[5:05] Great. Welcome everyone to the town of
Greater Napony regular session of
[5:08] council for the 25th day of August 2026.
Just before we call the meeting to
[5:12] order, I just want to remind everyone
this evening that this evening's meeting
[5:15] is being livereamed via our YouTube
channel. So, welcome to those that are
[5:19] in the body of the council chambers this
evening. Welcome to those that are
[5:22] watching uh tonight and welcome to those
that will watch us at a later date. So
[5:26] having said all that, we'll call the
meeting to order and we'll start our
[5:28] meeting uh with our opening proceeding
which is a playing of the national
[5:32] anthem. So I'll ask those in the body of
the council chambers to stand and face
[5:35] the flag as we play our national
[5:51] Heat.
[music]
[6:01] [music]
[6:04] Heat.
[6:10] [music]
[6:14] Heat
[6:31] [music]
[6:33] up here.
[6:38] [music] Heat. Heat.
[6:46] [music]
[6:53] [music]
[6:57] [music]
[7:05] » [music]
[7:09] [music]
[7:22] » Great. Thanks everyone. Uh just uh
before we get going, we're going to uh
[7:27] deal with a closed session that we had
earlier this evening. So I'll look for a
[7:31] motion to uh note rece [clears throat]
or sorry to uh go into or to do our
[7:36] rising report from close session. Moved
by deputy mayor Calver, second by
[7:39] councelor Shank if there's no further
comments, questions or concerns. All in
[7:42] favor of that motion? Opposed? Motion's
carried. I would like to report uh that
[7:48] in closed session this evening
uh that council received for information
[7:54] the confidential appointments to the
joint compliance audit committee report
[7:58] and further that council approve the
recommended appointments and direct that
[8:02] a bylaw be brought to the September 8th
2026 meeting for adoption. Uh look for a
[8:10] motion to note and receive that. Uh
moved by councelor Nory second by depra.
[8:14] There's no further comments, questions,
or concerns. All in favor of that
[8:17] motion? Opposed? Motion's carried. Uh
the next matter is confidential
[8:21] SR1429-2026
legal advice. The council received for
[8:26] information the confidential legal
advice report.
[8:30] Moved by
councelor Davyy, second by councelor
[8:33] Shank. If there's no further comments,
questions, or concerns, all in favor of
[8:37] that motion? Opposed? The motion's
carried. And I'm just going to back up
[8:42] because we do have some rising reports.
Madam clerk, I think from August 11th
[8:45] and 25th, am I correct?
>> Through your worship. Yes. Uh since
[8:50] August 11th was only close session in
the special meeting, we'll do the rise
[8:53] and report. Yeah.
>> Okay. So, having uh said
[9:00] » uh this one here, right, right?
>> Yeah.
[9:02] » Yeah.
>> Uh we'll uh look for a motion to know
[9:05] and receive the confidential SR1434-2026
land sale former Suttered Lands. that
[9:11] council receive for information the
confidential land sale former sutter
[9:15] lands report and fur that council direct
and authorized staff to proceed as
[9:18] directed in close session moved by
deputy mayor calver second by councelor
[9:21] Martin if there's no further comments
questions or concerns all in favor of
[9:24] that motion motion's carried and finally
confidential SR1433-2026
[9:31] human resources report August 11th the
council receive for information the
[9:34] confidential human resources report
moved by councelor Nory second by
[9:39] councelor Martin if there's no further
comments, questions, or concerns. All in
[9:43] favor of that motion? Opposed? Motion's
carried. Uh look for a motion to adopt
[9:50] uh the agenda as presented. Move by
councelor Davyy. Second by councelor
[9:54] Shank. If there's no further comments,
questions or concerns. All in favor of
[9:57] that motion. Opposed. Motion's carried.
Disclosure of pecuniary interest in the
[10:01] general nature thereof. Is there any
disclosures of pecuniary interest this
[10:05] evening?
Seeing none, uh, deputations, schedule
[10:10] deputations, new items. I don't believe
we have any, madame clerk. Uh,
[10:15] deputations item on the agenda. We do
have one deputation, Jay Bogdanowitz.
[10:20] Miss Bdanowitz is here. And so, welcome,
uh, Miss Bogdanowitz. Uh, I don't know
[10:26] if you've been here in person or not.
The microphone in front of you, there's
[10:29] a button in the middle uh, says push.
You just have to push it. Once the green
[10:33] light is on, the green light is on and
we'll be able to hear you. but they have
[10:37] to have the green light on so the folks
at home can hear you as well. So, um,
[10:40] whenever you're ready, the floor of
yours.
[10:43] » Okay, great. Thank you. Uh, thank you,
uh, for allowing me to speak tonight.
[10:47] Uh, I appreciated the conversation, uh,
at the last meeting very much. Um, and I
[10:52] appreciated that there was a unanimous
interest in, uh, a bylaw review of, um,
[10:57] of, I guess, orders to mow tall grasses.
Um, I also very much appreciated that
[11:02] two council members came to the property
to see uh the garden that we are trying
[11:06] to naturalize and uh they spoke highly
of it uh during the council meeting and
[11:11] um you know suggested that others uh
could do the same as well on their
[11:14] properties. Um I appreciated the staff
report that was turned around very
[11:18] quickly um and that was very thorough
although I have a few questions about
[11:22] that report today.
Um, and I guess, um, what I'm kind of
[11:27] left wondering is that regardless of,
um, you know, the praise I received from
[11:31] from the counselors, um, staff continue
to recommend upholding the order to MO.
[11:37] Um, and so again, I'm here to, uh,
request that the order is cancelled. Uh,
[11:41] and to just confirm again that this
issue is causing a great amount of
[11:45] distress for for me and my family.
Um, one of the things in the report that
[11:50] I found uh that was interesting that I
wanted to highlight um was an
[11:54] interpretive direction that pollinator
gardens and naturalized lawns could fall
[11:59] within the existing exemption for
ornamental grasses that currently exist
[12:03] in the bylaw.
And if that interpretation is taken,
[12:07] that would protect our garden and others
like it um as the bylaw update proceeds
[12:12] uh without rec without requiring council
to wait until the next term to act. So I
[12:17] thought that was a kind of an
interesting um let's not call it a
[12:20] loophole, but a kind of interesting
interpretation um to address this issue.
[12:25] Um I'm also [clears throat] here to seek
clarification about the report in
[12:29] particular. Uh the report recommends um
mowing along two of my property lines,
[12:34] but it says that I I don't need to mow
if if the area is a wetland and those
[12:39] property lines um contain cattails. And
so in my interpretation, this is um you
[12:44] know part of a a storm water swale and
I'm curious to know if that would be
[12:48] considered a wetland or not.
Um the report also um suggests that the
[12:54] order is canled. Um, however, it kind of
suggests that it could be opened up
[12:59] again um before the next term of
council. Um, and so again, I'm here to
[13:03] humbly ask that the decision that is
made today closes the issue for us until
[13:07] the bylaw can be updated.
Um, the topic of t ticks and pests came
[13:14] up at the last meeting. Um, and uh, I
wanted to refer to the letter that
[13:18] council has received by Joyce Hustlin,
uh, who is a Thousand Islands master
[13:23] gardener.
uh she wanted to um I guess point
[13:26] council to um a number of scientific
papers that have been written on the
[13:30] issue and uh and if uh council proceeds
with updating the bylaw encourage that
[13:36] those involved in that um that they
consult the the latest scient scientific
[13:41] papers on the issue and in particular
just to quote her um her letter she says
[13:46] that blackhead black sorry blacklegged
ticks um and their abundance is driven
[13:51] by deer access white-footed mice
populations and woodland proximity and
[13:55] it's um and plant height and mowing
schedules do not quite um you know
[14:00] contribute to tick populations.
Um and so finally just to conclude um
[14:06] you know again I'm here as I've
mentioned in my letter I will not be
[14:08] destroying my garden uh and forced to
mow and if the town decides to destroy
[14:13] the garden I will have no choice but to
take legal action for damages. Thank
[14:17] you.
>> Great. Thanks Madanowitch. Just hang
[14:21] tight and we'll see if uh just hang
tight. We'll see if council has any
[14:24] questions for you. Okay. So, council, do
you have any questions or comments for
[14:28] for Julie with respect to her her uh
deputation here this evening?
[14:34] Uh Deputy Mayor Calber, thank you
worship.
[14:40] The blacklegged tick. There's a lot of
different talks about what causes, what
[14:46] doesn't cause, where they live, where
they don't live. Um,
[14:52] as much as you're saying that long grass
doesn't attribute to them and so on and
[14:57] so forth, there's also documents out
there that say it does. Um, I'm just
[15:02] just a little concerned. I mean, we have
bylaws in place for a reason.
[15:07] And
here we are. As much as you enjoy your
[15:11] your natural garden, natural yard, and I
did take a drive out there, by the way.
[15:15] I didn't I didn't knock on your door. I
went and seen what I could see from the
[15:19] road. Um, and I've seen your trails that
you've got cut through your property and
[15:24] stuff, but
I I just I'm just concerned myself. I
[15:29] know with our property that we maintain
and look at, 100 plus acres of land. Um,
[15:34] and we have trails as well and uh we do
have ticks on the property um as well.
[15:41] And it's uh it's a non-stop fight to try
to keep them and we keep everything cut
[15:45] back on our trails and so on and so
forth. But uh yeah, I'm just a little
[15:49] concerned when you when you say that the
long grass doesn't doesn't in inhibit
[15:53] these uh these ticks because we have
them too and they're everywhere and
[15:57] especially in southeastern Ontario there
these ticks are all over the place. So
[16:03] anyways, that was all I've got to say on
that. So, I I still believe our bylaws
[16:08] are are still good and should be
followed. Thank you.
[16:12] » Thank you. Uh, Deputy Mayor Calver, is
there anything else for Miss Baganowitz
[16:18] before we move on?
Seeing none, uh, hang tight, uh, Julie.
[16:24] We will have a, I'm sure, a robust
conversation about the matter later on
[16:28] in the agenda. So, uh, um, relax and see
how we do things here in Napony. So,
[16:33] thank you. I'll look for a motion to
note and receive the uh the uh
[16:38] deputation of Julie Bogdanowitz. Moved
by councelor Noi, second by Deputy Mayor
[16:43] Calver. If there's no further comments,
questions, or concerns, all in favor of
[16:47] that motion? Opposed? Motion's carried.
Unfinished business. The first matter is
[16:51] updated executive services, labor
relations, reserve, spending thresholds,
[16:55] and governance framework. And Mr. Grant,
I think you're going to speak to that.
[17:00] Uh so when you get settled in there,
we'll uh we'll allow you to take the
[17:03] floor.
[17:12] Uh thank you worship and through you
your worship to members of council. Um
[17:16] this is an item that is coming back uh
with respect uh to uh labor relations uh
[17:24] reserve. Uh the initial trunch of money
going into the reserve uh is $155,000
[17:32] um from workplace self uh safety and
insurance board. Uh and the team has
[17:38] also talked about how to have recurring
support um for that kind of reserve. Um
[17:44] the the current theory is what's called
gapping dollars. So there will be uh
[17:49] monies that are unspent on budgeted
salary dollars due to turnover or
[17:52] recruitment and that sort of thing. and
that's uh dedicated for HR so should be
[17:57] going for HR purposes. Uh council at our
uh last meeting expressed the desire um
[18:04] to understand um exactly how this money
would be allocated and spent, how
[18:09] council uh could perform its fiduciary
duty in terms of spending limits um
[18:15] while also
um creating a a separation on specific
[18:21] HR matters. And I think that we've
struck a reasonable balance here and I'm
[18:24] I'm happy to get your views on it. So,
the proposed delegated authority limits
[18:29] um the way that it uh is proposed to
work is that uh there'd be a maximum
[18:34] spend uh of $25,000
um for things such as recruitment
[18:40] advertising, executive or specialized
recruitment services, uh candidate uh
[18:44] assessment and testing tools, relocation
assistance, um things like that for uh
[18:50] recruitment and staffing transition
costs, termination, severance, and
[18:54] workforce restructuring costs such as uh
contractual termination pay, severance
[18:58] obligations, vacation payout,
liabilities, uh labor relations uh and
[19:02] legal expenses and investigation cost
such as external labor employment legal
[19:08] services, workplace investigations
um under some of our policies uh such as
[19:13] the workplace harassment uh bylaw,
arbitration and mediation costs, human
[19:18] rights or employment compliance matters,
uh WSIB and accommodation costs. Um so
[19:25] uh I would have the authority to
authorize the spend on the
[19:28] recommendation of human resources uh and
would do so in consultation with the
[19:33] treasurer. Um the uh anything exceeding
that and candidly anything serious would
[19:40] exceed that. uh it just would uh would
come to council uh for an inc camera
[19:45] discussion uh in a general sense without
getting into the specific HR files per
[19:51] se. But this this is the problem we're
trying to solve and this is why we think
[19:54] this uh avenue uh is the proper avenue
to solve it and this is how much uh we
[19:59] believe that we need above and beyond
what is our delegated authority. Um, I
[20:04] would expect um a lot of um uh spending
would be minor in nature and far below
[20:13] the $25,000 threshold. One of the things
that sparked this discussion candidly
[20:18] was um the fact that HR had no
recruitment budget.
[20:22] » Um that candidly was a problem u from my
perspective. we were using uh our own uh
[20:29] website, social media and that sort of
thing to try to find um appropriate
[20:34] staff and and sometimes we're looking
for very specialized people in a very
[20:38] competitive market. So I'll I'll give
you an example. Um he's not here anymore
[20:43] online so I can embarrass him. Um Mr.
