[0:16] Good evening. This was Horn Sound City Council. Today's date

[0:19] is July 27th, 2026. We are calling the meeting to

[0:23] order at 530 Council. Are any additional business items? Councillor

[0:28] Farmer. I'll have two items of additional business, one about

[0:33] bandit fest, which took place downtown, and one about the

[0:36] poverty task forces municipal candidate, education series in September. Council

[0:42] Merton. Through you, I have one item. It's a media

[0:46] release today on household food insecurity from the southwestern Ontario

[0:51] Public Health Units, and they're called to action. Anyone else

[0:56] seen them that way, seeing them that way, I will

[0:58] have one matter concerning George in college that I'll bring

[1:02] up an additional business. Declarations of interest. Nobody

[1:12] else. I have a declaration of interest by law 2026

[1:16] - 098. It is item 21J, and the agenda declared

[1:21] direct pecuniary interest and declare a disqualifying interest. I have

[1:26] acted for the property owner at my law practice that's

[1:29] involved in that. Thank John, you've got the

[1:38] minutes. So confirmation of Councilman's. Moved by myself seconded by

[1:45] Deputy Mayor Greg that the minutes of the following meetings

[1:47] be adopted as printed. Number one, the closed session of

[1:50] the regular Council meeting held on May 25, 2026. And

[1:54] number two, the regular council meeting held on July 13,

[1:57] 2026. Great, thank you. All in favor. And that is

[2:03] carried number five motion to move council into Committee the

[2:06] whole. Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greg, that

[2:11] City Council now move into Committee of the Whole to

[2:13] consider public meetings, deputations and presentations, public forum, matters arising

[2:19] from correspondence, reports of city staff, the consent agenda, Committee

[2:23] minutes, matters postponed, motions for which notion. Notice was previously

[2:27] given and additional business. Good, thank you. In all in

[2:31] favor. That has carried, so we are now in the

[2:35] Committee of the Hall. Number six, we have one public

[2:39] meeting. At 6A, which is its owning bylaw amendment number

[2:46] 59, part one, plan 16R - 12308. And that's probably

[2:54] the address. And 38 - 6 Avenue west. So if

[3:02] you're here for the public meeting, thank you for attending

[3:04] tonight's public meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to

[3:07] receive input from the public, respecting the proposed amendment to

[3:11] the zoning bylaw as per Section 34. The planning act.

[3:16] In a few moments, the manager of planning and Heritage

[3:19] will present background information regarding the requested amendment. Boeing the

[3:23] presentation, we will hear from the applicant. And then we

[3:27] will open the floor for comments, questions, and feedback from

[3:29] the public. Every person who attends a statutory public meeting

[3:35] required under the Planning Act will be given an opportunity

[3:38] to make Representations respecting the proposed bylaw. All submission materials

[3:44] for this application are available at the City's website or

[3:48] at the Planning Division Counter at City Hall during regular

[3:51] business hours. Appeal rights on a zoning by - law

[3:56] amendment application are limited to the Applicant Public Bodies and

[4:01] specified persons who made oral or written submissions to on

[4:05] Sound City Council prior to the decision being made. Specific

[4:10] persons generally include energy, railway and telecommunications providers. This meeting

[4:16] is an essential part of the decision - making process,

[4:19] feedback received will be considered in the decision of Onsen

[4:23] City Council, an explanation of how the public and agency

[4:28] comments factored into the decision will be included in the

[4:32] notice of passing the bylaw. Where it changes made in

[4:37] a proposed by - law after the holding of the

[4:39] public meeting, council will determine whether any further notices to

[4:42] be given respecting the proposed by - law, and the

[4:45] determination of council as to the giving of further notices,

[4:50] final, not subject to review in any court, no matter

[4:53] the extent of the change made and the proposed bylaw.

[5:00] So with that, I think I had it over to

[5:03] Ms. Bloomfield. Thank you. Three - year worship notice of

[5:07] this public meeting was circulated to the prescribed persons and

[5:10] bodies sent by mail to the assessed owners within 120

[5:14] metres of the subject properties and posted on the City's

[5:17] website and the subject properties on July 2nd. All comments

[5:21] received in advance of the agenda publishing deadline were attached

[5:24] to the agenda. No one registered to attend the meeting

[5:27] electronically. For anyone here for the public meeting, please sign

[5:31] the sign - in - sheet located on the table

[5:33] just outside of Council Chambers. Personal information collected at this

[5:37] public meeting is collected under the authority of the Planning

[5:39] Act and the information collected will be used to complete

[5:41] the zoning by - amendment process, and will form part

[5:44] of the public record. Questions about this collection should be

[5:47] addressed to myself, the City Clerk. If we wish to

[5:50] be notified of the decision of the Corporation of the

[5:52] City of Own Sound on the proposed zoning by -

[5:54] law amendment application, you must make a written request to

[5:56] the City of Owen Sound Care of the City Clerk.

[6:00] Good, thank you. Now we will receive the presentation from

[6:04] the manager Planning and Heritage.

[6:15] Thank you, and through chair. Thank you, good evening members

[6:18] of Council, staff, and members of the public. We are

[6:21] here this evening to hold the public meeting to gain

[6:23] input regarding Soning bylaw amendment number 59, which proposes to

[6:27] permit a semi - detached dwelling on lands municipally known

[6:30] as 1038 - 6th Avenue West and lands legally described

[6:34] as part one, plan 16 - R - 123 -

[6:38] 08. The applicant buries construction and insulation limited is in

[6:43] attendance this evening. The land subject to the requested zoning

[6:50] by two separate properties located just off the intersection of

[6:55] 10th Street West and 6th Avenue West. The first property

[6:59] is municipally known as 1038 - 6 Avenue West, the

[7:03] other property does not yet have a municipal address assigned.

[7:07] Howard is legally described as part one of Plan 16R

[7:10] - 1 - 2 - 3 - 0 - 8.

[7:12] I'll refer to this property as part one for the

[7:14] sake of Expediency going forward. The part one was severed

[7:19] from the adjacent property to the south, municipally known as

[7:22] 10 - 10 - 6th Avenue West in 2025. An

[7:27] aerial photo of the septic land is shown on the

[7:29] slide before you. The lands municipally known as 1038 have

[7:32] approximately 26 metres of frontage along 6th Avenue West, 20.

[7:37] 3 metres of lot depth and 558 square metres of

[7:41] lot area, and currently contain an existing single - detached

[7:45] dwelling fronting and gaining vehicle access VS6th Avenue west. The

[7:50] lands legally described as part one, half - 12 metres

[7:52] of frontage along 6th Avenue West, 20. 6 metres of

[7:56] locked depth and 249 square metres of lot area, and

[8:00] are currently vacant. These lands abut an existing single -

[8:03] de - touched welling with an accessory residential unit to

[8:05] the west on land's municipally known as 10 - 10

[8:08] - 6th Avenue West, and as noted earlier, we're severed

[8:11] from those lands in 2025. Surrounding land uses to the

[8:15] subject lands include to the north and unopened city lane,

[8:19] residential uses along 6th - Aft West, and 11th Street

[8:22] West. To the east, residential uses on the east side

[8:25] of 6th Avenue West and along 10th Street - A

[8:28] - West, as well as hazard lands associated with a

[8:30] slope. To the south, commercial and institutional uses existing on

[8:35] 10th Street West and residential uses along 6th Avenue West

[8:39] South of 10th Street. To the west, commercial uses existing

[8:42] on the north side of 10th Street West. The subject

[8:48] lens are designated West City Commercial under the city's 2021

[8:52] official plan, as well as the Cities 2026 official plan

[8:55] update, which was adopted by council on April 13th, but

[8:59] it's not yet enforced and effect. Medium - density forms

[9:02] of housing are among those uses permitted within the West

[9:05] City Commercial Designation. And this does not change between the

[9:08] 21 and 26 official plan. The lands were sown retail

[9:13] commercial C2 by the City's Sounding Bylaw 2010 - 078,

[9:17] which is currently enforced and effect, as well as the

[9:20] 2026 zoning by - update through SAB - BA57, which

[9:24] is yet not yet in force and effect. The purpose

[9:29] of, or so there are the applicant disproposing to develop

[9:32] the lands for semi - detached dwelling. And the reason

[9:36] for the zoning by allument is that a semi -

[9:38] detached dwelling is not a permitted use in the retail

[9:40] commercial C - 2 zone. As part of the development

[9:44] process, the applicant will submit consent applications to sever 1038

[9:48] - 6 Avenue west into two parcels. The effect of

[9:53] the application is to apply site - specific zoning provisions

[9:57] to the lands to permit the use of a semi

[9:59] - detached dwelling in the C - 2 zone and

[10:01] provide site - specific site in building regulations with respect

[10:04] to law - area. Lot coverage, and front - end

[10:08] rear setbacks. The City Sounding Bylock does not provide sight

[10:13] in building regulations for semi - detached dwelling in the

[10:15] C - 2 - zone as it is not a

[10:17] permitted use. Planning staff have evaluated the proposal using the

[10:22] general residential R5 Stone provisions for a semi - detached

[10:25] dwelling under the 2010 zoning by - law, and the

[10:28] medium density residential R2 - zone provisions under the updated

[10:32] zoning bottle. The requested site - specific zone provision for

[10:37] a lot area, law - coverage, frontage, or sorry, front

[10:41] and rear set - back for the proposed semi -

[10:43] detached dwelling, as shown on the slide. As noted, 1038

[10:48] - 67U West contains an existing single - detached dwelling,

[10:51] which is proposed to be located on the Retained Block

[10:53] as part of the future consent application. The requested zoning

[10:57] by lymphondment will also permit the existing single detached dwelling

[11:00] within the C2 zone and provide site - specific zoning

[11:03] provisions for law - area and fund yards at banks.

[11:08] The applicant has submitted a fully dimensioned site plan in

[11:11] support of the requested Soling by - lamentment and excerpt

[11:14] of which is shown on the slide. Outlined in red

[11:17] and green are the proposed semi - detached dwelling lots.

[11:21] A lot edition is also proposed highlighted in yellow that

[11:23] will sever approximately 0. 88 metres from the Lance Legally

[11:28] Described as Part 1 and convey it to the proposed

[11:31] severed parcel so that each of the semi - detached

[11:34] lots has approximately 11 metres of frontage on 6th Avenue

[11:38] West and 230 square metres of lot area. The proposed

[11:42] retained block containing the existing single - detached dwelling at

[11:45] 1038 is outlined in pain at the top. The applicant

[11:51] tests submitted a complete rezoning application with the required supporting

[11:54] plants and studies as listed here. These items are all

[11:57] available for Review on the City's website under Active Planning

[12:00] Applications. The process completed thus far as it relates to

[12:05] the requested zoning by - amendment is summarized on the

[12:07] slide before you. Notice of complete application in public meeting

[12:11] were given together by posting a sign on the subject

[12:13] property and by mailing to land owners within 120 metres

[12:16] of the property on July 2nd. The technical report included

[12:20] in tonight's agenda is intended to describe the proposed zoning

[12:23] by oilment and outlines the key policy considerations of the

[12:27] provincial planning statement and the county and city official plans

[12:30] relevant to the evaluation of the application. Staff will take

[12:35] the public agency and staff Commons receive through the process

[12:39] and review them in the policy context and the recommendation

[12:42] report, which is expected to come before council on September

[12:45] 14th. Thank you. Good, thank you very much. And next

[12:52] we'll have a presentation from Mr. Crucible Brink of Barry's

[12:56] Construction and Installation Limited. Thank you

[13:06] Mr. Mayor Council members and staff. My name's Barry Crystal

[13:09] Brink, various construction. I'm here, I'm totally in support of

[13:13] this. What staff has written up planners. And I'm here

[13:17] basically to answer any questions if anything comes up. That's

[13:20] about it. Thank you. So next we have comments from

[13:28] the public. So if you are here to speak to

[13:30] this, we ask you to state your name and the

[13:33] municipality in which you reside and state your comments. Not

[13:41] seeing anybody going to the microphone. No one wishes to

[13:44] speak to this. This is your opportunity. Okay. So with

[13:50] that, given that no one from the public is speaking,

[13:54] then I will declare the public meeting closed and continue

[13:57] with the meeting. Thank you, Sabine. Thank you Mr. Caruso

[14:01] Brecken. Next in our agenda at number 7A, we have

[14:08] a deputation from Annette Peddler Executive Director of Safe and

[14:12] Sound with regard to neighbourhood response team pilot project.

[14:32] Thank you so much for having me tonight. As was

[14:35] said, my name's Annette Pedler. I'm the proud Executive Director

[14:37] of Safe and Sound. I've been in that role for

[14:40] about three years now, and I'm here today to give

[14:42] a report on the Neighbourhood Response Team. So, um, I'm

[14:47] also joining me today as Karen Wheeler. Karen was one

[14:50] of the staff, um, and a part of the neighbourhood

[14:52] response team. Um, and so she's going to share a

[14:55] bit about her experience working on the team as well.

[14:59] Um, and so as you all are aware, it's kind

[15:04] of a two - part deputation. So the first one

[15:06] is going to strictly a bit be about the neighbourhood

[15:08] response team, and then we'll move on to, uh, further

[15:10] matters later. But hopefully we can address any questions about

[15:14] the NRT specifically within this time allotment. Um, the purpose

[15:19] of our delegation today is to really let you all

[15:22] know how it went and also to seek a letter

[15:24] of support for an upcoming grant that we're doing to

[15:27] the trillion foundation to have this project funded moving forward.

[15:31] So the team, and I'll also give a shout out

[15:34] to Kurt, who's in attendance today. So he's, uh, he

[15:37] was also on the team. So thanks for his support.

[15:40] But I'll let Karen share now about her experience. Good

[15:46] afternoon Mayor, members of council and members of our community.

[15:50] My name is Karen, and I had the privilege of

[15:52] serving as one of the four outreach workers of the

[15:54] Owen Sound's neighbourhood response team. Before I begin, I would

[15:58] like to ask everyone to take a moment to look

[16:00] around the room. Stats Canada tells us that one of

[16:04] every five people in this room struggle with substance use

[16:08] disorder throughout their lifetime. By age 40, one in two

[16:12] Canadians will have experienced or are currently experienced a mental

[16:17] illness. Mental illness and substance use disorders are among the

[16:23] leading cause of disability in Canada. Those aren't just a

[16:28] statistics. They represent people. They represent our neighbours, coworkers, friends,

[16:33] parents, children, and loved ones. They represent people in every

[16:37] neighbourhood everywhere, race, and every family. When I joined the

[16:41] neighbourhood response team, I quickly realised that the people we

[16:44] encountered downtown were only a visible part of a much

[16:47] larger issue. Behind every person experiencing homelessness, addiction, or mental

[16:52] health illness, was a story of trauma, grief, illness, or

[16:57] circumstances that could happen to any one of us. These

[17:00] challenges do not discriminate. One thing became very clear, we

[17:05] cannot solve these issues by simply asking people to move

[17:08] along. I want to recognise the important work Ray County

[17:11] has done to expand housing and support surfaces. Those investments

[17:15] are essential, but housing and services alone are not enough

[17:20] if people cannot access them. This is where the neighbourhood

[17:23] response team made a difference. Our role was to meet

[17:27] people where they were, both physically and emotionally. We built

[17:30] trust with individuals who often had little or no connection

[17:33] to traditional services. Once that trust was established, we helped

[17:38] connect people to health care, housing, identification, income supports, addiction

[17:44] treatment, mental health services, and other community resources. We walked

[17:49] alongside of people as they navigated complex systems, always treating

[17:53] them with dignity, respect, and compassion. Our work also included

[17:58] many practical tasks that often went unnoticed but had a

[18:02] real impact in our community. We returned banned and shopping

[18:06] carts to local businesses helped people safely dispose of belongings

[18:10] that had become unsafe or at my unmanageable and made

[18:13] every effort to return lost property of the rifle owners.

[18:16] These may seem like small actions, but they improve the

[18:20] appearance of her downtown strength and relationships with local businesses

[18:24] and help preserve the dignity of the people we served.

[18:28] The neighbourhood response team was never just about helping individuals.

[18:31] It was about making our entire community healthier and safer.

[18:35] The neighbourhood, sorry, by intervening early, we helped reduce unnecessary

[18:41] emergency room visits, EMS calls and police interactions. We often

[18:46] prevented situations from escalating into crisis, reducing pressure on the

[18:51] emergency services. Why creating a safer public space for residents,

[18:56] businesses, visitors, and the vulnerable individuals alike. Outreach is not

[19:01] simply compassion. It is practical. It's a proactive evidence -

[19:07] based and cost - effective. It connects people with support

[19:09] before they reach a crisis, reducing the need for more

[19:12] expensive emergency interventions later. I know this work matters because

[19:17] I've witnessed its impact first hand. I've seen people reconnect

[19:21] with health care, obtain identification, secure housing, begin addiction treatment,

[19:26] and rebuild relationships with family and community. These successes really

[19:31] verily make headlines, but they change lies. And every one

[19:35] of these successes represent someone moving from crisis towards stability.

[19:40] Supporting outreach is not simply an investment in social services.

[19:43] It's an investment in public safety, community well - being,

[19:46] and fiscal responsibility. It reflects a commitment to addressing complex

[19:50] challenges without thoughtful, effective solutions rather than temporary fixes. I

[19:58] respectfully ask counsel to support the neighbourhood response team. Outreach

[20:03] is not an optional service. It's a vital part of

[20:06] coordinated response to homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and poverty. It

[20:11] strengthens our community while improving outcomes for everyone who calls

[20:14] Own Sound Home. Thank you for your time, your leadership

[20:17] and your continued commitments to the people of Own Sound.

[20:21] Before I pass things over to Annette, I'd like to

[20:23] leave you with one final thought. You're obvious is someone

[20:28] else's impossible. For many of us, making a phone call

[20:32] filling out a form or attending an appointment, or asking

[20:35] for help seem simple. For someone living with trauma, mental

[20:39] illness, addiction, or homelessness, these tasks can feel impossible. Sometimes

[20:44] the difference between remaining and crisis and taking the first

[20:47] step toward recovery is simply having someone willing to walk

[20:50] beside you. That is what, the neighbourhood response did every

[20:54] day. Thank you. Thank you, Karen. That was awesome. So,

[21:01] um, as is, you can see up on the board

[21:03] here. So, um, the neighbourhood response team, um, they were

[21:07] available as a public service, a publicly through publicly available

[21:11] phone number, excuse me, from the, during the pilot period,

[21:14] which was from November 1st until the end of March.

[21:18] Um, the target area was really in the river district

[21:21] plus, um, and so the majority of, um, the calls

[21:25] were in the river district, but then we also, um,

[21:27] extended it to include some other partners. Um, like Moe

[21:30] Kwadong to be in the catchment, uh, area as well.

[21:34] Um, in that time, there was over 2, 000 direct

[21:38] supports given to individuals on the streets. And as Karen

[21:42] said, um, this was a huge wide range, as you

[21:45] can see here about the different supports in which people,

[21:48] uh, received. Um, and the different, uh, different hands that

[21:52] were, that were offered. Um, because of time I might

[21:56] not read through this Community Feedback, but within the report

[22:00] that was submitted as additional, um, materials, uh, read some

[22:06] of the feedback from different local businesses, uh, the businesses

[22:10] were very supportive and happy of this service. The reality

[22:14] is, is that we need somewhere else for people to

[22:17] call. Um, our emergency services are under a great deal

[22:20] of strain. And it's a significantly financially costly endeavour to

[22:25] call the police every time somebody is on a bench

[22:28] crying. Every time somebody is sleeping in a doorway, uh,

[22:32] every time somebody's knocked over a garbage can, these kinds

[22:35] of things that we can have a community driven solution

[22:38] rather than bringing the police in is something that we

[22:41] need to figure out how to integrate as a part

[22:44] of our everyday community, um, we need a police doing

[22:48] police matters. And those matters are simply not criminal matters.

[22:55] So for this past pilot project, we received 152, 000

[23:00] dollars. Uh, for the program moving forward for a full

[23:07] year, um, is just under 300, 000 dollars. And again,

[23:12] when we look at that, the cost of that, uh,

[23:14] in relation to the other kind of numbers that you

[23:17] can currently call for somebody who will come and assist

[23:19] you, um, business owners and community members, they need support

[23:24] right then in the moment. They need a number they

[23:26] can call and they need somebody who can come and

[23:28] help. And that's what the NRT is trying to address

[23:32] within the community. So as I mentioned, um, the Ethilium

[23:37] grant is our next step. And I think that it's

[23:41] important to recognise that the city could have a role

[23:44] in funding this in the future. Um, but today's ask

[23:47] is for support, a letter of support for that trillium

[23:50] grant. Um, I also kind of want people to start

[23:53] to think about like people walking around to downtown with

[23:59] vests supporting people. That's of many different names. That's also

[24:02] a support of tourism. Um, that's also a support of

[24:06] many things. And so I think that if we look

[24:08] at the future, we hope to have, um, other partners

[24:11] come on board because this is not just supporting homelessness.

[24:15] This is supporting our community in a lot of different,

[24:17] um, ways. So I know I've not left a lot

[24:20] of time for questions, but if it's a quick one.

[24:24] I think we can break the time with questions. Councillor

[24:27] Merton. Through you Mayor, I would like to make a

[24:31] motion that we send a letter of support along to

[24:34] assist for a Chillian Grant application for this project.

[24:44] Just before I recognise that motion, are there any other

[24:46] questions? I'm just thinking about order. For Annette on this

[24:52] issue. Go ahead. Thank you through the mayor. I want

[24:58] to highlight that this is exactly the kind of upstream

[25:01] and non - emergency service response that the Community Safety

[25:04] and Wellbeingwork identifies as being more effective, better for people

[25:09] and more cost effective. And like we heard, let's police

[25:13] do police things. And. I'm curious to, the duration of

[25:21] this pilot was through a really brutal winter. And the

[25:26] report that accompanied as additional information spoke to the physical

[25:31] health impacts of having people without sufficient footwear outside and

[25:37] wet all of the time. Um, I was hoping to

[25:40] just maybe hear some more information about what that large

[25:43] number of wellness and health related interactions. Might look like

[25:49] in the context of it's really cold and people don't

[25:52] have necessarily what they need.

[26:02] Through you, um, Mayor, thanks John for your question. Yeah,

[26:07] I think that the best people to ask that question

[26:09] too is really the emergency room because that's where we're

[26:12] seeing that play out. Um, and the impact is having

[26:17] a terrible impact on our wait times when we go

[26:20] up to the hospital. It's having, um, it's disabling because

[26:27] we had somebody this winter lose both of his legs.

[26:30] Um, and so there's a cost to that, that the

[26:34] community needs to carry forward in a much longer term.

