[1:49] Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our regular meeting for uh Monday, July

[1:54] 13th. Uh I'm going to call the meeting to order now and invite everyone to rise

[1:59] for O Canada.

[3:18] Now I'm going to invite uh Deputy Mayor Keveny to read our land acknowledgement.

[3:25] Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and good afternoon, everyone. We would like to

[3:29] begin by acknowledging that we are meeting on the traditional lands and

[3:34] treaty territory of the Sin Ojiway nation which includes the Chipawas of

[3:41] Naywash unseated First Nation and the Chipawas of Sin First Nation. We also

[3:49] recognize the Matei whose ancestors shared this land and these waters. We

[3:55] extend our gratitude to all Anesab and Matei peoples and their descendants,

[4:02] past, present, and future, who continue to care for and inhabit these lands and

[4:08] tend these waters. >> Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Um, now I just

[4:13] invite you to join me in a moment of silent reflection on our business today.

[4:27] Thank you. Uh is there any disclosure of pecuniary

[4:32] interest around the horseshoe? I see none, but uh should it uh occur to you,

[4:36] please bring it up when that time comes. Um announcements.

[4:43] Deputy Mayor, we can usually count on you to uh [laughter]

[4:46] bring >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, I try to keep

[4:48] uh up with what's happening in the community and there's always lots going

[4:51] on in Meford. So, just a couple of things today. Um on behalf of Bogner

[4:56] Hall, they are hosting coffee houses now and I think I mentioned this uh when

[5:00] they first began, but they've become so successful already, averaging 36

[5:05] attendees and they have poets and musicians, storytellers, standup

[5:10] comedians, you name it. The next event is uh Sunday, July the 19th from 2 until

[5:16] 4:00 at the Bogner Community Center. And the event is by donation. So just uh

[5:22] come and pay what you can. They do keep the bar open and this will be a

[5:26] recurring event every month. So it's a great time had by all.

[5:31] Uh secondly, on the 15th of uh July coming up this week, is the annual pork

[5:38] chop barbecue out in Bogner. So, just uh keep that in mind as well. And that's uh

[5:43] beginning at 5:00. And on the 17th is the Rotary annual fish fry right down at

[5:52] the Rust Bumpstead Rotary Pavilion. Tickets are $30 and available at Grandma

[5:57] Lambs or from any Rotarian. There's two of us in the room, past President Bill

[6:01] and myself. And the menu is pickaro, baked potatoes, coleslaw, all the

[6:07] fixings and pies from grandma lambs for desserts. Uh the bar is open there as

[6:12] well. And do come out and help Rotary support uh the community. All this all

[6:16] the funds that we raise go right back into projects uh right here in the

[6:20] municipality of Meford and some international projects as well. But come

[6:24] on out and enjoy the fish fry on the 17th. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[6:29] » Councelor Renis. >> Thank you very much. Um, we have uh the

[6:33] Great Lakes Matei Fish Fry being held uh by the the council uh that's based out

[6:37] of Bowen Sound on Saturday, July the 20th. I've been um every year for the

[6:42] past couple of years. The fish is uh highly recommended. It's excellent. Um

[6:47] the day after uh the Rotary Fish Fry. Uh lunch starts uh at 12 and tickets are

[6:52] $20 per person or $60 for a family. >> Council Yurig.

[7:00] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor, sorry I don't have another fish right. Um, MIFF is its 20th

[7:05] anniversary and so as I've said before, Tiff is a a series that's running

[7:09] throughout the uh leadup to myth in September and this evening uh is the

[7:15] third of four films that are being shown um in that 20th anniversary slot. Uh

[7:20] it's called Holy Days and it shows at 700 p.m. tonight at Meford Hall and

[7:24] tickets are only $20. So, uh, we would appreciate anybody coming out to

[7:27] support, uh, Tiff and you can find more information at mefordculture.ca.

[7:33] » U, councelor Greenfield. >> Thank you, uh, Mayor Kentner. Yes, I

[7:39] have a couple items to mention. Uh, they both pertain to the historic Leaf

[7:44] Church. I'm sure everyone knows where that is located. Saturday evening, July

[7:50] 18th at uh 700 p.m. uh a group entertaining. They're called

[7:57] the Seventh Town. They're a Celtic folk band from your PEI.

[8:03] Uh they include pipes and drums. And uh the uh performance will be uh will be

[8:11] outside unless uh uh weather insists that uh it should go inside. And then on

[8:18] Saturday, July 25th at 7:30 also at the uh Leath Church. And this is one I think

[8:27] everybody should be interested in taking in. It's the Maple Reserve Barberhop

[8:33] Quartet. Uh, how exciting is that? Tickets are

[8:39] available through the Roxy Theater ticket office in Oldtown. Thank you.

[8:44] » Excellent. [clears throat] Anyone else on our side of the horseshoe? Um, anyone

[8:48] on the other side have something to offer? Yes. Uh, Director Carbert.

[8:55] » Uh, thank you, your worship. Um, this will be posted online and through the

[9:00] municipal website this week, but also on site. The Georgian Trail will be closed

[9:05] between Sworthmore Drive and Christy Beach Road on Thursday and Friday in

[9:10] order for engineering work to be completed on structure 129. Um they'll

[9:14] have a large drilling rig in there. So we can't accommodate both pedestrian

[9:18] bikes and the drilling rig. So the trail will be closed and unfortunately there

[9:23] is no alternative route uh around this trail section. So, if all goes well,

[9:28] it'll be finalized Friday night and everything will be returned to normal on

[9:31] Saturday morning again. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Um, well, I have

[9:36] a very pleasant duty myself at this point in time and I'm just going to uh

[9:42] read this um tribute and then I'm going to go go down there and meet this young

[9:48] lady. Uh, this is uh to Doris Rose. Dear Doris, on behalf of the council of the

[9:54] municipality of Meford, it is our great pleasure to extend our sincere

[9:58] congratulations to you on your selection for the Herbert Smith Freeh Hills Kramer

[10:04] Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England.

[10:10] This remarkable honor reflects your extraordinary talent, dedication to your

[10:15] craft, and the international impact of your artistic practice. To be chosen for

[10:20] one of the world's leading exhibitions of contemporary portrait painting is an

[10:25] exceptional achievement and one that brings great pride to the municipality

[10:29] of Meford. Your selected work, Stripes, is a powerful example of the creativity,

[10:36] technical skill, and personal insight that defines your practice. We also

[10:41] recognize the meaningful role you play in our local arts community through your

[10:45] studio work here in Meford and your efforts to make art education more

[10:49] accessible. Your success on an international stage is an inspiration to

[10:54] artists and residents alike and a reminder that creative excellence can

[10:58] flourish in communities of every size. Please accept our heartfelt

[11:03] congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. We wish you continued

[11:08] success as the exhibition opens in London and tours across the United

[11:12] Kingdom. Yours sincerely and it's signed by uh myself as mayor uh Deputy Mayor

[11:17] Keveny and every member of this council.

[12:35] Now we uh move on to public participation. Uh members of the public

[12:39] are encouraged to provide council with their comments and questions.

[12:44] Presentations must be pre-arranged with legislative services before the agenda

[12:48] is released and will be limited to 10 minutes. If a member of the public

[12:53] wishes to make a deputation on items on the council agenda or to ask a public

[12:57] question of council, they may do so either in person at the council chambers

[13:02] or remotely via Zoom. Members of the public wishing to make a deputation or

[13:06] to ask a public question are encouraged to register in advance with legislative

[13:11] services by 10 in the morning on the day of. And you can do that by contacting

[13:16] deputy clerk@me.ca CA or calling 519-5381060

[13:22] extension 1100. An email with access information will be sent to those who

[13:27] register for remote participation. Deputations are limited to 5 minutes and

[13:32] public questions are limited to two minutes. The public can watch this

[13:36] meeting live via the Municipality of Meford's YouTube channel

[13:40] www.mmeford.ca/youtube.

[13:44] We have no uh presentations today, but we do have some deputations.

[13:50] And uh first I'm going to call uh Gina Jawarski who is speaking tonight item

[13:56] 91A which is consideration of sale and disposition of municipal properties.

[14:03] Someone turn uh Gina's uh microphone there.

[14:08] » Okay. Okay.

[14:11] » I don't >> Is that all right? I don't see. Is there

[14:14] microphone on? Good. Okay, fine. Just go right ahead. Thank you.

[14:17] » Okay. Thank you. So, good afternoon, mayor, members of council, and staff. My

[14:21] name is Gina Juniper Jorski, and I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to

[14:25] speak regarding the proposed disposal of the Aken Street Road allowance. I'm here

[14:30] as the owner of the adjoining property, but also as someone whose family has

[14:34] been connected to this land for generations. In 1969, my father served

[14:39] severed these properties and registered them with the town. I have the original

[14:44] survey certificate available which shows the lots as they were created with the

[14:48] road allowance intended to provide future access. These lots remain legally

[14:52] registered today. However, they cannot be developed because the road identified

[14:56] on the survey has never been provided. There are two lots that are legally

[15:02] registered behind 244 Aken Street. Our road allowance is a public asset. Once

[15:09] it's sold, it may be impossible to recover if future community needs needs

[15:13] to change. This neighborhood continues to grow.

[15:17] There's a large vacant property across from our home that may one day be

[15:21] developed. Memorial Park is located at one end of Aken Street. The old high

[15:26] school is located at the other. And the street already experiences significant

[15:30] pedestrian and vehicle traffic. There is also an existing stop sign intersection

[15:35] at this location which demonstrates that the road allowance was considered part

[15:40] of the future road network. Before removing this opportunity, I believe

[15:44] council should carefully consider whether this connection may be needed in

[15:48] the future for traffic flow, emergency access, pedestrian safety, or municipal

[15:54] servicing. Looking ahead, a new school is planned for the former track

[15:58] property, and the future use of the old high school has yet to be determined.

[16:03] While access from Aken Street to the former high school property has been

[16:06] closed, future changes to the area may result in increased traffic being

[16:11] directed onto Richmond Street and then back through Eliza Street to access

[16:15] alternate exits. If Aken Street becomes congested during school related traffic

[16:20] times, maintaining future road options may be an an an important consideration.

[16:26] Disposing of this road allowance could limit future solutions and may

[16:30] contribute to further traffic pressures on surrounding streets. Concerns that

[16:35] council has already heard from residents when you had your past meetings

[16:39] regarding whatever is happening at the old high school. I also asked council to

[16:44] consider the history of this property. A previous council considered disposing of

[16:48] the same road allowance and ultimately chose to retain it. I respectfully asked

[16:53] what has changed since that decision. I also question why only one part of the

[17:00] portion of the road allowance is being considered for disposal while the

[17:04] section fronting Eliza Street is not. I need to understand the reason for this

[17:08] distinction. Uh and I believe it's important before making any irreversible

[17:13] decision regarding public land. While my concerns are about the future of the

[17:18] community, I also need to acknowledge that this decision would have a direct

[17:22] negative impact on my property. The two registered lots created in 1969 were

[17:28] established with the understanding that the road allowance would provide future

[17:32] access. Removing that possibly affects the future use, value, and development

[17:37] potential of my property. Finally, I was never formally informed

[17:42] that this proposal would be coming before council. I became aware of it

[17:46] only by reviewing the council agenda myself. I believe decisions involving

[17:50] public land should include meaningful consultation with those most directly

[17:56] affected. For those reasons, I respectfully ask council to postpone any

[18:01] decision to dispose of this road allowance until its historical purpose,

[18:05] future municipal needs, access considerations, and long-term planning

[18:09] implications have been fully reviewed. I believe good planning requires us to

[18:14] think beyond today's need. Once this land is sold, the opportunity to use it

[18:17] for the benefit of future generations may be gone forever. I thank you for

[18:22] your time and consideration. >> Thank you very much. Uh is any counselor

[18:26] have a question for the speaker and I'm just going to ask uh CEO

[18:32] Everett, did you wish to respond at all at this time?

[18:35] » Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. In regards to response, um the report laid out what

[18:40] the process was uh in regards to reaching out once council uh approves

[18:45] that report. There will be correspondence going out to the adjacent

[18:48] land owners to understand if there are any concerns. Uh there have been some

[18:53] communications in this regard. Um and at this point, council's not disposing of

[18:59] the land as yet. >> Okay. Thank you very much.

[19:04] Uh the next speaker is uh Jean Burch and she is also uh speaking to item uh 91A.

[19:19] Um, I live in the same vicinity as Gina does and of course uh I've been taking

[19:27] care of a piece of property that ab butts the land uh the road allowance for

[19:34] a number of years. At one time I did my husband and I did ask to buy it and we

[19:40] were informed it had been made part of the road allowance.

[19:45] So, uh, at any time in the future that you want to sell the road allowance, I

[19:53] think I should be given consideration to buy the piece of property adjoining it.

[19:58] It's not big enough for a building lot. Uh

[20:04] also uh I would like to ask

[20:10] is there any way that you can

[20:15] open up the back road of the cemetery? I think you need to for emergency

[20:22] reasons because of the amount of people that live down my way. And we don't have

[20:29] a great deal of roads down there to get out if there was ever an emergency.

[20:35] And I'd like to I I have uh asked Shirley about it before on occasion. Um

[20:43] so I I'd really like to know something about that.

[20:46] » I see staff making some notes. So, thank you very much.

[20:49] » Thank you. >> Um,

[20:53] » third speaker is uh Patrick McDonald uh also speaking to uh 91A.

[21:08] Mayor Kentner, deputy mayor, counselors, staff. Um, I'm speaking specifically to

[21:16] uh the inclusion of uh block, pardon me, Kingston Beach Road plan

[21:24] block A to B on the list of properties recommended for sale and and uh

[21:30] disposal. Um,

[21:34] I am owner and resident at lot 17 plan 731 at Kingston Beach. that's otherwise

[21:41] known as 113 Kingston Beach. My understanding and belief is that a

[21:48] pre-existing easement

[21:52] which exists uh from May 1986

[21:56] for block A and the shore road allowance for the purpose of obtaining water from

[22:02] the wellhead located on block A would prelude

[22:07] uh the inclusion of this um piece of property in the municipal

[22:14] municipalities plan for disposal. That easement was granted by Sidnham Township

[22:20] Council to my father and passed to me when I purchased the family home. Uh

[22:26] indeed, that well on block A supplies water to other users in the subdivision,

[22:34] a total of three others. To my knowledge, it's not clear to me in what

[22:39] I've been able to read that municipal staff were aware of this infrastructure

[22:45] uh on the uh block A property or the 40-year-old legal easement or the shore

[22:52] well and water lines. And in my opinion, that would preclude its inclusion in as

[22:58] a property for uh for disposal. I would ask whether or not that was

[23:04] considered in um staff's decision to include it in the

[23:11] package of properties to be disposed of. >> I think that perhaps the CEO ever can

[23:16] respond to that now. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um as I

[23:21] mentioned in the last my my previous response, going through this process

[23:26] will allow us to have that communication with residents. Um I'm sure over the

[23:30] years there are a number of of different easements that have been put in place.

[23:34] Uh I was not aware of of of this situation. Um however this is why the

[23:40] process works. We we basically get information from residents. Um and again

[23:46] I want to stress council has not disposed of these lands. This is the

[23:50] early stages of consideration of disposal of lands.

[23:55] » Thank you. And uh we have a final uh speaker uh

[24:00] Darcy Chapman. Uh if you would come forward, I think you're quite familiar

[24:04] with our facilities here. Welcome back. Thank you, your worship, council.

[24:10] [clears throat] Uh so yeah, I'm I'm here for the the

[24:13] same uh agenda item. Um I'd first like to start by saying that I recognize that

[24:19] council passed a budget this year that included a million half dollars in

[24:23] revenue for land sales. So, if you don't find land to sell, you're going to have

[24:27] an operating budget deficit. So, I know that this is why this is this is a a big

[24:31] deal. Uh I certainly question why the million half dollars was included in the

[24:37] operating budget because we by the looks of the the 94 properties that were

[24:40] provided to council. Many of them can't be sold. So, where we're going to come

[24:44] up with a million and a half dollars every year going forward uh is is

[24:47] certainly a question. Um, some of the properties I have no problem with, but

[24:51] there are five that I take great exception to. Um, Kingston Beach, Sunset

[24:56] Beach, and Queens Bush. Uh, all three of those properties were reviewed eight,

[25:01] nine years ago. Um, I question whether staff actually went and did any kind of

[25:06] a site tour. I've actually walked all three of those properties. There were a

[25:11] number of staff that came to those meetings. There were actually members of

[25:14] council that came to those those on-site meetings as well. Those properties uh to

[25:19] the best of my knowledge do have encumbrances on them. They either have

[25:23] deemed access for back lots or they do have uh things like um wells like the

[25:28] the gentleman just noted. Um more importantly, uh having waterfront lots

[25:35] that the municipality owns is not something that we should sell. It is a

[25:39] massive asset. These things should be kept for for public use. They should

[25:44] actually be improved upon. they we should be looking at creating small

[25:47] parkquetses with a handful of uh parking spaces and actually providing access to

[25:53] the waterfront for more locations. We already know that the locations that we

[25:57] have do get overwhelmed. So something very simple like a Leath Beach idea

[26:01] would be perfect at these locations. It would actually mean maybe that we could

[26:05] uh you know put something out there to the public that they can go and access

[26:08] these locations. It would get the people to actually go and drive around the

[26:11] municipality and see different areas of the municipality. So, I don't think

[26:14] these three properties should be sold at all. They actually need to be kept in

[26:17] the public trust and they should be improved upon. The other two are uh

[26:21] Ridge Road and Susan Street. Uh council over the last 12 to 18 months has put in

[26:30] significant investment into industrial and commercial lands. Uh you're now

[26:35] looking at making a decision to sell industrial lands and I don't understand

[26:41] why. Uh these are fully serviced industrial lots. Uh they take no

[26:47] investment of public money whereas the property that you've recently just

[26:51] purchased is going to take millions and millions of dollars to put underground

[26:55] infrastructure and roads onto them. The these properties are available. If

[27:00] they're going to be if they're already usable or can be used, uh, council

[27:04] should be going through the process with planning staff, legal, engineers,

[27:07] whoever the case may be to actually make sure that these things are available for

[27:11] use and that they can be easily marketed. Whereas the land that you've

[27:14] just bought right now will need significant investment in multiple years

[27:17] to even get close to being actually market ready. So, I mean, the question

[27:22] that I have, this this came up at the last meeting. Councelor Bell was the

[27:25] only one who who mentioned anything at the meeting. He said, you know, that

[27:30] these are the kinds of discussions that happen in in close session. Uh he was

[27:34] very comfortable with the decisions uh that were made based on the on the

[27:38] conversation that happened with staff. The rest of the council stayed, Mom. I

[27:42] know you weren't at that meeting, but the rest of the members of council that

[27:46] were here didn't speak to it. So, we don't actually know what was talked

[27:50] about in the closed session and and the rest of the members of council didn't

[27:53] voice their opinion as to why that they thought that this was a good idea or a

[27:56] bad idea. Uh so it it lends to my question about transparency to the point

[28:02] that on this exact agenda, you also have a report coming forward uh to talk and

[28:08] take a look at the tiny homes situation on those two properties uh um that I

[28:13] just mentioned on Ridge Road and Susan Street. It seems fairly presumptive to

[28:18] me that uh the CEO mentioned at the last meeting that there's a 120 meter radius

[28:24] around each property. The property owners need to be advised of the

[28:27] potential for the disposition. Yet, at this meeting, you have a report from

[28:30] staff coming forward to start the process of a request for information for

[28:35] tiny homes on those locations. I think your your cart is many miles ahead of

[28:40] the horse on on this one already. Uh, you know, another property that was not

[28:45] discussed uh was property number 24 from the council package, which is uh uh the

[28:50] Collingwood West and Parker Street property. Uh it is a piece of property

[28:53] that is used I know for the fall fair but generally primarily just for

[28:57] parking. It's a a one two-day event and that's the only time the property gets

[29:00] used for. It's in close proximity to other um high residential uh areas

[29:06] walkability to the arena to the curling club much closer to the downtown. I

[29:12] don't understand why that property wasn't looked at uh for a tiny homesuh

[29:16] type of development versus properties that are already zoned industrial and

[29:20] are already serviced. Thank you for your input, Darcy. Um, did I didn't hear a

[29:27] question. Uh, you've raised many issues and I'm sure they will be dealt with by

[29:30] council. So, thank you.

[29:35] » Did anyone wish to ask a public question? Uh we've just gone on on our

[29:41] agenda today is a review of our uh uh our protocols and I we're going to

[29:47] rename public questions public input so that people don't have to go to the

[29:52] trouble of framing a question because usually that results in a speech. So

[29:56] anyway, I just want to make people aware that change may be approved today and in

[30:00] the meantime there will be an opportunity for people to uh ask a

[30:04] question uh in our public meetings. Um, I'm going to move on to council

[30:09] inquiries. Any inquiries from council today?

[30:14] I see none. So, uh, at this point, uh, I'm going to move to item nine, motions

[30:21] and bylaws for decision, and there are nine matters on our consent agenda

[30:25] today. Items in this list have been before committee of the whole for

[30:29] discussion. Council may choose to pass these items and/or bylaws with one

[30:33] motion. A member may also request an item or items be pulled for separate

[30:38] consideration. Item A is consideration of sale and

[30:42] disposition of municipal properties. Item B, a commercial business occupying

[30:47] municipal land. Item C is a special event licensing agreement with the

[30:51] Meford Chamber of Commerce. Item D is 2025 non-budgeted year-end transfers.

[30:58] Item E is the 2025 yearend surplus. Item F is to declare land surplus and

[31:04] transfer ownership of Georgian Beach Lane. Item G is an addendum to the

[31:09] inaugural meeting of the 2026 through 2030 term of council. Item H is to

[31:15] finalize the procedural bylaw review and item I is to pass the new procedural

[31:20] bylaw. Does any counselor wish to pull any of these items for further

[31:24] discussion today? Uh councelor Bell. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[31:30] Item A.

[31:35] » Okay. Thank you. Uh any other uh in that case uh we can uh take item A uh

[31:44] out and um can I have a motion to approve uh everything in uh item 91 with

[31:52] the exception of A. Deputy mayor, a seconder, a councelor

[31:57] Yurig. Any discussion? All in favor? Uh any opposed? So that is carried

[32:04] unanimously. Thank you very much. And uh at county council, we usually come back

[32:09] to the item that was pulled at the end of the day, but I don't know as we have

[32:13] to be guided by county council in this. Uh so I'll defer to the clerk.

[32:17] » Thank you, your worship. At this point, we would return to 9.1A

[32:21] um and complete the the consent agenda discussion.

[32:24] » So can I have uh a motion to uh put it on the floor?

[32:29] Councelor Bell and a seconder councelor

[32:32] Greenfield. So go ahead and we'll discuss this.

[32:37] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So um it is absolutely correct that when

[32:44] this came up I did say that I felt very comfortable with what uh council had

[32:49] received from information from uh staff pulling together a report um without

[32:56] disclosing anything uh truly out of the closed session since the general public

[33:02] uh can obviously read the list of properties uh they were absolutely the

[33:07] properties that uh council looked at to

[33:14] tell the general public. Council received maps about what those

[33:22] properties were, how big those properties were, listed in hectares,

[33:28] which I converted over to acres being a little bit old school. took a look at

[33:33] all of those properties that staff had analyzed and looked at for development

[33:38] or not for development. But to be absolutely clear, as our CIO

[33:44] had said uh to one of the questions, there was nothing specifically on any

[33:49] one of those properties that would have said anything like, "Oh, on this

[33:55] property, you know, there's a little garden shed painted in the corner." We

[33:59] we didn't read about any little garden sheds. We didn't read about whether or

[34:03] not there was a well that was located on there for anybody close by put in from a

[34:08] historical point of view. Um we didn't get anything like um say from Sidenham

[34:17] St. Vincent uh councils or the town of Meford uh former councils what was

[34:24] presented was exactly what's before us today a series of properties which when

[34:31] staff had analyzed the size of them where they're located council got a look

[34:36] at that big package we took a look at it and I am very happy to hear uh that even

[34:43] if uh council says this afternoon uh that we will proceed on doing something

[34:48] here. Um I take it then each and every one of these will be sent out so that at

[34:55] a council if there is something that's going on specifically at those

[34:59] properties this council can make a decision to say uh we will for not do

[35:06] that particular item for a very specific reason but that's not this afternoon. Is

[35:11] that clear? >> Uh thank you Mr. Mr. From here to

[35:15] councelor Bell, that's absolutely clear. Uh there is no no decision to sell

[35:20] dispose of at this point. It was just clearly um identifying potential

[35:25] properties that could be considered in the future.

[35:31] » Deputy Mayor. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And just uh as

[35:36] follow up to councelor Bell's comments, I just wanted to first of all thank the

[35:38] residents that have joined us today and have shared information with us because

[35:43] we're we're learning as well the specifics about these pieces of property

[35:47] and I appreciate that the CEO is sharing more about the process of how this will

[35:51] go forward. So my question I think for staff in the matter is if if we find out

[35:57] uh issues about any of these particular properties, is there an opportunity to

[36:00] go back and review the land inventory and and to look perhaps at other pieces

[36:06] because we acknowledge that we did put a number in the budget being fairly

[36:10] comfortable that we could uh um potentially dispose of some of these

[36:14] pieces of land in 2026. >> Uh you Mr. Mayor to the deputy mayor.

[36:19] Absolutely. I think you know from a from a process perspective before the

[36:25] municipality can actually consider disposing lands need to be declared

[36:30] surplus to the municipal needs. So we're in the early stages council has every

[36:36] opportunity even if you were to declare it surplus and then afterwards you

[36:41] decided not to sell that's council's prerogative. um council has a land

[36:47] disposition policy uh that identifies the process to go through to potentially

[36:53] dispose of of property. So, it's very very clear, but I think the public um uh

[37:00] having the information that you know even if something was declared surplus

[37:05] does not force the hand of council to dispose of it. Um this is um the

[37:12] question in regards to are there other lands. Um I think the report identified

[37:17] that this is phase one of of the process um throughout the entire municipality.

[37:23] There is a number of opened and unopened road allowances. And I say open road

[37:27] allowances could just be because they could be considered open. They're not

[37:33] you can't use them but they've never been they've never been closed. Um

[37:38] there's a number of road allowances that this next phase in 2027 will consider

[37:43] going through a similar process to identify. Are there any road allowances

[37:48] that you know make sense for the municipality to um to dispose of um

[37:54] unopen road allowances typically 66 ft wide so they would be building lots. Um

[38:00] but again um and and I'm very aware and and I I really appreciate the comments

[38:06] uh raised by the public. One thing that doesn't get made any more of is land. Um

[38:12] so staff is taking that very very seriously. Um I will say that the

[38:18] municipality will benefit from an actual strategic review of the inventory to

[38:24] then determine whether or not something makes sense to sell. Um the last thing

[38:29] staff wants is knee-jerk uh recommendations. Um that put us in

[38:34] positions where you know we've sell we sell something and you know five six

[38:39] seven years later you look and think why why why would we ever have sold that? Um

[38:43] so the intention of this is to be very very strategic and and if there is land

[38:48] that is available to sell um then uh those are the recommendations that staff

[38:56] would be coming forward with. But ultimately it's a council's decision.

[39:02] » If there are no further comments on that, we should vote on uh uh the item

[39:07] before us. And um I will call a question. All in favor?

[39:13] Any opposed? That is unanimous. And that takes care of u the uh uh first item on

[39:21] the uh the u consent agenda. Uh did we vote on all the others? We

[39:28] did. Right. Then that's that's good. Um we uh also have two new items for

[39:36] consideration today. Uh the recommendation for U 92A

[39:42] is uh be it resolved that bylaw 2026-55

[39:47] being a bylaw to delegate certain duties respecting the implementation of the

[39:51] administrative penalty system to the director of legislative services by

[39:56] amending bylaw 40-204 to add schedule D be taken as read a

[40:01] first, second, and third time and finally passed. Can I have a mover and

[40:05] seconder for this? Councelor Greenfield and Councelor Forter. Thank you. Uh any

[40:10] discussion on this? Go ahead, Councelor Fter.

[40:15] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh and through you. Um I just wanted to get a little

[40:19] bit of clarification with regards to uh something on this. I have no problem

[40:23] with the delegated authority. Um, however, with regards to delegating the

[40:27] setting of things like penalty amounts, um, I just don't really see any kind of

[40:32] guard rails or anything like that where it completely removes, um, council, uh,

[40:36] from this. Um, so I just wanted to know, do we consider setting the penalty

[40:41] amounts uh, for this um, bylaw to be an administrative function or more of a

[40:47] policy function? Um because my concern would be if there's any changes to the

[40:53] penalties and we don't find about out about it till we get our reports. There

[40:57] could be major changes and penalties that could be in place for several

[41:01] months um without council not even being aware of any of these changes. So just

[41:05] curious to know how do we ensure that for council we are um implementing the

[41:10] right guard rails to make sure that there is the proper level of

[41:14] administrative function but also the policy control that is ultimately

[41:18] council's responsibility. Just looking for some comment on that please.

[41:22] » I'm going to go to clerk. >> Thank you worship and through to

[41:27] councelor forer. Um Holly is not able to be here today so I will try my best to

[41:31] explain. Um, initially what my my first comment would

[41:36] be is actually the legislation provides those guardrails because the um the

[41:40] penalties can't be considered punitive um and are really restricted by what's

[41:45] reasonable and required to promote compliance. And so our intention um

[41:49] should council um move forward with a delegated authority in this area would

[41:53] be to set penalties that are comparable to our neighbors um who have done the

[41:57] benchmarking and and that would be our process. Um certainly these would be

[42:01] transparent penalties that would be put up on the website as part of the final

[42:06] bylaw that's posted. And so there's a transparency component to that. Um all

[42:10] members of the public should be able to see that the penalties in this area. Um

[42:14] so I I don't know if that offers uh too short of an explanation, but I think

[42:18] both the legislation and the transparency piece um really help to

[42:22] ensure everything is in line with what's required and and reasonable in that

[42:26] respect. Thank you.

[42:30] Anyone else wish to uh speak? And I'm going to call the uh vote. All in favor?

[42:36] Any opposed? And that is carried unanimously. Thank you.

[42:44] The uh next item is uh that council of the municipality of meford uh approve

[42:49] heritage permit application heritage-01-2026

[42:55] um on 36 Psych Street South by Aowski uh with the following conditions. One, that

[43:02] the final materials and colors to be of to the satisfaction of planning staff.

[43:07] Two, that the brick facade be conserved and retained as proposed.

[43:12] osed with new brick materials to be integrated with the original brick.

[43:16] Three, that any future signage be subject to applicable sign bylaw

[43:19] requirements. And four, that the works generally conform to the plans and

[43:23] renderings submitted with the application. Can I have a mover and

[43:27] seconder, please? Moved by councelor, seconded by councelor Andis. Very good.

[43:32] Um, discussion, questions. I'll start with councelor

[43:37] Greenfield.

[43:40] Thank you, Marshall. Um, well, when I first started reading through this

[43:46] report, I I was uh quite uh quite enthused by the uh the renovations and

[43:53] the uh the upgrades. I uh uh picked up on the uh use of uh more

[44:03] traditional line masonry to do any uh uh masonry repairs. and uh uh putting in

[44:11] the middle window again brings it back to uh I think a a very attractive, very

[44:18] acceptable storefront. However,

[44:24] then I got down to looking at the entrance way

[44:29] and I saw two steps and I would be remiss if I did not bring

[44:39] up the accessibility problems here. Um,

[44:46] I know I'm been beating this drum often in the past

[44:51] few years and I'm going to beat it again. This is a this is an opportunity.