Hatton is someone that we did an
[20:49] expanded uh search for using very
specific uh advertising methods
[20:54] particularly um the association of
planners websites and which come at a
[20:59] cost um and that's where we found them
and uh that is candidly a get because
[21:05] planners are hard to find. Um there's a
number of different kinds of professions
[21:09] that are hard uh to fill and that is one
of them at this point in time. Um so we
[21:15] would see things such as that. Um
the uh and anything above and beyond
[21:22] that as I mentioned we would bring to
council um for uh your authorization. Um
[21:28] we would give you a full rationale and
you know as we do financial reporting we
[21:33] would indicate um these are where monies
were spent and the reason that they were
[21:37] spent that way. And with that uh I or
Miss Natt Fischer are happy to answer
[21:42] any of your questions.
Great. Uh, thank you, Mr. Grant. Go
[21:45] ahead, Councelor Nish.
>> Mr. Grant. Um, just I think I know the
[21:49] answer, but the relocation assistance is
that the sweet in the pot to say to
[21:53] bring someone from the other end of the
lake from a big city to here or
[21:56] something like that? Is that the idea
>> to Mr. Mayor? Short answer, yes. Um, so
[22:01] if we're pulling people from if we're
trying to um entice them from the
[22:06] greater Toronto area or beyond, um, it's
unlikely we'd be able to pay full
[22:11] relocation. Um but sometimes that's
what's needed to give us a competitive
[22:16] edge over over a different organization.
[clears throat]
[22:20] » Thought so. Thank you.
>> Thank you councelor Nor. Thank you Mr.
[22:23] Grant. Is there anything else? Councelor
Martin.
[22:28] » Thank you mayor through you. Um Mr.
Grant. Um
[22:35] the the
reserve fund is was or is or whatever it
[22:40] was at 155
155,000
[22:44] and
>> Mr. Mayor. Yes, it is.
[22:48] » Okay. Um so
if the corporation saves money during
[22:54] the year that's going to be replenished
by that money saved. So what what
[22:59] happens if there's x number of dollars
saved and you keep you build up that
[23:04] fund to um a large amount? I mean, I I
like reserve funds, Billy. Me for, you
[23:11] know, firet truck, uh, uh, snow plows,
building maintenance, that type of
[23:16] thing. But I'm just I'm just wondering
why HR usually isn't an emergency
[23:22] situation. Like, usually HR can come to
council for for funds or whatever. And
[23:30] should there maybe be a cap on the
reserve fund as far as I mean how much
[23:37] money would would you recommend that uh
or you you would think that's going to
[23:42] be needed in a particular year.
>> So through you Mr. Mayor to councelor
[23:50] Martin uh difficult to say depending on
year to year. So I would agree that
[23:54] there's no uh emergency situations per
se. Uh but human resources is part of
[23:59] the business that costs money has cost
money. We can cost that out over the
[24:03] last several years. We've just been
pulling it from other places. Um so it's
[24:07] it's come at the expense of of some
other places. Um I would say do I think
[24:13] that the reserve is going to get quite a
bit higher year-over-year savings? I
[24:17] would love to have that problem.
[laughter]
[24:20] I don't think we're going to have that
problem.
[24:23] um only because of some of the the uh
past dollars that have been spent for
[24:28] specific reasons, whether it be
arbitration that we recently went
[24:31] through. Um if we have mediation cost,
recruitment costs, um there's an ongoing
[24:37] costs that are fairly healthy. And I
wouldn't suggest that we'd want to go
[24:41] much over 150 unless uh if it indicated,
you know, a circumstance indicated that
[24:49] we needed more than that, we would come
to you and ask to to raise the
[24:51] threshold. If we were over that, my
expectation would be that uh finance
[24:56] would tell you um look, we we are over
the threshold of the reserve that was
[25:00] originally set up by council. What would
you like to do with the money? Um so I I
[25:05] don't think we're going to see uh the
reserve grow and grow and grow per se.
[25:09] It's unlike other reserves and that
there's continuous operating needs, but
[25:13] it's been uh a negotiation between HR
and others uh between uh how things will
[25:20] be funded, where the money is going to
come from, are people going to get the
[25:23] same level of service uh based on the
budget they have to allocate for a
[25:27] recruitment effort or whatnot. And we're
we're looking to sort of standardize the
[25:31] service so everyone gets the same level
of service, if you may, if you will. Um
[25:35] so that's the intention for it.
I don't know if I answered your question
[25:39] there, counselor,
in a roundabout way.
[25:44] Thank you. Um, could I just um
So, is is that uh does this mean if we
[25:51] have a reserve fund of 150 roughly,000
that that will no longer be a budget
[25:58] item because other years we've actually
budgeted for HR expenses, have we not?
[26:05] And I mean, if there's an expense coming
that needs to be paid for, it usually
[26:09] comes out of the general reserve as
opposed to
[26:13] having a I mean, I don't know how many
reserves we have now. I I've I've heard
[26:17] a number of reserves over over the last
four years, and I'm just I just want to
[26:22] make sure that council is aware of every
dollar spent, but we all know that next
[26:28] year is going to be a a challenging year
budget-wise. So, I'm just I'm just
[26:32] trying to get a perspective on on what's
going ahead as far as our budgeting is
[26:37] concerned.
>> I think uh I think our human resources
[26:40] professional may be able to weigh in on
this, Mr. Grant. So, go ahead, Holly.
[26:44] » Thank you. Through your worship. Um we
of course now my brain has gone
[26:49] completely empty. Um
Oh my goodness,
[26:55] my brain's empty. It
Yeah, thank you. Um, [laughter]
[27:01] in the past we have budgeted for known
expenses in HR that have come up. So
[27:06] when we know we're going to arbitration,
when we know we're doing those certain
[27:10] when we're going to have higher than
normal legal fees, but in a lot of the
[27:13] situations that you see listed in this
reserve here, they're unknown. They
[27:17] happen kind of just as they happen. Um,
so I I foresee this being a separate pot
[27:23] of money for that exact reason. we will
still likely budget for these higher
[27:29] expense item ticket items that we know
are coming. So, we won't be pulling from
[27:33] those reserves for that specific thing
when we know it's coming. But otherwise,
[27:38] everything else listed in this reserve,
it it kind of comes up as the year goes
[27:43] on and that's why we're asking for this
specific pot of money on the side to
[27:46] pull from.
[27:50] Yep.
>> So, this is just for emergency funds.
[27:55] This isn't for So, we'll still be
looking at budgeting for normal HR
[28:00] expenses.
So,
[28:02] » through your worship, yes, we will still
be planning on budgeting for normal
[28:06] known HR expenses. I'm not confident the
word emergency is the right word um
[28:11] because that has a certain context
associated with it. But these are the
[28:14] unknown costs that happen throughout the
year. Um, they happen every year.
[28:18] They're going to happen every year, but
you can't plan for them because you
[28:22] don't know which ones are going to come
up.
[28:25] » Thank you. Sorry. Go ahead, Mr. Grant.
>> So, three, Mr. May, I'll give I'll give
[28:30] an example for you, counselor. So, uh,
some of the recruitment costs that we
[28:34] would incur, we wouldn't know. Um, so,
uh, people don't often, uh, forecast in
[28:40] advance, um, before they've found a new
job. They let you know when they've
[28:44] secured a new job. Not that anyone not
that we want anyone to leave. Um but uh
[28:50] the difference in recruiting um certain
positions uh versus other positions.
[28:56] There will be a difference in cost in
how you would have to go to recruit
[28:59] because one year we might find a
difficult to recruit position that we
[29:03] have to invest more money into to find
the right person. Uh and other ones um
[29:09] those types of uh people that could fill
those positions are are more abundant in
[29:14] the area. um we might have uh an HR
investigation that comes up for whatever
[29:20] reason that we weren't anticipating that
we would need um funds for, but we
[29:25] wouldn't be necessarily anticipating
those because a matter might have uh
[29:29] popped up that would be contrary to a
policy and we're obligated under policy
[29:33] to act. Um but we wouldn't have been
able to foresee those because um we
[29:38] didn't plan for someone to break a
policy.
[29:42] » Thank you, Mr. Graham.
Thank you. Uh, council, go ahead,
[29:47] councelor Shane.
Hi,
[29:50] » Matthew. Uh, I'll give you an analogy. I
had a wise man tell me once that uh, and
[29:54] this is council's what's happened in the
past. All right. So, if a child touches
[29:59] a stove when it's really hot, it's a
little gunshy touching again. So,
[30:03] there's a concern here. All right. I'll
be I'm just being honest. All right.
[30:08] That
are we giving you the the keys to the
[30:13] safe? if you know what I mean. I know
it's 155,000, but are we losing any
[30:18] authority of no, we're not going to pay
that out or no, we're not going to do
[30:23] this or we're losing that. Now, I'm in
agreement with what you're doing. All
[30:29] right,
cautiously. All right, but uh Ellen is
[30:35] going to give us a quarterly financial
breakdown.
[30:39] uh anything is I have faith because we
have great staff that anything that's
[30:45] contentious
that is you know it doesn't do the smell
[30:49] test because uh we're not a municipality
that just goes yeah we'll just yeah
[30:55] we'll bend or yeah no you know what I
mean if it has to go that route we we'll
[30:59] go that route you know what I mean but
we have to be fair and honest with
[31:02] ourselves also and where that money
spent and that's where I think where
[31:05] Bill's coming from also where counselor
Martin is coming from is that we just
[31:09] want to make sure that we're not out of
the loop, that we're still in that loop
[31:13] with Ellen's uh financial what she's
going to give us to us and with your
[31:18] communication skills, Matthew and and
Holly, what you guys are doing, I feel
[31:22] confident that you're doing it. So, I'm
not saying I'm not going to look at it
[31:26] with a real magnifying glass, but it's
definitely going to be looked at. So,
[31:30] that's what my concern is. as long as
you you address those type of concerns
[31:33] with the the future council then uh you
know what I mean what their concern
[31:37] might be because you know once bitten
twice shy you know what I mean so that's
[31:43] where you're into a shy state right now
so that's all
[31:48] » yeah go ahead Mr. Grant
>> so um I'll uh I'll I'll speak to that
[31:53] counselor and and invite Holly to weigh
in so I'd first say through you Mr.
[31:57] Mayor, if we were going to rob the safe,
I'd ask you for a lot more money. I
[32:01] really would. Um, and there's nothing in
this policy that would allow us to spend
[32:06] $150,000 in one shot. So, what you're
seeing in terms of a $25,000 limit,
[32:13] that's around my that's actually quite a
bit less than my delegated authority
[32:16] already. Um, it it's and to date in my
time here. Uh, I like working here, so I
[32:23] wouldn't spend that without telling you.
Uh, unless it was a serious emergency,
[32:27] like I need to act and spend something
now, we're going to lose a lot more. Um,
[32:33] what I would say is, um, let's call it,
um, say if there was a dismissal that
[32:39] had to be made for whatever reason, um,
some of this would be enough to to cover
[32:43] the statutory limits that we'd be
required to pay anyway. if we were
[32:47] looking to have a negotiated settlement
that would far exceed that for whatever
[32:51] reason, $25,000 probably wouldn't do it.
Um, candidly, um, and if we were going
[32:58] to do that and look to get into a
negotiated settlement, um, I would more
[33:04] than likely give you like give you the
situation of here's the situation we're
[33:09] in. Here's the the management decision
that I need to make. um I need uh to,
[33:16] you know, pull this amount of funds for
this reason. Um and if I don't do that,
[33:20] here are some other options in order to
get to the outcome that we need to get
[33:25] to. If it's not financial like right
away, it might be um not that anyone's
[33:31] going to get fired, um but it would be
something like salary continuence to
[33:35] spread out money as opposed to a lump
sum out of the reserve. There'd be
[33:39] different ways to get at it. Um but
we're quite aware um of the hot stove.
[33:46] Um we've taken great pains uh to ensure
that staff and council have a high
[33:50] degree of trust and we value that. Um
and uh it's not in our interest nor do
[33:56] we desire to lose that.
>> Yep. Go ahead.
[34:00] » Like there's not all 25,000. There's an
item in here 15,000. So that's the
[34:05] reason why there's but
the reason why I'm saying that is
[34:09] because in the past you know a limit was
15,000 and an individual [clears throat]
[34:13] would go ahead and 14,552
and then the next month it would be
[34:17] 14,582
you know I mean I'm still below my limit
[34:21] you know what I mean as long as none of
that ever happens you know I mean and I
[34:26] have trust in you guys so and you all
know that you know I don't pound on you
[34:31] every day so there there we go. So yeah,
I just that's the reason why the concern
[34:35] is there. That's all.
>> So uh through Mr. Mayor, if it gives you
[34:40] any comfort, counselor, I'm remarkably
cheap.
[34:46] » Thanks, uh councelor Shank. Thank you,
Mr. Grant. Deputy Mayor Gbert.
[34:50] » Uh thank you through your worship. Um
know exactly where you're coming from,
[34:53] Mike. Uh for a lot of years, we'd say
you hear the saying, well, we'll find
[34:58] the money. This isn't money we're going
to find. This is money for a specific
[35:04] job. This is for HR. This isn't just a
slush fund for others to pull out of.