[26:37] Um, homelessness is really violent for people. It's violent to

[26:41] their bodies to be outside. Um, and that violence does

[26:44] carry physical manifestations and certainly, um, the loss of fingers,

[26:51] limbs, toes. That's something that, uh, many of the people

[26:54] here, uh, in support of this project tonight, uh, need

[26:58] to deal with on a daily basis. Um, and it's

[27:02] a burdening lot of different systems around us. And we

[27:06] need to have more socks for people and dry boots

[27:10] for people. Um, the first winter that, uh, before Safe

[27:15] and Son was open overnight, uh, there was a gentleman

[27:17] who was hospitalized for six weeks with frostbite on his

[27:21] hands. It cost our community more to have that gentleman

[27:24] be in the hospital for the six weeks than it

[27:26] would have cost us to fund safe and sound for

[27:28] that year before, uh, to be open. So he wasn't

[27:31] sleeping outside. And so, um, I think that, yeah, thank

[27:35] you for your question. And this is where homelessness is

[27:41] the ripples are really being felt in places that aren't

[27:44] within Safe and Sound. Going this way, no hands are

[27:49] going up. I'll go back to Carol's motion, which is

[27:53] that the staff write a letter to support the grant

[27:56] application. Any questions on that. Um, just without having that

[28:05] ahead of time, I think just to be safe, I

[28:07] better declare a pecuniary interest as I work for the

[28:09] government of Ontario. Okay. Call the question on favor. I'd

[28:18] just like to say that's not something I can support.

[28:21] Uh, the last couple of years we've heard from various

[28:23] people in the community that seemingly don't have a voice

[28:25] through a plethora of means when they talk about, uh,

[28:28] perhaps a moratorium on service provision downtown should be something

[28:34] that we examine. Uh, this is a continuation then of

[28:38] what can become potentially a self - fulfilling circular action

[28:43] where the more, uh, services you provide, the more invitation

[28:47] you have to individuals from outside of our community. I'm

[28:50] looking right now from the By Names list. This is

[28:53] Grey County's homelessness plan or the housing plan. Harden 40

[28:57] people experiencing homelessness in spring, 2026, 39er unhoused, uh, unless

[29:03] it can be mitigated with offsetting costs in the SOS

[29:06] program, which I see does a lot of this work.

[29:09] There's various other service providers in the community. We've heard

[29:13] some great stories from OSHER. They've got the medical practitioner

[29:16] in there in partnership with SOS program as well, providing

[29:22] some of the services. So at this time, I mean,

[29:25] even the comment about police, that should be backed up

[29:29] with stats and data. And information to support it. You

[29:35] can't just make a claim that, um, it's removed of

[29:39] certain amount of call volume. You've got a substantiate that

[29:42] with something. So, uh, I haven't seen that, uh, not

[29:45] something that I can support. Anyone else. Councillor Farmer. First,

[29:52] if the mayor will humor me, I think, uh, the

[29:54] deputy mayor's comments bring up the question of how is

[29:56] the neighbourhood response team different than the supportive outreach service

[30:00] through the United Way. We have people in the room

[30:02] from both of those organisations. And I think it would

[30:04] be helpful for all of us to hear how those

[30:07] two services are different if that's possible. No, we're not

[30:10] getting so long enough agenda anyway. We've got a 10

[30:14] minute that we're beyond. I think it's a straightforward motion.

[30:18] Anyone else wants to speak to the motion. Through the

[30:23] mayor. I'm in totally in support of the motion. I

[30:25] think it's always interesting to me to hear where arguments

[30:29] like the one the deputy made are deployed. We don't

[30:31] talk about oncology patients as flooding our community because we

[30:35] offer the services here. We don't talk about that for

[30:39] people who are seniors who need supportive living and to

[30:43] have that kind of argument focused only on people who

[30:47] are the most vulnerable. I think really just entrenches an

[30:51] idea that some people are deserving of having their humanity

[30:54] recognised and other people aren't. And I think that we

[30:56] should reject that. We're here for everyone in Owen Sound

[31:00] and having more people downtown who are employed to take

[31:06] care of both people and the spaces so that if

[31:09] a business owner does find a sharp or paraphernalia in

[31:13] front of their door when they come in in the

[31:16] morning, that the number that they can call and people

[31:18] who are trained and whose job it is, is to

[31:21] come and clean up where it's not city staff who

[31:23] needs to do that. It's not public health that needs

[31:25] to do that or police. That this is, I think,

[31:28] clearly an asset to our community. And it's much cheaper

[31:31] than calling public health or public works. And I think

[31:35] we would be foolish to not join the Chamber of

[31:38] Commerce and OSHER and all the other community organisations that

[31:44] have said, this is a benefit. It deserves to be

[31:47] supported. And if we're not going to fund that locally,

[31:50] then we should make sure that the people who are

[31:53] willing to run it and do the work to make

[31:54] it happen to meet that obvious community need. Have all

[31:58] the resources that they need in order to be successful

[32:00] in finding that grant funding from other places. Because if

[32:03] we're not finding grant funding for this, here, then we're

[32:07] going to be paying more City employees to do more

[32:09] cleaning. And we're going to be paying more police officers

[32:11] to show up for people who are having a bad

[32:14] day, but not doing anything criminal. I've seen personally how

[32:18] just knowing someone's name and saying, Hey, what's wrong when

[32:20] they're yelling in the street can give them a chance

[32:22] to say, I'm having a bad day. It's the end

[32:24] of the month. I'm out of money. My friend just

[32:26] did something really mean to me. And that conversation can

[32:30] deescalate. Someone who's in distress in a public place because

[32:35] they don't have a private place to be. That's just

[32:37] being human. And I think we should fund more human

[32:40] services and humane services with a letter of support.

[32:54] Come on, this is accounts on meeting. We're conducting the

[32:56] business of the city. It's not a, uh, it's not

[32:59] a stage and a presentation. Go ahead. Thank you. Yeah.

[33:04] Thank you, worship. Just, um, you said the total allegation

[33:08] for the year anticipated costs are going to be 300,

[33:10] 000 to shy of 300, 000. So last year you

[33:14] were in a partnership with Grey County. So I'm assuming

[33:16] you've done this presentation with Grey County. Just, but I'll

[33:20] give you one second because then once you, if you

[33:22] answer, I have to turn mine off. So their presentation,

[33:26] two great county have they offered any level of support

[33:28] as well. Um, secondary question too, that would be. Let's

[33:32] just say you don't receive the Ontario Trillion Foundation grant

[33:36] funding. What does that put in to your plans for

[33:40] next steps? Is that just a request back to council

[33:43] to fund that program? Or will that be a financial

[33:46] request that goes back to the county? Um, that's going

[33:50] to be my, my first part of that. And the

[33:53] second part of that question, I'll just say at the

[33:55] Rupert District Board, we've talked about a downtown river district

[34:00] ambassador program. Um, they have a program like that in

[34:03] Collingwood where someone kind of has that individual who shares

[34:06] that tourism perspective. And I'm just trying to grasp, like

[34:11] when you said, uh, originally in your presentation that, you

[34:14] know, what you envision an RT to look like. Is

[34:18] that what you're leading to that you're looking more into

[34:20] a tourism ambassador component in the downtown core? Or what

[34:24] do you envision this looking like in the future? So

[34:29] two parts of that question. Thank you. And through you,

[34:33] your mayor. So first of all, it wasn't the county's

[34:37] money that funded this. It was flow through money from

[34:40] the county. So it was, it was not financially supported

[34:44] through the countier funded through the county. I did do

[34:47] this as a report to the, uh, Community Services Committee

[34:53] of Grey County. And, uh, I will be seeking a

[34:57] letter of support from them as well. Um, for the

[35:00] Trillium application. Grey County is a large place. And I

[35:04] think that, uh, I don't want to speak for Grey

[35:08] County. But I think that their resources need to be

[35:12] allocated in a wide geographical area. And when we're talking

[35:16] about something that's so specific to the river district, I

[35:19] think that, uh, the first stop is the people who

[35:22] are of the riffroofer district. Um, and, uh, Owen Sound

[35:26] is just one part of Grey County as a whole.

[35:31] And what happens if this is not funded by Trilium.

[35:36] The thing is, is that these community driven solutions that

[35:41] are evidence - based cheaper for our community as a

[35:44] whole. They will always continue to come up as the

[35:48] best solution. And so whether the time is now for

[35:52] this to be funded, maybe it doesn't get funded by

[35:54] Trilium. Maybe it doesn't get funded now. But it will

[35:58] continue to come because we need other supports available within

[36:03] the community. Um, and so if we're not funded by

[36:07] Trillium, then sure, maybe I'll come back and ask City

[36:11] Council. Maybe we'll continue to seek other grants. We'll ask

[36:14] Grey County as well. Like we're not going to stop

[36:17] trying to find a funding path to it. Um, because

[36:21] it's going to continue to be the right solution for

[36:24] our community. So whether it's me or whoever is in

[36:29] the future, it will continue to be brought forward. Um,

[36:34] and then for your second part of your question, I

[36:38] really want us all to understand these services as not

[36:43] a single type of service. When we're having somebody walk

[36:47] around the downtown supporting people, you're not just tourism or

[36:51] you're not just homelessness or you're not just whatever, you

[36:56] know, and trying to understand that integrating these solutions, uh,

[37:01] together, because the solutions that are best for tourism are

[37:05] often the solutions that are best for homelessness too. And

[37:07] so we need to not think of this as just

[37:11] a tourism program in the future or just a homelessness

[37:14] program. Because, you know, alleviating visible homelessness in downtown will,

[37:18] of course, help tourism. Um, and so I think that

[37:21] we need to be a little bit less worried about

[37:25] specific mandates and kind of open up. Um, our ideas

[37:29] about through actual collaboration and partnership. Maybe we're going to

[37:33] be answering actually a lot of questions through the same

[37:36] initiative. Not seeing other, any other hands going up.

[37:46] Um, several years ago, I went to AMO and there

[37:49] was a specialist from. Waterloo Operateer, I think, not Gualford,

[37:55] Waterloo. And Sudbury and they had a whole list of

[37:57] what they are working on, working towards all these great

[38:01] things that we need to do each and every one

[38:04] of those. We were doing in Grey County already. I

[38:07] think Francesca went to Timmons and came back with us,

[38:11] same conclusion. This is just to me one more opportunity

[38:15] to liaison between businesses that I know a couple that

[38:19] get pretty frustrated. I think it's unfortunate that your pilot

[38:25] was between November and March and not between May 1st

[38:28] and September 30th. I think it would have been a

[38:32] little bit different. I thank you do need to perfect

[38:35] it a little bit. But how do you perfect it

[38:37] in six months? So I'm supporting Carol's motion. So that

[38:41] I will call the question who's in favor. One, two,

[38:44] three, four, five, six, num seven. So that's carried. Thank

[38:48] you. So. Oddly enough, seven B is a

[38:58] deputation from a net peddler, Executive Director Safe and Sound

[39:01] Emergency Schelter Facility. Thank you. For not kicking me out

[39:10] yet. So, um, the next thing, speaking of services in

[39:15] the downtown, um, is, uh, Emergency Shelter Facility, um, that

[39:19] we are opening at 6, 12 seconds. So we're going

[39:23] to talk first about going through briefly about what Safe

[39:27] and Sounds Overnight Services have been the last couple of

[39:30] years. Then we're going to talk about, uh, this new

[39:34] facility. And then just going to take a minute to

[39:38] reflect about where I think our community is headed. And

[39:42] also, uh, what role I see the City Plain in

[39:45] this. And hopefully questions. So 2024 was the first year

[39:51] that we were open overnight. And as you can see,

[39:54] those average nightly stays, uh, the biggest month was 24

[39:58] people. Fast forward to this past year. So our third

[40:03] year, um, being a 24 hour service and our number

[40:07] significantly, uh, increased, especially by the end of the year.

[40:11] And, uh, this is obviously a hugely challenging. How it

[40:16] worked up until this point. And we'll get, talk about

[40:22] this a bit more later is that Safe and Sound

[40:25] was the catch all for any system that wasn't working

[40:28] for people. So if somebody is at, uh, the hospital

[40:32] of somebody is at Grey County's motel program, if somebody

[40:35] is in any type of facility. And that's not a

[40:38] fit for them. Uh, we are really where people end

[40:41] up when a system somewhere has failed them. Um, and

[40:45] that's, I think why when I'm thinking about solutions, they're

[40:49] very integrated within a lot of other systems because the

[40:52] reasons in which people are needing to access our services

[40:55] are also very much integrated into a lot of other,

[40:58] um, systems within our community. So about who stays, um,

[41:05] in our space, um, I think that it really needs

[41:09] to be very clear that a lot of the people

[41:11] who come and access Safe Sound services have a disability.

[41:16] Um, are part of some minority, in particular, indigenous. So

[41:20] locally, um, our indigenous population is 2. 4 percent, but

[41:25] in total, um, they were 27 percent of the night.

[41:31] So that means that, um, indigenous Community members were more

[41:35] than 11 times more likely to be needing Safe and

[41:38] Sounds services. And so I think that when we look

[41:43] at this in a longer horizon, we understand that this

[41:47] isn't something that's just the last five years in on.

[41:51] This is something that has been set for, for decades,

[41:54] um, and we're left, as I said, holding a lot

[42:00] of many generations of failures for families. So in total,

[42:08] um, Safe and Sound received from Grey County 435, 000

[42:12] dollars for the operating cost. Um, and so that equals

[42:18] to, uh, with the United States, 71 dollars per night

[42:22] That's not Great Math because that's also accounting for pain

[42:26] for our services during the day, which do have a

[42:28] lot more people, um, than that. Um, but, uh, it,

[42:32] uh, it, it, it's how much, uh, we had. So.

[42:36] So Satan Sound was started in 2007 with the goal

[42:40] of addressing a lack of a housing in the community.

[42:44] And so the next iteration of that is this 24

[42:47] bed shelter, uh, facility. We don't have a lot of

[42:51] time to go through all of the different iterations of

[42:54] what shelters look like. So we're going to have to

[42:57] just stick with, uh, explaining it as a dormitory style

[43:01] facility. Um, and then spots for five other people who

[43:05] will be awake. Um, this will be operational year round.

[43:09] Um, and it will only be open at night. Uh,

[43:12] the main reason for that is that the space itself

[43:14] is not, uh, and once you put in 14, or

[43:22] sorry, 12 bunk beds, uh, quite obviously becomes 12 bunk

[43:27] beds in a room. And that's a challenging thing to

[43:28] have anything other than a sleeping quarters in that space.

[43:32] So we received funding through the federal government of 500,

[43:36] 000 dollars to purchase a building. And that's fantastic. Uh,

[43:41] but obviously 500, 000 dollars doesn't really barely get you

[43:44] a single family home, let alone a building that can

[43:47] be used as a facility for, uh, dozens of folks

[43:51] experiencing homelessness. Um, and so this is the facility that

[43:55] we were able to acquire. So up on the screen

[43:58] now is the plans for the building. Um, I'm going

[44:05] to get into some more zoomed in areas, uh, but

[44:08] basically the, uh, this is the front area here. And

[44:13] in this area, there is a shower, a washroom, a

[44:16] staff office, um, an area, excuse me, where the, it

[44:23] says the staff occupancy. That area will be somewhere for

[44:26] people who are awake. We don't want it to be

[44:29] that. If you're in here, you're sleeping, if you're awake,

[44:32] you're out because that's not being a good neighbour. Um,

[44:35] that's not going to be great for, for someone who's

[44:37] living beside us. Um, so that is where the additional

[44:41] capacity of five people who will be awake in the

[44:44] facility will be able to be. Additionally, in the vestibule

[44:47] area, we have, we give restrictions to people. I don't

[44:52] know if council's aware, but also we give restrictions to

[44:55] individuals for their conduct within the community. So it's not

[44:58] just in the building and on the property. Um, but

[45:01] we do give restrictions for things that happen around the

[45:04] facility as well. And that makes for really, really, uh,

[45:09] challenging moments, especially for frontline staff that are asked to

[45:13] carry way, way too much when it is 2. 30

[45:17] a. m. And I've said so and so can't come

[45:20] in. And then it is minus 25 and so on

[45:24] and so is standing there. And they look like they're

[45:26] about to die. And so this vestibule area will be

[45:30] a way to have people come into the building. There'll

[45:33] be a gate so that they're able to shelter from

[45:36] the elements for an appropriate amount of time before being

[45:39] asked to leave again. Then this is back into the

[45:43] sleeping quarters. So they will be gendered. And in total,

[45:47] as I said, though, there's 24 beds there. Um, there's

[45:49] also a ramp that is going to make it a

[45:54] barrier free facility. And that was on the previous slide.

[45:59] And, um, I just wanted to also highlight in the

[46:02] basement. So in the basement area, because we don't want

[46:07] to have staff very spread out throughout the facility, uh,

[46:11] we have everyone's sleeping on the same level. And then

[46:14] we have one larger room in the basement. And that

[46:17] is where our different partner service agencies are going to

[46:21] all have desks. And the idea is that we are

[46:23] going to stay open until eight o'clock, sorry, nine o'clock

[46:26] in the morning. And then these various partners are all

[46:29] actually going to be able to start their days, uh,

[46:32] from this building to be able to connect with the

[46:35] service users, uh, before they even get out and leave

[46:38] for the day. Um, and that will help cut some

[46:41] time for the hospital's act sort of Community treatment team,

[46:46] the SOS team, um, CMHA, Malequidong's housing program, um, amongst

[46:53] several others. And so I think that some of those

[46:55] letters of support that you received were for some of

[46:58] the partners who intend to be in that space as

[47:01] well. And this is the model that we need to

[47:05] move towards moving forward. This is how being different services

[47:10] coming to the people and meeting them quite literally where

[47:14] they are at. So where's our Community going. In less

[47:20] than two minutes. I think it's really important that you

[47:25] all know that homelessness is a solvable problem. It's a

[47:28] solvable problem in Owen Sound. It's solvable problem in Canada.

[47:32] And there is a lack of belief right now, which

[47:35] is the biggest first problem to actually making that happen.

[47:39] And a lot of both elected people, well most elected

[47:43] people that I talk to don't really think that this

[47:46] dot is a possibility for our community. And I just

[47:50] think that maybe asking yourselves how your distancing yourselves are

[47:54] bringing yourself closer to those solutions. What kind of events

[47:57] are you going to have you ever come and spoken

[48:00] to most of the people in the room here tonight

[48:03] are running some type of a service or working for

[48:07] a type of a service or volunteering. And there is

[48:10] no lack of solutions. Everyone always kind of says, Oh,

[48:13] you must be like so hopeless. And I just keep

[48:17] thinking, I am not hopeless at all because we have

[48:19] not tried many of the very common sense solutions that

[48:24] our community needs. If we tried these things, then perhaps

[48:27] I might be feeling, um, not hopeful. But I really

[48:31] am because the solutions are a lot closer, I think,

[48:35] than people really, um, and so the city's role within

[48:41] this. I think that, um, to do this justice, I

[48:46] am hesitant to start this slide with 30 seconds left.

[48:50] But I think that it always starts with ourselves as

[48:53] an individual. And, um, trying to understand, uh, where is

[48:58] your sphere of influence and what can you do? And

[49:01] what does the City do? And this is where we

[49:04] really ask for more collaboration and partnership. I think that

[49:07] there's a lot of people in the room here are

[49:09] sitting and waiting for an invitation. And whatever that meeting

[49:12] looks like, wherever that is, whatever tour, you know, you

[49:16] all want to go on. We're here. We have solutions.

[49:19] And we're excited and really proud to share them with

[49:22] you. Thank you. Thank you. Andy, go ahead. Yeah. Thank

[49:29] you for the presentation. Um, you've got a plan to

[49:32] build this facility very obviously, but I'm just curious about

[49:36] your operational plan. Um, you know, for example, I couldn't

[49:40] help but read how the slugging shores police have, uh,

[49:43] are planning to transfer folks to Owen Sound for overnight

[49:47] stays. And so my question is, you know, what's the

[49:50] plan if the more people embeds as a result of

[49:52] that, you know, have you thought through these sorts of

[49:55] situations. Do you, your Mayor, I would love to defer

[50:01] that to the people who are a deputy mayor who's

[50:05] sitting on the county council's Community Services Committee. Because I

[50:09] think this is where there's a bit of a misunderstanding

[50:12] of who's doing the role. Like the role of housing

[50:15] people is the role of the state. And we are

[50:18] simply, uh, one service got the state is using to

[50:22] help meet that. Um, and that is what I'm saying

[50:27] and what we're saying today is that for the last

[50:29] couple of years, we have said anybody who needs to

[50:33] place to stay will open the doors. And what's happened

[50:36] is that it's not been a dignified enough service because

[50:38] it's been overcrowded. Um, and we can't continue that. So

[50:43] what I'm here today to say is that we will

[50:45] provide beds for 24 people with it five more additional

[50:48] people who are going to be awake. And then that

[50:50] is the role of the county to answer that question.

[50:55] Um, about what's going to happen. What we're going to

[50:57] do is we're going to call and we're going to

[50:59] say, Hey, does this person have somewhere to stay tonight

[51:02] that can they get into the county's program and they're

[51:07] going to have to address that themselves. They, they rent

[51:10] private motel rooms when the, the motel is at capacity.

[51:14] Um, and so the amount

[51:44] Just so I can answer that question. I asked Grey

[51:46] County staff Anne Marie Shaw last Thursday on the Port

[51:50] Algin and was advised that there was two people brought

[51:53] over in the coldest nights and were returned to Port

[51:56] Og in the next day only two all winter long.

[51:59] So it's not hit Facebook and everyone gets excited. But

[52:04] in reality, it isn't that big ahead. The questions. But

[52:12] that's fine. That's still two people coming. And if it's

[52:15] already full, you're going to be turning those people away.

[52:19] Is that what I heard. Yes. Like we are not

[52:27] going to be overcapacity. And that is not Safe and

[52:30] Sound's responsibility. If Bruce County's unable to meet their housing

[52:33] needs. Thank you, worship. Um, I

[52:42] guess, and just for clarity for anyone who's watching people

[52:45] who aren't a part of your organisation, who you've brought

[52:47] with you along with this, the city is an improving

[52:50] anything today. The city isn't actually, this is just a

[52:53] presentation to inform municipal counsel of what is going on.

