Good evening, everyone. I'd like to call this special counsel
meeting to order July 13th, 2026. And I will ask
for a disclosures of pecuniary interest in nature thereof. Councillor
Guido. Thank you, Madam Mayor. And if
you. Just give me one moment. The integrity commissioner has
advised that I have a limited restriction with respect to
my participation in Council's debate on item 5. 1. 1.
Fairgrounds visioning exercise final report. It's attachments and related delegations.
I have a deemed indirect interest in today's debate on
the basis that my in - laws home is located
near the blue crosshatched area indicated at the top left
and top right of zone 1 of the conceptual diagram
set out in the CAOs and the consultants reports. My
interest is limited to site - specific matters, which may
be raised respecting those areas of zone one. But otherwise,
my pecuniary interest I might have in the report and
today's debate is subject to the interest in common exception
set out in paragraph 4 J of the municipal conflict
of interest asked. Therefore, if we are discussing that particular
section of the fairgrounds, I will have to recuse myself,
otherwise I will be able to fully participate in the
conversation. Thank you very much, Councillor. Moving on, I would
ask that you would join me stand and join me
in a moment of silence.
Thank you, please be seated.
Skewgog is situated on treaty land that is steeped and
rich indigenous history. Today, we acknowledge that we are gathering
on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island
First Nation. We recognise and deeply appreciate the historic indigenous
connection to this land and recognise the contributions First Nations,
Maite, and Inuit's Peoples have made both in shaping and
strengthening this community in particular, our province and country as
a whole. We are grateful for the opportunity to meet
here, and we thank all the generations of people who
have taken care of this land for thousands of years.
Now I will ask for any announcements from Council and
Staff. And I will start with you, Councillor Wright. Thank
you, Madam Mayor. On July 3rd and 4th, the Black
Stock Agricultural Society hosted the 50th annual truck and tractor
pole in Blackstock. There was a great crowd out for
both nights. We had a little rain on Saturday night
that slowed things up a bit, but kept the dust
off the track. We also had a special vintage poll
in honour of the 50th anniversary, and we had one
pillar attend that was at the original Paul 50 years
ago, and he pulled with the same tractor he pulled.
Then 50 years ago. Quite an accomplishment. Also coming up
on the August long weekend Lake Scu Agrigata in Caesarea.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, starting with the volleyball tournament. There's
a parade Saturday at 10. 30 and races and games
for the kids in the afternoon, and Sunday the pancake
breakfast at the fire hall. So please mark it on
your calendars and try to attend. Thank you, Adam. Thank
you very much, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Wright. Any
other announcements? Councillor Guido. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I thought
I would take advantage of the fact that we have
a very large crowd here this evening to highlight the
fact that Sharon Rennes from branching out is doing a
wonderful initiative for remembrance date and has engaged with the
community. Maybe some of you have participated in the creation
of the poppies. The next ask is that they are
looking for a location to dry the tableaus once they
are taken down from the township building in November. They
need to be kept together and dried. So if anybody
has a very large space that they are willing to
allow these poppies to be dried in, if you can
connect with Sharon at branching outflowest, Madame Mer, that would
be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Thank you, Council Guido Councillor
LaRoye. Yes, and through you, Madam Mayor. I just want
to offer a congratulations to the Second Annual Touch of
Truck event that happened on July 10th this past week
at the Port Peri Fairgrounds. It was another successful event.
It's been a hugely popular community activity at the Fairgrounds,
so congratulations to Bress, Inc., who organised it, and congratulations
to all who supported Big Brothers and Big Sisters who
were the beneficiaries of the funds raised at this event.
Thank you very much. Councillor La Roy. Are there any
other announcements from anyone? Seeing none, are there any announcements
from staff. Seeing none. Then we'll move on. Today's agenda
includes a discussion regarding the final fission document from Darwin
Pivot, detailing results from your voice, your fair grants public
consultation. The accompanying recommendations for future use and the complementary
report from staff detailing the financial and implementation options for
the property. I thank the members of the community who
have attended in person today, and to those who have
tuned in online. As per our procedure bylaw, we are
welcoming a number of delegates to the chambers today. Council
and members of the community are encouraged to express their
opinions and be respectful of our meeting etiquette. A fear
reminders before we get started. The washrooms are out in
the hall area, the fire exit is marked, just head
back down the stairs. Attendees in the gallery, we thank
you in advance for respecting these proceedings. Please refrain from
clapping, emotional outbursts, and shouting, or behaviour intended to disrupt
the delegates, discussions, or general proceedings. We are live streaming.
This meeting tonight and want to ensure that the recording
and audio runs smoothly. Only members of council and the
municipal staff shall be permitted to answer the council floor
during the City of Council of Or Committee. I'd like
to address comments regarding our procedural bylaw. We have a
few delegates this evening, and we want to ensure everyone
who has registered to speak be given the opportunity. Delegates
are reminded that you will be given five minutes to
speak. Please watch your time, and there is an accountdown
clock. Delegates must come forward, and speak into the microwave
state microwave, microphone. Why are you speaking the microwave too,
I guess? But anyway, and state for the record, your
name and municipal address. We appreciate Delegate's respecting the decorum
and the rules of procedure of this meeting. A stated
on the signs at the entrance, and in bylaw 66
- 18, Delegates should not speak disrespectfully. Use offensive words.
Speak on any subject other than the subject for which
they have given notice to address the committee. Disobey the
Decision of the Chair. Enter into debate with councillors, council
members, or appropriate any unused time allocated to another delegation
or presenter. Ladies and gentlemen, we want to have the
opportunity to hear from everyone, and we appreciate your cooperation
on this. I may call a recess if attendees do
not adhere to what has just been outlined. Those who
are disruptive may be asked to leave the meeting and
to vacate the premises. Again, I know you are here
because you care about our township and this matter. I
trust that you will demonstrate respect for this process in
kindness to one another. Thank you. So at this time,
we will move on, and again, remind each delegate five
minutes, and that please just present your case, so to
speak. There will not be questions. Asked of staff or
of council, correct? Clerk, thank you. Okay. And okay, so
the first delegation is from Mr. Paul Puckran, the Port
Perry Ex Society, regarding the fairgrounds visioning exercise. Please come
forward, Mr. Bucker.
Welcome and - Best test. Go ahead. Okay, sorry, thank
you. Okay, my name is Paul Puckerin. I live at
16175, Simcal Street North here in Port Perry. Mayor Watton
and members of Council, I am here as president of
Port Perry Agricultural Society to State that we have been
deceived and betrayed by the visioning project. The Darwin Pivot
Consultants did what they were hired to do. The problem
is the township of Scugog staff report and the recommendations
within it. The consultant does not recommend the sale of
four acres. It is the staff report that recommends the
sale. The consultant does not recommend the termination of the
portiacultural society's lease. It is the staff report that recommends
the termination of the lease. I want to address the
practical effects of these recommendations. There is no firm plan
for site improvements in the staff report. There is no
budget for them. There's no valuation of the four acres
proposed for sale. Council is being asked to give direction
on the disposition of public parkland without knowing what will
be built, what it will cost, or what the land
is worth. By any measure of sound administration, that direction
is premature. Your own consultant said as much. Start with
modest, reversible steps first. Make major decisions only after feasibility
work and further community involvement. The staff report recommendations start
with the most consequential, irreversible steps. Since 1910, the agricultural
society has been the fairgrounds working tenant and caretaker. Paying
the utilities, carrying the insurance, maintaining the grounds, all through
volunteer effort and at no cost to taxpayers. The recommendation
to end our tennessee sell off a portion of the
property and offer the site back to us a few
days a year under a revocable permit is not acceptable.
A permit is no substitute for a lease. A fair
is not an event that arrives on a weekend. It
is assembled over a full year, fundraising insurance, entertainment, and
vendors are booked. Many months, to years ahead. No volunteer
organisation can meet these commitments under terms that can be
revoked at any time. Whatever the intent, the practical effects
would be the death of the fair and the demise
of over 170 years of tradition. Residents were continually assured
by the mayor and council that the grounds were not
for sale and that no developed discussions were underway. Citizens
will remember these assurances. And if counsel chooses to honour
them. The community has spoken through every channel available surveys,
letters, petitions, and packed public meetings. And its message has
been overpowering. Keep the fairgrounds whole. The agricultural society is
not resistant to change. The society has long desired year
- round programming. Better public access, and a busier, more
welcoming site. And we are prepared to fundraise, pursue grants,
and bring sponsors to the table to help pay for
it. Agriculture is not a museum piece. Every meal begins
with a farmer. And a working fairground is the best
classroom this community has to demonstrate that truth. Council initiated
this controversy when it deferred the heritage committee's recommendation that
the fairgrounds property be designated a heritage site. Then council
refused to negotiate a lease with the agricultural society. Matters
were made worse with the decision to spend taxpayers'money on
this unnecessary visioning exercise and are now compounded by the
recommendations in the staff report. Council should carefully weigh the
question of whether they have a mandate from the community
to implement the staff recommendations. All but one of you
was a claim to office. Although we are deeply disappointed
that the actions of council have brought us here, we
are incredibly grateful to the residents of Skewgog for their
overwhelming support for the preservation of the fairgrounds. I'll request
our reasonable. One, current council should simply receive the consultants
report for information and take no further action. Two, reject
any sale of any portion of the fairgrounds park. Three.