[44:56] Yes, it will cost

[45:01] the manager, the owner of this operation more money. But there's an opportunity

[45:06] here to recess that doorway, create a ramp, make this

[45:13] facility um accessible. I I'm just

[45:22] I endorse the heritage features trying to maintain them. I I'm 100% for that.

[45:28] But when it comes to accessibility, why can't we collaborate and cooperate the

[45:35] two of them together when something like this comes forward? We're we're missing

[45:40] an opportunity here. And we've missed it in other areas too.

[45:46] We're supposedly a community of well-being

[45:50] uh accepting everyone regardless of their

[45:56] physical needs. And here's an example where we're not not doing that or at

[46:04] least I I don't see it in this application. So

[46:09] that's where I'm at. uh your worship. Uh as I say, other than that, I'm I'm quite

[46:14] all right with it, but I I I have to mention this and and this is the the

[46:19] accessibility issue to our downtown businesses is not getting better.

[46:25] We have opportunities to help and we're ignoring them.

[46:31] » Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you for that passionate,

[46:34] deservedly passionate comment. Um, does anyone want to respond to that or at

[46:40] least speak to Yeah, let's call on staff here to uh

[46:45] help us out a bit. >> Hi there. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, so

[46:50] that is something that the heritage advisory committee did bring up um at

[46:54] their meeting for this application as well. Um and so our standpoint is that

[47:00] when someone applies for a heritage permit application,

[47:03] um we c we can require them to uh keep or upkeep the steps in as good condition

[47:12] as they can. Um if they were submitting a building permit application to

[47:16] renovate Jake Scrapand Go restaurant, then that's something where AODDA

[47:21] compliance could come into effect. Um if it's council's wishes, we could amend

[47:27] um the recommendation. Um but from from the planning staff perspective, uh we

[47:34] would just require them to maintain those steps in as good condition as they

[47:38] can. What I don't understand is that I

[47:43] thought that we're well past the deadline for u um

[47:48] structural changes to provide accessibility and I I don't understand

[47:53] why uh the proponent isn't isn't required uh in some way to conform to

[47:59] the provincial legislation. Am I wrong?

[48:05] Uh if I may your worship, um the trigger to uh make something like a door, excuse

[48:12] [clears throat] me, accessible really only comes up on under the Ontario

[48:16] building code when specific modifications are being made. So, um

[48:22] existing B business owners aren't compelled to make accessibility

[48:26] improvements unless they're already altering that item. So, for example,

[48:33] removing a washroom and and replacing it or renovating, then the new the replaced

[48:37] version would have to meet accessibility standards. I'd look to a facilities

[48:42] expert um to to help me out there, but um really they would have to be altering

[48:49] the entrance um for us to be able to trigger under the code an accessibility

[48:55] um improvement, if that makes sense. >> I'm going to ask other members of

[48:58] council to weigh in here for their opinion. I'll come back to you after

[49:02] everyone's spoken and I'm going to start with councelor Yurig.

[49:05] » Thank you Mr. Mayor and thank you councelor Greenfield for bringing up.

[49:09] We're all extremely sympathetic to um AODA standards and would love to see

[49:15] more in the downtown h have that happen. I guess my question is the obviously the

[49:19] logistics of it because I'm presuming if that was looking at the diagram or at

[49:24] the picture if that was going to happen it obviously can't shut out forward.

[49:28] have to be side and the and the gradient of any ramp has to be fairly long

[49:34] obviously to accommodate the uh standard. Is there room even to do that

[49:40] on that building? Um because it's then going to jut into the driveway to the

[49:45] part of it or to the left it's going to be the building. So has it even been

[49:49] looked into to determine whether or not a ramp would even be able to manage to

[49:54] work in that environment?

[50:00] um through your worship. Uh I think that you've just pointed out sort of the the

[50:05] catch, right? Um while we all um hold um accessibility um and heritage to a high

[50:13] standard and high importance, uh in a historic downtown like ours, space is

[50:17] very limited and the existing sort of logistics really really tend to to come

[50:22] into play. So, um the applicant in this case hasn't uh applied to to alter their

[50:30] um their entrance. So, we can't compel them to do so. Again, uh even though we

[50:36] do really prioritize accessibility. So, um looking forward to our our new CIP

[50:41] coming into force and effect so that we can um help add um you know funds to to

[50:47] help incentivize those changes because again in these historic buildings those

[50:51] represent significant potentially significant changes. So um I think

[50:56] you've you've hit the nail on the head there.

[50:59] » So that sort of truncates discussion unless somebody let's hear what you have

[51:04] to say anyway and councelor Renis. >> Thank you. Um

[51:08] yeah, I I complet um I completely uh sympathize uh with with with with the

[51:16] idea. Um I worry that at this point we don't have the structures in place to be

[51:21] able to enforce something that large on uh what is essentially the update of you

[51:26] know in in appearance. Um so and that's essentially what I'm hearing from. we're

[51:31] not getting into like structural building, but I do think that there

[51:35] might be the opportunity then for future discussions to require accessibility

[51:41] requ uh or accessibility considerations to be

[51:45] part of our heritage permitting process. Um I've been to had the fortune to be in

[51:51] other parts of the world and uh take courses uh designed around um how to

[51:58] include uh various forms of physical disability um in in some locations that

[52:04] have been built on for at this point a thousand years and in cultures where

[52:09] heritage is extremely important. and they've come up with some very

[52:14] creative solutions uh around the world to make very historical buildings uh

[52:20] meet modern accessibility standards. I presume that maybe their larger

[52:24] government tax structures are different and allow for that so that a small

[52:28] municipality could apply for money to be able to do that. But looking at this

[52:32] building on Google Maps right now on street view, I'm seeing that for

[52:35] example, uh the spa next door is kind of more at grade and then the building kind

[52:40] of comes across and the sidewalk drops down making that adding a step uh just

[52:45] from one front door to the the neighboring front door. And I've seen a

[52:48] solution where essentially the ramp is added along the front of the building.

[52:52] Um you know, in this case it might be a little need to be more creative because

[52:56] there's a door to the apartments above it seems. But um there are solutions uh

[53:00] to to be able to do that. Um so if we're when we you know maybe maybe

[53:06] for the next council maybe we included in our recommendations for the next

[53:10] council to make that a part of our heritage permitting because heritage

[53:15] buildings are going to be inaccessible pro most likely and so if anyone's going

[53:19] to be doing any work on them at all we should be requiring this.

[53:24] » Thank you. This is very valuable contribution. Councelor Bell, was your

[53:27] hand up? Councelor Bell. No. Okay, fine. Sorry.

[53:33] Um, Deputy Mayor, and then I'll go back to Councelor Greenfield.

[53:37] » Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I appreciate the discussion. I was going

[53:40] to mention accessibility, but Harley did it much more descriptively than I ever

[53:44] could. So, I'm glad we're addressing this for this particular building. Um,

[53:48] I'm wondering in relation to the steps, because I appreciate the challenge that

[53:52] we face with them. Um, is there a potential for us to require a temporary

[53:58] ramp that could be just, you know, set down if someone wanted to enter the

[54:03] business who required that with a walker, wheelchair, whatever the concern

[54:07] might be, something that just could be brought out of the business, set down

[54:11] over the steps on that very temporary basis so that individual could get in

[54:16] and out. Are we allowed to require anything of that nature?

[54:22] Sure.

[54:27] Um through you, Mr. Mayor. Um that's a a good solution on a temporary basis. Um I

[54:34] think staff would need to look into those required clearances for sidewalk

[54:38] as well. I believe it's 1.5 m of clearance is required and I'm not too

[54:43] sure um how it would affect um how large the ramp would need to be and if we

[54:49] would maintain that required walking clearance on the sidewalk as well. Um

[54:55] but it's something that staff could could look into further.

[55:01] » Go ahead councelor Greenfield. Thanks again and your worship and thank you

[55:05] Helina and uh uh director K uh for your comments and I

[55:11] um you know first of all I I I know this is a

[55:18] a difficult storefront to to do uh uh a lot of things with. When I mention a

[55:28] ramp, I the AODDA ramps are a mile long and I wasn't

[55:36] really thinking about that. I I was thinking about, okay, we'd have to take

[55:42] a recessed doorway and a lot a number of our heritage buildings did have recessed

[55:48] entranceways. um a ramp of even a steeper

[55:55] grade.

[55:59] Someone could push someone in a wheelchair up into the

[56:04] building or someone with a walker I think could get up into it. They can't

[56:10] do that with those two steps. Um, going back to I I don't understand

[56:16] why the community improvement plan and accessibility are not directly tied. Uh,

[56:22] like I think any community improvement plan uh grant or loan application that

[56:28] comes forward if if they have accessibility features

[56:33] to them, they should there should be a an asterct right behind it saying, "Hey,

[56:37] this is this is special. this is uh this is one one vote for your uh uh for your

[56:45] application and I don't think we've done that in the past and to me in the future

[56:50] it's uh it's essential. So okay I've made my point. Thank you. Thanks. And

[56:57] I'm just going to add that [clears throat] uh I've seen uh many u

[57:02] facade improvements take place in our downtown core with no sympathy for the

[57:08] heritage of our heritage district. So, uh I want to compliment the uh proponent

[57:14] here for u uh thinking about how um a part especially that block of uh of

[57:22] psych street which is you know not as built up and has more you know diverse

[57:27] buildings on it. It's nice to see something that salutes heritage in

[57:31] meford and uh I want to congratulate him and uh I'm going to call the vote. All

[57:36] in favor? Any opposed? That is carried unanimously

[57:41] and now we can move uh into committee of the whole at 155. Uh could I have a

[57:47] mover and seconder? Deputy mayor and councelor Yuri. Thank you very much. And

[57:53] the first item is

[57:57] um under library services that committee of the whole receive report library

[58:02] 2026-01 mered public library annual report 2025

[58:07] for information purposes. And I'm going to turn the microphone over to uh to

[58:11] Lynn CEO. Thank you. >> Thank you. Move and second. We didn't do

[58:16] that. Moved by councelor for seconded by councelor Andis. Thank you very much.

[58:21] All in favor? Oh go. Okay. Boy after four years if [laughter]

[58:27] I pity my follower. Okay. Uh go ahead and

[58:32] » thank you so much. Uh, thank you. Your worship, deputy mayor, counselors,

[58:37] including the M meford public library board, council reps, GR, uh, councilors

[58:42] Greenfield and Forer, uh, and M, my municipal colleagues for

[58:47] the opportunity for Chair Grafton and I to present the Meford Public Library

[58:52] 2025 annual report. The annual report supports transparency

[58:57] and promotes knowledge of the importance of the Meford Public Library within our

[59:02] community and helps to clarify what we've spent, what we do, why we do it,

[59:08] and how we do it. Uh, it takes a village to run the Meford Public Library from

[59:13] from council right on down to our valued users who supply great feedback to their

[59:19] public library. Uh Mephford Public Library celebrates 100 years uh this

[59:24] year in 2026. Uh but the building will be 6 years old, believe it or not, uh on

[59:30] November 20th. Uh so we thank our facilities manager, Steve Burgess, and

[59:35] his dedicated team for keeping the building in shape both inside and out.

[59:40] And we also would like to thank the parks and recreation uh department and

[59:44] their wonderful garden volunteer uh who helps keep the parkquette and the

[59:48] surrounding gardens in order uh for for our story times, our library

[59:54] programs and the public to enjoy. I'd like to introduce uh Chair Kim uh Kim

[1:00:00] Grafton uh our board chair who would like to say a few words.

[1:00:14] Good afternoon, Mayor Kentner, Deputy Mayor Shirley Keveny, counselors, fellow

[1:00:20] board members on council, and town municipal staff. Welcome to the annual

[1:00:26] report of the Meford Public Library. As chair of the library board, it is a

[1:00:30] pleasure to be celebrating a 100red years of library service in our

[1:00:36] community. I would like to take a moment to

[1:00:38] acknowledge the contribution of my fellow Meifford Public Library board

[1:00:43] members, our library CEO, Lynn Fasnado, and our great library team. Their

[1:00:50] innovative leadership provides a public space that creates opportunities for

[1:00:54] people of all ages to learn, collaborate, and connect. Community

[1:00:59] partnerships are essential to our success and we again welcomed financial

[1:01:04] support from the friends of the Meford Library, the Rotary Club, individual

[1:01:09] donors, the Municipality of Meford Council, the province of Ontario through

[1:01:15] the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Gaming, and the Ontario Library Service.

[1:01:20] And I would like to just bring to your attention

[1:01:25] some of that sponsorship. During the budget process this year, uh

[1:01:32] there was some discussion about the library seeking sponsorship

[1:01:37] and I would like to bring to your attention that the Meford Public Library

[1:01:43] has benefited from sponsorship for many years from the Friends of the Meford

[1:01:48] Library as well as the Rotary Club of Meford. The Rotary Club sponsored

[1:01:53] equipment and licensing for the youth area in our new library, as well as for

[1:01:58] Wi-Fi routers, which is ongoing to this day.

[1:02:03] The Friends of the Meford Library have supported us since 1994.

[1:02:09] This year alone, they sponsored our library to a tune of $31,159.89.

[1:02:21] Their financial support doubles the funding available for programming.

[1:02:26] It enables author events and enhances services and resources. In our budget,

[1:02:32] we have $3,500 each for our children's programming and

[1:02:39] our adult programming. The Friends of the Mayford Library

[1:02:44] provide an additional $3,11566

[1:02:49] for the children's program and $5,278 for adult programs. And that's just a

[1:02:56] small portion of that $31,000. In essence, they double our budget for

[1:03:03] programming.

[1:03:07] We have major sponsorship. We have had within our community the support from

[1:03:12] these organizations and they greatly enhance the services and programs that

[1:03:17] would not exist without them. And I just want to take that opportunity to

[1:03:22] reinforce that that we already have sponsorship and and it is very

[1:03:27] important. We also welcome partnerships from local

[1:03:31] cultural and economic stakeholders who helped contribute to the diverse mix of

[1:03:36] programming that included life directions, the YMCA of Owen Sound,

[1:03:41] bright shores, adult learning center. We have elder law series, income tax

[1:03:47] clinics, gardener and residence series, and the ever popular story time

[1:03:52] sessions, STEM and craft events for youth and teens, author events, book

[1:03:58] clubs, puzzle exchanges, just to name a few. An average of 65 programs a month

[1:04:05] for all ages. And I would also like to just hold so that everything doesn't

[1:04:11] pull off. This is for July and August. This alone is our children's programming

[1:04:19] Monday to Sunday. And every day there are four to five programs running. And

[1:04:26] that's that's just a quick little snapshot. And again, that's just our

[1:04:30] youth programs. Our adult programs are also running concurrent to this. So our

[1:04:35] library provides a very valuable space in our community

[1:04:41] and a vast array of resources await at the library from fishing rods, room

[1:04:46] rentals to tech help. The meford public library was featured in the January 2025

[1:04:52] edition of connecting the sound magazine in an article entitled the little

[1:04:57] library that could. 100 years in Meford Public Library is a shining example of a

[1:05:05] hub of learning, care, and connection. A space where everyone can belong and it

[1:05:10] enables our community to thrive. And I would like to take a moment just to read

[1:05:14] a little excerpt. And this is from a library patron involved in our writing

[1:05:21] circle program at the library. And I'm not going to read it all. It is on I

[1:05:26] believe available if you wanted to read. But I just I love her her her story here

[1:05:33] and this is a short excerpt out of it. I now have the time in my winter chapter

[1:05:38] to explore more which brings me great joy. This Meford library is new to me

[1:05:43] and its offerings have awakened, enriched, fed and nurtured my current

[1:05:50] curiosities and I love to enter its sliding doors to again lead me to a

[1:05:55] world of topics that tickle my fancy. Such a joyous feeling

[1:06:01] likened to wanting more and more of a favorite bon bon.

[1:06:05] Hail to the library. May it remain a place of community and learning for all.

[1:06:11] And that just tickles my fancy that uh someone wrote about the library in a

[1:06:16] program at our library sponsored by our library.

[1:06:20] The coming year holds a promise of new programs and exciting events. With

[1:06:26] municipal elections this fall, there will be a change in our board. I have

[1:06:32] served on the last eight years and it has been an honor and a privilege to

[1:06:37] serve on this board and work with our amazing library team. I can't say enough

[1:06:42] at the energy, the love that they put into everything that they do there. They

[1:06:49] go above and beyond.

[1:06:52] There's been some wonderful milestones. As Lynn mentioned, we're coming up to

[1:06:56] six years on our new library, and it is just such a shining example in our

[1:07:02] community of of what we can do when we all collaborate

[1:07:06] to do the right thing. I will be sad to be leaving the board,

[1:07:12] but I hope that the many gains that we have made and all the wonderful assets

[1:07:19] continue to be used, enjoyed, and thrive in our community.

[1:07:25] we say it's a little hard. It's that's I value our library very very much and our

[1:07:30] board has been a wonderful board that has been very uh very

[1:07:38] passionate about how and what we do. I would like to thank my fellow board

[1:07:44] members, our staff and council for your investment in our

[1:07:49] library which continues to be the cornerstone of the social infrastructure

[1:07:53] in our community. I have enjoyed working and learning alongside our amazing team

[1:07:58] of staff and more board members for the last eight years and wish that the

[1:08:03] future of our library continues to be a happy and prosperous one.

[1:08:10] turn back to L.

[1:08:18] » Thank you so much, Chair Grafton, for those kind words. And Chair Grafton has

[1:08:23] worked diligently as well these last eight years to uh make the Meford Public

[1:08:28] Library the place to be. Plus, she works very hard on the ministerial library

[1:08:32] board as well.

[1:08:38] I don't know what to say after all of that.

[1:08:43] Um, going over to our report. Um, the first thing that we do is our vision and

[1:08:47] mission statement. Uh, everything we do at Meford Public Library fall under

[1:08:52] these two very important statements as found in the Meford Public Library

[1:08:56] strategic plan 2022. Plus, uh, the board's strategic plan is also in

[1:09:02] influenced by council's strategic priorities. uh helping to ensure that we

[1:09:07] have similar visions for our users um and members of our community.

[1:09:19] Next page are our revenues. I wanted to mention that the donation

[1:09:24] lines of $11,252 uh these include uh individual donations

[1:09:30] uh donate uh monies collected from donation bids bins around the located

[1:09:35] around the library and uh also from uh the me sorry the friends of the meford

[1:09:41] library uh donations. uh the friends pay for li uh library items uh usually to um

[1:09:49] they make a check out to the to the library to cover the costs. Uh this is

[1:09:53] why uh and this revenue line is only 11,252

[1:09:59] whereas on page 7 uh the we and as chair uh Grafton has mentioned that they

[1:10:05] donated over $31,000 of items to the library in 2025. And the reason this

[1:10:10] donation line is uh smaller is because those are the ones that uh we have

[1:10:15] purchased as staff and the friends have reimbursed us. So uh fees and charges of

[1:10:20] $78.99. These include printing, faxing, scanning, proctoring fees, uh late fees,

[1:10:27] uh lost and damaged items and that type of uh information. Uh interl loan

[1:10:33] postage rebate. uh we get an annual rebate from the Ontario Library Service

[1:10:38] for postage uh to ship books to uh within to other libraries within the

[1:10:42] province. And in 2025 we shipped out 772 books to other libraries and we received

[1:10:50] for our patrons who um who uh looked for books within the system 787

[1:10:56] u books came in. uh the programming revenues of 1625. These are revenues

[1:11:01] generated to cover costs of our programming um that are not covered

[1:11:06] either through our budget or through the friends of the ME for library

[1:11:10] sponsorship. Uh room rentals uh these are fees collected for room bookings uh

[1:11:15] for businesses and for-profit organizations. Uh public library

[1:11:20] operating grant of 23935 uh which has not changed in over 30

[1:11:26] years. that is uh comes to us every year from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture

[1:11:30] and Gaming, which is the the uh ministry responsible for Ontario Public

[1:11:34] Libraries. And I just wanted to also mention that the special events uh the

[1:11:40] 11,000 plus that we uh were from the Allen

[1:11:44] Doyle event of last October, it was a sellout, so it uh created uh some good

[1:11:49] revenues for the Meford Library. And we received uh from the Ministry of

[1:11:53] Tourism, Culture, and Gaming in 2025 the uh summer experience uh opportunities

[1:11:59] grant for our summer student last summer.

[1:12:07] Here we go. Um expenses. We've uh any expenses that have uh the FOM supported

[1:12:14] brackets uh next to it indicates that the FOML um have contributed

[1:12:19] [clears throat] items in this category of expenses.

[1:12:22] Uh advertising uh these are expenses such as ads and any MPL logo uh items

[1:12:29] that we have such as tote bags and thank you cards and that kind of thing. Um

[1:12:33] that was 500 uh sorry that was $631 last year. Uh association fees are for

[1:12:41] Ontario Library um association memberships for both board and staff. Uh

[1:12:46] these memberships are important because they uh give us a heck of a discount on

[1:12:50] our uh um on our uh courses that we take through the OA to improve our library

[1:12:56] services. We also um spend money on the Ontario Municipal Public Library

[1:13:02] Organization and the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries um and also

[1:13:06] something called access copyright and that is a license to enable public

[1:13:11] libraries to uh have the public and staff uh photocopy uh various items with

[1:13:17] that uh uh that we do as a service. Uh books is our capital item. We spent

[1:13:24] last year $36,417. Um, and that's just not for books.

[1:13:29] That's also for movies and also uh barcodes for items, any circulation bags

[1:13:34] to uh to enable uh something to circulate and book repair items, cover

[1:13:40] jackets, that kind of thing. Um, the clothing is for staff logo clothing, PPE

[1:13:46] like silicon gloves and also sun sunscreen, which is very important for

[1:13:50] uh staff to wear when we go on um outreach. uh outside are e resources.

[1:13:55] They're heavily sponsored by the Ontario Library Service. Uh these include Libby,

[1:14:00] Ancestry, Mango, World Book, Novelist. Um and uh we also spend on our own and

[1:14:06] we have non-sponsored um e- resources called Biblio and Hoopla. Those are

[1:14:11] downloading movie and book services. And uh we pay that. We don't have a u the

[1:14:18] opportunity for a uh discount in those but these are all renewed annually as

[1:14:23] well and our events uh was our signature author event uh for Alan Doyle which was

[1:14:29] sponsored um the booking at the hall was sponsored by the friends of the meford

[1:14:33] library uh facilities maintenance this is the amount spent by our by our

[1:14:38] manager to maintain the building hydro heat water cleaning etc and um the cost

[1:14:43] of the debenture for the new library building is also included in that

[1:14:47] amount. Uh information technology uh large budgeted by our IT department uh

[1:14:54] this includes Wi-Fi, all computers, software um that runs them, public and

[1:14:59] staff networks, photocopy machines, phones, internet backups, email, etc. We

[1:15:05] could not uh function uh without our IT uh people. So, thank you to Mark Ian and

[1:15:10] his team. uh the library computer hardware software line. Uh that's uh

[1:15:15] staff also purchase our own hardware soft software that run outside of the IT

[1:15:19] department. Uh these are things such as um our inter our integrated library

[1:15:24] system Koha. Uh our the catalog book uh carousel that's on our um catalog

[1:15:31] librarian which runs our public access computers. uh all the RFID licenses that

[1:15:36] run our alarm system and our inventory system, our Zoom Chromebook software,

[1:15:40] and everything's renewed annually as well. That's why you'll see it every

[1:15:43] year uh on on the budget estimates. Uh other expenses, they include staff

[1:15:48] items. Uh uh uh Friends of Meford Library purchased uh the 2500 U

[1:15:54] membership cards from that line last year. They also uh bought Nintendo games

[1:16:00] for us in 2025. These games are quite expensive. So, we um we look at them to

[1:16:06] help us uh keep that uh inventory fresh. Uh we also purchased a square terminal.

[1:16:11] Thank goodness, now we have debit at the library. Uh we also uh bought a new

[1:16:16] collar printer um and a summer student desk for our summer student in our staff

[1:16:21] office, which we never had, and we bought those from individual uh

[1:16:25] donations in 2025. uh programming out of the 7,000 budgeted

[1:16:30] yearly for all programming. This is uh heavily sponsored by the friends of the

[1:16:34] Meford Library and we couldn't offer the same quality and quantity of programming

[1:16:39] without their support. Um and the expenses also include the Owens Sound

[1:16:44] and North Union Public Library annual cost for library services which was a

[1:16:48] little over I think 154 last year 158476 sorry about that. And um of course the

[1:16:56] largest expense would be the salaries and benefits.

[1:17:05] Um as chair Grafton had mentioned about the uh friends of the meford library

[1:17:09] this year in the report we added uh an extra page uh just uh to highlight uh

[1:17:14] everything that the friends of the meford library have bought for us. uh

[1:17:18] because uh just looking at numbers on a spreadsheet doesn't really give you the

[1:17:21] the true uh idea of what they do for us. And in fact, the if you go down to the

[1:17:26] netshed, they've got this uh page highlighted uh uh in in the uh netshed

[1:17:31] for the public to see where the money that they um that they buy used

[1:17:36] generally used books for goes to within the the year. Uh they buy hard copy

[1:17:41] newspapers, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Meford Independent. These are read

[1:17:45] daily and our beautiful living room area of the library. Uh this old school form

[1:17:49] of information is still going strong and and it's a welcomed addition to

[1:17:54] ourformational resources. If we uh forget to pick up the newspapers, uh we

[1:17:59] will have a patron with five minutes asking where they are. So we have to

[1:18:02] pick them up at Rexel. They come in through there. Uh the TD summer reading

[1:18:06] program, it gets a great boost by the friends supplying uh fantastic prizes

[1:18:10] for participants. Uh it's great to read, but it's uh it's uh but a chance to win

[1:18:15] a great prize makes it even better, especially when you're young. Um uh

[1:18:20] Ontario Public Library Week also gets a boost for prizes supplied by the Friends

[1:18:24] of the Meford Library. Uh they purchased oversized bookends for our junior

[1:18:29] picture books back in 2025. Um these are the largest items in the library.

[1:18:34] They're almost larger than most reference books. Uh and the most popular

[1:18:38] item within the junior collection. Uh so thanks to the FL they now uh sit neat

[1:18:44] and tidy on the shelves. They were falling over and it was uh not uh not a

[1:18:49] pretty sight sometimes. So now they're all neat and tidy. Uh inventory one

[1:18:53] really helps um us find uh lost books within the library and also helps with

[1:18:58] our inventory extremely um it works with our libraries

[1:19:03] RFID tag system. Uh video games are expensive. the friends help keep this

[1:19:08] collection fresh and um and as mentioned before the friends have sp sponsored our

[1:19:14] membership cards since we first automated in 2005 I believe uh so we're

[1:19:20] now on our third uh library system um which houses our uh the inventory of our

[1:19:26] books and our patrons database and the friends have provided cards for this

[1:19:30] every step of the way. So, we're very they're they're very expensive and we

[1:19:34] really appreciate that they um that they help us out in this fashion. Uh and as

[1:19:39] mentioned by Chair Grafton, they've also sponsored five of our Wi-Fi hotspots

[1:19:43] which uh are flying off the shelves especially this summer. We've got

[1:19:47] campers coming in, people at Memorial Park. We've got people up in cottages

[1:19:51] for the summer. So they uh uh that and the Ontario parking passes uh are

[1:19:56] [clears throat] and the um parking passes are hot hot ticket items in the

[1:20:00] in the summertime. Uh we go this is my favorite page statistics. This is Neford

[1:20:08] by the numbers. These statistics will provide a snapshot of the 2025 usage

[1:20:13] here at Neford Public Library. Um 2025 saw almost 84,000 visitors through our

[1:20:20] doors. Uh this equates to about when you think about it 84,000 questions from

[1:20:26] something as simple as where are the washrooms to how do you print? Can I

[1:20:31] have a book recommendation? And the staff do a tremendous job in helping to

[1:20:36] provide this top-notch service. You never know what you're going to get when

[1:20:39] they come in the door, but we hate to say no, so we do love to to help out any

[1:20:44] way that we can. Uh we registered 804 new patrons in 2025.

[1:20:51] uh with staff giving most a tour of the building and a warm welcome. Uh almost

[1:20:56] 73,000 materials checked out uh from a collection the size of 31,769

[1:21:03] items. Uh the replacement value uh of items circulated was over $1.3 million.

[1:21:10] So a yearly budget of 40,000 uh returns over uh 1.3 million in usage. Uh so this

[1:21:17] dollar value does not include um the free meeting room spaces uh the free or

[1:21:23] lowcost 789 programs offered and attended by almost 12,000 users and most

[1:21:30] importantly uh the feeling of being in a bright modern beautiful facility that

[1:21:36] values diversity, inclusion, confidentiality and equality has no

[1:21:41] price tag in my opinion. That is priceless.

[1:21:45] Uh MPL is proud to supply up-to-date technology for its users. Thanks in part

[1:21:50] to the municipal IT department who worked uh diligent diligently to keep

[1:21:54] both the public and the staff networks running. Uh we've got two systems so

[1:21:59] takes a lot of uh a lot of maintenance. Uh the 15,610

[1:22:04] computer users reap these benefits. uh volunteers run the tech center and

[1:22:09] helped 339 people in 2025 with tech questions and

[1:22:14] we thank our dedicated volunteers. Uh this number doesn't include the mirage

[1:22:19] of technology questions posed to staff on a daily and almost hourly basis. Uh

[1:22:25] the e library which includes more than e uh it includes more than ebooks. Uh our

[1:22:29] e library contains uh movies, magazines, learning and language courses. uh saw

[1:22:35] almost 40,000 downloads in 2025. Uh and the online catalog with over 44,000

[1:22:42] searches.

[1:22:47] Uh this is a fun page, most circulated items in 2025. This is just a sample of

[1:22:52] the of the popular titles that circulated then. Uh even with the many

[1:22:56] different movie streaming services available to folks now uh now these

[1:23:00] days, our movie discs are still going strong in circulation. I know some of

[1:23:04] the local libraries are taking them out of the collection because they're not

[1:23:07] circulating, but uh I think uh if we did that right now, it wouldn't uh wouldn't

[1:23:13] benefit our users. They're they're very very popular. The old discs still

[1:23:17] around. Uh membership uh who makes up our membership. Um well, I've added uh

[1:23:24] we've added the footnote explaining uh how we actually calculate the active

[1:23:29] card holders. I know it's been a question um uh that many libraries we

[1:23:34] want the ministry wants to make sure that we we tally every library tallies

[1:23:38] their active card holders the same way. So an active membership is a member with

[1:23:43] an unexpired card within the last two years. So that's how we uh do our active

[1:23:48] memberships and that's how we reported to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and

[1:23:52] Gaming every year. So it's not based uh on if they check a

[1:23:56] book out. uh this is based on the expiry date because pe people use their cards

[1:24:01] for many reasons. Uh that doesn't necessarily give us a statistic to

[1:24:06] measure. Uh for example, if they use their card for a meeting space or if

[1:24:09] they tend a program uh these are counted in number only not end user. So, you

[1:24:14] know, we uh we take uh statistics of how many bookings were in the uh rooms rooms

[1:24:19] per month, but we don't exactly pinpoint who who does what um for confidentiality

[1:24:24] and and also because we only wanted a grand total anyway. Uh using u people

[1:24:29] that use their card to access any e- resource such as Ancestry, Libby,

[1:24:33] Hoopla, uh they don't get re registered individually as well. They get

[1:24:36] registered um just as a lump sum number at the end of the month. Excuse me. Uh

[1:24:42] from the membership uh chart, you can see that uh card holders from the Blue

[1:24:46] Mountains and Grey Highlands enjoy reciprocal card agreements um with us

[1:24:51] and our our um members can go and get free cards over at uh Grey Highlands and

[1:24:56] Blue Mountains libraries as well. And non non-residents as well that live

[1:25:01] outside these zones also get a free membership at Chifford Public Library.

