[0:24] Heat. Heat.
[0:49] Heat. Heat. N.
[1:27] 86 86 86
the hot tub.
[1:33] » Good evening everyone. Welcome
[clears throat] to the July 13th
[1:37] committee the whole meeting. I'll be
your chair this evening, councelor
[1:40] Penna. And uh as our custom, we'll start
with the land acknowledgement. And on
[1:46] July 13th, we acknowledge that this
sacred land of which Miss Walls is now
[1:50] located has been a site of human
activity for over 10,000 years and is
[1:55] rich in indigenous history. This land is
the ancestral unseated territory of the
[2:00] Argangquan Anesnabi nation. We're
grateful to the Argangquin ancestors who
[2:05] cared for the land and water that we
might meet here today. We're also
[2:09] grateful to the Okonangquin people for
their contribution in the making of the
[2:13] Rita Canal which runs through Smith's
Falls. We're mindful of broken covenants
[2:18] and the need to reconcile with all our
nations. Together, may we care for this
[2:23] land and each other, drawing on the
strength of our mutual history of nation
[2:27] building through peace and friendship,
being mindful of generations to come.
[2:33] And uh I have a recommended motion that
the July 13th, 2026 committee, the whole
[2:38] meeting be approved as circulated, moved
by councelor Robinson, second by
[2:43] councelor McGuire. All in favor? That's
carried. Thank you. at this point if
[2:48] there's any disclosure unitary or
monetary interest.
[2:53] Seeing none and we have another motion
uh that the minutes of the June 15th
[2:59] 2026 June June 22nd 20 26 committee the
whole meeting be approved as circulated
[3:07] moved by councelor Miller second by
councelor Brennan. All in favor that's
[3:11] carried. I did want to uh remind those
of you who are watching uh our internet
[3:19] and your internet may be compromised
still. If it is uh no worries, we'll be
[3:26] posting this uh uh first thing tomorrow
morning. [snorts]
[3:29] However, we'll do our best to live
stream it tonight if the uh providers
[3:34] cooperate.
Um
[3:39] councelor McGuire,
>> I've got a question on the minutes.
[3:41] Could we get the minutes posted with the
agenda, draft minutes posted with the
[3:45] the week's agenda that they're going to
be approved on and then the final
[3:48] minutes can be posted with the meeting
that they were approved for. Um, and my
[3:53] reasoning is that uh I don't always read
the minutes because when I'm going
[3:57] through the reports, they're not there.
Um, and it would be easier, I think, for
[4:01] everybody, members of the public and
ourselves, if it was listed in the
[4:05] agenda like a report. um you know it'd
be easier not to miss them.
[4:11] » Okay. Uh do you understand that
question?
[4:13] » No, I don't. I'm not following.
>> Uh so all of our reports like when we
[4:17] click on the link
>> online, we can read them.
[4:20] » Can we get [clears throat] the draft
minutes posted under approval of minutes
[4:24] » with the link?
>> Yeah. Instead of because like they're
[4:27] posted at the previous week,
>> but I think sometimes we don't always go
[4:32] back and and check that. So, if we could
get the final ones posted on the week
[4:36] that they were from.
>> Mhm.
[4:37] » But the draft ones posted on move three,
approval of agenda,
[4:43] » then we can read them as we're going
through our reports after the meeting.
[4:47] » Do you have any comment, clerk, you want
to
[4:50] » I'll have to talk to councelor McGuire a
bit more. It may it may call for some
[4:53] amendments to the procedural bylaw. Um,
but I will chat with councelor McGuire
[4:57] and if if it is feasible, we 100% can do
that if it's easier for everyone.
[5:01] » Is that of interest to council? So, the
clerk will come back uh the next meeting
[5:05] and [clears throat] give us an update on
that. Thank you.
[5:10] Um I don't see our delegation unless
she's online.
[5:14] » Yeah. Okay.
On to uh I believe we do have some
[5:19] director's reports.
>> Uh we do indeed, Mr. Chair. We have two
[5:24] starting with Mr. Crank.
[5:32] » Good evening. Just a couple quick
updates from development services. Uh
[5:35] firstly, in regards to the Heritage
Conservation District, uh council will
[5:39] recall from an earlier update that uh
that we do have uh that we do have an
[5:43] appeal on the HCD and based on the rules
of the Heritage Act, once there's an
[5:47] appeal of the of the HCD, the uh the
enforcement of the of the entire
[5:52] district is on pause until the uh until
that's until that's resolved. In this
[5:56] case, the OOLT has now granted the
town's motion to allow the HCD to come
[6:00] into effect for the remainder of the
property other or the remainder of the
[6:04] district other than the one property
that's uh subject to the appeal. So,
[6:08] we'd certainly like to thank the uh the
appellants for their their cooperation
[6:11] in that. So, I'm just uh publicly
advising council that uh as of July 2nd,
[6:16] the Heritage Conservation District is in
is in force in effect for 107 of the
[6:22] properties in the district. Secondly,
with respect to the official plan, we're
[6:26] getting very close to to releasing the
uh the second draft of of the OP and uh
[6:31] certainly we appreciate the work of of
the steering committee and and others
[6:35] who provided comments through uh through
the entire process. We've done done a
[6:39] lot of work especially on the uh on the
uh the uh the opportunity areas and
[6:45] developed some some policy there. So,
we're working with with Dylan to
[6:49] schedule the statutory uh public meeting
and we're looking to have that towards
[6:54] the end of uh the end of August. So, we
will keep uh we'll keep council apprised
[6:59] once that's once the uh the draft OP is
released and once the uh the public
[7:04] meetings been scheduled.
>> Thank you. [clears throat]
[7:07] » Questions or comments? Certainly a
significant uh milestone. July 2nd, the
[7:14] our heritage district is now in force
and uh let the fund begin over the next
[7:20] decades to come and thank you for your
work on that.
[7:26] » Was there another
>> Yes. Uh we have our manager of economic
[7:29] development and tourism is on with a few
updates.