[35:09] This is HR money, their responsibility,
and I have uh nothing but the utmost
[35:14] respect and trust for our staff. Thank
you. Thanks, Deputy Mayor Calver. Is
[35:19] there anything else? If not, we do have
a recommendation that council receive
[35:25] for information the updated executive
services labor's relations reserve
[35:28] spending thresholds and governance
framework report and further that
[35:31] council approve the proposed thresholds
for delegated authority spending in each
[35:35] category. Moved by councelor Shank,
second by councelor Davey. Is there any
[35:40] further comments, questions or concerns
with respect to the motions on the
[35:43] floor? Seeing none, we'll call the
question. All in favor of the motion
[35:46] that's on the floor opposed. The
motion's carried. Next matter is growth
[35:50] in infrastructure request for land
transfer 341 Camden Road portion of
[35:54] Milhouse Yard, Stormwater Pond Land. And
Mr. Grant, you're going to speak to that
[35:59] as well.
>> Uh I'm going to parrot the notes that
[36:04] Mr. Nobs was kind enough to give me. Um
as uh he's not here today, so if you'll
[36:09] bear with me, I just need to pull that
up.
[36:12] Um
[36:18] okay. Um so the subject property that um
uh is in the report uh speaks to um
[36:27] fencing and and the like. So the fencing
is to delineate uh the limit of town
[36:30] owned storm water pond area which was
approved through budget. Uh a survey was
[36:35] completed to determine exact property
line for the fence installation. Uh the
[36:39] property line bicts two mature pear
trees which were planted by the owner of
[36:44] 341 Camden uh road several years ago. Uh
the owner of 341 would like to see the
[36:50] trees retained through the installation
of the fence. Uh the owner has requested
[36:54] either the town shift the fence further
onto town property to avoid trees
[36:58] effectively
um you know that would effectively give
[37:02] up town owned land which is not
something that staff would recommend. Uh
[37:07] town compensate for the loss of the
trees. A $400 tree of the fences
[37:10] installed on the property line and
respectfully I think if there's a tree
[37:14] on our property that's candidly our
tree. Um but uh the town transferred a 5
[37:19] foot wide strip of land for $1 to the
owner to shift the property line away
[37:23] from the trees. Um
you know the there's several different
[37:28] approaches uh to sell you could sell the
owner a 5ft wide strip along the rear
[37:33] property line um roughly an $890 sale
price to legally shift the property line
[37:38] to allow the trees to remain. Um if
council elects to proceed with the sale
[37:43] uh of the land, the next step would be
to declare the land surplus, which
[37:46] requires public notice and bylaw to
allow the transfer uh would come to a
[37:50] future meeting. This would be a class
two surplus as uh there's only one
[37:55] property that could acquire this land.
Um so that is I believe Mr. Gnome's
[38:00] recommended option. The uh the other
option I think that um uh would come up
[38:06] uh is uh council directed staff to come
up with a uh tree bylaw. You may recall
[38:13] if in the event that we were going to
install a fence and had to remove a tree
[38:18] to do so, we would be obligated to plant
two trees uh under that policy which has
[38:23] yet to come forward. Um but I would say
those are the options. I believe Mr. No
[38:28] has the recommended option of a land
sale just to preserve the trees as they
[38:32] are. Um if council wanted a different
option that would be one of them with
[38:36] that um I'm happy to uh answer
sort of questions uh to the best of my
[38:44] ability.
[38:48] » Thank you uh thank you Mr. Grant. Uh
let's we'll try and venture through this
[38:53] and see what we can do for you. So um
first of all is there any questions? Go
[38:57] ahead, Council Martin.
>> Sorry, Matthew. [laughter]
[39:02] Um, start off with, I would like to say
that
[39:07] somehow or another, I'd like to see
those trees saved. That's one of my I
[39:12] was I was over there actually the other
day and I I don't know if you recall at
[39:17] council
prior councils uh another resident over
[39:21] there actually bought a small area of
and it's right beside this property um
[39:28] to square off his property and to make
it one continual
[39:33] square fence there. So, I I'm just
wondering, and you probably don't maybe
[39:38] don't know this, maybe you do,
whether that neighbor was notified
[39:43] because I know there is some concern
that now that that there's a bump out of
[39:48] his property next door, it's going to
affect the new fence that he put up just
[39:52] recently, within the last, I think it
was a month, maybe roughly. So, I don't
[39:57] know if that neighbor was contacted at
all about uh his comments.
[40:04] through you, Mr. Mayor. I will have to
look in that and get back to you,
[40:07] counselor.
>> Thank you. Um, there's some other things
[40:11] I'm I'm asking about this, too. Um, the
out of the six options that I that we
[40:18] have here. Um,
I just want to ask why not number four,
[40:29] which is Well, I'll let you read it.
[laughter]
[40:37] So through you, Mr. Mayor, if I read
that um correctly, we'd be installing a
[40:42] fence um further on our property. We
would still own some property but not
[40:48] have effective use of it,
>> right?
[40:50] » Um so I would I we're not recommending
it for that reason because normally if
[40:54] you're going to put fences, you put it
on the property line of what?
[40:57] » Normally. Yes.
>> Yeah. And so, um, I think if if the
[41:03] desire was to maintain the trees, uh,
and not cut them down and replace them,
[41:08] but, uh, and allow the individual that
planted them to retain ownership, a
[41:12] class 2 land sale is the way to go. Um,
because then there is, um, no ambiguity
[41:18] over who owns what.
Yeah, I understand kind of, but it would
[41:25] it it seems to me it would save
this particular um
[41:31] person that's requesting the trees be
saved and giving him land for for a
[41:38] dollar basically is what he's requesting
for. Um, and I think we're talking about
[41:42] five feet roughly from what I was
looking at over there for a bumpout. I I
[41:48] just think that
it's not it's not going to be of any use
[41:53] to him or the town where that fence is.
I mean, it's it's only it's only going
[41:58] to go to serve to uh save the trees and
and if we sell it to them, it's going to
[42:05] be the same thing. There's going to be a
bump out to save the trees. The only
[42:11] thing is it Yeah, you're right. It
clarifies who owns it possibly. But when
[42:16] you're talking about 5 ft to save a
tree,
[42:20] I I I would think number four would be
it would save surveys, money, legal
[42:26] cost. That's all I'm I'm looking at.
>> Go ahead, Mr. Grant.
[42:30] » So through you, Mr. Mayor, uh point of
clarity as well is like uh the trees
[42:33] were planted by the individual, but the
tree on our property legally is our
[42:36] tree.
>> Um
[42:38] » I agree.
>> Yeah. So um I I would say that
[42:42] » although excuse me, Mr. Grant, I I
looking at it and and I'm not a
[42:47] surveyor, but looking at it, the one
looked like it was in on his property.
[42:52] The other one was right on the property
line, possibly if you measured with a
[42:57] with a, you know, a GPS instrument. I'm
But it's more on town land than it is,
[43:04] but I I'm just, you know,
>> so
[43:07] » just to clarify where the trees are
>> through you, Mr. Fair enough. Partially
[43:11] our tree.
>> Yeah. Um, so what I would say is this,
[43:14] like, um, I would look at this with the
principle of what would we do for any
[43:18] other property if it wasn't just these
trees, but it was some other thing. I
[43:22] think the principle of ownership is
something that we would want to
[43:25] maintain. Um, and be really clear about
who owns what.
[43:29] » Okay.
>> Um, only because with land ownership
[43:32] comes responsibilities, comes liability,
comes a number of different things. So
[43:36] if it's our intention uh to ensure that
the trees can be preserved and owned by
[43:40] the individual then I would go through
uh the effort of surveying it out and so
[43:45] the fence is in the proper place and
ownership is not in question. Um it's
[43:49] say in the unlikely event that something
happened on land that we owned but had
[43:53] no custody over um that puts us in a
very precarious position not only in
[43:58] this but in other areas of of land
ownership.
[44:04] » Yeah. Thank you, mayor. Through you, uh,
Matthew, I I
[44:10] my main concern is to save the trees,
but I mean, if we sell 5t of this
[44:15] property and give them a bump out and it
costs 5 to7,000, I'm reading their
[44:21] report here uh, to do that. Does do we
know if that property owner is prepared
[44:27] to spend that money for like he's asking
for for a dollar? I I'm assuming he's
[44:34] not going to want to spend5 to $7,000
um legal fees and and um survey. So I
[44:44] guess my my other qu my last question
will be if he doesn't buy it because he
[44:49] doesn't want to spend the money, are we
going to cut the trees down?
[44:53] Because I'd really hate to see those two
trees go.
[44:57] » Thank you. Okay. I won't ask anymore.
>> So through you, Mr. Mayor, for the
[45:01] record, Council Min, you can ask as many
questions as you like. It's why we're
[45:03] here. Um, but so I would say uh a couple
of different things. Um, in line with
[45:10] the land sale bylaw and the principles
of value for real estate, um, I would
[45:16] always advocate that we sell land for
what it's worth and not necessarily what
[45:19] someone wants to pay, per se. Um, there
is a value to that land. I'm quite
[45:25] certain it's more than a dollar. Um so
uh giving someone for regardless of the
[45:30] purpose uh and how no matter how
honorable it is, I think we have an
[45:33] obligation as a municipality uh to
steward you know land ownership
[45:38] resources and and and charge what the
land is worth. um in the event that we
[45:44] were going to um if a tree had to come
down because we're putting a fence on
[45:48] the property line, that's when I believe
um that the the policy that was
[45:53] recommended and approved by council for
us to bring uh to bring back. Um we
[45:57] would plant two others uh in recognition
uh of a healthy tree being removed due
[46:04] to uh the work uh initiated by the town.
I I believe that this is something that
[46:10] actually speaks to exactly the intent uh
of the policy that councelor Hicks
[46:14] brought forward and council passed that
I mean nobody wants to cut down a tree
[46:18] that we don't have to like full stop. We
would like we do everything in our power
[46:21] to avoid it. If we were putting a fence
on a property land which is the
[46:24] recommended place to put a fence to
delineate ownership and it re and it
[46:28] required a tree but maybe not both to be
cut down. Um, I would say that we should
[46:33] replant two of the same species in as
near a proximity as we could. Uh, that
[46:38] would be my recommendation on that,
counselor, if if council doesn't want to
[46:41] have a bump out and and entertain a
sale.
[46:44] » Thank you for that, Matthew.
>> Thanks, Counc.
[46:49] Uh, thank you for your worship. Is David
still online or is David gone?
[46:56] » Three, Mr. Mayor. David is not on the
line.
[46:58] » Okay. I reached out to him earlier
today. I wanted some clarification, but
[47:01] I was just trying to figure out we we
did to the neighboring property. I'm
[47:05] trying to find I'd like just
verification what we did to sell him
[47:08] that bit of land he wanted to do because
we got to we got to kind of stick with
[47:12] our town's best practice. Um in my
opinion anyways. Um it is it is a class
[47:19] two land,
but we can't uh we can't do one without
[47:25] doing for everyone. So, that's just my
uh my way of thinking. And I had one
[47:31] more. These pear trees, I I didn't see
here how big they are. Are they Are they
[47:36] something that could be um could have
somebody specially come in with a uh a
[47:41] tree spade and relocate these trees? I I
don't know how big a pair of tree gets.
[47:45] I I drove by a couple of times. I
couldn't see them. So, thank you.
[47:51] » Go ahead, Mr. Grant. See if you can uh
>> Mr. I I don't know the answer to that,
[47:55] but we can certainly investigate if they
can be relocated. Uh in terms of land,
[48:00] um I would say that there's a very clear
process um by how council can dispose of
[48:06] uh land that it owns. So, first part of
that would be to declare uh a piece of
[48:11] property surplus. You can declare a
whole property. You can decide that
[48:15] there's an element of a property and you
need to reservey it and and and parcel
[48:19] it out. Um and so if it doesn't have
access uh to um you know public roadway
[48:26] or something else uh it would be deemed
class two because there's only a few
[48:29] properties that would abut that that
could buy that. Um that is a very
[48:33] prescribed process in the land sale
bylaw. Um so we would offer that to
[48:37] anyone if they came forward. Normally uh
we would only offer surplus lands and
[48:43] extenduating circumstances you would
have to declare it surplus. So there'll
[48:46] be uh additional steps towards that. Um
and as for uh removing the tree and
[48:53] relocating it, I can certainly uh ask
the team um and we could we could come
[48:59] back uh with that information if that's
of interest.
[49:06] » Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Grant. I think
madam clerk is going to weigh in here, I
[49:10] think. Then I'll go back to you dep.
And I I did just want to add to confirm
[49:16] that um I believe it was last year uh
council did go through the class 2 land
[49:21] sale process with the neighbor um and
that uh property owner purchased the
[49:26] land from the town at the set value in
the policy and was responsible for all
[49:30] the legal transfer fees for that
transaction.
[49:34] » Thank you, Madam Clerk. That's been very
helpful. Go ahead, Deputy May.
[49:38] » Uh thank you, your worship. I I I
thought that's what we what had taken
[49:41] place. I just was looking for a
refresher and then thank you madam clerk
[49:44] for that. Um yeah m uh Mr. Grant I'd
like to see some sort of report brought
[49:51] back before we make any decisions as to
if if these trees could be movable and
[49:56] what the cost would be at that. I mean,
um, if we go with what we've laid out in
[50:01] past, which I believe we should stick to
what we've done in the past, uh, class 2
[50:05] lands, you're saying it's worth
approximately $890,
[50:09] but then the cost to do the transfer of
the, um, surveys and stuff could be
[50:14] between 5 and 7,000. That's a a big
chunk to pay for a little land to save a
[50:18] couple of trees if, in fact, for maybe
$2,000, they can be plucked from the
[50:23] ground and and replanted. I don't know.
just worth looking at every option
[50:27] before we just decide to throw this out.
Thank you.