[1:25:05] We don't charge uh uh non-resident fees uh with the 5,235

[1:25:12] uh uh municipal municipality of meford residents having an active card in 2025.

[1:25:19] Uh this indicates based on the population data um the last census uh

[1:25:24] that almost 47% of residents hold an active card. Um this just this indicates

[1:25:30] a large commitment to the Meford Public Library by our community and we we are

[1:25:35] most grateful.

[1:25:38] Uh here we have uh three pillars of service are very important to uh the

[1:25:44] Meford Public Library. That's engagement, innovation, and

[1:25:47] collaboration. Uh in 2025, uh Meford Public Library embrace em embraced

[1:25:53] diversity and inclusion with their rainbow book club and its spin-off

[1:25:56] Rainbow Crafts. Uh selected library staff and board trustee Elgen Peekchuk

[1:26:01] presented a seminar on inclusion and safe uh library spaces and rural

[1:26:06] libraries at the OA super conference in January 2025. So that started the year

[1:26:11] off on a great note. Um, health and safety is very important to the library

[1:26:16] and the municipality of Meford as a whole. Uh, the library thanks the

[1:26:20] municipality uh for the training opportunities and first aid uh joint

[1:26:24] health and safety training uh the the new composition of the joint health and

[1:26:29] safety um program. It's all uh points to a real commitment in health and safety.

[1:26:34] Our library board uh is responsible for everybody in according to our safety and

[1:26:39] security and library policy are also extremely are are responsible for

[1:26:44] everyone in the library as well. So they also thank the municipality for their uh

[1:26:48] health and safety commitment as well. uh staff training very important uh in

[1:26:54] order to keep staff aware of trends in books and technology, AI, intellectual

[1:26:59] freedom um everything and training is important

[1:27:03] on how we deal with unruly patrons and other social issues which are becoming

[1:27:08] all too common in a lot of public libraries uh such as homelessness,

[1:27:12] addiction. Uh so we're training frontline staff to how to help in these

[1:27:17] uh in these uh unfortunate condition conditions that can happen. Uh here we

[1:27:23] go. Oh, sorry. Next pillar of service is uh innovation.

[1:27:31] Uh it is crucial that the library um keeps relevant in its community with

[1:27:36] within innovation. Innovation is what uh patrons want in order to access

[1:27:40] up-to-date items and to access quality programming uh to keep them learning on

[1:27:45] how to use the latest technology, how to use e- reser resources and how to make

[1:27:49] the most of of their library membership. Technology is changing quickly and the

[1:27:54] library needs to be ready with trained staff who can shift services and keep

[1:27:58] ahead of this fast-paced technology based world. innovation is necessary

[1:28:04] necessary so that staff can use the most recent technology in order to serve the

[1:28:08] public. Uh we are also active on our social media and our newsletter. We have

[1:28:13] almost 4,000 um subscribers to our newsletter that goes out monthly. So

[1:28:17] that's a real commitment uh and it's fantastic uh u community support and uh

[1:28:24] so thank you. Uh collaboration

[1:28:31] that takes two pages because the uh we would um collaboration and partnerships

[1:28:36] is what makes the tr uh the library truly public. Partnerships contribute to

[1:28:40] learning services our inventory items. Um, it can make a visit to the library

[1:28:46] fun, interesting, create social opportunities for others. Uh, the list

[1:28:51] is endless on our collaboration pages. We collaborate with our municipality,

[1:28:55] social services, uh, uh, legal firms, the list goes on.

[1:29:00] It's just, uh, an amazing collaboration within our community and, uh, we reach

[1:29:05] out to, um, people to partnership and they reach out to us. So I think we've

[1:29:08] got trust within the community uh that so that uh these social services um and

[1:29:15] other other um partners reach out to us and they know that they can hold their

[1:29:21] uh their programs in a in a secure confidential space. Um and there are

[1:29:26] also many economic benefits to our community from our library program

[1:29:31] programming as most items and supplies for programming we purchase within the

[1:29:35] community.

[1:29:39] No,

[1:29:45] no, I just wanted to mention the library board. I know we're we'll be getting a

[1:29:49] council will appoint a new a new board at the end of this year. So, a shout out

[1:29:53] to um Kim Grafton, our chair, uh Lloyd Moore, our vice chair, Frank Ampage,

[1:30:00] trustee, Elegant Pekjack, trustee, Marne Wraith, trustee, counselors, uh Brandon

[1:30:06] Fer, and counselors Hardy Greenfield, our council reps on board, uh on the

[1:30:12] board. Uh, shout out to our staff. Uh, Lori Pierce, children and youth

[1:30:16] coordinator. Amy Selei, community outreach coordinator. Shantel Highfield,

[1:30:21] technical services coordinator. Ashley Trestler, library specialist in

[1:30:26] circulation and interl loans. Uh, Samantha Macintosh, library assistant,

[1:30:31] Rosemary Palmer, library assistant, Kim Bley, public services clerk, and our

[1:30:36] library summer student, Claire. Every year it changes and um it's

[1:30:42] we uh we enjoy having our summer students so much and they are pivotal in

[1:30:47] our TD summer reading program. But I would also like to ones that's not on

[1:30:52] this list are our valued volunteers. Uh we we treat our volunteers as staff and

[1:30:58] valuable team members. So they should uh they are included in this list as well.

[1:31:06] uh reviewing the year and planning the future. Uh in closing, um I want to uh

[1:31:12] I've thanked all our stakeholders. There's just so many. That's why my uh

[1:31:16] it's two pages long. My my thank you. Uh I talk about uh in my uh report I talk

[1:31:22] about the challenges of AI and intellectual freedom. That is something

[1:31:25] not going away. Uh AI affects can affects books uh our e- resources. So

[1:31:31] it's something that we really um have to stay on top of. Uh we certainly don't

[1:31:35] want um an algorithm telling us what books we need to buy for our our our

[1:31:42] database. We need to have people with passion and heart to um to create items

[1:31:48] for the library. Uh we are looking forward to our 100th

[1:31:52] anniversary celebrations this year and another signature author event which has

[1:31:57] which we've just booked on November 9th. I'm not going to tell you who it is yet.

[1:32:02] Uh and and we are also looking forward to working with a new council and a new

[1:32:07] library board at the end of this year.

[1:32:17] Here's our contact us page. Uh, I want to thank you, council,

[1:32:24] uh, your worship, deputy mayor, municipal colleagues, uh, chair Grafton,

[1:32:29] the Meford Public Library board council reps, uh, Greenfield and Forer, uh, and

[1:32:35] the Meford Public Library staff. uh they are a dedicated team who are committed

[1:32:41] to me for public library both past, present and future and a team that will

[1:32:46] help ensure that we remain the community hub and the place to be. Um but I thank

[1:32:51] most of all the public users of the Mford Public Library. Um by coming

[1:32:55] through our doors, providing feedback, positive or negative, we learn from

[1:33:01] everything. uh taking out a membership, donating funds, and more puts the public

[1:33:06] into your Meford Public Library. Thank you for taking the time today to listen

[1:33:11] to Chair Grafton and I describe the beautiful community hub called the

[1:33:14] Meford Public Library, and we look forward to your next visit. Thank you so

[1:33:20] much. >> Thank you, Lynn. Does anyone have any

[1:33:23] questions or comments for Lynn, Deputy Mayor?

[1:33:28] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And first of all, and I just want to say a huge thank you

[1:33:32] for everything that the library provides to this community. It's amazing. I often

[1:33:36] take advantage of the meeting spaces and I don't know what I'd do without them.

[1:33:40] But a very special note of appreciation to Chair Grafton and thank you for your

[1:33:45] intense passionate commitment to the library over these past years and I know

[1:33:48] you'll be no stranger going forward. Um I just wanted to ask one question

[1:33:53] though, Lynn. You mentioned the uh Wi-Fi routers um and how often they are looked

[1:33:59] out. Do you actually have enough of those at this point?

[1:34:03] » Uh I was just discussing that with our IT uh department actually last week. Uh

[1:34:08] I think they're moving over to another company. So they've already replaced

[1:34:13] some of the SIM cards in them because they they've been going strong for 5

[1:34:17] years now, almost six years. So, we may I might investigate investigate buying a

[1:34:23] few more units as well because there are two actually that uh actually went out

[1:34:28] and never came back unfortunately. So, we have um from the we started with 11

[1:34:34] and we have actually nine that are are um being circulated.

[1:34:40] » And if I may, Mr. Mayor, a followup. Thank you for that, Lynn. And just uh

[1:34:44] noting that perhaps it's something the Rotary Club would just like to know

[1:34:48] about uh that you might be interested in some additional routers. And and just

[1:34:52] one last thing, um you mentioned the volunteers, but I just have to uh

[1:34:56] express gratitude for the gardeners who do an incredible job, those girls out

[1:35:01] there every morning and the watering and the weeding and and I tell them every

[1:35:05] year the gardens look better and better. So a special shout out to them.

[1:35:09] » Absolutely. Thank you. Anyone else wish to make a comment? Uh then thank you

[1:35:15] again so much. Very comprehensive and uh uh straight up for the library for sure.

[1:35:21] » Thank you so much. >> Under community services um the

[1:35:25] recommendation is Oh, we have to vote to accept this for uh for it's okay but we

[1:35:30] we want to accept this for information purposes.

[1:35:34] Uh all in favor? Uh any opposed?

[1:35:40] I'm going to assume that councelor Andis is very in favor of the library here.

[1:35:46] » Thank you your worship. Just for clarity, we will not be counting his

[1:35:49] vote in this as he did not. >> Okay. So then it is unanimous among

[1:35:53] those of us who are in the horseshoe. Um so under uh community services uh the

[1:36:00] recommendation is that uh uh committee of the whole recommend council of the

[1:36:05] municipality of meford enact a bylaw to repeal and replace schedule Q of the

[1:36:10] 2026 fees and charges bylaw and I'll call on director uh carpet to uh

[1:36:17] yes mover and second. Thank you again. Um so uh a mover

[1:36:22] councelor for a seconder councelor Bell all in favor don't need to do that. Okay

[1:36:28] questions or uh and I think we should hear from director Carver here.

[1:36:35] » Thank you your worship and I can be relatively quick with this one. Uh this

[1:36:39] is another kind of housekeeping item that I'm bringing to council's

[1:36:42] attention. Um, we require the 2026 fees and charges schedule Q, uh, to be

[1:36:49] updated in order for us to issue our renewals for the arena advertising

[1:36:54] program. Uh, the amount that was included in the original fees and

[1:36:58] charges bylaw was incorrect for this year. And had we have issued our

[1:37:03] renewals at that rate, we would result in a approximate loss of $7,500 to

[1:37:08] $8,000 uh, due to this. So the original bylaw

[1:37:13] included kind of a blanket fee whereas a system that has been in place for

[1:37:17] approximately 5 years now actually has a tiered pricing system so that the more

[1:37:22] prime locations particularly behind the home and the players or home players and

[1:37:26] away players bench are uh 4003 or $400 and $350 and the end boards are cheaper

[1:37:34] than that but they are all still significantly higher than what was

[1:37:37] included in the bylaw. So we felt it appropriate to bring this back to get

[1:37:41] this rectified so that we can issue the renewal letters for this upcoming season

[1:37:46] and in order to maintain consistency from year to year. So last year we

[1:37:50] charged the higher rates if we brought it back down to the amount in the bylaw.

[1:37:53] This year we would lose the money but then also have um some negative flicity

[1:37:58] next year when we turn around and put that put it back up to the proper rate.

[1:38:01] So we thought we'd bring this to council right now.

[1:38:04] » Any questions for Brady? You ready to vote? Well, go ahead,

[1:38:08] councelor Bell. >> Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Thanks for the

[1:38:13] report. So, you have mentioned uh verbally that you want to have this in

[1:38:19] place before you start asking personnel that wish to advertise.

[1:38:26] So, no one has paid $150 at this point. when they see what you're going to

[1:38:31] charge them, should council do this this afternoon, they will be told these

[1:38:37] prices on the right hand column. To councelor Belu, your worship, yes, we

[1:38:43] have not issued our renewals for the 2026 2027 season. Um, if council

[1:38:48] approves the report today, the bylaw will come back in two weeks and then

[1:38:52] those renewal letters will go out that week.

[1:38:58] Okay, seeing no more questions, I'm going to call the uh item. All in favor?

[1:39:03] Any opposed? Though that is carried unanimously.

[1:39:08] Um under corporate services the recommendation is that the committee of

[1:39:11] the whole recommend council of the municipality of meford approve uh one

[1:39:16] option three as per the staff report and two establishing a capital budget of

[1:39:21] $47,500 to be funded by the information

[1:39:25] technology reserve fund. I'm going to ask director Dinsmore to uh speak to

[1:39:30] this one. I'll move her in a second. Let's do that right away. Um, Deputy

[1:39:34] Mayor and Councelor Yurig. All in favor? No. Okay. Uh, please go

[1:39:41] ahead. Uh, thank you, your worship. So, I'll

[1:39:44] just quickly, excuse me, [clears throat] run through the three options that staff

[1:39:48] have put in front of council for their consideration with option three being

[1:39:51] the one currently recommended by staff. So, under option one, it would be the

[1:39:55] basic level of investment that would be required to allow council to participate

[1:40:00] remotely. Um, so it it would allow for hybrid participation by council members.

[1:40:05] In addition, there would be some upgrades made when other presenters are

[1:40:09] making presentations to council. So right now you can either see what

[1:40:12] they're presenting or the person. You'd be able to see both. Um, making it a

[1:40:16] little bit more interactive. Option two.

[1:40:21] And each one as I go through each one of these options, what comes in option one

[1:40:24] you get if you go with option two. What comes in options one and two you get

[1:40:28] when you go to option three. So they build off of each other.

[1:40:31] Uh option two looks to at looks to improve the overall audio quality within

[1:40:36] council chambers and uh more specifically for those who are

[1:40:39] participating online and for those who are viewing council online. And again,

[1:40:43] it allows for better um better presentations and better content um

[1:40:50] viewing for for those that are participating in the council meeting.

[1:40:53] And then option three, which is the highest AV investment and the one again

[1:40:57] that staff are recommending at this time. Uh the the main part of this one

[1:41:01] is it improves the backup storage of all recorded meetings which um is very

[1:41:05] important because as everybody's aware these are uh permanent records of the

[1:41:10] municipality. Uh it also allows for a little bit better public viewing while

[1:41:16] um the public is in this room. some of the TVs would be made a little bit

[1:41:19] larger, would be angled out so that um it's a little bit easier for every for

[1:41:24] everybody here to to see what's going on and be able to view presentations that

[1:41:28] are being made by staff and uh and other other third parties. So, with that, I

[1:41:33] will uh I'm available for any questions. >> Councelor Yuri,

[1:41:39] » thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Sam. It' be inappropriate for me to go

[1:41:43] over and hug you. So, um I'll just say thank you very much for the report and

[1:41:48] for the elacrity that it came in. Uh I will wholeheartedly uh recommend we

[1:41:53] proceed with option C3 as recommended and uh thank you for the very quick work

[1:41:59] on this because I know we've asked for for a long time but we did sort of ask

[1:42:03] for this to come or I asked for this to come back quickly and I appreciate that.

[1:42:08] » Councelor Ford. Uh thank you Mr. Mayor. It's for you.

[1:42:13] Um, I definitely agree that some upgrades do need to be done. However, I

[1:42:17] just find that we're being asked to spend money without seeing equipment

[1:42:22] costs or what these operating costs include. Like I find it's way too high

[1:42:26] level. Um, I'd really like to see more detail to see what we're actually

[1:42:30] spending money on. Um, it's also not very clear. You know, you get everything

[1:42:35] from option one to option two to option three, but like what is that? So, I just

[1:42:39] find that I'm not comfortable voting not knowing what exact products or equipment

[1:42:45] we're voting for and the reasons behind it. I also don't have any information

[1:42:50] with regards to what type of um service agreements that might be with any of

[1:42:55] this hardware. If there's software and there's technology, there might be some

[1:42:59] subscription fees. Um, I also don't know who this consultant was. Is this the

[1:43:04] individual that's selling us this product or how are we going about buying

[1:43:08] this product and who are we buying it from? I just find there's a lot of

[1:43:11] information that I'm just not comfortable moving forward without that.

[1:43:14] So maybe you can help me with that, but I I would have loved to see a more

[1:43:18] detailed list of the equipment and the services like just more specific to see

[1:43:22] what that money actually where that's coming from. Thank you.

[1:43:28] » Thank you. And through you. So, as staff went through this, we actually went

[1:43:32] through our purchasing policy to ensure that we were getting quotes correctly.

[1:43:35] Um, I believe only one bid was received on this work. The reason that I've left

[1:43:39] it high level is we do start to get into the area of proprietary information.

[1:43:43] We're not specifically allowed to say for exact types of things that um how

[1:43:50] much individuals are charging us. Um, that's why when we put large tenders in

[1:43:56] front of council, we leave it as one number. Um, because to go into much more

[1:43:59] detail is actually giving out confidential information. Uh, I'm happy

[1:44:04] to bring back a little bit more of a breakdown if that's what council would

[1:44:07] like to see. Um, we could also look at going into close session to to walk

[1:44:11] through exactly what would be offered by the consultant.

[1:44:19] » Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh first of all,

[1:44:22] I'd like to rename this the councelor URIG report because this has been uh on

[1:44:27] Rob's mind for a long time. So I appreciate seeing this in front of us

[1:44:30] today. Um in my mind in relation to the breakdown that councelor Ford has

[1:44:35] requested and I appreciate uh your desire to do that, but I look at this as

[1:44:40] being operations and kind of understanding the role of council and

[1:44:45] governance and the role of staff in executing the desires of council. If we

[1:44:50] look back at our budgeting process and you could pick anything, but if we look

[1:44:55] at the new financial software for example, um you know, we didn't see that

[1:45:00] level of information. So, I just think it's it's interesting and a good

[1:45:06] opportunity for us to kind of explore, you know, what's what's appropriate for

[1:45:10] us to see and what is, you know, completely operations for staff. So,

[1:45:15] some more information on that might be uh good to have. Uh but Sam, my question

[1:45:19] for you. Um we talk about council on this report. So just review with us

[1:45:24] again in terms of committees, whatever the committees look like in the next

[1:45:28] term. Um will this uh upgrade be available for uh committee meetings as

[1:45:33] well as council? >> Uh through uh thank you through you, Mr.

[1:45:38] Mayor. So because the any committee meeting that would happen in this room,

[1:45:41] all of this technology would be available for those committee meetings.

[1:45:45] We would have to ensure that it's through the procedural bylaw that all of

[1:45:48] it is allowed. But yes, anything that would happen in this room could take

[1:45:52] full advantage of this new equipment. >> Going to call the question. All in favor

[1:45:59] any sorry just can we start again here? I don't

[1:46:04] know if you heard I'm I'm calling a question. All in favor of accepting the

[1:46:07] report. So we have one, two, three, four, five,

[1:46:13] six in favor. Those opposed? Okay, one opposed. And I declare the

[1:46:19] motion carried. Um the next recommendation is uh from uh development

[1:46:26] services. Um it's that committee of the whole recommend council of the

[1:46:30] municipality of meford one direct staff to initiate a request for

[1:46:34] pre-qualification RFPQ process for the three surplus

[1:46:39] residential parcels identified and two endorse exploration of a tiny home

[1:46:44] community model subject to feas may be bigger pardon

[1:46:48] » thank you we just uh missed D under corporate services the 2027 to 2031

[1:46:54] capital facility capital program Okay. Uh do you want me to finish this and go

[1:46:59] back to that or don't? Okay. We'll start over here. The recommendation is uh and

[1:47:04] this is uh from um uh corporate services that committee of the whole recommend

[1:47:09] council of the municipality of meford approve option X which we will determine

[1:47:14] as we move forward. uh as outlined in report uh uh corporate services uh 2027

[1:47:22] to 2031 and that is a facilities capital program and again I'm going to turn it

[1:47:28] over to director Dinsmore. Sorry. Yes, let's get a mover and seconder to have

[1:47:33] it on the table. Um it's moved by councelor for seconded by

[1:47:39] sorry thank you councelis. Um, and let's proceed.

[1:47:46] » Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'll just quickly explain why why I wrote the

[1:47:50] recommendation the way I wrote it and didn't staff haven't actually made a

[1:47:54] recommendation in this case. And we're looking for direction from from council

[1:47:57] on that part. At this point, staff didn't feel it was within our

[1:48:02] responsibility or within our right to make a recommendation. Um we're looking

[1:48:06] for guidance and a um we're looking for guidance from council on how we go about

[1:48:11] putting together the 2027 to 2031 capital budget for the five specific

[1:48:17] facilities mentioned in this in this report. I just want to quickly highlight

[1:48:20] those facilities. Um they're the administrative offices at 21 and 15

[1:48:24] trail the blue dolphin pool the council chambers. So just this building we're

[1:48:29] not including the uh patrol a and then the meford stent community center and

[1:48:34] arrange. So this report is specifically focused on those five five facilities

[1:48:39] that are currently owned and operated by the municipality. Uh I just want to

[1:48:43] quickly outline chart one. Um chart one gives some gives some basic information

[1:48:47] about the facilities, what year it was constructed, what a replacement value is

[1:48:52] in 2024 and what their current facility condition index is. And then tied to

[1:48:56] that would be what condition that asset is considered to be in. So when you look

[1:49:00] at it, the the the newest facility is the one we're sitting in right now,

[1:49:04] which is still over uh over 30 years old. So some of these facilities are are

[1:49:09] quite old, 15 Trobridge being a bit of an outlier at, you know, coming up to

[1:49:13] 100 years old.

[1:49:17] Staff have put together two options for council's consideration today. And and

[1:49:21] what we're looking for is to direct us on how to build the capital budget. So

[1:49:25] we're not specifically asking for council to approve $12.6 6 million

[1:49:29] today. But what we're doing is looking to see if you would like to see that

[1:49:33] type of information and those type of capital projects put into the 2027 to

[1:49:37] 2031 capital program.

[1:49:42] So within the the facility condition assessments done on those five

[1:49:45] facilities, the 12.6 million was identified of work that needs to be done

[1:49:50] over the next 3 to 5 years. The main pieces of that of that amount are roof

[1:49:57] replacements and parking lots. They're rather expensive. Um, and a lot of these

[1:50:01] facilities, specifically specifically the arena, are getting to that age where

[1:50:06] some significant dollars are going to be needed to invested into that facility to

[1:50:10] get it to its full useful life of roughly 80 years for a facility. So, so

[1:50:15] option one is looking at just continue to budget the projects as they need to

[1:50:19] be done at the price that they need to be done at. Um, some pros to this

[1:50:23] approach would be it's a lower capital cost than option two and it maintains

[1:50:27] the level of service that council has set with minimal impact on the operating

[1:50:32] budget. Uh, some of the cons that we've outlined

[1:50:35] is after the 12.6 million, there still will be a 55year-old arena and a

[1:50:40] 66-year-old outdoor pool. Uh, the capital works will be like for like with

[1:50:46] no improvements to the facility. So, as an example, the dressing rooms at the

[1:50:50] arena are a bit of a a cause for concern due to their size. Investing this type

[1:50:55] of money won't make those dressing rooms bigger, won't make that facility more

[1:51:00] user friendly. It will basically operate the same way it does today. Um, the

[1:51:05] investment will not greatly increase the operating efficiencies of those

[1:51:08] facilities. So, we would continue to see the similar hydro bills, natural gas

[1:51:13] bills, things like that. and we would continue to operize in a decentralized

[1:51:17] administration. So right now there is administration at at least four

[1:51:21] facilities throughout the municipality.

[1:51:26] Option two would be to look at explore multi-use facility.

[1:51:30] So in the report I specifically talked about bucketing everything together

[1:51:34] administration and recreation. going through a study like this, it may

[1:51:39] make more sense that administration is kept separately. Maybe here out to this

[1:51:44] piece of property and the recreations are bucketed together. Um, or maybe it

[1:51:49] does make the most sense that everything's put into one central

[1:51:52] facility. We can see throughout kind of our neighboring municipalities when you

[1:51:57] go to Sagen Shores, the arena, the pool, and the administration facilities are

[1:52:02] together. Um when we go somewhere like Stainer, you've see you can see the

[1:52:05] library is with the arena. So there's lots of different examples of what other

[1:52:09] municipalities have done

[1:52:14] within the within this recommendation. Staff would be looking at budgeting

[1:52:17] about $200,000 to complete this assessment. This assessment would

[1:52:21] include a lot of public and council outreach to gather what the community

[1:52:25] wants and what the community needs. Um a concept development. So, you know, a

[1:52:30] high level concept of what potentially could be built, what type of amenities

[1:52:35] the building would include, and whether it would be, you know, one or two

[1:52:38] facilities. And then a a you know, a central part

[1:52:42] would be a funding strategy. How are we going to pay for for a facility of this

[1:52:46] size? Um looking at possible grant opportunities, looking at a potential

[1:52:51] partnerships with, you know, the YMCA. We have a partnership with them with the

[1:52:54] Blue Dolphin uh pool right now. also looking potentially at the Department of

[1:52:58] National Defense and whether there would be any any appetite for a partnership

[1:53:02] there. So, this study would would dig into those a lot more to see if there

[1:53:07] was possibilities there. Um, some pros of this approach would be,

[1:53:12] you know, your consolidation of your three administration hubs into one

[1:53:15] administration center. Um, increased uh energy efficiencies. We would be looking

[1:53:20] at, you know, making these buildings as close to net zero as possible. uh a

[1:53:24] potential for additional services to be offered to the public including walking

[1:53:28] track, multisport gymnasium, and exercise center. We would also be

[1:53:32] potentially looking at bringing the pool indoors. Then it can be used all year

[1:53:35] round rather than just the summer months. And then the ability to

[1:53:39] repurpose current facilities or that land that those facilities sit on. Um

[1:53:43] some cons to this this option would be there's a large, you know, capital cost.

[1:53:49] This is the larger capital cost option. It's hard to say exactly what a facility

[1:53:54] like this would cost. Um I did put into the report you probably would be looking

[1:53:59] at the $60 to $80 million mark. Um I believe that's what God has recently

[1:54:04] spent on their facility. And then there would be a significant impact on the

[1:54:08] operating budget with additional staff uh requirements. You you know if there

[1:54:12] is a pool that's open all year round, we need pool attendance. Um having the

[1:54:17] facility just simply cleaned at the end of every day and things like that. So we

[1:54:21] would see large operating impacts. Again, that would be picked up within

[1:54:25] that study about what the ongoing impact would be on the uh municipal tax rate.

[1:54:31] So with that, I'll uh I'll pause and I'll am available for any questions.

[1:54:37] » I'd like to thank you very much for the report uh Sam. It it is probably the

[1:54:42] most important discussion we may have uh in our term here and uh I regret that we

[1:54:47] only have maybe you know 40 minutes or something to devote to it but at this

[1:54:51] time um councelor Yuri you can start. >> Thank you Mr. Mayor and thank you Sam.

[1:54:57] Yeah it's a big one obviously um I know you go out and you talk to a lot of the

[1:55:01] public and a lot of people that have certainly talked to me about it

[1:55:05] everybody would love the concept of the multi-use facility assessment. So, um,

[1:55:10] it's interesting when you said 60 to 80 because I did started to look at a lot

[1:55:13] of research around as well and it was interesting because I was really

[1:55:17] thinking that would probably be more like in the 80 to 120 realistically and

[1:55:21] you looked at a lot of the other competitors. Godidge was one but a lot

[1:55:24] of the other ones were certainly higher than that. So, I guess the question is

[1:55:28] twofold. One is I mean obviously it's not just this because trying to do this

[1:55:31] in concert with another maj major purchase i.e. wastewater plant somewhere

[1:55:36] down the road is two big chunks of change to bite. Um you did mention about

[1:55:40] partnerships and one thing you didn't mention in there and when we go to AMO

[1:55:44] and Roman places like that they always talk about um cooperation between

[1:55:48] municipalities not just working with like the um DoD or Y but literally

[1:55:56] looking at like a Blue Mountains or or Grey Highlands who are neighboring who

[1:56:00] might also benefit from a poolled facility like that. So hopefully that

[1:56:03] would come into vogue as well. But my question is that when you talked about

[1:56:09] budgeting 200,000 for 2027, seems to me that we already did budget like a couple

[1:56:14] hundred,000 to look at the harbor and the urban meford kind of um master plan.

[1:56:22] This to me, even though this doesn't fall under those two geographical

[1:56:27] probably locations, it seems to me that this is a big part of that overall

[1:56:33] conversation because not only with the harbor, what it's going to look like and

[1:56:36] how it's going to, you know, be assessed for the benefit of for all, but the

[1:56:40] urban downtown, but this becomes almost a third part. This becomes almost a

[1:56:44] triumphant. And I was just wondering, is there a way that that should be melded?

[1:56:50] So, if we're going to get a consultant to look at that anyway, should we be

[1:56:54] doing that as well? Because in the public, it almost seems like we would be

[1:56:58] doing a public input to talk about those things and then we were doing a public

[1:57:02] input to talk about that and there's a lot of overlap. So, there is there a way

[1:57:06] that we could kind of combine those agencies and and have that as a much

[1:57:10] larger conversation.

[1:57:16] » Uh, thank you and through you, Mr. Mayor. Uh both really great questions

[1:57:20] and great points and yes we would to kind of answer your first part we would

[1:57:23] look to our surrounding municipalities to see if there were any partnership uh

[1:57:28] that could be done there. One that jumps out to me would be Chadzsworth who's

[1:57:31] recently decided not to move forward with an arena. Um yes we could look at

[1:57:36] something like that. The way I structured this with that was that this

[1:57:39] would come back through the 2027 budget process to be considered by council at

[1:57:44] that time and if approved staff would then move forward with it. So, we can do

[1:57:48] kind of one of two things. We can either bring this one forward and potentially

[1:57:52] look at approving something like this today with final approval by council on

[1:57:56] the 27th because the harbor downtown project has not been initiated to date.

[1:58:02] Um, so we could look at, you know, increasing that budget, changing that

[1:58:05] scope and and bundling this all together. or we could go the other way

[1:58:10] and leave this for the 2027 budget deliberations and not do the downtown

[1:58:14] harbor until 2027. Um, so I would leave that up to council's direction and how

[1:58:20] they wanted to handle it. >> Deputy Mayor,

[1:58:24] » thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I appreciate both the report and your comments,

[1:58:28] Director Dinsmore. And I guess too it would be depend on the consultants who

[1:58:32] were hired whether or not they had the skill set to look at recreation

[1:58:36] facilities and you know the downtown and harbors. So that that would remain to be

[1:58:41] seen. But I'm I'm just really pleased that we're having the opportunity to

[1:58:44] have this discussion. I think it's important that we give consideration to

[1:58:48] the future of these facilities. I mean we know that wreck facilities are a draw

[1:58:52] to communities and and uh I know friends in God would say that their wreck

[1:58:57] complex has helped them attract doctors. So that there's some merit in that as

[1:59:01] well for us to consider and you mentioned uh you know various facilities

[1:59:05] and it would be my assumption you'd also be looking at pickle ball courts and

[1:59:09] partnering with that organization and I know the lawnballing group are concerned

[1:59:14] about you know potential future flooding again and and you know could they be

[1:59:18] part of this. So I think there's just lots of opportunity to uh to build upon

[1:59:22] what's been uh said here today. So, I'm I'm just excited to see this come

[1:59:27] forward into the 2027 budget and to have an opportunity to to explore and I think

[1:59:32] you've you've touched on, you know, how we might continue to maintain current

[1:59:36] facilities in the process because it will take a number of years to bring

[1:59:39] this to fruition, but I think we would want to be very mindful of what

[1:59:44] investments we made in our existing facilities, but we would need to keep

[1:59:47] them uh limping along. So, thank you very much, Sam. I

[1:59:51] » think councelor Bell, you're next. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So, uh, the report is

[1:59:57] something that, uh, I guess in the back of mind of, uh, current council members.