[7:34] » Uh good evening. A couple of updates for
all of you. Um first of all our business
[7:38] retention and expansion info session and
training session went quite well last
[7:42] week. We had seven participants. Um
others from other adjoining counties
[7:46] were there and uh we had good discussion
about how to attract investment and how
[7:50] we can use our our business study to to
inform an active strategy. Uh the
[7:57] » just to speak up
Mike picks it up but the people in the
[8:00] room
>> might not.
[8:02] » Okay. No, I mean that that's [laughter]
so it's it's only you in here.
[8:08] » I'll speak loudly. Thank you. And
slowly. Our um work on the EORTL that
[8:13] would be the rail loop is going well.
Our feedback has been submitted. Uh
[8:17] there's a marketing plan being developed
by the group by the end of the year and
[8:20] we've had some conversations interdep
departmentally with uh community
[8:24] services and um public works about how
we can collaborate on future upgrading
[8:29] uh infrastructure and signage. Most
importantly, the pop-up art gallery has
[8:34] been receiving great uh favorable
reviews. Uh it's open now in the
[8:40] downtown. We've got it for two months.
It's supporting the art block and RTO
[8:44] artist of the year uh which are both
taking place on July 25th. It also will
[8:49] help us support the kickoff of a
cultural planning process. And
[8:52] ultimately, whether or not artists or a
similar association decides to continue
[8:58] working as a gallery, we're hoping it
will support investment attraction by
[9:01] highlighting one of the most beautiful
spaces in our downtown core. It's being
[9:04] cleaned up and and basically, you know,
has an opportunity to go through and
[9:08] check it out. The vertic I think was
well attended on the Friday. I think
[9:12] some of you were there and um positive
comments and strong sells of the
[9:17] original artwork. So, that's exciting
news. And then we've got a quick video
[9:21] to show you some of the social media
stuff. And I'll just pass this around
[9:25] because I won't have time to get into
the the details.
[9:34] That's okay.
>> Try it. [laughter]
[9:38] So basically we're trying to capture as
per our destination planning process
[9:42] some of the early metrics coming in from
the way that we've positioned ourselves
[9:46] regards to uh SEO and GEO which is
search search engine optimization.
[9:52] So our events in Smith Falls page is
receiving 10.35% of all traffic to the
[9:58] city website after implementing the
recommended changes and that is the
[10:03] currently most second traffic page after
the main landing page for the city. So
[10:08] that's a good stat. Um
the audit had showed previously only 2%
[10:13] of the traffic to the tourism web pages
[cough] previously. [clears throat] So
[10:16] we've we've trying to up our game with
getting visitors to our pages. But I
[10:20] think other than the events in Smith
Falls page, some of the other pages are
[10:24] seeing less than 1% of total site
traffic. So that will help us inform on
[10:29] a shift to a a separate micro site for
visitor attraction which is recommended
[10:33] as part of the destination planning.
Um the second page of your handout, I'll
[10:39] just highlight our target demographics
are online uh 35 to 55 years of age
[10:44] holding steady at 47.4% 4% of our
audience and our secondary audience 55
[10:49] and over is 37%. So we're sticking to
those demographics promoting our
[10:53] findings to to that group and we've got
5,000 followers on Facebook which is
[10:58] five months early given our goal to hit
5,000 this year. Other channels we have
[11:04] are promoting our tourism products. Our
what's happening newsletter is um got a
[11:09] really high open rate 23% higher than
the industry average. We've had a couple
[11:14] of social media influencers through
town. Um, we've gotten some really great
[11:18] coverage from that. We've partnered with
Leonard County, Pedal and Paddle. Uh,
[11:22] we've been picked up by Nars City as a
collaborator and picked up by Ontario
[11:25] Travel Destination Ontario and featured
on our page today, which is the first
[11:29] time we've ever been featured on on the
Destination Ontario page.
[11:33] So, the video is getting thousands of
views. It's called Project Local Love,
[11:37] and it's about Smith Falls as a paddling
destination. Another influencer has put
[11:42] out a reel in partnership with Labote,
the Downtown Business Association, and
[11:46] Remo uh as collaborators and it's just
been launched. It's about a Smith Falls
[11:51] road trip for a young family and they
stay overnight in a caboose and lots of
[11:55] positive comments from that. Um
audiences are really reacting well to
[12:00] the opportunity to stay in a caboose and
they're seeing the bookings going up for
[12:04] that. Special mention to Tim Norris at
Remo. The raise the roof fundraiser got
[12:10] 139,000 views on Facebook, 11,000 on
Instagram. It's alltime most viewed reel
[12:15] currently and 120 plus comments
including people looking to donate and I
[12:20] would add positive comments which is
which is nice to to have. And uh yeah, a
[12:26] few other visuals in the handout of
paddling reels, our promotional efforts.
[12:31] Uh we've also included information from
Rita Lakes Rita Ramble which is an event
[12:35] that was incubated by economic
development and tourism as opposed to
[12:38] other events that are run by our event
delivery partners. Um this was meant to
[12:43] highlight the tourism opportunities for
ATV riders because we have a unique
[12:47] advantage compared to surrounding
communities where we allow ATVs in the
[12:51] downtown within the city streets. So we
had u 80 uh ATVs in town, 200 plus
[12:56] attendees and uh the club will take this
over now and is planning next year's RTO
[13:01] ramble as we speak. [snorts]
>> That's it.
[13:05] » Thank you very much.
>> Uh any comments or questions
[13:09] for Sounds like we're on the right
track.
[13:12] » Thank you.
>> Thank you [cough]
[13:15] [clears throat]
for your reports.
[13:17] » That's it. Thank you.
Uh we have no committee of the whole
[13:20] consent report and our first uh priority
issue is uh with Chief Burl on the
[13:26] backyard hen program.
>> Welcome Chief. Good evening. Thank you.
[13:34] Uh my report tonight is to seek
council's direction andor approval uh
[13:40] with a draft bylaw that I have proposed.