[50:30] » Thank you, Mayor G. Mr. Grant.
>> So, through you, Mr. Mayor. If that be
[50:36] the will of council, I would recommend a
motion on that to uh direct that staff
[50:41] go and and find out uh if it is feasible
to relocate the trees and then come back
[50:46] and and address this at another
>> [clears throat]
[50:47] » uh at another time.
>> Uh thank you, Mr. Crank. Go ahead,
[50:51] Councelor Shank. Now, Matthew, this this
might like sound a simple question, but
[50:58] uh
did he not own
[51:03] that land where those trees are
or they were with all the subdivision
[51:08] and with the Mil House pond and
everything else and the lot line ended
[51:11] up being there? I'm just trying to get
in my mind why did he plant the trees so
[51:16] close
to the lot line if he wanted to keep
[51:20] your line? if he wanted to keep the
trees and he planted them, why wouldn't
[51:23] he plant them further on his own
property?
[51:27] » So, for you, Mr. Mayor, I don't know
that I can speak to the mindset of
[51:30] someone else and and choices that they
made. Um, what I will say is it's not
[51:35] terribly unusual for people not to be
100% familiar with where lot lines are.
[51:40] We've we've had other cases where
structures have been built, fences have
[51:44] been built, that sort of So my so what
my what I'm trying to understand is is
[51:48] that why would the municipality change a
boundary line when so therefore you I
[51:55] mean where somebody else planted some
trees all right I'm sorry if you wanted
[52:00] to keep those trees you put it on
yourself but also his one of his
[52:04] requests are that if you have to take
him out he'd like to get paid $400 a
[52:07] tree.
All right. So, all I'm saying is is
[52:12] it doesn't, you know, I don't understand
what you where you guys are going. Like,
[52:16] if I wanted to plant some trees, I would
make sure that they're on my own
[52:18] property. All right? I can't complain
about it afterwards when go, "Oh, so
[52:22] bad. They're mature trees. I want you to
pay because it's not on my I planted
[52:25] them not on my own property." So, uh,
good fences, good neighbors. So, I don't
[52:33] know why you want to go down through.
I'm not willing to sell. It's the
[52:38] people's. It's it's not your own
individual land. It's the taxpayers's
[52:42] land that 5T. It could be used for
trail. It could be used for other things
[52:46] that whatever it might be. All right.
For that cost because somebody planted
[52:51] trees on your own land on not his own
land. All right? So
[52:57] I don't understand the rationale behind
this whole thing. So as far as I'm
[53:00] concerned, you know, this is where the
fence is going and everything else. And
[53:02] if it happens to be on the edge, well be
on the edge. If he wants to move them,
[53:06] he can move them. We'll let we'll grant
him that. But that's where the fence is
[53:09] going. Have a nice day. You're going to
have to buy a couple more trees and
[53:12] we're not paying you $400 cuz we hit the
tree because you planted them on the
[53:16] wrong side of the property. You know,
like
[53:20] that's just that's the way I look at it.
Maybe I'm the bad boy, but that's the
[53:24] facts.
>> Yeah. Go ahead, Mr. Grant.
[53:28] » Uh so it's you, Mr. Mayor. Uh at this
point in the evening, I'm going to
[53:31] remind Michael that he owes me $50. Um,
[laughter]
[53:36] but what what I would say is I won't
dispute your logic, counselor. I I won't
[53:40] um I uh the land in question is ours.
The incumbrance uh on the lot line that
[53:48] is ours uh we didn't put there. Uh I
would not be in favor of renumerating
[53:53] somebody um for infringing on property
that isn't theirs. Um I think if the
[54:00] trees can be moved, fair enough. I don't
disagree that we offer the opportunity
[54:04] for someone else to remove the trees and
pay for that. But what I would say is is
[54:10] council has already
um created a mechanism by which we would
[54:17] ensure uh tree canopy in perpetuity. So
if we have to remove a tree and and
[54:23] we're working on this as we speak, we
will plant two trees uh in the absence
[54:28] and we would do that with any uh the
policy would be such that we would do
[54:32] that with any tree that is removed that
is healthy um and is removed because we
[54:37] are doing work um will replace them. Um
and I think that would uh be here and
[54:44] and if council wants to sell the
property they can. If they don't want to
[54:47] sell the property they don't have to.
Um,
[54:51] yeah, I'll leave it there.
>> Councelor Martin.
[54:55] » Thank you, Mayor. Um,
I don't think anybody is advocating we
[55:00] sell him that land for a dollar like he
wanted. He should pay the same as
[55:05] everybody else does for class 2 land. Um
but
[55:11] um counselor Shank I I think in town a
lot of people eyeball their lot line and
[55:18] they'll print shrubs and trees on it and
I got a feeling that's what happened
[55:22] with these but 15 20 years ago and it
wasn't intentional to put it on town
[55:28] land. It was he was probably thought he
was putting it on his own land. So, it's
[55:33] that close. If you look at that that uh
sketch, it looks like the one tree is
[55:38] right on the red line and the other
one's just inside on it. So, anyway,
[55:43] just just wanted to add that. And and um
like I say, nobody's advocating we do
[55:49] what he wants to sell it to him for a
dollar. Um absolutely not. And uh we
[55:55] certainly wouldn't pay him $400 per tree
either, but uh that's just what he
[56:00] wanted asking. doesn't mean we should.
[56:05] » Thank you. Uh, councelor Martin, uh,
councelor David
[56:10] » through you, mayor. Um, I guess looking
at it, the way I see that chunk of
[56:14] ground, like it doesn't look like it
carries a whole lot of value for the
[56:17] town itself as far as that retention
pond area and whatnot. There's still
[56:20] room to do more work in there. So, like
staff recommendation, bump the fence to
[56:26] east, make a make an offer of fair fair
market value, pay that. If he's not
[56:31] interested, give him the chance to move
the trees under his own dollar. Other
[56:34] otherwise, we'll look after it. The
fence is going where it was initially
[56:38] intended and the trees will have to be
moved and we'll plant four new trees on
[56:42] the retention pond property and and move
on. It seems fairly straightforward to
[56:46] me and that's a I don't know, that's
just how I see it.
[56:52] » Thank you, Councelor Davey. I think you
might have took some of the words out of
[56:54] my mouth here, so thank you for that.
Um, is there anything else?
[57:00] uh saying that and I'll just weigh in
briefly. I mean I I like uh like what
[57:03] Sean had to say is is that we've got a
process. We got it to and and we we've
[57:08] literally just gone through that process
probably
[57:12] uh months prior to where it's a very
similar type of thing where there's a
[57:16] small sliver piece of land. It it made
sense to to sell it to the neighboring
[57:20] land owners. It's a class two piece of
property. Um, and so it made sense, but
[57:25] that loan landowner at the time decided
that they were going to pay the cost to
[57:30] get that it was worth him. It was worth
that cost to do that. So, I don't think
[57:35] we should venture too far away from
that. So, um, I I like what Sean has to
[57:39] say is that we we we direct staff that
we say, listen, this it is a a type two
[57:45] or class two piece of property. This is
what the rules are around that. will
[57:49] give you that opportunity to buy that 5
ft. But that's your responsibility to do
[57:53] that. And and he's he's going to make a
decision, I think, as to whether that's
[57:59] going to be worth it or not. If it's not
worth it, and we need to take the the
[58:02] trees out of there, then uh you know,
we'll do what we do best, which is we'll
[58:06] make good for it because we'll plant two
trees for every tree that we take down
[58:09] because that's what we said we're going
to do. Um but I think we we put uh we
[58:14] give the the landowner the opportunity.
I I know that I think he planted those
[58:17] trees 15 20 years ago. Um um he he seems
to be attached to those trees, but we
[58:24] give him the opportunity to take uh to
to buy that silver land. Um and and and
[58:29] we have to keep in mind that if that's
the direction that we're going to go, we
[58:31] still do have to go through the the
surplus property. So there there is some
[58:35] time left here to go through this that
um uh if anybody has a change of heart,
[58:41] then we can still deal with it. So, um I
I like uh the first option there, which
[58:46] is to proceed with the next steps uh uh
for the class 2 piece of property. Uh in
[58:51] that amount of time, it will give him
the opportunity and us the opportunity
[58:54] as well to see whether or not it's these
trees can be um can be removed and and
[58:59] if they are, then that's great. And if
they can't be, then uh um at least we'll
[59:03] get the landowner the opportunity to to
do that. So, um that would be my
[59:07] suggestion. And uh um I have it as I
think madam clerk is the first option
[59:13] that we have and and okay thank you uh
councelor Davey and I think hearing is
[59:19] that council direct staff to proceed
with the next steps in the consideration
[59:22] of the class 2 property sale with no
reduction to the established valuation
[59:26] rate for class 2 land sales and a final
decision regarding whether to declare
[59:31] the land as surplus and approve a class
2 sale be made following the public
[59:36] notice period. So we do have to go ahead
madam cler
[59:40] » through your worship we do and I I
recognize that I wrote that earlier
[59:43] today but on reflection
if the land owner is not willing to pay
[59:48] any money for this uh the town may not
want to bother um doing that public
[59:54] notice and incurring those expenses. So
it may be prudent to direct staff to
[59:59] advise um the land owner of council's
direction and if he's amendable to
[1:00:04] proceeding then we do the public notice.
Um
[1:00:08] » and and I I guess again once again I
assumed and I shouldn't assumed I
[1:00:12] assumed that probably staff would come
back to us and say listen uh the
[1:00:15] landowner doesn't want to do that. So um
maybe we we bring this back to council.
[1:00:20] So um did you wish to reward that uh
that uh recommendation or do we just add
[1:00:26] that on the bottom of this one?
[1:00:39] » [clears throat]
[1:00:43] » I guess the easy thing is is that we we
give uh staff direction to um
[1:00:48] » to communicate
>> to communicate council's uh um direction
[1:00:52] to the land owner and then to bring back
a report at a future date once we have
[1:00:58] uh the direction from the land owner as
to how he would like to try and proceed
[1:01:02] with this.
And I know that Madame Clerk can word
[1:01:06] Smith this much better than I did.
[1:01:21] So through your I think we could have
the council direct staff to communicate
[1:01:25] that the town is willing to initiate the
class 2 land sale process with no
[1:01:29] reduction to the established evaluation
rate for class 2 land sales.
[1:01:33] um and to uh report back to council on
the response from the land owner as well
[1:01:40] as feasibility of tree relocation if
council wanted to include that as well.
[1:01:45] » Yeah. And and I think so I think uh in
order to do our due diligence I think we
[1:01:49] can put that in there as well. So
councelor Davyy is that sort of how our
[1:01:56] conversation went? I think through
>> you may yes that sounds good to me.
[1:01:59] » Perfect. And we do have a secondary and
council shank. Is there any further
[1:02:04] comments, questions, or concerns with
respect to that motion that's on the
[1:02:07] floor?
Seeing none, all in favor of the motion
[1:02:11] that's on the floor? Opposed? The
motion's carried. Thank you. Uh,
[1:02:15] everyone, uh, moving on to growth and
infrastructure zoning GIS mapping
[1:02:20] enhancement.
And this matter, I believe, is going to
[1:02:24] be deferred, madam clerk, to the 22nd of
September meeting. Am I correct there?
[1:02:28] through your ship. Yes, that's correct.
>> Okay, we'll put that under unfinished
[1:02:32] business. And that takes us into the
administrative consent agenda.
[1:02:37] Start off council minutes. Regular
session of council July 28th, 2026.
[1:02:41] Special session of council August 11th,
2026. Is there anything in those
[1:02:45] anything in those minutes that anyone
would like to uh have any discussions or
[1:02:50] comments about?
Seeing none, uh, recreation advisory
[1:02:54] committee, trail uh, development
advisory committee, waste diversion
[1:02:59] committee, the market square advisory
committee. Is there anything in those
[1:03:02] minutes that anyone had any questions or
comments about? And uh, go ahead,
[1:03:05] councelor Martin.
>> Thank you, mayor. um
[1:03:13] the um in the waste diversion minutes.
Plus, I wanted to make an announcement
[1:03:18] about the uh um what we'll be doing um
September the 12th.
[1:03:24] Um
here at town hall, we'll be giving out
[1:03:29] blue boxes. The waste diversion
committee is going to set up um um a
[1:03:34] table with uh information brochures on
uh the new items that can be recycled.
[1:03:40] And uh also uh like I say, we're going
to give out uh blue box containers to
[1:03:46] the first 100 people that come that day
to to receive them. That's all we have
[1:03:51] to give out. So I just I just want to
stipulate that everybody's not going to
[1:03:55] get one. If they're 101, they're going
to be out of luck, I'm afraid. But uh um
[1:04:01] it's it's going to be uh September the
12th here at the market square and uh
[1:04:06] the diversion committee, myself
included, will be set up here and uh
[1:04:11] we'll we'll uh try to um encourage you
to do more recycling. Um if you want to
[1:04:17] talk to us about ideas about uh
composting, uh anything you want to talk
[1:04:22] about, we'll be here to discuss it. But
uh hopefully you'll show up on the 12th
[1:04:27] of September. Um the market, farmers
market will be going at the same time.
[1:04:32] We may be set up at the back, we may be
at the front. We're not uh 100% sure of
[1:04:37] that, but uh we will be here. So I just
wanted to make that announcement first
[1:04:41] of all.
Um that's all I had on the waste
[1:04:45] diversion
uh committee. May there
[1:04:49] » great thanks uh council Martin, deputy
mayor.