[52:58] Um, you didn't have to hold a public meeting because

[53:01] the, uh, zoning, uh, wasn't changing for the property. The

[53:06] property was able to just convert from where it currently

[53:08] was as a daycare into your current facility. So there

[53:11] was no public meeting. I think what begs the question

[53:15] is, are you planning to host a public meeting with

[53:19] members of the surrounding community neighbourhoods? Have you had communication

[53:24] with some of those direct people that are going to

[53:27] potentially be affected by some of that person that you

[53:30] just said you may turn away? That might go to

[53:32] the park two doors down or might go to the

[53:35] mill dam or may move further down the street. Is

[53:38] there been, we talk about transparency. You just said the

[53:40] words right there. Communication transparency. So people are here to

[53:42] listen. Have you listened to anything that's going on with

[53:46] the neighbourhood concerns? I live three blocks away. And I

[53:49] know I haven't received anything in the mail about having

[53:51] a public meeting or a question about what we may

[53:55] see or, and it's not even whether it's, doesn't need

[53:57] to be something negative. It's about perception. Um, perception in

[54:04] reality can sometimes just mean the exact same thing come

[54:07] to the same outcome if you do not have answers

[54:10] or do not provide people the opportunity. So if you're

[54:12] trying to run an endeavour that we know is going

[54:15] to have challenges. That's not kid ourselves by any means.

[54:19] People will be upset no matter what. Some people will

[54:22] be happy. Some people are going to be upset. So

[54:26] what have you done to interact with the neighbourhood that

[54:31] it's going to, just be honest, it will be affecting

[54:35] the neighbourhood of surrounding them in one way, shape or

[54:38] form. And it could be, it's going to be positive.

[54:40] It could be negative. Everyone's going to have a different

[54:41] experience. So tell me, when are you planning to do

[54:44] that. Have you thought about it or who have you

[54:47] communicated with in that neighbourhood. We have met with neighbours,

[54:54] especially the ones immediately around the facility. Neighbours are giving

[54:58] direct input on what the fence is going to look

[55:00] like, for example. I just forwarded what they wanted the

[55:03] fence to look like onto the contractor. So those conversations

[55:07] are happening. I think that we also are going to

[55:10] start a community services, or Community Services. Neighbourhood Committee, one

[55:17] of our board members here today is a spearheading that.

[55:23] I just want to keep in context that, like, Safe

[55:27] and Sound right now, we have me as a non

[55:31] - direct service providing staff. And then we have half

[55:36] of financial manager. Um, and that is who are, where

[55:40] our capacity is that is not a direct service provider.

[55:45] And so this is where in the question of what

[55:47] is the role of everybody around us also that, um,

[55:51] that we need more education and support being done about

[55:55] what it means to have a shelter in your community,

[55:58] not just by Safe and Sound. This is also the

[56:00] role of the city. This is also the role of

[56:03] the county. We're going to have a work to work

[56:07] B's. We're going to have an open house and then

[56:09] a grand opening. So it's, it's not behind a cloak.

[56:12] Um, and also I attend a public meeting like every

[56:16] time. And if you want to ever find out where

[56:18] I work and what I do. Um, and so we

[56:21] are constantly all living also within the community and addressing

[56:25] these issues every day. Um, and yeah. Thanks. And I

[56:35] appreciate that. But that's still, that's just saying I walked

[56:37] on the street and I listened to what people say.

[56:39] I'm going to go back to what I originally, my

[56:41] original comment. If you're looking for a positive success from

[56:45] that, the people in that surrounding neighbourhood, just like you

[56:48] would have done if you had to do a zoning

[56:50] change, you would have defered from people who didn't support

[56:52] and opposed. And more information, this is the first time

[56:55] you get to, you're even having a chance to say

[56:57] this publicly from what I'm aware of built on television

[57:00] and in this chamber to provide the input of what

[57:03] you're doing and what this facility is going to do.

[57:07] And I just think when we start saying words like

[57:10] other people have their ears open and we need more

[57:12] education, that's fair. But where's the space for it? And

[57:16] I think if you're moving into this facility, you haven't

[57:19] hosted a public meeting because you didn't need to. I

[57:23] just think that's a commonly neighbour thing you would want

[57:26] to do. Um, for the success of your facility. Um,

[57:30] and I'm not trying to be mean or rude or

[57:32] anything. But you know, the perception from what's happened on

[57:36] 8th Street. There is a negative perception of something that

[57:39] has happened from 8th Street. Some people agree with it.

[57:41] Some people don't, but that is out there. So if

[57:43] that is the case, you know, if this is something

[57:46] different and it's in a different neighbourhood, I would just

[57:49] have the expectation that you'd want to try to cut

[57:51] that off and try to be as positive as you

[57:53] can, but the solutions you're going to find. If people

[57:55] are moving into those neighbourhoods, what can people do? Or,

[57:59] you know, I think it's just communication, as you note.

[58:02] But I think it was two ways. So I would,

[58:06] my hope would be, before this facility is open, that

[58:10] you've got some sort of plan, that neighbourhood response team

[58:14] or whoever you were just committee, I would hope you're

[58:17] planning to set up something. Otherwise, I can tell you,

[58:21] and I'm not being mean here, but you will get

[58:24] negative feedback immediately. So I just feel like if your

[58:28] organisation to have a positive feel from your organisation, I

[58:31] think you need to have some communication with not just

[58:34] the three people around your facility. Um, it will impact

[58:37] more people. And from my perspective, we have public meetings

[58:42] all the time about things. But I just think that

[58:45] if personally, I think that's, you're going to run into

[58:50] some challenges if you don't do that. Okay. So I'm

[58:54] just looking at the clock at 6. 30 and we've

[58:56] got 12 reports to go. So I'll go to Carol

[59:00] first. Through you mayor. I know,

[59:09] Annette, I sent you an email and I talked to

[59:12] you before the meeting. So I'm bringing forward the question

[59:14] about statistics. As we, as we are hearing this presentation,

[59:21] looking at the statistics you've provided. My analysis is that

[59:26] we're opening a facility that is under servicing the need.

[59:31] Before the door is open, even with the sit -

[59:34] ups, stay awakes. And the beds, the bunk beds. We're

[59:38] not even meeting what you have identified is out there.

[59:45] And we know there is an increase in the unhoused

[59:49] in our area and growing. We're going underwater as we're

[59:55] trying to swim upstream here. The county has an important

[1:00:01] role to play. How do we communicate back. Great. There's

[1:00:07] beds. There's not enough beds. And what can be done?

[1:00:12] What's plan B? Because otherwise, as we know, our service

[1:00:17] agencies will provide what they need to for people to

[1:00:21] be outdoors with whatever's over their head or indoors under

[1:00:25] our roof. And I have a concern that we're already

[1:00:28] under service. Before the winter even arrives. Councillor Farmer. Uh,

[1:00:35] one question for Annette and two questions for staff. Um,

[1:00:39] just quickly, there was a comment about not a place

[1:00:42] for youth. Um, we hear a lot about from various

[1:00:46] sources that the people coming to access services are not

[1:00:49] from here, um, can you speak to that comment about

[1:00:52] youth, um, because to my understanding, the teenagers that are

[1:00:55] here are very much from here. Has safe and sound

[1:00:58] been also providing services to people under the age of

[1:01:02] 18. To answer through you,

[1:01:11] Mayor Safe and Sound has been providing services to youth

[1:01:16] under the age of 18 last winter. When I became

[1:01:21] aware that this wasn't just happenstance that the youth night

[1:01:25] kind of went sideways and they were ending up at

[1:01:28] Safe and Sound. And instead that was the plan for

[1:01:30] the youth to be staying. We made a rule that,

[1:01:35] okay, no more people under the age of 18 are

[1:01:38] allowed in the facility after 10 p. m. The second

[1:01:41] night that was imposed or that was enacted. Youth was

[1:01:50] sexually assaulted in a snow bank, um, in the downtown.

[1:01:53] And so we then the following night let the youth

[1:01:57] back in, um, because the harm that was occurring in

[1:02:02] that situation was a lot worse when the door wasn't

[1:02:04] open to them. Uh, then what it was. Um, of

[1:02:08] course the youth have a significant amount of time to

[1:02:12] Grey County, but so does, so too does the adults,

[1:02:16] um, who access our services as well. Um, we did

[1:02:19] a poll last summer of everywhere everyone went to high

[1:02:23] school in over 90 percent of the people in attendance

[1:02:26] at Safe and Sound for that one week period had

[1:02:29] gone to high school in Grey or Bruce County. Um,

[1:02:32] and, uh, so this is really, uh, Owen Sound and

[1:02:38] local area, um, folks who are accessing the service. And

[1:02:42] also to address councillor Mertens question about the, I think

[1:02:47] that I partly answered that with there will be people

[1:02:50] being turned away, um, and yes, I am actually quite

[1:02:54] tepid on the plan in that it is not meeting

[1:02:57] the full need. This is where it comes back to.

[1:02:59] We got 500, 000 dollars and that is in enough

[1:03:02] to address this problem in full. The answer to that

[1:03:06] and what, um, I think that we all need as

[1:03:08] a community to start to talk about is a purpose

[1:03:10] - built facility that is integrating medical beds. A lot

[1:03:15] of the people who are accessing safe and sound services

[1:03:17] are in medical conditions that are not, um, honestly, probably

[1:03:22] believable for a lot of people about the kind of

[1:03:25] support they need from PSWs and nursing. Um, and we

[1:03:29] don't want to be providing emergency shelter services. We want

[1:03:33] to be providing transitional housing. We want to be providing

[1:03:37] pathways for people to not just be surviving another 24

[1:03:40] hours. And I see very strongly the future in Owenstown

[1:03:44] being one with a facility that is bringing a lot

[1:03:47] of services together and then has transitional housing above that

[1:03:51] are meeting different people's medical needs. We are not going

[1:03:55] to talk tonight about our palliative care program, but palliative

[1:03:58] care is a huge need in the homelessness sphere and

[1:04:02] something we have a worker addressing. Um, and so this

[1:04:06] is not our destination. This is just where we are

[1:04:10] today. And we are going to continue to build and

[1:04:13] learn from every endeavour we do. Um, and build towards

[1:04:18] a better future for all of our community. Okay. Two

[1:04:27] questions for the City manager. I'll just stack them in

[1:04:29] if you need the second one repeated. Feel free. One,

[1:04:34] we've heard that there's a plan from the city to

[1:04:37] develop regulations for emergency care establishments. Can you tell us

[1:04:40] how the new regulations might impact this new shelter? And

[1:04:44] secondly, what does the work plan from the city look

[1:04:46] like and timeline for outreach to stakeholders like Safe and

[1:04:50] Sound, Breitshores, uh, and the county to make sure that

[1:04:53] any increased regulation is mutually beneficial. Through you mayor to

[1:05:00] Councillor Farmer. So staff are not currently proposing an emergency

[1:05:04] care bylaw on its own. We're looking at, um, an

[1:05:09] update or Revision to the business licensing bylaw that could

[1:05:12] have elements of an emergency care pieces within it. We've

[1:05:16] just started looking at that now. Uh, the notion from

[1:05:20] Bylaw would be to set up and speak with various

[1:05:23] stakeholders over the next few months, that being Owen Sound

[1:05:26] Police Services Safe and Sound United Way. The county, et

[1:05:29] cetera, and bring a report back at some point in

[1:05:32] the fall with an update to business licensing bylaw. So

[1:05:39] neat. To you, Mayor. Thank you, Annette, for the presentation.

[1:05:45] Just a quick question for my own gender knowledge. That

[1:05:49] you meant the SOS programs and the neighbourhood response team

[1:05:52] programs and the shelter that you're proposing. So all these

[1:05:56] facilities, they are only in Omen Sound out of Grey

[1:05:59] County. Or are there in any other municipalities for Grey

[1:06:03] County? Like where folks can go other than Owen Sound.

[1:06:08] Thank you for your question through you, your mayor. SOS

[1:06:12] and the neighbourhood of response team are not physical buildings.

[1:06:15] Um, and they're not tied to anything physical. SOS is

[1:06:19] not also directly only tied to Grey County. Safe and

[1:06:25] Sound is somewhere that SOS provides services too. Um, but,

[1:06:32] um, some of the SOS folks in the Crowder are

[1:06:34] much better to answer. But they host different clinics, um,

[1:06:40] and drop in times at various places across Grey County

[1:06:44] throughout the week at different days. So they'll go to

[1:06:46] Hanover. There's also in Mark D. There's the Grey Booth's

[1:06:51] health access, sorry, not the Great Bruce. Southeast Grey Health

[1:06:55] Access Centre that has a drop - in for people

[1:06:57] to access. So, um, I think that it is a

[1:07:02] great future to think about where a version of the

[1:07:04] NRT and Safe and Sound could be providing drop -

[1:07:07] in services outside of Owen Sound. But our capacity is

[1:07:11] not of that now. And so SOS does a fantastic

[1:07:14] job at serving those other communities. But that is not

[1:07:17] the role of the NRT or of, um, Safe and

[1:07:20] Sound. Go ahead. Thank you. And no denying that is

[1:07:27] a very valuable need in the community. And I think

[1:07:30] you've got a great location, the building, uh, itself. So

[1:07:34] great to see the plans that you brought forward here

[1:07:36] tonight. And that just going to build quickly off some

[1:07:38] comments from Councillor Farmer. At the May Committee meeting at

[1:07:41] the county at Community Services, you stated, um, the public,

[1:07:47] in response to a question that public surrounding neighbours had

[1:07:49] been consulted and communicated with. June 15th, I got an

[1:07:53] email from a neighbouring resident and business owner in our

[1:07:57] community to express their strong concerns regarding the shelter. Staff

[1:08:02] responded to that email June 24th after meeting with Safe

[1:08:08] and Sound on the week of the 15th to the

[1:08:10] 19th, which stated that Safe and Sound staff mentioned in

[1:08:14] that meeting, they would be doing some Community outreaching communication.

[1:08:18] So the example where I'm not sure what's been done.

[1:08:24] One thing was said at the county that they'd already

[1:08:27] been outreach and communicating with neighbours. Then I get an

[1:08:30] email that would seemingly contradict that to a certain extent.

[1:08:35] Um, there's a letter attached in the package that's in

[1:08:39] support of the plans, both the NRT and this one

[1:08:41] here tonight. Uh, it's from a public person identifying as

[1:08:46] a public member. Why does that individual get included in

[1:08:52] the correspondence to council as a singular individual as opposed

[1:08:58] to a multitude of various personalities that could have contributed

[1:09:02] various concerns? So at the end of the day, I

[1:09:04] do want to know more about how you're going to

[1:09:06] consult with the public. And effectively how you're going to

[1:09:09] hold yourself to a level of accountability measured against concerns

[1:09:13] from surrounding neighbours and your response to them when you

[1:09:16] get them. Because that is critical. The concerns are valid

[1:09:20] and real. Um, when people have devaluation in their house

[1:09:27] price, uh, dependent upon sensitive uses, that might be close

[1:09:31] by. That hits home for people. That's a very real

[1:09:34] concern. And it should be acknowledged. And we have to

[1:09:37] respond to it. Um, so I guess that's what level

[1:09:43] of communication are you going to commit yourself to and

[1:09:47] how are you going to hold yourself accountable to those

[1:09:49] concerns? I am first and foremost accountable to the participants

[1:09:57] of Safe and Sound. Um, I am also accountable to

[1:10:00] the board of Safe and Sound. I'm accountable to our

[1:10:04] funders. I am accountable to our neighbours. I am accountable

[1:10:07] as a Community member within this community. So I think

[1:10:12] that trying to pick the singular way and the quick

[1:10:15] answer about how I am going to be held accountable.

[1:10:19] Is not really that fruitful. Um, of a conversation. But

[1:10:24] I'm hearing that, uh, more communication is needed from Safe

[1:10:28] and Sound. And I think we can take that back.

[1:10:30] And we can continue to do better at that. Um,

[1:10:34] unfortunately, we didn't have enough funding to continue to employer

[1:10:37] communications manager. So they, uh, left the agency in January.

[1:10:43] And so that has a compounding effect. When you don't

[1:10:46] fund places well enough to do anything barely, then just

[1:10:50] survive. You have results that are also partial. If you

[1:10:53] partially fund something, you have a partial result. And so,

[1:10:58] um, we, as I said, we're going to have an

[1:11:01] open house for Community members to come in and meet

[1:11:04] with people. Um, and, um, we, I think that our

[1:11:11] board and I am very accessible. We are getting the

[1:11:14] letters and the messages too. We are meeting and responding

[1:11:17] to the people. We are answering the phone calls. And

[1:11:21] I do also think it's important to note that not

[1:11:24] all of the, some of the concerns are definitely valid.

[1:11:28] And some of them are really hateful. And some of

[1:11:32] the things that are being brought, um, to my voicemail

[1:11:36] are really, really awful things. Um, and, you know, I

[1:11:40] should put my truck in four by four and deal

[1:11:42] with this problem myself. You know, that kind of thing.

[1:11:45] And so engaging, the only death threats I've received in

[1:11:49] this job are not through participants of Safe and Sound.

[1:11:51] It is through Community members. So like, I think that

[1:11:57] we can do a better job at Communicating with the

[1:11:59] Community around us. Um, but I'm not concerned about a

[1:12:03] lack of avenues to hold me accountable for how this

[1:12:07] all goes. Melny. Thank you through your worship. Um, something

[1:12:13] just struck me when I was looking at your logo.

[1:12:15] I've always referred to you as Safe and Sound Owen

[1:12:17] Sound, but your marketing yourself is Safe and Sound Grey

[1:12:19] Bruce. And I was just reading your mission statement. And

[1:12:22] it says that you provide services to individuals experiencing homelessness

[1:12:26] housing insecurity poverty and marginalization in grey and Bruce Counties.

[1:12:31] Where else are you located in Grey and Bruce County's

[1:12:33] other than in Own Sound? So that name was circa

[1:12:41] 2007. So long before my time within Safe and Sound,

[1:12:47] currently, as I said, our capacity is not limited to

[1:12:50] a physical presence outside of Owen Sound, like as a

[1:12:53] location. Um, we had not had time today to talk

[1:12:56] about our palliative care program, but we have a palliative

[1:13:00] care program coordinator story who works with people who are

[1:13:04] indigenous or homeless across Grand Bruce to help them get

[1:13:07] connected to palliative care services. Um, and so she travels

[1:13:12] significantly throughout the region. And currently that is the main

[1:13:16] way in which we are positively impacting the rest of

[1:13:21] the counties outside of Own Sound. Thank you for that,

[1:13:25] um, just in your comments earlier, you said that you,

[1:13:28] the county needs to spread services wider across the county.

[1:13:31] So I just, I feel like in your mission statement,

[1:13:34] you're kind of inviting grey and Bruce to send to

[1:13:39] you because it's in your mission statement. You're safe and

[1:13:43] sound located in Owen Sound, but your mission statement is

[1:13:45] that you're providing the service to all of Grey Bruce,

[1:13:48] which I think is where a lot of the frustration

[1:13:51] from Owen Sounders comes from because I feel like we

[1:13:53] feel like we are the homelessness hub of Grey Bruce

[1:13:57] County. And we want Grey County and it's up to

[1:14:01] our reps to also speak up at Grey County that

[1:14:04] we want the services spread out. We don't want to

[1:14:05] be the homeless hub. We feel like people should be

[1:14:07] looked after in the community from which they come from.

[1:14:11] So whether or not you have any role in that

[1:14:15] going forward, you know, I know that funding is an

[1:14:18] issue at all times. But, um, I personally would like

[1:14:22] to see services spread out across Grey County so that

[1:14:25] people can be looked after where they're from. Through you

[1:14:29] briefly, your Mayor, I don't, that like, I'm not sure

[1:14:32] if that was something you thought I was going to

[1:14:34] disagree with, but I don't. Like obviously people need to

[1:14:38] be supported naturally within their own homes, you know, through

[1:14:41] their natural support system. Um, so you're not, yeah, of

[1:14:45] course people need to be able to stay closer to

[1:14:47] their natural supports. Grey Bruce is a big area. I

[1:14:51] think that, um, people not even realising it says Grey

[1:14:55] Bruce is kind of and it thinks it says Owen

[1:14:57] Sound may be as reflective of it not really being

[1:15:00] an invitation. If you already thought it said Safe and

[1:15:03] Sound Owen Sound, the Grey Bruce thing maybe isn't even,

[1:15:07] I guess, registering for a lot of people. All right.

[1:15:12] I think we need to move on with our meeting.

[1:15:14] Thank you very much for coming in and to presenting.

[1:15:18] And, you know, this is probably the first time. What

[1:15:24] you're doing is so important in the community. We all

[1:15:27] know what. I'm not going to tell you what the

[1:15:30] Community thinks because you already know as you talk about

[1:15:32] the phone calls you take some of those phone calls

[1:15:35] are worse than what I get. There is some concern

[1:15:41] of the perception very clearly and that's been communicated with

[1:15:45] you tonight on eight Street. I got more phone calls

[1:15:48] about people in front of your place on eight street

[1:15:52] than just about anything. The last little while it has

[1:15:55] been. It hasn't been the same recently. It's been, I

[1:16:00] don't want to use word cleaned up, but it has

[1:16:02] been, it's been different. And I encourage you to continue

[1:16:04] to listen to the Community and what they're saying as

[1:16:09] well. It's a two - way street and keep doing

[1:16:11] what you're doing and keep trying to perfect it with

[1:16:14] your 1. 5 employees and three volunteers. But thanks for

[1:16:19] doing what you're doing. Thank you. So, so if you

[1:16:25] are here just for those, it's probably a good time

[1:16:27] to leave. We'll just turn off the microphone because this

[1:16:29] is going to take a minute. We'll encourage you to

[1:16:32] go right outside because anything outside that door just echoes

[1:16:35] like crazy in here. So we'll just give you a

[1:16:36] minute.

[1:17:23] Okay. So we'll, uh, put it back in gear at

[1:17:27] us. 7C, we have a presentation from the City Manager

[1:17:30] with regard to his update. Thank you Mayor and through

[1:17:35] you. I'll bring a brief city manager's update. It's the

[1:17:38] last or the second meeting of the month of which

[1:17:40] I do every month for council. Highlights for the month

[1:17:46] thus far. So highlights July has been a busy month.

[1:17:48] Um, our bullet points on this slide speak to Camp

[1:17:51] Tom and sports camps are well underway. They're all at

[1:17:54] full capacity and we made it full capacity over the

[1:17:57] summer. Our Canada Day celebrations took place at Kelso Beach

[1:18:01] at Naywash Park. It was a hugely successful. A lot

[1:18:04] of great feedback on Owen Sound's first drone show. Doors

[1:18:08] open Owen Sound took place July 18th. We had a

[1:18:10] very strong turnout to the locations that participated in that.

[1:18:14] They got to explore the city's history. Architecture and cultural

[1:18:17] landmarks. T. D. Harbour nights in midweek music have been

[1:18:21] taking place on Sunday and Wednesday evenings and continue to

[1:18:24] be well supported and attended. Arenas and banquet halls at

[1:18:29] the city have been very busy over June and July.

[1:18:32] And we're hosting the lacrosse tournament, graduations, proms and more.

[1:18:35] Just some of the events happening around. We have multiple

[1:18:39] community improvement playing grants that have been approved to various

[1:18:42] properties throughout the harbour and river district areas. We have

[1:18:46] the online survey for the park renaming at 823 5th

[1:18:50] Avenue East is now open at our City. Owen Sound.