Uh as pre as stated in the report, this
[13:47] draft bylaw was presented uh a year ago
when the pilot project was initiated. Uh
[13:54] at that time, there was a number of
items that were removed to facilitate uh
[13:58] residents uh the ability to start up uh
the backyard hen program, review it
[14:05] after a year, and determine whether or
not it was a feasible operation. Uh
[14:09] since that time at the conclusion of the
uh one-year pilot program
[14:15] uh council committee the whole uh
directed staff to come back with the
[14:19] draft bylaw which is uh identical to the
original one that was proposed. Uh this
[14:26] bylaw uh there's one item that is
missing and that's for council committee
[14:31] the whole to determine whether or not uh
they are in favor of it or support it
[14:35] and that would be the licensing and
registration.
[14:38] uh the licensing can take place or the
registration can take place without a
[14:42] fee uh or the license take place without
a fee. The reason we didn't put that in
[14:46] is in the previous reports that were
presented there were a number of
[14:50] municipalities that had a variety of
different levels of charge whether it
[14:53] was a free charge for them up to $200 or
$300 a year. Uh the intent uh for this
[14:59] project should it be a permanent one is
to ensure that the municipality has cost
[15:03] recovery uh and that the items contained
within the bylaw uh provide us with the
[15:09] mechanism that we can provide
enforcement, inspection, removal uh and
[15:14] the recommendation in the bylaw is to
provide the same consistent approach as
[15:18] we would have with cats or dogs. If you
exceed the number of limits or there's
[15:22] an animal on the loose that the cost to
pick that animal up or retrieve that
[15:26] animal uh would be the same as a cat or
a stray dog.
[15:32] Looking at that, we [laughter] only have
one uh concern with that should you
[15:36] proceed is where do we take these
animals? No location has been
[15:41] identified. Uh the delegation that was
to be here tonight uh was one area where
[15:48] they would accept animals, but they were
at their limit the last time we spoke,
[15:53] which was a year ago. Um we still have
not determined whether or not there is a
[15:58] livestock disposal in the general
vicinity or a manure disposal in the
[16:03] general vicinity. We know that the
garbage collection will not pick that up
[16:08] if they exceed the allowable amount
contained within the bylaw.
[16:14] Saying that we've we've gone over this a
number of times. Um I'm providing
[16:18] council with three options tonight and
that is to accept the information
[16:22] contained in the report and pass a bylaw
permit in the backyard hens in the town
[16:26] which is recommended with the attached
bylaw. Option two is not to accept the
[16:32] revision and end the pilot program andor
uh backyard hens in the town. The third
[16:38] option is for council to defer the
decision on the backyard hands to the
[16:42] next elected council.
>> Thank you very much, Chief Council
[16:48] McGuire had his hand up early, so why
don't you kick it off? just uh want to
[16:53] say I fully support the draft bylaw as
presented and attached tonight and
[16:59] hopefully can pass this and this is the
last time we talked about it for a
[17:03] while.
>> Thank you. Anyone else? Councelor
[17:08] Miller, [clears throat]
>> thank you. Thanks for your patience with
[17:11] us. Uh Chief, um I do support uh option
one and I support your recommendation um
[17:18] about licensing and registration and
matching it with dogs and cats. So
[17:25] » councelor Bren.
>> Yeah. Well, no surprise. I support
[17:29] option two. I I I think it was folly to
go down this road in the first place. Um
[17:35] and to treat chickens like cats and
dogs. I know the difference. Uh chickens
[17:39] are livestock and they're pets. I was
taught that in primary school. So, um I
[17:45] I I don't think it's a good idea. I
don't know what's next. Goats, maybe.
[17:49] I'm not sure. Um I will say that uh in
June I was contacted by a resident on uh
[17:57] on Merrick Street um about a fox who's
been half tamed there for a number of
[18:03] months. Well documented sightings. uh
chief followed up for me and uh the fact
[18:10] of the matter is uh I did ask her if
there's chickens in the neighborhood.
[18:13] there are um and there's nothing we can
do about it and there's nothing M&R can
[18:18] do about it because the fox would have
to be dead and I'll ask the chief is is
[18:22] that right
>> through the chair that's correct uh we
[18:25] have no mechanism to trap the wild
animal uh or remove the wild animal and
[18:30] no agency will touch it unless the
animal is deemed to be
[18:35] » containing rabies or is is of ill
health.
[18:39] » Yeah. So um no one's surprised. I I I I
I think this was folly to go down this
[18:45] road in the first place. So, I'm I'm
sure I'm probably going to be in the
[18:49] minority, but that's my view.
>> Thank you, Mayor P.
[18:53] » Yeah. Chief, uh can you talk a little
more about cost recovery when it comes
[18:57] to registration licensing? What what
will that look like?
[19:01] I if if uh council was to endorse the
licensing registration, uh it would be
[19:08] on the same lines as a dog tag, a cat
tag. Um and certainly for the purposes
[19:16] of of
being able to identify exactly where
[19:20] they're located uh so that enforcement
and inspection could take place. At the
[19:25] present time, we have no idea how many
where they are. Um, as councelor Brennan
[19:30] indicated, we've been influxed with
calls about this fox. Um, and certainly,
[19:35] uh, uh, people are scared, they're
nervous. They say that the animal has
[19:40] has been, uh, very aggressive. Um,
unable to do anything about it, which
[19:46] didn't satisfy them. Uh, they've
indicated that the presence of the
[19:50] chickens in the area, that is what
prompted this animal to be going through
[19:54] the backyards back and forth. Uh again,
we can't confirm or deny that, but
[19:58] certainly uh it makes sense if they
weren't there previously. The cost
[20:03] recovery portion would be uh should
bylaw go out and have to investigate
[20:09] these and search and look and uh we need
a mechanism in place to ensure that all
[20:15] the taxpayers of town aren't covering
the cost of uh I don't I don't want to
[20:19] say a wild goose chase but certainly
looking for animals that are on the
[20:22] loose or stray or to where they came
from. uh should they encounter and pick
[20:28] up an animal that's on the loose. Again,
no idea whose it is uh or where it is.
[20:34] Uh with the registration part of it, at
least we have an idea exactly in the
[20:38] general area. Um that the possibility
could be, you know, one of two or three
[20:44] or four depending on how many are in
that area that have them. So you suggest
[20:48] a probably a low barrier cost to more
more to track where these hens would be
[20:56] housed,
>> right?
[20:57] » Uh we're not planning to inspect the
coups to make sure they're compliant.