[1:04:53] » Uh thank you your worship. Uh so
speaking on behalf of the uh trail
[1:04:57] development advisory committee um we've
got off uh got off our first meeting uh
[1:05:04] both feet hitting the ground and running
and our second meeting we just held.
[1:05:07] We've uh appointed a chair and a uh
deputy or vice chair and we've come up
[1:05:13] with some really good ideas which I
think will be coming back to council uh
[1:05:17] some coming back this evening for uh
some of the recommendations that we've
[1:05:20] come up with and I just wanted to say
that uh this trail [clears throat]
[1:05:25] committee is uh it's just an honor to be
sitting on it and working with them
[1:05:30] because everybody's all rowing in the
same direction. It's it's just a
[1:05:34] fabulous group of people we've put
together for this. Thank you.
[1:05:38] » Great. Thanks, uh, Deputy Mayor Coll. Go
ahead, Council Martin.
[1:05:42] » Thank you, Mayor. Um, just on on the
trails, u portion there, I'm with the
[1:05:48] sensitive use. Um, I I just wanted to
get uh Madame Clerk's opinion on that if
[1:05:54] I could.
>> Through your staff report later this
[1:05:58] evening where we can discuss that.
>> Okay. Okay. because I I was just
[1:06:03] curious, but I know the committee's
suggesting uh it be added to our uh to
[1:06:08] our bylaw. So, I just I'm I'm always
concerned about the homeless situation
[1:06:13] in um in Springside Park. So, I'm I'm
finding, you know, if a trail can be
[1:06:20] designated sensitive use, certainly our
park can be too. So, I'm just that's
[1:06:25] where I'm going with this. I'll I'll
leave it at that, though.
[1:06:28] » Yeah. We'll uh we're going to circle
back to that bill. We're gonna have a
[1:06:30] discussion about that. So um that's
probably the best place to to deal with
[1:06:34] that. So um is there anything else with
respect to the committee minutes?
[1:06:40] Seeing none uh correspondence for
information items dated August 25th,
[1:06:45] 2026. Is there anything in those
correspondence anyone would like to pull
[1:06:49] out or have a conversation about or draw
attention to? Seeing none, uh
[1:06:54] proclamation request National British
Home Child Day. Uh, is there anything in
[1:06:58] that uh report that anyone would like to
say anything about? And uh go ahead,
[1:07:02] Bill.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um,
[1:07:06] again, I um I want to thank the mayor
and council for for actually doing the
[1:07:12] proclamation. It's it's always my uh
privilege and I I because of my personal
[1:07:20] situation with my own dad being one of
the British home children. Um
[1:07:26] I always every year uh enjoy doing this
uh to to honor not just my dad but there
[1:07:33] was thousands of people that came and
settled right in the Napony and Alana
[1:07:38] area. So, I just want to honor the those
people who who, like I say, settled here
[1:07:44] in Napony. And right now, there's
literally I think there's four or five
[1:07:48] million people in Canada um that are
descendants of uh the British home
[1:07:55] children. So, um
again, my porch light will be on uh
[1:08:01] September 28th. And uh I I'm I'm very
proud and happy that uh everybody is uh
[1:08:08] doing this proclamation. Thank you,
Mayor.
[1:08:10] » Great. Thanks, uh Council Martin.
Greatly appreciate it. And again, it's
[1:08:14] always nice to uh hear firsthand
knowledge. Sometimes we see the
[1:08:18] proclamations, they come in and and and
their words on paper sometimes, but it's
[1:08:22] nice to hear the real life stuff. So,
thank you for that. Um the executive
[1:08:27] services activity report, August 2026.
Is there anything in that executive
[1:08:31] services report that anyone had any
questions or comments about?
[1:08:35] Seeing none, uh the greater napony fire
department activity report July 22nd to
[1:08:40] August 2nd, 2026. Is there anything in
that report anybody had any questions or
[1:08:44] comments about? Councelor Shank.
>> Uh uh with great delight. uh our fire
[1:08:50] chief Sean uh our fire chief has come up
with maybe a solution to solve you know
[1:08:55] the alarm activations and especially and
the burn complaints which is 31 out of
[1:08:59] the 58 calls that I assume that came out
of that area. So uh when I got the
[1:09:04] recent email I went that's my chief. So
uh I just want to say kudos to you
[1:09:10] looking at alternative ways of you know
what I mean of what we can do and what
[1:09:13] we can't do to save things and and still
provide a a top-notch product. So, thank
[1:09:18] you.
>> Great. Thanks, Councelor Shank. Um,
[1:09:24] parks, recreation, and culture activity
report. Is there anything in that report
[1:09:27] anyone had any questions or comments
about?
[1:09:31] Seeing none, um, financial and IT
services activity uh, activity report
[1:09:37] for August of 2026. And, uh, go ahead,
councelor or deputy mayau.
[1:09:42] » Actually, uh, worship, I did want to
speak on the parks and recreation. Um, I
[1:09:47] just wanted to thank uh Mr. Brown and
his staff. I see the works underway uh
[1:09:52] to do the to the repair on the uh town
dock and that's great to see it. It's a
[1:09:57] I know it's been a very trying uh time
to get any work done on that um due to
[1:10:01] high waters and busy schedules of
everybody involved. I want to say thank
[1:10:05] you very much for getting it going.
>> Great. Thanks uh deputy mayor Calvert.
[1:10:10] Uh so the financial and IT services uh
activity report is that report that uh
[1:10:15] anyone had any questions or comments
about I'm sure Mr. Grant will be able to
[1:10:19] help us out on that one too maybe.
Uh seeing none um the access E11 July
[1:10:27] 2026 report. Is there anything in that
report that anyone had any questions or
[1:10:30] comments about?
Seeing none. So we'll look for a motion
[1:10:34] that the minutes of the regular session
of council Jul dated July 28th, 2026 and
[1:10:40] the special session of council dated
August 11th, 2026 be adopted as
[1:10:43] presented. That the minutes of the
recreation advisory committee, trailer
[1:10:46] development advisory committee, waste
diversion committee uh Marco Square
[1:10:50] Advisory Committee of July 2026
and August to August 13, 2026 be
[1:10:56] received for information that the
correspondence for information items
[1:10:58] dated August 25th, 2026 be received. The
council endorsed the proclamation
[1:11:03] request for the National British Home
Child Day and that the activity reports
[1:11:07] for executive services, financial and IT
services, fire department and parks and
[1:11:11] reculture for the month of August 2026
and the access E11 report for July 2026
[1:11:16] items 8.6 through 8.10 be received for
information. Moved by councelor Davyy,
[1:11:22] second by councelor Shank. If there's no
further comments, questions or concerns,
[1:11:26] all in favor of that motion? Motion's
carried. items for consideration. I
[1:11:31] don't believe we have any of those,
madame clerk, if I'm not mistaken. So,
[1:11:37] um, that gets us into the executive
services grass bylaw compliance order
[1:11:41] 0307.
And madam clerk, you're going to speak
[1:11:44] to this
[1:12:05] Good evening, your worship and members
of council. Um, at the July 28th
[1:12:10] meeting, council heard a deputation and
requested a report back. So, the report
[1:12:16] before you covers a number of areas.
that covers the um specific context of
[1:12:21] this order in question. Um as well as
the enforcement of the grass bylaw in
[1:12:28] greater Napony more broadly. Um staff do
note that we are seeing a we're seeing
[1:12:34] an increasing trend across the board in
requests for enforcement of bylaws as
[1:12:39] people become more familiar with using
the E11 tool to submit requests. Um but
[1:12:45] grass does remain one of our
consistently in our top five areas where
[1:12:50] residents request um enforcement action
to be taken. Um
[1:12:57] staff do acknowledge that the bylaw is
over 25 years old. When we look at our
[1:13:02] other comparators, it's it's definitely
the oldest um bylaw in that list and we
[1:13:07] would recommend that it be looked at.
However, because it it affects everyone,
[1:13:13] and we know that there's very strong
feelings and opinions about what's
[1:13:18] important to have in a grass bylaw, we
think it's really important to do
[1:13:21] extensive um public consultation and get
community input um for for a council to
[1:13:27] hear what the residents of Greater
Napony feel is important to them to have
[1:13:31] in a grass bylaw, which is why we
recommend um that that decision be a
[1:13:37] recommendation that the next term of
council look at it very early, ideally
[1:13:41] before the next enforcement season
begins, but that that not be something
[1:13:45] that we try to rush through uh in the
last couple months of this term. Um just
[1:13:52] because it is
just about every property in town has
[1:13:56] some form of grass on it and so it's
something a lot of people we should give
[1:14:00] them the opportunity to to participate
in that conversation.
[1:14:05] Um
we do discuss the um
[1:14:11] the decision that was made by the
superior court earlier this year. Um
[1:14:16] where there is a charter right around
personal expression uh that can be made
[1:14:21] through lawns particularly through the
decision to naturalize lawns which
[1:14:25] speaks to personal values. Um the
court's decision really indicated that
[1:14:29] if a municipality is is going to enforce
a grass bylaw, it needs to be able to um
[1:14:36] have policy reasons why that is
necessary as well as ensuring that it
[1:14:40] has taken a a minimally impairing
approach. Um
[1:14:48] lots of Ontario municipalities are still
working through what exactly that means
[1:14:52] in their specific local contexts. Um, we
do note in the report that eastern
[1:14:58] Ontario does have a higher prevalence of
Lyme disease and blacklegged ticks than
[1:15:02] maybe other areas of the province. And
that is certainly a valid consideration
[1:15:06] in a grass bylaw as well as um making
sure that
[1:15:13] a lot of bylaw enforcement is making
sure that neighbors can live with each
[1:15:17] other. uh that one person's right to use
their own property doesn't um cause
[1:15:22] negative impacts or unreasonably
negative impacts to the people uh who
[1:15:27] are also living in that same area. Um
again, there's several options here
[1:15:35] before council for consideration. Um
whether you want to tackle updating this
[1:15:41] bylaw now, defer that to the next term
of council, and whether what you want to
[1:15:44] do with this specific order. um whether
it be set aside for the remainder of
[1:15:50] this year with an understanding that the
property will that's not an exemption
[1:15:55] forever and the property will be subject
to whatever new rules may or may not
[1:16:00] come into effect in the future. Um
but staff are happy to respond any
[1:16:07] questions the council may have on this.
>> Great. Thanks uh madam clerk. Uh who
[1:16:12] wants to start?
You're
[1:16:16] » Yeah. Go ahead. Councelor Shank,
>> that has to be addressed. All right. The
[1:16:20] key is is with the bylaw,
what one does, everybody has to do. What
[1:16:26] I find is that I I'm in agreement with
the staff recommendation under one point
[1:16:31] that I think we should reduce is the
buffer zone from 15 ft to 10 ft. This
[1:16:37] alleviates any other min any other areas
of naturalization that we currently
[1:16:42] have. All right. that's bordering to
somebody that wants to keep their lawn
[1:16:48] as as a lawn. All right? So, you don't
have that [clears throat] grass or weeds
[1:16:52] or whatever it might be over on that
property. So, a 10-ft buffer, what
[1:16:57] they're suggesting, I feel is a very
much of a compromise. And in the
[1:17:01] meantime, over the winter time in the
new council, Jessica will be coming up
[1:17:06] and drafting a new bylaw, something that
is
[1:17:10] palatable for everybody, whether they're
the new council wants to have no
[1:17:15] naturalization or some naturalization or
what they would like, but it gives
[1:17:20] everybody in the municipality
that can have a voice towards it and go
[1:17:26] through that.
So everybody will have a say whether
[1:17:29] they do or they don't. Do they does the
municipality want it or not want it? All
[1:17:33] right. So this is kind of a happy
medium. So as far as I'm concerned, uh
[1:17:39] it's a fair approach. I agree with the
municipality, but all we're asking for
[1:17:44] is a 10 ft buffer zone that with the
reasons what uh just get already done.
[1:17:51] So and I'll move that staff
recommendation.
[1:17:55] » Yeah. Great. Thanks. Uh, thanks
councelor Shank. We'll see if anyone
[1:17:58] else wants to weigh in. I'll weigh in
and then I'll look I'll come back to you
[1:18:01] for that uh for that motion. So, um, is
there anything else before I weigh in?
[1:18:10] Uh, councelor Martin. Thank you, Mayor.
Um,
[1:18:16] just just the fact that we're going to
be reviewing our bylaw and producing a
[1:18:22] new bylaw, I'm assuming, although maybe
not. Maybe it'll be the same as the old
[1:18:26] one, but I just think if there's going
to be a staff review,
[1:18:30] um, this order to mow should be
suspended and until that's done and we
[1:18:36] have a new bylaw in place. So, that
would be my recommendation. Uh, I know
[1:18:41] it's not staff recommendation, but uh,
that's my recommendation. I I I
[1:18:47] just feel that um, naturalization has to
has to have some weight in this. Um,
[1:18:55] some people uh I know are worried about
ticks, but I I and they're worried about
[1:19:01] noxious weeds. But sometimes
sometimes you have to go beyond
[1:19:08] those things to I mean it's very
important that we also have pollination
[1:19:13] with our bees and with our butterflies.
It's so I I'm the opposite of some
[1:19:18] people's view on this and uh I would
just recommend right like I say
[1:19:23] suspending this order temporarily until
it's reviewed and a new ballot comes
[1:19:29] forward. That's that's about the best I
can say right now. Thank you.
[1:19:34] » Great. Thanks uh councelor Martin. Go
ahead councelor.