[1:18:53] ca where the public can rank the names provided. The

[1:18:56] survey is open until the end of August. So another

[1:18:59] four weeks. The Owen Heights and Commerette Park Playground Replacements

[1:19:03] are complete. The new playground equipments open for the public

[1:19:05] to enjoy. I know we've gotten some emails from public

[1:19:08] members public in those neighbourhoods really appreciate in the new

[1:19:12] playground equipment. Multiple Road Construction Projects are underway throughout the

[1:19:16] city. We know these causes this causes temporary traffic disruptions.

[1:19:21] Uh, we thank everybody for your patience as these works

[1:19:23] are completed. I guess we are continually in a two

[1:19:27] seasons here. Winter and construction and we're in the construction

[1:19:29] season right now. The Farmers Market Public Washroom Project has

[1:19:33] been completed. It is open for the public use. However,

[1:19:36] there are some minor finishing touches that will be added

[1:19:38] in the coming weeks and that includes some signage, et

[1:19:41] cetera. The 2026 municipal election is coming up. And, uh,

[1:19:47] this slide really is just for, if you're interested in

[1:19:49] being a candidate nominations are now open and packages can

[1:19:53] be filed through August 21st at 2 p. m. So

[1:19:57] August 21st, 2 p. m. is the cutoff for more

[1:20:00] information. Please visit Owen Soundvotes. ca. In addition to that,

[1:20:05] if you want to make sure you're on the Voters

[1:20:07] list, you might be new to the city or new

[1:20:09] to voting in this Coming Municipal election to confirm, register,

[1:20:13] amend your information. Please register to vote o n. ca.

[1:20:18] So that's not a city website. That is a provincial

[1:20:20] website. Register to vote owen. ca. And you need to

[1:20:23] do that by August 12th of this year. Looking at

[1:20:27] our upcoming Committee meetings for September. September 12th is the

[1:20:31] Tom Thompson Art Gallery Advisory Committee. We'll have an Art

[1:20:34] Gallery September update report. Service review implementation ad hoc committee

[1:20:43] is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9th. We'll have a report

[1:20:45] through that on revenue and KPIs. Park Service levels that's

[1:20:49] been ongoing. We've been touching various services within that large

[1:20:52] group. This one will be horticulture. We have a winter

[1:20:56] maintenance review. And then also a service review summary report

[1:20:59] of what's been going on with service review over the

[1:21:01] past few years. Our Corporate Services Committee Thursday, September 10th.

[1:21:06] We have two report scheduled right now. The Reserve Fund

[1:21:08] Policy Update and the 2025 Financial Audit. The Community Services

[1:21:14] Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, September 23rd. We have an

[1:21:17] ICE allocation policy. It's a kickoff report, Community Ambassador Program

[1:21:22] update. And the Owen Sound Minor Baseball Agreement. Our operations

[1:21:27] Committee meets Thursday, September 24th. There's only one report right

[1:21:30] now scheduled for that. The water supply outside the municipal

[1:21:33] boundary. And then finally, in case you have missed it,

[1:21:38] there are opportunities through our media advisories throughout the month

[1:21:43] that are happening. These are from June 10th to through

[1:21:46] July 19th. If you've missed any of that, Owen Sound.

[1:21:49] ca slash news. All of those media advisories are aggregated

[1:21:53] into this one place so you can easily go to

[1:21:55] that one site, click on the links and read about

[1:21:59] various happenings around the city. And then lastly, we always

[1:22:02] invite everybody to stay connected. We have a number of

[1:22:05] websites. The Owensound. ca, the City's main website, ourcity. Owen

[1:22:09] Sound. ca has planning information surveys, et cetera. Owen Sound.

[1:22:14] ca, report a concern. And then, uh, other websites, Owen

[1:22:18] Soundriverdistrict. ca and own SoundTourism. ca, both excellent locations to

[1:22:23] get calendar of events and things going on in the

[1:22:26] downtown and around the city in general. That concludes my

[1:22:28] report, Mayor. Thanks. Any questions. Seeing none move to number

[1:22:34] eight in our agenda public forum. Anyone wish to take

[1:22:40] the microphone. Andre, just before you go. Your campaigning. This

[1:22:47] is not the opportunity to campaign. The rest of us

[1:22:51] have got rules that were not to use public city

[1:22:56] facilities for campaigning. We didn't see a before there was

[1:23:00] election. Now you're here every meeting. Go ahead. Andres Vojin

[1:23:08] from Owen Sound. Thank you for the work that went

[1:23:11] into that pilot. It showed that civilian responders can provide

[1:23:14] useful help and lower risk situations where police powers are

[1:23:18] unnecessary. The weakness was the structure. The five - month

[1:23:21] pilot cost 160, 000 with large share going to administration.

[1:23:26] It operated mainly as an added outreach service. And it

[1:23:28] didn't clearly measure how many police calls or officer hours

[1:23:31] were actually avoided. Council could consider a leaner 12 -

[1:23:35] week pilot using part - time responders existing supervision and

[1:23:38] direct referrals through Owen Sound's Emergency Communications Centre. That could

[1:23:42] lower administrative costs while sending suitable mental health wellness and

[1:23:46] de - escalation calls to less expensive civilian responders. Residents

[1:23:50] could receive faster and more appropriate help while police remain

[1:23:53] focused on crime and emergencies by measuring police hours avoided

[1:23:56] and applying zero - based budgeting council could determine whether

[1:24:00] the program can reduce over time avoid future hiring and

[1:24:03] help bring police costs under control. And I just want

[1:24:07] to be of the greatest service I can in whatever

[1:24:11] endeavour I'm involved in. I love you all unconditionally. Thank

[1:24:16] you for your time. Campaigning. Thank you. Anyone else? Richard.

[1:24:25] Anyone else wished to speak to the microphone. I'm Anne

[1:24:32] Finley Stewart. I live in Owen Sound. And I have

[1:24:34] two things to say. First is that in 2007 I

[1:24:37] was on the founding board of Safe and Sound. So

[1:24:40] anybody thinks this is a new problem. We had it

[1:24:42] then because the Salvation Army men shelter closed and we

[1:24:46] were determined that people would not freeze to death on

[1:24:48] the street. And that's where Safe and Sound began. That's

[1:24:51] number one. Number two. So yeah, and they didn't all

[1:24:55] come from everywhere else. They were our boys. And we

[1:24:59] still have nothing for men. Um, but number two was

[1:25:03] about, I know you've taken a lot of grief on

[1:25:05] social media and I don't intend to pile on there

[1:25:08] about the, um, the litter and the garbage and the

[1:25:12] public receptacles. But I do have a question that I

[1:25:14] haven't been able to find an answer to yet. And

[1:25:16] that is when I pick up garbage that is identifiable.

[1:25:20] When I'm picking up litter and there's something with somebody's

[1:25:22] name on it, which I do all the time. Things

[1:25:25] blow out of people's recycling and they have their names

[1:25:27] on them. I've picked up pill bottles, prescriptions, envelopes, packages,

[1:25:31] all kinds of things. And I don't want to pay

[1:25:34] to get rid of them. So I put them in

[1:25:35] a public garbage. Am I in fact causing a problem

[1:25:39] for somebody else. Am I by putting that back in

[1:25:43] the garbage. That I found on the street? Am I

[1:25:47] guilty of the problem? I didn't steal that box out

[1:25:55] of the woman's recycling. But I just want to know

[1:25:59] if I throw these things out. Who is actually responsible.

[1:26:04] I would suspect that bylaw would do an investigation and

[1:26:07] to determine what they can determine based on the evidence

[1:26:10] that they collect. So I could be responsible for throwing

[1:26:16] garbage out in a public receptacle that belonged to somebody

[1:26:19] else. Because I did it. And number two, they could

[1:26:22] be responsible because I did it. Would that be accurate.

[1:26:28] You would potentially be part of the evidence, wouldn't you?

[1:26:30] You're a statement would be part of the evidence. Yeah.

[1:26:33] So I think the bylaw needs to be revisited. That's

[1:26:35] all. Thank you. Number nine correspondents receipt for rich direction

[1:26:43] of Council is required correspondence from the Chief Librarian CEO

[1:26:46] of Own Sound and North Grey, Union Public Library with

[1:26:51] regard to a five - year review of the 2022

[1:26:54] to 2031 agreement. Go to you, Branna. Through you your

[1:27:02] worship, the Public Library Agreement is for a period of

[1:27:04] 10 years. It began in 2022 and goes until 2031.

[1:27:08] Now that it is halfway through the agreement, the library

[1:27:10] is hosting your review meeting on Thursday, September 10th at

[1:27:13] 7 p. m. in the library auditorium. They are requesting

[1:27:16] that Representatives from each member municipality attend the meeting and

[1:27:19] are looking for the names of those who will be

[1:27:21] attending. Up on the screen is a draft motion directing

[1:27:24] staff to notify the library of the Owen Sound attendees.

[1:27:27] We just need the names of the Council Members to

[1:27:29] add to the motion. I will note that this meeting

[1:27:32] is on the same evening as the Corporate Services Committee

[1:27:34] meeting. And we need to make sure that there isn't

[1:27:37] a quorum of council that attends the library meeting. With

[1:27:40] that, I will let council discuss who was able to

[1:27:41] attend the meeting on the 10th and move the motion

[1:27:44] on the screen. Who wishes to attend. Councillor Koepke's put

[1:27:50] her hand up anyone else? Yeah? No. Peers be Councillor

[1:27:58] Koepke. Like in the tender, I only had a question

[1:28:05] pertaining to the lame duck period. If that had any,

[1:28:09] um, impact on this corresponds whatsoever. Councillors are able to

[1:28:17] attend this type of meeting during Lame Duck. Okay. So

[1:28:24] Councillor Koepke has said yes. Deputy Mayor Gregett said yes.

[1:28:28] Does anyone else? Councillor Farmer said yes. Just let me

[1:28:34] finish then. Uh, anyone else. I'll move that in consideration

[1:28:40] of correspondence received July 27th, 2026 from the Owen Sound

[1:28:44] in North Grey Union Public Library. Chief Librarian CEO respecting

[1:28:47] a five - year review of the 2022 to 2031

[1:28:51] OSNG UPL agreement. City Council Direct staff to notify the

[1:28:55] OSNG UPL that councillors Kepke and Deputy Mayor Greg will

[1:28:59] attend the review meeting on behalf of the city. Thank

[1:29:01] you. All in favor. And that is carried. Thanks Brianna.

[1:29:08] Uh, number 10 reports from City staff at 10A report

[1:29:13] from Ms. Coulter with regard to the zoning bylaw amendment,

[1:29:17] which I think we just heard a while ago. Thank

[1:29:21] you. Worship as required by the Planning Act. Zoning amendments

[1:29:24] must conform with the provincial planning statement and consider the

[1:29:27] goals objectives and policies of the city's official plan and

[1:29:31] also land use compatibility. The technical report describes four council

[1:29:36] in the Community, the subject property, the proposed amendment to

[1:29:39] permit the semi - de - touch dwelling and really

[1:29:42] outlines the policies of the PPS and the official plan

[1:29:45] that will be relevant to council's consideration of the matter

[1:29:49] when the recommendation report comes forward. The recommendation is that

[1:29:54] Council would just continue to process the application in accordance

[1:29:57] with the planning act. Questions, motions. The traves. Thank you

[1:30:02] worship. I'd move the recommendation. Just like to make a

[1:30:08] comment, you worship. This is likely the last time I'll

[1:30:10] have an opportunity to publicly thank the developer for all

[1:30:15] the work that he does around on Sound in cleaning

[1:30:17] up buildings and making them more presentable. And it certainly

[1:30:21] appreciated. Okay. Any other comments? Seeing none, I'll call the

[1:30:27] question on favor. That is carried. Uh, 10 B, a

[1:30:34] report from the manager of public works and engineering with

[1:30:37] regard to Grey County Urban Road transfer update. There you

[1:30:41] are. Uh, good evening Mayor and Council. Um,

[1:30:51] our first, my first report this evening is the, uh,

[1:30:54] Grey County Urban Road Transfer Update, uh, that a consideration

[1:30:58] of staff report OP - 26041 respecting the update on

[1:31:02] the Grey County Road Urban Transfer, the Stealth received for

[1:31:05] information. Uh, so this is following staff's report we brought

[1:31:08] forward at the Special Counsel meeting on March 2nd. Just

[1:31:12] with some updates. Excuse me. Um, on where the county

[1:31:17] task force and county Council have gone. Uh, Grey County

[1:31:24] Council Committee of the Whole passe of motion for the

[1:31:27] enhanced version B framework on June 25th of this year.

[1:31:31] Uh, Later Ocean being adopted and improved the minutes at

[1:31:33] the July 9th meeting. Version B, what this means for

[1:31:37] the City. Uh, so this is an effective transfer date

[1:31:40] of June 1st, 2027. Uh, we have a 10 -

[1:31:43] year transitional funding model. That we're moving through, including five

[1:31:48] years of declining operational funding. Minor traffic signal funding, development

[1:31:53] charge transfers. And a commitment to share data relevant to

[1:31:58] the transfer. Um, so the financial supports outlined version B

[1:32:04] plus breakdown generally to 11. 26 million in transitional funding

[1:32:10] over the 10 - year period. 3. 3 million development

[1:32:13] charge. Uh, transfers over one time. Uh, 23, 1000, PAYDOR

[1:32:21] five years to help offset winter maintenance and other operational

[1:32:25] costs. 183, 000 or five years to help with traffic

[1:32:31] light costs and a 269, 000 one - time cost

[1:32:36] for capital projects, uh, which could be included in the

[1:32:39] Harrison Park Hill, as we all know, needs some work.

[1:32:42] Um, staff of BYU. Some of the key items that

[1:32:48] we'll be reviewing here in the next several months are

[1:32:51] review and negotiate the transfer agreements, completing assessment. And final

[1:32:55] due diligence. For the assets will be collecting. Undertake a

[1:32:59] service delivery review, update our 2027 budget and long -

[1:33:03] term capital plan, review the impacts of our 2027 and

[1:33:07] ongoing operating budget. Review existing contracts and service agreements we

[1:33:12] have with third - party vendors, update asset management, lifecycle

[1:33:15] planning, and return back to Council with Farther updates. Um,

[1:33:21] I think that's the best I could do for a

[1:33:22] highlight through this. If you have any questions, be happy

[1:33:24] to answer them. Okay, there are any questions. Councillor Farmer.

[1:33:29] Uh, through the Mayor, two questions. Um, one initially, when

[1:33:32] we spoke about this, there were concerns about the quality

[1:33:35] of the data for each of the assets that we

[1:33:38] were receiving from the county. Where our staff now at

[1:33:43] a scale of still really worried to super confident that

[1:33:46] you've got all the information you need. And will you

[1:33:49] get all the way to the end before we own

[1:33:51] these things? Uh, the gap is definitely narrowing. We have

[1:33:56] received a little bit more information. And the county continues

[1:33:58] to, um, committing us everything we need prior to the

[1:34:01] transfer date next year. And a separate question. To what

[1:34:07] extent does ownership over these roads and traffic signals make

[1:34:11] it possible for us to update signalization and movement patterns

[1:34:14] to improve walkability or traffic flow. And how soon can

[1:34:19] we start to do that? Great question through your mayor.

[1:34:22] Um, currently there is a combined traffic timing and single

[1:34:26] plan for all lights and all itself now sound, including

[1:34:28] the county ones. So we'll have a negligible impact. Like

[1:34:31] owning these lights rather than just, uh, helping with the

[1:34:34] operation of them. Good for you, John. Yep. Yep. Okay.

[1:34:39] Carol. Through you mayor. We've heard. That currently staff have

[1:34:49] huge workloads. When I look at this report in all

[1:34:53] of the work that's entailed, I have to ask the

[1:34:57] question. How can this amount of workload be absorbed as

[1:35:01] an additional loading on staff? It looks like a project

[1:35:06] and is there a project lead? Who will, who will

[1:35:10] take this forward, coordinate everything. Because this is a lot

[1:35:14] of work on staff that are already carrying heavy workloads.

[1:35:19] So I'm not sure if you can answer that or

[1:35:21] if I should look to my left to the city

[1:35:23] manager. Three, you mayor to Councillor Merton. You were always

[1:35:31] cognizant of workload with staff. Uh, this is a major

[1:35:33] project. Mason and team have taken the lead on it.

[1:35:38] Uh, I guess officially unofficially. Um, however you'd want to

[1:35:41] look at it. We have had conversations about the quantity

[1:35:45] of work that's going to be required between now and

[1:35:47] when the agreements come forward and staff are looking at

[1:35:51] other elements of what, what projects are on their plate,

[1:35:54] et cetera. Some things through future updates might come back

[1:35:58] to say something has been delayed a few months depending

[1:36:01] on how the flow of information comes. And that's one

[1:36:04] of the things that we can't really put our finger

[1:36:05] on. It's not as if we have a basket of

[1:36:08] information today to start working with. So as the information

[1:36:11] flows in. Um, it all, it'll take priority or precedent

[1:36:16] as needed as we move forward. And there might be

[1:36:18] small amounts of work surge time involved with this project.

[1:36:22] And then it will ease back a little bit. And

[1:36:23] then another work surge. But we'll try to manage that.

[1:36:26] We always try to manage that as best as possible.

[1:36:28] Okay. Looking this way. Go ahead. Just a quick question.

[1:36:33] And I could ask it now or in the multi

[1:36:34] - year capital plan. But in 2027, there's a 620,

[1:36:38] 000 dollar line item for 2nd Avenue west from 10th

[1:36:42] Street north to 14th Street. How are you incorporating that

[1:36:46] project into this, into the agreement. And aligning it with

[1:36:52] the fact that 4th Avenue West is going to be

[1:36:54] under reconstruction the whole year. Um, in terms of projecting

[1:36:58] out for traffic patterns and what's doable. Because that would

[1:37:02] seem to be, um, a real outlier, that project there

[1:37:06] on our plans. Um, you're correct. That number was carried

[1:37:11] in our budget. Um, as Briar to a commitment we

[1:37:14] made through the development process with the former BCK property.

[1:37:19] Um, we will have to look into that on how

[1:37:22] we're best going to achieve that now that there'll be

[1:37:24] a city primary project instead of being led by the

[1:37:26] county. And I think those are some things we'll have

[1:37:28] to answer back to Counselon. Okay. I think I need

[1:37:34] a motion. Councillor Middleborough. I'll move the recommendation to receive.

[1:37:42] Okay. Any questions cover them all. I'll call the question

[1:37:46] all in favor. That has carried. Don't go away, Mason.

[1:37:52] Next public works in engineering, superior street water, main replacement.

[1:37:59] Thank you, Mayor. Uh, so my next report here is

[1:38:01] that in consideration of staff report, OP - 26040, respecting

[1:38:06] the superior street water main replacement project, City Council proved

[1:38:09] project budget increase of 75, 000, including non - refundable

[1:38:13] HST and authorized the purchasing agent to execute contract change

[1:38:16] orders for the replacement of water mains of the ninth

[1:38:20] Avenue of Hatian Project to the new water main completed

[1:38:24] during the 6th Street East Phase 2 water main looping

[1:38:26] project. Um, so this section of severe street has 190

[1:38:31] metres of aging cast iron. Um, God is a history

[1:38:36] of breaks. Our water team has a history of having

[1:38:39] to deal with numerous issues on that between breaks and

[1:38:42] flow issues. Um, this work was originally included in the

[1:38:47] ninth Avenue Real Petition Scope. Um, it was removed by

[1:38:50] staff and the consultant as we are concerned by budget

[1:38:53] constraints at the time. Um, and we wanted to have

[1:38:56] a healthy contingency to be able to complete all the

[1:38:58] work on Ninth Avenue. Um, pricing for ninth Avenue came

[1:39:03] in competitive and we have a healthy contingency moving forward.

[1:39:06] Um, so we would like to change the scope back

[1:39:10] and into include this work. Um, as of last Friday,

[1:39:15] the project has a proximity 480, 000 remaining in our

[1:39:18] contingency. Um, of the original 530 Contigency Allowance, we have

[1:39:24] approximately 125, 600 dollars on anticipate extra cost currently on

[1:39:29] the books that I'm not currently come through and change

[1:39:32] orders. These are, um, predominantly due to the increase in,

[1:39:37] uh, for asphalt. So based on OPS 100, if the

[1:39:43] price of asphalt goes up, um, the cost goes up

[1:39:47] per game price. So that's where a lot of those

[1:39:49] extras will be born currently. Um, the quote we have

[1:39:52] from EC King to complete the work is 316, 000.

[1:39:56] Um, that will include contract administration services by the engineering.

[1:40:01] Bring into a total estimate of 442, 000. So while

[1:40:05] within the remaining budget, we have left within the project.

[1:40:09] Staff have asked, we include a 75, 000 dollar from

[1:40:13] the water reserve just to ensure that if any other

[1:40:15] incidental has come up while finishing the project, we will

[1:40:18] be in good shape. Hi, Patrick answered any questions of

[1:40:22] anyone has any. Council Farmer. To the mayor, I'd like

[1:40:26] to put the motion on the floor. I think it

[1:40:28] makes sense. Uh, if we have an opportunity to remove

[1:40:30] a known liability while we have contractors mobilised to the

[1:40:33] site, it's an example to me of appropriate spending isn't

[1:40:36] just like spending the smallest amount. It's also spending money

[1:40:40] that gives you the biggest return over the longest period.

[1:40:43] And maybe it'll even save us money in cathodic protection

[1:40:46] costs. Thank you. Any other comments, councillor. Deputy McGregor. Two

[1:40:52] questions. Or yeah, two questions. Couldn't disagree whatsoever with those

[1:40:55] comments. Questions being the additional engineering and geotechnical cost estimated

[1:41:02] almost 55, 000 are a little outside of the standard

[1:41:06] 10 to 15 percent. So is there additional complexities here

[1:41:09] that we should be aware of as to why we're

[1:41:11] budgeting that much additional for engineering? And part two is

[1:41:16] instead of funding it all from water reserves because we

[1:41:20] are upsizing the waterline from its existing 15 centimeter. Do

[1:41:26] we get an opportunity to apply any DCs to that

[1:41:29] growth. That we're building up to? Through Mayor, I'll answer

[1:41:35] the engineering question first and then I'll defer over. Um,

[1:41:39] so in this section, we are anticipating encountering bedrocks with

[1:41:43] us, the geotechnical, which has increased the cost for that

[1:41:46] section greater than the 10 to 15 percent like you'd

[1:41:49] expect. So we're going to have to do some due

[1:41:51] diligence to find out where we're going to hit the

[1:41:53] rock. And then there's some bedding and, uh, insulation requirements

[1:41:57] that we're going to be looking into as we move

[1:41:58] forward. But should be well captured in that cost. So

[1:42:03] going forward to Kate. Three of your worship. I don't

[1:42:06] have the balance of the water DC reserve in front

[1:42:08] of me to verify what's available. But however, ninth of

[1:42:12] East and Superior Street, we're already contemplated to utilise development

[1:42:17] charges funding. So certainly if this portion is suitable, we

[1:42:21] can draw a little bit extra for that. Provided there

[1:42:23] are funds in the reserve for that. Okay. Does that

[1:42:29] need to be an amendment and emotion or you've got

[1:42:30] that flexibility? Okay. Be great to use as if we

[1:42:33] have it. And we're upsizing. So. Ms. Allen's indicating that

[1:42:38] yes, there's flexibility. We don't need motion. It's soft microphone.