[21:03] We're simply more a matter of having a
record of where where they are and be so
[21:08] we better prepared to deal with
situations should they arise. Is that
[21:11] correct?
>> Correct. Now, if if we were to go out,
[21:15] um the only cost recovery that would be
in place to insurance compliance or
[21:19] non-compliance would be um a fixed
yearly fee or reinspection fee, an
[21:25] annual fee um that some jurisdictions do
have. Uh some are $30 a year, some are
[21:30] $100 a year uh which would cover the,
you know, partially cover the cost of
[21:35] going out and inspecting. One of the
items that again uh inside our expertise
[21:42] is the size of a coupe, size of a a run
uh for that. So to be able to do an
[21:48] inspection and do an enforcement, those
items need to be contained uh within the
[21:53] bylaw which we're willing to bring back
with the contents of that uh following
[21:57] the direction of council.
>> Okay. So, um, as as long as a the
[22:03] license registration fee is fairly
modest, 30, 40, 50 bucks, whatever, I'll
[22:07] be supportive of having that as part of
the model to give us that at least the
[22:12] the understanding of of where they are.
Uh, we we would know they've got a
[22:18] information package as well as that be
distributed. So, they have they would be
[22:22] able to I guess ensure compliance with
the setbacks and and the coupe size etc.
[22:27] Even if we're not inspecting, I think
most people would be respectful of of a
[22:31] bylaw. Uh so we'll have to I guess come
back with a recommendation when it comes
[22:35] to the dollar amount.
>> Okay, Council Robinson.
[22:39] » Uh thanks. Um I'm not going to uh talk
for very long. I uh I'm not changing my
[22:47] opinion from previous discussions. Um, I
don't think that farm animals should be
[22:53] raised in inside an urban environment
and I won't be supporting any bylaw
[22:59] about it. I'd rather see I'd rather see
it come back to the next council for a
[23:03] final decision.
>> Thank you, uh, Council Quinn.
[23:07] » Thank you. I, uh, I appreciate all the
work that you put into this and it
[23:12] doesn't come at no cost. Very definitely
doesn't. And I'm on that opinion that I
[23:20] really believe farm animals really
belong in the country, not in town. And
[23:24] I do think that there can be issues
uh with allowing this to happen. And
[23:30] right now, I guess there haven't been
too many issues. But if it um is put
[23:36] into place, then there could be more
people doing the same kind of thing and
[23:40] bringing in
[cough]
[23:42] and [clears throat]
no one knows where it's going to lead
[23:44] to. And like you said, if chickens are
allowed, then what's next? I was
[23:49] thinking I'd get a goat so and have to
cut my grass. So, I'm just being smart
[23:54] on that. But anyways, no, I I agree that
chicken should be allowed should be in
[23:59] the country, not in
[snorts]
[24:03] council, you want to jump back in.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I think first
[24:09] thing I just want to clarify something
that based on my understanding and that
[24:13] um I was lucky enough to get to study at
McDonald campus at McGill University and
[24:18] it has the faculty of agricultural
environmental science and we were taught
[24:21] that chickens are poultry not livestock.
So I think that it's an important
[24:26] differentiation. I think another um
another point that's important to note
[24:30] is there's a lot of urban municipalities
in Canada that are using goats for uh
[24:33] for controlling their their grass in
certain situations. So, um, just because
[24:38] we haven't done it before, it doesn't
mean that, uh, that things can't be done
[24:42] differently. Uh, when we talk about
licensing and registration,
[24:45] uh, I'm okay if it's voluntary. Right
now, it's not in the proposed bylaws.
[24:50] So, depending on the wording of that,
but because dog and cat tags are
[24:54] voluntary, I think that this should also
be voluntary. And I'd only support that
[24:59] aspect of it if it uh if it's the same
as dogs and cats. So right now I fully
[25:03] support uh the draft bylaw as presented
but um
[25:08] yeah depending on on where that
licensing registration goes uh I just I
[25:14] don't think it's fair this is chickens
are not as dangerous as dogs
[25:17] » right so the summary is that three
counselors oppose it all together
[25:24] [clears throat] like which is option
three I think uh the mayor said he would
[25:30] uh like to see that modification of the
uh fee from the do [clears throat] you
[25:35] have any comment on whether it be
voluntary or involuntary?
[25:39] » Uh
no, I I I respect council member's
[25:44] comments, but I think overall it's it's
a low barrier to register. I mean, and
[25:49] there's a lot of merits to have a dog
and cat registered, of course. Um, and
[25:54] but I will set some not everyone
licenses,
[25:57] but uh I would prefer in the situation
that it'd be part of the process
[26:02] requirement.
I don't know what if we had if we
[26:06] discovered one that was not registered.
I I guess our action would be to ask
[26:09] them to register. We're not going to
tell them to get rid of their animals, I
[26:13] would think. But from a tracking
standpoint, from a I guess collaboration
[26:17] standpoint, and work towards a solution
here, that's uh acceptable by I guess by
[26:22] the majority, I would prefer we go that
route, but a low barrier cost. And maybe
[26:28] we can even if want to agree on that
tonight, then we could be able to move
[26:32] forward with this. I guess it's
depending on councelor McKenna's
[26:35] position, I guess.
>> Well, council me, do you have any
[26:38] comment on a modified uh you were going
with it as it was presented? Um,
[26:43] [clears throat]
yeah, and I I think we're pretty new at
[26:46] this and I and I agree with the mayor
and that I think a fee um for this
[26:51] particular [clears throat]
situation is warranted and it doesn't
[26:53] have to be a huge fee, but just
something to show both sides are serious
[26:57] and we'll follow the rules.
>> So, you're okay with a fee?
[27:04] » Uh, no. [laughter]
>> Okay. I guess is the question like if it
[27:09] if it's a tie is it uh
>> it's defeated
[27:13] » but does the does the pilot continue as
written?