Renew the society's lease so that more than a century
of faithful stewardship can continue for future generations. And finally,
defer any irreversible decision until a new council is elected
with a clear mandate. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Mr. Parkran. Are there any questions or comments. Council Sirok.
Thank you for coming to present tonight, Mr. Puckering. And
I've heard what you said and I understand your position
entirely. I just want to make a clarification. Um, help
me understand how a year ago there are agricultural society
was here advocating for redevelopment of this site. Right? And
what exactly do you mean by redevelopment? Well, the Ackerpark,
right? The Agra part, if you had read, if you
had read, you would discover that was a very ambitious
project. That was a concept. We came up with a
committee, and what we wanted to do was what could
it be? What could this be for the community? How
could we enhance it to make this available and more
usable for the entire community? It was ambitious. There's no
doubt about it, okay? If you look at the recommendations
we came up with, the vast majority of those recommendations
were the same recommendations and suggestions that Darwin pivot came
up with in their visioning process. And, and, we did
it for free. We did not pay 100, 000 dollars
of the taxpayer's money that was put forward. That would
have redeveloped this site. And would have left less than
19 acres. I disagree. Well, the website. We can visit
a website and we can take a look at the
development. That was a concept. But you were advocating for
that. That was a concept to initiate discussion. I'm not
here to debate with you. I'm here to answer your
questions. I'm asking a question of - And what don't
you understand? Why was it something that you thought was
okay to develop. When it was never cast in stone?
It was a concept. It was a concept. It was
a concept. It was not cast in stone. Not many
people were here advocating for us to approve. So you
could be gathering. No, we didn't ask you to approve
that. We can go back and look at this. Please
do it. There were many people advocating for us to
support this so you could begin raising money to do
that. Right? So what about it bothered you so much?
I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to be debating with you.
I'm just asking the question. I am confused as to
why it would be. You are confused a lot. Why?
Okay. When it's your idea. And normally develop a small
portion of it. I'm sorry, but this was a concept
to promote discussion. Which we never really got the opportunity
to do, did we? Right. So after, I think the
part that you're, okay, gentlemen. Gentlemen. Turn your. Leg on.
Robin. Or speak into. The mic. I'm confused after 110
years how every time you come for a release, you
talk about the things that you guys are going to
do, but it still hasn't been developed. Why is it
every nine years we hear all of the amazing things
you're going to do and they don't get done? It
is still undeveloped. Why this time, do we believe Charlie
Brown's going to kick the football on this one when
it comes to you guys developing this? I'm at a
loss to understand this. It is an ongoing promise. It
hasn't happened. 110 years, it hasn't happened. So why are
we to believe that this time magically will be the
time that you do it, right? I believe very firmly
that this report gave everybody a win. Because as much
as you say, everybody in this community was very, you
know, very succinct on don't do anything. But I can
see Mr. Corgan sitting over here, who himself and many
other people advocated for senior housing. Right. It's something that
our community desperately needs. There are nearly four acres, North
End of Canterbury Comet scheduled for seniors housing. And it's
been sitting vacant since it was approved in 2017. There's
approval south of town for 240 condo units. Is it
being done? Is it being worked on? No, it isn't.
Nothing. Exactly. It's not developer because there's no demand. No,
because that developer isn't doing it. There is demand. What
about the one up in Canterbury? I'm sorry. We're not
supposed to be adding this debate. Are there... Thank you,
Councillor Rock. Are there any further questions for Mr. Pucker.
Councillor Guido. Good evening, Mr. Pechren. Good evening. Just a
question. Some of the social media posts that the agricultural
society has put out is regarding missed opportunities regarding grant
funding. Has this agricultural society. Applied for grant funding and
been denied because of the lack of lease? Yes. No,
we haven't applied because the point. Now we have got
grants in the past as you're well aware. But with
a limited lease, who's going to give you a grant?
It's the same with your volunteers. It's the same with
people contributing money, you know, materials, everything else. If you
don't have a lease, what's the point? Right. Especially now
with a monthly lease. Thank you. So I'm sorry. That
was a long answer to a short question, but no,
we haven't applied recently. It's pointless. Okay, thank you. No,
I was just trying to qualify that. Um, I know
that some of the posts were indicating that a 10
- year lease is a requirement for some of these
grants. Right. A lot of the grants that are available
require a five - year lease, 10 - year would
give you ultimate access to, I guess, uh, grant funding.
But I just was wanting to clarify if any were
actually applied for and denied based on the fact of
Nolisa available. I haven't applied because it was pointless. Okay.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Guido. If it
was, but you had two or three ten year lease.
So what about the previous leases? They weren't pointless. No,
and we got grants. That fence was a grant. We
put grants. Of course. Did you did you have the,
and I'm asking, I don't know. Um, normally grants require
the letter of support from, from council, did you have
that? I assume we did. If they were required, we
got them. I might have to check that out. That's
fine. I just have one final question. And I understand
you said this was a concept. Yes. But since you're
here, I just, um, when I looked at the agripark
design, I was just curious. Where the fair portion would,
like the entire 23 acres. No, the midway and everything
because it depends on the year, the midway goes on
your right, usually, right? Concert goes on the left. Holstein
barn, you know where that is, right? I do, but
it says covered standing ring roll up doors, indoor, outdoor
covered seeding. So I just, more out of curiosity, where
would a midway go if you had those? Midway goes
on the right side on the east side. Of the
track. No, inside the track on the inside area. That's
where the midway goes. Well, these both indicate a barn,
but okay. Well, again, it was a concept. Yeah, and
that's why, but that's my first. When I first looked
at it way back, I thought you've got to admit,
our buildings are old. And it would be nice to
have a nice new building where we could have homecraft
and have proper year - round toilets a proper office.
I don't think that's unreasonable, but you can't, you've got
to have grants and it would be really, really, really
nice if we could work with the township. Towards that
goal. Well, I don't disagree with you on that, Mr.
Puckerin. I do believe that, you know, that ultimately when
we started this, to me, the goal was to work
in collaboration and partnership. 1910, that's exactly what was said.
No, I'm not talking about, I mean, that's the history.
That's what it should be now, too. Right. And I
just rewrite the bylaw 65 - 18 or whatever it
was. And anyway, I've done a lot of research as
well. But my goal, even with this report would be
that collaboration and partnership would be able to help move
the needle forward for everyone's benefit. Absolutely. Thank you. I
appreciate you coming. If there's questions, we'll move on to
our second delegate. Which is.
There, a Jennifer Lafir here, a laugh leader. Lafler. I'm
sorry. I need to put my glasses on.
Welcome and just hit the button when you're ready. There
we go. You can hear me fine. Uh, good evening,
council members. My name is Dr. Jennifer Lafayette. I'm an
associate professor at Ontario Tech University. I study the profound
impact of urban sprawl on mental health of individuals and
communities across Canada. I also study the disappearance of small
towns and what this is doing to the national identity
in Canada. I'm also currently researching the history of carnivals
and fairs across Canada. And North America and globally. I
grew up in the carnival. I've travelled my entire life
in the carnival. In Port Perry has been a spot
every year in my history. I don't live in Port
Perry. I live in Oxbridge. Sorry, 2, 4, 6, 9,
concession 6 Oxbridge. But I had to show up today
to speak about the research that I'm finding. I'm currently
writing a book on the history of carnivals for Penguin
Books. Published in 2027. Port Perry features heavily in my
book. As having one of the oldest fairgrounds in Canada,
along with other small towns. And in fact, when we
measure it against carnivals across North America, considering it's the
size of the town and the public governance, it may
be one of the oldest in North America.
Selling these lands to developers would exasperate urban sprawl congestion
and other pressing issues. I urge the council to explore
innovative funding solutions to the perk upgrades. Provincial and federal
grants, as we've heard, research support from institutions such as
universities, which there's actually quite a lot of support in
universities for funding for this and other events. In fact,
50 percent of the proceeds of my book are dedicated
to supporting small towns and keeping their affairs so we
can keep the traditional alive. I am currently creating a
chart with three doctorate research students on how other small
towns are funding their carnivals. There's a lot of creative
opportunities. I would love to explore these further with agricultural
society. I believe with their lease, if it was continued,
we would work with them. To continue to explore ways
to keep this going. I have been working with the
showman's League of America, the Canadian chapter. And based on
our research, it is my stance along with the showman's
league of America and the Canadian chapter that this is
a historical fairground. And no portion of the property should
be sold to developers. There's a tremendous opportunity here to
develop these lands. It's a continue with the theme of
agriculture and fair. Carnivals. Now I always in the book
have to distinguish between affair and a circus. A circus
is animals. We're talking about fairs and carnivals. I hope
we don't squander this chance to protect this very important
part of rural identity and to support the well -
being of local residents. Our research also shows that fairgrounds
within small communities are central hubs for community connection. Mental
health and well - being. And overall health. This research.
Has been found in at least 180 articles. The research
also shows that when portions of culturally significant grounds lands
are sold to developers, there is a breakdown of trust.
That does impact the mental health of communities. In conclusion,
I'd like to say that I'm going to continue to
work with the showman's league of America and the Canadian
chapter. To see what we can do to continue to
protect these lands and support the local community. I'm also
willing and offering services to help explore funding and research
money opportunities. To examine ways to develop the fairgrounds that
support agriculture families and the mental health of all individuals.