[1:42:43] Uh, okay. I need someone to move the motion. Oh,

[1:42:46] John did already. Okay. All in favor. That's carried. Thanks.

[1:42:54] Next year of Corporate Services on Sound Police Services, uh,

[1:42:59] facility needs assessment. Hi, Jason. Thank you Mr. Mayor. Members

[1:43:07] of Council. Tonight, I'm presenting report CR - 26071, which

[1:43:12] is a request to authorize a comprehensive facility space needs

[1:43:15] assessment. And business case for the Own Sound Police Service

[1:43:18] building. Under the Community Safety and Policing Act, the municipality

[1:43:23] is legislatively responsible for providing and maintaining adequate police facilities.

[1:43:27] This report is the next step in meeting that responsibility.

[1:43:31] Back in 2023, a facility condition audit by Macintosh Perry

[1:43:36] gave us a good look at the physical building deficiencies,

[1:43:39] like our upcoming 1. 6 million dollar and air handling

[1:43:41] unit replacement and other capital maintenance items in the multi

[1:43:45] - year capital plan. However, that previous audit only looked

[1:43:49] at physical condition. It did not evaluate whether the facility

[1:43:52] actually continues to meet the modern operational staffing legislative accessibility

[1:43:57] and service delivery requirements of our police services. The police

[1:44:02] service board requested this comprehensive review to answer that question.

[1:44:07] The study will provide us with an objective common set

[1:44:10] of data to evaluate all our options. Whether we are

[1:44:13] best served through refurbishment and expansion or a brand new

[1:44:17] purpose - built facility. Turning to the resource alignment in

[1:44:20] financial details, the estimated cost of the study is 100,

[1:44:24] 000 dollars. Importantly, no additional tax levy funding is required.

[1:44:31] The budget will be fully funded through a combination of

[1:44:33] development charges. The police station facility reserve and one -

[1:44:38] third funding contribution directly from the Owntown Police Service Board

[1:44:41] Revenue Reserve. If Council approves the recommendations tonight, staff will

[1:44:47] prepare an issue a competitive request for proposal through our

[1:44:50] purchasing policy later this year. The project team, including the

[1:44:54] City Manager, the chief of police and the Manager of

[1:44:57] Corporate Services will oversee the consultants'work. We anticipate receiving the

[1:45:02] final report in business case early in the next term

[1:45:04] of council, ensuring that the newly elected council has the

[1:45:08] objective data and cost estimates they need to make an

[1:45:11] informed long - term capital decisions. And I'd be happy

[1:45:14] to answer any questions. Council might have. Good. Thank you.

[1:45:18] Questions Councillor Koepke. Not a question you worship. I'll move

[1:45:22] the recommendation. Okay. Comments. Deputy Mayor Greg. Well.

[1:45:32] I'll go first. I think back nine years, and I

[1:45:35] had the old OPP costing in front of me on

[1:45:37] the computer. That costing, I never recall reading a single

[1:45:45] paragraph about a new building being contemplated at all. Through

[1:45:49] the Onsen Police Services. Or if the OPP were to

[1:45:53] take over as part of their project. And I know

[1:45:56] early on, uh, or when we had that meeting and

[1:45:59] we made that decision, I think there was hesitants, uh,

[1:46:02] hesitancy to move forward with the OPP costing, because in

[1:46:05] the first couple of years, we were absorbing some considerable

[1:46:10] costs on the building as, uh, would have to be

[1:46:13] refurbished for certain elements of what the OPP required. Um,

[1:46:18] but nowhere. Did I ever read the contemplation of a

[1:46:23] new police building? We cannot afford it. We have the

[1:46:28] multi - year capital budget coming up later. There's 34,

[1:46:32] just on our 34 million dollars of unfunded in it.

[1:46:35] There is, well, we haven't even got the urban road

[1:46:39] download all captured fully in terms of our long -

[1:46:42] term requirements now. We are one of the highest tax

[1:46:48] communities. And in relation to household average household incomes, it

[1:46:56] places us even worse provincially amongst our comparators. We have

[1:47:02] no ability. To be able to absorb a new building.

[1:47:07] So I can't support the motion to expand another 100,

[1:47:10] 000 dollars We do have certain reconstruction, refurbishment projects that

[1:47:16] are sprinkled through the multi - year capital plan. We

[1:47:19] have since the, since it was moved into, and I

[1:47:22] think in 1999, maybe, uh, was a date in one

[1:47:26] of the reports. It's ongoing. It needs to continue to

[1:47:31] be ongoing. We just had that 2023 study and I

[1:47:34] cannot support another 100, 000 dollars to provide us more

[1:47:37] information potentially for a new building that we know municipally,

[1:47:43] we cannot afford in our tax base anyway. So, um,

[1:47:45] I'm opposed to it. Um, this, this actual request even

[1:47:53] has me inquiring or wishing to inquire more so to

[1:47:56] align ourselves with Sarnia, who recently is just, I think,

[1:48:00] uh, been public about their desire to look for an

[1:48:02] OPP costing once again, because of the desire for a

[1:48:05] new police building in Sarnia that they also cannot afford

[1:48:09] in today's times. Thank you through the

[1:48:19] mayor. My first instinct is to support the recommendation in

[1:48:22] the report. I think that if we've got funding from

[1:48:24] the reserves, if the one third, one third opportunity for

[1:48:27] us to get to a place where we, we have

[1:48:31] a more robust set of data that says not just

[1:48:34] what's falling apart or moldy that we need to fix,

[1:48:37] but also how does this fit for the long, how

[1:48:40] does this facility help us to provide what is a

[1:48:42] legislated core service for the long - term of this

[1:48:47] community that is growing if we build every unit of

[1:48:51] what, 3, 000 plus units that are somewhere in the

[1:48:53] development pipeline. We're going to have more people. We already

[1:48:55] hear routinely from the OSPS. That they would appreciate having

[1:49:02] more people to provide more service. We certainly get letters

[1:49:06] to that effect from the police board. But I don't

[1:49:08] think that we've had enough opportunities to actively sort the

[1:49:13] apples and the oranges together in the data that we're

[1:49:15] talking about and the issues that we're assessing. Regardless of

[1:49:19] whether or not Owen San was being served by a

[1:49:21] municipal service or by the OPP. I think that the

[1:49:26] stresses of modern policing would mean that there are elements

[1:49:30] of a building that's older than me that might need

[1:49:32] to be updated or might no longer be sufficient. In

[1:49:36] my first year on Council, I heard folks talking about

[1:49:40] just the problem with parking, like that the struggle for

[1:49:44] parking for staff. We've heard that again recently. And I

[1:49:48] don't feel like we currently have a common set of

[1:49:51] data to let us say what makes sense. And I

[1:49:54] would find that helpful, I think. Councillor Meddleman. Thank you.

[1:50:03] Pardon me. I'm with Councillor, or Deputy Mayor Greg on

[1:50:09] this one, 100, 000 dollar needs assessment for me. Is

[1:50:16] a troubling amount of money to come up with a

[1:50:18] plan that we really, I feel like it's already heading

[1:50:23] towards. The idea that we're going to build a new

[1:50:26] building. Because the parking constraints and all the different things.

[1:50:30] We can't afford it. We're already staring down almost 5

[1:50:33] million dollars on a fire building upgrade. I question how

[1:50:38] much money in IT upgrades and equipment have been done

[1:50:42] over the past year and a bit for the communications

[1:50:45] centre and the NG - 911 in this building. And

[1:50:48] what in the world would it cost to move all

[1:50:50] of that if you're planning to either move to a

[1:50:54] different space or build something new? How much in capital

[1:50:58] projects do we have on the books that we've either

[1:51:00] just completed or are going to be done in 2026,

[1:51:03] 2027? What happens with those are removing forward with those

[1:51:06] while we're waiting for this 100, 000 dollar plan to

[1:51:09] come back and tell us that it doesn't even meet

[1:51:13] our needs. For me, I feel like costs are getting

[1:51:17] out of control. Between police and fire. We are sitting

[1:51:23] at about 16 million dollars and people in the city

[1:51:26] are saying, why are our services not being met and

[1:51:29] wire taxes so high? And why can't we do this?

[1:51:31] Why can't we do that? Because emergency services are costing

[1:51:34] 16 million dollars a year and we don't have any

[1:51:37] more money to do anything else. And today I was

[1:51:40] going through and looking at the other communities in Grey

[1:51:44] County. Out of all the communities in Grey County, most

[1:51:47] of them are OPP service. Georgian bluffs, OPP 1. 5

[1:51:51] million, Grey Highlands, OPP 1. 85 million. Blue mountains OPP

[1:51:55] 3. 4 million Southgate 1. 4 million OPP, CHETSworth OPP,

[1:52:00] Miford OPP. And we are 9. 8 million dollars the

[1:52:05] police are costing. And then I was searching other communities

[1:52:10] out of all of the communities in Ontario. There are

[1:52:15] only about 40 that have our own municipal force. And

[1:52:19] all of these other ones that have gone to OPP,

[1:52:22] Midland, 5 million dollars, Schellburn 1. 6 million, Collingwood 7

[1:52:26] million dollars OPP. And these are similar communities. And that

[1:52:31] is after the big OPP increase of 10 to 20

[1:52:35] percent. That's what they're paying versus us at 9. 8

[1:52:39] million dollars We need to do something. If we don't

[1:52:42] ask for an OPP costing, we are not doing justice

[1:52:47] to the citizens of Owen Sound. Because if we can

[1:52:51] do the same job for less money than it deserves

[1:52:54] us at least asking for the OPP costing, and I'm

[1:52:57] willing to put that on the floor as a motion.

[1:53:02] Currently on the floor is the recommendation. So you can't

[1:53:05] put that in the floor just yet. Councillor Martin. To

[1:53:11] you mayor. We don't want to assume or jump to

[1:53:16] a bias around a new building or refurbished. This is

[1:53:23] demonstrations of a collaborative cost sharing initiative. That will give

[1:53:28] us information that will help in the future make an

[1:53:33] informed decision. It is tempting to jump to a conclusion.

[1:53:37] But I think it's perhaps too soon. So the advantage

[1:53:43] of moving through this process is that it does assist

[1:53:48] us in having information that forms the framework for looking

[1:53:54] at various options. There will be people who will want

[1:53:59] to jump to the conclusion we should do it this

[1:54:02] way versus that way municipal versus OPP. Having spent two

[1:54:08] hours in the last two weeks asking that question. Of

[1:54:13] our police board chair and our chief of police so

[1:54:18] that I could understand better. It is more than a

[1:54:22] facility. It involves contract. Established contracts. There's a lot of

[1:54:29] costs. More than a facility. Should that be contemplated? This

[1:54:36] report would give us a framework to at least begin

[1:54:42] looking at what is the best direction. We can't make

[1:54:46] an informed decision by piecemeal bits of information and goal

[1:54:51] or narrative information or a perception. I support the motion

[1:54:57] not just because I'm on the police services board, but

[1:54:59] I think we need additional information to go forward. Wants

[1:55:09] to, doc. Go ahead. To your mail, just a few

[1:55:15] questions. I agree that if we're planning investment and you're

[1:55:21] not asking for the construction or the decision to construct

[1:55:25] a brand new building. But then 100, 000 dollars for

[1:55:28] the needs assessment, like it seems to me like a

[1:55:31] lot of money. And if we are spending that to

[1:55:34] collect factual data, so a few months down the road,

[1:55:38] if we have the report back. So the outcome that

[1:55:41] you mentioned in the report is either a Renovation, expansion

[1:55:45] or a brand new building. But I don't think so

[1:55:47] right now. There is, I'm not clear, like, do you

[1:55:51] have funds like how, like we don't have funds, of

[1:55:54] course. But do you have an estimate on what it

[1:55:57] cost if we are going for the renovations or if

[1:56:00] you're going for a brand new building? Or if you're

[1:56:03] just expanding it into the neighbouring buildings? Like is there

[1:56:06] an estimate number on that. Through you mayor. No, there

[1:56:14] isn't. And that's a big part of what this assessment

[1:56:16] will tell us is what the potential costs would be

[1:56:20] for those options. So if we don't find funds anyways,

[1:56:25] like if we can't afford a brand new facility so

[1:56:28] that all these hundred thousand dollars they're down the drain.

[1:56:31] So that's a waste. Right. Through you, your mayor. Uh,

[1:56:40] I'm not sure it'd be staff's opinion that that would

[1:56:43] be a waste. As I do feel, or the staff

[1:56:46] does feel that there is value and understanding what, what

[1:56:49] the best approach is for this facility. Councillor Dodd. Thank

[1:56:58] you, worship. And maybe I'm just looking for some clarity

[1:57:00] because I heard what Councillor Merten had mentioned there, but

[1:57:05] let's not put the carpet for the horse of getting

[1:57:07] to a conclusion without having something first. Um, there was

[1:57:10] a previous, the minutes of a previous meeting noted that

[1:57:15] there was, um, the conversation of striking a new building

[1:57:19] committee with the police board. So. How does that fit

[1:57:26] into play if there was a discussion of the board

[1:57:28] about having setting up a new building working group, but

[1:57:32] then not putting the cart before the horse, having a

[1:57:35] discussion here about saying that we would look for physically

[1:57:38] space needs assessment. So just need some clarity on how

[1:57:40] that goes together.

[1:57:57] The conversation prior in the minutes of police service was

[1:58:03] basically the facility needs. It was minuted incorrectly to be

[1:58:08] a building searching for a new building. Or a building.

[1:58:13] The end results would be, we need to do something

[1:58:16] to meet our adequate standards. We need to do something

[1:58:20] to meet the legislation. And it was minuted as a

[1:58:23] building. It was never thought to be initially a building

[1:58:27] committee. It was to be needs assessment committee. Because you

[1:58:32] have to start somewhere. I hope that helps. Councillor.

[1:58:43] I don't disagree with anything that's been said, but the

[1:58:46] one thing that I kind of keep coming back to,

[1:58:49] we have a building, we own a building. We talk

[1:58:51] about this all the time. I have, I have no

[1:58:53] idea what the state of the building is. And I

[1:58:56] think we do need to know, um, what we're dealing

[1:59:00] with. And how we make it operate appropriately. Um, to

[1:59:06] me, I don't think that I think it's a perfectly

[1:59:07] good building, but it just probably needs some reorganization and

[1:59:11] some better use of space, but that's what this will,

[1:59:16] I think, prove in time. So, so right now there

[1:59:22] was a report. Maybe I'm looking at Kate, his report

[1:59:24] down a couple of years ago on what the building

[1:59:26] needs. Can you help explain that helped me understand that?

[1:59:35] Uh, yes, absolutely. Through you, Mayor. So in 2023, there

[1:59:40] was an, um, a building assessment audit done, uh, that

[1:59:44] identified critical upgrades or upgrades that needed to be done

[1:59:49] to that building. And so the biggest things that came

[1:59:52] out of that assessment were, uh, the air handling unit

[1:59:55] replacement, electrical system upgrades, exterior masonry repairs elevator replacement and

[2:00:02] windows and doors. Uh, that Macintosh Perry condition assessment, um,

[2:00:06] came to accumulative total of 6. 4 million dollars. And

[2:00:10] do we have a plan right now that we're working

[2:00:12] on that, uh, 6. 4 million dollars of upgrades. To

[2:00:18] your worship, not to the entire 6. 4 million dollars,

[2:00:21] but within the next five years of our, our, our,

[2:00:24] our, our multi - year capital plan. We have 2.

[2:00:26] 7 million dollars in projects that are slated to be

[2:00:30] worked on. Okay. So the work is already being done.

[2:00:34] Kate, anything you need to add to that. I don't

[2:00:38] think so other than to just confirm that that work

[2:00:41] is planned and it is funded. So we have money

[2:00:43] set aside to move forward with those projects. And we

[2:00:45] are moving forward with some pretty significant ones currently, including,

[2:00:50] um, an electrical upgrade, which touches many facets of the

[2:00:52] building as well as the HVAC update. Thank you. So.

[2:01:05] I was around and was mayor, I think, when we

[2:01:07] did the, uh, the last OPP costing. And the OPP

[2:01:12] had a whole list of building changes that they needed

[2:01:15] that we're going to be expensive. And we were told

[2:01:18] by the local police force that we would not need

[2:01:20] any of those changes. Now I recognise it's a number

[2:01:23] of years later. But if you're going to be doing.

[2:01:29] A new building, renovating building for one police service, I

[2:01:32] don't understand why you wouldn't want to. I'm listening to

[2:01:35] my friends why you wouldn't look at. Before you take

[2:01:39] that step, look and see, do a place OPP cost

[2:01:42] and see what they require. Um, I was criticized at

[2:01:47] a police board meeting for being an accurate. However, we

[2:01:50] do have one of the most expensive police forces in

[2:01:55] the province per capita. So I'm relying on the BMA

[2:01:59] study and it showed that we're number one or number

[2:02:02] two of municipalities are a size that I think went

[2:02:05] from 19 to 29, 000 people for the last five

[2:02:09] years. When you looked at all of them on the

[2:02:13] BMA study, we were in, I think it was 64,

[2:02:16] 65 municipalities, uh, we're somewhere between 12th and 14 of

[2:02:22] four or five years. Our total expenditure for the police

[2:02:26] is 15. 5 million dollars. It's approximately nine or just

[2:02:31] under nine, just around 10 that is coming from the

[2:02:34] taxpayers because there is other grants and things that are

[2:02:38] applied for. I look at Collingwood. Now 27, 000 people,

[2:02:42] very similar homeless problems, yes. Crime problems, yes. Very similar.

[2:02:48] They've got to know PPP contract. Their contract for the

[2:02:52] OPP is under 7 million. The cost of their building

[2:02:55] was, I think they said 133, 000 might have been,

[2:02:59] I think it was 133, 000 to operate their building

[2:03:03] plus some other cost to it. Our expenditures are twice

[2:03:07] as high. At some point, you need to look after

[2:03:10] the taxpayers and go back and have a look and

[2:03:12] say, where do we compare? Maybe OPP can't commit and

[2:03:17] compare. Maybe they're, maybe they're out to lunch by now

[2:03:19] too. But if you don't ask, you're not going to

[2:03:21] know. I would, my point of view, I would, uh,

[2:03:27] not do this. Moving ahead with this study until you

[2:03:30] look at both police forces and see what they need

[2:03:33] and make a big decision amongst everybody. Go ahead. Um,

[2:03:43] through the mayor to that point. Is people are suggesting

[2:03:46] an OPP costing, but is a, are these two things

[2:03:50] at odds with each other? Or could they be parallel

[2:03:53] if a costing is also going to require us to

[2:03:56] know how many people, how many offices, how many staff,

[2:03:59] how much parking, how many garages, um, I don't know

[2:04:05] how many baths and half baths, but like, uh, do

[2:04:09] we not need to know what this building will, has

[2:04:12] space for, to Councillor Hamily's comment. And could those two

[2:04:15] things coexist. I think that's putting the cart before the

[2:04:19] horse because you don't know what one is going to

[2:04:21] require compared to the other. So that's why I think

[2:04:24] you want to find out what they both require. This

[2:04:26] is part of that decision making process before you go

[2:04:30] with a council murder. Through you mayor. I'd like to

[2:04:36] suggest that we need to widen our lens if we're

[2:04:38] going to even engage in that type of dialogue. Right

[2:04:43] now we're talking about a building. However, around that is

[2:04:49] the wider lens that by contract we are, we will

[2:04:55] pay a price to break an existing contract. That is

[2:05:00] an agon expense that needs to be factored in. And

[2:05:04] there are other issues as well. So I think facilities

[2:05:08] are one component, but not the main component and should,

[2:05:15] it's important to also recognise that the equipment besides the

[2:05:21] facility itself that may factor in. Having a wider lens,

[2:05:26] if we're going to engage in that dialogue is important

[2:05:29] because it may actually be that those ancillary costs run

[2:05:33] into the millions of dollars. To even consider a change.

[2:05:38] And I know that that information could be made available.

[2:05:42] Should it be requested? Thank you. And that's the exact

[2:05:46] reason that you get that information and make a fair

[2:05:49] comparison looking at all that costs. Council Kepke. Hopefully this

[2:05:54] is to wrap it up your worship. First of all,

[2:05:57] the Macintosh Perry report was to assess a building. Not

[2:06:04] particularly a police service building. And the needs of police

[2:06:07] service. This report that's being asked for or this assessment.

[2:06:12] It's being asked for is to determine whether this particular

[2:06:15] building can accommodate the requirements under legislation, et cetera, of

[2:06:21] a police service. The other thing that I would comment

[2:06:25] on is there's quite a difference in Community Policing and

[2:06:29] OPP policing. And how they provide the service and how

[2:06:35] readily available they are to provide the services needed in

[2:06:38] our community. So I would just, I would leave it

[2:06:42] at that. I'm going to take the bait. I'm responding

[2:06:46] to both those comments. It used to be an insurance

[2:06:49] company, the police board took it over. They had one

[2:06:52] floor. They expanded to two floors. There have been millions

[2:06:55] of millions of dollars put into cells at the back

[2:07:01] expanded cells to make that into a police building. So

[2:07:05] to suggest that it's not a police building is it

[2:07:08] has been renovated a couple of times by the police

[2:07:11] services to their recommendations to make it into a police

[2:07:15] building and with regard to, uh, all the consequences of

[2:07:19] an OPP costing. That's certainly something that would come out

[2:07:22] and would be looked at at the time. If I

[2:07:25] can comment, I'm not disagreeing that it's not a police

[2:07:27] building and hasn't been for a long time. I'm just

[2:07:31] saying that the Macintosh Perry didn't assess it for what

[2:07:35] the police needs are at this time or in the

[2:07:38] future. Thank you. I'm going to call the question so

[2:07:41] the motion was Councillor Koepke's in front of us. The

[2:07:46] recommendation all in favor. One, two, three opposed. One, two,

[2:07:53] three, four, five. It means six. So what's next?