[27:19] I was assuming avoid we're we're talking
about changing but well I guess that
[27:22] would be council's decision but uh
yeah
[27:26] » because if if the status quo remains
then
[27:29] » yeah this was an update after one year
and this is the recommendation and
[27:34] council can decide on it or not or just
say leave it as it is which I thought
[27:40] was one of the recommendations
[27:46] so there's really no clear uh consent
ensus on on this particular report to
[27:51] council tonight. Um
and uh whether the bylaw or sorry
[27:59] whether the pilot would continue for
another year. I guess it's a separate
[28:04] discussion. Um
is my take on it. Yes, council.
[28:11] » So I guess my question is it's passed as
a pilot. Does that pilot become
[28:15] permanent if nothing replaces it or it's
not rescended?
[28:18] » Again, that's council's decision. Um, it
would be a different report
[28:24] unless
or chief chief bro want a comment.
[28:28] » The at the last meeting.
This was to be a continuation of the
[28:33] pilot project until a final decision was
rendered by committee of the whole and
[28:37] council on the draft bylaw containing
the articles that were previously
[28:42] removed at the onset of the pilot
program. So, if council is supportive of
[28:49] the items contained in the report being
included in the bylaw along with a
[28:55] registration fee uh and fee structure
similar to the cats and dogs that could
[29:02] be incorporated into the bylaw.
>> That's what I understood and council's
[29:06] not in favor of that. So, we don't have
a consensus. So, he's asking what
[29:10] happens. Well, it's nothing happens.
See Mars. Uh yeah, Mr. Chair, I think
[29:18] you you got it. Um I mean, the whole
idea of a pilot is to test it and then
[29:22] come back and either change it or stop
it.
[29:26] So um in the absence of changing it, the
default it it's really council's
[29:33] decision, but it it you would stop it if
it wasn't working.
[29:39] There's no evidence to say it's not
working. The recommendations are to make
[29:44] it work better in the eyes of staff.
>> That's right.
[29:47] » So, council can still make the decision
as to whether to continue the pilot or
[29:53] not as is.
>> Councilor Brennan,
[29:57] » I I respectfully I would say that it's
not working. There's foxes running
[30:01] around town. So,
but that's just me, right?
[30:07] » The foxes have been in Miss Walls
before. Yeah.
[30:12] Okay.
>> Yeah. Wild wildlife is [clears throat]
[30:15] alive and well in Smith Walls and it and
in every other community,
[30:18] » they're more attractive now.
>> Uh so unless you're interested in uh
[30:26] some license fee, then
>> I'm okay with the license fee as long as
[30:29] it's a voluntary registration, the same
as the cats and dogs,
[30:33] » and that's different than what the
mayor's proposed.
[30:35] » Yeah.
[30:38] Uh so there is no consensus on any of
these reports. Uh so the question then
[30:45] becomes would we just like the status
quo to continue and it sounds like as
[30:50] councelor Robinson said the next council
can deal with it. So I don't want to see
[30:55] this come back again. Uh we could keep
going with the status quo which is our
[31:01] pilot extending it until next council
has a chance to look at
[31:08] that's the uh
or not end at all right now.
[31:15] So, uh, end it all right now is, uh, is
just by a thumbs up.
[31:23] One, two. [clears throat]
[31:28] Sure. Do you have any opinion on this,
Council? Quick.
[31:30] » No.
>> No. I
[31:33] » You have no opinion? Okay. All right.
And then to uh let the pilot keep going
[31:40] uh in its current form and let the next
council deal with it. Just a thumbs up.
[31:45] Not sure.
>> Okay.
[31:48] » I think the downside of letting the
pilot continue is that the enforcement
[31:51] mechanism is not included in the pilot.
>> That's correct.
[31:55] » So, it's not an ideal outcome.
[32:00] Council Miller,
>> I'm just wondering if Council Councelor
[32:04] Maguire would consider um making the uh
licensing fee um mandatory for now and
[32:12] then asking for another one-year review
with the new bylaw just as a way to put
[32:17] this to rest for now and to make sure
that um we can get this bylaw passed and
[32:24] because it's so new try it out again for
another year. Would that be something
[32:29] you're willing to consider?
>> Council me thoughts.
[32:34] » From my perspective, it's more about the
fairness to different animal owners in
[32:38] the town. And I don't think it's fair to
have one mandatory, one not mandatory.
[32:43] So, I don't mind the voluntary process,
but um unless we're going to and I don't
[32:48] want to get down the road where cats and
dogs become mandatory, but um I just I
[32:53] think we need to question. We've got
we've had a year of this. you know,
[32:56] there's been no issues with uh that I
think the registration would solve. And
[33:01] and I think it's important to note that
we had issues with um chickens in town
[33:06] that didn't comply with this bylaw
before we even started debating this. So
[33:11] um the issue of enforcing animal control
with chickens has existed before this
[33:15] bylaw came up. Um the precedent set with
other animals that uh that are much more
[33:21] dangerous that that there's a voluntary
registration process. And I just think
[33:25] that it's important we apply consistency
of fairness for uh for all animal
[33:29] owners.
C Mar
[33:33] » Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. I I think we
should explore what we mean by mandatory
[33:37] registration. Our bylaw requires if you
have a dog to have a dog take. It's not
[33:44] voluntary. You need one. Do does every
dog owner have one? No, they don't. And
[33:49] we're not able to enforce it. So we're
not there's no material difference
[33:56] between whether it's a chicken or a dog.
We can't force people to have a license.
[34:07] So So I don't unless you know their dog
is running a stray then we catch the dog
[34:11] and we require them to license it. But
so so I I I wouldn't want to draw a big
[34:17] distinction between the type of animal.
You either require it or you don't.
[34:23] The the issue comes down to how do you
enforce it. And again, we only enforce
[34:28] dogs when they run astray and cause a
problem. We don't go into people's
[34:32] backyards and say ask if their dog has a
tag. So, I don't see a big difference
[34:37] between u the type of animal in this
instance.
[34:42] or pantro.
>> Yeah. The difference would be if we do
[34:46] if we do pick up a dog, we have a place
to go with it. We do pick up a cat, we
[34:52] have a place to go. If our staff are
authorized to collect that hand that's
[34:57] running around,
>> we don't have a place to take it. But if
[35:02] we know where it resides,
then we know where to return it to. So,
[35:07] I think it's really largely it's for the
benefit of the of the person who owns
[35:12] the hands to to have that ability to get
it back. I don't think anybody wants to
[35:15] let their hand get loose. Uh, and if it
does, I'm sure they want to get it back.