I ask that the council considers not selling off a
portion of the lands. Keeping the lease with the agricultural
society. And keeping these fairgrounds, what they should be, which
is a part of his cultural identity, but even the
wider community across Canada. Thank you. Thank you very much,
Jennifer. Are there any comments or questions to the delegate.
Councillor LaRoy. Excuse me. Yes. Thank you. And through you,
Madam Mayor, to Ms. Lafier. Thank you for your Delegations.
It's very interesting, completely unexpected to me. I enjoyed hearing
what you had to say. I have two questions for
you. I don't know your research, so I don't know
if you can answer these questions, but you might have
some insight. The first question is with regard to what
has your research shown, about models of governance for these
types of sites and fair organisations. Have you come across
different governance structures? And if so, what might they be
in a sort of a brief description? And the second
question would be, what is your research say if you've
encountered that? About fairgrounds that have lost their sites and
have been forced to move in terms of their outcomes.
I don't know if your research has encountered examples of
that as well. So two questions, governance and forced relocation.
So governance, we did look at governance models. Um, the
ones that seem to support the local wellbeing of communities
the most was when the governance was within the local
community. Organisations that were housed within the community. Agricultural societies,
uh, organisations seem to be the most popular across not
only Canada, but the United States that most often they
were the ones helping manage look after, you know, take
care of events. That seemed, in our research, and again,
this is not just myself. So this is a research
team, but our research team found that that often created
the most trust within a community. And it created the
most outpouring of support, which I think this is evident
that's happening today as well. Um, there was a lack
of trust when we looked at small towns where, uh,
fairgrounds or carnivals were leased out to, uh, which some
did, which were, um, organisations outside of the community. So
some for profit, uh, organisations which did not have a
good track record of keeping the fairgrounds alive or well
supported within the community. We also found that there was
some that were privately sold off. To actually families. And
again, that, uh, the two examples I can think of
without sort of revealing names, but the two examples I
can think of was actually families that, uh, the fairgrounds
did not continue because of internal conflict within the family
of how it could be governed. Um, so that did
not proceed well. Um, your second question, sorry, just if
you can repeat your second question. Your comments about governance.
The second question relates to experience affairs or agricultural societies
that are forced to relocate. Yes. Um, we did find
a few. So we did look at a few relocation.
There was two, we found two that were successful in
relocation, but this was, um, much larger communities than Port
Perry. Um, there was a massive amount of funding coming
into these two that were moved. Um, all of the
rest that we looked at were, um, proposals to move
them, but the communities often fought them being moved to
different locations. Um, the showman's league of America and the
Canadian chapter strongly support keeping original fairgrounds due to the
historical value, the historical, the history, uh, within the community.
There is actually research that shows, uh, when a fairground
is within a certain location for a period of time.
This actually is connected to memories of families. It's connected
to memories of community members. And when we move those
carnivals to different locations, it interrupts and disrupts memories and
positive memories. Um, so it is my position that fairgrounds
as much as possible should stay within the historical grounds
they've, uh, sorry, they've always been to continue to have
that strong connection. That insight. Thank you, Councillor La Roy.
Councillor McDougal. Thank you, Madam Mayor. And, uh, thank you,
Dr. Lafayette, for coming today. I completely unexpected. I do
have to ask. You said you travelled with the carnival
every summer. Do you mean like literally travelled with the
carnival every summer? Yes. Until recently, but my mother retired
15 years ago. And I worked as a university professor
and travelled on the weekends to support from my family
when I could. Wow. Very impressive. Thank you. Um, and
like you mentioned, it does trigger many memories. And you
just mentioning the carnival trigger to memory for me, which
was when a couple summers we had actually the circus
come to Port Perry, um, on the grounds of what
is now Westshore. I think it was for two summers.
Um, I'm just thinking how wonderful it would be to
have that come back. Because to see lion's and tigers
and bears, Omai, uh, but to see those signs in
Port Perry was quite something. And I can't help but
think what an attraction would be. But thank you for
coming today. Sorry. Go ahead. Is there a question councillor?
No, that's a thank you Madam Mayor. Thank you. Thank
you very much, Jennifer. Thank you. Okay. We'll move on
to our third delegation, which is from Mike Smith.
Go ahead when you're ready. Good afternoon, Council. Uh, Mike
Smith, 870 high point road. I guess mainly, um, I
want to talk about the staff report that you guys
are voting on. Looking through it, an executive summary. The
purposes of this report is to present the fairgrounds visioning
exercise final report. And to recommend accounts on next steps
to action the final report through an implementation plan that
balances community priorities. In a fiscally responsible manner. Now. When
you go through the Darwin pivot, we pay it 100,
000 dollars for a consultant to talk to everyone, gather
all this information. One of the questions on the sticky
note board. Was the future. What people wanted to see
on the Fairgrounds. There were 190 sticky notes put on
there through all the meetings. Two. We're for housing.
That's one of the only main points. In this summary.
The other one is the selling. Of the four acres
of land. Multiple times. I did not count them all.
I got bored. No housing, no developing. Don't sell it.
Don't change it. This is what we paid 100, 000
dollars to find out. It also in here is the
township. Taking back control. Zero.
I don't know how that is a summary. Take it
back. Yet here it is in our summary. Some of
the other things in here. We have four zones.
Which was from the consultant. But when you read it,
one zone is for housing. Three zones are open space
with possibilities. What we have right now is 23 acres
with possibilities. What this is suggesting is let's have 19
acres of possibilities. We also have a cost analysis or
a cost estimation for the township taking care of it
of 21, 000. Now with the way the budget is,
everything gets rolled in now. But if you go back
to 2018. There was 177. 45 acres of park, which
includes 23 acres of the Fairgrounds. And the township's cost
was 706, 700 dollars. And 82 dollars per acre times
23 acres. So in 2018, it would have cost 92,
000. But today we'll do it for 21, 000. Somewhere
in here. There is some inaccuracies on what is being
presented to Council to vote on. And. There's nothing on
what is being built. There's nothing on how much money
is needed. The Fair can continue there. If it works.
But the drawings have no buildings. So I do assume
there are no buildings there. Or are they staying. Because
I'm not sure what we're voting on here. The final
one. And you brought it up. The bylaw. And in
here, you know, staff is sure that the fairgrounds are
100 percent owned by the township. Whereas porphyri reach, Scuder,
agricultural society here and after called the Society have offered
to give towards the purchase of a park, a subscription
of 750. Now, subscription threw me off a little bit.
So I looked it up. In 1910. It meant in
agreement or formal commitment to purchase shares in a perspective
corporation or a new issue. Again, purchase. Nowhere does it
say the 750 like in here was for the lease.
In the bylaw, it says that they purchased it on
the condition that they received the lease. It also says
in here that the deed will be put in the
name of the village of porperi. Nowhere does it say
anything of that. Um, last one quick here in Ontario,
a resulting trust arises when someone contributes to the purchase
of a property or transfers legal title without intending to
make it a gift. Legally, the person untitled holds a
property in trust for the individual who provides the funds.
So the court will presume that person B does not
own the property outright, but holds it in trust for
person A to keep the property. Person B must prove
on a balance of probabilities to person A explicitly intended
the transfer or funding as a gift. Everything in this
report. I question. The numbers make no sense. And I
guess it's more a warning for council going into this
vote. Of just exactly how much value is in that
report. Thank you very much. Are there any questions for
Mr. Smith. Council Sirak. Thank you, Mr. Smith. For coming
on today. I appreciate what you said. Right. Um, you
know, going through there. You know, I think you make
a good point on the numbers when it comes to
maintenance. I think that, sure, that can be looked at.
Absolutely. Uh, what I do think is important though, is
I guess I would push back slightly on your numbers.
On the 198 to two. That is one example of
all of the conversations and not probably a totality of
all of the conversations that Darwin pivot happened. Because we
do know that there were lots of people at the
table. Again, Mr. Corrigan who's sitting here who advocated along
with many other people. For additional senior housing. So, so
there is other people and there were other voices at
the tables that did represent other viewpoints. Um, were they
overwhelming? Probably not, right? But I do think that the
way I vision, I see this report is to me
this seemed like it was a win, win, win for
everyone. It is ensuring that the fair can stay at
this location. Right. It's providing enough space to continue to
run the fair. It is providing senior housing which our
community desperately needs. It is having dedicated funds outside of
a budget that cannot be used for anything else. To
provide the ongoing development of this site. They can't be
used for anything. The sale of that would be held
in trust for that operation of improving the site. Right.
So then we don't have to find money elsewhere. We
don't have to worry about everybody not be approved. Money
will be there. So we see tangible improvements on the
site, which I think we all want along with the
fair staying there. Not having to move. Right. And I
agree that it's, there's nothing in the darwin pivot report
on the township taking back over. But I would ask
the CEO, I don't believe that that was ever a
question put to them or not. As to who would
have ongoing control of the site. Because to my knowledge,
that was no question that Darwin pivot was asked or
was asking anyone after they believed that the agricultural society
or the tantri should continue that. So I totally agree.