[2:08:06] Looking to the clerk, because it is a police related

[2:08:10] matter. Am I good to make a motion on the

[2:08:14] city manager bringing back a report in September, sorry, on

[2:08:18] what is involved in going to a police, OPP costing.

[2:08:27] I would suggest Mr. Simmons that, uh, it is, um,

[2:08:32] to ask staff to bring back a report of what

[2:08:36] is required. It's even possible to do. No BPP costume.

[2:08:41] Does that make sense? Through you mayor. Um, hearing the

[2:08:48] proposed motion and the update. For clarity, I think what

[2:08:51] I'm hearing is you would like for staff to come

[2:08:54] back in September. With an update to Council of what

[2:08:58] goes into an OPP cost and what is involved with

[2:09:02] the steps. Because I know my most recent memory of

[2:09:05] an OPP costing is Orangeville. Um, and I know the

[2:09:09] solicitor general has taken over some aspects. Of municipalities asking

[2:09:12] for OPP costings, et cetera. So probably my work between

[2:09:16] now and September would be to at least have an

[2:09:18] informational meeting with the solicitor general's office to understand what

[2:09:21] goes into it, not initiate one, not under take one,

[2:09:25] not spend any money on one, but just find out

[2:09:27] what those steps are and bring that back to council

[2:09:31] to inform your decision making as you move forward. Does

[2:09:35] that sound right. Yes, I'm happy with that. I'm Ms.

[2:09:41] Bloomfeld. If that is the request do we need to

[2:09:44] waive notice because we're asking for a report to come

[2:09:47] back. To you your worship, um, I would suggest that

[2:09:55] as of report would be coming back in O final

[2:09:57] decisions are being made and it does relate to this

[2:09:59] police matter. Um, this could be done as a simple

[2:10:02] motion. But of course if council wants to do a

[2:10:05] point of order, that was, that is within their right.

[2:10:22] Uh, thanks through the mayor. I'm happy to support that

[2:10:24] request for information. I think that, um, it's sort of

[2:10:28] say on one hand that the Own's Sound Police Service

[2:10:30] and its officers provide really dedicated service and care to

[2:10:34] our community. And if we're looking at this as a

[2:10:36] structural problem, unfortunately this goes back to the issue of

[2:10:41] police funding at the provincial level and the cost of

[2:10:43] municipal policing is not being offset by provincial funding in

[2:10:46] the way that OPP services are. And at a basic

[2:10:50] level, we've got to figure out how to provide the

[2:10:52] service. For a reasonable cost. And freeing up that kind

[2:10:56] of budget would also let us do things like support

[2:10:59] the type of project we heard about at the start

[2:11:01] of the meeting tonight to get upstream and help take

[2:11:05] care of each other so that we aren't at a

[2:11:08] place where police need to be involved for matters. They

[2:11:12] don't need to. So I'm really happy to support the

[2:11:15] request for that report. Acknowledging that that's probably really complicated.

[2:11:20] Okay. Anyone else. Councillor Metal. Thank you.

[2:11:30] Thank you for those comments. And I also want to

[2:11:33] reiterate that in no way is this anything about the

[2:11:38] service that we receive from our own Sound Police Force.

[2:11:42] They are a very, very dedicated police force. And they

[2:11:46] do a fantastic job with the challenges that they face

[2:11:50] on a daily basis. And I thank them for their

[2:11:53] service. And this is not anything to do with being

[2:11:59] unhappy with the way that it is performed. It is

[2:12:03] strictly a budgetary matter. And it makes fiscal common sense

[2:12:08] to ask for an OPP costing when you look at

[2:12:10] the numbers of what other jurisdictions are paying versus what

[2:12:14] we are paying. And that is simply what I'm asking

[2:12:17] for is just to find out more about the OPP

[2:12:21] costing for fiscal common sense. Thank you. Gonna call the

[2:12:27] question on favor. One, two, three, four, five. And I'm

[2:12:32] six. So it's three opposed. Three opposed. So that carries.

[2:12:37] Thank you. Uh, 10 E, I think we're going back

[2:12:41] to, uh, mason for engineering technology, service agreement for offsite

[2:12:46] improvements to support UH site plan. Thank you through your

[2:12:53] mayor. Um, so this report. Um, in consideration staff report,

[2:12:59] OP26038, respecting the servicing agreement for U - Haul and

[2:13:02] the city of Own Sound for 2010, 16th Avenue East

[2:13:06] for Council Direct staff, bring forward a Biolot authorized there.

[2:13:10] Service and agreement. Um, so this is at the intersection

[2:13:15] of, um, 16th Street East and 20th Avenue. The U

[2:13:19] - Haul property is the last property in that corner

[2:13:23] to develop out. Um, which has been done through a

[2:13:27] host of Kasharing agreements and service agreements dating back to

[2:13:31] 2011. Um. So this property received conditional site plan approval

[2:13:37] in the fall of 2025. As part of that, um,

[2:13:40] site plan approval for conditional Cyprian River rather. The applicant

[2:13:45] is required, entered into a service agreement with the city

[2:13:47] of own sound to construct the necessary offsite improvements, which

[2:13:50] here include upgrades to the lights at 16th and 20th.

[2:13:54] And upgrades to 20th Avenue east. Uh, between 16th and

[2:13:58] 17th. This report is being brought to council because there

[2:14:03] is a potential for the CD2, um, front end accost

[2:14:09] of 74, 032. Should future development not take place in

[2:14:14] that time frame. Um. Our developmenta has provided a wealth

[2:14:20] of background over the last 15 years in the latterhouse

[2:14:23] report. And I may look to the director to help

[2:14:26] me answer any questions you have. But that'll take questions.

[2:14:29] Councillor Deputy Mayor Greg. Couple of questions to begin with.

[2:14:34] Uh, those two pins, one's 1990, 17th Street. And the

[2:14:39] adjoining property that is located to the west of it.

[2:14:43] How are those two properties zoned. Um, I could look

[2:14:52] at up. And I, I will, but I think their

[2:14:55] designated e - city commercial, but still zoned M1, but

[2:14:58] I will check that. And I'll come back if I'm

[2:15:00] wrong. My problem here is that paragraph that states, if

[2:15:06] no development of the benefiting lands occurs before 2032, the

[2:15:10] City will provide payment to U - Haul on or

[2:15:13] after May 1 in the amount of 74, 000 and

[2:15:16] change. I'm not in favor of leaving the taxpayer on

[2:15:20] the hook for that 74, 000 and change. Um, I

[2:15:24] think when you go into developing these lands, you go

[2:15:27] into developing these lands, acknowledging the types of responsibilities and

[2:15:31] obligations financially that exist. Uh, even those properties if and

[2:15:36] when they develop on 17th Street may have a substantial

[2:15:43] requirement to financially compensate the city to build up 17th

[2:15:48] Street or the 17th Street East extension, which right now

[2:15:52] is effectively a cycling path. Um, so that's the part

[2:15:57] here I can't agree with is leaving the taxpayers exposed

[2:16:02] to 75, 000. Five years goes by in the blink

[2:16:05] of an eye. The economy turns a little bit. And

[2:16:11] then we are on the hook for 74, 303 two

[2:16:15] dollars that I can't support, um, knowingly going into these

[2:16:21] developments, uh, with certain expectations of development financial requirements. I'm

[2:16:28] going to go to Laura. Thank you, worship. I just

[2:16:35] wanted to make sure that we all have the same

[2:16:39] understanding. The cost impact the city would be a temporary

[2:16:45] one. The intention is that we would reimburse the current

[2:16:50] developer at that point. And then continue to endeavour to

[2:16:55] recover those funds when that property does, uh, develop in

[2:16:58] the future. It's just a hub, a break point so

[2:17:02] that the existing developer isn't waiting, say, 25 years or

[2:17:06] something to be reimbursed those fees. So will they still

[2:17:13] have certain financial obligations though to the future development of

[2:17:16] the 17th Street, which exists right in front of them

[2:17:19] right now and is a terrible road and terrible state.

[2:17:24] Three worship Mayor Greg. Yes, that's the intention that that

[2:17:29] debt wouldn't disappear. Those properties would still owe that money.

[2:17:33] It's just that they would owe the city, uh, that

[2:17:35] money. Cause they would, if it doesn't develop until after

[2:17:41] that point, they would have already been paid back. Got

[2:17:46] it. Good. We ran into this, uh, we are still

[2:17:50] running into this with Heritage Grove where it was left

[2:17:55] open - ended. And, uh, that's been 15 years. So

[2:18:01] the idea is that you want to develop it quickly.

[2:18:06] The other piece of property share of it. Is being

[2:18:11] carried or front - ended by the developer. If we

[2:18:15] aren't able to collect from those others, we would step

[2:18:17] in, put the money up. And then we would collect

[2:18:19] from those other developers for their share. I don't know

[2:18:23] if that still makes sense or if I got it

[2:18:25] more confused. But, uh, I think I got it more

[2:18:28] confused. There's a recommendation there. I'm confused every

[2:18:38] day. So, um, I'll move that recommendation. But not always

[2:18:43] by me. Okay. Any questions. Call the question all in

[2:18:48] favor. Not as carried. Thank you, Mason. Uh, next, 10

[2:18:53] F. Report from deputy mayor from Grey County Council. This

[2:19:00] time it loaded on my machine the way it should.

[2:19:03] Uh, last week, council approved to 1. 4 million dollar

[2:19:06] contract with Community Living Owen Sound to provide annual special

[2:19:09] needs resourcing services across the county. The program is funded

[2:19:13] by the province and accordance with early learning and childcare

[2:19:15] guidelines. The single provider, third party delivery model seeks to

[2:19:20] improve service coordination access efficiency accountability and equality of service

[2:19:24] across the county. Council determined to debenture to new paramedic

[2:19:28] bases in Durham and fever sham over 15 years, increasing

[2:19:31] the payment next year by 44, 000 dollars, However saving

[2:19:35] over 700, 000 dollars in mortgage terms. This returns debt

[2:19:40] onto the county books after remaining deventure payments were paid

[2:19:43] off at the start of 2026. And Council had an

[2:19:46] update from the graveyard's Ontario Health team in the form

[2:19:49] of a deputation with a goal of attaching 23, 500

[2:19:53] residents from a primary care provider by 2029 with 7

[2:20:00] million dollars and enhanced based funding received since last August

[2:20:02] and hopeful of a further 4 million dollars supporting plans.

[2:20:06] The hope is to attach a further 9, 000 residents

[2:20:08] with a primary provider by early 2027. I welcome any

[2:20:13] questions and ask for council's endorsement of the verbal report.

[2:20:17] Any questions, Councillor Firm. Thank you through the mayor. The

[2:20:22] Ontario Health team update. We've heard a lot about how

[2:20:26] expanding primary care access is different in communities that qualify

[2:20:30] for additional provincial funding to rook fruit and retain doctors

[2:20:37] and nurse practitioners at the county level, was there any

[2:20:40] conversation about how the success of that program might look

[2:20:44] different in a place like Owen Sound that doesn't qualify

[2:20:47] for that additional funding in those programs compared to Grey

[2:20:53] County as a whole? Or was it really just at

[2:20:55] that county perspective. I guess what's in it for us

[2:20:58] is my question. The one response there I can provide

[2:21:01] was that infrastructure, um, is a considerable impediment, um, for

[2:21:06] building out, um, attachment for individuals and grabers. We didn't

[2:21:12] have any discussion about, uh, inconsistencies in terms of financial

[2:21:15] renumeration, uh, through the province in terms of benefiting some

[2:21:20] municipalities more so over others. Okay. So call the question

[2:21:26] on favor of receiving that. Endorsing that carried banks. Next

[2:21:32] is consent agendas or anything that anyone wants to be

[2:21:37] pulled in dealt with separately. Councillor. As I was on

[2:21:41] motions, I did reach out to folks to ask if

[2:21:43] there was anything that they'd like to be pulled. I

[2:21:45] had request to pull items C, D, and E. I

[2:21:50] don't know if that covers everyone's bases. And that is

[2:21:53] the integrity commission meeting calendar, the approval of the multi

[2:21:57] - year capital plan and the outdoor public water stations

[2:21:59] reports, uh, for those of you following along at home.

[2:22:03] Did you have a separate one. So I will.

[2:22:20] Do you hear worship? I'll just give an overview of

[2:22:22] what is listed on the consent agenda this evening. So

[2:22:25] there are reports respecting potential land sale of part of

[2:22:29] part two, plans 16R - 8752, a request to remove

[2:22:33] a one - foot reserve at 1389 - 16 of

[2:22:35] East. Updates on the integrity commissioner in the 2027 Counseling

[2:22:40] Committee meeting calendar. Approval of the 2027 to 2031 multi

[2:22:44] - year capital plan. Update on the transition to outdoor

[2:22:47] public water stations, approval of non - standard procurement for

[2:22:50] the e - scribe software and iCERE surfacer and a

[2:22:53] report on the Continuation of Guelphal and Sound Transit after

[2:22:56] August 31st. There are minutes for receipt from Grey Sobble

[2:22:59] Conservation Authority Board, Library Board, and the Police Board. There

[2:23:04] are several business licences were issued. Prince Yahad Transit Solution

[2:23:10] at 127, 8 Street East, Red Swan Pizza at 925

[2:23:14] - 16th Street East, Unit 2, Toppers Pizza at 1057,

[2:23:19] second half east. Carsley's at 1350 16th Street East, Joaquin

[2:23:23] Moose Barneill at 1315, 16th Rede's Fresh Coat Owen Sound

[2:23:27] at 2125 16 Street East. Adele's Taylor Shop at 1035,

[2:23:31] 3rd Ab East, First Health Counseling at 894 Ab East.

[2:23:36] Once on Pickleball Club at 3225 East Bay Shore Road

[2:23:39] Unit 6, Schmitt Plumbing Company at 1255 - 45 West.

[2:23:44] Grey Bruce Transportation at 601 - 7th Street A -

[2:23:47] East. Redline Taxi at 650 - 16 Street East. The

[2:23:51] Admirals Barber Shop at 975 Second East and Telcom Courier

[2:23:56] Canada at 1875 - 6v East Unit 2 and Province

[2:24:00] Electric at 1475 second Ab East. A flag flying request

[2:24:05] was approved for child - care worker and early childhood

[2:24:08] educator appreciation day and an illumination request was approved for

[2:24:12] world thrombosis day. The last item on the consent agenda

[2:24:15] is the information package of full listing is available at

[2:24:18] 11 - 0. Good, thank you. So, Councillor Farmer is

[2:24:22] going to move all except C, D, and E. That

[2:24:27] move by myself that in consideration of the items listed

[2:24:30] on the July 27th, 2026 consented agenda that City Council

[2:24:34] won receives items 11a to B, and 11F to 11

[2:24:39] - 0. And to approves the recommendations contained in items

[2:24:44] 11a to 11b and 11f to 11h. And all in

[2:24:49] favor. That's carried. Thanks. So we'll double back to 11C,

[2:24:54] that's you. So this is a quick question. Uh, I'm

[2:24:58] in agreement with sending individuals to the AMCTO conference, which

[2:25:02] impacts the, uh, previous schedule for the June meeting. Do

[2:25:07] we have the ability, we have had individuals not named

[2:25:12] Brianna or Stacey fill in on Monday nights here in

[2:25:15] the past. If they are both absent, do we have

[2:25:19] the ability to backfill and maintain the previous or previous

[2:25:23] schedule, or is it legislatively prohibited that we're not able

[2:25:27] to be absent both of them? Ms. Blumfield. Through your

[2:25:35] worship to Deputy Grey, thank you for the question. Um,

[2:25:37] we can make accommodations to Council want to continue the

[2:25:40] meeting in our absence and our absence. I thank the

[2:25:47] clerks for putting it on the screen right now. I

[2:25:49] think the previous schedule, um, is something that I preferred

[2:25:53] more so. I think tonight is just another example of

[2:25:58] at times you get massive agendas, and it increases the

[2:26:01] workload. Um, it locks it into one in June, two

[2:26:06] in July, and then the break. And I just see

[2:26:08] massive volumes, uh, before council. I don't think it's, I

[2:26:12] understand, um, where staff are coming from in altering it

[2:26:16] with the conference. But I think it is more beneficial

[2:26:20] to counsel if we were to. Maintain the previous schedule

[2:26:25] of June 14th and June 28th, keeping the two meetings

[2:26:30] in June as opposed to one. And I think tonight

[2:26:33] is a shining example of why you do that. Go

[2:26:40] ahead. So your worship, I suggest that the councillor make

[2:26:45] a motion, um, to. Um, prove the calendar, sorry, I

[2:26:51] had it written out here. Bring forward a motion to

[2:26:53] direct staff to update the calendar as presented in the

[2:26:56] report Save and accept the regular Council meeting in June

[2:26:58] and maintain two regular Council meetings in June. So moved.

[2:27:05] Okay, any questions. Seeing none, call the question all in

[2:27:09] favor. That's carried. Uh, 11 D, is that yours? I'm

[2:27:18] Mayor, thank you again. 11, uh, D and E, were

[2:27:21] both me. 11 D is the approval of the multi

[2:27:26] - year capital plan. And we had been expecting an

[2:27:31] update with a report about the fortress. Um, so those

[2:27:35] not familiar with the term. Um, in the 900 block

[2:27:39] of First Avenue west, there's a stone looking structure, uh,

[2:27:43] that has multiple levels. And we were expecting a report

[2:27:46] back about that for this meeting that report is not

[2:27:50] on the agenda. And I was just hoping for some

[2:27:52] more information from staff about, uh, yeah, why that is

[2:27:57] and what we can expect going forward. Thank you, worship.

[2:28:02] I believe last week I had sent Council a note

[2:28:05] to just let you know that the report on the

[2:28:07] fortress wouldn't be presented with the Capitol budget this evening.

[2:28:10] I haven't been able to secure costing for that work

[2:28:14] and I didn't want to bring council that before I

[2:28:19] had a good estimate of cost. So I hope to

[2:28:21] bring that at your next update in December. Thank you.

[2:28:28] And a final question to eleven D. And we might

[2:28:31] need, um, Jay back up. But I just, uh, 11

[2:28:35] E, which I've also pulled to speak to, is about

[2:28:39] the water fill station slash water bottle water fountain issue.

[2:28:43] And I just want to, before we get to that

[2:28:45] point, um, make sure that I understand correctly that the

[2:28:48] capital item listed as, uh, CAP 27 - 0025 or

[2:28:54] on general facilities, bottlefill stations, that that's the same project

[2:28:58] that budget line that's been carried forward annually. That will

[2:29:04] be speaking to in 11E. If I can ask that

[2:29:09] question English, uh, just making sure that we see in

[2:29:14] the multi - year capital plan is again, that same

[2:29:18] project that we're around water bottle and fountain refill stations

[2:29:24] just in its annual presence. Is that, am I correct

[2:29:27] in that? Um, it's not carry forward funds. Those were

[2:29:30] the funds that were budgeted for this year. I believe

[2:29:35] that that's the answer to your question. Okay. Thank you.

[2:29:38] Then I would move the motion for the multi -

[2:29:42] year capital plan with that additional information. Um, that in

[2:29:46] consideration of staff report, CR - 26074, respecting the approval

[2:29:50] of the 2027 to 31 multi - year capital plan,

[2:29:53] the City Council won approves the project's funded within the

[2:29:56] 2027 to 2031 multi - year capital plan and two

[2:30:00] direct staff to bring forward a further update to the

[2:30:03] 2027 to 2031 multi - year capital plan for subsequent

[2:30:06] approval in December of 2026. Okay. Any questions. You're not

[2:30:15] used to asking questions. You're not going to ask yourself

[2:30:17] a question. Very good question. I don't want to get

[2:30:20] between you and yourselves. I'll call the question all in

[2:30:22] favor. That's carried. So that gets us through the consent.

[2:30:29] No, the next eleven. 11E. Okay. I thought we just

[2:30:32] did that one. Sorry. Okay. Go ahead. Thank you. The

[2:30:37] nuance of calling four questions and calling the question. Apparently

[2:30:40] it lost on me. Um, so this report, 11E, we

[2:30:45] asked for that at recent capital meeting. And for context,

[2:30:49] so everyone's on the same page. So we passed this

[2:30:50] motion in 2023. And every year or two, we've continued

[2:30:54] to see the 10, 000 dollars set aside for water

[2:30:57] bottle filling stations. And it's in the capital plan again

[2:31:02] with a project start date of January 1st, 2027. Um.

[2:31:06] And like considering that we have not moved the project

[2:31:12] forward since 2023. And that water fountains cost more than

[2:31:16] indoor bottle filling stations. I'm curious. How much unspent budget

[2:31:21] is currently available for this project? Or would the previous

[2:31:24] years worth of 10, 000 dollars for a bottle fill

[2:31:27] station have just gone back into the regular pot? And

[2:31:30] we didn't, cause we didn't use it. So it's back

[2:31:33] in the regular pot of funding. And we get another

[2:31:35] chance now in 2027 to allocate that funding. Through your

[2:31:42] worship consistent with any other capital project, if it doesn't

[2:31:45] get spent or if it's under budget, the funds go

[2:31:48] back into the capital reserve. We don't continue to earmark

[2:31:52] them for their original purpose. So they would be redistributed

[2:31:55] in future multi - year capital plans. Um, that said,

[2:31:59] we have been installing water filling stations consistently through a

[2:32:03] number of years just recently we put one in the

[2:32:06] Farmers Market washroom. We've put one in at the Bay

[2:32:09] Shore more recently. So those have been happening on a

[2:32:12] one - off ad hoc basis. That, yeah, thank you.

[2:32:18] I appreciate that focus. The 2023 motion was specifically around

[2:32:22] dedicating that budget to publicly accessible outdoor multi - use

[2:32:28] water bottle fill and water fountain. Installations. And that under

[2:32:35] the timing and scheduling section of the report, it says

[2:32:38] the transition schedule is determined by capital planning framework and

[2:32:41] the completion of site - specific assessments. Milestones are prioritized

[2:32:44] based on staff capacity, capital resource availability, and the strategic

[2:32:48] goal of enhancing public access and high traffic areas. And

[2:32:51] the project aligns with the City's Anual Work Plan and

[2:32:53] timelines are adjusted as needed to accommodate other organisational priorities,

[2:32:57] ensuring that the transition remains responsive to Council's directives. And

[2:33:02] yet we haven't since 2023 seen an outdoor water fountain

[2:33:06] installed. And so I'm wondering if staff could tell us

[2:33:09] whether there is currently a plan for when staff will

[2:33:12] begin to explore outdoor public water stations in response to

[2:33:16] the motion from three years ago, acknowledging that we haven't

[2:33:20] spent the funding. So it's gone to other projects. We've

[2:33:22] got a chance to get in 2027. And we know

[2:33:25] that outdoor water fountains cost more than just putting a

[2:33:28] unit in a wall. Um, what's the actual plan and

[2:33:32] timeline. Three of your worship to Councillor Farmer. Thank you

[2:33:38] for the question. So we do have a project for

[2:33:41] 2027. It's CAP 270025, which is 10, 000 dollars to

[2:33:50] install a water station. Um, at this point, that project

[2:33:54] is fully funded in our 27 Capitol Plan and staff

[2:33:58] are currently, um, are completing site evaluations. For potential locations,

[2:34:04] uh, if council were to have recommendations for spaces that

[2:34:07] they could feel would be, we would be well warranted.