[35:20] I think it would just provide staff with
that, oh, if it's in this part of town,
[35:24] odds are we'll go here, it's not there,
go somewhere else. It makes it easy to
[35:28] to come to a solution hopefully. And I
guess and see how Morris's comments are
[35:34] relevant. I mean, like a lot of things,
I guess, you you request compliance
[35:40] and you hope people comply, but in the
end, we're relying on people complying.
[35:48] » Okay.
>> And I guess I don't know if you've had a
[35:49] chance to weigh in on your thoughts.
>> No, I would have I would have gone with
[35:53] uh moving forward with that modification
that you've put forward. Uh and that
[35:59] would just be three of us and three
three for that option and three for
[36:05] ending this pilot alto together and not
allowing chickens and then
[36:10] [clears throat]
council mess in has another opinion. So
[36:13] it's it's defeated uh or just your
recommendation if none of the options
[36:19] are accepted unfortunately.
>> So Mr. Chair, just so I'm clear,
[36:26] this is the end of the program.
>> I didn't say that, Chief. I'm sorry.
[36:30] There is an option, but uh that we could
continue the pilot as it is without your
[36:38] advice and uh go forward and let uh the
next council decide that. But uh that's
[36:45] only if council chooses to do that
tonight. Council Magguire, last word to
[36:50] you.
>> Thanks. So, my understanding from a
[36:53] previous report we had on cat and dog
licensing that it was voluntary because
[36:56] I remember asking that if it's not
voluntary and it's something that's not
[37:00] enforced.
I don't think that's a good policy. But
[37:04] if that's the precedent for that one,
then there's precedent for this one.
[37:08] But, um, it's kind of I don't like these
things. We're going to do it, but we're
[37:13] not going to enforce it. But, if that's
the precedent, that's the way it's being
[37:17] proposed, then I can support that. But
>> yeah,
[37:21] » just for clarity, we enforce it if it's
a problem. So if a stray dog is running
[37:26] at large, we know where the dog goes. If
you don't have a tag, as the mayor
[37:30] indicated, your dog ends up in a pound
and you have to pay to get it out of the
[37:34] pound.
So it it's about identifying the home of
[37:40] that animal. And with a chicken, that's
a little more difficult. But if if
[37:44] everyone is registered, as the mayor
indicated, we know likely where it goes.
[37:48] So So I just want to be clear, we we
have lots of bylaws that we don't fully
[37:53] enforce until it becomes problematic and
then we need to enforce it. So whether
[37:58] it's a hen or a dog, it it makes no
difference.
[38:03] So it is a policy to register but
there's no consequence if you don't
[38:10] unless that animal becomes a problem.
[clears throat]
[38:15] Do
>> you have any thoughts?
[38:18] If it's not, if it's consistent, I'm
more Yeah, I can go with that. And I
[38:23] don't like it. But it's uh because I
think the difference with with this
[38:26] situation is if you could had a neighbor
call in, nothing's wrong, then they're
[38:30] still subject to it. Where if you've got
a neighbor with a dog in the backyard
[38:33] and somebody's complaining about it,
there's got to be it's a different
[38:37] standard. But, uh, if the precedent's
for the dogs and the cats to do that,
[38:41] then I guess we can do it for the
chickens. I don't see the need for it
[38:45] from the pilot, but uh if that's what it
takes to get this dealt with, we can.
[38:48] » So, in summary, chief, because I know
you're [laughter] doing a lot of notes
[38:53] here.
>> All right. Uh it it appears that uh four
[38:58] members of council, which is the
majority, uh are supporting your uh
[39:03] additional uh recommendation on adding
registration
[39:10] uh to the bylaw as you presented it.
with a modest fee.
[39:18] » So, Mr. Chair, are we looking at a
simple one-time registration or annual
[39:23] registration?
Um, they do it once and that's it. Or
[39:27] they're going to pay an annual
registration fee.
[39:30] » What do we do for dogs and cats?
[snorts]
[39:33] » They have to get a tag every year. Every
>> year, right?
[39:43] That works for me.
[39:49] » That's required.
>> So if the whole point is to know where
[39:51] they are, uh once would be adequate for
that and that would reduce the burden on
[39:55] staff to uh to administer it.
[40:03] » I'm sorry I missed that.
>> He said that uh he was his advice was
[40:07] that once uh
and done. One and done.
[40:14] And councelor Miller is saying annual.
>> Yeah.
[40:18] » And the mayor
>> I I can support one and one and done. It
[40:22] was a I don't I don't if he should be if
it's agree on.
[40:26] » So it's it's a one-time registration and
fee.
[40:32] » And do we [clears throat] Okay. Um, what
kind of cost do you believe we would
[40:37] incur
to cover a registration?
[40:45] » Well,
if we're looking at
[40:50] um putting a dollar figure on potential
of having to do an inspection or go out,
[40:56] drive around, we're looking at staffing
time, vehicle use. Um, you had indicated
[41:03] $40 to $50 for a registration. I don't
think that's unreasonable.
[41:08] Um,
and based on the previous report
[41:12] indicating that there was been seven or
eight calls,
[41:16] um, I think that registration based on
the numbers that could be in town would
[41:20] be adequate.
>> I'll I'll I'll suggest $40 onetime fee.
[41:27] » Council McGlire, any thoughts? Yeah, I
just I want to make clear that the
[41:31] registration we're not doing an
inspection as part of the reg
[41:34] registration, but the um
>> do we know what the fee is for a dog or
[41:38] a cat tag?
>> Because the website's not working when I
[41:43] try to pull it up.
>> Do you know the does anyone know the fee
[41:46] for the dog?
>> 10. It's We also have five hands or six
[41:51] hands potentially. So, I'll just say $40
if we can get agreement on that.
[41:56] » It's reasonable. Yeah, it's a onetime
fee. So,
[41:59] » yeah.