Is it perfect. Maybe not. And I absolutely take on
some of the things that you have said. But this
is how I read this report. I read this report
as truly a win - win for this community and
not someone losing anything. So. The numbers, like I'm not
arguing that this is not the only people speaking. However,
I spoke at the meeting about the visioning exercise and
suggested that the public had spoke. And it was you
who told me if we took all those numbers, that's
about five percent. Is not nearly enough. That's why the
visioning exercise needs to go through. So we have it
at one percent. I'm going to say the numbers should
be five times higher. Based on your recommendation a year
ago. That's still not high enough. There was no question
about the township taking it over. However, there were answers
that suggested they wanted township to leave. With the act
society doing it. So while it may not have been
asked, it was answered. What I heard consistently when I
went through this is that people wanted the fair to
continue. And they wanted to continue at that site. That's
consistently what people were saying. So I understand what you're
saying. I don't know that everyone believed that it was
only possible. If everything remained untouched. Right. And that's a
philosophical debate. We don't have to agree on it. And
I respect you. I have no issue with you. And
I'm not, I'm truly not engaging in an argument with
you. I'm really just trying to understand. Because I genuinely
don't, I believe the will of the community was very
clear that they don't want this to see the fair
move. And I genuinely believe that this report ensures the
long - term sustainability of this site with money that
will develop the site responsibly over time. But we have
no buildings. Thank you, gentlemen. You have no buildings. There
is no buildings where. All. Your drawings and your report.
There are zero buildings left. Right. Because the implementation plan
and the collaboration and the partnerships would intend to develop
all that. It's not eliminating. Excuse me. It's not eliminating
what was there. But it is opening up a slate
just as create the implementation plan. That to me along
with Council Rock, I understood that was opening it up
for all kinds of possibilities. Not a limbing and keeping
the fair. So if the Fair wants the building, the
barn building that was shown in this concept plan, would
they be keeping the other two buildings that are there.
If the Fair Association wants the covered stand brings inside
the track. And the barn on either side of that
track. Is that what is envisioned by the fair? Now
Mr. Puckerin said it was just a concept and we
respect that. The input mentation plan would come up with
a site specific plan. And it would involve conversations with
everyone to determine how best to meet the needs of
not only the ex society, but of those other community
members, other organisations, other stakeholders that we heard. That's how
I understood it. If I'm sorry, if it's not showing
in this plan and you feel it's misleading. But that
was how I read it as well. And that follows
into my last thing is it's a concept. It's a
concept because we're not voting on this right now. We're
voting on an implementation which would tighten it. So if
the agri - park was a concept, what we're presenting
is a concept that will have to be refined. Right.
They're both concepts. So equally, right, you can't just say,
once a concept and, you know, then this is concrete.
Because that's not what we're doing. All I'm suggesting is
it's great that the Fair can continue, but has anyone
reached out to talk about what is required to make
the fair. And none of that is in here. That
is my concern. Because that would be part of the
implementation plan as to why we would have an implementation.
So we don't know if Fair can continue. Of course
it can. I don't think the person in this room
again. It's affair to end. No one in this room
wants this fair town. No. And we don't need to
go around in a circle on that. Again. Thank you
for coming. And I take on some of your criticism.
Absolutely. And I think that those will have be looked
at. But I would also say to consider some of
the things that are attempted to be done with this
report in providing for the long - term vision of
this site. Thank you Council The Rock. Councillor McDougall. Thank
you Madam Mayor. Sorry. Hang on. That's okay. Thank you
Madam Mayor. Thank you Mike for coming again today to
speak to us. Um, I actually think I want to
thank Dr. Lefayer for explaining to me and all of
us about memories. Cause I think I can understand better
now why you care so deeply about the fair. Um,
how long has the Ontario hosting club been hosted at
the fair. And how many nights have you personally spent
sleeping in those stalls with your uncle or your father?
Uh, so 19. I believe was the first show. And.
Like my farm has exhibited every year at the show.
And night slept there. Slap. I don't think maybe not
too many. But councillor to the report. Please. Thank you.
So from your read of the Darwin Pivot visioning exercise.
Did you understand that in order for the township and
the Ag Society to be able to collaborate that the
lease needed to be dissolved and lands needed to be
sold off. No. Like from everything from the consultant. I
have no idea why lands need to be sold off.
Especially when. We don't, like the number for, I don't
know what we need this money for. Because it's just
a concept. Okay. Thank you. Thank you both. We'll now
move on to our next delegation, which is Margaret Taylor
Sevier.
Welcome and whenever you're ready. Margaret Taylor Sevier, A. D.
Med Road, Port Perry. Mayor and Council. Back in September,
when this council was planning to do this visioning exercise,
the town of AJAX announced very proudly the establishment of
a 17. 6 acre green space that they are calling
a fairgrounds. And it's not in the centre of town.
It's up and oddly, which is, you know, when I
was a kid, that was pretty far north. Um, and
they announced, despite having a diverse and quickly growing population,
the town has no dedicated space for friends, families, and
groups to hold the kind of large - scale community
festivals and events expected of a modern town. The Ajax
Fairgrounds and surrounding green space is the first of its
kind in Durham region. Putting ajacks on the map as
the premier event destination. Accommodating up to 25, 000 guests.
The area will be home to community favourite town signature
events like Canada Day and Winterfest. And we'll be available
to groups and organisations looking to bring exclusive events to
AJAX. Then in February, Clarengton announced the municipality of Clarengton
has acquired 20 hectares. That's just under 50 acres of
land. Located just west of the south Bowmanville recreation centre.
The property will become the site of a new outdoor
sports and event grounds creating a central destination for active
and passive recreation, as well as outdoor community gatherings. The
2024 parks recreation and culture master plan identified the need
for the municipality to acquire a large parcel of land
to accommodate new outdoor sports fields, including a dedicated cricket
field, as well as large - scale outdoor community gatherings.
At the time, no suitable space was available within the
existing park system to meet projected demand. This purchase fulfills
a key recommendation of the PARC's recreation and culture master
plan to support Clarengton's growing community. If you go to
their website and look at the plan, that includes an
outdoor - gathering space for major community events undercovered stage
for live concerts and performances. Whitby currently uses 27 acres
of their 70 acre Victoria Field soccer complex, which is
right on the lake for community events like Canada Day
fireworks and their annual rib fest. In April, they announced
that they have secured nearly 150 acres north of Brooklyn
for future sports fields. Again, pretty far from downtown. Building
on the momentum of the upcoming opening of the field
gate sports complex, the town of Whitby is taking another
major step to expand recreational space and meet growing community
demand, securing more than 60 hectares in North Whitby for
a future outdoor sports field complex. This is an exciting
step. As we continue building a complete connected community that
grows with our residents, securing this land reflects the priorities
set out in Whitby's community strategic plan, investing in recreation,
expanding access to green space and planning proactively for the
needs of a growing population. The need for more sports
fields was also identified in our recreation master plan. As
this project moves forward input from residents and user groups
will be key to shaping a space that truly reflects
whippy's needs. That's a quote from Elizabeth Roy, the mayor
of Whitby. Now we have the fairgrounds. We have that
open space and it's in town. It's not way off
somewhere. These towns are not looking for more community parks.
And not particularly looking for more sports fields, except Whitby,
because they've got the big space on the lake. For
all their events. This town could be using the fairgrounds
for their candidate day events. And anything else that requires
a lot of space. Palmer Park is a jewel. But
it's barely two acres. And it's sandwiched between Water Street
and the lake. It's great for small gatherings, but whenever
there's a popular event there, it is overcrowded. And there
is no parking within walking distance. The fairgrounds is our
only park with enough open space to accommodate larger events,
and it is conveniently located on trail networks and bus
routes. If council starts selling it off bit by bit,
or carving it up into smaller zones, we will lose
this heritage treasure, and some future council will be looking
far afield for something to replace it. Thank you. Thank
you very much. Are there any questions. Um, seeing none,
I just have a couple of comments. Um, the AJAX
field, it comes with a tune or a cost of
four million dollars. Their development of the development costs and
construction for that 7. 3 acre event lawn. Um. HOx
got 22 million. Through a housing accelerator fund. By promising
development of 10, 000 homes, that part of that 4
million, that's where that 4 million is coming from. Clearington,
their sports field is coming in at 102 million dollars.
10 million grant. And right now a commitment of 65
million from Clarenton. Whitby is investing 155 million in the
field gates, sports facility. I agree. We have space. But
we don't have money for the development of such things
that you spoke about. What the report was suggesting was
the potential sale, good help fund, even such things as
some of the concept plan put forward. By the Port
Perry Ag Society. That's what the report was speaking to.
It was in a done deal. It is in anything
more than that was a suggestion as a resource for
funding. And it would probably come or could be planned
to come after all sources of funding. Of course, we
can plant trees and we can put some benches. But
if we're talking development, I just wanted to echo. That
the examples you gave, because, and I had read your
letter, so I looked them up. Thank you for the
heads up, by the way. Um, I was quite floored
by the costs. And my point is that we don't
need to spend anything. We already have a fairgrounds. But,
but you spoke about event space. Yes. And the point
of having a fairgrounds is to have an open space
that's flexible, that doesn't have playground equipment and street furniture
and stuff that you have to work around if you're
going to put on a big event like a rib
fest or a fair. Because once you start putting things
in the middle of the field, you can't use the
whole space anymore. And that's a very valid point. But
that's not only what we heard from the community. They
wanted all those other things that you just mentioned as
well. So it is really, and that's why an implementation
plan would help us arrive at something that might be
suitable for everyone. But thank you. Are there any other
questions or comments? Councillor LaRoy. Yes, thank you Madam Mayor
and to you. Thank you for the presentation. I'm glad
you did the research on the neighbouring municipalities. Uh, I
think you may be aware that our own policy here
is three hectors per thousand people is what Parkland equivalency
is meant to be. And just for the record for
those at attendance, that means that for acres is roughly
the equivalent Parkland of 500 people. Lose that four acres.
