you leave, the better your chances of getting out

1300
01:31:35,970 --> 01:31:40,161
safely. It's extremely rare for stairways and corridors to be

1301
01:31:40,161 --> 01:31:43,121
smoked filled at the early stages of the fire. Exit

1302
01:31:43,161 --> 01:31:46,721
as quickly as possible and gather outside the building at

1303
01:31:46,761 --> 01:31:49,841
a safe meeting place. Together, we can make Chambton a

1304
01:31:49,881 --> 01:31:53,534
safer place for. You. Another sunny day by the water.

1305
01:31:53,932 --> 01:31:56,311
But it only takes one bad decision to change the

1306
01:31:56,332 --> 01:32:00,071
mood. Botters operating under the Influence of Alcohol or drugs

1307
01:32:00,332 --> 01:32:03,591
pose the same danger and face the same consequences as

1308
01:32:03,612 --> 01:32:07,591
those operating a motor vehicle. They'll lose their license. Face

1309
01:32:07,631 --> 01:32:12,151
buy and insurance increases. And maybe even jail time. Impared

1310
01:32:12,172 --> 01:32:15,191
voting is impaired driving. There are better ways to spend

1311
01:32:15,292 --> 01:32:17,991
a sunny day. Enjoy the summer on safer roads and

1312
01:32:18,172 --> 01:32:26,554
waterways. Arrive alive drives over. We are explorers.

1313
01:32:28,451 --> 01:32:31,470
And at the edge of the cosmos, bound within the

1314
01:32:31,491 --> 01:32:39,249
energies of innumerable sons, we find wonder. And beyond the

1315
01:32:39,289 --> 01:32:42,129
sight of our eyes, in a realm full of boundless

1316
01:32:42,230 --> 01:32:49,954
possibility. We see beauty. By exploring our universe from the

1317
01:32:50,375 --> 01:32:57,101
infinitesimal to the infinite. We discover truth. And the discoveries

1318
01:32:57,122 --> 01:33:01,511
we make will help humanity. Meet the challenges of the

1319
01:33:01,532 --> 01:33:07,045
future. Reach its potential. And create a better world. For

1320
01:33:07,045 --> 01:33:12,720
the generations to come. Join us on the ultimate expedition.

1321
01:33:14,328 --> 01:33:15,587
Be an explorer.

1322
01:33:38,099 --> 01:33:41,518
We now join the regularly scheduled program already in progress.

1323
01:33:51,089 --> 01:33:54,328
In providing safe, clean homes for families and tenants. We

1324
01:33:54,829 --> 01:33:59,208
balance tenants rights with owner rights. Often acting as mediators

1325
01:33:59,309 --> 01:34:02,968
to ensure fairness while holding ourselves to landlords and our

1326
01:34:02,968 --> 01:34:05,932
landlords to a heir standard. But beyond housing, we also

1327
01:34:05,953 --> 01:34:10,152
contribute to the local economy by creating steady work, for

1328
01:34:10,152 --> 01:34:13,772
tradespeople, contractors and service providers, and then helping keeping those

1329
01:34:13,873 --> 01:34:19,620
dollars in Chatham Kent circulating. Um, as our municipality phases,

1330
01:34:19,641 --> 01:34:23,920
housing shortfall up by thousands of units, by 2031, uh,

1331
01:34:24,121 --> 01:34:26,660
every property that gets brought up to code and brought

1332
01:34:26,700 --> 01:34:32,960
up to housing standards is making a meaningful difference. And

1333
01:34:33,321 --> 01:34:36,100
we're investing in housing quality. And we're also supporting the

1334
01:34:36,140 --> 01:34:39,940
workforce attraction and retention, um, because stable and safe housing

1335
01:34:40,361 --> 01:34:43,806
is the foundation for economic growth. Yeah, it is very

1336
01:34:43,806 --> 01:34:46,606
important when we talk to, you know, our network of

1337
01:34:46,787 --> 01:34:52,446
Chambers throughout Ontario and even Canada, you know, those are,

1338
01:34:52,446 --> 01:34:57,326
you know, members who are employing people, uh, locally and

1339
01:34:57,326 --> 01:35:02,582
from abroad. And new immigrants. Um, to candidate and housing

1340
01:35:02,603 --> 01:35:07,142
is a critical issue for businesses to focus on in

1341
01:35:07,142 --> 01:35:12,272
terms of being able to attract a workforce. Do you,

1342
01:35:12,272 --> 01:35:13,792
are you talking with our local businesses.