[2:00:03] We've seen reports where our long-term debentures on a lot of facilities have,

[2:00:08] uh, got themselves now that they're getting almost paid off, but I don't

[2:00:12] think any of us here thought that, you know, we're not going to incur costs on

[2:00:18] those buildings just because we've got the main debenture paid for. Um, as far

[2:00:24] as direction today, um, I think sitting here that if we tell staff to maintain a

[2:00:30] status quo, uh, this this major subject matter, uh, will definitely be in front

[2:00:37] of the new council. And when we consider the number of people who are our

[2:00:43] taxpayers, we run with about $22 million of tax supported money. Um I mean we

[2:00:49] talked about the need for the wastewater treatment plant. I mean the needs and

[2:00:54] the desires of this community. Name the percentage higher than what our

[2:01:00] purse can actually handle. So that is the big discussion really in my mind.

[2:01:06] This is a service level that we need to do and uh I appreciate comments about

[2:01:13] looking to other municipalities. What do they need? what they don't have,

[2:01:18] what they could have. But I think when I see numbers like this and we just had a

[2:01:24] report about how much money we've got in our reserves. Um and then given the

[2:01:30] dynamics of of of our society where we're at today. Um,

[2:01:37] not not to say that the rural people don't appreciate things that might be

[2:01:44] available to them, but when we start talking about these tens of millions of

[2:01:50] dollars and we really have to come up with a

[2:01:54] decision on how we promote or how we get

[2:01:59] feedback, buy in. Should a future council do this?

[2:02:06] I think that this this subject matter is just saying that I've met people

[2:02:11] recently that their service level that they've experienced in other places in

[2:02:16] Ontario is top shelf and then I tell them that we've got a beer budget

[2:02:23] and that's kind of where we're at. We need to be in our means because we can

[2:02:27] overstep our our own ability to repay. we can overstep that immediately

[2:02:34] and I don't think we should do that and I think that this major subject matter

[2:02:39] is is for the future council and uh for my myself today if you need something to

[2:02:46] move forward to know what you need to put in for opening remarks for 2027

[2:02:51] for the mayor at that time to consider what that might look like I think I'd

[2:02:56] like to just say status quo this afternoon and we can start there in the

[2:03:00] future Thanks.

[2:03:03] » Um, councelor Greenfield. >> Thank you, your worship. Thanks, uh, Mr.

[2:03:09] Timsmore for bringing this forward. Um, I have a couple of concerns with this.

[2:03:15] First, first of all, just a comment. We, not too long ago, we had a facility

[2:03:21] report from, I'm sure if it was Hamson or Watson, uh,

[2:03:27] one of those two. uh and uh I'm I'm hoping that report could be utilized

[2:03:36] somewhat uh for anything in the future. Uh there was quite a bit of detail in

[2:03:41] there and uh and uh I estimates on the longevity ahead of

[2:03:51] some of our buildings. I uh when I first read this, I thought

[2:04:00] and I still think I I think this is a decision that should be left for the

[2:04:04] next council uh to make. uh we are going to have some new members on that uh on

[2:04:13] that establishment and this is a huge hu potentially huge huge uh investment uh

[2:04:22] obligation. We know something does have to be done. Uh some of our facilities,

[2:04:31] a number of them are uh uh getting on the uh uh

[2:04:38] the the old side of their uh of their tenure. Uh certainly the the pool uh

[2:04:47] even the the St. the Meford St. Vincent Community Center uh which is

[2:04:53] approximately 50 years old. We have to remember the the arena

[2:05:00] before what we have now, it only lasted 25 years. So

[2:05:06] if you compare the two, this one's quite an age. I guess

[2:05:15] I certainly there should be cost efficiencies of combining

[2:05:22] everything into one huge complex.

[2:05:28] But again, when I first read this, I

[2:05:32] thought, hey, this is, you know, where this is all have to be located.

[2:05:39] That's in the urban area on on the services. Um,

[2:05:46] we could have an administration office in the rural

[2:05:51] area. uh this I I I

[2:05:56] hope that is kept in mind. We could have a council chambers

[2:06:02] in the rural area. We are a big geographical municipality. So um

[2:06:11] those are my two concerns. one is uh I'm not I feel uneasy for this council

[2:06:20] to commit to something and and I know it's in its infancy, but even then

[2:06:25] there's there's going to be a record of that. Miss Miss Wilton Seiguel is going

[2:06:29] to make sure this this gets in the record. So that's my first problem. And

[2:06:34] the second problem is I I I I really hope in a in an attempt to

[2:06:42] reach out to our rural residents, uh it is not a given

[2:06:48] something like all all of these services have to be downtown mefort

[2:06:55] thinking. >> I'm looking to uh councelor Anderson,

[2:07:00] councelor Ford, do you wish to speak to this? So, go ahead, please.

[2:07:05] » Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I appreciate the discussion here, and I'm

[2:07:08] sort of in line with um councelor Greenfield and councelor Bell is that um

[2:07:12] I this is a very important decision. I think it'd be best to leave this to the

[2:07:16] next term of council to decide. Um and so, I'll just leave it at that for now.

[2:07:20] Thank you, >> Councelor.

[2:07:23] Thank you, [clears throat] Mr. Mayor. Uh similarly, I think it

[2:07:26] would be best for the next council to decide though while we're talking about

[2:07:31] it. I guess it might be helpful to sort of put my thoughts in. Thinking of cost

[2:07:36] efficiency, I worry about whether or not that would be uh sort of scrubbed by

[2:07:40] having to pay a huge debt uh to be able to do it. Um, so I don't I I'm not sure

[2:07:46] that that would be uh, you know, a sort of like a useful um,

[2:07:53] argument for it, but I just don't feel that we're a municipality that's big

[2:07:58] enough to to sort of justify a project that large. Um, especially considering

[2:08:03] um, we're struggling to figure out how we're going to get the water treatment

[2:08:08] um, situation uh, sorted. Um, I think this is something that would be very

[2:08:13] nice to have. Um, but I I just don't think we're there. I don't think that

[2:08:18] that's what this municipality is. Um, I think we're very lucky to have the

[2:08:23] services and and um options uh that we have, the recreation options that we

[2:08:28] have. Um, and keeping them going is is expensive and we it it's known to be

[2:08:34] expensive. Talking to members of the community, it comes up a lot about how

[2:08:38] expensive it is. But if we then double down on something that is

[2:08:43] massively expensive, uh I just I I don't know that that would that would sit well

[2:08:48] um with with with a lot of the municipality, a lot of our a lot of our

[2:08:52] neighbors. Um so yeah, today I would I would be most comfortable uh seeing what

[2:08:58] the ne voting to see what the next council thinks.

[2:09:03] » Um I just [clears throat] I I'd like to weigh in on this as well. So, uh, do we

[2:09:08] want to u uh do you have something you want to start answering? I I I'd like to

[2:09:13] just make three points if I could. This is coming from somebody who's lived in

[2:09:17] Meford since 19 uh 56. And uh I was a young man then, I'm an

[2:09:25] old man now. And so it's I I just want to share with you how from my

[2:09:30] perspective how this looks. U the first thing is I I see two projects. I think

[2:09:34] that uh I would divide recreation uh which is multifaceted and and

[2:09:39] administration. I would divide those into two projects and I would say that

[2:09:43] uh it's important that the administration perhap it can maybe go uh

[2:09:47] rural or urban. Uh I think there are real merits in in having it in the urban

[2:09:51] center. Uh but I think that uh if if we're going to look at involving uh

[2:09:57] other communities, uh we should be very open to uh a rural destination for a a

[2:10:03] rec center. Um the second thing I want to say is uh I regret to inform you that

[2:10:09] I do not I don't have a lot of confidence that our boundaries will

[2:10:12] always be what they are today. I think the Ford government is likely going to

[2:10:17] change things uh before it is done and um we may be part of a we may be either

[2:10:23] a much smaller municipality than we are now or or part of a great big

[2:10:28] amalgamation and I have no idea what might be coming. And the third thing is

[2:10:32] with respect to councelor Bell's points, um

[2:10:38] I think it's very important to realize that a lot many many millions of dollars

[2:10:43] are coming to municipalities of all sizes for these recreational projects.

[2:10:49] And if we don't have a plan and if we don't have a vision for where we're

[2:10:53] going, uh we won't be we won't be getting our fair share.

[2:10:59] And if we wait for uh the next council or it waits for the next council, uh I'm

[2:11:06] not sure those funds will continue to be available. And from what I have seen,

[2:11:10] it's critically important that uh improvements to uh to our uh our pool

[2:11:17] and to our arena are something that we can't start soon enough to deal with.

[2:11:24] Um I guess we'll go around one more time and then we'll come back to staff. Thank

[2:11:28] you, Council Eric. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you for

[2:11:31] your last comment because the one thing I did want to say, and I and I do 100%

[2:11:35] appreciate the concern about the overall massive expense. To that regard, I will

[2:11:41] say the problem being is is to your point twofold. One is the further you

[2:11:47] kick it down the road, a few years ago, a wastewater plant would have cost us

[2:11:51] $30 million. Now, it's going to cost us $120 million. this put off another 5 10

[2:11:57] years what is it going to cost then to do it and at that point when does your

[2:12:02] actual facilities become end of life and then what do you do but I can still

[2:12:06] think moreover to your point again as well about boundaries may potentially

[2:12:11] shifting but I think that's why it's also paramount and I again cannot stress

[2:12:15] enough how many um at how many conferences you hear it

[2:12:20] is so vital that municipalities need to get together to try and share costs to

[2:12:27] to to share these kind of facilities because you're right, Blue Mountains

[2:12:31] can't afford this by themselves, Chadzsworth can't afford it by

[2:12:34] themselves, Greyhound, but if you put it together, then you all can maybe take a

[2:12:38] bite out of it and do it. So that's why I just think and without taking a step

[2:12:43] forward and I'm fine with it being in the next council, if we're putting it

[2:12:46] forward literally six months for that conversation, I have no problem with

[2:12:49] that. But I have real concerns about it getting kicked further and further and

[2:12:53] further out and it gets more expensive and then then you're in a situation

[2:12:57] where we just may not have any at some point down the road. So your point is so

[2:13:03] [snorts] apt I think that if you don't at least

[2:13:06] plan for it, you will not have the availability to potentially do it.

[2:13:11] That's why at least a plan I think to look at what could be done is more

[2:13:15] important than sitting back and going ah let's just put band-aids on everything.

[2:13:19] I think councelor Greenfield, I don't think he's spoken yet, please.

[2:13:26] » Okay, deputy mayor. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. And yeah, I

[2:13:31] think we all recognize that this is a multi-year process that is going to have

[2:13:35] some really difficult decisions attached to it. But I just want to clarify what

[2:13:40] is being asked of us here today, which I believe if I'm correct, Director

[2:13:43] Dinsmore, is to um provide a recommendation to yourself to include in

[2:13:51] the 2027 budget $200,000 to undertake a study to give some

[2:13:57] direction to the next council as to what they might be looking at in terms of

[2:14:01] recreation facilities, administration facilities, and and they would be

[2:14:05] charged then with making those decisions. Am I correct in uh that

[2:14:09] assumption? >> Uh thank you and through you Mr. Mayor.

[2:14:11] Oh 100%. This report is looking for some direction on what to include in the 2027

[2:14:16] budget. It is not appro preapproving the 2027 budget. Um without this report

[2:14:23] there may not have been anything included in the 2027 budget except for

[2:14:26] maybe some facility capital requirements just for that in year. Um staff wanted

[2:14:32] to take a bit of a holistic approach to this. So what could happen as an example

[2:14:37] if council was to go with option one the status quo and staff puts in the 15

[2:14:42] million or 12 million over the five years we could get to 2027 the new

[2:14:47] council is making the decision they could at that point say no no take all

[2:14:51] that out put the $200,000 and we want to do the study and that would be allowed.

[2:14:55] So we're not making any decisions. What we're doing is giving the next council a

[2:14:59] starting point for how they want these recreational facilities and

[2:15:03] administrative facilities to operate. Um I will just make one quick comment on uh

[2:15:08] the mayor's point. All new grants coming from the province and the federal

[2:15:14] government include a must be shovel ready, right? Must be ready to go

[2:15:18] whether it's ready to go with the engineering or ready to go with the um

[2:15:22] the actual construction. So having the public consultation, which is what that

[2:15:26] 200,000 really would be done so we know what we're building, um would allow us

[2:15:33] better would give us better information for those grant applications

[2:15:39] because we would know what we want to include. Um staff have made no

[2:15:44] assumptions as to what a recreational facility includes. It may include a

[2:15:49] pool, it may not. We don't know. Um, we again we we would like to go through

[2:15:53] this process to figure out what the community wants and what it's going to

[2:15:58] cost the community. I was always told that if you ask someone if they want a

[2:16:01] Ferrari, they're going to say yes until you tell them how much it's going to

[2:16:05] cost. And that's what this is doing, right? If we went out to the public

[2:16:08] right now and said, "Do you want an indoor gym? Do you want an indoor pool?

[2:16:11] Do you want a new arena?" Everybody is going to say yes. But we need to make

[2:16:15] sure that everybody knows what that will do for their annual property taxes.

[2:16:21] Without this 200,000, it's very hard to answer that question.

[2:16:26] » I'm going to go to councelor Renis and I'll come back to you, councelor

[2:16:29] Greenfield. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, you've changed

[2:16:32] my thinking a little bit. So, I appreciate that. It sounds to me like we

[2:16:36] need to go with option two to make it possible for the future council to make

[2:16:40] that decision. So in that case um I could change my thinking and go with

[2:16:45] option two. >> Uh councelor Greenfield.

[2:16:51] » Thanks uh thanks to worship and uh thanks again Mr. Dinsm. Uh I'm still uh

[2:16:58] uneasy about this. Uh I I it's it's wonderful to look at

[2:17:07] the big picture uh forward vision. Uh I I'm just not sure if our municipality

[2:17:17] is quite there yet. And I'm somewhat afraid that by

[2:17:23] looking at too many of these big ticket items,

[2:17:27] there may be an exclusion of the basics.

[2:17:34] We've got streets. We've got roads that are not in good shape.

[2:17:43] basic transportation items that gets everybody from home to work to to

[2:17:49] pleasure hopefully.

[2:17:53] lot of this we've talked about grants and yes there are grants out there but

[2:18:00] you've got 444 municipalities in Ontario reaching out for them and uh the chances

[2:18:08] of uh our municipality they are as good as any of the others but there aren't

[2:18:15] 444 huge grants out there I'm sure that we're talking about maybe a $20 million

[2:18:22] OP PP station that we may get a grant for some of it. Uh

[2:18:30] we're trying to dredge a harbor and it's at least a half a million dollars just

[2:18:35] to get started on the dredging. Um

[2:18:40] I I really I mean it's it's great to have a vision. It's great to have

[2:18:48] uh some kind of an idea of where you want

[2:18:51] to go, but I I don't think we're there yet. I I think we've got uh

[2:18:58] we're looking at third base, and I don't think we've got the first base yet. So,

[2:19:03] I I I just think it's premature. I think

[2:19:08] it's it's great to have a discussion. Yes, we know something has to be done

[2:19:13] likely within the next 101 15 years, but um I'm not content to uh uh get into

[2:19:22] something today. >> Thank you.

[2:19:24] » I think that CEO Everett would like to speak.

[2:19:26] » Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh just from a few years of in the community services

[2:19:31] and recreation aspect, um doing a feasibility study, you know, it's a it's

[2:19:37] a good start. Um, councelor Greenfield mentions we're on third base. I' I'd say

[2:19:42] we're still in the dugout. Um, and and trying to get an idea of where we need

[2:19:47] to go. Um, I could provide a a lengthy, very lengthy list of the facilities that

[2:19:54] need dramatic investment that we have today. whether it be a tennis court,

[2:19:59] whether it be a waterfront, whether it be a campground. Um,

[2:20:04] there's a lot of our facilities that are extremely deficient in where they need

[2:20:09] to be. Um, having an idea of what the future of a of a pool is, an arena is,

[2:20:18] um, I would have to say a feasibility study would have to look at is it even a

[2:20:24] meer? Like you have to look at your your neighbors. Um the days of doing your own

[2:20:31] facility, in my opinion, are long gone because each municipality can't bear the

[2:20:36] cost. Um I can tell you the the arena uh the new new complex in Wasaga Beach cost

[2:20:42] about $60 million. Uh in 2021, I believe it was budgeted for $43 million. By the

[2:20:48] time it was constructed, it was at 60 million. Over a course of two years, it

[2:20:52] it increased. Um, we need to get a vision though. Uh, we

[2:20:58] need to really reflect on what we have today. Um, because, you know, I've been

[2:21:05] here just over a year now and I'm really starting to recognize that what we

[2:21:11] thought some facilities just needed in repairs,

[2:21:14] they're they really need complete re redu. um they've they've had some um

[2:21:22] facial surgery on them um but the bones and the structure are gone. When you're

[2:21:28] talking about facilities that are 1966, 1930 something um they do not owe the

[2:21:35] municipality anything. Um, but it it is really a time that we need to look at

[2:21:41] what are the nice to haves to councelor Bell's point. Uh, and what what the

[2:21:46] needs truly are. I I've heard lots about our roads. Um, and I would have to say

[2:21:53] that that's got to be one of the priorities. I think the why I like this

[2:21:58] report coming forward today was not so much that this council

[2:22:03] was being put in a position to make a decision that the future council was

[2:22:07] going to be tied to. I think it's a really good report for the future

[2:22:12] council to understand going into 2027 and the next term of council

[2:22:18] the issues that they're going to have. Um that's that's what I'm looking

[2:22:24] forward to. I believe that's what staff's job is is to really put it into

[2:22:28] the public um uh information in the public sphere to understand that we need

[2:22:37] to build this municipality. Um and we need to sort of

[2:22:43] really take a look at what are the services that we're providing and what

[2:22:46] we need to provide because we can't be everything to everyone. Um so um I think

[2:22:52] 2027 having that discussion in in in a budget uh deliberation irregardless if

[2:22:58] it's fa is if it's uh status quo or not um I think this discussion has served

[2:23:04] the next term of council well already if people are thinking about running and

[2:23:09] you know the public's listening to this um I very rarely go into the arena

[2:23:15] without somebody saying to me oh when are we going to get a new rink this this

[2:23:19] puts it at least on the radar. Um because to be honest with you, I we

[2:23:24] wouldn't need a double rink. Um I think there's huge benefit if you were to take

[2:23:30] a look at replacing a pool. You wouldn't replace it with an outdoor pool, right?

[2:23:34] There are there are some things that in my opinion from the recreation field are

[2:23:39] just given. Why why would you invest in building an outdoor pool when at the end

[2:23:43] of the day you invest and you cover it and you get year- round use? So I think

[2:23:48] the feasibility study like it it helps us and it helps us even I will say the

[2:23:54] feasibility study is not going to be shovel ready. It that's not going to

[2:23:57] give you a shovel ready project. It's just going to give you the idea of what

[2:24:02] the facility needs to be made up of. So then you can start your engineering on

[2:24:08] having an actual shovel ready. the in the last two points, nothing in Sam's

[2:24:14] report was dictating whether or not this was going to be in a rural area or an

[2:24:19] urban area. Nothing in Sam's report also identified that the end the end product

[2:24:26] wasn't the existing facility. It was just can we focus on what do we

[2:24:32] need in the future? Um, I've seen way too many municipalities do these do

[2:24:37] these uh studies and it becomes just a wish list and you get nothing. Calling

[2:24:44] was a great example. 20 25 years ago I think it was they they were looking at

[2:24:49] Fiser Field um and they opened up what everybody wants and they missed all

[2:24:54] their funding opportunities and and you know at the end of the day they missed a

[2:25:00] really opportunity really big opportunity to centralize things. um

[2:25:04] were here like town of Blue Mountains and and

[2:25:08] calling with they just over the last two years looked at doing a feasibility

[2:25:12] study and ended up deciding not to partner. Um so there's lots of there's

[2:25:18] lots of information that we have to look at. And the last piece just in regards

[2:25:21] to the harbor and downtown emerging those I personally think that would be

[2:25:26] the wrong thing because again that would be assuming that what we're talking

[2:25:30] about would be in the rural or in the urban downtown area. Um I think the two

[2:25:35] could go hand inand 100% but I think they're completely separate projects.

[2:25:40] » So now to proceed I need some advice from clerk Wilton Seagull. Um and here's

[2:25:46] the question. Uh the recommendation is option X. We also have option one and

[2:25:51] option two. Uh will I look for a motion uh for option one first and vote on that

[2:25:57] and then Thank you, Risha. My recommendation to

[2:26:01] council would be that if um a member of council feels that option one or option

[2:26:05] two is their preference that they put forward an amending motion to replace X

[2:26:09] with one and council can discuss that or alternatively if a member of council

[2:26:14] feels that option two should be discussed. Um they would put forward an

[2:26:17] amending motion for replacing it with option two and then the debate can be

[2:26:22] had and the vote can be taken at that time.

[2:26:24] And to be clear, option one is u to move forward uh spending uh 12 uh.6 million I

[2:26:32] think it is on uh repairs to existing facilities and option two is to budget

[2:26:38] 200,000 for the 2027 um budget uh to have a study of uh requirements for

[2:26:45] these facilities. Councelor Yurig.

[2:26:49] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I on that basis would recommend I would move that it be

[2:26:55] option two. Been to too many act conferences recently where Stratford

[2:27:02] took big swings and ended up hitting home runs. If you don't have a you don't

[2:27:07] have a map, you're not going to get anywhere.

[2:27:10] Um and is there a second for that? Are you seconding that? Thank you. Okay. And

[2:27:16] does everybody understand uh we're going to call a vote on whether or not you

[2:27:19] agree with option two, which is to budget $200,000 for a study which will

[2:27:23] give staff the direction they need to uh help the next council move forward on

[2:27:28] this whole issue. That's how I interpret it. Anyway, um um anyone have a question

[2:27:34] about what we're going to vote on? Councelor

[2:27:36] » Renis more of a more of a comment. I'm just uh

[2:27:40] wanted to say out loud that I'm sort of approaching this like uh we spoke about

[2:27:43] earlier today in uh item on the agenda 9.1A

[2:27:48] uh where the report wasn't about disposing of land. It was about

[2:27:53] considering it as an opportunity talking to uh you know neighboring properties

[2:27:57] talking to the community uh and exploring that option. So I'm seeing

[2:28:01] nods from from staff. So option two to me is essentially the same sort of

[2:28:05] process. Um, and so I uh would be happy to support that.

[2:28:11] » Then are you ready to vote uh for option two? Uh, all in favor?

[2:28:17] Those opposed? I think those in favor have won the day

[2:28:22] and um and the vote was uh 5 to two. Correct.

[2:28:28] Okay. Um uh my my apologies your worship for interrupting but because that was an

[2:28:34] amending motion we do need a final vote on the main motion. So now the main

[2:28:37] motion will be that council uh committee of the whole recommend council of the

[2:28:41] municipality of meford to approve option two uh as outlined in report and then

[2:28:45] that will move on to >> can I uh I didn't need a mover and

[2:28:50] seconder for this. No. Okay then uh you but you want to vote. So are we voting

[2:28:55] to confirm option two? All in favor the bigger pardon

[2:29:01] » the whole report. Okay. And those opposed and it's the same 52 vote I

[2:29:06] believe. Okay. So now um and I I'm going to make people

[2:29:13] aware that at 4:30 or thereabouts we are going to um have a recess because we

[2:29:20] have a planning public meeting at 5:00 this afternoon. And um I'm just hoping

[2:29:25] we can get through the majority of our agenda uh with the time that is left. So

[2:29:30] at this uh point um under development services the recommendation is that

[2:29:35] committee of the whole recommend council of the municipality of meford one direct

[2:29:39] staff to initiate a request for pre-qualification

[2:29:42] RFPQ process for the three surplus residential parcels identified and two

[2:29:48] endorse exploration of a tiny home community model subject to feasibility

[2:29:52] and market response and number three direct staff to report back with results

[2:29:57] and next steps. a mover in a second, please. Deputy mayor Kiny and seconded

[2:30:03] by councelor Bell. Thank you. Um and u maybe you should speak to this

[2:30:09] because it is uh really your project and I congratulate you on the the way this

[2:30:13] has been brought forward and and a lot of work went into it and uh a lot of

[2:30:18] your personal contacts to to see about the feasibility of this. So go right

[2:30:22] ahead. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. I'm

[2:30:24] happy to uh to speak to this report and I want to thank Director KN for all of

[2:30:29] her efforts in uh in bringing that to us so expeditiously. So with this I'm just

[2:30:34] very very pleased to have this conversation today and uh I certainly

[2:30:38] can confirm that there is a great deal of interest from our residents in seeing

[2:30:43] this project move forward. I've heard from people of all ages that uh they

[2:30:49] feel this is a really really good project for me. I think it's exciting.

[2:30:54] We could be the first community in Gray County to have a full uh tiny home

[2:30:58] community in our backyard and I I see it as um you know structured in such a way

[2:31:04] that the homes are affordable and that it's wellmaintained and that it's a

[2:31:07] place that people can be proud to call home and I know there's also interest

[2:31:11] from the development community in looking at the opportunity to respond to

[2:31:15] this RFI. So, I uh am just feeling quite confident that uh we can see all of this

[2:31:21] come to fruition. And we understand there's a lot of steps in the process

[2:31:24] that was mentioned earlier today by a presenter. We understand we're a long

[2:31:28] way yet from uh from actually making this happen. But, uh you know, this is

[2:31:33] this is where we start. I like the location because it's walkable to uh to

[2:31:38] downtown. And I think that's uh that's important for Tiny Homes. And uh I'm

[2:31:42] just uh very very pleased to see this moving forward. And thank you again to

[2:31:45] you Amy. >> Um so councelor Ford and then councelor

[2:31:51] Bell. >> Uh thank you Mr. Mayor and through you

[2:31:54] and uh appreciate Deputy Mayor with this initiative and so I just looking for a

[2:31:59] little bit of clarification because I love the idea of a tiny home community.

[2:32:02] But is the goal of this to provide affordable housing to residents or is

[2:32:07] the goal to provide a tiny home community? Because where I struggle with

[2:32:10] that is in the report there are more affordable options. Tiny homes aren't

[2:32:14] technically more affordable. You're just buying a smaller home, so it's less

[2:32:18] money, but in terms of cost per square foot, it may actually be more expensive.

[2:32:22] Um, so my question is, is our goal to provide more affordable housing to

[2:32:28] people who need it, or is the goal simply to provide a tiny home community

[2:32:31] so we can say we have a tiny home community and all the good things that

[2:32:34] come with that? And I'm not trying to say that to speak down of it because I

[2:32:37] think it's a great initiative. I'm just not really sure what the objective is

[2:32:41] for this tiny bid project. Are we considering other types of developments

[2:32:45] that have been referenced in the report itself or is it tiny home take it or

[2:32:49] leave it? I just kind of want to know what the direction is of this

[2:32:52] initiative. Uh because that's going to sort of dictate the feedback that I

[2:32:56] have. Uh so I just I just appreciate uh knowing what the what the end goal is of

[2:33:01] the the tiny home initiative here. >> Please. Yes,

[2:33:05] » Mr. Mayor. If I may, I'd be happy to respond to councelor Porter. And I think

[2:33:08] to some degree it's it's both. I mean a tiny home as you suggested it is a

[2:33:12] smaller home. So therefore the price tag is likely in the affordable range and we

[2:33:17] have no idea at this point whether they're owned or leased or rented or

[2:33:20] lifelased or land leased or there's just so many different ways that it could be

[2:33:24] set up. So there's no idea at this point what that could look like. But yeah the

[2:33:30] in in my mind I see it as providing affordable living. But yes, definitely

[2:33:34] the the community aspect of a tiny home community where there are, you know, a

[2:33:38] central gathering place and there's uh fire pit and there's trails and and

[2:33:43] community garden and that sort of thing where people can can congregate. I see

[2:33:47] it as being that real community, but you know, are we tied to an actual tiny home

[2:33:52] community or could it be a pocket community? Or there's there's different

[2:33:56] ways of of setting up small homes, whether it's, you know, a tiny home on

[2:34:00] its own little lot with its own little driveway or whether it's a pocket

[2:34:04] community where houses are side by and the driveway goes along behind them and

[2:34:09] that keeps the front, you know, very very clean. Um, I think there's I'm just

[2:34:14] interested to see when we get the responses to the RFI what suggestions

[2:34:18] come back from the development community as to what it could look like. So

[2:34:22] there's in my mind not tied to any one look or format in my head. I just I just

[2:34:28] want to see what the options are. Does that help?

[2:34:32] » Yes. >> Councelor Bell.

[2:34:35] » Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So, um, this council may have, uh, forgot that, uh, I brought

[2:34:42] forward a motion, uh, that was, um, adopted unanimously to advance to our

[2:34:48] building community that they look at the Ontario building code what it says to be

[2:34:53] the minimal requirements in order to have a dwelling. Same thing. So, one of

[2:34:58] the issues that I just did just with math, you know, talking about whether

[2:35:02] you're $300 a square foot or $400 a square foot,

[2:35:08] 14 ft by 14 ft at $400 a square foot is $78,000 for something and I think

[2:35:15] somebody would be quite ridiculously to spend that kind of money for that

[2:35:20] kind of square footage, which is like a garden shed. So then I just said, "Well,

[2:35:25] let's do something 20 by 25." And you get up there. Well, you're at $200,000.

[2:35:31] Haven't bought the land. What's the service land underneath that? So, it

[2:35:36] doesn't take long to hit that $400,000 mark. And you have to get a builder

[2:35:40] who's wants to do this. So, the initiative about doing it, I'm all for

[2:35:45] it. I'm interested to see what the building community can do with this. But

[2:35:50] then I looked up what a um all seasons trailer 8 by40 320 square feet you can

[2:35:57] live in it all year round you have your own spot but now I'm talking about a

[2:36:01] trailer park so what is it that we really want to see here and I think

[2:36:06] that's the point from my fellow counselor for is it a series of really

[2:36:10] small dwellings maybe for one or two individuals what are we trying to do so

[2:36:16] I think opening it up to the building community is the right thing to do. Let

[2:36:22] them tell us if it can be done because we just had an open house on Highway 26

[2:36:27] not long ago. I think they're advertising opening units at 585,000.

[2:36:33] That's where they're at. So, we're trying to cut that. And if we have it in

[2:36:38] our mind to cut it in half, how can we get somebody into a place for 300 or

[2:36:43] 350,000? So that's what the building community is

[2:36:46] going to tell us about this, whether there's even any appetite to do it. So I

[2:36:52] welcome it. I'm going to vote for it, see what happens with it. But um it's

[2:36:57] interesting because um you know, you do have to pay for the labor and I don't

[2:37:02] think any construction company's going to take a cut. Very rarely you're going

[2:37:07] to need three 400,000 to do a square footage. So that's the point.