>> Mr. Chair, if it if it provides some
[42:04] comfort, we could come back with two
pieces of information. One is the best
[42:08] practice on one time registration versus
annual, and we could do some market
[42:14] research on on registration fee level.
So, we're not
[42:19] making policy on the fly and setting
fees on the fly.
[42:23] » I'm fine with that. Um, as much as I
would like to see this and I'm sure the
[42:29] chief would like to see this tonight,
but uh,
[42:35] » yes, Council R.
>> I found the 2024 fee schedule online,
[42:40] and it's uh, $15 spayed or neutered
before March 31st, 30 after, and $30 not
[42:48] spayed or neutered, 60 after.
Uh, if they've got a chip, it's5 or $10.
[42:55] um
or 10 and $20 and cats are 15 or 30. So
[43:00] that
>> tell
[43:02] » but I I would support Mayor Banko's $40
and end it tonight because I think that
[43:07] seems to be within the realm of uh
what's fair.
[43:11] » Are you going to require the chickens to
be chipped?
[43:14] » Just asking. Sorry.
[43:20] » I don't think that's best practice, but
I don't know.
[43:24] Uh but Sio Moore said that uh he makes a
good point. Coming [clears throat] up
[43:29] with numbers while we're here is not
always best practice and I would prefer
[43:34] to have just staff come back with those
two pieces. But the the bylaw is going
[43:39] to go ahead with those two uh additional
we'll have that information uh in the
[43:45] near future.
>> So with our animal control bylaw, we've
[43:48] got the bylaw and then we've got the
fees and charges schedule separate from
[43:51] that. So we can talk about the fee as
part of the fees and charges schedule
[43:55] but
>> approve the bylaw
[43:58] » tonight. We've got consensus to push the
bylaw forward.
[44:00] » We do.
[44:04] » Anything else?
>> So Mr. Chair, we we could uh do some
[44:07] quick research and and come back before
this uh appears on the council agenda.
[44:14] » That would be great.
>> Thank you very much, Chief, for your
[44:18] patience and uh your hard work.
Appreciate it very much, Mr. Chair.
[44:25] As councelor Miller said, this is the
first time we've done and not many
[44:30] municipal have done this. There's not a
lot of experts out there in this. So,
[44:36] getting it right is important and we'll
do the best we can. Thank you.
[44:40] So, moving on. Uh, and that's why you're
still there is the SCBA Deacon report.
[44:50] Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, my
recommendation tonight is that council
[44:54] pass resolution to award a contract 26
fire SCBA decon washer to AJ Stone
[45:01] Company Limited for the supplied
installation of one self-contained
[45:04] breathing apparatus
uh decontamination washer uh in the
[45:09] amount of 41,838
plus the non-rebatable HST in the amount
[45:13] of 73635
for a total of 42,574.
[45:19] Uh as mentioned before uh the Ontario
government had put out grant money for
[45:25] cancer prevention initiatives in the
fire service. Uh originally the uh grant
[45:31] application that come out was a $10
million grant for all of Ontario. Uh the
[45:36] government turned around and increase
that grant funding up to $20 million. Um
[45:41] the matrix that they used was based on
the number of stations you have in your
[45:46] jurisdiction. So unfortunately having
one station uh we had the minimum amount
[45:51] uh we received the minimum amount uh a
year ago uh with the increase uh they
[45:57] doubled the amount just over doubled the
amount contributing towards uh cancer
[46:01] prevention initiatives. So, last year we
received $8,23045
[46:07] that were used to purchase carbon fiber
uh particle flash hoods and firefighter
[46:13] gloves uh that uh don't uh retain the uh
contaminants from fires and chemical
[46:22] situations.
This year, our grant funding that was
[46:26] approved, we received 19,62605.
Uh the intent was to put towards the uh
[46:33] SCBA washer uh and the for
decontamination. We originally put in
[46:39] the budget that we were expecting to
receive 13,000. Unfortunately, we
[46:43] received uh $3,000 more than that. So
based on the the submissions from four
[46:51] different companies, uh AJ Stone came in
at 41,838.
[46:56] uh LEC Co. Incorporated committ 48,
Broen 48, and Canadian Safety Committee
[47:04] 144.
Uh after reviewing all submissions to
[47:08] ensure compliance with the
specifications of pricing, AJ Stone met
[47:11] and exceeded the specification
requirements and was the lowest bidder.
[47:15] Uh the approved capital budget for this
project was $51,000.
[47:19] Uh including the $16,000 of grant money,
which should I'm sorry, should read
[47:24] 19,000.
um of grant funding received. Um so we
[47:29] uh we were far under budget with that uh
of approximately $12,51.70.
[47:36] So the recommendation is to accept the
lowest bidder, proceed with project uh
[47:42] and option two is for council to uh not
accept the quotation uh and direct staff
[47:47] to reissue a request for quotation.
>> Thank you very much, Chief. Mayor
[47:52] Panker, you have a question.
>> Yeah, thanks Chief. Um, how have we been
[47:56] cleaning SCBA equipment before this up
till now?
[48:01] » Through the chair with a hose uh and uh
um special soap that we apply to it. Um
[48:09] it's it's a very lengthy process to do
that doing unit by unit by unit. Uh
[48:14] these units depending on the amount of
contaminants that are contained in it,
[48:19] the machine will either run for 2
minutes or 12 minutes. 12 minutes is a
[48:22] maximum. You can hold four units in
there at once, the total unit, the
[48:27] harness, everything, mask, uh, and then
12 minutes later, they're all done. Um,
[48:33] it also has a filter that picks up all
the particulate and, uh, any
[48:36] contaminants that are in there, uh, so
they're not washed away into the waste
[48:40] water.
>> And is there an annual maintenance cost
[48:44] or and a warranty that comes with it,
too?
[48:46] » There is a 2-year warranty that comes
with it. Um, and there is no annual uh,
[48:51] service requirement for this unit. Okay,
I certainly support the recommendation.
[48:54] I think we owe it to our our staff to
ensure that the equipment they use and
[48:59] they're going to provide all the
production they need. So,
[49:02] » I'm seeing a thumbs up around the table.
