[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.