That's 500 people put into deficiency in terms of our
own policies. I believe we're currently close to our policy
presently. So just another number to your statistics that you
provided here this afternoon. Thank you, Councillor Labroye. Any further
comments or questions? Seeing none. Thank you very much. Okay,
now we'll move on to Delegation 4. 5 Natalie Holtby.
Natalie, are you here?
Whenever you're ready. Hello, good evening Mayor and Council. My
name is Dr. Natalie Holtby, and I have my PhD
in school and clinical Child Psychology. I encourage counsel to
receive the information in Darwin Pivot's report without taking further
action. My first objection to the report rests on methodological
concerns. The township of Scugog includes approximately 21, 580 people.
By comparison, Darwin Pivot's visioning exercise involved a vague estimate
of more than 1, 400 community interactions and very limited
demographic information describing the participating sample. Further, the process by
which community feedback was illicited, involved considerable time and effort
for respondents. And I suspect doesn't include the voices of
many citizens who either weren't aware of the surveys or
community events or didn't have the time to participate. Darwin
Pivot has failed to provide any evidence to assert that
this vision is representative of our community priorities. Second, it
seems that Darwin Pivot has erroneously conflated the well -
intentioned citizen value of community gathering with an urgent civic
need for costly and irreversible changes to a historic peace
of land. Let's consider how to better serve this community
from an unbiased lens. If we do, then it's a
careless leap to translate the reports community pillars such as
honouring heritage while looking forward, protecting and enhancing green space
and maintaining stewardship into Darwin Pivot's drastic three - zone
vision for the property. They're suggested map of changes will
not only reduce the existing space into overly developed, disconnected
fragments, but it will also involve paving over green space.
A number of the suggested recreational facilities to be added
are already available nearby. Further, the recommendation to sell a
sizable portion of the land for development to pay for
these redundant amenities neglects to consider how residential and mixed
use buildings coupled with parking lots with permanently alter the
atmosphere of the space. Lest is often more. And just
because we can change things, it doesn't mean that we
should. Having grown up in and lived in this community
for multiple decades, I've never seen the fairgrounds as an
underutilized resource that only supports the fair. I've been there
many times running on the track and practicing mindfulness. I'm
also confident that there are many people like myself who've
enjoyed free access to a quiet, serene, outdoor space where
they can peacefully walk through dogs or ride their bikes.
Darwin Pivot has envisioned a congested, overstimulating conglomeration of amenities
to make this land part of the parks and recreation
system. I argue that the fairgrounds are already a part
of this system and support it well in their current
form. In reading the final report, it's evident that what
should have been a thoughtful and respectful dialogue about how
to protect and enhance a special place has been reduced
to an antagonistic attack on the port Perry Agricultural Society.
This entire process feels like an effort to bulldoze past
critical thinking in the name of ambition and the unrelenting
quest for improvement. I welcome change when it has a
purpose. I actually agree with the suggestion to plant more
trees on the grounds and update the washroom facilities. Modest
changes that will honour the space and enhance the comfort
of visitors can be made responsibly without selling part of
the property and radically reconfiguring the rest. I urge us
to find our common ground. We all want to enhance
our lives and make this world a better place for
our children. Why not show them the value of caring
for the land and appreciating its innate beauty. Nature is
not an infinite resource to be discarded on a whim.
Undeveloped land is a rare gift in today's context that's
worth holding on to. Have we not already clawed away
enough of the land from the surrounding fauna to suit
our human greed? Open space is not empty space. It
has a purpose. It is a rest bite and it
is essential. I ask that council have the courage to
walk away from this process without destroying the essence of
a cherished green space. I ask that council be mindful
of our environmental footprint and consider why our children would
want us to nourish a space for plants and wildlife.
And I ask that counsel do the right thing and
respect the land. Thank you. Thank you very much, Natalie.
Are there any questions. Seeing none, thank you.
We'll move on to our next delegation and I will
ask you once again to please refrain from clapping outbursts,
et cetera, as outlined at the beginning of the meeting.
So our next delegation is from Pat Longmere. Pat, or
I know you're here.
Go ahead whenever you're ready. Thank you. Thank you for
the opportunity to speak with you this evening. I'm Pat
Longmire. I live at 66 Chalk Lake Road. I moved
to Scugog more than 20 years ago and I love
living here. I know that still makes me an outsider
and I'm not a member of the PPAS, but I
do love going to the fair, although I don't make
it every year. Since I have also worked in Park
and Trail Design, I was excited to see the launch
of the visioning process. I followed the process over the
past months attended meetings and a workshop and listened carefully
to what I heard. I also contributed some thoughts, although
since I don't live in the urban area of Porpari,
my use of the fairgrounds is primarily for special events.
What I read and heard over and over throughout the
process was three key points. One, the fairgrounds should be
kept as public open space and should continue to be
the home of the annual affair. Two, there are lots
of ideas of how to make the fairgrounds more appealing
and encourage greater use in all four seasons. And three,
there is a crushing need for affordable housing in Scugog.
When I read the staff report regarding the future of
the fairgrounds, I was shocked and saddened to see how
much it differed from what I had heard throughout the
process. I will focus my comments on the three key
points I expected to see in the staff report. First,
keeping the fairgrounds in the fair. Rather than emphasizing the
importance of maintaining the fair in its historic location, the
staff report commits only to offering an annual special event
permit for use of whatever area of the grounds the
township deems suitable. This gives no assurances that the fair
will be able to continue at the current location, which
was a very prominent theme in the public discussions. Rather,
the township at any time could specify only a small
unsuitable area for the fair, and thus would end the
fair's existence. I urge counsel to reject the suggestions in
the staff report, and instead guarantee that the fair will
be issued the annual special event permit or lease for
the use of all three designated zones at no cost
for a period of at least 20 years. Second, enhancing
use of the fairgrounds. At the workshop, the consultants provided
five options for ways in which the fairgrounds could potentially
be enhanced to encourage year - round use. I fully
realised that those ideas were simply potential concepts and that
the design work is yet to come. However, the staff
report has removed not only the specific design ideas, but
also the general concepts that reflected the priorities of residents.
All of the existing structures are not represented. It is
hard to see how special events will be held without
grandstand seating a stage, et cetera. Zone 2 is listed
only as a gathering area and contains none of the
urban forest community garden or other aspects of naturalization that
residents considered a high priority and we're illustrated at the
workshops. I urge counsel to reject the recommendation that staff
develop an implementation plan without any requirement for future planning
to be aligned with the priority of residents. Instead, I
would ask counsel to direct staff to explicitly develop and
implementation plan that places a priority on aligning future development
with the ideas and recommendations gathered through the visioning process.
Finally, Affordable Housing, the need for Affordable Housing in Scugog
was also a strong message that resounded throughout all the
meetings and discussions, and yet the staff report makes no
mention of this aspect. The four acres that is proposed
to be sold for private development will not create affordable
housing. The zoning will prioritize another strip mall, or perhaps
senior housing, but that is not what is required. There
are lots of options for seniors who have the means
to pay for market value accommodation. This weekend, there were
22 homes for sale in Canterbury Commons, and the villa
is advertising availability. What residents emphasized was the need for
affordable housing, so those with a limited income are able
to stay in town. That will not happen through private
development. I would urge counsel to reject the staff plan
for private development and instead direct staff to investigate the
magnitude of affordable housing requirements we need for our town
and the options such as rent geared to income cooperative
housing, tiny homes, et cetera. Members of council, although many
of you were acclaimed rather than elected by residents of
Scugog, nevertheless, the positions that you hold are intended to
represent the voice of the people. As residents of Scugog,
we rely on you to bring our priorities, thoughts, and
needs to the forefront of discussions and decisions regarding our
township. This is your opportunity to ensure that the input
gathered from your constituents through the visioning process is put
into action. I would ask that you reject the staff
report in its current form and instead commit to hosting
the fair at the historic location for decades to come
ensure that the implementation plan for future development of the
fairgrounds reflects the priorities of residents, and that staff move
forward with identifying options for affordable housing in Scugog. Thank
you for all the work that you do to ensure
Township Decisions reflect our priorities. Thank you very much. Are
there any questions or comments. Councillor LaRoy. Sorry, hang on.
Sorry, thank you Madam Mayor, and through you to the
deputant. Thank you for your presentation. I just want to
extend a bit of a message that me and other
people in this council are fully supportive Cooperative Housing, and
we have other sites in Scugog that would be more
appropriate than the current one under discussion. And I think
it's an excellent idea that the municipality should be exploring.
I'm fully supportive of that idea. Perhaps not on the
fairgrounds. But thank you for your thoughts. Um, it's very
refreshing to hear. Are there any further questions for the
delegate. Seeing none, thank you very much. Okay,
we'll move on to a delegation 4. 7, which is
from Patricia Conlan. Do you mind. Getting me some water.