[2:37:12] » Go ahead. My apologies for interrupting your

[2:37:15] worship. I have noticed that there is um on the agenda uh the reports

[2:37:21] recommendation has been updated and isn't reflected in the agenda index. So

[2:37:25] I wondered if I could just display ask Allison to display if you're looking at

[2:37:29] the report you're seeing the recommendation. I think that was

[2:37:32] changed. Um and the index if you look at the index is is different. So, I just

[2:37:38] want everybody um on council to be sure we're looking at the same

[2:37:42] recommendation. So, if I could just ask that that be displayed. Um it's a

[2:37:47] slightly different recommendation with the same theme um but definitely not the

[2:37:52] same if you've looked at the index. So, those who use um who are looking at the

[2:37:58] report specifically, that recommendation has not changed from when you read the

[2:38:03] report. Does that make sense?

[2:38:08] So I just again to be to be clear what council is considering this is correct.

[2:38:12] The index has been updated but it may not have been reflected if you had been

[2:38:16] looking at it um during this meeting. So this differs I think Mayor Kentner

[2:38:23] from your index because >> you don't have the report. So if you go

[2:38:27] to the item to the report in your binder >> that recommendation is right.

[2:38:32] » Thank you. Okay I'll do that.

[2:38:40] You can see just a bit of reading for these council meetings. So, um we're

[2:38:46] looking at um three points in the recommendation here and they're on the

[2:38:50] the uh on the screen there now. Um

[2:38:57] did you wish to speak to that at point or or is it something else? Okay, let's

[2:39:03] go to councelor Greenfield. Thank you. Um, okay. I I I noticed this.

[2:39:09] I I thought we were doing an RFI and then we've got different different

[2:39:14] acronym here. Um, so I'm wondering

[2:39:21] I I I was quite comfortable with an RFI. I thought it was a great idea. Um, tiny

[2:39:28] homes do seem to be catching on. Um, they seem to be popular. I uh uh looked

[2:39:35] on Google and I couldn't find anything negative about tiny home communities and

[2:39:41] I I thought that was kind of interesting.

[2:39:45] Um but anyway, um so the request for

[2:39:52] pre-qualification

[2:39:56] um can can you explain that a little bit further? Like to me it's the request for

[2:40:02] information was fairly general. Uh is this more specific? Is this going to

[2:40:10] uh

[2:40:13] reduce the the potential number of ideas that are coming forward or potential

[2:40:19] number of proposals? Can can you help me on that?

[2:40:22] » Go ahead, director K. >> Uh thank you and through your worship to

[2:40:26] councelor Greenfield. Uh so the original notice of motion from deputy mayor

[2:40:31] Kibney had indicated um the pre-qualification idea and so as I was

[2:40:36] crafting the report I thought that the number of questions that that still um

[2:40:43] were sort of in the ether on the nature of the project, the viability of the

[2:40:47] project uh might warrant sort of backing up and doing a request for for interest

[2:40:53] instead. Um, and that would allow us to sort of reach out to the community, the

[2:40:58] development community, and get a little more information on from their expert

[2:41:02] perspectives, um, you know, what goes into their consideration,

[2:41:07] how viable is this, um, in their minds and and maybe they're they hold

[2:41:12] information that we don't have by virtue of not being uh, expert developers. So,

[2:41:17] I sort of backed up on that. Um, and then I embedded that in my

[2:41:22] recommendation back to council if that sort of makes sense.

[2:41:28] » Go ahead. Uh, thanks. Thanks, Amy. Uh, just two more

[2:41:34] questions. Um I I'm I'm assuming

[2:41:40] municipality still has the usual site plan agreement uh opportunities controls

[2:41:48] or wish lists. Um and the the next one is

[2:41:55] the neighbors neighbor involvement public involvement is are we too soon

[2:42:01] for that or uh I'm hoping that will come into play somewhere down the road

[2:42:09] » again through your worship um certainly so not unlike the CIO's process for um

[2:42:16] divestature of public property or or municipal property, there would be a

[2:42:21] public engagement process for that aspect alone if we were to consider sale

[2:42:26] of of municipal lands. But on top of that, knowing that that any development

[2:42:31] on these parcels will require planning act approvals, we will engage the public

[2:42:37] um in accordance with the planning act on top of that. So they may be sort of

[2:42:41] concurrent processes, but you sort of have two um double requirements to be

[2:42:46] able to engage engage the public on on this proposal.

[2:42:52] » Okay, deputy mayor. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I want to come

[2:42:55] back to councelor Bell's comments just for a couple of examples in relation to

[2:43:00] costing of these homes. And I mean they can be high-end or they can be, you

[2:43:06] know, regular normal uh materials like uh you know, arborite countertops

[2:43:11] instead of stone sort of thing. But um there was a model home in Collingwood

[2:43:15] last uh year that I went to see at uh the Home Hardware location and it was I

[2:43:21] think $320 square ft with a selling price of $150,000

[2:43:26] and a separate bedroom and a nice little kitchen with a stone countertop and you

[2:43:31] know washer and dryer, full bathroom and so on and so forth. Um Quality Homes is

[2:43:35] making tiny homes. Um and I went to see them. The smaller one is just over 500

[2:43:43] square ft and you know full separate bedroom, full closet, kitchen again with

[2:43:48] stone countertops, electric fireplace, lots of amenities. Um and that one at

[2:43:53] just over 500 ft² sells for 199,000 and you still have to, you know, put it on

[2:43:59] your lot and hook up the servicing and so on. But just to give us a sense of of

[2:44:04] costs, um I just found that interesting. But I think the important thing for us

[2:44:10] to remember today is that you know there's no cost in what we're doing at

[2:44:14] this point. We're just looking for interest from the development community

[2:44:17] so that we have some proposals to consider. So if we move this forward

[2:44:21] today, no cost to the municipality. It's just put it out there and uh allow this

[2:44:27] council or the next council to have an opportunity to give consideration to uh

[2:44:31] whatever proposals come before it. So I just thought it was important to note

[2:44:35] the financial side of this today. >> Councelor Fer.

[2:44:40] » So thank you Mr. Mayor and through you. So just a quick question. So and I have

[2:44:43] no problem supporting this just to see what comes back but will the um the bids

[2:44:48] or the information we get from the developers will it just be tiny home

[2:44:52] specific? I apologize if I missed that. um or are we going to be asking

[2:44:56] developers to provide their, you know, most affordable options for the best use

[2:45:00] of the land that that we're providing or that is available? Um so I just like to

[2:45:05] know um if if we're only going to be getting tiny home bids that might be

[2:45:08] limited in scope uh in terms of evaluating what other options could be

[2:45:12] used for that land. Um so what what would that look like? And are we going

[2:45:16] to be opening up to more than just tiny home offerings? Like let's say stacked

[2:45:20] town houses um for example. Um would that be something that we would expect

[2:45:24] accept a bid or a proposal um from a developer who might be able to offer

[2:45:28] that but not necessarily specific tiny homes?

[2:45:35] » Uh I think I can help through your worship. Um with the information I have

[2:45:40] today, I likely would um you know craft um the requests for uh interest or

[2:45:47] information with the thought that tiny homes is sort of the objective. But um

[2:45:53] you know if it's council's wish that we sort of neutralize it a wee bit and and

[2:45:58] um put the request for interest out noting that um we'd be happy to receive

[2:46:04] you know suggestions of other forms. Um you know we can certainly do that. I'm

[2:46:09] I'm in your hands uh in that regard.

[2:46:16] » Yes. Okay. And thank you Mr. Mayor. Be brief and thank you for that director K.

[2:46:21] Um, and so my my only reason for that line of question questioning was I just

[2:46:25] didn't want to limit our options to just tiny homes. If we do determine that

[2:46:28] there could be better use of that space and ultimately if our goal is to make

[2:46:31] best use of that land and develop it for the benefit of the maximum number of

[2:46:36] people, I'd certainly like to benefit more people than less people,

[2:46:40] particularly if we can still make it affordable to them. Um, so, um, not to

[2:46:44] sort of derail this initial tiny home, um, initiative, but I really think it

[2:46:49] would be in our best interest to see to challenge the developers to see what

[2:46:53] they can do to provide affordable housing of all kinds on that land and

[2:46:57] put the challenge out to them and see what they can come back. And of course,

[2:46:59] we don't have to commit to anything we don't want to, but I think um, you know,

[2:47:03] let's leave it in the minds of the creative developers and see what they

[2:47:06] they could uh, they could pull out of their hat. Um, so that's just a

[2:47:09] suggestion. Um, and I don't know if I have any support for that, but I would

[2:47:13] certainly suggest considering making an amendment to um, opening the scope a

[2:47:17] little bit uh, rather than just tiny homes um, to, you know, just to my

[2:47:21] comments. So, I just don't know if any of my fellow counselors think that

[2:47:23] that's a pragmatic thing to be doing or not, but I'll leave it to you guys.

[2:47:28] » Did you wish to speak, councelor Andis? >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, I

[2:47:32] would support councelor Ford's idea. I love the idea of tiny homes. I know a

[2:47:36] lot of people that would be interested in moving into one and and uh enjoying

[2:47:40] their life there. Um but I think that if we're going to go for an initiative to

[2:47:45] give good affordable um you know cost-effective options um it

[2:47:52] I it doesn't sit well with me to to look at one specific type. Um, so yeah, I I

[2:47:58] would want to prioritize uh cost efficiency versus the style.

[2:48:05] » And I I'm tempted to, you know, got a mover in a secondary there. Uh I just I

[2:48:10] have never heard of an affordable stacked townhouse. I've never heard of

[2:48:14] an affordable townhouse. I've never heard of an affordable uh single uh uh

[2:48:19] dwelling uh or or a duplex. uh does somebody have affordable like what is

[2:48:25] the number? Uh it's way below uh um attainable and uh we have trouble

[2:48:32] getting the standard size houses into the attainable category.

[2:48:38] So go ahead. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I think those

[2:48:42] are great points. So if the building community comes back and all of their

[2:48:47] non-tiny options are uh financially not considerable by us for for these

[2:48:53] purposes then great the decision is absolutely made from a financial

[2:48:56] perspective. Um but if they come back with a model that um does does work and

[2:49:03] does make sense and could provide sort of achieve the goal here um at least as

[2:49:09] I interpret um deputy mayor Keven's goals um if we achieve that through a

[2:49:13] different option then that would be great to councelor Bell's point of um

[2:49:18] you know just looking at kind of square footage costs um I think it is

[2:49:23] incredible that Lonal is doing it for the prices that they are doing it Um,

[2:49:27] and if we can drive that down even further, kind of however we however a

[2:49:31] builder is able or a developer is able to achieve that, um, I would want to

[2:49:35] consider and I would want to look at, um, I don't build houses, so I don't

[2:49:39] know what they might come up with, but, um,

[2:49:42] » so I think we got a mover and a seconder, uh, um, and that we should

[2:49:46] proceed. Can you uh, develop a motion for their

[2:49:52] » uh, thank you. I wonder if councelor Ford is able to offer a little bit more

[2:49:55] clarity in the wording that he would like reflected to replace

[2:49:59] um as I'm understanding it the tiny home development with something more broad.

[2:50:06] » Yes, thank you Mr. Mayor through you. if I may. Um, so just going off the top of

[2:50:10] my head, I'm not exactly sure how I'd word it, but I would be open to

[2:50:14] receiving any and all suggestions from developers on how they could provide

[2:50:20] their best affordable housing option, whatever that looks like. Um, you know,

[2:50:25] I would say there's nothing, you know, off the table because if it doesn't,

[2:50:28] like to what councelor Anna said, if it doesn't fit our criteria and it's not a

[2:50:33] good fit for whatever reason, we simply just dismiss it and we move on to the

[2:50:36] next. Uh, but I just think we need to broaden the scope a little bit and put

[2:50:39] the challenge out to the developers and see if they can get creative and provide

[2:50:42] us with some options that maybe we haven't considered. Um, so if you can

[2:50:47] magician that a little bit, Margaret, I'd appreciate that. But that would be

[2:50:50] sort of the the gist of my uh my motion there. Thank you.

[2:50:59] » Um, until we get this motion on the floor, please uh we'll just

[2:51:22] Thank you, Rishop. I might just be a minute. I just wanted to confer with our

[2:51:25] director of development services to make sure that the wording would be

[2:51:28] » appropriate. I'm sorry. >> Do you want me to declare a two-minute

[2:51:33] recess? Well, why don't we do that? We've been

[2:51:37] at the table a long time here, so a two-minute recess. We'll reconvene at

[2:51:42] 3:51.

[2:51:47] 355.

[3:01:50] just having a little challenge reconvening this council but I think and

[3:01:55] then we did we gave us you gave us an inch we took a mile I'm sorry however uh

[3:02:00] I think we are ready to proceed and we've got a motion here uh moved by

[3:02:05] councelor for seconded by councelor and uh that the motion be amended by adding

[3:02:10] and or affordable housing options following development in clause one. So

[3:02:16] clause one then is going to read

[3:02:28] my apologies that's how it would read. It's a little bit tricky when it's in

[3:02:31] isolation. So that's um an example if it were to pass how it the main motion

[3:02:36] would read. But that's not how the main motion reads now with the red.

[3:02:40] » Is that agreeable to the mover and secondary?

[3:02:45] » Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. And through um for now, yeah, I think that sort of sums

[3:02:50] up what I what I was thinking initially, but I know um there likely be some

[3:02:54] comments from members around the table that would maybe help improve the

[3:02:58] wording if anybody has any ideas. Um, I know the wording is really tricky, but I

[3:03:01] think that is a very good starting point and I welcome everybody's input to see

[3:03:04] if there's um a good final product that we uh that we can all look at.

[3:03:08] » Okay. So, um

[3:03:12] other uh comments, suggestions that deputy may

[3:03:15] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'll I'll start it off and I'll just um uh I

[3:03:20] appreciate the intent and I'm fine with that. I think my concern is the word

[3:03:24] affordable because we don't have an actual definition in me for what is

[3:03:30] considered affordable. We know it's 30% of someone's income, but that doesn't

[3:03:35] necessarily give us a dollar amount to again define uh what we're looking for

[3:03:41] here. So, I'm looking for um other wording which I think council can help

[3:03:47] us with um that would replace the word affordable.

[3:03:52] So you >> here, Mr. Mayor. Um I was thinking

[3:03:56] something along the lines of saying um costefficient

[3:04:00] uh housing options or housing models and then in uh the request

[3:04:06] um essentially explain that we'd like to see um you know a a a good balance uh of

[3:04:13] final cost and cost per square foot. Um, and then that sort of I think still

[3:04:22] probably guides towards uh a tiny home um option. Um, and I'm sure there there

[3:04:29] will be a lot of really really great uh great great offerings. Um, but then it

[3:04:33] also allows for um other other ideas to come in uh that still serve as sort of

[3:04:39] the the overarching goal.

[3:04:46] Go ahead. >> Just to clarify, so the motion that

[3:04:49] councelor Ford would then be bringing instead to to clarify the wording. I

[3:04:54] there are two ways we could do this, but if if you're tableabling the motion

[3:04:57] right now, it would be andor coste effective housing options rather than

[3:05:03] andor affordable housing options is what you'd like. The alternative is of course

[3:05:07] to vote on this one. We vote it down and then we have another motion. to to go

[3:05:12] ahead if that's what you're wanting to work on.

[3:05:16] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And if I if I may, yes, I like um the wording from

[3:05:19] councelor Anis, but I think it's it's smarter wording to use than using the

[3:05:23] the term affordable. >> Okay.

[3:05:25] » Thank you. I just go on record that I would be uh

[3:05:30] you know um much more inclined to uh consider a motion down the road to uh u

[3:05:36] uh make a a similar call for truly affordable housing in Meford where we

[3:05:41] would perhaps uh we we do have a a pretty considerable surplus of land in

[3:05:46] the community and we could uh perhaps designate a more suitable parcel and

[3:05:51] offer it for truly affordable housing. Uh I just don't want to chase um uh tiny

[3:05:57] home uh builders away from uh the proposal that we're making at this

[3:06:03] point. That that's my concern about uh this

[3:06:11] um at least CEO Everett, you maybe have some thoughts to help us through this?

[3:06:16] » Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um and again, the direction I think is is fine. and it

[3:06:21] gives staff all the guidance that they require. I think one of the pieces that

[3:06:26] I just want to be mindful of that included in an RFI is identifying how

[3:06:33] the long-term affordability criter

[3:06:42] is with affordable housing in my opinion is real estate. Real estate is a free

[3:06:48] market. It only is affordable at the first purchase

[3:06:53] that you can turn it over and make double your money. So there has to be

[3:06:58] the element within any development agreement that they have to prove how

[3:07:03] how the the unit how the property is going to continue to be within that

[3:07:09] affordable criteria. That's the only way this works. Um or else, you know, the

[3:07:15] developer, whoever is they they may be in at a certain level, but it's that new

[3:07:22] homeowner who flips it who gets [clears throat] to make the money. And

[3:07:25] and that's where typically these things fall off the rail. There are ways of

[3:07:30] doing it. The question is whether or not the industry wants to go down that road

[3:07:35] because there isn't necessarily the money that they would make at the end of

[3:07:39] the rainbow. But if it's truly about, you know, making these units attainable

[3:07:44] or affordable or whatever the word we want to use, having that mechanism in

[3:07:49] place part of the RFI is incredibly important so they know what the rules of

[3:07:53] the game are going in. Thank you, >> Deputy Mayor.

[3:07:58] » Uh, thank you very much, Mr. mayor and I completely agree with what our CEO is

[3:08:01] saying and I'm wondering to that intent do we also need um at this point in time

[3:08:08] to include in the RFI any incentives that might be on the table through our

[3:08:14] CIP um because you know that the side of

[3:08:19] this the financial side of this is critically important and so I think

[3:08:23] that's a question developers are going to come back with you know what what

[3:08:27] skin are we going to have in the name, so to speak. So, what's in our CIP that

[3:08:32] could assist in keeping these homes? I know we're going to use the word

[3:08:36] affordable even though we're talking about doing this in a different way, but

[3:08:41] I think we all understand in our minds where we're trying to get to here is

[3:08:45] that yeah, we want these price points to be doable for for people who are looking

[3:08:50] for this minimalistic type of living and we want them to stay that way. So I

[3:08:55] think that's generally how it works is that the municipality participates in

[3:08:59] some fashion. So director Ken, what's in our CIP that could support this

[3:09:06] through your worship? I'm happy to answer that question. So there's a few

[3:09:10] ways uh to look at this. thinking of our our new uh CIP that unfortunately is

[3:09:16] currently under appeal, but thinking of when the CIP does come into force, um it

[3:09:23] would be uh an option under the CIP for council to be able to offer lands uh at

[3:09:30] a discount or for free um if that if that is um of interest to council. Um

[3:09:37] otherwise there are other incentive programs that could be offered to the

[3:09:41] developer. Um if for example um the units constructed were for purpose-built

[3:09:47] rental um then there are incentives uh available there are um planning and

[3:09:52] building uh application fee uh rebates and that kind of thing. So um depending

[3:09:58] on how we wanted to look at it um and on exactly the type of of development that

[3:10:05] is before us ultimately um the CIP uh once it comes into force would

[3:10:10] definitely be available um for uh the developer or council to use um to sort

[3:10:18] of bolster this financially. So hope that helps.

[3:10:25] So um are we going to alter this clause uh as uh the mover and secondary have

[3:10:31] asked? >> Um

[3:10:36] your worship it has been um it has been updated to what councelor Ford would

[3:10:40] like to have as the motion for the amending

[3:10:45] clause. >> So and or cost effective housing

[3:10:48] options. >> Okay. All right. Uh, is there any more

[3:10:51] discussion or can we vote on this motion?

[3:10:56] And I will call the vote. All in favor? And that is uh

[3:11:03] unanimous.

[3:11:07] Um, so let's uh come back to pardon. Yeah,

[3:11:12] we have to go back to the original here. And uh we've

[3:11:16] um and it's already on the floor. We but

[3:11:21] we've added this to it. So I just call a vote on this as it was worded now.

[3:11:26] Correct. >> I I would say uh if if there are no

[3:11:30] other changes to this motion, then it would be appropriate to um to have the

[3:11:35] vote on the final main motion. Thank you.

[3:11:37] » And I don't see any discussion on that. So let's go ahead and vote. All in

[3:11:41] favor? and any opposed. So that is carried

[3:11:45] unanimously and thank you everyone. [clears throat] I hope everyone is you

[3:11:48] know satisfied with that. Um the next uh item is uh uh with director

[3:11:57] Peridge Mabid here uh the recommendation that committee of the whole recommend

[3:12:01] council of the municipality of meford one direct staff to bring forward a

[3:12:06] bylaw to implement a 40 km speed limit on municipal roads in urban meford. Two,

[3:12:12] request the county of Gray to consider implementing a 40 kilometer speed limit

[3:12:16] on Grey Road 7 from Psych Street South to Mir Street. And three, authorize the

[3:12:22] treasurer to transfer $40,500 from the roads, street lights, and

[3:12:27] drainage reserve fund to fund signage and communications. Can I have a mover

[3:12:31] and second for this? Councelor Fer and Councelor Greenfield.

[3:12:36] Thank you. Um, discussion on this. Um this uh did you wish to speak to it

[3:12:43] Tori? >> Um through your worship I'd be happy to.

[3:12:47] Um through our transportation master plan um it did provide a recommendation

[3:12:53] to bring forward to council um a 40 km hour speed limit in our urban

[3:12:59] boundaries. Um the there were changes to um the Highway Traffic Act in 2017 that

[3:13:08] allow for municipalities to establish an entire area uh at a speed limit of less

[3:13:14] than 50 km an hour. Um previously you would have had to have signed all the

[3:13:18] roads within those areas and now you can create these gateway speed limit signage

[3:13:23] that um uh allow for that lower speed limit within uh larger areas. without

[3:13:30] the additional signage. And so municipalities have been looking to

[3:13:34] reduce speed limits in some of their urban areas through this new um ability

[3:13:38] through the highway traffic act. Um and so with that recommendation in the

[3:13:42] transportation master plan um we wanted to bring it forward to council um to see

[3:13:47] if there was appetite to complete this within our urban area. Um, as a part of

[3:13:54] the report, we've also identified some alternative options. Um, and those

[3:13:58] included some things that could be done alongside this reduction as well as um

[3:14:03] items that could be done instead of it. And so, um, we could look at adding as

[3:14:08] well um those um reduced speed limits in our rural settlement areas in

[3:14:13] conjunction with the urban area. Um, instead of doing this, we can continue

[3:14:17] to look at specific speed limit reductions. Um and alongside it

[3:14:21] obviously there's always the ability to complete traffic calming um as it helps

[3:14:26] with more of the enforcement of the change speed limits. Um and so staff

[3:14:33] have identified um the cost of the signage as well as a communications plan

[3:14:38] um if uh council wishes to proceed with the implementation of this. Um and we

[3:14:43] estimated it would cost about um $40,000 um and feel that it would um provide

[3:14:50] great benefit from a safety perspective as there have been many studies that

[3:14:54] have shown that reducing the speed limit even that 10 km an hour um provides a a

[3:14:59] significant um decrease in um fatalities on our roadways.

[3:15:05] » Thank you very much. Um, comments or questions on this?

[3:15:11] Deputy Mayor. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, and I

[3:15:15] appreciate Director Perry May bringing this forward to us because we all hear

[3:15:19] about speeding every day. We're hearing about this issue, not just in Mayford,

[3:15:22] it's in the county. It's everywhere. People just can't seem to slow down

[3:15:26] these days. So, um, but from what I'm hearing in the community, you know,

[3:15:31] lowering to 40 is great, but what's going to happen to enforce it? If this

[3:15:35] is not enforced, then people are still going to drive at whatever speed they

[3:15:39] normally do. So, I just want to understand if there's been conversation

[3:15:44] at this point with the OP, you know, if council agrees to do that, can we count

[3:15:48] on them to have a presence in our urban area to make sure that people understand

[3:15:54] that we mean business moving to 40

[3:15:58] through your worship. I have reached out to the OP but haven't received comment

[3:16:02] to date with regards to this program. Um I also didn't mention I have reached out

[3:16:06] to the county and the MTO as well. Um and um depending on council's wishes,

[3:16:12] there's potential appetite to comm to to change speed limits within their

[3:16:16] roadways as well. Um obviously we're we are recommending that the school zone u

[3:16:22] mimic the municipal roadways. Um but there is an ability to to ask for

[3:16:26] additional they would review it on their end and and we wouldn't necessarily be

[3:16:30] able to provide any more input on that. Um but to date there hasn't been

[3:16:34] additional input from the OP. I do know in the past when um we have implemented

[3:16:42] um specific areas that are community safety zones, the OP did identify that

[3:16:48] um having those varied speed limits all over the the urban area um wasn't they

[3:16:55] weren't able to enforce because some areas were would have been 40 and some

[3:16:59] of them would have been 50. Um, and so I um I hope that they do provi to provide

[3:17:08] us some input because it would be helpful to understand if the blanketed

[3:17:11] um 40 is more helpful for them to enforce um than um lo varying locations

[3:17:17] throughout the municipality. >> Council,

[3:17:22] thank you, Mr. Mayor. As much as it would be a nice thought to

[3:17:26] think that I'm I'm just gonna and I'll bring it up at the next OP board

[3:17:30] meeting, but I'm going to say the likelihood of them actually sitting in

[3:17:34] Meford and enforcing it would be pretty minimal at best. They have to cover a

[3:17:40] very large area with a very limited amount of officers. And the real reality

[3:17:45] is every municipality would love to have the police sitting in their community

[3:17:49] just sitting there watching for speeders. The reality is that's probably

[3:17:53] not very likely. So they are, as Tori has said, they're they're hoping um and

[3:17:59] they will have obviously spot availability, but they're hoping that

[3:18:03] lowering speed limits is a responsibility and you will get X amount

[3:18:07] of the population that aders and you know that you're going to get X that

[3:18:10] doesn't and you you kind of work around that. I do like the idea of other caling

[3:18:15] measures in areas that we know are concerning um because that is again

[3:18:20] something that they also recommend um at those meetings um as ways to try and

[3:18:25] help curb um constant speeding areas of problems. So, but I will bring it up at

[3:18:31] next OP board meeting and ask as well. But yeah, past conversations don't lead

[3:18:35] towards that. >> Councelor Bell.

[3:18:40] » Thanks, Mr. Mayor. sort of put a point on this. I'm really not interested in

[3:18:43] dropping the speed limit at all. I think we've seen that this council has uh

[3:18:48] heard from neighborhoods like Ridge Road in particular. They came, they talked

[3:18:53] and uh council moved to do a reduction in that particular area. The report says

[3:18:59] that even when you do something like that, the traffic flow basically is the

[3:19:03] same. But uh I certainly I certainly just don't want to see us just do a

[3:19:08] blanket statement that you're going to slow right down when you come into the

[3:19:12] town of Meford. And then more than that, a recommendation to go out, you take a

[3:19:17] look at Annen. You go out to Annen and you're there and you're going over the

[3:19:20] hill and you're heading down to Le and it's 80 km an hour and you're going to

[3:19:23] change that to that. They're not going to like that for a minute. And then out

[3:19:27] at Woodford up at the going around that, you're going to be in trouble. And then

[3:19:32] the little spot that's just outside of that, I'm not going for that. And I'm

[3:19:35] not going to do the one down in Bogner either. They're out at Rockford. So, as

[3:19:39] far as dropping the speed limits down to 40 kilometers an hour,

[3:19:44] I'm just not interested in doing that. If people want to come and tell us that

[3:19:48] their roads a problem, I'll entertain the conversation then.

[3:19:53] » Councelor at least deputy mayor. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And just uh to

[3:19:57] councelor Bell's comments. I think the more we have some at 40 and some at 50,

[3:20:01] then there's confusion out there as drivers may not be paying really close

[3:20:06] attention to, you know, which road they're on. But we've heard about

[3:20:09] Bayfield several times and the concern around the new splash pad and the little

[3:20:14] beach that we need to undertake some traffic calming measures there and one

[3:20:18] of those would be a reduction in speed and I do believe at some point other

[3:20:22] trafficcoming measures are coming for that particular section. Um but just in

[3:20:27] respect to Bogner um at the Bogner board meeting last week, I did bring forward

[3:20:32] uh the mention that this report was coming up before council and the members

[3:20:36] of the board suggested that they would like to see the speed limit drop to 40

[3:20:40] in that urban section of Bogner where kids are going back and forth between

[3:20:44] the community center and the uh ballpark. So, I think we're going to get

[3:20:48] different answers from uh different members of the community, but I I would

[3:20:52] like to ask Tori then when you have that conversation with the OP and and the

[3:20:57] same with councelor Urick if if that information could come back to council

[3:21:01] to uh to help us understand their willingness in uh in supporting if this

[3:21:07] passes the uh reduction to 40. I think you know if it goes to 40 at least then

[3:21:12] it's clear that that's what it is all over town not just on some roads because

[3:21:17] you're right on ridge you know I guess the hope always is if the speed limit is

[3:21:22] 50 you know that they're drive 60 if it's 50 they'll drive you know if it's

[3:21:27] 40 they'll drive 50 I mean that's kind of typically how people drive so at

[3:21:31] least you slow it down potentially a little bit but uh anyway I'll leave that

[3:21:36] with you Tori to let us know when you get a response

[3:21:39] Councelor Porter. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And through you,

[3:21:44] um I kind of look at it like um a pound an ounce of prevention is better than a

[3:21:49] pound of cure. And if this is an initiative that can make um our road

[3:21:54] safer and if it could even save one life, um I would just hate for there to

[3:21:58] be an instance where we had an opportunity to make our road safer by

[3:22:01] reducing the speed and then there was a tragic event and then we have to live

[3:22:05] with that. Um, I agree not everybody's going to follow the speed limit, but to

[3:22:09] the deputy mayor's, um, point is that if you lower it, um, it will hopefully

[3:22:13] bring down the average speed that, uh, people are traveling on. But there are

[3:22:17] statistics that do back this up that if you reduce from 50 to 40, risk of

[3:22:21] pedestrian death is decreased by 35%. Um, and so I I I'm in favor of this. If

[3:22:27] it can save one person's life, um, that's to me that's that's a step in the

[3:22:31] right direction. Community safety is something we should take very seriously

[3:22:35] and I would hate to be in a reactive situation where we had a chance to do

[3:22:38] something and something bad happened. Um, so I'll I'll be in favor of this

[3:22:42] one. Thank you, >> Councor Greenfield.

[3:22:44] » Thank you, Worship. Um, I'm in favor of uh dropping the speed limit in the

[3:22:49] settlement areas uh down to 40. Um the the only one that we can do

[3:22:58] individually would be Woodford. Uh since all the others involve county roads that

[3:23:03] would be up up to the county. Uh and I was actually wondering about not today

[3:23:11] necessarily but in the future uh introducing another area and that is

[3:23:17] that's in a a hamlet that we no longer call a hamlet but I still think of as a

[3:23:23] hamlet and that's Gersville. And as you turn off County Road 7 and go east on

[3:23:28] Gersville there are just quite a number of residential uh uh dwellings there.