[2:34:10] We would be open to that here in that as

[2:34:12] well. Through the mayor, my concern is that this feels

[2:34:17] a lot like the motion that we made in 2023.

[2:34:20] And that type of unit that we discussed prioritizing has

[2:34:24] not been installed anywhere. And so I'm. I'm going to

[2:34:31] move that we accept the report for information purposes. And

[2:34:34] then I'm going to move a subsequent motion that we

[2:34:35] specifically put in the work planned for 2027 and outdoor

[2:34:39] water fountain because the, I really appreciate the report and

[2:34:42] the information that came back that made it clear that

[2:34:45] they cost more money to buy. They cost more money.

[2:34:48] And it's more complicated to install. There's winterization concerns, obviously.

[2:34:53] And that none of those things have been worked into

[2:34:56] the work plan. Um, and acknowledging staff bandwidth issues. And

[2:34:59] that's why we have a capital projects coordinator now. But.

[2:35:04] I'm just really confused about it not happening over a

[2:35:06] series of years. We haven't increased the amount. We haven't

[2:35:09] accrued the amount that would make this possible. And that's

[2:35:12] why I'll make a subsequent motion. But I guess I'll

[2:35:15] stop there and just move that we, um, receive the

[2:35:18] report for information. Recommendation. Don't you dare. Recommendation before us.

[2:35:25] He has moved the recommendation. Are there any questions on

[2:35:27] it. Yes. Because there are a lot of residents out

[2:35:34] there watching who identify themselves as taxpayers. And if you

[2:35:37] read the report, it looks to be that there's 22

[2:35:40] water bottle refilling stations that we have completed. And it's

[2:35:43] a cause of 10, 000 dollars per unit. So point

[2:35:46] of clarity. Have we expended 220, 000 dollars since 2017.

[2:35:53] On water bottle refill stations. Because that's exactly how the

[2:35:57] report reads. Through your worship, I wouldn't necessarily, I would

[2:36:03] need some time to go back and figure out how

[2:36:05] many of those were put in sort of individually. I'll

[2:36:08] use an example City Hall has three. They were put

[2:36:11] in as part of the rehabilitation of this facility. So

[2:36:15] certainly some were put in as a one - off.

[2:36:19] Others were captured as part of maybe building instruction, building

[2:36:22] renovation. I would have to go back and see what

[2:36:25] the nature of each of those installations was. Okay. So

[2:36:32] we've got a recommendation in front of us. Which was

[2:36:37] in consideration staff report 26 dies, 075 respecting an update

[2:36:41] on the transition to outdoor public water stations, city council

[2:36:45] receives this report for information purposes. I'm going to call

[2:36:49] the question on favor. That's carried back to John. Thank

[2:36:53] you. Through the mayor, I moved that the development of

[2:36:55] a detailed project plan for the installation of an outdoor

[2:36:59] water fountain, including the capital installation and operating costs. And

[2:37:03] Identification of potential locations be included in the city's 2027

[2:37:07] work plan. We made this original motion for this project

[2:37:12] at budget meetings in 2023. Three years later, the project

[2:37:15] hasn't moved ahead. We have that budget allocated for 2027

[2:37:20] and the project already on the books. And I think

[2:37:23] that could be used to help make our community safer

[2:37:26] and more age - friendly by increasing public access to

[2:37:29] water that doesn't rely on the buildings that have water

[2:37:32] filling stations being open. I think it's time that we

[2:37:35] at least see what the plan to make the plan

[2:37:38] to move that forward would look like. So I'd like

[2:37:41] to formally add that to the work plan. So it's

[2:37:43] not another three years later when we're asking why I

[2:37:46] can't get a drink of water on the street. When

[2:37:49] the city halls closed. So we've passed a motion. It

[2:37:58] is on the budget. What's different about this one? Uh,

[2:38:04] through the mayor. The current budget line still says water

[2:38:10] bottle refill stations. The report that we just passed highlighted

[2:38:15] that water fountains are more expensive, both for purchasing them

[2:38:20] and then all the infrastructure that goes into installing that

[2:38:23] somewhere. You got to connect the water to something. Um,

[2:38:25] it's recently come to my attention. You also need the

[2:38:27] outflow to go summer. You can't just pour it on

[2:38:29] the ground. Um, and it's not reading to me like

[2:38:34] there has actually been the staff capacity or focus to

[2:38:37] figure out how we get this budget that is dedicated

[2:38:41] to getting people access to water. Outside of a building.

[2:38:45] And if staffer identifying that they need the planning for

[2:38:49] that, for those three stages, then I think we need

[2:38:52] to formally add that to the work plan so that

[2:38:55] it lands on the proper spreadsheet in the proper place

[2:38:57] and doesn't get lost again. Where am I looking? Everyone's,

[2:39:04] everyone's hands going up Kate. Uh, three year worship. A

[2:39:08] number of the water bottle filling stations that we've installed

[2:39:11] are exterior, um, I'll use one. I know the one

[2:39:14] at Harrison Park. It gets winterized in the winter. Um,

[2:39:17] there's one in Kelso Beach attached to the, um, good

[2:39:21] cheer change house in washroom. Um, so there are a

[2:39:24] number that are throughout town as well. We do have

[2:39:26] the drinking fountain that is open across from the farmer's

[2:39:29] market in that parquet currently. Um, so certainly we can

[2:39:33] look at providing an outdoor water fountain, but it would

[2:39:36] be helpful if the area that you're specifically seeking one

[2:39:40] to have that information. We would be able to look

[2:39:43] then at whether there's infrastructure in place to provide one.

[2:39:46] Um, alternatively typically what we do is we look at

[2:39:50] the projects that we're undertaking and now I'll use an

[2:39:52] example. The entrance to this cemetery is a project that

[2:39:57] is currently anticipated for 2027 when that moves forward, we

[2:40:01] could look at an opportunity if we're enhancing that entrance

[2:40:04] already at adding a water bottle filling station at the

[2:40:07] entrance potentially on the exterior of the building. It would

[2:40:10] have to be winterized in the winter if that were

[2:40:12] the case. But, um, there's sort of a mix. There's

[2:40:16] inside stations, outside stations. So if there's something more specific

[2:40:19] that you would like us to look at, we'd be

[2:40:22] happy to build that in. But I do think that

[2:40:24] consideration is made when we look at where we put

[2:40:27] water bottle filling stations every year. Just recognising Councillor Farmer's

[2:40:33] motion. So it is on the table. Councillor Dodge, you

[2:40:36] had your hand up. Thank you, worship. I was just

[2:40:39] going to go back and say, um, historically back in

[2:40:42] the day when we started this policy or this way

[2:40:44] we were going to do this staff identified multiple different

[2:40:47] locations that we're going to be included in this. And

[2:40:50] now my only recommendation to Councillor Farmer was that if

[2:40:52] there was a specific location that you'd like to be

[2:40:54] included in the 2027 budget just to provide that to

[2:40:58] staff and have that, uh, more detailed. Council Merton, you're

[2:41:02] handed up anyone this way. Their hand is up. Nope.

[2:41:05] Okay. I'm going to call the question. If you haven't

[2:41:09] beaten the daylights out of it already. Thank you. At

[2:41:12] the risk of it getting darker, um, if we cast

[2:41:17] our memories back to when Brady was standing at the

[2:41:18] podium in 2023 and he had to slide up that

[2:41:21] showed a water bottleing station and then in the other

[2:41:23] corner of the slide was three tiered thing that had

[2:41:28] water fountain. It had a thing for dogs. It had

[2:41:31] a place to fill your water bottle. And that the

[2:41:34] discussion at that time was in fact initially, I think

[2:41:38] maybe Councillor Hamily moved the motion to say, we've got

[2:41:41] all these water bottle filling stations. Let's just pull this

[2:41:43] from the budget where we filled all the places that

[2:41:46] we possibly can for water bottle refilling stations. We collectively

[2:41:49] moved to say, yeah, there's probably enough inside. There's three

[2:41:53] in City Hall. There's all these other places. But there

[2:41:56] is still a need for people to access water that

[2:41:59] is not inside one of these buildings. And that was

[2:42:02] why we made the motion in 2023. And I'm not

[2:42:04] hearing from staff that in the current project allocation that

[2:42:08] we've actually dedicated the focus or enough funding to actually

[2:42:12] put in another water fountain somewhere. And I really think

[2:42:16] that's important. I'm also, I totally hear Councillor Dodd saying,

[2:42:20] if you want to be more specific, be more specific.

[2:42:22] I'm just also conscious that I don't know what from

[2:42:25] a technical perspective where all of the ideal locations would

[2:42:28] be. I see people every day down at the corner

[2:42:32] of First Avenue East and Ninth Street East. I think

[2:42:35] that could be a place for an outdoor water fountain.

[2:42:37] I think that in the 800 or 900, I'm just

[2:42:43] going to cut you off there. Send it into them.

[2:42:45] We've got to keep moving here. Okay. So the motion

[2:42:47] is on the floor all in favor. One, two, three

[2:42:53] opposed. One, two, three, four, five. So that's defeated. We

[2:42:59] already moved the motion that was in the recommendation. Okay.

[2:43:02] We're good. So we're down to 12A. Medici Community Services

[2:43:06] Committee meeting held on July 22nd, 2026 Counseling Metal Bro,

[2:43:11] I think. Community Services. Sorry, I was in a days

[2:43:18] after that. Okay. Community Services meeting minutes from July 22nd.

[2:43:25] We confirmed the minutes of the June 24th meeting. Committee

[2:43:30] received report CS - 26073 from the Director of Community

[2:43:33] Services regarding the 2026 Ontario Structure Inspection of the Rainbow

[2:43:39] Bridge at Harrison Park. The bridge gets checked every two

[2:43:45] years. And in 2024, when it was checked, there were

[2:43:49] some minor deficiencies noticed and some work was done. But

[2:43:54] in the 2026 structure report, there were major deficiencies. The

[2:44:03] bridge had deteriorated significantly to the point that the engineer

[2:44:06] recommended immediately prohibiting vehicle crossings on the bridge, but pedestrian

[2:44:11] use can continue. Staff are working on various options for

[2:44:16] either repair or replacement coming up with funding strategies and

[2:44:20] strategy for winter snow removal since you cannot have vehicles

[2:44:23] on the bridge. And they're going to report back to

[2:44:27] committee in September of 2026. So that was received for

[2:44:31] information. Committee received report CM - 26022 from senior manager

[2:44:36] of strategic initiatives and operational effectiveness regarding the transfer of

[2:44:40] artifacts to grey roots museum and archives. This report came

[2:44:44] as a result of a service review initiative supporting lean

[2:44:48] continuous improvement across the organisation. The artifacts are being improperly

[2:44:52] stored at public works and have been deteriorating grey roots

[2:44:56] has requested to take the artifacts as part of their

[2:44:58] collection and they will be restored. Committee recommended that Council

[2:45:02] approved the transfer donation request for the five bells, four

[2:45:05] clock faces and the clock mechanism. Committee also received report

[2:45:10] CS - 26072 from senior planner regarding Community Improvement Program

[2:45:15] Grant Application for 612 Second Avenue East, which is the

[2:45:18] Safe and Sound location of the new emergency shelter. Safe

[2:45:23] and Sound had applied for funding under three different streams

[2:45:26] of the CIP program, The Vacant Building Conversion and Expansion

[2:45:30] Grant for up to 10, 000 accessibility improvement grant up

[2:45:34] to 10, 000 and landscaping your property improvement grant up

[2:45:37] to 10, 000. The fund has been well used this

[2:45:39] year and the 13, 000 dollars available. So as part

[2:45:42] of the recommendation and the report, um, staff recommended approving

[2:45:46] the funding of the three - steed streams, uh, drawing

[2:45:50] 17, 000 out of reserves to cover the balance of

[2:45:53] the three grants and then to approve another draw of

[2:45:56] 25, 000 from reserves to fund any additional applications coming

[2:46:00] forward for the remainder of 2026. This would leave a

[2:46:05] reserve balance of 43, 000 dollars and committee approved that

[2:46:09] recommendation We received report CS - 26074 from manager of

[2:46:14] planning inheritage regarding public art installation at intersections would collaborative,

[2:46:19] 289 - 10th Street East, a mural of a realistic

[2:46:23] woodpecker is to be painted by a local artist, Sarah

[2:46:27] Macombe Turbit, and it's being proposed for the side of

[2:46:29] the building facing third avenue east. City does not have

[2:46:32] a mural policy in place currently. Staff recommended that the

[2:46:36] mural proposal be approved subject to the owner getting a

[2:46:39] temporary encriptment permit for the work to be done with

[2:46:44] on the city sidewalk and that the artist provide a

[2:46:47] final sketch to the satisfaction of the city and that

[2:46:50] staff consider an application to the CIP landscaping and property

[2:46:54] improvement, uh, program should one come forward even after the

[2:46:58] work has commenced. And Committee approved that recommendation. We received

[2:47:02] the development update for June, notable things in June where

[2:47:07] the harbour west building number two has started construction, Skydev

[2:47:10] building number three is under construction, Safe and Sound has

[2:47:13] received their permit for the emergency shelter, uh, farmers market

[2:47:17] washroom is now completed. And Padjay Heights submitted an application

[2:47:22] for site approval for the Georgian Heights Building Onten Street

[2:47:25] East. In additional business, we had a reminder about the

[2:47:29] municipal election, updates on Owen Heights and Comrade Park Playground

[2:47:33] replacements that they are now complete. Weavers Creek Boardwalk is

[2:47:37] going to be reconstructed starting in August. The Harrison Park

[2:47:41] Mercury work is done and a reminder that the park

[2:47:45] naming for the former Ryerson Park is underway. People can

[2:47:48] vote on our city Owen Sound until August 28th. With

[2:47:52] that, I move receipt of the minutes of the Community

[2:47:54] Services Meeting of July 22nd and the recommendations contained within,

[2:47:58] and I can take any questions. Good, thank you. Any

[2:48:00] questions. Seeing none, call the question all in favor. That

[2:48:04] has carried. Next, Councillor Coucration minutes the Corporate Services Committee

[2:48:10] meeting held in July 9th, 2026. Thank you, Overship, through

[2:48:15] you. The Corporate Services Committee was held on July 9,

[2:48:19] 2026 at 5. 30 p. m. at the City Council

[2:48:22] Chambers. It was a short meeting. We only had two

[2:48:25] reports that were presented under parking and by - law

[2:48:28] enforcements. The first report was the staff report CR -

[2:48:33] 26067, respecting the regulatory by - law management policy. Number

[2:48:38] AF - 015. It was presented by the By -

[2:48:42] Law Enforcement Supervisor. The report recommended adopting regularly by -

[2:48:46] law policy. Number AF - 015 and repeal Bylord Revision

[2:48:52] and Review Policy Number CS - 73. The second report,

[2:48:57] which was the CR - 26068, highlighted property standards by

[2:49:02] - law, the Saint - Bylor and new vital services

[2:49:07] by - law. The report proposed updates to the property

[2:49:11] standards by - law to address concerns regarding moles, pests,

[2:49:17] vacant lots, damage buildings, so that they align for the

[2:49:20] city's by - law. A new vital science service by

[2:49:24] - law was proposed to ensure that adequate and suitable

[2:49:28] vital services were provided and available in rental units. With

[2:49:33] that, I request the approval and recept of the minutes.

[2:49:39] And anyone have any questions, Councillor Farmer. Thank you to

[2:49:43] the mayor. I'm so excited to see the vital services

[2:49:46] by - law coming into effect. Um, and to CS,

[2:49:52] like, move on the rent - safe recommendations and all

[2:49:54] that community work that took place over so many years.

[2:49:58] It's also the middle of July, and it's really hot

[2:50:01] outside. And I've lived in upper floor brick apartments that

[2:50:05] aren't cooled sufficiently. And I'm curious whether there was any

[2:50:09] consideration given to adding a maximum temperature component to the

[2:50:14] vital services bylaw, or like a right to cooling, anything

[2:50:18] like that, so that as we increasingly see high temperatures,

[2:50:21] uh, that were not baking people in their apartments when

[2:50:24] we could be adding that to the legislation. Just about

[2:50:30] demoted to you again, Ms. Bloomfield. Thank you, worship, and

[2:50:36] thanks to the councillor for providing this question in advance

[2:50:39] as I was able to, um, coordinated response with the

[2:50:41] Bylaw Supervisor, which I will read out. So section 11C

[2:50:46] of the proposed bylaw requires that a landlord provides suitably

[2:50:49] cool air. Which is a maximum of 26 degrees Celsius.

[2:50:53] If the lease agreement outlines that an air conditioning system

[2:50:56] is provided, this allows Bylaw to order the repair of

[2:50:59] an air conditioning system if it is not operable or

[2:51:01] charged the owner if they remove it or fail to

[2:51:04] maintain it without a legal amendment to the lease agreement.

[2:51:08] Under the residential tendencies act effect of July 1st. Tenants

[2:51:12] may install a window or portable air conditioner, even where

[2:51:15] at least prohibits it, provided they meet the prescribed conditions

[2:51:18] and notify the landlord in writing. Landlords may apply a

[2:51:22] seasonal rent increase to recover eligible electricity costs. There are

[2:51:26] currently no municipal biles on Ontario that require all rental

[2:51:28] properties to have permanent cooling systems. Such a program would

[2:51:32] require the retrofit and our renovation of billings to install

[2:51:35] a cooling system, which could impact the availability and affordability

[2:51:38] of rental units in the city. The City of Toronto

[2:51:41] and Hamilton are currently researching a maximum heat bylaw, and

[2:51:44] we will monitor these initiatives. Okay, I'm going to call

[2:51:48] the question again then. On favor, that's carried. So then

[2:51:53] is minutes of operations committee meeting held on July 23rd,

[2:51:56] 2026, and that's 12C in the agenda. The July operating

[2:52:04] service minutes from their committee recommends to counsel to authorize

[2:52:08] utilising up to 35, 000 dollars to investigate opening Geno

[2:52:12] landfill site for the disposal of excess soils. This would

[2:52:16] be similar to the former Derby landfill, which took access

[2:52:19] soils till 2025. Utilising a portion of the genocyte, it

[2:52:23] is possible that up to 300, 000 cubic metres could

[2:52:26] be stored there consisting of excess soils and public works

[2:52:30] materials, some of which for storage or reuse such as

[2:52:33] tree materials. Work at reopening for residential waste disposal options

[2:52:38] would be placed on hold while the county completes its

[2:52:41] regional waste study. And you will city activities can produce

[2:52:44] between 4600 metric tons. And at a cost of between

[2:52:51] 105 to 175 dollars per tone, a considerable liability exists

[2:52:57] to store such materials externally. Further studies will be completed

[2:53:00] by the existing consultant and incorporated into existing staff work

[2:53:05] plans. Committee had to report and recommends council to return

[2:53:08] to the 30 - minute transit intervals following the 45

[2:53:11] - minute trial, while the six - month pilot showed

[2:53:14] some favorable results in margin, April missed runs increased in

[2:53:18] May and June. Public feedback was gathered through surveys and

[2:53:21] assessing 89 surveys completed and citing the 45 - minute

[2:53:27] cycles as less convenient and not improving service reliability. Staff

[2:53:32] and the transit operator will continue to look at opportunities

[2:53:34] to locate operational improvements to reduce delays. The final report

[2:53:38] regarding the transit app was received for information. The 2024

[2:53:43] implementation of the GPS tracking servicing, the app, and improving

[2:53:47] customer experience has been successful. There are issues when spare

[2:53:51] buses are used, so staff are wishing to purchase GPS

[2:53:54] systems, which being in a bag are portable and transferable

[2:53:58] to spare buses. The approximate 10, 000 dollar cost would

[2:54:02] be utilising remaining funds from the original capital project. Staff

[2:54:07] also continue to work with Google to integrate the GPS

[2:54:10] data into Google Transit to offer customers and option without

[2:54:14] needing an additional transit app. A note of motion was

[2:54:19] voted down regarding reporting back - related to a bus

[2:54:22] and child incident a couple months ago. Staff responded that

[2:54:26] there are processes currently in place which had staff attend

[2:54:29] assess and collect data needed to inform any future decisions

[2:54:33] about solutions, which are required enhancing safety for everyone. And

[2:54:38] I would note that staff do make it part of

[2:54:40] their work in responding back to individuals that have submitted

[2:54:45] ideas or concerns. Welcome questions and asked councils endorsement of

[2:54:50] the resolutions contained within. Questions. Seeing none, call the question

[2:54:57] all in favor that has carried. So that gets us

[2:55:01] through the reports. We're down to 13 matters postponed. We

[2:55:04] have no postpone matters. Uh, motions for which notice was

[2:55:08] previously given, and we have none discussion of additional business

[2:55:12] councillor firmer. I think you had two items. Uh, yeah,

[2:55:16] thank you. Through the mayor, my first item, uh, related

[2:55:19] to bandit fests. So the third annual banded fest, which

[2:55:22] is organised by local teens, um, including the organiser who

[2:55:26] was our 2025 youth volunteer of the year, all of

[2:55:28] Browski, uh, took place a week, two weeks ago. Um,

[2:55:32] they brought young bands from near and far and hosted

[2:55:34] the performances as well as a craft vendor market in

[2:55:37] downtown venues and businesses, uh, it was great to see

[2:55:40] an all ages grassroots event in livening downtown. And I

[2:55:44] want to congratulate the organisers and thank them for their

[2:55:46] work in making Owen Sound a great place. And, uh,

[2:55:50] giving my one - year - old a chance to

[2:55:52] get closer to the mosh pit than she normally does.

[2:55:55] Uh, she was so enthusiastic. Uh, my second item was

[2:55:59] just highlighting, so Councillor Merten brought at a previous meeting

[2:56:02] that there municipal candidates, education session, hosted by the poverty

[2:56:07] task force. But now there's a poster. And I just

[2:56:10] wanted to bring that up and highlight that, uh, that's

[2:56:14] happening Friday, September 18th. And that more information is available

[2:56:17] both on the poster and at povertytask force. com. Thank

[2:56:23] you Councillor Merten. Through you mayor. Today there was an

[2:56:30] immediate media release from Southwestern Ontario Public Health Units and

[2:56:36] a call for action. This is in relation to household

[2:56:40] food insecurity, which links to poor physical and mental health

[2:56:46] and a higher risk of chronic disease. And increased pressure

[2:56:50] on our health care system. Among children and youth, it

[2:56:54] impacts concentration, memory, mood, and motor skills, making it harder

[2:57:00] to succeed in school. I bring this forward because we

[2:57:03] all can do something about this. We are told what

[2:57:09] needs to change. Public health units across southwest Ontario, including

[2:57:15] ours locally. Support solutions which acknowledge that the root cause

[2:57:19] of household food insecurity is inadequate income. And they propose

[2:57:25] the following measures. Increase the social assistance rates, including Ontario

[2:57:31] works. Improving income supports for low and modest income housing.