Evening Council and Local Residence. My name is Patricia Conlan.
I've been a resident of Port Perry for over 40
years. I've been following recent developments surrounding the fairgrounds and
have participated in some of the sessions provided by Darwin
Pivot as well, with respect to the staff report, recommending
the For Acre sale, the parcel from Port Perry Fairgrounds
to developers. People have heard loudly the feeling of betrayal
that there are agricultural society feels expressed by this opinion
and not being heard. They stated that they were led
to believe their long - term lease would be renewed.
Several things I've gathered are concerning to school gog residents.
A large petition was signed by thousands of residents saying
they wanted the fairgrounds kept public, all of the fairgrounds.
And addition, lying signs are everywhere throughout the community, and
they have been for many months to support this and
protect our local heritage, our public green spaces, and are
fair. The consultant - y firm was hired to do
a visioning exercise, and some people did not have voice
some of the comments about that. I participated in one
of the online sessions. It was a very low turnout,
but several questions were indicative of selling a parcel of
land and were shut down firmly by all the participants
who want the entire Fairgrounds Cap Public with low -
cost, reasonable enhancements. The Port Perry Agricultural Society is claiming
breach of trust over negotiations is an unhappy with the
lease being terminated and any parcel of land being sold.
So what is a solution. Scugog is a large township.
Why can't other sites be located for a senior's home?
Building a senior's home at a noisy event site doesn't
even make sense. And it would lead optimization of the
land for future events. Allowing the Port Perry agricultural society
to continue with a 10 - year lease would be
reasonable. Give them the time to get Lawrence help them
with the assistant of getting grants so that enhancements are
reasonable, low - cost, and will help enhance our public
heritage space. Potentially through dorm region as well. Some of
the ideas from the community were not outrageous. A public
garden, walking trails, maybe a concert stand, but very reasonable.
Create a part committee. With three council members and three
members from Port Perry Agriculture Society to ensure good governance,
as suggested, by Councillor LaRoy. Perhaps add several town residents
as we can all see we're passionate about our public
fair to ensure broad participation and fair decisions. I'm asking
the council to restore public trust by keeping the entire
fair public for residents and taxpayers of Stugog. Let's preserve
our rich culture and heritage. Give the opportunity back to
the Port Perry Agriculture Society to obtain grants and to
build other events so it can be a source of
pride for the entire community as source of mental health
respite. A beautiful spot for us to visit and to
maybe just bring our family there in addition to having
more events. Thank you. Thank. You. Thank you very much,
Patricia. Are there any questions or comments. Seeing none, thank
you for taking the time to come. Okay, we'll move
on now to our Delegation 4. 8, which is a
delegation from Larry Corgan and Don Farkerson. We have. A
body, Bree. You may, I'll move on to the next.
Delegate 4. 9, which is Becky. Where's Vicky? Where's Bicky?
Whenever you're ready, Angie. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Watton.
Members of Council and Fellow Residents. My name is Andy
Rosebecki, and I reside at 1183 Craig Road Green Bank.
Professionally, I work with health care organisations across Canada. Partnering
with board's executives and public sector leaders. Every day I
see how transparency, honesty, collaboration, and good governance build trust
and lead to stronger decisions. These principles aren't just part
of my profession. They're part of my personal values. And
they're the reason I'm sitting here tonight. Beside me as
a photograph of five generations of women in my family.
To me it's a reminder of the Decisions we make
today become the legacy we leave tomorrow. Two of my
children are also farmers. And my grandchildren are already in
the show ring in our local affairs. When I watch
them walk into that shell ring, I don't just see
children showing livestock. I see traditions be in passed down
one generation to the next. I see the same values
and experiences that have connected families and strengthen this community
for generations. For my family, these fairgrounds are not simply
a piece of land. They are part of our community's
identity. Like many residents, I came into this process with
an open mind. I believed we were beginning and honest
conversation about the future one of the most treasured places
in our township. I attended meetings. I read reports and
I listened carefully. And while I understand that changes sometimes
necessary, the more I learned, the more I became concerned.
Not because I oppose change, but because I began asking
whether this process reflected the values of transparency, honesty, and
collaboration that I believe our community deserves. As I reviewed
the Reports, one question stayed with me. What has the
port Perry Ag Society done to deserve losing the stewardship
at his faithfully provided for generations? From everything I have
read, I have not found that answer. Instead, I found
an organisation that has preserved our local heritage. They have
welcomed thousands of visitors. They have supported local businesses. They've
invested countless volunteer hours and continually work to improve these
fairgrounds. The porri - x society did not inherit these
fairgrounds. Generations of volunteers built them. They maintain them, they
improve them, and they preserve them for the community we
enjoy today. They have had ideas. They've had plans and
they've had a vision. What they've not had is a
certainty needed to invest confidently in a property when the
future of their lease remained unclear. If the township knew
this leafs was approaching its conclusion, I respectfully ask why
this collaborative work wasn't started much earlier. Why weren't they
sitting at the same table discussing what was working well.
What needed improvement and how things could continue serving future
generations? To me, those questions hurt to blame their questions
about good governance. Because good governance isn't just about making
decisions. It's about how we make them. It's about bringing
people together early. It's about listening before recommendations are finalised.
And it's about building public confidence through partnership rather than
process alone. I also hope we remember the extraordinary circumstances
over the past several years. Like every community organisation that
agricultural society experiences challenges of COVID. Those years limited opportunities
to gather fundraise plan and move long - term projects
forward. I simply hope that context is remembered as council
considers the egg society's contributions in its future roles. The
recommendation before council will influence much more than the future
of approximately 23 acres. They will influence the relationship between
the township and an organisation that has faithfully cared for
those grounds for generations. They will influence public trust. They
will. They also raise important questions about traffic. Infrastructure. Municipal
services and healthcare capacity. Those are exactly the kinds of
decisions that deserve time, collaboration and public confidence. I believe
the township has an important leadership role, but I also
believe the Port Perry Ag Society has earned the opportunity
to continue leading the stewardship of these fairgrounds. Not because
of settlement, but because they have demonstrated over generations that
they are capable, committed and deeply invested in our community.
I don't believe the answer is to reduce the role.
I believe the answer is to straighten the partnership between
the township and the egg society so that we can
contribute so each can contribute to what they do best.
Over the past several weeks, I have listened to many
members of the community. People don't all agree on every
detail, but I've heard one message over and over again.
Take the time, work together, and get this right. Tonight,
I'm not asking counsel to abandon the vision. I am
asking you to improve it. Delay this decision, sit down
with the egg society, build the partnership that so many
residents believe this process would create from the beginning. Because
once the public land has sold, it cannot simply be
bought back. And once public trust is lost, rebuilding it
is far more difficult than taking a little more time
to make the right decision. My hope is that in
years from now, when my grandchildren walk onto these fairgrounds,
they won't remember a community divided by a decision. My
hope is that years from now, when my grandchildren walk
onto these fairgrounds, they're going to walk into the rings.
They're going to know that we made a choice. And
we made a choice together. We chose collaboration over urgency.
The porry Ike Society did not inherit these fairgrounds. They
earn them. Through service, through volunteerism, and through stewardship. Through
more than 170 years of commitment to this committee, community,
and before we reduce their role, they have faithfully carried
for generations. I believe one question deserves an answer. What
have they done to deserve this? From everything I have
read, the answer is nothing. I respectfully ask that you
take the time to build the partnership and to get
this right and to continue the lease. Thank you. Thank
you, Angie. Are there any questions or comments. Seeing none,
just one clarification. Uh, and that is that the process
started long before the consulting. We received the concept plan
over a year ago. And at that time, we did
end up meeting with Representatives from the Ag Society. I
don't know. Was this on a regular basis that you
met with the egg society? Three or four times, yes,
we do. Was it put out to the community as
well? Was there a large? No, no, this was a
discussion about what their vision was on the concept. You
offer them support. Did you offer them resources? Did you
extend them? No, no, no, no. I'm just giving you
a bit more background where you said that this started
here. It started prior to then. And they were going
to initially bring forward a plan. Just as it says
in their least to bring forward a five - year
working plan. And I'm not, it doesn't matter. It didn't
happen because we moved on to the visioning. I just
wanted to clarify that there had been meetings. With members
of the egg society. To discuss the concept plan that
had been present brought forward. And I appreciate that. Thank
you. I think what I'm looking for, if you respond
to me, I have a question for you is, were
the meetings regular. Did you give support for these meetings?
Did you have any sort of visioning experience with them?
Did the egg society feel supported with these exercises that
you participated in? It's an honest question. I don't have
that answer. I think initially it was working very well.
So once again, that's going to lead me back together.
Once again, I have to go back through my notes.
But I do think we met probably, I don't know,
four times three or four times. From January to September.
Oh, no, August, I believe it was. Four times three
or four times. Again, I'm not, I'm not sure of
either. Ten many, many meetings. So I want to say
three or four times. And I think, uh, Mr. Pucker's
indicating three. I just, I, I truly believe that governance
is a big piece of this process. And I truly
believe that sitting down together and continuing the discussions and
not making any rash decisions is pivotal for a positive
outcome for everyone. So once again, thank you for your
time. And thank you. I, as I said to Mr.