[3:23:34] And uh uh I I think that would perhaps be another place in the future. But I no

[3:23:43] uh I I think the uh uh in conversation recently with some good folks out at

[3:23:50] Leaf they uh they suggested and and this pertain to the Beayshore road uh that

[3:23:57] the speed limit on it should be 40 kilometers. So, I' uh um I'd like to see

[3:24:04] it dropped. Uh yes, it's going to involve enforcement. Uh like any any and

[3:24:10] all other enforcement, I think we'll do the best job we can, but uh uh as the

[3:24:16] deputy mayor says, uh you know, 60 means 50. 70 means 60. So, there is some

[3:24:23] benefit. I'm definitely voting in favor of this

[3:24:26] motion for the simple reason that uh I could give you a list as long as my arm

[3:24:30] of the uh municipalities that are um agitating to have the speed limit

[3:24:35] lowered. U there's you know Leath is just one of many and I think that uh

[3:24:41] this is um the it we'll just be faced with peacemealing this you know over and

[3:24:48] over and over again. So that's that's my reason for supporting it anyway. And and

[3:24:52] I I also subscribe to councelor Ford's idea. Those statistics are pretty

[3:24:59] compelling. Uh how much safer uh pedestrians and people in automobiles

[3:25:05] are uh when the speed limit is 40 versus 50 in um in in the builtup areas.

[3:25:13] Councelor Andis. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. just um I

[3:25:18] appreciate the [clears throat] spec uh statistics on how changing the speed

[3:25:23] affects um rates of of of incidences. I'm just curious though if we have data

[3:25:30] on how unsafe our roads actually are. Um cuz I I feel like I'm just voting to

[3:25:38] reduce a number, but for all I know, it could be very minimal anyway. And I uh

[3:25:43] agree that um you know saving even one life um is uh you know desirable but um

[3:25:50] I just I I would like to know that background

[3:25:58] » um through your worship. I guess safety on roads can be measured through many

[3:26:03] different um

[3:26:06] metrics. Um, I did review our current um, average speed and 85th percentile

[3:26:14] speeds on our urban roadways um, as I was preparing this report. And it was

[3:26:19] actually really interesting to see that a majority of our roads um, already have

[3:26:25] speeds below 50 kilometers an hour and so this change of speed limit might

[3:26:30] actually be more in tune to what people are actually traveling on the roads. Um

[3:26:34] however there are locations where we do get residents identifying um on a

[3:26:39] regular basis concerns with speeds and two of the ones that we have in recent

[3:26:43] years made changes to our Miller Street and Pearson and Ridge Road um which

[3:26:47] we've dropped to that 40 km an hour. Um through our traffic count data, we have

[3:26:52] seen um slight reductions in average speed in those two locations because of

[3:26:57] the um the items that were done on those two roads. both um some traffic calming

[3:27:03] as as well as that reduction in speed. Um and so um again it it it varies. Um

[3:27:14] we

[3:27:17] additional data was requested from council. We can definitely look into

[3:27:20] other avenues of assessing safety on our roadways. Um but it from looking at

[3:27:28] other municipalities um you know and as kind of discussed here um that if the

[3:27:33] speed uh is reduced or the speed limits reduced you know um on average

[3:27:39] municipalities are seeing those reduction in speeds overall and so um I

[3:27:46] don't see why we wouldn't see similar trends that other municipalities are

[3:27:50] seeing um which then lend to those um statistics that are identified in the

[3:27:54] report. >> Council Randis,

[3:27:57] » it's a followup. Thank you. Um then I'm I'm wondering also if there's a comment

[3:28:01] on um how changing the speeds like this would affect traffic flow. Um cuz it's

[3:28:08] things are going to get busier over time and so if we make a a step now that's

[3:28:11] going to change the speed essentially forever uh you know functionally um what

[3:28:16] what the impacts of that could be. And just thinking about residents who

[3:28:21] comment on speed. I know a lot of people personally who will comment on everybody

[3:28:25] blowing by their house and you know say oh my road is in a raceway and then get

[3:28:29] in a car and speed past somebody else's house. So I don't like I appreciate

[3:28:35] their concerns and there are some roads that are you know the way they're built

[3:28:38] and designed lends itself to people kind of ripping through like I think Ridge is

[3:28:42] a great example. Bayfield is kind of an interesting example because I feel like

[3:28:46] most people on Bayfield aren't looking at the road, they're looking at the

[3:28:49] water, which you know, slower speeds probably good for that. Um, but for the

[3:28:54] most part, I feel like everything's pretty safe.

[3:28:58] So, I don't see a need to reduce it just because.

[3:29:03] Um, but I'm also cognizant of, you know, we'll obviously feel terrible if we

[3:29:07] don't do it in something it was something preventable. So, I I don't

[3:29:10] know. I just I feel like I need a a better sense of that side of this the

[3:29:13] equation before I would feel comfortable um just deciding right now to change all

[3:29:18] the speed limits. >> Tori, please.

[3:29:22] » Um through your worship to speak to um traffic flow. Um

[3:29:28] Miller Street is one of our busiest um municipal roadways within the

[3:29:33] municipality. Um, and there has been no change in traffic flow when we've

[3:29:39] reduced the speed limit to um from 50 km an hour to 40. There there I I'm not

[3:29:45] aware of any any changes to or like issues that that created. Um, Pearson

[3:29:50] and Ridge is another really good example. Um it also has a higher traffic

[3:29:54] flow in comparison to a lot of our uh municipal roads and again there's been

[3:29:58] no um traffic concerns identified with regards to um flow or or the amount of

[3:30:03] traffic that we're now seeing. Um and those um the amount of vehicles on those

[3:30:08] roads have also continued to um increase over time and again the the change in

[3:30:15] speed limit hasn't affected how the the flow of the traffic is occurring on

[3:30:18] those roads. So using those two as an example within our own municipality, I

[3:30:22] don't see that the the roads that would have less flow would be of concern. Um

[3:30:27] and this is part of the reason why staff have identified keeping those arterial

[3:30:31] roads. So both um Nelson Street as well as Highway uh Psych Street, Highway 26

[3:30:37] at that 50 km an hour. Um so that you know those are and designed to be higher

[3:30:44] flow uh roads and and accept more traffic and so to keep those at the 50

[3:30:49] kmter an hour so that um cars can still um travel um through our municipality

[3:30:55] and and through downtown Meford and not experience any negative um impacts um

[3:31:01] due to changes but then on our on our less on our lower volume roads um have

[3:31:07] have that reduction in speed. Councelor Yuri.

[3:31:10] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, councelor Andis, just maybe help you a little bit.

[3:31:14] Statistically, the OP 25 annual report last year, uh, in 2023 there were four,

[3:31:20] 2024 there were nine. In 2025, there were 11 fatalities. So, that's all of

[3:31:25] Gray Bruce area. So, are we a high high area of, you know, literally fatalities?

[3:31:33] No. Having said that speeding in 2023 there were 2004

[3:31:38] uh issued uh 2024 1936 25 1927 it's coming down and they do attribute that

[3:31:45] as well to a more coverage by OP uh more actual more actual OP coverage but again

[3:31:53] they do say that yes reducing speed is helping in that factor because be the

[3:31:58] more you can make aware the more people actually do somewhat so if you can get a

[3:32:03] percentage slowing down contributes to the overall. So, take those stats for

[3:32:08] what it's worth. >> Councelor Andis,

[3:32:11] » thank you. Um, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, to councelor Yurig, just wondering then,

[3:32:15] um, are are those stats applied to like urban settlement areas or are they just

[3:32:21] across the counties? Okay.

[3:32:26] » Um, I'm going to call the vote if people are ready. Um all in favor

[3:32:34] opposed. Well, that is a 5 to2 vote. Uh thank you

[3:32:39] very much. Now um we have a planning public meeting coming up at 5:00 p.m.

[3:32:46] this afternoon and uh our council chambers are already beginning

[3:32:51] to fill for that meeting. So I'm going to uh temporarily adjourn. Uh go ahead

[3:32:57] tell us what we should be doing. >> Thank you. I was just going to comment

[3:33:00] that it might be an appropriate time for a motion to extend the proceedings

[3:33:04] because typically we have a 3 and 1 half hour and it's 4:30 now. So, we'll have a

[3:33:07] motion to extend and then if if council wants to continue or take a recess prior

[3:33:12] to the 5:00, we'll reorganize the agenda to move the planning public meeting up

[3:33:17] for when uh the 5:00 because we are in the middle of the the regular council

[3:33:21] meeting. >> You want to bear on, right?

[3:33:23] » So, no, sorry. My first my first item would be uh if we could have a motion to

[3:33:27] extend the meeting that would be great and then um it's sort of council's wish

[3:33:32] if we want to work through one more report or if we want uh if council

[3:33:36] wishes to take a 25minut uh break then that might be appropriate as well to let

[3:33:41] people come in. There are actually three items uh left on the con on the uh

[3:33:46] committee of the whole agenda and they are pretty u um they're not

[3:33:51] controversial and I imagine we could uh you know cover that before we adjourned.

[3:33:56] So uh let's uh do that but I need a motion to uh continue beyond uh 4:30

[3:34:00] this afternoon. Uh councelor Urick and councelor Greenfield all in favor.

[3:34:06] Any opposed? That is carried unanimously and we'll move on to u um legislative

[3:34:12] services. Um sorry

[3:34:17] uh item G which is an award report is the next one on uh the index.

[3:34:25] » Oh right. Okay. Um [laughter] the way it is uh presented here it looks

[3:34:31] like uh it's the uh the report we just passed proposed speed limit is in caps

[3:34:37] right above it. Sorry. So then uh four items and this one again is not I don't

[3:34:42] think contentious. The recommendation is uh that committee of the whole recommend

[3:34:46] council of the municipality of meford approve the award of tender uh

[3:34:52] transportation 2026-16 supply and delivery of various fuel and

[3:34:57] oil products to 9412401 heating limited um that's Brian's fuel

[3:35:05] at a tendered cost of $2,791,387

[3:35:10] including the municipality's non-ref refundable allocation of HST over a

[3:35:16] 5-year agreement and to authorize the Marin clerk to enter into the necessary

[3:35:20] agreement. Can I have a mover and second councelor Bell and Councelor Greenfield?

[3:35:25] Thank you. Um, does anyone wish to speak to this from

[3:35:31] staff? Tori, >> through your worship. Thank you. Um,

[3:35:36] this is a standard award report for us to proceed with um a new fuel contract.

[3:35:41] Um just some key things to note. Um while we only received one bid, um we do

[3:35:49] feel that it is quite competitive in reviewing the last um uh tendering

[3:35:54] process. Um we did when we did receive multiple bids. Um the successful bid was

[3:36:02] 2 cents under rack rate while this bid is um between seven and 9 cents below

[3:36:07] rack rate. So it will reduce what we're currently spending. um which we see

[3:36:11] quite favorable. Um the other benefit is we won't need to transition any of the

[3:36:16] existing infrastructure we have with um Brian's fuel. So there's benefit as well

[3:36:22] to have that continuity. Um um but otherwise if you Oh, the only other

[3:36:27] thing I did want to note is while this um is presented in yearly costs, it's

[3:36:32] very much based on what fuel prices are. And so everything is based on rack rate.

[3:36:39] um in May when this went out as a tender um the rack rate was higher than what

[3:36:44] we're seeing today. I looked at to see and I have as I was preparing this

[3:36:48] report and so for example um the regular fuel rack rate today is um $125 is what

[3:36:56] and but in the um tendering process it was identified as an example at $147. So

[3:37:02] um obviously we know things right now are going up and down um with what is

[3:37:08] happening around the world um but um these specific um bigger um bucket items

[3:37:16] per year um doesn't mean that we'll actually spend that. It will change with

[3:37:21] what the industry costs are. >> Councelor Greenfield.

[3:37:26] » Thanks your thank you through you to Victoria. Uh

[3:37:31] thanks. I I'm wondering a couple of things. First of all, uh is the turmoil

[3:37:39] uh in the Middle East. Uh one of the reasons why we only got one bid, could

[3:37:45] that be a factor on that? And I guess the other reason is is is this

[3:37:51] absolutely fixed rate? Is is there are there any straight of door moves

[3:37:56] conditions involved in this or is this going to be the the five-year number

[3:38:03] » through your worship? Um there's a potential that the uncertainty in the

[3:38:08] industry is why we only received one um bid, but um obviously we um don't know

[3:38:16] if that that is the the reason. Um the um so the contract is set up that the

[3:38:22] the rate we pay is based on the Toronto rack rate. So yes, whatever happens um

[3:38:28] with pricing um in for for fuel in based in Toronto um that is the price we pay.

[3:38:35] And so um depending on if fuel costs increase or decrease, this contract will

[3:38:40] increase and decrease with those. And as I had stated um as of today, those costs

[3:38:46] are actually lower than what we tendered this out as. So if we were to have

[3:38:49] tendered this today, this report would have looked slightly different with

[3:38:51] slightly lower costs. Um but we all know that there's uncertainties around this

[3:38:56] as of right now. Um but this is how these are set up is that yes, it is

[3:39:00] based on um the fluctuating costs. Um and what we will be spending is um that

[3:39:06] 7 to 9 cents below what those costs are. um whereas in our current contract we

[3:39:12] were spending two cents below what those costs are. So regardless of those costs

[3:39:17] we will be seeing a cost savings between the last contract and this contract

[3:39:25] » councelor for thank you Mr. Mayor and through you and I guess this would be to

[3:39:29] Tori. Um so the prices um that are provided here below the Toronto rack

[3:39:34] rate does that represent the complete delivered price or are there other

[3:39:38] charges like fees fuel search charges is is that an all-in price or

[3:39:44] » um through worship that this is the all-in price that we would be seeing um

[3:39:48] on our invoices. >> Yes.

[3:39:52] » Uh thank you Mr. Mayor for indulging me. And so obviously this contract does have

[3:39:56] the option to extend for five one-year uh terms. Um is that something after the

[3:40:02] 5 years that would come back to council or who has the authority to extend that?

[3:40:10] » Um depending on the price, but yes, this price is

[3:40:15] it because of the price of this it would be coming to council because it's over

[3:40:18] that threshold of the $200,000. Any

[3:40:24] other questions? Going to call a vote. All in favor? Any

[3:40:28] opposed? So as carried unanimously. Thank you. Um the next item is um

[3:40:36] uh for legislative services. The recommendation is that uh the

[3:40:41] committee of a whole recommend council of the municipality of Meford one enact

[3:40:45] a bylaw to adopt a policy governance framework and two direct staff to

[3:40:50] undertake a review of the municipality's existing policies and bring forward a

[3:40:54] policy inventory and review schedule for council's consideration as outlined in

[3:41:00] report legislative services 2026-09. mover in a second, please. Councelor, at

[3:41:06] least deputy mayor and councelor Bell. Um,

[3:41:11] do you wish to speak to that? Uh, clerk. >> Thank you, your worship. I I think

[3:41:16] probably Allison and I are prepared to take any questions. I just want to

[3:41:19] comment that probably this is the clerkiest clerk report ever to have a

[3:41:23] policy of policies. So, if if uh there are any questions, we're happy to take

[3:41:27] them. Thank you. >> Okay.

[3:41:30] So, you you'll take our questions. Okay. Uh so councelor Bell.

[3:41:35] » Thank you Mr. Mayor. So um the background uh comments the very first

[3:41:42] paragraph when I read this I have to ask the

[3:41:46] question has this council been doing something which staff feels is improper

[3:41:50] because we got reminded what the municipal act says about council making

[3:41:54] the decisions and staff implementing those decisions and I believe that we

[3:41:59] have been doing that going down and reading it further that says we've got

[3:42:03] policies that we're doing that are not right that we need to review them. I'm

[3:42:08] just interested as why why was the municipal act quoted on the

[3:42:13] responsibilities of roles and responsibilities of council and staff if

[3:42:18] what we're really doing is saying we've got some policies that simply need to be

[3:42:22] reviewed. I just didn't know why we were reminded of our duty.

[3:42:30] » Thank you for the question and through you Mr. Mayor. Um I would note that the

[3:42:34] background of course serves as background not only to council but to

[3:42:37] the public and to anyone else that might be reading the report. And so while of

[3:42:41] course council is well apprised of their role um as it comes to the division of

[3:42:45] responsibility that maybe is not so obvious to the casual reader or follower

[3:42:49] of council agendas. Um the other piece that I'll note is that um the the idea

[3:42:54] of a policy governance policy is to really lay out in plain terms how we are

[3:43:00] working to move our policy aims forward. And so having that background and having

[3:43:04] the ability to say this is why and this is really the legislated root of why

[3:43:09] we're making our decisions this way um is the reason that you see that

[3:43:13] citation. Um the reference a little bit further on to the policy cleanup that

[3:43:18] needs to be done um is specific both to the policies that have been before

[3:43:23] council. And so I would say there are policies that are on the books now that

[3:43:27] council has adopted by bylaw that perhaps do live in the role of staff and

[3:43:31] that's on staff. Council didn't pull those out of their own hat, right? Staff

[3:43:35] presented them to them to um to adopt. And so what we want to do is just take a

[3:43:39] full a wholesome look at all of the policies that exist currently and make

[3:43:43] sure that we've put them in the right bucket in the administrative bucket or

[3:43:46] the governance bucket and make sure that we are continuing to review those going

[3:43:50] forward so that we don't have policies on the books that are out ofd or

[3:43:54] inappropriate.

[3:43:57] » Other questions? Deputy mayor.

[3:44:01] » Um just two quick things if I may, Mr. Mayor. First of all, I'm pleased to see

[3:44:05] that our legislative department is able to bring this forward. It tells us that

[3:44:09] we've got, you know, staff in place, the capacity to undertake a project such as

[3:44:13] this because I'm sure it's something that kind of stayed on the edge of a

[3:44:16] desk for a while. So, that's very reassuring. But, um, from what you just

[3:44:20] told us, Allison, I'm wondering, are you also reviewing any, um, counselor

[3:44:25] motions that may not have seen, uh, themselves come to fruition at this

[3:44:30] point? and may some of those then fall into these categories where they will

[3:44:34] end up now being reviewed and and as you suggested land in the appropriate staff

[3:44:39] person's bucket. >> Thank you. And through the mayor, um I

[3:44:43] believe that is our intention that um prior to the end of this term of

[3:44:47] council, we will have a look at all of the outstanding counselor motions that

[3:44:50] have come forward um and we will report back to council about the disposition of

[3:44:55] those. So, does that actually belong in staff's bucket? Have we achieved it or

[3:44:59] is it still on someone's work plan and we're waiting to get there?

[3:45:03] » Okay, any other comments, questions? I'm going to call the vote. All in favor?

[3:45:09] Any opposed? And that is carried unanimously. Thank you, Allison.

[3:45:17] And we have one more here which is um the recommendation is uh that committee

[3:45:25] of the whole receive report legislative services 2026-10 access to information

[3:45:30] and privacy update. Mover and a seconder councelor and deputy mayor kiny um do

[3:45:39] you wish to speak to that one Allison? >> No thank you I'll just accept your

[3:45:44] questions if there are any. Are there any questions? It's pretty

[3:45:47] straightforward. All in favor? Any opposed? That's carried unanimously.

[3:45:54] And now, uh, we're going to hear, uh, from Deputy Mayor Keven on, uh, an

[3:45:59] update on County Council. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, county

[3:46:03] council last met on July the 9th. Uh, the agenda was on the shorter side. Um,

[3:46:10] and it began with a request from councelor McQueen to pull the minutes of

[3:46:15] the prior meeting for further discussion of the urban roads transfer report. Uh,

[3:46:20] staff had incorporated points raised by council at our last meeting and uh, I

[3:46:26] believe in terms of our own situation that uh, uh, to put it bluntly, it's as

[3:46:31] good as it's going to get. Um, Meford will now receive $2,453,431

[3:46:39] in transitional funding over the next 10 years for the two sections coming our

[3:46:44] way, which as we know was Grey Road 7 from Mir Street Highway 26 and Grey Road

[3:46:49] 12 from Gardener to Sykes. a bylaw um supporting uh the appointment

[3:46:56] of Sue Murray as acting treasurer and Garrett Reed as deputy treasurer uh was

[3:47:01] passed. Uh recently, Mary Lou Spicer, who's been with the county for 24 years

[3:47:07] in the finance department, has uh retired.

[3:47:10] A second bylaw is passed to adopt amendment 30 to the Gray County official

[3:47:15] plan affecting lands in Normandy Township in the municipality of West

[3:47:19] Gray, changing that zoning from agricultural to agricultural with

[3:47:23] exception and that will allow um residential lot creation.

[3:47:29] Manager of transportation Trevor Ryton presented a video to council and I

[3:47:33] wonder if this is something we could do. It was really quite wonderful. Um, and

[3:47:37] the video overviewed all of the completed capital projects uh from 2025

[3:47:42] and they included 5 kilometers in Southgate, 5.3 km on Grey Road 14, 11.1

[3:47:49] km on Grey Road 2, 9.7 on Grey Road 25, 6.6 km on Grey Road 119, and 10 culbert

[3:47:58] replacements on Grey Road 30 at a total cost of $13 million. But it was just

[3:48:03] really great to see all of the work that had been done. Council heard the

[3:48:08] presentation of the 2025 audit completed by MNP. Uh the audit must be approved by

[3:48:14] council before the rep final report can be signed. The auditors found no

[3:48:18] deficiencies and provided a clear opinion on the county's financial

[3:48:22] position as of December the 31st, 2025. The next report brought an update to the

[3:48:28] Bruce Gay Duffren Wellington transit study. This regional working team is

[3:48:33] studying a unified transit plan for the four counties. This is the largest

[3:48:38] public transit collaboration currently underway in the province. It was decided

[3:48:42] that information would continue to be gathered over the summer with existing

[3:48:46] routes continuing during the study period uh along with the addition of the

[3:48:51] Owens Sound to Wyon route number five so people can get to Sabo Beach. Ridership

[3:48:56] and potential funding sources will be assessed with report coming to the new

[3:49:00] council to determine the next steps on public transit. The updated official

[3:49:05] plan for the settlement areas of Durham and Newad and the municipality of West

[3:49:09] Gray was adopted with staff stating the plan met requirements of the Gray County

[3:49:13] official plan and the provincial planning statement with the land use

[3:49:17] schedules conforming to both. The corporate financial update revealed a

[3:49:21] few deficits to budget such as an unexpected boiler favor. I'm sorry, a

[3:49:26] boiler failure at Sydnham campus and the unpredicted severity of our past winter

[3:49:31] season. The planning department at Gray County is also operating in a shortfall

[3:49:36] as we are in Meford with fewer than anticipated applications underway.

[3:49:42] Um, again, Councelor McQueen from Grey Highlands pulled a letter from the uh uh

[3:49:47] Grey Highlands to the county requesting support for consideration of physical

[3:49:51] traffic calming measures for the hamlet of Kimberly. So, this really fits in

[3:49:55] with what we were talking about earlier in in relation to speed reductions.

[3:50:00] After a very significant discussion, a motion was passed to have staff

[3:50:05] investigate options for physical traffic calming measures for all hamlets and

[3:50:10] builtup areas across Gray County, uh, not just those in Kimberly. So, I think

[3:50:14] this will benefit all of us. And as we know, speeding is a major problem

[3:50:19] everywhere. But we do hear that physical barriers such as what they have in Bruce

[3:50:23] County and areas like Terara actually make a difference in slowing drivers

[3:50:27] down. So I thought that might be a solution to consider for Bayfield

[3:50:30] Street. And Mr. Mayor, that's it, unless you wanted to add anything.

[3:50:35] » Not really. Um, is there any other uh boards or commissions to be heard from

[3:50:40] uh at this meeting? Okay. Then uh I am ready to entertain a

[3:50:45] motion to uh move out of committee of the whole.

[3:50:49] Councelor Yurig and councelor Greenfield. Thank you. Um and that would

[3:50:53] be at 4:49 p.m. And uh all in favor?

[3:51:00] Any opposed? That's there we are. So I think at this point uh we have a number

[3:51:07] of items that remain on the agenda for today and we're going to recess and uh

[3:51:12] come back to those items following the public planning meeting scheduled at

[3:51:16] 5:00 this afternoon. So um uh with that uh we will

[3:51:24] be >> yes we will we will recess until 5:00.

[4:02:34] I would invite anyone who is um attending the meeting tonight to come in

[4:02:38] and find a seat um and see if we have there are some seats at the front and

[4:02:44] some at the rear there.

[4:03:02] Yeah, there are some seats right at the very front on this side

[4:03:06] and some at the front here.

[4:03:13] Uh ple please come in and sit down if you're going to attend the meeting.

[4:03:18] There are some seats in the front there.

[4:04:17] Okay, it is slightly after 5:00 uh 502 and I want to welcome everyone and uh

[4:04:23] thank you for coming tonight. Uh this is a important uh uh public meeting and uh

[4:04:30] we are always pleased to see our gallery filled. Uh this meeting is to learn

[4:04:36] about a proposal to amend the land use planning permissions applying to certain

[4:04:41] lands in the municipality of Meford. Council is legally required to make

[4:04:46] decisions that conform to the county and local official plans. Our policies

[4:04:52] encourage us to reach out to community stakeholders to gather information. We

[4:04:57] have a variety of legal tools available to us that we can apply to development

[4:05:02] to help us manage change in a positive manner with as minimal an impact as

[4:05:07] possible. And your insights can be part of what forms or informs our direction.

[4:05:13] Those in attendance for today's meeting will have an opportunity to speak in

[4:05:18] person or remotely if pre-registered through Zoom. This meeting is not

[4:05:23] structured as a dialogue between speakers and the applicant. However, the

[4:05:28] applicant may take the opportunity to respond to comments toward the end of

[4:05:32] the meeting if they wish. Note that any uh or in many cases formulating

[4:05:37] responses actually may require staff to carry out research after the meeting on

[4:05:42] the matters raised and provide answers following the meeting or through their

[4:05:47] report to council. So, I'll call this uh uh today's public

[4:05:52] meeting to order. It's a public meeting to consider a zoning bylaw amendment for

[4:05:57] lands at 245690 Side Road 22 in Meford.

[4:06:03] This meeting is a mandatory part of the planning process which has been set out

[4:06:07] by the planning act. Based on the rules of the act, there must be at least 20

[4:06:12] days notice given to residents within 120 mters of the property. Notice of the

[4:06:18] zoning bylaw amendment was issued on June 23rd, 2026, giving the required 20

[4:06:23] days notice. So, first of all, I'm going to call on

[4:06:27] Helina Fashionado, planner at the municipality of Meford to give us a

[4:06:32] brief presentation about this application to provide us with any

[4:06:36] public and agency comments that have been received to date. Helena,

[4:06:41] » thank you. Through you, Mr. Mayor. >> Please move that microphone up really

[4:06:44] close. Can you hear me? >> Yes, that's much better. Perfect. Okay.

[4:06:48] So, this is a zoning bylaw amendment application for a temporary use

[4:06:53] extension. Um, so the purpose of this public meeting is to hear a presentation

[4:06:58] from planning staff with some of the details about the planning application.

[4:07:02] Uh, provide an opportunity for the applicant to speak on their behalf about

[4:07:06] their proposal and to provide a forum for the public to comment on this

[4:07:10] proposal.

[4:07:14] So here are some details about the proposal. Uh so on November 13, 2023,

[4:07:20] a bylaw 2823-70 was passed which reszoned a portion of

[4:07:25] the subject property to permit the following temporary uses. So a motor

[4:07:30] vehicle repair garage and accessory outdoor storage. So this temporary use

[4:07:35] was granted for a period of 3 years and it will expire on November 13th, 2026.

[4:07:41] So, November of this year, the applicant has requested an extension of the

[4:07:46] existing temporary use of the property for a further period of 3 years.

[4:07:53] And so, here on the screen is a little bit more detail of the bylaw that was

[4:07:57] approved uh coming up on 3 years ago. So, the temporary use is motor vehicle

[4:08:03] repair garage and outdoor uh storage accessory to the repair garage. Um the

[4:08:09] maximum amount of garage bays is two and the total permitted area of the

[4:08:14] temporary use is 4,200 uh square meters. The maximum number of

[4:08:20] vehicles on site to be serviced at one time is 10. And then an additional

[4:08:25] maximum number of parking spaces for customers and employees is 15.

[4:08:34] Um so the planning act legislative authority um so under the planning act

[4:08:40] section 39 a temporary use can be granted by a council of a m municipality

[4:08:46] um for any purpose is otherwise prohibit sorry prohibited by the zoning bylaw.

[4:08:52] Um, so a temporary use bylaw must define the area where the use can occur and be

[4:08:57] for a maximum of three years and council may grant further periods of not more

[4:09:02] than three years.

[4:09:07] So here are the subject lands on side road 22

[4:09:15] and it is in an agricultural area. The surrounding lands are predominantly

[4:09:19] agricultural with some residential and the lands are approximately 30

[4:09:24] hectares in area.

[4:09:29] So the county of gray official plan designates the lands as special

[4:09:33] agriculture and hazard lands and the permitted uses in this area are

[4:09:37] agricultural in nature. Um, and the county official plan, it's

[4:09:43] important to note that they only permit one extension of a temporary use bylaw.

[4:09:53] And then the MEF official plan mirrors those policies of the county. Uh, so the

[4:09:58] designation is special agricultural and environmental protection. Um, and the

[4:10:03] predominant use is agriculture and agricultural related uh uses.

[4:10:14] So here's a snippet of the zoning of the subject lands. Uh so it's special

[4:10:18] agriculture and environmental protection. And if you can see it on the

[4:10:22] screen, the black square or shape um is the permitted area for the temporary use

[4:10:29] on the property. And so the special agricultural area

[4:10:34] permits once again agricultural uses and those related uses um including home

[4:10:40] industries and a home industry use cannot include a home or sorry a motor

[4:10:46] vehicle repair shop. Um the proposed uses are also outside of the EP

[4:10:51] environmental protection area of the property.

[4:10:58] So the zoning requested um so a portion of the lands were reszoned from special

[4:11:03] agriculture to special agricultural with a temporary use. Um so it's limited to

[4:11:08] the area identified on the map. Um and it's limited to 3 years but could be

[4:11:13] extended on request which is what the applicant has done.

[4:11:20] And here is a sketch uh from the original temporary use uh proposal. Um

[4:11:27] so this is what the applicant would like to continue to use. Um so there's an

[4:11:31] existing drive shed on the property. Um and then they've proposed a parking area

[4:11:37] as well.

[4:11:44] So here is where we are in the application process. So we've received

[4:11:48] the application. um completed an initial review and deemed the application

[4:11:53] complete. Uh so we're now at the public meeting stage. Um so following this,

[4:11:58] we'll take all the information from council, from members of the public, the

[4:12:02] applicant. Um and we'll complete our review and provide a recommendation to

[4:12:06] council in a staff report. Um and it's important to note that to follow our

[4:12:12] prescribed timelines, we will be bringing an or a recommendation report

[4:12:16] to council on July 27th. Um so we ask any members of the public to provide

[4:12:22] comments um as soon as possible.

[4:12:29] So here's how to keep engaged in the process. Um so you can submit comments

[4:12:34] to planning me.ca. Um and you can also make a request in

[4:12:39] writing to planning@me.ca to be notified of the decision rendered.

[4:12:48] And so that concludes the end of the presentation. We have received some

[4:12:52] comments to date and I'll just summarize them now. Um so we have received

[4:12:56] comments from uh some members of the public. Um and they have been shared

[4:13:01] with council and will be addressed as part of the staff recommendation report.

[4:13:06] Um, and to summarize, some comments expressed concerns about the business

[4:13:09] using more of the site than permitted, operating outside of business hours, and

[4:13:14] not complying with planning policies and bylaws.

[4:13:18] Written comments were also received in support of the business and of the

[4:13:21] temporary use extension. And that's a summary of the comments

[4:13:25] received so far. Thank you. >> Thank you, Helina. [clears throat] I I

[4:13:30] understand the applicant John Bolsink is present today to speak about his

[4:13:35] application. Uh John, yeah, do you want to step up to the microphone at the

[4:13:40] podium there, please?