[1:19:37] » Um just briefly uh I pretty well agree
with councelor Martin. We have to look
[1:19:42] at each case. As we've said with the
wetlands and whatnot that the case by
[1:19:47] case, this is not the same. This this
this lady's piece of property I want to
[1:19:52] look at is not the same as Robert and
Water Street. That is a mess. That
[1:19:56] should be cut. But they can't say now
that's a wild land cuz it's not. That's
[1:20:00] just one example. So she's done
something proper. I think we she should
[1:20:04] be put on hold until a new bylaw comes
out. And uh again look at them case by
[1:20:09] case. That's that's my opinion. Great.
Thanks, uh, councelor Nori. Um, is there
[1:20:14] anything else? Uh, before I weigh in,
uh, seeing none, I, uh, I, I, I, I, I,
[1:20:22] I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I, I, I have to agree with Councelor
[1:20:23] Shank. Um, I I think what we're doing
here is taking a very measured approach.
[1:20:30] I don't think we are in a position to
completely discredit
[1:20:35] the risk of the blacklegged tick.
And the reason I say that is is because
[1:20:41] back in it's become a
public safety issue at some point
[1:20:48] because um back in April of 2025,
the Southeastern Health Unit put out a
[1:20:57] release that identified that the risk of
encountering the blacklegged ticks. And
[1:21:02] I I'll just read parts of it. And and I
know that there's uh there's folks out
[1:21:05] there that have the ability to find
this, but the risk of encountering
[1:21:09] blacklegged ticks in the southeast
region, which where we are, is very high
[1:21:13] compared to the rest of the province. So
it's it's we're in a part of the the
[1:21:18] world that this is a very prevalent
public health issue. Uh that was in
[1:21:22] April of 2025. In May of 2026, uh they
they've released again the health unit,
[1:21:29] the the the Southeastern Health Unit has
released and said that the warm weather
[1:21:32] is here. The Southeast Public Health
Unit is reminding residents that the
[1:21:36] region is an established high risk for
blacklegged ticks. So, they've they've
[1:21:43] reconfirmed that we have an issue here.
we have a problem here that uh that
[1:21:48] [clears throat] we all know has the
ability to to to spread the the Lyme
[1:21:53] disease.
throughout um throughout my readings, I
[1:21:58] was able to obviously I I went on to the
the province of Ontario's website um
[1:22:04] that talks about um ticks, Lyme disease,
uh avoiding uh tick bites and and and
[1:22:12] the link is is within I I thank Madam
Clerk because Madame Clerk has been so
[1:22:16] gracious to put that link in the staff
report that we've seen in that uh so
[1:22:21] when you go to the link and you click
it, it talks about maintaining your
[1:22:24] property And it says you can help keep
blacklegged ticks away from your
[1:22:28] property by and the first note is
keeping grass mode short.
[1:22:35] So it's [clears throat] very highly d uh
documented that um
[1:22:42] we have a problem here. it's a
high-risisk area and and that's uh one
[1:22:46] of the ways in order to to remedy the
problem and it's not going to make I
[1:22:50] think we're all not uh [sighs]
naive enough to know that it's not going
[1:22:54] to completely but it's going to mitigate
the problem with with the blacklegged
[1:22:58] ticks is is to keep some grass cut. So
we as a council have to consider and and
[1:23:05] we are we're taking into consideration
the naturalization. I think we are
[1:23:08] because uh uh we we've we've seen the uh
the case law at least I have and I've
[1:23:13] read through the case law and the case
law is somewhat helpful but it's not
[1:23:17] completely helpful because the case law
doesn't address public health or safety
[1:23:22] issues which I'm assuming in the city of
Missaga they don't have the same issues
[1:23:26] that we do at the in the town of Greater
Napony or in the southeast health unit
[1:23:30] area catchment area. So um while it's
helpful, it it is case law that uh we we
[1:23:36] have to be cognizant of, but it doesn't
completely cover the issues that we have
[1:23:41] here. And I think uh um we have to keep
in mind that there is a public health
[1:23:46] issue with respect to the blacklegged
ticks and the Lyme disease in our in our
[1:23:50] catchment area. So how are we going to
how are we going to rectify that and how
[1:23:52] we going to remedy that? Um I I agree
with councelor Shank that um a buffer
[1:23:59] zone which also in the documentations
from the province it it talks about uh
[1:24:03] buffer zones and at one point it talks
about even considering placing uh when
[1:24:07] you have u uh equipment uh swings and
playground equipment and that types of
[1:24:11] thing of placing wood chips or mulch and
the foundation of that to try and help
[1:24:15] to um to mitigate the fact of uh of the
issue of of the blacklegged tick. So, um
[1:24:23] I think the buffer zone um is the most
appropriate thing to do and and and like
[1:24:29] I say, we have to not only take into
consideration those folks that uh wish
[1:24:34] to have naturalized lawns, but we have
to take into the the consideration the
[1:24:38] rest of the population as well that may
come in contact with a blacklegged tick
[1:24:42] and get bit. So, um I have to agree with
councelor Shank with respect to to uh
[1:24:47] what he's saying. I think we owe it to
our community to ensure that we have
[1:24:53] done everything that we could do in
light of the fact that we are cognizant
[1:24:57] and same as every other municipality in
this province is cognizant of the fact
[1:25:02] that their their bylaws with respect to
grass cutting probably should be
[1:25:06] reviewed and I and I have to think uh um
with the with the extra time that we're
[1:25:11] going to have now as we're moving into
into the winter season or the fall
[1:25:14] season um it's going to provide us an
opportunity to to have a robust
[1:25:18] conversation with respect to cutting
grass. It's going to provide us the
[1:25:21] opportunity to to come up with a uh an
updated a a very um thorough
[1:25:30] bylaw which is going to take into
account uh all the citizens. So, uh,
[1:25:35] having said that, um, and and I guess
[sighs]
[1:25:39] what I should also and and I want to
make sure that we we we we've dotted all
[1:25:42] the eyes and cross the tees here, but,
uh, um, there has been a large number of
[1:25:47] correspondence that get, uh, um, um,
received and supported through quite a
[1:25:55] few of the 444 municipalities in this
province. uh asking the province to to
[1:26:02] get engaged in in the um the assistance
of trying to solve the Lyme disease
[1:26:08] problem that we have. So, and I think uh
I think we all know that the best way of
[1:26:13] resolving the Lyme disease problem is
not getting Lyme disease. So, um and and
[1:26:19] that uh and I don't have unfortunately I
don't have that documentation in front
[1:26:22] of me tonight, but I know that I could
find it fairly quickly. uh and I noted
[1:26:26] it that it's uh not only been um
received and supported by municipalities
[1:26:32] in the rural areas, it's been received
and noted and and supported by
[1:26:36] municipalities in northwestern Ontario
as as well as uh those in the GTA area.
[1:26:41] So, um I I think we we need to do our
due diligence on this at this point and
[1:26:46] uh um provide some form of a buffer,
which I think 10 ft is is probably the
[1:26:52] fair amount as we've heard in in
previous reports that uh the 15T buffer
[1:26:57] zone is is a buffer zone that is being
used by a municipality that's close to
[1:27:02] us. Um I think uh which which which
would be fine but I think the 10-ft
[1:27:07] buffer zone would be sufficient to in
order to provide the uh the public
[1:27:11] safety that I think uh we need to
provide with respect to this. So having
[1:27:16] said all that is there anything that
anyone else would like to comment uh and
[1:27:20] I'll put it back because I've obviously
talked a lot this evening. Um is there
[1:27:24] anything else anybody would else would
like to say before I uh ask councelor
[1:27:28] Shank to make a motion? Go ahead deputy
mayor cover then I'll go to councelor
[1:27:31] Martin. Thank you through your worship.
So just for the public out there
[1:27:35] listening, our current bylaw, which is a
law, states grass must be cut entire
[1:27:42] yard.
What I'm hearing and understand from the
[1:27:47] report I've read is that we're going to
not go with a 15t buffer zone, but a
[1:27:53] 10-ft buffer zone.
That's acceptable for now until we have
[1:27:58] a chance to review our bylaws.
So, we are making a bit of an adjustment
[1:28:04] to our bylaw [clears throat] for this
particular piece of property
[1:28:09] until such time
we get a chance to review everything and
[1:28:13] review it thoroughly, which I think is
is more than fair. Thank you. Thanks,
[1:28:19] Deputy Mayor Calver. And go ahead,
councelor Martin.
[1:28:22] » Thank you, Mayor. um
through you. Um
[1:28:29] can [clears throat]
since we are going to be reviewing our
[1:28:32] bylaw and there could be changes uh to
it and in view of the fact that there's
[1:28:39] cold weather coming, there's going to be
snow covering the ground. I don't think
[1:28:42] anybody's going to get any ticks from
that, can we not suspend this order to
[1:28:47] mow until that bylaw is reviewed?
[1:28:56] Uh we we as a council obviously
councelor Martin can uh do whatever
[1:29:01] forehands say we do when they put it in
the air but uh um I think we just need
[1:29:07] to remind everyone that uh the issue
with the tick population unfortunately
[1:29:13] um a number of years ago the cold
weather used to kill them off but
[1:29:17] unfortunately that doesn't exist anymore
so that doesn't kill them off and and
[1:29:20] and from my understanding any of the
research I've done on it is that uh even
[1:29:24] the uh even the winters that we have
here aren't sufficient enough to keep
[1:29:30] them at bay. So um that's my
understanding of it anyways. So but uh
[1:29:37] like I say we can uh I'll I'll entertain
uh councelor Shank's motion and then
[1:29:43] we'll go from there. So thank you.
I'll say one final thing if you go ahead
[1:29:48] counc
>> the way I look at it council Martin
[1:29:51] councel nory is that the bylaw currently
states you have to cut your whole lot
[1:29:56] all right it's a residential not not
fully developed residential subdivision
[1:30:01] all right it's in a residential
subdivision so we have for the we had I
[1:30:07] think minimum of 60 complaints just in
the south of different lots all right
[1:30:13] that the bylaw had to do uh most of them
or pretty well all of them have done
[1:30:19] theirs.
I understand the proponent who's went
[1:30:24] ahead and said, "Hey, I've I've got a
you know, I don't lived in the
[1:30:28] countryside all the time, but I have a
I've made a natural lawn here with this
[1:30:33] that to teach my kids and everything
else, which he has a valid point."
[1:30:37] But all I'm saying is is that if a 10-ft
boundary, all right, because if you let
[1:30:44] this lady go 100% and not have a buffer,
what about the proponent that's right
[1:30:50] beside it that wants to have their lawn
cut perfectly?
[1:30:53] So 10 ft out of the acreage that she
has, all right, on this I feel is a a
[1:31:01] fair and approachable,
you know what I mean? something that's
[1:31:05] protecting the neighbors and other
locations also and this location. All
[1:31:09] right. And it's something that's that's
uh you're not going ahead and cutting
[1:31:14] the whole lot especially when you have a
valid point and this should be
[1:31:17] addressed. We are going to address this
in the meantime. You're setting a
[1:31:21] precedent. Also, if you have a natural
lies and you have done the work that the
[1:31:25] lady has done, you have to have a buffer
road to protect your neighbors also. You
[1:31:30] can't just let leave your yard into
natural because the next neighbor beside
[1:31:34] might not like that. So you have to take
that under consideration also. That's
[1:31:38] the reason why I feel this is a fair and
measured approach of what we're doing.
[1:31:44] So that's why it's proud. There we go.
>> Great. Thanks uh councelor Shank. Uh we
[1:31:50] do have a recommendation. I think it was
staff recommendation that you wish to uh
[1:31:54] with the the minor modification. And
I'll read it so everybody is aware of
[1:31:57] it. That council receive for information
executive services grass bylaw review
[1:32:00] and compliance order 0307 report. And
further that council direct that no
[1:32:05] changes be made to the grass bylaw at
this time, but that a recommendation to
[1:32:09] review the bylaw in advance of the next
enforcement season be presented to the
[1:32:14] next term of council. And further that
the council direct the compliance order
[1:32:17] 0307 be upheld and modified to require a
buffer zone of 10 feet to be mowed on
[1:32:23] the southeast south and east boundaries
of the lot to a height below 10 in with
[1:32:29] an exception of the any wet land areas
and with a compliance deadline of the
[1:32:34] 8th of September 2026.
And you'll make that by way of motion.
[1:32:40] And we have a seconder with councelor
Davyy has is the seconder. Is there any
[1:32:45] further comments, questions, or concerns
before we call for the vote? Council
[1:32:49] Martin,
>> can we have a recorded vote, please?
[1:32:52] » Uh oh. Yeah. Oh, Madam Clerk is out
here. So, yeah. Uh, Madame Clerk, if if
[1:32:58] there's nothing else, um, uh, I'll turn
it over to you.
[1:33:03] » All right. Um, Ward One, Councelor
Shank.
[1:33:06] » W three, Councelor Davey.
>> Ward four, councelor Nory,
[1:33:09] » no.
>> Ward five, councelor Martin,
[1:33:11] » no.
>> Deputy Mayor Caliber,
[1:33:13] » yes. Mayor Richardson.
>> Yes,
[1:33:15] » that motion's carried.
>> Great. Thank you uh thank you folks and
[1:33:19] thank you uh madam clerk for doing that.
So moving on to the next matter,
[1:33:23] financial and IT services OCIF funding
support resolution. And
[1:33:29] Mr. Murphy, you're going to speak to
that.
[1:33:43] uh through your worship. I I don't have
a whole lot to add to the report in
[1:33:46] front of you. Uh I think it speaks for
itself in terms of the financial impact.