Pucker and I agree with you on that point.
Okay. We'll back up and we'll go to 4. 8.
Delegate. Mr. Corgan. Are you good to go now? Okay.
Councillor. Sorry. I'll always think of you as councillor.
Eight years.
Whenever you're ready. Let me begin
by saying it's always a homecoming. To be here in
these hallowed chambers. Of democracy. At so many levels of
understanding and memory. Given the number of citizens here this
evening or online viewing, it is a testament to the
fact democracy is alive and well in the township of
Skewgog. And for those of you who are engaged. It
presents an opportunity to learn. And practice the art and
science of effective governance and politics. So to all of
you, I say thank you. And we are here, Don
and I, if he's online, there he is. We were
often referred to as the odd couple. But we happened
to enjoy the company of one another. And support one
another on behalf of the retired teachers of Ontario are
now called Enhant. Education Canada. And we recognise
there is a lot of information to digest within a
short period. But we thank you for the opportunity to
engage. This is, it's been mentioned prior is only a
conceptual visit vision, not a site plan. Which in our
view, captures the future and immediate needs of the township
with respect to conservation of Parkland, the continuance of the
Port Pere, but most importantly for seniors care. It is
within walking distance to the hospital and medical associate buildings.
Provides access for their families, grandchildren, animals, as well as
nature herself. Seniors have told us they don't want to
be warehoused and institutions. Who put profit ahead of service.
Miles from their family and friends. Scugog is aging faster
than any other municipality endura. To the 2021 census over
42 percent of our population is 55 and older. Approximately
9, 000 residents in growing rapidly. The 226 consensus will
show a rise in these numbers. Over 2, 300 residents
in Durham are waiting long - term care. With an
average weight of 58 days, this can be reduced with
purposed built senior housing and care. It would allow our
valued seniors to downsize. Stay in the community. They help
grow and maintain. Reduce their carbon footprint and give young
families immediate access to housing. Given their proximity to water
and sewer, it would require only local approval to build
out. This will not address all the needs for senior
housing and long - term care, but is one small
step forward in the right direction of developing a long
- term community and schoolgog - driven vision as our
beautiful community grows and development. The province has indicated to
dawn in our meetings with them. Once the township brings
forward something comprehensive, they in the federal government will help
fund it. All we need is the political will to
get it done. It is a win - win scenario
for the entire community. We will continue our advocacy in
empowering efforts on behalf of senior housing and care with
the support of the local provincial Onton Education Canada. Our
local developers, including the Durham region, Mississauga's Gugog First Nations,
staff and council, as well as the Port Periagriculture Society.
And other interest groups with respect to best managers practices,
the literature and research is telling us. We are willing
to work with the agricultural society to promote the importance
of agriculture in the classroom. The questions we have directed
to staff, I recognise it's not proper engagement and accept
that. But I'm going to raise them in public, not
just for the staff, but for the entire community to
ponder, think about, reflect, and give feedback. The questions we
have directed to the CA, or Mr. Warren Mayor, whom,
by the way, I respect deeply. On what he brings
to this community. And the qualifications he holds, and the
encounters I've had with him, with great respect, sir. And
I take my hat off to you. And thank you.
Mr. Corgan, you - Yes, final conclusion. So how does
the township address the concern that a notesied developer will
actually address the need for senior housing and not use
it for other types of housing or flip the lands
to another developer, given our local history. What would be
a realistic timeline for an actual build - out? If
there is the bookletic will to do so, and what
it interfere with the present nuisance of the remaining lands.
And would the township consider being the developer in partnership.
With the AIDS society? That's a concept. To build out
rental units similar to what a Perth geriatician builds out
with a pharmacist partner. And what Ms. Oscugog First Nations,
who honour their elders, build out for them. And I
would invite everyone to take a look and visit that
if you haven't seen. Well, how they honour their elders
and what they do for them. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Corgan. Are there any questions. Seeing none,
thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for being
here, Don, online. Okay, we'll move on to our last
delegation. Which is Paula Wilson. Paul Ar.
Okay, you're right. Uh, thank you for giving me the
opportunity to speak before counsel on this really important matter.
Um, I believe, uh, that it's, my name is Paula
Wilson, and I live at 27 Andrews Drive. And just
to make a quick correction, I believe Mr. Puckrin is
actually Dr. Puckerin. Okay. I think it's really important what
we're doing today and hear this discussion. It's important and
vital to the future of this community to really preserve
all of the fairgrounds as public space. The staff report
that is before counsel today has seven recommendations. I am
strongly urging counsel to consider and vote only on recommendation
one, which is to receive the report for information. I
strongly believe that the other recommendations should not be considered
or endorsed at this time for a number of reasons.
And given the time I have, I will try and
limit it to three points. Uh, the first one is
timing. The staff recommendations are different from the consultants report,
and we'll have long - lasting implications for the community,
especially the sale of land for private development. There has
not been enough time for the public to review these
recommendations and consider the consultants final report to reflect on
the contents of both staff and consultant report and to
provide feedback to the community, to the council before the
decisions are made. This was released to the public lesson
a week ago on July 8th. This is in the
middle of July. Kids are a home from school. People
are busier than normal, especially families, and many people are
on vacation. This is not enough time for the community
to really react to what the staff recommendations are to
give feedback to council. What I understand that the community
has had an opportunity to share the ideas, to create
the consultant report, the community has not had an opportunity
to react to the staff recommendations. They are two completely
different things in my mind. And even five minutes per
person is a little crazy, just saying. The current council,
so also related to timing, but a different aspect is
that the current council will be ending its mandate in
a few months since it's already been pointed out. So
perhaps this is not the moment to be making major
commitment for our community. It is important. This is really
important. We've heard from a number of people how important
it is and how important the fairgrounds are and how
important the continuation of the fair on those fairgrounds is.
And therefore, there is no rush for this. And I
don't understand why it was released on a Wednesday and
on Monday, you have to make a decision. You don't.
And I strongly encourage you to take the time and
get more input before you make any decisions at all.
The second point why I don't think you should accept
the recommendations is that the staff report recommends, of course,
the sale of the land, which we've talked about a
lot, and we've heard almost all the delegations in strong
support of not selling any land at this time. The
documentation states that the revisioning is supposed to be community
- led, but in my reading of the documents provided,
which was the report of the consultants and additional materials.
I don't see any place where anyone is advocating to
sell off that land. Sorry. There's not, it's not there.
In the report on page 108 of the agenda, which
is part of the consultant report, is a list of
key findings, which notes a number of things like open
space recreation gathering agricultural identity, not sale of land. Further
down at notes that overall round two confirmed broad support
for maintaining the fairgrounds as publicly accessible community serving space
not to be sold for housing. It doesn't say anything
about selling for housing. Many participants, according to the report,
express concern about housing loss of open space over development
privatization, et cetera. Over 80 percent, and there are no
numbers in that report, and I would like to note
that the comments made about the deficiencies in the report.
I agree with. But the one number I saw was
that over 80 percent did not support even exploring mixed
use of a small of a part of that land.
So the vast majority of people, and as we've heard
from today, do not support sale of that land. The
argument in the report is that it must sell to
secure funding for development of the space, and that space
must be self - esteint, self - sustaining. I think
that that decision is premature and not supported, not necessary
at this time. Costs have yet to be identified. There
is no plan, and other sources of funding have not
been explored. A huge piece, and then finally my third
point is that a huge piece is missing from this
entire process. Regarding the future of the Port Peri Fair,
and the relationship with the portural society. The consultant report
and supporting documents make it clear that the community values
the relationship of the fairgrounds to our agricultural heritage. And
as a location for the fair. If you look on
page 108 of the agenda, which is part of the
report, it talks about, it's the notes that improvements to
the fairgrounds were generally supported when they complemented the fairgrounds
existing role. On page 109, common combinations of things that
were supported by the community, included maintaining the fair and
open space functions. They're not talking about housing again. Um,
there's a number of other examples I could give, but
I won't, because I'm running out of, um, out of
time here. But the bottom line here is that what's
missing in this report is any consultation with the portiacultural
society, any collaboration, any open partnership, any extension of a
discussion to figure out how the Port Perry Fair can
continue to be on that space if there are going
to be changes made. Uh, I think the selling of
part of the land, as well as the wreath visioning
of these three areas, may make it impossible for the
fair to actually be take place there. And you wouldn't
even know if it was or not, because you haven't
spoken as far as I know to the actual agricultural
society. Thank you. And in going to just finish up,
as someone else had a lot more time, I'm just
going to want to make a final point. If council
wants to endorse anything today, I would say that they
should be endorsing the keeping of all of the fairgrounds
for public space, and they should endorse and commit to
working with the port periagricultural society and to the community
to plan out the future of that space. It should
not be left to staff at this time. Thank you
very much. Are there any further. Okay, thank you. Are
there any questions. Councillor Guido. It wasn't a question, but
just to the delegate, I appreciate your frustration with Council
Agendas being available on the Wednesday. However, that is our
procedural bylaw. Every single council agenda is available on Wednesday
and gives us a limited days to absorb, read, and
digest. So it's not, I just wanted to state that
it's not unique to this particular topic. It wasn't done
for nefarious reasons. It's literally how the Council agendas work.