[2:57:37] A households and implementing policies that reduce the cost of

[2:57:41] housing and essential living expenses. And everyone is asked to

[2:57:47] take apart. So what you can do as part of

[2:57:50] the rule in addressing household food insecurity is to learn

[2:57:54] more about how income impacts access to food. There is

[2:57:59] a report from the Ontario dieticians and public health. They're

[2:58:03] called to action. And our poverty task force, excuse me,

[2:58:08] also has links to additional information about the importance of

[2:58:11] income security in relation to people who are hungry. Also

[2:58:18] we are encouraging the public to engage local elected officials

[2:58:24] and to have discussions around income - based solutions. And

[2:58:29] to support our community organisations volunteering, donations, while recognising that

[2:58:35] food programs alone cannot solve this issue. I encourage you

[2:58:40] to look for the media release. There is a quote,

[2:58:44] certainly from our local assistant, um, uh, MOH. And this

[2:58:50] packs all across southwestern Ontario. It is a critical issue

[2:58:53] facing all of our communities. Thank you. Thank you. Deputy

[2:59:00] Mayor Grey, can I pass the chair to you. Yes.

[2:59:07] Um, back to you, Mayor Buddy. Thank you. I want

[2:59:13] to talk about George McCollege here. Um, is everyone knows

[2:59:17] colleges were running into financial squeeze in the spring. And

[2:59:23] it hasn't really gone away. Uh, the loss of international

[2:59:31] students, the shrinking of international students that have been able

[2:59:35] to come, uh, tuitions were frozen at 2019 levels. And

[2:59:41] then the financial, um. Grant from the province was lacking

[2:59:46] and it has been upgraded. Uh, back in the spring,

[2:59:49] I attended Georgian College Barry Campus, uh, with other municipal

[2:59:53] regional provincial and federal elected officials to discuss our commitment

[2:59:58] to working together to drive meaningful lasting pact. We were

[3:00:04] able to receive an insight from their recent labour market

[3:00:07] study and advance conversations about how we can achieve shared

[3:00:11] goals. I was unable to find that labour market study

[3:00:16] on a desk somewhere, but I couldn't find it. They

[3:00:20] have gone and looked at what is needed for future

[3:00:23] labour in this region and all around and tried to

[3:00:26] gear themselves towards that. The labour force is not going

[3:00:33] to be ready for the things that are coming without

[3:00:36] colleges training and developing. And Georgian College is pretty important

[3:00:42] for that. I met again more in June, as I

[3:00:47] recall, with George and College, the president and senior staff

[3:00:52] in on Sound and carried on the conversation. The main

[3:00:57] message was that strong partnerships and bold solutions are essential

[3:01:00] to address the complex workforce, social economic challenges facing a

[3:01:05] region. Collaboration is essential and will ensure where future ready

[3:01:10] and resilient. For all the jobs and economic drivers that

[3:01:14] we want to have built out in the coming years,

[3:01:17] George and College is leading the way with programs to

[3:01:19] have people ready to fill those labour needs. We've got

[3:01:24] a full - time, sorry, the fall complete honours bachelor

[3:01:28] of science nursing program started four years ago, the first

[3:01:32] cohort just graduated this spring. This is within - on

[3:01:36] - sound marine navigation, marine engineering, their marine emergency duties

[3:01:42] where everyone that's working on the Great Lakes Praders have

[3:01:45] to come in and be trained. So they've got to

[3:01:48] be firefighters. There are going to be emergency workers on

[3:01:50] a boat. They can't phone the ambulance or the fire

[3:01:54] truck to come and find them. So they all have

[3:01:56] to be trained. They come in for a couple of

[3:01:58] weeks here, so they're staying at hotels eating at restaurants,

[3:02:01] etc. Power engineering is pretty important. There's power staffing skilled

[3:02:07] trades are being beefed up in this area. Early childhood

[3:02:10] education, I believe has just starting. All of these are

[3:02:14] geared for where labour markets in our region will need

[3:02:17] to be in the coming years. So due to the

[3:02:21] frozen, I hit that. Yeah, due to the frozen tuition

[3:02:25] and declining the international students and underfunding. Georgian College had

[3:02:30] to make some pretty tough decisions and they closed two

[3:02:34] campuses and cut a lot of programs. They did not

[3:02:38] cut here. We were lucky that our campus was not

[3:02:40] one of them that was cut. In the past throughout

[3:02:44] my history and Owen Sound, I remember every time the

[3:02:46] money got caught, it was on sound that seemed to

[3:02:48] lose arts programs and the nursing programs and all those

[3:02:52] things got pulled back. So we're pleased that we're able

[3:02:56] to keep those programs going here.

[3:03:05] Economic impact, so this goes back to 2023. The ONCO

[3:03:11] campus adds approximately 105 million dollars in income to Green

[3:03:16] Bruce Coconomy. Value approximately equal to 1. 2 total gross

[3:03:23] regional product. You don't sound campus impacts supported 1, 311

[3:03:31] regional jobs. Students support one out of every 59 jobs

[3:03:38] in Greyborough's counties. The own sound campus employees a hundred

[3:03:41] full - time equivalent employees. Payroll amounts to 12. 2

[3:03:46] million dollars, much of which is spent in grocery stores

[3:03:49] on mortgages, rents, dining out in the community. Use the

[3:03:53] economic multiplier effect, which is 2. 5 to three probably.

[3:04:01] That dollar turns over. The grocery store owner goes and

[3:04:06] pays employees. They go out and buy things. So it

[3:04:10] keeps turning. The College spent another 4. 1 million on

[3:04:17] day - to - day expenses related to facilities, supplies

[3:04:20] and professional services. That impact of the college's operations spending

[3:04:27] added 15. 1 million to the income of the Regional

[3:04:30] Economy. From outside the region. So 20

[3:04:42] to unsound rent spend money. Buy food. Some of them

[3:04:49] stay. These students spend money in groceries mortgages rent payments

[3:04:53] in the region. Adding about 1. 3 million dollars in

[3:04:58] income to Grey Baruch's economies. To get to that, whatever

[3:05:03] I said first, the 105 million, approximately 88. 6 million

[3:05:08] is attributed to the income of alumni and graduates that

[3:05:13] are working with their acquired knowledge of skills. There's thousands

[3:05:20] of them. Working in Grey and Bruce counties. So Enson

[3:05:29] Campus 2020, this is going back to 22, 23. Students

[3:05:35] paid a present value of about 5. 2 million dollars

[3:05:38] to cover the Constitution fees and supplies. Provincial taxpayers provide

[3:05:48] ensemble campus with 8. 6 million dollars. And again, that's

[3:05:51] 22, 23, so it has changed. Return they benefit from

[3:05:56] an added tax revenue stemming from students higher lifetime earnings

[3:06:02] and increased business output amounting to 2. Sorry, sorry, 21

[3:06:07] million. So just the financial impact is pretty important for

[3:06:14] on - sound. And if I use the hockey team

[3:06:18] as an example, there's things that we have done to

[3:06:20] make sure that the attacker successful and partners in the

[3:06:24] region. And because the number of kids that get jobs

[3:06:27] and the number of jobs that spin out from that,

[3:06:30] from hotels to restaurants, et cetera, it's all of these

[3:06:34] are pretty important for our economy. Beyond that, if you

[3:06:42] think about kids that live in Grey and Bruce, it

[3:06:44] can afford to go to college here that might not

[3:06:47] be able to pay rent might not be able to

[3:06:50] afford to go to some other town based on their

[3:06:55] family's ability to pay to go. And, um, and get

[3:07:00] educated and then return here. So having a college here

[3:07:05] is pretty important for access for students that maybe can't

[3:07:08] travel and don't have the ability. In the past, we

[3:07:13] have pledged money to the hospital for, I think, MRI.

[3:07:20] I think it might be within this term of council,

[3:07:23] or maybe the term before. We pledge 250, 000 dollars

[3:07:27] per year for a, I think up to three years.

[3:07:29] I think they raised enough money after two when we

[3:07:32] used that money for something else. Um, we have had

[3:07:37] a history of supporting. Agencies or institutions in our community

[3:07:46] that really benefit the whole community and the whole area.

[3:07:50] So with that, after talking with George in College and

[3:07:54] working with their staff over the last number of months,

[3:07:58] I want to bring a motion tonight. Based on. Whereas

[3:08:05] the Own Sound campus of Georgian College is an important

[3:08:08] part of the educational economic and social wellbeing. The City

[3:08:12] of Own Sound and Greater Region of Greenburst Counties. And

[3:08:17] whereas George and College has had financial challenges due to

[3:08:21] external pressures. It's been forced to close other campuses. Whereas

[3:08:26] the City Council wishes to support Georgian College campus in

[3:08:30] the city of Owen Sound. I therefore be resolved that

[3:08:34] I move that city Council Drex City Manager and Treasury

[3:08:39] to enter into a funding agreement with Georgian College for

[3:08:42] the transfer of 100, 000 dollars for the next four

[3:08:46] years starting in 2027 in support of the ON Sound

[3:08:51] campus. Um, recognising that. College Education has the responsibility of

[3:08:59] the province. But they've given the money to say, here's

[3:09:05] as much as we're going to give to you, survive

[3:09:08] on that. The City of Barry has pledged 7. 5

[3:09:13] million dollars, so 750, 000 a year to the Barry

[3:09:18] campus, as well as what they're doing in Simco County,

[3:09:24] Grey County in the past as pledge money as well

[3:09:26] recognising the regional responsibilities. So that's my motion. Before I

[3:09:31] do that. Um, I need to move that whereas the

[3:09:37] Council meeting of the City of Own Sound scheduled for

[3:09:39] this date tonight is the final scheduled meeting for the

[3:09:42] Council before the Council will become restricted pursuit of Section

[3:09:47] 275. The municipal act for making any expenditures are encouraging

[3:09:52] any liability which exceeds 500, 000. Therefore move the council

[3:09:57] wave notice with regard to the motion to transfer bonds

[3:10:00] to Georgia College. And I'm just going to go briefly

[3:10:04] to the clerk. For clarity. The motion on the screen

[3:10:10] states from making any expenditures or incurring any other liability

[3:10:14] which exceeds 50, 000 the mayor spoke 500, 000. Could

[3:10:18] you just clarify please? Through your worship, yes, some municipal

[3:10:24] act requirements also known as lame duck is relating to

[3:10:29] 50, 000 dollars. Okay, thank you Councillor Kukraja. So yeah,

[3:10:35] through you, Actor, I would declare a conflict of interest

[3:10:38] because I've employed with Georgian College. Accepted. Councillor Farmer.

[3:10:48] I'll speak against waving the notice of motion. We've heard

[3:10:51] concerns in the past around the implication of tying the

[3:10:54] hands of future councils in major capital decisions. And I

[3:10:58] think that. This is very clearly a four - year

[3:11:02] budget commitment to that deserves. Enough time for everyone to

[3:11:08] see the motion, think about things, talk to folks. And

[3:11:11] I'm not in favor of waving the notice of motion

[3:11:14] for something that is a large capital amount spread over

[3:11:16] multiple years. Okay, thank you. Any further councillors wishing to

[3:11:22] speak to the waving of the notice of motion. Not

[3:11:30] seeing any. So I'll call the vote on waiving the

[3:11:33] notice of motion first. All those in favor of waving

[3:11:36] notice. And I'm Counting six, those opposed. And that is

[3:11:43] carried. So we will go back to the main motion.

[3:11:49] It's been introduced. Any councillors willing to speak to Councillor

[3:11:54] Farmer. Thank you. Through the chair, I'll speak against this

[3:11:58] motion as well. Again, highlighting the previous concerns of tying

[3:12:01] the hands of future councils with multi - year budget

[3:12:04] commitments. I think that there's no question of Georgian College

[3:12:07] being an asset to this community. We are so lucky

[3:12:10] to have that here. And it has brought a lot

[3:12:15] of great people to the area. It's helped local folks

[3:12:19] cultivate their skills and professionalism. It's made of possible. Like

[3:12:23] all the benefits that the mayor cited, I absolutely agree

[3:12:25] with. I don't think that it's possible for one municipality

[3:12:31] to pick up the Slack of a provincial system that

[3:12:34] is trying to run on starvation rations for an institution

[3:12:39] like this. 25, 000 dollars a year is less than

[3:12:45] what it would cost to have one employee. And as

[3:12:50] we talk about. All of the ways in which our

[3:12:55] own operational and capital budgets are overtaxed, I think that

[3:13:00] this is. A way in which it is not to

[3:13:03] me financially or fiscally responsible to put tax dollars into

[3:13:07] supporting a token amount of a, putting a drop in

[3:13:13] a token amount to drop into a bucket that we

[3:13:15] can't possibly hope to actually fill for the college. And

[3:13:20] that doesn't actually come with any requirement of the college

[3:13:24] to keep its operations. Here. This is very clearly an

[3:13:29] act of support and solidarity. And I think there are

[3:13:32] other ways that we can do that. I think that

[3:13:33] we can better advocate with our own MPP for appropriate

[3:13:36] funding and recognise the importance of Georgian College. I think

[3:13:39] that we can look for more in - kind options

[3:13:41] for support and promotion like we did with the banners

[3:13:44] along 10th Street in years past. And. While the financial

[3:13:50] impact is really important to the Owen Sound and Grey

[3:13:53] County economy, we don't actually have a mechanism by which

[3:13:57] municipalities get more money from supporting institutions like this or

[3:14:03] businesses like this. And we've been really clear in the

[3:14:05] past that we don't have a granting system. We don't

[3:14:08] have a granting structure. That organisations who need additional support

[3:14:13] have been encouraged to find Community Foundation funding and things

[3:14:17] like that. And. While I again think the Georgian College

[3:14:21] is an important partner and they deserve our support, I

[3:14:25] don't think our support should be monetary. And especially when

[3:14:28] we so actively critique other expenses in other areas that

[3:14:33] are more specifically municipal jurisdiction. So I'll be voting against

[3:14:36] the motion. Thanks Councillor Farmer. Councillor Kepke. Just a question

[3:14:42] to the mayor. How does this differ from the money

[3:14:45] that we would have given the hospital. My recollection as

[3:14:50] we gave the hospital 250, 000 for three years. Pledged

[3:14:57] 250, 000 per three years, way by when we pledged

[3:15:00] 100, 000 dollars for 10, but the hospital had raised

[3:15:04] enough money for the MRI at that time. So we

[3:15:07] backed out. But Kate, do you remember the amount that

[3:15:09] we were giving to, uh, the hospital a couple years

[3:15:12] ago? I'm looking now, but I seem to recall it

[3:15:16] was 50, 000 over two years. So I just got

[3:15:18] yaw. So 25, not 250. Any further questions. Comments. I

[3:15:28] mayor body. I just know that, uh, if you take

[3:15:31] that 750, 000 dollars that Barry is giving per year

[3:15:35] divided by 147, 000 people, it ends up being about

[3:15:39] five bucks per person. So, uh, if we're to do

[3:15:41] the same thing, we should be donating. I'm going to

[3:15:44] reword that. We could be donating about a hundred thousand

[3:15:48] dollars matching Barry. I don't think we've got the ability

[3:15:51] to do that. That's, I tried to pick something that

[3:15:54] would work. It is a drop in the bucket, but

[3:15:56] hopefully it continues to support. It's, um, it's symbolic in

[3:16:02] a sense, but, uh, and I hope future councils will

[3:16:05] consider more. Thanks. Okay. I'm glad we're not going to

[3:16:09] compare commercial and industrial size tax bases between the two

[3:16:13] communities and their impact on overall taxation. I do have

[3:16:17] one question to the City manager. A couple of months

[3:16:19] ago, we had a deputation from Georgian College, uh, Kevin

[3:16:24] Weaver was here and council did vote in favor of

[3:16:28] proceeding with, uh, supporting the college in future endeavours. Can

[3:16:33] you perhaps just provide an update to that at this

[3:16:36] point? Is there anything to report on there as too

[3:16:38] soon? Three of you are back to you, Deputy Mayor.

[3:16:43] It would be too soon. We have had meetings with

[3:16:45] the senior leadership here at the Georgian College. We've also

[3:16:48] been meeting with the student body Executive team and discussing

[3:16:52] with the students themselves on what supports the students would

[3:16:55] look for from the city, whether that's from additional education

[3:16:59] and information about happenings in the river district to transit

[3:17:02] service to other things like that. But we haven't definitively

[3:17:04] come up with a solid, here are three actions to

[3:17:08] come forward with. Okay. Thank you. Not seeing any further

[3:17:13] arms in the air. I'll call the question. Oh, I'm

[3:17:15] going to go clerk. Through you, Deputy Mayor. If you

[3:17:20] could get the motion on the floor. From the mayor.

[3:17:27] Okay. So I moved the motion as I reckon then

[3:17:32] be resolved that city Council Direct City Manager and Treasure

[3:17:35] to enter into a funding agreement. George and College for

[3:17:38] the transfer of 100, 000 dollars. Payable and installments for

[3:17:42] the next four years starting in 2027 in support of

[3:17:46] the Owensound campus. Okay. Thank you. No further questions. All

[3:17:52] those in favor. Those opposed. And that motion is carried

[3:17:59] with one opposed. Okay. Thank you Mayor Boddy and I

[3:18:03] will pass the chair back to you. Thank you, Deputy

[3:18:08] Mayor Greg. That's additional business. So now it's a motion

[3:18:15] that the Committee, the horizon report. I'm here. Uh, move

[3:18:23] by myself that the Committee of the whole rise and

[3:18:25] report. All in favor. That is carried 17 motion to

[3:18:29] adopt proceedings in Committee the Hall. I'm still here. Moved

[3:18:33] by myself. And seconded by Deputy Mayor Greg that the

[3:18:36] action taken in committee of the whole in considering public

[3:18:38] meetings, deputations and presentations, public forum, matters arising from correspondence.

[3:18:44] Matters of City staff consent agenda committee minutes matters postponed

[3:18:48] motions for which notice was previously given and additional business

[3:18:51] be confirmed by this council. Good. Thanks. All in favor.

[3:18:56] That is carried. Are there any notices of motion being

[3:18:59] given tonight. Before we go into lame duck? Uh, motions

[3:19:04] to move into the closed session. We have nuns. We're

[3:19:06] not going into clothes by loss, Ms. Bloomfield. To your

[3:19:12] worship, the bylaws listed for approval on tonight's agenda include

[3:19:15] the confirmatory by Biolate Execute a loan agreement with grey

[3:19:19] roots museum and archives for the transfer artifacts. A Biotech

[3:19:23] execute all documents necessary to complete the sale of the

[3:19:25] southern portion of part two on 16R - 8751 to

[3:19:29] Brad Duncan. A Biotech's Cuted General Assignment and Assumption of

[3:19:33] Contracts with 14 acres parking in Byla. A Biotech Execute

[3:19:37] of Fourth Amending Agreement with Voyagego for Intercommunity Transportation between

[3:19:41] Own Sound and Guelph. A Biolite Execute a third of

[3:19:44] many agreement with centre Wellington and a Fourth Amending Agreement

[3:19:47] with Trasworth, Wellington North, Northern Credit Union, and 6 -

[3:19:50] 10 Mini Mart, respecting bus stops for the Ghostbus service.

[3:19:54] A Biolatex execute a funding agreement. Amendment with Grey County

[3:19:59] respecting ghost, a Biolate Executive Service Agreement with U -

[3:20:03] Haul for property at 20th Avenue East in 16th Street

[3:20:05] East. And a Byla dedicate an establish a one -

[3:20:08] foot reserve at 1389 - 16 Street East as a

[3:20:12] public highway. And there is one additional by - law,

[3:20:15] but you have an interest, so I'll wait. To describe

[3:20:18] that one. Thanks. Okay, go ahead with those, John. Move

[3:20:27] by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greg that by -

[3:20:29] law numbers 2026 - 089 through to and including 2026

[3:20:34] - 097 be passed and enacted. All in favor. That's

[3:20:40] scary. So one more that I've got a pecuniary interest.

[3:20:43] I'll hand the chair back to Deputy Mayor Greg. Okay,

[3:20:48] I'll go back to the clerk to introduce it. Thank

[3:20:51] you, Deputy Mayor. The last byla is to execute a

[3:20:54] Lisa Greement Amendment with Brandon Vandershot for two additional parking

[3:20:58] stalls on 11th Street West, east of First Aft West.

[3:21:03] Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Hamley, that bylaw number

[3:21:07] 2026 - 098 be passed and enacted. Any questions. Not

[3:21:13] seeing any. I do have one. This question would be

[3:21:17] to the director of Community Services. We did receive an

[3:21:21] email from a resident regarding the opportunity for others to

[3:21:27] evaluate spaces in this area. Before passing the bylaw tonight,

[3:21:34] what type of. Opportunity, or what is the framework or

[3:21:40] the setting like for others to now submit an interest,

[3:21:44] um, because timing - wise, um, I think it would

[3:21:47] be difficult just to pass this. Um, and then tomorrow

[3:21:51] email back and say, we can't do anything. I'd just

[3:21:54] like to know, uh, what was our process. Through you?

[3:22:02] The report on last time spoke to the redevelopment of

[3:22:05] these lands in the harbour and the parking spaces aren't

[3:22:09] required to achieve the minimum parking in the zoning bylaw

[3:22:14] about really, we're required or requested by the building owner

[3:22:18] to support the redevelopment. I think three or four of

[3:22:21] the units were occupied and this was the last one.

[3:22:25] Certainly, I don't believe that staff were copied on the

[3:22:29] email, but if there's parking spaces, in any municipal lot,

[3:22:35] certainly through the City clerk, we can address any of

[3:22:41] those requests to lease or look at. The use of

[3:22:45] those spaces in accordance with our bylaws. Okay, thanks for

[3:22:51] that replies. Just nice to know that there is an

[3:22:53] element of fairness that he exists out in the Community

[3:22:56] for others to, in the futures, to still reach out

[3:23:00] to the city. So not seeing any further questions, all

[3:23:04] those in favor. And that is carried. Thank you. We

[3:23:09] will allow for, actually we don't even need mayor body

[3:23:13] to come back because that was the last item of

[3:23:15] a business and it's 8. 53 PM and we are

[3:23:17] adjourned.

Council Meeting - Regular

Agenda

Transcript