[1:33:51] If OCIF was lost for the municipality,
uh it is not a small amount of money and
[1:33:55] the projects it goes towards on an
annual basis. U if those funds were
[1:33:59] lost, I think it would have a major
impact on the municipality. Uh as to
[1:34:04] what council wishes to do, that's
totally up to them in terms of um
[1:34:08] whether they want to advocate or whether
they do not want to or the method they
[1:34:11] wish to do so. Um but staff feel that
this is a extremely important issue and
[1:34:16] the financial impact uh would be
significant on the budget as a whole. Um
[1:34:20] so happy to take any questions if you
wish. Um but otherwise I'll leave it up
[1:34:25] to you.
>> Thanks Nathan. Uh is there any questions
[1:34:28] or comments with respect to Mr. Nathan's
presentation of the report that's in
[1:34:32] front of us this evening.
Seeing none, we do have a recommendation
[1:34:35] the council receive for information the
financial IT services OCF funding
[1:34:39] support resolution report and further
council support the municipal finances
[1:34:42] finance officers association of Ontario.
The MFOA requests that the province of
[1:34:47] Ontario make a permanent make permanent
the doubling of the Ontario Community
[1:34:50] Infrastructure Fund funding from 200
million to 400 million annually
[1:34:55] beginning in 2027 and that a copy of the
resolution be forwarded to the Premier
[1:35:00] of Ontario, the Minister of
Infrastructure, Minister of Municipal
[1:35:03] Affairs and Housing, the Minister of
Finance, the Minister of Finance
[1:35:05] Officers Association of Ontario, the
Association of Municipalities Ontario,
[1:35:09] the Member of Provincial Parliament for
Hastings, Lennoxx and Anington and
[1:35:12] Ontario municipality Nice. Moved by
councelor Davyy, seconded by councelor
[1:35:18] Nory. If there's no further comments,
questions, or concerns, all in favor of
[1:35:23] that motion? Opposed? Motion's carried.
Trails Development Advisory Committee
[1:35:27] initial recommendations. And Mr. Grant,
uh, when you're ready, the floor is
[1:35:31] yours.
[1:35:48] Thank you. And through your your worship
uh to members of council, this is uh the
[1:35:54] first set of recommendations from the
trails development advisory committee.
[1:35:59] Um so the committee as uh the deputy
mayor has pointed out has met twice. Um
[1:36:04] they have uh broken down their work uh
into uh a number of different areas. Um
[1:36:11] so they're going to uh go over
everything from
[1:36:15] uh safety and security to amenities uh
and the like. So they've they've put out
[1:36:20] a a pretty robust uh work plan, safety,
security issues, amenities and
[1:36:24] accessibility, recommended service
levels and promotion of the trails.
[1:36:28] Um in going through their first uh and
second meetings, the committee had a few
[1:36:34] recommendations uh that they wanted uh
council to consider. Um with respect to
[1:36:41] the trail and those I would suggest um
uh should council adopt some of those
[1:36:46] recommendations, um some of them would
need to go to the budget process. Um but
[1:36:51] the committee itself
um felt that the new in town trails
[1:36:58] um should have encampment protocol
restrictions around it. Now I point out
[1:37:02] the encampment protocol already covers a
a significant portion of the in town
[1:37:07] trails. Some of the trails are on public
property like uh streets and sidewalks
[1:37:12] and that wouldn't uh that would already
be covered. Uh some of them uh there
[1:37:17] would be um and I'll ask madam clerk to
correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe
[1:37:21] it's um [clears throat]
uh 3 m or 3 feet on either side.
[1:37:29] » I think madam clerk wants to weigh in
there first. Matthew,
[1:37:33] » sorry. Ju just to clarify through your
worship. Um
[1:37:37] right now because there's no trail,
there's an existing buffer setback of 10
[1:37:42] meters from the private property line.
So the the middle where the rails were
[1:37:47] could technically have an encampment on
it. I believe that once a trail is built
[1:37:53] the buffers will overlap to the point
that the entire area will be a sensitive
[1:37:57] use anyway without making any bylaw
amendments. But the my understanding is
[1:38:02] the recommendation is the trail
development committee just wanted to
[1:38:05] make extra sure because it will be the
trail itself plus 5 m on either side
[1:38:11] plus the 10 m coming in from the private
property line is very likely uh covering
[1:38:16] that whole area
and thank you. Uh there may be uh a
[1:38:22] small area or two along that trail that
would not be covered by private
[1:38:26] property, but the vast majority of it
will be or would uh touch on uh the
[1:38:32] distance from uh a cemetery. Um so uh
with that uh we could uh be directed to
[1:38:40] look at any remaining areas and that
should go through uh an encampment
[1:38:44] protocol review process. I would suggest
uh that council welcome ebikes and e-
[1:38:49] scooters uh onto the town trail and
ensure where appropriate speed limits
[1:38:53] are in place. That the town consult with
the OP on a minimum number of security
[1:38:57] cameras that be considered for
installation on the town trails. That
[1:39:00] council consider laying uh the
appropriate conduit during trail
[1:39:03] construction to accommodate any lighting
and security cameras that might be
[1:39:07] required. And the town explore funding
opportunities uh through grants to
[1:39:11] support all trail amenities. uh and
staff looking at this. Um a lot of great
[1:39:17] ideas coming out of the trail
development advisory committee. Uh I
[1:39:21] would uh as the sitting staff member
there offer the following reflections.
[1:39:25] Um
the we could expand sensitive use
[1:39:29] designations to the periphery of in town
trails. Uh I think that should be part
[1:39:33] of a broader review process and as the
clerk has mentioned much of it is
[1:39:37] already covered but there will be the
odd pockets uh that may have uh some
[1:39:42] areas that we may want to look at. um
that but it should be in the in the
[1:39:47] broader context. I believe that council
defer the promotion acceptance of e-
[1:39:51] scooters and ebikes on in town trails
until such time as it decides on whether
[1:39:55] it wishes to permit the use of the VI
bylaw which is required by provincial
[1:40:00] legislation. Uh that council directs
staff to consult uh with the OP on the
[1:40:05] appropriate location for security
cameras. that council directs staff to
[1:40:09] include estimates for solar lighting and
remote security cameras on the in town
[1:40:13] trails as part of the 2027 budget
process. I think we can meet their
[1:40:17] intent without necessarily
um putting in conduit uh at this point
[1:40:22] in time. Uh and that uh council direct
staff to include trail amenities as a
[1:40:26] focus in its 2027 grant acquisition
strategy. Um and with the grants uh
[1:40:31] strategy coming forward um that will
make a ton of sense. Uh, with that, I'm
[1:40:36] happy to answer any questions. And, uh,
in your report, you'll have the
[1:40:39] recommendations that the committee made
up top, uh, staff's reflections
[1:40:43] underneath. And what I would recommend
is council may want to have each
[1:40:47] recommendation in a separate motion.
>> Thank you, Mr. Grant. Uh, councelor
[1:40:52] Nori,
>> just quickly, the one I'm opposed to
[1:40:56] till we have more legislation is the
ecooters on those things. I'm going to
[1:40:59] be bringing up something under
inquiries. I don't want to double double
[1:41:02] dip but without lights and dark and
these things I know under the law the
[1:41:07] road can't go above 24 km an hour but
cakes had a fellow going 77 and it's
[1:41:12] facing a lot of charge so I would like
to see that one scrapt there for now
[1:41:16] until we don't eliminate mo mobility
things but uh it's very slippery slope
[1:41:22] if you're not too careful that would
just be my only suggestion for now
[1:41:28] » thanks councelor and I think that's
that's part of the recommendations is to
[1:41:31] defer that. And and I mean I agree with
you because this whole ebike scooter
[1:41:37] scenario is is is
um evolving I guess is the best way to
[1:41:42] put it. So but I think I think the
recommendation if I'm not mistaken, Mr.
[1:41:45] Grant, was to defer that anyways until
there's some clarification. But I'll let
[1:41:49] you speak to that.
>> Sure. Uh thank you your worship. So, um,
[1:41:53] the way that the the committee
recommendation sheets are, um, laid out
[1:41:58] is the committee's recommendations are
on top, staff's reflections are on the
[1:42:02] bottom. My reflection is that you should
defer that until such time that council
[1:42:06] makes a decision on the broader, uh,
escooter situation, which would be
[1:42:11] required anyway.
[1:42:14] » Yeah. Perfect. So, uh, thank you, Mr.
Grant. Is there anything else? M I think
[1:42:20] councelor Martin was gonna make this up
here.
[1:42:22] » Um
Mr. Grant, I I I agree with most
[1:42:27] everything and and thank goodness that
we're working towards finishing the in
[1:42:31] town trail. It's going to be wonderful.
Um certainly agree with lighting and
[1:42:36] cameras. Um [sighs]
the sensitive use issue is a big deal
[1:42:42] for me. I'd love to see it as sensitive
use on the trail as well, but I got
[1:42:48] Springside Park that I'm really
concerned about right now. I'm really
[1:42:53] concerned about the children playing
down there right now. There's people
[1:42:57] walking their dogs,
children running and playing in our
[1:43:02] Springside Park. And that's not a
sensitive use area.
[1:43:06] It should be. So, I'm saying if we're
going to put sensitive use on the
[1:43:11] trails, Springside Park should be
sensitive use as well. And there's
[1:43:16] there's something's got to change here
because I'm going to be awful upset. I'm
[1:43:20] I'm really really ticked off right now
what's going on down there. But anyway,
[1:43:25] I I'll leave it at that for now.
>> Thanks. Uh thanks, Councelor Martin. Go
[1:43:30] ahead, Mr. Grant.
>> Three, Mr. Mayor and Council Martin. I
[1:43:33] share your concern. I do uh the um not
only the impact on the citizens but the
[1:43:39] impact on on the services that citizens
pay for is is significant. Um and as
[1:43:45] well the the individuals living there
are are also not having a a great time
[1:43:49] of it. So given that I um if there is a
concern about looking that in isolation
[1:43:55] and I would agree that that's fair. Um
there may be an opportunity to review
[1:43:59] the sensarium more broadly as part of
the annual education program that we're
[1:44:04] doing. You you could also take a look at
the legislation and that um with the
[1:44:08] indication from
uh the morning star mission that they
[1:44:12] intend to move. Uh their service
functions may also shift. Um there has
[1:44:18] been some preliminary discussions about
expanding their services. Um you know
[1:44:24] and and if they uh expand those services
to a point or the county expands those
[1:44:29] services uh to a point where um there is
a shelter or some shelter spaces in
[1:44:35] town. uh town council has the ability to
revisit the amount of sensitive use
[1:44:42] areas that uh exist because the balance
um and that's what it's all about is
[1:44:49] balance with when with in the absence of
shelter space we have to
[1:44:55] air on the side of caution. there does
seem to be shelter space with a move and
[1:44:59] that that may happen um then I think we
would be in a position to re-evaluate.
[1:45:07] We we still wouldn't be able to protect
everything but we may be able to expand.
[1:45:10] So I would suggest councelor Martin that
that would be appropriate to address
[1:45:15] those concerns to move it to a broader
review so we don't look at anything in
[1:45:19] isolation if that's the will of council.
[1:45:24] » Go ahead, Bill.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um, thank you,
[1:45:27] Matthew. I I I think you hit on it right
there. A broader review would uh would
[1:45:33] uh be better because if we are going to
look at sensitive use area, a trail,
[1:45:39] it's absolutely asinidine to not include
Springside Park down there. I mean,
[1:45:44] we've got visitors going down there,
hundreds of them every day. I I wouldn't
[1:45:48] even be surprised if it it would hit a
thousand people down there. and and
[1:45:52] there's kids walking with I've I've
picked up needles myself off the ground
[1:45:58] and and took them to a needle drop off.
I It's dangerous for kids. It's
[1:46:03] dangerous for people being down there in
that park. So,
[1:46:08] this gives me a perfect opportunity to
complain about that with this with the
[1:46:12] trail. So, uh and and I'm not against
that on the trails either because I I
[1:46:17] believe me and I know it's a problem
everywhere. Everybody's
[1:46:22] really ticked off with what's been going
on with the tents and the and the
[1:46:26] homeless conditions and sort of thing.
Residents, taxpayers, they can't use
[1:46:30] their park because of of what's going on
and that's not fair to them. So, and I
[1:46:37] know I know it's county and it's
province and and we our hands are tied
[1:46:42] and I know I understand I understand all
that, but I'm just saying sensitive use
[1:46:46] if we can use that in the park as well
as the trails, you're going to make a
[1:46:51] lot of people happy. So, there you go.
>> Yeah. Go ahead, Mr. Mayor.
[1:46:56] » So, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd say
councilman, I agree um that there's a
[1:47:01] lot of concern. Uh I would say that uh
Greater Napony has gone further than
[1:47:06] most in terms of protection. Uh so
conservation park in its entirety uh is
[1:47:11] off limits and we've we've had great
success in making sure that we've
[1:47:16] minimized um conflicting use in those
areas. Um you know there's been a few
[1:47:22] other areas where we've had a tremendous
success. uh we've been able to partner
[1:47:26] with um social service agencies and law
enforcement and and and I would say that
[1:47:32] in the event um that there is um a
proper shelter option in town um I'm
[1:47:41] cautiously optimistic we might see that
in the future. I know that uh you know
[1:47:47] the Morning Star Mission is in in their
move is is looking at their options. I
[1:47:52] think the county has been um in on those
discussions and and supportive of
[1:47:57] Morning Star Mission's uh broader
mandate. I can't say too much cuz it's
[1:48:02] not u my discussion to have, but um so
I'm keeping an eye on that situation
[1:48:07] very closely and and appreciating that
um many council members would like to be
[1:48:14] um protect as much area as we can. Um if
there if the situation changes where we
[1:48:22] can strike different balance because
there's more amenities available for
[1:48:25] those that are homeless, uh I will be
the first in line to bring that to you.