[4:13:50] » Good evening, mayor, deputy mayor, counselors,

[4:13:53] everybody here. It's uh great to see everybody.

[4:13:58] It's been three long years, I'm not going to lie, and it hasn't been

[4:14:03] very fun. Um, I didn't think I'd be here for three

[4:14:08] years. I was promised that within these three years I'd have a new building, and

[4:14:11] it has not happened. Um, we've had some struggles. We're working

[4:14:16] with the municipality diligently to try and work through, resolve, get a

[4:14:20] resolution for the problems. Um, but in the meantime, we require a little more

[4:14:25] time. um you know so that we can move forward and get the

[4:14:31] new building built. Um yeah, it's been hard for me. We have a

[4:14:37] lot of customers, a lot of people um to try and get

[4:14:41] customer service to give the quality service that we used to have with a

[4:14:44] smaller facility, smaller um footprint, all that kind of stuff. It's been really

[4:14:50] really difficult. You know, trying to follow all the rules

[4:14:53] and trying to follow everything has has been really, you know, it's been it's

[4:14:56] been really stressful and it's been really tough, but we're making it work.

[4:15:00] Um, you know, with everybody's support and

[4:15:03] help, it's been it's been pretty good. I mean, that's why that's why we do it. So

[4:15:07] many great people in me. It's it's pretty awesome.

[4:15:11] Um,

[4:15:15] with respect to the neighbors and everything else, I've been adamant to my

[4:15:19] staff to be respectful to all the neighbors and, you know, we tried our

[4:15:24] best to keep noise down. You know, I mean, it's not always easy. I mean, my

[4:15:30] customers, [clears throat] they just drop stuff off. I have no real control

[4:15:32] of a lot of stuff. Yeah, there's a few too many vehicles there.

[4:15:36] We have purchased a new facility in Owens sound and that's probably going to

[4:15:42] take quite a bit of heat off the meford one here. We have a lot of customers

[4:15:44] that come from over in Owens sound. So we're working really hard to get that up

[4:15:49] and going. That's probably going to be open in about two weeks.

[4:15:53] Still waiting on a few things to get going there. So

[4:15:57] we definitely don't have enough room where we are and I [clears throat] have

[4:16:00] my employees and they need some room to work. You know, we we support quite a

[4:16:04] few people. We support quite a few customers and people to give them the

[4:16:10] service that they require and the service that they want. I mean, we do a

[4:16:13] lot of different service in a lot of regular shops. I mean, we do a lot of

[4:16:16] repair. We do engine rebuilds, transmission rebuilds. Therefore,

[4:16:19] turnaround times on vehicles is a little longer than most. We're not just doing

[4:16:22] replacements. Um, you know, we do a wide variety of of

[4:16:27] things. And it's it's it's tough to try and satisfy everybody. It's tough to try

[4:16:30] and satisfy. You know,

[4:16:35] we need to make money. We need to get our shop built. I mean, there's been

[4:16:38] hurdles and we're getting through them. You

[4:16:42] know, one big hurdle was, you know, everybody thought my shop my my my old

[4:16:45] shop was contaminated. It all got dug up as if it was contaminated.

[4:16:49] In the end, it wasn't contaminated. Well, there's a big issue there. Um, you

[4:16:55] know, just because things are an automotive shop doesn't mean they're

[4:16:57] contaminating everything. I mean oil's oil is not not toxic. They actually put

[4:17:03] oil in in they put petroleum and fertilizer if you can believe that and

[4:17:07] it's spread on fields, you know. So, you know, we we do our best. If we have

[4:17:13] little spills from vehicles, we clean them up. We use oil dry, dispose of it.

[4:17:18] You know, we're busy. We're busy. We're busy working. It's hard to satisfy

[4:17:21] everybody. But, you know, as far as the tires go, there's been a big change in

[4:17:25] January as far as tire pickup and recycling. the government have stopped

[4:17:29] some funding on the recycling. I spoke with Paul Vickers's MPP. He's looking

[4:17:34] into solutions for that. I spoke with the um tire recyclers and there is a new

[4:17:38] recycler coming but he won't be up and ready for a couple of months. All the

[4:17:42] shops in this area all have a backlog of tires including the municipality.

[4:17:48] So, you know, all the you know, a lot of this stuff's out of our control. You

[4:17:52] know, we can't just start jumping in ditches everywhere. And that's probably

[4:17:54] what's going to start happening if the government just doesn't start picking

[4:17:57] stuff up. I mean, everybody pays for recycling. It's not happening. But

[4:18:02] again, it's out of our control. We do our best.

[4:18:06] Um,

[4:18:11] um, yeah, I'm really hoping that when we get

[4:18:14] this new facility going, it'll take a lot of pressure off the 22 side road and

[4:18:18] maybe a lot of pressure off the off the neighbors there. Um, far as the road

[4:18:22] getting wrecked, the military uses the road now because the road across the top

[4:18:25] of the Hogsback is closed. So, the military comes around there every day.

[4:18:28] One afternoon, I count 14 military vehicles, dunk trucks, loaders,

[4:18:34] their patrol vehicles. Like, you see them all the time, you know. So, it's

[4:18:39] not just Johnny B that wrecks the road. And the road was patched up in the front

[4:18:44] of our shop before we got there. Well, it's still patched up and hasn't been

[4:18:46] patched up any further. So, I really don't feel that the whole

[4:18:52] road issue is is our fault either. Um, but yes, it's busier. So,

[4:18:59] um, yeah, I don't know. You know, I've been

[4:19:05] patient. I've been waiting. I've been We've all been doing our due diligence

[4:19:09] to try and get this thing off the ground. you know, we're struggling with

[4:19:13] there's there's there's a bunch of things that that are going on that I

[4:19:17] can't talk about here, but it'll all come together in the end, I think. And I

[4:19:21] appreciate the municipality support. Appreciate all the friends and family

[4:19:24] and everybody's support because I wouldn't be here without them. And if I

[4:19:28] didn't have this much support, I probably wouldn't even start this three

[4:19:30] years ago. But I appreciate everybody trying hard.

[4:19:34] I know it's difficult and but we'll get through it. And

[4:19:41] yeah, I'm I'm so excited to have a new shop and I think everybody else is too.

[4:19:47] Anyway, thanks everybody. >> Thank you, John.

[4:19:57] » There there have been u uh pre-registrations to speak at this

[4:20:01] public meeting uh by members of the public. So, first I'm going to call to

[4:20:05] the microphone Dave and Kathy Wilcox.

[4:20:23] » Good afternoon. Can everybody hear me? Okay.

[4:20:25] » I just move the microphone down a bit. Yes. And speak right up close to it.

[4:20:29] » Good afternoon. Can everybody hear me? Okay. Now,

[4:20:31] » good. Thank you. >> Okay. I'd like to begin by

[4:20:35] introducing myself. I'm Dave Wilcox and over here to my left is my wife Kathy.

[4:20:40] We live at 245689 Side Road 22 which is directly across

[4:20:45] from the subject property. We were opposed to the initial reszoning

[4:20:52] which granted Johnny bees a temporary three-year permit to operate his

[4:20:58] business across directly across the road. We are also opposed to this

[4:21:03] application for a three-year extension. Our concerns are as follows.

[4:21:09] A heavy increase in the amount of traffic on side road 22.

[4:21:14] We requested a traffic count be done 3 years ago. I would like to know from the

[4:21:20] municipality if there has ever been a traffic count done.

[4:21:26] » [clears throat] >> The number two issue is dangerous

[4:21:29] driving at the entrance to the business as vehicles do not stop when exiting the

[4:21:33] driveway. We've seen many near collisions there, including me twice.

[4:21:40] Speeding vehicles on side road 22. That was also an issue three years ago. It

[4:21:45] was mentioned that maybe the speed limit on the side road be reduced to 70 km an

[4:21:51] hour. I have not heard seen anything like that. I don't know that that would

[4:21:55] really fix anything because the vehicles are doing at least 100 kilometers an

[4:22:00] hour. So what difference does it make if you reduce it by 10?

[4:22:06] And uh excessive noise and car alarms at all hours. There's noise coming from

[4:22:12] that place 24 hours a day. Car alarms banging

[4:22:19] carrying on. I know Johnny has a business to look after, but he also has

[4:22:23] business hours that he's supposed to operate between. And that is very much

[4:22:27] extended. At night, if I leave my windows open, sometimes I can't sleep

[4:22:32] because all I hear is banging and car alarms.

[4:22:36] And we live in a rural area, which we don't shouldn't have to put up with.

[4:22:42] One of our my biggest concerns is contamination into the protected water

[4:22:46] course. It was mentioned years ago that water

[4:22:50] samples were going to be taken. Has council taken any or has the

[4:22:53] municipality taken any water samples to see about contamination?

[4:22:58] We've heard nothing. Decline declining property values for

[4:23:03] all the budding land owners. That's that's a huge thing. You guys extend

[4:23:09] this another three years. got six years where

[4:23:13] the the value of everybody's property, a bunning land owner's property is down.

[4:23:18] And if somebody wants to sell, well, you now you don't want to sell till after

[4:23:21] Johnny be has moved away because your land value is going to increase

[4:23:26] immensely and general [clears throat]

[4:23:30] non-compliance to all municipal bylaws. Examples of this are the number of

[4:23:36] vehicles on site in various states of repair and disrepair.

[4:23:43] » [clears throat] >> They're supposed to have a maximum of 10

[4:23:45] vehicles on site. I've counted up as many as 93 on site

[4:23:52] and that's a lot more than 10. I don't know why he needs to have 93 vehicles on

[4:23:57] site in a special agricultural area and many of those vehicles are outside of

[4:24:02] the permitted area.

[4:24:07] tires being stored in properly outside. As far as I know, most people that have

[4:24:15] businesses, they have containers that the tires are stored in.

[4:24:21] There's these are just being stored outside and are

[4:24:26] an eyes sore and I've already mentioned operating outside of normal business

[4:24:31] hours. This is just a very generalized list of

[4:24:35] concerns, many of which have been what many of which were brought forward to

[4:24:39] council before the initial resoning. We are very frustrated that some of these

[4:24:44] concerns have never been dealt with by the municipality.

[4:24:48] We really feel that the municipality has dropped the ball on this subject.

[4:24:53] And in closing, we we hope the council will take some of this information

[4:25:03] into account when making their decisions on this matter. Thank you very much.

[4:25:08] » Thank you. >> The uh second party to speak is Lynn

[4:25:13] Piery.

[4:25:31] My name is Lynn Piery and I'm here speaking on behalf of my husband and

[4:25:35] myself. We live right next door to Johnny Bees and Extreme Excavating.

[4:25:42] Before I address council, I would really like to

[4:25:46] talk to Mr. Bullsync, the property owner, and those who support them.

[4:25:51] Please listen to what I have to say. I would not be standing here today

[4:25:59] fighting this extension if the rules had been followed. There were restrictions

[4:26:04] set out in that temporary reasonzoning and they have just flaunted all of they

[4:26:11] obliterated the rules. Further, in addition, for the past 3 years, I've

[4:26:16] experienced an ongoing campaign of harassment and attempts to intimidate

[4:26:22] me. I served 22 years as a member of our Canadian Armed Forces. I'm not easily

[4:26:28] intim intimidated, but you can keep trying. Like this gentleman who was

[4:26:33] staring at me prior to the meeting and this gentleman who just stands right

[4:26:39] behind us. You can tell me to go back to the city.

[4:26:45] » You can dump your crap at the end of my driveway.

[4:26:58] Um, I just want to make a comment here. Um,

[4:27:04] we really want to have a a >> I'm I'm just here to speak my peace,

[4:27:09] Mayor. I'm I had a really nice, very polite

[4:27:14] uh well-crafted speech written, but >> this note in my mailbox, am I allowed to

[4:27:22] say what it says on here in chamber council?

[4:27:24] » I would not. No. And what I'm saying is uh I we in order to have a a a

[4:27:31] reasonable discussion of the application uh

[4:27:34] » I need to discuss the escalating and ongoing harassment.

[4:27:38] » Okay. And but can you do that in a way that you do not uh incite people to uh

[4:27:43] you know because then we're going to have a riot and not appropriate.

[4:27:47] » People have incited me. I'm here because you dump your crap at the end of my

[4:27:54] driveway. You tell me to go back to the city and call me a very nasty name.

[4:28:00] Um you honk your horn at midnight.

[4:28:06] You leave nasty notes in my mailbox. you and I'm not going to stop. So that's why

[4:28:10] I'm here because of your No, you can't. This is my turn to speak.

[4:28:18] » This is why you're hearing it, honey. This is why I'm here because of your

[4:28:24] escalating harassment and intimidations and Mr. Bullsyncs and the property

[4:28:29] owners disregard for any rules. So to Mayor Kentner,

[4:28:36] Deputy Mayor Cavini, members of the municipal staff and council, here's the

[4:28:42] nitty-gritty of what I've come to say. I have composed, but not yet sent 28

[4:28:48] emails to various county, provincial, and federal government entities and

[4:28:54] other groups. I've email I have them in my drafts. Environment ministers, health

[4:29:00] ministers, even their critics in opposition, I have 28 emails sitting

[4:29:06] there.

[4:29:11] Should you decide to extend the temporary reszoning by as much as 10

[4:29:16] minutes, I will press send on all of that and then I will submit my complaint

[4:29:21] to the Ontario Land Tribunal. I do have three other plans up my sleeve, but I

[4:29:25] don't I won't use them. I call them nuclear options, and I don't want to go

[4:29:28] scorched earth if I if I if I don't, but I will not stop. And another thing, the

[4:29:33] property in question must be cleaned up and have clean water and soil samples by

[4:29:37] midnight on November 13th. I will not stop. Thank you for your time.

[4:29:45] Thank you. Uh the next speaker is Greg Hart.

[4:29:51] Somebody

[4:29:55] gets disabled, they need to say.

[4:30:00] » Mr. Mayor, before I start, I have worked very hard on my presentation and I know

[4:30:06] that you have a fivem minute limit. >> Sorry,

[4:30:08] » you have a five minute limit on presentations. If I go 30 seconds over,

[4:30:14] would you indulge me? >> I for 30 seconds. Of course I would. I

[4:30:19] think we've indulged I appreciate that very much. I just wanted to make that

[4:30:23] clear first because it is a very important subject as you know.

[4:30:29] » So, Mr. Mayor, members of council, I'm here on behalf of John Bolsync to

[4:30:35] express my support for his efforts to complete the rebuilding of Johnny Bee's

[4:30:40] auto and return his business to its longtime home in Meford. Three years

[4:30:46] ago, Johnny Bee's was auto was devastated by a fire. It was a tragic

[4:30:51] day for John, his family, his employees, and our entire community. Johnny Bees

[4:30:56] has served the Meford community faithfully for many years. Earned the

[4:31:01] trust and loyalty of c of countless customers. For many of us, John was more

[4:31:07] than just a mechanic. He was someone we relied on to keep our family safely on

[4:31:12] the road. Following the fire, the community rallied around John. Council

[4:31:16] members, mayor, local businesses, residents, and surrounding communities

[4:31:21] all expressed their support and their desire to see Johnny's rebuilt. There

[4:31:26] was a shared belief that this important local business belonged to in Meford and

[4:31:31] should return as soon as possible. Unfortunately, 3 years later, that goal

[4:31:37] has still not been achieved. Johnny has invested substantial time and money into

[4:31:43] this project. Professional engineers have prepared plans. Contractors have

[4:31:48] completed work. The building foundation's been in place for over a

[4:31:51] year. Structural steel is ready to be erected. Yet another permit is still

[4:31:57] required before construction can proceed. So the question in many people

[4:32:02] in this community in their minds is simple. Why has this process taken so

[4:32:07] long? The challenge has been continuity within the building department. I'm sure

[4:32:13] over the past three years, Meford has experienced turnover in a senior

[4:32:17] administration and in building leadership. Every transition inevitably

[4:32:23] requires new staff to become familiar with existing files, reviewing

[4:32:28] preisions, and ensuring compliance with acceptable and applicable legislation.

[4:32:36] While that is understandable, act applicants should not bear the cost of

[4:32:40] unnecessary delays resulting from organizational change.

[4:32:46] Large commercial projects are complex. They often require revisions, technical

[4:32:50] reviews, and compliance with Ontario building code, and no one disputes that.

[4:32:56] However, every requested revision results in additional engineering work,

[4:33:02] additional costs, additional time. When reviews extend over months rather than

[4:33:07] weeks, these costs continue to grow. Inflation has increased construction

[4:33:12] costs dramatically over the past four years. Delays making rebuilding s uh

[4:33:17] delays make rebuilding significantly more expensive for any building builder

[4:33:23] business owner. I'm sorry. John has shown remarkable patience throughout

[4:33:28] this process. He's asked for and received council's approval to

[4:33:32] temporarily relocate his business on concession 22 so he could continue

[4:33:38] serving his customers while rebuilding was underway. At that time everyone

[4:33:43] understood this was intended to be a temporary solution not a permanent one.

[4:33:49] So today 3 years later Johnny be's auto remains in a temporary location.

[4:33:56] Why? Well, the situation affects more than one person. It affects his

[4:34:01] employees. It affects his customers. It affects the nearby residents.

[4:34:06] Every successful small business contributes jobs, tax revenue, economic

[4:34:11] activity, and community stability. Helping an established local business

[4:34:16] return to its permanent location benefits every

[4:34:20] So, I'm not here to criticize municipal staff. I recognize they have demanding

[4:34:25] jobs and must ensure every project complies with applicable legislation.

[4:34:32] But what I'm asking for is accountability,

[4:34:36] communication, and a sense of urgency. There are outstanding dis if there are

[4:34:42] outstanding deficiency, let John know exactly what they are. If additional

[4:34:46] information's required, provide a checklist. If timelines can be

[4:34:51] established, communicate them with them. Most importantly, assign someone to

[4:34:57] shepherd this file from beginning to completion so it does not continue to

[4:35:02] stall as responsibilities shift between departments or personnel or even the

[4:35:08] municipal election. Council has the opportunity to

[4:35:12] demonstrate that Meford supports local business. This is not asking about

[4:35:17] special treatment. It's about ensuring that respectful business owners who have

[4:35:22] worked in good faith for the last three years receive fair, efficient, and

[4:35:26] timely service. As we approach another municipal election, I believe residents

[4:35:31] will be watching closely to see how council supports businesses that choose

[4:35:36] to invest in our community. John's ready. The contractor's ready.

[4:35:42] His building materials are ready. His customers are waiting. Now, it's time

[4:35:47] for this approval process to move forward forward. Excuse me. I

[4:35:52] respectfully ask council to direct staff to make this project a priority,

[4:35:59] identify any remaining requirements, establish a clear path forward for

[4:36:04] permit approval, and to help bring Johnny's bees back to where it belongs

[4:36:10] in the town of Meph. Thank you for your future.

[4:36:23] The next next speaker is uh Michelle Whitmer.

[4:36:39] » Yep. Is Michelle Witmore here? Yes. Okay.

[4:36:51] Just while you're getting ready to to take the mic there, I I'm just going to

[4:36:55] share with you that uh you know, members of council and staff uh are coming to

[4:37:00] this meeting with an open mind and uh to hear from the public, both those who are

[4:37:05] in favor and those who are not. And no decision is going to be made tonight. So

[4:37:10] be aware of that, please. Uh go ahead, Michelle.

[4:37:15] Mayor, council, good afternoon. I'm Michelle Whitmore, a friend and a

[4:37:20] business associate associate of John Bullsync and of Johnny Bee's Auto. Thank

[4:37:26] you for having me here today. I wish to speak to you about hardship.

[4:37:32] Due to the fire in May of 2023, the family business known as Donnie Bees has

[4:37:38] had to deal with stress causing health issues and undue financial hardships

[4:37:44] that they have faced due to not being able to rebuild for the

[4:37:50] last three years. I would like to remind everyone that they have faced many

[4:37:55] refusals for rebuilding. They have submitted and planned on rebuilding

[4:38:01] since the day the fire happened. But due to circumstances beyond their control,

[4:38:07] they are still waiting on approval. With the generosity of a customer and a

[4:38:12] friend, a place was found for a temporary solution. With the support of

[4:38:17] the township varants, they were able to retain partial business while awaiting a

[4:38:24] building permit. They were requesting an additional

[4:38:29] variance to sustain some income for their family and employees. This

[4:38:35] variance would be for an additional 3 years if accepted by council. I would

[4:38:41] like for the mayor to understand the losses are still happening to this small

[4:38:46] business. They cannot have their convict license which allows buying and selling

[4:38:51] of cars. The body shop for repairs is not available due to the temporary

[4:38:57] location. The business is struggling financially, losing approximately 50% of

[4:39:03] their business revenue. It's only covering cost. They are unable to

[4:39:08] satisfy their customers base due to so many limitations.

[4:39:14] This small business has always been compliant with rules, regulations,

[4:39:19] government policies and procedures. As with any business, they are licensed

[4:39:26] requirements. Examples are easer, which is the

[4:39:30] environmental env for used cars, drive on so they can

[4:39:36] do a safety on your car, tire stewardship,

[4:39:40] business licenses. These are all things that they have to pay and maintain with

[4:39:48] or without a solid site.

[4:39:54] There is only a temporary trailer for office space and no room to grow from

[4:39:59] this location. The bottom line is they require their new permit for rebuild or

[4:40:05] they require this location for longer term or the financial hardship will

[4:40:11] cause more tragedy than the fire itself. People will be out of work with nowhere

[4:40:18] to go. A family, a solid family in this community needs the compassion of this

[4:40:27] council to accept this as a need to this community.

[4:40:33] Thank you. >> Thank you.

[4:40:41] Finally, finally, I'm [clears throat] going to call on Ken Jolly.

[4:40:52] Good evening everyone. My name is Ken Jelly and I'm here not as Johnny's

[4:40:56] friend but I'm but myself because I'm a customer and I'm a business owner and I

[4:41:01] need my mechanic. Just like thousands of other customers

[4:41:05] and other businesses rely on him. The local economy is intertwined in having a

[4:41:09] reliable vehicles to run our businesses to get to and from work. Not approving

[4:41:14] this extension has huge economic recourse with the entire community and

[4:41:19] would devastate the bullings. We all know what we are here to discuss.

[4:41:25] But do we know why? Why are the bulls still operating on side road 22? They

[4:41:30] don't want to be there. Some of the neighbors don't want them there. Their

[4:41:34] customers don't want them there. But yet they're stuck there. The bulls have done

[4:41:38] everything that they can be done not to be there. The site plan was done years

[4:41:43] ago. An engineered steel building sits on the Highway 26 site ready to be

[4:41:49] erected. And there's been and has been there for quite some time. A concrete

[4:41:53] foundation was approved. Sits ready. No building permits, no way to leave side

[4:42:00] road 22 and let the neighborhood go back to normal. So why in 3 years, 1 month,

[4:42:05] 19 days does he not have a permit? Does bureaucracy really take this long? Is a

[4:42:11] town really trying all that hard to remedy the situation? Everyone would be

[4:42:15] happier if he wasn't there. So here we are asking for an extension for the bull

[4:42:20] sinks to be where no one wants them to be, where they don't want to be. All

[4:42:25] because they are still waiting for a building permit. Now I'm aware of the

[4:42:29] say no to Johnny B petition from the neighbors who don't want the bull sinks

[4:42:33] on side 22. to the organizers of the petition. You do know the bulls are on

[4:42:38] the same you and the bulls are on the same side. You could be allies. You

[4:42:43] could be helping each other get get him back to where he should be. Have you

[4:42:47] ever asked the town why they're taking so long with the permits?

[4:42:50] I understand that temporary zoning for this property had a timeline on it. And

[4:42:55] when it was first granted, it should have been tons of time to get permits to

[4:42:59] get the build done. But with it soon expiring, it's only logical to grant an

[4:43:03] extension since the town is the only reason he is still there. The site plan

[4:43:08] done, engineered building done, foundation ready. Unfortunately, there

[4:43:13] will be a few people that don't like this decision. And yes, your your

[4:43:18] opinions matter. However, you are few and we are many that need Johnny B. He

[4:43:24] is our mechanic. He keeps several thousand people on on the road. He keeps

[4:43:29] many businesses going with without him the whole town suffers. Many businesses

[4:43:34] excuse me, I'm talking.

[4:43:40] There are many people that need Johnny B. He is our mechanic. He keeps several

[4:43:43] thousand people on the road. He keeps bis many businesses going. Without him,

[4:43:47] the whole town suffers. Many businesses will suffer. The whole community will

[4:43:51] suffer. Unfortunately, the few for the few the greater good to for the

[4:43:57] community is granting the extension. Democracy says there's only one choice.

[4:44:02] Logic says there is only one choice. So the town council, you have one choice to

[4:44:07] make. Approve the extension and the extension should remain in place until

[4:44:11] he has a permit and can move forward and get back to his place on Highway 26

[4:44:15] where everyone wants him to be. Thank you.

[4:44:29] Uh you uh Yes. Well, I did call you. Uh but anyway,

[4:44:34] » yes. Okay. No, you go right ahead.

[4:44:45] » Hi, I'm Kathy Wilcox. to live across the road from Johnny Bees. So, my my

[4:44:51] question is, it was a three-year term. My question to

[4:44:56] everybody here that hates our guts and calls us horrible names and leaves dead

[4:45:00] things in our uh mailboxes. Um, those people, I'd like to ask when did it

[4:45:08] become aware to Johnny that this meeting was coming up? Last week or three years

[4:45:14] ago? because he's had a lot of opportunity to make some actions to

[4:45:19] assist himself in that interim. He knew these permits were being denied. Well,

[4:45:24] what did he do a year ago when they were being denied? Anything? No, he just

[4:45:28] waited for today. Right. So,

[4:45:34] my my concerns are I see um so many people walking up and down

[4:45:43] the side road. Um they're walking. They're they're coming

[4:45:48] to a halt. There was there were people three people on the road the other night

[4:45:52] and a woman screaming at her children to stop because they were coming and

[4:45:56] someone's flying out of Johnny Bees. And John, it's not you that's doing the

[4:46:00] driving. I'm not saying that. But there people are asking for respect. But what

[4:46:05] about us? What about any health issues that we

[4:46:08] have? What about our what about our hardships that we have? our health, our

[4:46:13] finances, every like we don't feel hor this is a horrible situation for

[4:46:18] everyone to be in. And if you refer back to three years ago, I said this and

[4:46:23] stressed it that it was an is a situation for council and it still is.

[4:46:28] So, we're not here screwing around with anybody. And we're not hoping somebody

[4:46:31] does that to us, but there is dog and and a dead bird left in my mailbox.

[4:46:38] And my poor neighbor here with the most recent spelling of C go back to Toronto

[4:46:44] on a on a slip of paper that my husband and I delivered to everybody's mailboxes

[4:46:48] to say, "Come and help us out." because there were walkers and joggers and

[4:46:52] bikers and hikers and kids on um ATVs and golf carts and I was almost struck

[4:47:00] three times in front of my mailbox in the same day right there. So, I don't

[4:47:07] know what else to say. We're not trying to pick on anyone and just like stop the

[4:47:11] nonsense going on across the road from us. This is horrible for all of us.

[4:47:15] Everybody has health issues. Everybody has their finances.

[4:47:19] Nobody feels like anyone's being horrible except I would say

[4:47:25] the posi that showed up three years ago and those of which the posi are here

[4:47:29] again. Some of you know some of you are great to deal with others it's just a

[4:47:34] lynch mob and as the mayor said earlier if it doesn't settle down it's going to

[4:47:38] become that and I also am not afraid and intimidated. So if you're going to pull

[4:47:45] that nonsense, Lynn has and her husband have my support as well as my husband's.

[4:47:50] So we're on speed doll for each other. Something happens, I'll be over. And so

[4:47:55] my husband and our little itty bitty dog who who now has to be fearful of a huge

[4:48:01] Rottweiler that was across the road from Johnny Bees the other night. And I don't

[4:48:06] know why the man was there. I asked him what he was getting paid because my

[4:48:10] suspicions were he was hired as security because I've never seen the man or that

[4:48:15] dog ever before. So now there's OP involve it. And and at the OP showed up

[4:48:21] and said, "Oh, um um by the way, um you told them you're not a police or you're

[4:48:27] a police officer." Said, "Yes, I am." Well, no, you're retired. I said, "No,

[4:48:31] somehow I missed my party. So I am an active officer. So, anybody in case you

[4:48:36] need me at any point. So, I'll be there to assist Lynn as well for any issues in

[4:48:41] that regard. Um, and if she needs any protection, I'll be there before

[4:48:45] probably my brothers in blue show up. But I don't know what else to say other

[4:48:49] than John. I really feel bad for you. I just really do. So, I thank you.

[4:48:57] It's uh my uh duty to also inquire if there's anyone who didn't pre-register

[4:49:02] who would like to uh take the microphone and uh uh state their views.

[4:49:09] Go ahead. >> Please, please give us your name and

[4:49:14] address. And >> absolutely. Hi, my name is Tim Wallace.

[4:49:17] Uh me and my beautiful wife moved here recently uh about a year and a half ago

[4:49:23] and we came under the worst thing possible obviously car trouble and I

[4:49:29] know there's a lot of tensions high. I know a lot of people care and I think

[4:49:33] there's a lot of passion and I think there's passion because there's a good

[4:49:37] man over here. There's a guy who is the reason I've been able to work feed my

[4:49:44] family. I've seen him put roofs over people's houses. I've seen him jump

[4:49:49] through hoops with you guys and with everybody else. And it's always for the

[4:49:54] good. And so all I ask here is let's let's put

[4:50:00] the shame aside. Let's let's put away whatever we're holding in that has

[4:50:06] stopped whatever silly building permits stops a

[4:50:11] man that does this much good for a community.

[4:50:15] I I can't believe paper gets in the way of that. And I know there's some good

[4:50:20] shops around, but the amount of lengths he's gone

[4:50:25] through in the trouble he's been through, I I couldn't ask more. Please,

[4:50:31] please give him his permits. Please let him keep working cuz it's

[4:50:36] people around here trying to get by.

[4:50:45] What I what I can say is that this meeting is not about his permit. It is

[4:50:49] about uh the application uh to extend the uh the uh use of the uh the land.

[4:50:56] But I I will ask CIO ever, do you wish to respond to the concerns about the

[4:51:02] permit at all? Is there anything you can say tonight?

[4:51:06] » Uh through you, Mr. Mayor. Um, as far as the permit, I believe that that is with

[4:51:10] the uh the planning department as well as the building department. Um, and that

[4:51:14] process is underway and has been for quite some time. So,

[4:51:18] » okay. Uh, I have to ask um council if uh you

[4:51:24] have any questions uh for anyone. Sorry. Oh, did you do you wish to speak?

[4:51:32] » I I do. >> Please go ahead. Please go ahead. I'm

[4:51:35] sorry. I I thought I had everyone who had registered or and asked for anyone

[4:51:38] who hadn't. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. My

[4:51:42] name is John Greer. I'm a former resident of Neford. Uh several people in

[4:51:49] the chamber here know me. I've known me since my family moved here in 2016.

[4:51:56] Um, I I have to say that I'm a car guy and people come to me for guidance and

[4:52:03] advice, including my family and friends. Um, I have recommended and people have

[4:52:10] come and had service performed at the former location and also at the current

[4:52:16] location and they come from downtown Toronto to

[4:52:22] get work done here. There is a reason why after having the tragic loss of that

[4:52:30] facility that people continue to seek out Johnny B and his cadre of mechanics

[4:52:39] and it's because there's tremendous value but there's also someone mentioned

[4:52:45] it a sense of urgency. As I sat here and listened, I thought

[4:52:51] about what my wife experienced in December. Ice storm,

[4:52:57] an infant, a four-year-old, our daughter,

[4:53:01] and my wife in her vehicle, and the driver's window goes down and won't go

[4:53:08] back up. on the way to the airport.