Thank you. I fully understand that, but given the nature
of this, it doesn't, it's still not fair and not
right to be making these series decisions so quickly. You
really just haven't, you need to involve the community. Explain
what the proposals are, what they mean takes sometimes. There's
no rush here. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, that concludes
our delegation list. So if I could, I'd ask for
a motion to receive all the delegations as presented Council
Guido, Secondary, Councillor Wright, all in favor. Thank you. And
if I could also just quickly ask that we receive
all the items of correspondence, item 7. 1 to 7.
7. In item 7. 9 to 7. 10 regarding the
Port Perri Fairgrounds for Information. If I could have a
motion to receive them. Councillor LaRoy, Councillor McDougal, thank you
all in favor. And that is carried. Okay, so at
this time. I've done all that, right? So I just
do. This now. So at this time I would ask
before consideration of the report comes forward that I will
vacate the chair to Deputy Merrick Wedo. And in order
to introduce motion.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. I thought. Bio break I was
getting excited to get up. Nonetheless, thank you Madam Mayor.
I understand you have a motion that you would like
to put on the floor. Thank you. Yes. Through the
chair, I would move that report CAO 2026 - 006.
The Fairgrounds Vision Exercise be deferred until the first quarter
of 2027. My reasoning for this is that I have
taken and contemplated most of the weekend. The feedback not
only on social media, all the emails received. Some of
the questions I myself had within the report. And respecting
all the things that we heard today. I would just
respectfully ask that the report be deferred until the first
quarter of the new year. And is that your motion
you're putting on the slower, Madam Mayor? Yes. I'll need
a seconder. I'll ask for a seconder. Councillor Coin. Any
questions to the motion. Is your hand up from the
first, yep? Councillor McDougal. Thank you Madam Deputy Mayor. I
can see no reason at this time that we can't
receive the visioning exercise. As of today. Through Madam Mayor
to the Maker of the Motion. Are you requesting a
friendly amendment to the motion that is on the floor.
I don't know if that would be friendly or not.
Defurral's on the floor. Recorded vote, please. We're not at
that stage yet. Councillor McDougal. Councillor LaRoye. Yes, thank you,
Deputy Madam Mayor, through you. A procedural question, if I
may. We have a lot of people in attendance, and
I would like staff and RCO to present this visioning
exercise. And I'm not sure if we defer it, do
we lose that opportunity to have a presented this evening
for this audience. Unless I allow or ask the CAO
to do the presentation of the report, then yes, theoretically,
once the vote is called, then it is deferred until
the first quarter of 2027. So if the ask is
for our CAO to provide a overview of the report,
I will defer to the CAO if this is something.
He's on the table. Okay. Defer. Okay. I am learning
something as well. So right now the motion on the
floor is to defer the decision until 2027. We have
a moved and second. Are there any other questions, comments
on this motion that's on the floor. Any other first
- time questioners before I moved to Councillor McDougal. Councillor
McDougal. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Do we have Representatives of
Darwin Pivot here tonight to answer questions of their report?
Madam Deputy Mayor. Sorry. Thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor. Uh,
I don't believe we do, but the CAO can answer
that question. It has nothing to do with the deferral
councillor McDougal. The only thing we're debating now is the
motion on the floor for the deferral. Well, I certainly
wouldn't want to make a motion to defer and approve
that to have representatives here that we then send away
that could answer our questions. Councillor McDougal, I think you're
well aware of what the representatives from Darwin Pivot look
like. If you don't see them here, I don't see
them online. That probably answers the question. Thank you very
much. Councillor LaRoye. Yes through you, Madam Deputy Mayor. I'm
so sorry. Another procedural question. Can we have some clarification
on the outcome between deferringness to the future and receiving
it for information? Before I try to answer that, I
will ask the clerk procedurally. If we are allowed to
give that distinction. Through you Madam Deputy Mayor, so the
distinction would be that a deferral would likely include a
time provision for this to come back, receiving for information
would not be specific. And there would be no direction
or instruction to bring it back at a certain time.
So if we want this to go away forever, we
table it. If we wanted to come back to the
next council, we'd defer it. So procedurally tabling would be
different. Receive for information, it could come back. The staff
could choose to bring it back. Council could direct stop
to bring it back. Tabling is another mechanism with which
it would essentially shelve it. And it would require counsel
to pull it from that shelf. Via notice a motion,
if I'm. But I notice the motion. So that would
take a couple, essentially schedules of council in order to
do so. I think I'd rather table it. Well, right
now the motion is on the floor for deferral. Are
there any further questions. I recorded vote has been requested.
And just to remind members of council, the motion that
is on the floor is that the report is deferred
until the first quarter of 2027. Once that is voted
on, the conversation on the report has concluded. Correct? Thank
you. On the. Deferral motion, uh, please indicate whether you're
in favor or opposed regional counsel McDougal. Opposed. Councillor Coin.
In favor. Councillor Guido. In favor. Councillor Roy. Opposed.
Councillor Rock. In favor. Councillor Wright.
In favor. And Mayer won. In favor. And that. Passes.
Uh, members of the public. What we have heard this
evening in your letters, in your delegations, your request is
that this is referred to the next term of counsel.
That's what this action has provided. It is provided that
the next term of council is able to make whatever
decisions they as a council want for that report. So
I am unclear as to why there might be some
displeasure with that outcome as every letter that was written
was asking for members of council to consider whether or
not this could be moved to the next term of
council, uh, for that council to vote on. So this
is made no change to status quo, which is as
of today. Motion for recess. Councillor Coin.
Councillor Rock, all is in favor. And that is carried.
Thank you. Oh, for how long? 10 minutes. Ten minutes.
Welcome back. I'd like to call this meeting back to
order and continue with the business of the day. And
that would be item number six motion for the Adoption
of the Minutes from our previous council meeting June 22nd,
2026. Could I have a mover in a seconder, please?
Councillor McDougall, Councillor Wright, thank you all in favor. And
I was, Kerry, thank you very much. Now we will
move on to item 7. 11, which is the Oxford
Scugog Animal Shelter sponsorship package. I'll ask our CAO, Mr.
Marr, to just speak to it. Please. Thank you. Through
Madam Mayor, this report, I'm apologised, excuse me, for the
last minute edition of this. But this report was put
forward as it came forward to Oxford Council earlier today
as well. It is just simply seeking endorsement to, excuse
me, from council with regards to the attached sponsorship package.
So that way, both municipalities can go off and solicit
funds to help with a capital and operating costs of
running the animal shelter. One small note is at the
sponsorship package that was included as attachment to notes that
it would be 20 year or up to 20 year
terms. It was amended by Oxford's Council today to say
10 to 20 years. So that would, but that is
what would be on the floor as part of the
sponsorship package tonight. Thank you. Could I have a mover
in a seconder? Councillor McDougal, Councillor Rock. And then in
questions to the report, Councillor McDougal. Thank you, Madam Mayor.
I gladly move that. I am desperately interested in the
naming rights for 2 million dollars to name this the
David Barton shelter, but I'm curious if it's only going
to last for 10 years. I'm not sure if I
want to spend 2 million dollars on that. Can you
confirm that? I think you can confirm that all by
yourself and ask Mayor Barton. But would it only be
a 10 year naming right for the 2 million dollars?
My understanding is it's going to be handled on an
individual basis. So maybe. Yes, you better may. That is
correct. And it could be up to 20 years, but
it would be negotiated given the value at stake. The
value of the naming right. Correct. All right. Like you
get golf tickets every year for the next 20 years
at least. That I don't know. Okay. Thank you. I
don't know that the dogs have tickets to give. Thank
you. Are there any further questions to the report.
Seeing none, all in favor. And that is carried. Thank
you very much. At this time, I will ask for
a motion to move into. Oh, sorry. Oh, the clerk
is reminding me that, uh, I miss 7. 8, which
is the ombudsman report regarding an investigation of a meeting
held by the township back in October 16, 2024. In
Alaska, our clerk to speak to it, please. Thank you,
Madam Mayor, and through you, just as a high level
synopsis, a complaint received, was received by the Umudsman's office
with respect to meeting how old October 16, 2024, in
regards to the CAO recruitment process, the Ombudsman's investigation concluded
that council was in compliance with municipal act with respect
to the code session voting, notice, and meeting location. Uh,
so it did not identify any contraventions to the municipal
act as best practice. The Ombudsman did encourage us, the
township, to specify minimum public notice requirements in our procedure
bylaw, uh, will certainly take this undervisement and do so
as part of our comprehensive procedural bylaw review for next
term of council. And the complete report is attached to
the agenda here for council's information this evening. Thank you.
Mr. Clerk. It's always good to know when we're in
compliance and not breaking any rules. So I appreciate the
feedback from the Budsman and you're sharing that report. Thank
you. Okay. So now, um, I need sec motion to
receive a motion. Thank you. And a seconder. Councillor Wright,
thank you all in favor. Thank you. Okay. So now
I would like to ask for a motion to move
into Closed Councillor Guido. Councillor Rock. Thank you. Um, and
we will now enter into Closed. Session.
Welcome back. We're back in open session. And I just
like to report out that direction was given to staff
or confidential report 2026 - 014, as well as confidential
report 2026015. And that's it. So I'll have a
motion for the confirming bylaw. Councillor Rock. Councillor Coyne, thank
you all in favor. That is Kerry. Motion to adjourn,
councillor right, councillor.