[1:48:33] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Grant. I I
appreciate what you're saying there. And
[1:48:36] and uh I I know this council, this town
staff, everybody has done everything we
[1:48:43] can legally do with the homeless
situation. But but it's important to say
[1:48:49] legally because we have to act within
the law. And unfortunately going back to
[1:48:54] what is it 1982 or something when the
charter of rights come out or when and
[1:49:00] you know um it's affected what we're
doing here today actually I I believe so
[1:49:07] anyway
what we can do with ringside park I I'm
[1:49:11] I'm I'm happy to hear that at least it's
going to be in the mix of of speaking
[1:49:16] about it. So thank you very much. Thank
you mayor.
[1:49:19] » Thanks Council. Go ahead Deputy May. Uh
thank you through your worship. Um just
[1:49:25] uh
to uh Madame Clerk, I'm just wondering
[1:49:29] what is the buffer zone for a trail and
is there a different buffer zone for
[1:49:33] trail versus parking lot? Because I
think what the biggest complaint is that
[1:49:38] I'm hearing um at Springside Park is the
310 right along the edge of the parking
[1:49:43] lot as you come down. If you want to
come down and enjoy your your lunch
[1:49:47] break and go for a walk, that's what you
see. I I just wondered if there's is
[1:49:51] there a buffer zone from parking lots or
is it just from the trail itself?
[1:49:56] » So through your worship under the uh
current bylaw this setback is on or
[1:50:01] within 5 m of a walking path or trail
parking lot or designated pedestrian
[1:50:08] access point. So it is the same buffer
for both.
[1:50:12] » Okay. So they're definitely uh not the 5
mters from the parking lot. Thank you.
[1:50:17] and uh to councelor Martin, I don't
believe the county actually had a part
[1:50:21] in creating this problem, but we we do
have a problem and we are working at it.
[1:50:26] Thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh Deputy Mayor Calary, is
[1:50:30] there anything else?
[1:50:34] Uh seeing none, we do have a
recommendation that uh council receive
[1:50:38] for information the trails development
advisory committee initial recommend
[1:50:41] recommendations report and further that
council expand the sensitive use
[1:50:44] designation to the periphery of the in
town trails to those areas not already
[1:50:51] captured by boundaries associated with
the recreational amenities and private
[1:50:54] property that counts as a further
promotion or acceptance of e- scooters
[1:50:57] and ebikes on in town trails until such
time as it decides on whether it wishes
[1:51:02] to permit the use of these vehicles by
bylaw as per the provincial legislation
[1:51:07] that council direct staff to consult
with the OP on the appropriate location
[1:51:10] for security cameras and in town trails.
That council direct staff to include
[1:51:13] estimates for solar lighting and remote
security cameras on the in trails as
[1:51:18] part of the 2027 budget process and
council direct staff to include trail
[1:51:22] amenities as f as a focus of its 2027
grant acquisition strategy.
[1:51:30] Uh moved by councelor Shank, second by
councelor Davey. Is there any further
[1:51:34] comments, questions, and concerns with
respect to that motion?
[1:51:38] Go ahead, Mr. Grant.
>> So, uh, Mr. Mayor, just, uh, in
[1:51:42] reflection of the conversation that
council's had, I think the only, uh,
[1:51:46] amendment to that motion that I might
make, Mr. Mayor, is to defer, uh,
[1:51:51] protection of the trail to a broader
review process if that's the will of
[1:51:55] council.
[1:51:59] » Yeah, we do have a motion on the floor.
Um,
[1:52:03] I'll go to them. I'll go to the movers
and the seconders.
[1:52:12] » Perfect.
>> Madam clerk, do you have what you have?
[1:52:23] So through your just to be clear, the
first clause would be that council refer
[1:52:27] the request to expand the sensitive use
designation um to those that already
[1:52:32] captured it to a broader review process.
Um I believe that's already been
[1:52:37] scheduled for this coming winter.
[1:52:44] Over and second are good. Okay.
>> Is there anything further?
[1:52:49] Not. We'll call for the vote. All in
favor? Motion's on the floor. Oppose.
[1:52:53] Motion's carried. Um
information uh sorry bylaws. We don't
[1:52:58] have any bylaws. Information reports for
members. I don't believe we have any of
[1:53:01] them. Inquiries. Does any member do any
members of council have any inquiries
[1:53:05] with respect to anything? Councelor Nor.
>> Actually, I had a information.
[1:53:11] [laughter]
>> Well, we can
[1:53:12] » first and I've got two inquiries. Let me
just talk. I tell you what, let's go
[1:53:15] back to the information reports first
and then we'll go to the inquiries. I'm
[1:53:18] going to let you have at her.
>> Thank you. I'll do my best to be quiet.
[1:53:22] Um, from the arts committee, they had
the final Music in the Park on April
[1:53:28] August 8th. I mean, very successful.
And I just segue into what was been said
[1:53:35] beside me. People were relaxed and happy
because they could enjoy their park. Not
[1:53:39] like last year. I'll leave that part at
that. But it was over 100 people. So
[1:53:43] they were very very happy. Thank you.
>> Great. Thank you. Um inquiries. You want
[1:53:49] to go there too?
>> Yeah. Two. I think one you've already
[1:53:52] addressed Mr. Grant, but I was bringing
up the escooters and that because the
[1:53:58] provincial government has said it's
towns and municipalities responsibility
[1:54:01] for those things except for speed. I
think it's 24 km an hour. And I'm
[1:54:05] worried about liability if or if we
don't do something. And people are like
[1:54:08] pinball or pin bowling pins on certain
sidewalks in different cities. I don't
[1:54:13] want that to happen here. And I've seen
some adult-aged people acting like
[1:54:17] children on them on our sidewalk. So,
are we looking into that? Um or are they
[1:54:23] about what we can do? I know we won't
have enforcement, but to protect us
[1:54:27] liable liability wise, are you looking
into that?
[1:54:32] » So, through you, Mr. Mayor, to uh to uh
the counselor. Um so, councelor Nor, I
[1:54:38] would say we will absolutely look into
that. Um, so we would have to bring
[1:54:41] forward a bylaw to to govern that in the
use of municipal spaces and it would be
[1:54:46] our intention to do that in the new
term.
[1:54:49] » Thank you. Cuz I know Kingston I don't
think allows them anywhere technically
[1:54:52] but and the number two is um as we
talked about and I see that Kylie sent
[1:54:58] out rough estimate what it to the media
what's costing for a 1388 bridge. I
[1:55:04] don't expect to tell, you know, send out
the media regularly, but can we put on
[1:55:07] our website possibly an update what it's
costing so the taxpayers aware and maybe
[1:55:12] some photos of what's coming out of
there so the public knows what's going
[1:55:15] on because
maybe not the disgusting stuff, but you
[1:55:19] know what I'm trying to say is if we
could just inform them more what's going
[1:55:22] on so they can be more aware of why
we're doing what we're doing and what
[1:55:25] it's costing them. Just an idea.
>> So, sure through you, Mr. Mayor. it is
[1:55:30] our intention to put a a full release um
out on the completion of phase 2 and I'm
[1:55:35] going to bring forward a full report but
uh since you've asked the question I can
[1:55:38] say like um I expect that work for phase
one which was about 35 trailers that we
[1:55:45] pulled out uh and phase two which would
be 100 cubic tons uh so 100 basically
[1:55:51] tons of material coming out uh it's more
than we thought it's a settling tanks
[1:55:55] it's propane propane tanks we found um
homemade septic fields and drug
[1:56:00] paraphernalia. Um it's it's not it's not
a good scene. Um so that's come out. Um
[1:56:06] phase one and phase two were were led to
local contractors by competitive bid. Uh
[1:56:12] those contracts combined will be
anywhere between 120 and $145,000.
[1:56:18] Um that's what I expect the bill to be.
Um in that neighborhood, uh we are
[1:56:24] expecting permits for the property. Um
well, we require permits for a quanet
[1:56:30] huts that that's there as well as uh a
mobile trailer where the property owner
[1:56:35] was living. That's you can't have that
unless you have um a permit for uh your
[1:56:40] construction single family home
deadlines have been given. No permits
[1:56:43] have been received. I expect that there
will be a phase three and that material
[1:56:47] has to be pulled out. Um so roughly we'd
be in the neighborhood of 150 to 160.
[1:56:53] Um, a lot of that would be build back to
the all of it, the work of the contract
[1:56:58] be back to the property owner as per uh
the the court order. What won't be uh
[1:57:05] recouped is the loss capacity um that
the town has incurred. Um so we've had
[1:57:12] uh the fire department there. We have
had um we have had bylaw services there
[1:57:18] for the last two and a half weeks um
providing a level of security on site.
[1:57:23] There's been individuals that have been
moving in and out of what is actively a
[1:57:27] construction site. Um, bylaw's also been
instrumental in pointing out things on
[1:57:32] the property that can be removed per
court order and things that cannot be
[1:57:35] removed. We are permitted to take
certain things off the property and not
[1:57:39] others. Um, so they've been instrumental
in that. Uh, with that, members of the
[1:57:43] community have had to suffer a lower
level of service uh for by law
[1:57:47] enforcement because they've been
otherwise engaged. Um, so legal fees,
[1:57:53] um, we've gotten recoup a percentage of
the legal fees to date, but we're not
[1:57:57] going to recoup all of those. Um, so it
has been a massively significant
[1:58:03] undertaking in what was an unsafe and
unsanitary situation that presented a
[1:58:09] danger and a risk to the people that
were staying there. Um, and presented
[1:58:14] candidly a public health risk. um to the
point we're going to have to call in the
[1:58:18] Ministry of Environment uh for some of
the damage that has happened there. Um
[1:58:23] so it is not a small thing. It's been
it's been expensive and the work that's
[1:58:28] happened will be recouped uh one way or
another. The the court order also allows
[1:58:32] us to place uh the cost of the
contractors on property taxes if the
[1:58:37] money is not forthcoming. And the law
allows us to seize property if that's
[1:58:41] not paid. Um but uh we were compelled to
act um cuz this was a unsafe, unsanitary
[1:58:49] and and unjust.
>> Thank you very much. And uh I'm sure the
[1:58:55] public will appreciate uh having an up
further updates as well. Thank you.
[1:59:01] » Thanks uh councelor Nori. Is there
anything else? Go ahead, man.
[1:59:06] » Sorry through your worship. I just want
to go back to the escooter question
[1:59:09] because I've been getting it a lot
lately as well. Um, so to clarify, if
[1:59:13] the town does not have a bylaw that says
they're allowed, then they're not
[1:59:18] allowed. And the town does not currently
have a bylaw. So we're in the same
[1:59:21] position as the city of Kingston
currently. Um, just for clarity.
[1:59:26] » Good. I wish the people would learn
that. [laughter]
[1:59:31] [clears throat and cough] And I know
that uh well, and you probably know as
[1:59:33] well, Bob, the OP is is they're working
on it and it's kind of frustrating them
[1:59:37] as well because of the different uh
[1:59:42] makeups of these type of things too. So,
I think there's a lot of work that has
[1:59:45] to be done probably at the provincial
level to try and uh
[1:59:49] sort it out. So, but thanks for bringing
it up. [clears throat] Uh is there
[1:59:53] anything else as far as the inquiries
go?
[1:59:56] Seeing none noticed emotions. I don't
believe anybody has any noticed
[1:59:59] emotions. New business. I don't believe
we have any new business. Announcements.
[2:00:04] Does anybody want to make any
announcements this evening?
[2:00:09] Seeing none. Uh CEO's remarks. Mr.
Grant, did you have any remarks you
[2:00:13] would like to make this evening?
>> Nothing for me this evening, Mr. Mayor.
[2:00:17] » Uh thank you. The forward counter. I
know we've all had an opportunity to
[2:00:20] take a look at that. Is there anything
in the forward code? Uh go ahead. Deputy
[2:00:22] Mayor C. Just want to verify the uh
September 8th meeting for the for the
[2:00:27] forward counter is at the Roblin Hall.
Is that correct?
[2:00:32] » Through your worship. Yes, that's
correct. Our next meeting will not be in
[2:00:35] this building. Don't come here. Uh we'll
be at Roblin. We will be live streaming
[2:00:39] the meeting the same as we did when we
met at South Fred Hall.
[2:00:42] » Thank you. I I seen that in there, but I
I thought when we were talking about
[2:00:46] changing, I thought we were doing the
Selby Hall. That's why I was questioning
[2:00:48] that. So, thank you.
[clears throat]
[2:00:52] » Thank you. Madame Clerk, and thank you,
Deputy Mayor Galver. Uh, was there
[2:00:57] anything else with respect to the
forward calendar?
[2:01:00] Seeing none, we'll look for a motion to
uh for the bylaw to confirm the
[2:01:04] proceedings of the town of for the
council of the corporation of town of
[2:01:07] Greater Napony. Moved by Deputy Mayor
Calver, seconded by councelor Davyy.
[2:01:11] Read a first, second, and finally pass
this 25th day of August 2026. All in
[2:01:16] favor of that motion. Oppose. Motion's
carried. And motion to adjurnn. Moved by
[2:01:20] councelor Davyy, second by councelor
Shank. There's no further comments,
[2:01:23] questions, concerns. All in favor of
that motion? Oppose. Motion's carried.
[2:01:26] Thanks, folks.