[4:53:14] Imagine her horror having to deal with that. And the infant was 4 months old.

[4:53:23] Turn around. Go to Jollibee's.

[4:53:27] He stopped everything he was doing. Disassembled the door. Took the window

[4:53:33] out. Broken cables inside. clamped it all in with uh a pair of vice grips and

[4:53:41] in less than 20 minutes my wife is on her way and still adept.

[4:53:48] I support the business regardless of where it's located. I'd love to see him

[4:53:54] be able to pursue the growth of the business. But I have to tell you, if you

[4:54:00] don't already know, the service he provides, like many other

[4:54:05] services in the town of Meford, it's a metaphor for why I came here.

[4:54:14] This is a fabulous community and I hope you make a decision to continue to

[4:54:19] support a business like John's. And while I'm here, I want to say

[4:54:25] congratulations to you on making that new newly renovated park down by the

[4:54:32] harbor. You've got some really happy campers down there. That's a great

[4:54:36] decision to do that. So, good on you. >> Could Could we get your name before you

[4:54:40] leave the microphone? I don't think we got it there.

[4:54:42] » John Greer. Oh, yeah. I live in Thornbury now.

[4:54:46] » Thank you, John. Thank you.

[4:54:53] So, members of council, do you have questions of anyone?

[4:54:59] » Oh, okay. >> I'll be I'll be

[4:55:04] » um I'm Andrea Wallace. That would be wife to Timothy Wallace that spoke

[4:55:08] earlier. We are fairly new to me, so a lot of the hubbhub we haven't heard

[4:55:13] about and just coming into it now. Um, I wanted to speak to you on my side of

[4:55:20] things where really I just stay at home with the kids, but very much my vehicle

[4:55:25] is almost like a third person in my marriage. If that vehicle isn't working,

[4:55:32] my family with my three kids can't be successful. I really can't do what I

[4:55:37] need to do with them at home if he is not providing financially what I need to

[4:55:41] do it. Um, not only that, we have had so many vehicle troubles, countless since

[4:55:47] we've been here. And the effect that that has on my family

[4:55:52] and our like not only financially, but our mindset when our vehicle isn't

[4:55:57] working, knowing that we're going to struggle to provide is something that if

[4:56:01] you haven't gone through it, I can't explain to you. It is terrifying. But

[4:56:06] one thing that has been saving during all of that is the relationship that my

[4:56:09] husband built with Johnny Bees in such a short period of time. Um, he is able to

[4:56:15] take his vehicle there. He is able to get peace of mind even without getting

[4:56:19] his vehicle fixed that day and be able to come home and have a successful night

[4:56:24] with the family. That is so so so important to me. If that is gone, if

[4:56:28] that is lost, I will not have that. I might have to consider leaving. In terms

[4:56:34] of the res residence, I am a mom at home with my kids all day. I can only imagine

[4:56:38] how annoying that can be for you. I think that the best force of all of that

[4:56:44] anger and all of that ability that you guys have down that on that street

[4:56:49] should be put into putting him where he wants to be and where you don't want him

[4:56:53] to be. Nobody wants him to be there. I don't care personally because I don't

[4:56:57] live there, but I can understand how that can really, really affect you. And

[4:57:02] I see how much power is down on that street to make change happen. I think if

[4:57:08] you can think realistically a little peaceful that maybe together

[4:57:15] something better can happen. Um, while you're thinking about that, obviously

[4:57:21] you guys are all going to get really really angry at uh 10 cars being above,

[4:57:26] but think about [clears throat] it from again a realistic standpoint. That is

[4:57:30] not possible. When was the last time you went to a successful auto shop with less

[4:57:33] than 10 cars there? >> The restriction went.

[4:57:39] » I appreciate you for that comment. Thank you again. We would still have that

[4:57:44] fight if there were 11 there. So again, I applaud their success and their

[4:57:50] ability to have those cars. I know that some of the parts that have come from my

[4:57:55] car at cheaper rates have been from some of those sitting cars and I appreciate

[4:58:00] that because those rates are coming out at a price that I I can afford anything

[4:58:04] else. I cannot afford it. I cannot I cannot survive. So please let Johnny be

[4:58:11] stay. And I think someone mentioned before, let him stay and continue the

[4:58:17] fight to go back. That's what he's trying to do. He's not fighting to stay.

[4:58:22] Let him stay so he can continue to fight to go back and be out of your hair. And

[4:58:30] I'm sorry that the people are putting things in your mailbox. We all know

[4:58:33] that's not John Lee's. I would hate for people to be upset about things that if

[4:58:38] I was I run a small day home, so I've got kids running through. If those kids

[4:58:44] in my care were doing terrible, terrible things, I would hate to be held

[4:58:48] personally accountable for it. >> Can we just get your name for the

[4:58:52] record? >> Oh, Andrea. Andrea Wallace.

[4:58:54] » Okay. Thank you. >> Andrea Wallace.

[4:58:56] » Thank you.

[4:59:03] So, we're just a few minutes away from six o'clock. So, I'm going to ask, is

[4:59:06] there anyone else in the gallery that would like to speak to the uh matter?

[4:59:13] speak now or forever hold your peace. Uh, okay. Uh, council, uh, do we have

[4:59:19] questions? Uh, deputy mayor. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I do have a

[4:59:24] question and I I will get to it, but I just want to start by thanking everyone

[4:59:28] for being here. I know this is a very emotional issue and as council we are

[4:59:33] grateful to hear all of your comments and to allow us to have that information

[4:59:37] as we go forward with a decision on this extension. But I think I can speak for

[4:59:43] all of us in saying that May 25th, 3 years ago, was a devastating day in this

[4:59:48] community when that fire happened. It was it was horrible and everybody's

[4:59:53] heart went out to John and his family and and it was just an awful thing that

[4:59:58] happened and and the people that were working in the shop and depended on the

[5:00:02] shop for their livelihoods and the people whose cars were there and lost

[5:00:05] their cars and and just so many terrible things that were a result of that fire.

[5:00:10] So, just know [clears throat] that that is a day that will never be forgotten in

[5:00:14] this community. But I just um wanted to come back and ask John a question if I

[5:00:20] may, Mr. Mayor. Um John, you mentioned Would you Is it okay if I ask John to

[5:00:25] come back to the podium? >> Yes.

[5:00:27] » Yes.

[5:00:33] Thank you, John. Um when you first spoke, you mentioned about buying a

[5:00:37] property in Owens Sound. >> Yes. And I'm wondering if you could give

[5:00:40] council and everyone present a little bit more clarity about because we we've

[5:00:46] heard about the number of cars on the lot and we understand that that is a

[5:00:50] concern for the for the neighbors. Can you share with us in your mind as you

[5:00:55] work through the process of moving a piece of your business to Owens Sound

[5:00:59] what impact that is likely to have on the number of cars remaining on your lot

[5:01:03] going forward? >> Um yes, we purchased the property in

[5:01:07] Owens Sound. Um therefore we can um the idea was to get our business back up and

[5:01:13] running maybe closer to its full potential and not um have backlog here

[5:01:18] at the shop in Weepford. Um it's the only way to you know really try

[5:01:24] to deal with things we you know to some of the vehicles that we need to work on.

[5:01:26] It's tough to do in the shop that we're at now and you know I mean customers

[5:01:30] have been very patient this and that and all those vehicles there aren't mine. Um

[5:01:35] some of them are related to the farm that's there. this and that. So, you

[5:01:38] know, there's there's a few vehicles, whatever, but probably a fair a fair

[5:01:43] amount uh we're thinking probably like, you know, maybe 50% of it is going to go

[5:01:47] to sound.

[5:01:50] You know, we have employees there. That's a six bay shop there. Um we'll be

[5:01:54] able to do the turnaround times a lot better there than we can here. Um and

[5:01:57] that was the whole idea behind it, just so we can service our customers a little

[5:02:00] bit better. And we have quite a few customers that are kind of living over

[5:02:04] that way and they're ecstatic about that. They don't have to come so far

[5:02:06] now. So, it's good. Yeah, we're just in the process of

[5:02:10] fixing that that place up and giving it a nice facelift and uh you know, we're

[5:02:14] doing a lot. It's going to look really good and uh yeah, we'll be able to carry

[5:02:19] uh carry a fair chunk of the business over there. Okay. Councelor Yuri,

[5:02:26] » thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll echo Deputy Mayor and thank everyone for coming out.

[5:02:30] Obviously, contentious issues bring emotions and not not a lot of fun.

[5:02:37] So, just a question and a comment. The question is, so if permits were go, you

[5:02:44] were ready to go. Yeah. >> How long would it take you to actually

[5:02:49] be back in your old location? >> One year.

[5:02:52] » It would take you one year >> to build it. Maybe a little less.

[5:02:55] » Okay. Thank you. All my contractors have been very good. They're ready to rock

[5:02:59] and roll and they said they'll work exceptionally hard. I mean, the

[5:03:02] foundation's in that that that part was the hard part. Um, that's in there. The

[5:03:07] metal building's ready. Everything's ready. If we get the go-ahad, it could

[5:03:10] happen very quick. >> Good. And I just the comment is I just

[5:03:14] I'm sorry if there's any reflection on you sort of some of the stuff that's

[5:03:18] happening that's super superfluous because any h any and and again people

[5:03:23] could disagree, but there shouldn't be the harassment. There shouldn't be

[5:03:27] literally things happening that sound like they're happening. And I know it's

[5:03:31] not you. And I I hope that people can be a little bit more respectful cuz we all

[5:03:36] want to see you get back to where you should be. And there are ways to do that

[5:03:40] without um being less than professional. >> Yep. 100%. No, we always try to be 100%

[5:03:45] professional. I tell my staff to do that as well. And um that's all I can ask

[5:03:49] for. Thank you very much. Anyone else on council wish to ask John anything?

[5:03:58] » Okay. Well, uh, thank you again, John. >> Thank you. Um,

[5:04:04] » I want to thank everyone for attending this meeting and sharing your thoughts

[5:04:07] on this application. This matter will now be referred back to development

[5:04:11] services to follow up on any additional information required from the applicant

[5:04:16] based on the matters that were raised tonight.

[5:04:19] Once staff are satisfied that they have all the necessary information needed to

[5:04:23] provide a recommendation on the applications, a detailed planning report

[5:04:27] will be brought back to council to assist us in our decision-making. This

[5:04:31] report will evaluate how the proposal does or does not satisfy the provincial,

[5:04:37] county, and municipal policies that must be considered as part of council's

[5:04:41] decision. It will also explore the various public and agency comments

[5:04:46] received regarding the application. noting those tools which may be applied

[5:04:50] in order to address concerns raised and to mitigate potential impacts on nearby

[5:04:55] properties. And I just want to remind you if you

[5:04:59] would like to receive notice uh of a future decision on this file, please

[5:05:04] provide your uh contact information to the planning services division by email

[5:05:10] and the address is planning meford.ca. That's all lowercase planning meford.ca.

[5:05:17] And with that, again, thank you for your attendance. Thank you for uh allowing us

[5:05:22] to have a a civil conversation. And I'll declare this meeting adjourned.

[5:17:27] Well, good evening everyone. We're uh back in session. Uh we had our 5:00 uh

[5:17:33] public planning meeting with an absolutely uh packed gallery and uh

[5:17:38] we've concluded that and uh so we're going to resume um our council meeting

[5:17:44] and uh finish it. But first I have to

[5:17:50] find where we left off. So just give me one second.

[5:18:08] So uh on the agenda we are on uh item 11 councelor motions. Is there any notice

[5:18:14] of motion tonight? Uh okay as uh we have one motion for

[5:18:20] decision and uh it's h by councelor Greenfield. Would you like to uh present

[5:18:27] your motion?

[5:18:40] » All right. Yes, your worship. Thank you. I would like to move the motion.

[5:18:46] » Yeah. And so if you read it and we'll get a second for it. Is that all right?

[5:18:50] Is that the order of uh

[5:19:00] » Yes. Yes. I I will move it, but I can't

[5:19:05] present it until I get a secondary. Can I?

[5:19:07] » No, I think you can present it and then we get a second for further motion.

[5:19:11] Nobody may second it. So,

[5:19:15] » thank uh yes. Uh I'll read it. Uh the worship. Um

[5:19:21] uh whereas the council of Miss Pyford appreciate the presentation of June

[5:19:26] 22nd, 2026 by the Escarment Corridor Alliance and the suggestions expressed.

[5:19:32] Therefore, be it resolved that council recognizes the importance of broad

[5:19:37] ecological connectivity as a foundation of resilient growth,

[5:19:43] ecosystem services, and climate resilience. And the council acknowledges

[5:19:48] that land within the municipality form part of an emerging and connected

[5:19:54] ecological corridor across the southern Georgia Bay region and that the

[5:20:00] municipality continue to promote natural heritage preservation

[5:20:06] and protect the municipality's ecological systems through its decisions

[5:20:11] on land use, conservation, development and infrastructure. ure matters in

[5:20:18] accordance with our own mefort official plan.

[5:20:23] » Is there a second for the motion? Uh, councelor Yuring. Thank you.

[5:20:29] » U, do you want to speak to it? Uh, councelor Greenfield.

[5:20:33] » Well, thanks. Uh, hopefully it's fairly self-explanatory.

[5:20:38] Um, I just want to mention that people who live here, whether they've been here

[5:20:44] for a long time or a short time, uh, visitors, uh, uh, regardless often say

[5:20:51] they're attracted by our natural surroundings, our natural beauty. uh

[5:20:56] Georgia Bay, the uh many hills, valleys, and uh many of the hills in our

[5:21:03] municipality are shaped around uh the Niagara

[5:21:08] Escarment. I uh I didn't realize that the Niagara

[5:21:14] scarment starts near Rochester, New York, and goes up through Ontario,

[5:21:20] [clears throat] dips down below the water at Tuba Murray

[5:21:25] at the end of the Bruce, and then comes up again, goes across Manatulan Island

[5:21:29] to Sue St. goes westward through northern Michigan

[5:21:35] and then [clears throat] starts to cut back down south near Green

[5:21:40] Bay, Wisconsin. It actually terminates not that far north of the city of

[5:21:46] Chicago. So, it's a it it's quite a quite a structure. Um I it's been with

[5:21:54] us for over 400 and some million years and uh I'm hoping we can u maintain it

[5:22:00] for that many more. So I I like to think that the municipality meford will do its

[5:22:06] part in protecting and preserving this uh this ecological beauty that uh that

[5:22:13] we have with us. Thank you. >> Any uh questions? [clears throat] Uh or

[5:22:18] I'm just going to call a vote then. All in favor? Oh, sorry.

[5:22:22] Sorry about that. Um yeah, through you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Um

[5:22:27] Harley, I was wondering um just thinking kind of through the

[5:22:32] course of today how to um maybe give this a little more teeth. Um,

[5:22:39] and a thought that popped into my head while um just kind of going through the

[5:22:43] day today was to add um another uh that line um that basically uh direct staff

[5:22:54] to include uh a natural heritage impacts section on staff reports. Um because

[5:23:01] that way I think that could help us contextualize all of our future

[5:23:05] decision-m. we do financial impacts and then it it at least gives us the

[5:23:09] opportunity to consider what the natural heritage impacts are um of um decisions

[5:23:15] that we're making. Um and I don't know if that's something that would best fit

[5:23:19] in a motion like this or perhaps in some other uh motion or or bylaw, but um I'd

[5:23:28] just like to hear your thoughts on that as a way to implement it.

[5:23:34] I'm not opposed to having that uh uh additional clause.

[5:23:41] » And are you going to speak to the the site or second it? Go ahead then.

[5:23:47] Councelor Bell. >> Thanks to uh Councelor Greenfield. So

[5:23:53] the um the group that's been formed fairly recently and uh do you know what

[5:23:59] they do with the farmland that they get? Do they take it out of production just

[5:24:03] to turn it into natural environment or do they allow

[5:24:07] agriculture to continue? Do you know?

[5:24:13] I as I understand their

[5:24:18] their direction is to work with agriculture to

[5:24:23] be more pro

[5:24:29] not as not just protective but more more preservation for egg lands. uh to uh

[5:24:39] help influence

[5:24:44] how agricultural production can continue successfully

[5:24:49] uh and and and protect the the environment also. Now I I I don't think

[5:24:59] they're anti- fertilizer or anti-spray. I don't think that's the type of thing

[5:25:06] they're into, but I think they're just more into uh um

[5:25:13] you know, new new initiatives and uh uh I mean there's new stuff out there in

[5:25:21] agriculture all the time, too. New uh new ideas, new incentives. And I think

[5:25:27] that's what they're uh I think that's what they're uh looking for. I I don't

[5:25:33] think they're looking to take uh 20 20 hectares of protective soybean

[5:25:41] corn producing uh land and planted in trees. uh if if

[5:25:49] indeed there was uh I guess the owner of that property

[5:25:55] no longer wanted to produce agriculture products, they'd be interested in in an

[5:26:01] alternative. But I I I don't see that. Um

[5:26:07] give me quite like I I'm not a member of the advocacy group. I can only kind of

[5:26:14] relate what what I've read about them. But u

[5:26:20] uh I think in today's world where we're losing 320 acres of agricultural land a

[5:26:29] day, the last thing we want to do is restrict egg practices.

[5:26:37] My opinion. Uh can I just ask if I [clears throat] may because I missed the

[5:26:41] presentation uh personally but I thought this had to do partly with um um

[5:26:47] maintaining uh the corridors that are used by wildlife.

[5:26:52] Is that a different organization? >> Um yeah, I can I can speak to that just

[5:26:58] um having had like past interactions with the organization though not a

[5:27:02] member. Um so there's kind of two organizations that are operating in our

[5:27:06] area that have very similar names. There's the Escarpment Biosphere

[5:27:09] Conservancy and the Escarpment Corridor Alliance. This one being the Escort

[5:27:12] Escarment Corridor Alliance. Um, and kind of similarly, they um kind of uh

[5:27:19] look at things as a as a land conservancy and they do own land and

[5:27:22] have greater degrees of protections uh on the land that they own. Uh but they

[5:27:28] sort of their main drive is to uh basically um try to map out areas of

[5:27:35] protected land, whether it's land they own themselves or a municipality owns or

[5:27:39] it's already um a conservation area or something like that. And while those

[5:27:45] individual pockets of land are useful for wildlife um and other forms of

[5:27:50] natural [snorts] heritage, uh they their function for wildlife is limited unless

[5:27:56] they are connected to other protected areas. Uh because if deer deer in the

[5:28:02] whole area are going to do well, they're going to move between uh different

[5:28:06] conservation areas, but they need a way to get there. Uh and so that's what this

[5:28:10] organization is looking at. So that might be okay well if you know we're

[5:28:14] redeveloping something how can we make sure that there uh you know is preserved

[5:28:17] wood lot at the back so that animals can still continue to move across it or if

[5:28:22] uh you're uh you know redesigning or or working um uh agricultural land how do

[5:28:29] you keep your uh hedro uh in good condition and you know maybe consider

[5:28:34] not getting rid of it so that there continues to be corridors and channels

[5:28:38] for wildlife to move through. Uh and that's sort of the biggest sort of

[5:28:42] conceptual uh goal uh is I've understood it directly from uh the CEO

[5:28:49] » councelor Yurig. >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Um well councelor

[5:28:54] Anders I agree in principle with your additional that um my question I guess

[5:28:59] is and probably to the CEO is um are we equipped to do that? uh because at the

[5:29:05] end of the day uh a lot of the environmental processes are specialized

[5:29:10] uh and I just want to make sure that if we're going to do something like that,

[5:29:14] how does that impact staff a workload b cost? Because if we're now having to go

[5:29:20] out and get consultants to do and maybe rubber stamp everything that's kind of

[5:29:24] happening in conjunction with that, that puts a different wrinkle on it. So I'll

[5:29:29] kind of leave that one to uh Mr. Ever. >> Yes. Do you Mr. Mayor to council York, I

[5:29:35] would agree. And it's not so much the resourcing. I would say we we want to be

[5:29:42] careful of having those types of headers within our reports and presupposing the

[5:29:50] planning process, right? Because the planning process is going to require

[5:29:55] potentially a natural heritage study. So if that's going to be part of the

[5:30:01] process, I think there's ways that we can strengthen that requirement. But um

[5:30:07] I would be it would be worrisome for me to think that every report's going to

[5:30:12] have it. We can we can identify it as yeah we think that there there may be

[5:30:18] some natural impact or but I think the planning process is the process that

[5:30:25] directs that and quite frankly puts the cost on the applicant to do that study

[5:30:32] because it's not something that the municipality should have to bear the

[5:30:37] cost of on behalf of the taxpayers when the planning process would actually have

[5:30:41] the applicant get that consultant to do that work as

[5:30:46] part of their application. >> Councelor Bell.

[5:30:51] » Thank you again, Mr. Mayor. So, that's my major concern.

[5:30:55] You have uh property and your neighbors got property and you have things that

[5:30:59] are transpiring and wildlife that are moving and then all of a sudden you come

[5:31:03] in and you want to do a building somewhere and put a shed up for house

[5:31:07] your combine and then you find out that somebody somewhere else who doesn't even

[5:31:12] live here has made a decree on your property has got a listing on it that

[5:31:15] you can't even do anything with it. The prime example of that is Anancy. All of

[5:31:20] a sudden you go and you make an application. You find out that somebody

[5:31:23] down in Toronto has set a computer screen, multiplied things up and said,

[5:31:28] "Oh, gee, look at that. That'd be a great thing. They'll make you a Nancy

[5:31:31] and you can't even do anything. It's your own bush. So, this is the problem

[5:31:35] that I have with with groups that come that say you're going to take this

[5:31:39] property and you're going to take it. What are you going to do with it?"

[5:31:44] Councelor Yurig and I we Grace Sable we we've heard so many times about if you

[5:31:49] have a wet land what it used to be for a farmer to do the agriculture and how

[5:31:55] close they could get and they've changed that now. So actually the farmer can

[5:31:59] recuperate more land because land is so important to have to put into the food

[5:32:04] chain. So we've seen that kind of thing. There's other groups that exist that if

[5:32:10] a farmer ever signs on with them, they have lost the pres the right to even go

[5:32:15] on the land. And I don't want to name that name in this council meeting. But

[5:32:20] that's what happens. They come to the to the farm and they say, "Wouldn't you

[5:32:24] like to do this? This is all great. It sounds all lovely." They just signed it

[5:32:27] away. And so that's my my reservation on it. Now, this council will remember what

[5:32:34] I clearly told that group when they came here. I told them if they can help us

[5:32:40] with what we're doing with the major changes in grace conservation. I told

[5:32:45] them power to them to help us to do that. But this saying that we're going

[5:32:51] to embrace that to me it just makes another level of a hidden bureaucracy

[5:32:58] that can hit somebody that owns We've had some farmers here this afternoon

[5:33:02] that got tens of thousands of acres and he sat in that back row. Biggest farmer

[5:33:07] we've got in Sydam Township. Okay. And I don't want to see him someday or someone

[5:33:12] like him make an application and go where in the heck did this come from?

[5:33:17] and we've done it. So, I'm a little reserved on this.

[5:33:24] My my fellow forer, councelor for knows that I I care about sustainability and I

[5:33:30] and I care about our environment, but to me, whose fingers are in whose pie and

[5:33:36] how deep do they go? So, I'm a little reserved on it, that's all.

[5:33:42] » Okay. Are we ready to entertain the question?

[5:33:46] Um all in favor

[5:33:52] of the motion as presented. Yes. Um

[5:34:00] » yeah. Yeah. I I myself have just changed my mind as a result of what councelor

[5:34:06] Bell has said here. Uh but so go ahead,

[5:34:10] » mayor. If I may, I'm wondering if we have enough information at this point in

[5:34:14] time to make a decision on this motion or if we need to understand a little bit

[5:34:19] more about the intentions of the alliance in terms of because I

[5:34:24] appreciate councelor Bell's comments and we would not want to do that too many of

[5:34:27] our existing land owners particularly if they're um working the land. So, do we

[5:34:33] need to go back to the alliance and request a further understanding of of

[5:34:38] what uh you know terms and restrictions they would place on lands?

[5:34:44] » Uh, councelor Manis. >> Sure. Thank you. Um, in a conversation I

[5:34:47] had a after the presentation um we discussed uh the desire uh because I was

[5:34:53] just curious to learn more about how they intend to work with the

[5:34:56] agricultural community. So perhaps it would be worthwhile to invite them back

[5:35:00] to give a presentation on that aspect specifically. Um I'm pretty sure that

[5:35:05] they're still kind of in the early fledgling stages of that program, but

[5:35:10] perhaps uh we could kind of start that

[5:35:14] conversation to make sure that it's something we would be comfortable with

[5:35:17] and then if uh we in our community are comfortable with it, then we could

[5:35:22] support it more strongly or or not if we're not comfortable. So, there's a

[5:35:26] couple of [clears throat] ways to come at this to defer or I just wonder do you

[5:35:30] want to withdraw the motion until uh we have that conversation with the

[5:35:34] organization or do you want to let it or would you be willing to have it deferred

[5:35:39] until we hear from and I'm going to get some direction from the clerk which will

[5:35:44] be much more >> No, no, thank you worship. My suggestion

[5:35:46] might actually be to postpone the motion because we can put a reason in there and

[5:35:50] then that gives count that gives staff direction to go and see if they will

[5:35:54] present again to the the comment rather than trying to get formal direction to

[5:35:58] go and ask them separately. Uh so if we postpone to allow time um until such

[5:36:04] time as the they are invited and and we can deal with it that way I would maybe

[5:36:09] suggest.

[5:36:13] So over to you, Councelor Greenfield. >> Um, yeah, that that's fine. If uh we

[5:36:19] want to uh postpone any decision until staff gets more uh

[5:36:27] more direction, I uh

[5:36:32] I I don't know. To me, it seems fairly straightforward. Do we do we want to

[5:36:37] conserve protect what we've got?

[5:36:44] And I really have my doubts if this council is is really all that concerned

[5:36:50] in it. And that disappoints me big time. To me, this is fairly straightforward.

[5:36:55] This is trying to preserve something for my grandkids, for your grandkids.

[5:37:03] » Okay. I'm sorry that [clears throat] so I'm

[5:37:11] [laughter] I'm in a corner here.

[5:37:17] » Well, and I >> Yeah, I'll undertake to make sure that

[5:37:20] we come back to this uh and and get the information that we can make a maybe a

[5:37:26] little more qualified judgment on. Um so, moving on. Um and thank you for

[5:37:32] helping us there. Um adoption of uh minutes. We've got u the recommendation

[5:37:40] uh that council of the municipality of Meford hereby adopt the minutes of the

[5:37:44] council meetings held on June 17, 2026, June 22nd, 2026 and June 29th, 2026 and

[5:37:52] the closed meetings held on June 17, 2026 and June 29, 2026. A mover and a

[5:37:58] seconder. Councelor Urick and Deputy Mayor. Um is there any discussion? Uh

[5:38:06] I'll call vote. All in favor accepting those minutes. Thank you. Um that was

[5:38:12] unanimous. Uh the communications uh uh reports there are a number of them

[5:38:18] there. Anyone wish to bring any any of these forward to discuss in any way?

[5:38:24] Councelor Yur. >> Mr. Mayor, I'm not sure about the actual

[5:38:28] A, B, and C, but of D on the correspondence list. I just had one

[5:38:32] thing. >> Sorry,

[5:38:34] » I don't have anything on A, B, or C, but I do have something on the

[5:38:37] correspondence list under D. >> Oh, okay. If that would be great. Please

[5:38:41] bring it forward then. >> Okay. Um, on the correspondence list, we

[5:38:45] it would be if you anybody has that pulled up, it's page 71. It's just

[5:38:48] Peterborough County. Uh interesting one that because uh there was they brought

[5:38:54] forward a motion uh that where the province of Ontario

[5:38:59] shifted responsibility of the municipal election voters list from impact to

[5:39:04] elections Ontario by amending the municipal elections act. Um their

[5:39:09] concern is that many of the elector lists presented by elections Ontario

[5:39:15] have discrepancies in voter counts from the 2022 municipal election.

[5:39:20] specifically in the number of eligible non-resident property owners which are

[5:39:24] significantly lower than the 22 numbers. So what the recommendation was is that

[5:39:29] they're urging the province of Ontario to immediat immediately encourage

[5:39:33] prioritization of the review of data specifically related to non-resident

[5:39:38] property owners to ensure voter lists are as accurate as possible prior to

[5:39:43] August 14th. Um, we all want to see accurate voter list and I just thought

[5:39:48] supporting that motion would be an easy one to do. So, I'm putting forth that

[5:39:53] request. >> Thank you. Um,

[5:40:00] is there do we need a motion to endorse that motion? Is that what I need?

[5:40:05] » Thank you, Rorip. Yes, if we have a mover and a seconder to to support that

[5:40:08] motion, then >> uh and I I suggested this to councelor

[5:40:12] Yurig. This is a very uh important thing in my mind. Uh if uh if the province has

[5:40:18] lost us a lot of uh potential voters in the election, uh we need them to fix

[5:40:22] that problem. So is there a seconder? Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Uh any

[5:40:28] discussion on this? U all in favor of the motion and that any opposed? That's

[5:40:34] passed unanimously. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Yurig. Um

[5:40:39] anyone else anything on the communications list? If not, uh we are

[5:40:44] ready to uh go into a a close session. Um

[5:40:49] and uh the recommendation is that the council of the municipality of Meford

[5:40:53] does now go into a close session at 6:40 p.m. Um number one, two items uh

[5:41:00] regarding a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to

[5:41:06] any negotiations carried on or to be carried on uh by or on behalf of the

[5:41:12] municipality or a local board. And that is under the open meeting exemption K

[5:41:17] section 2392 of the municipal act 2001 res um respecting the meford harbor

[5:41:23] dredging and a TC energy pre-development agreement with the CAO the clerk deputy

[5:41:31] CEO and director of corporate services the director of community services and

[5:41:36] manager of memorial park cemeteries and harbor in attendance and two uh one item

[5:41:42] regarding personal matters about an identifiable individual, including

[5:41:46] municipal or local board employees. That's under open meeting exemption B of

[5:41:51] section 2392 of the Municipal Act 2001, respecting an HR matter with the CEO,

[5:41:58] the clerk, the deputy CEO, and director of corporate services in attendance.

[5:42:04] And uh we will be back uh following this meeting to report out on it.

[7:23:41] All right, reporting out at 8:21 p.m. on our closed uh session. Um council met in

[7:23:50] closed session and discussed one uh two different items related to a position,

[7:23:54] plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations

[7:23:59] carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local

[7:24:05] board and with direction provided to staff on both of those items. Uh also

[7:24:10] one item related uh regarding personnel matters uh about an identifiable

[7:24:15] individual including municipal or local board employees with no direction

[7:24:20] provided to staff. Now we have a confirming bylaw. The recommendation be

[7:24:26] it resolved that bylaw 2026-56 being a bylaw to confirm the proceedings

[7:24:31] of the meeting of the council of the corporation of the municipality of

[7:24:35] meford be taken as read a first second and third time and finally passed. Can I

[7:24:39] have a mover and seconder councelor Bell and councelor Andis.

[7:24:44] Thank you. Uh all in favor any opposed? That's carried unanimously.

[7:24:50] And with that we can finally conclude today's meeting.

Council - 13 Jul 2026

Transcript