My one question and it's more for the
[49:07] CEO is in these reports I'm going to
assume this is a Canadian company but is
[49:12] it possible when we're doing these
tenders now to noting that the
[49:17] legislation both federally and
proincially has changed that we add a
[49:21] line in our reports to council that's
saying that we're compliant or that it's
[49:25] Canadian sourced or something that would
be nice for me to know when I because
[49:30] each time I'm going to ask is this a
Canadian supplier?
[49:34] uh an astute question so thank you for
asking it. Uh so you'll recall that the
[49:39] buy Ontario legislation passed uh we uh
will be bringing back an amendment to
[49:45] our procurement bylaw to incorporate the
the language and the requirements and at
[49:50] that point we will start uh reporting
out on the criteria that we have to
[49:55] assess when we look at a procurement
like this.
[49:58] » Terrific.
>> Um but I think the chief might know the
[50:00] answer to that question. This unit is
made in Peterbr, Ontario.
[50:04] » Wonderful.
Thank you very much, Chief. And uh
[50:08] thanks for that report.
And not going anywhere, of course. Uh
[50:14] Chief Jboro is going to talk about the
new fire tanker contract.
[50:18] Thank you, Mr. Chair. The recommendation
this evening is that council will
[50:22] approve the recommendation of the fire
chief to award the contract for the
[50:26] manufacturing of one tanker apparatus to
Fort Gary fire trucks in the amount of
[50:29] 820,000
plus the non-rebailable HST.
[50:34] If this award is done within 30 days of
the closing date of the tender
[50:39] um we it'll be held at the 820,000. But
it's after that due to the engine
[50:46] changes uh in all vehicles the price
goes up by $30,000 to $849302
[50:52] plus the non-rebatable
uh HST.
[50:57] On May 27th 26 tender document was
posted on the bids and tenders for the
[51:01] replacement of one tanker apparatus. The
tender package included two sections uh
[51:05] a municipal compliance section and
detailed specification section. As part
[51:10] of the specification requirements, all
instant biders were required to provide
[51:13] proof of insurance, ISO certification,
professional engineering certificate,
[51:18] welding certificates, fire apparatus
manufacturing association certificate,
[51:23] uh, and a licensed motor vehicle sales
permit. Further, vehicle must be
[51:26] compliant under the ULCS515
requirement for fire apparatus. All
[51:32] interested bidders were required to
request a copy of the package in order
[51:35] to submit a proposal. Uh on the closing
date there was one submission. Uh we
[51:41] reviewed the bids and tenders. There was
four companies that had looked and
[51:47] pulled the tender document uh to review
it. Uh however, only one submitted uh a
[51:53] proposal.
During the budget deliberations, council
[51:58] had approved the $200,000 in the 2025
budget and approved an additional
[52:02] 550,000 in 2026. Uh the terms and
conditions of the payment for the tanker
[52:08] if approved is 20% deposit to secure the
order. 100% payment of the cabin chassis
[52:14] upon arrival at the manufacturer uh
which totals 479,846
[52:19] leaving a balance of 270,1
153 with the balance to be paid upon
[52:25] delivery. Therefore, the additional cost
over and above the budgeted amount uh
[52:30] could be placed in the 2027 capital
budget or be financed from the capital
[52:34] reserve. Fort Gary met and exceeded all
requirements listed in the
[52:38] specifications and has provided payment
options and payment requirements. At the
[52:42] time of tendering, all prices have been
based on the current exchange rate and
[52:45] tariffs. The above pricing is firm for
30 days from the date of the tender.
[52:52] the budget and financial implications as
indicated uh that the additional over
[52:58] budget amount of 84,739
uh can be either taken from the reserve
[53:05] or carried over into the next fiscal
year. Um my recommendation is to approve
[53:11] the report as written uh and provide
Fort Gary Firet Trucks uh the award the
[53:18] attender which is a Canadian company.
>> Uh Counc.
[53:24] » Yeah. Uh do we have an idea of how much
it's going to cost to renovate the
[53:27] garage for the truck?
>> We do and thank you for that question
[53:31] through the chair. We had put aside in
the 2026 budget uh $125,000
[53:39] based on a previous estimate uh from a
contractor.
[53:44] We did go to tender um and put the
tender on bids and tender looking for uh
[53:49] companies to uh provide pricing on that.
Uh there were 17 companies that pulled
[53:55] the document. Two companies uh provided
a quote. Uh the first company provided a
[54:00] quote of 400 just over 400,000 for the
addition. The second company provided a
[54:06] quote of 200 just over $200,000.
Significant difference uh uh in two
[54:12] quotes. Um and certainly uh the one
contractor is with us this evening just
[54:17] to uh uh to see what council's decision
was going to be on the vehicle. Um the
[54:22] $200,000 is not unreasonable. There is
no special um design that was done to
[54:28] the building. We had an engineer draw it
out, stamp it, uh provide that to all
[54:34] prospective biders. Uh we're looking at
a wall or roof and extending taking the
[54:39] door off that's currently on there and
moving it to the end of the building.
[54:42] Again, the vehicle, if approved, is
going to be up to 18 months or more for
[54:48] delivery. So again, that will be
council's decision as to whether or not
[54:53] uh we proceed with the building
renovation at this time. Uh that report
[54:58] was drafted, but it was pulled from
tonight's meeting.
[55:02] » Okay. You got a followup?
>> Yeah. So I'll just uh like we're going
[55:06] from 750 to well over a million. Now, uh
my preference would be to reach out to
[55:13] Monu and get a costing for an automatic
aid agreement. what the guaranteed
[55:17] response time could be with their pumper
and how much that would cost or on a
[55:22] fivey year or 10 year basis.
>> Uh councelor Brennan.
[55:28] » Yeah, I I disagree with that. I think
that uh this is an essential piece of
[55:32] equipment and uh and uh depend on monu
coming in with that I think is uh is um
[55:42] risky to say the least. Um,
I think that the uh I guess the question
[55:50] to you, Chief, is for the adjustments to
the building, what's the timeline to get
[55:55] that done? You mentioned it was I think
18 months to receive the pumper
[56:02] » from the tanker, correct?
>> Yeah, the tank tanker and then for the
[56:05] renovations,
>> the time frame to complete the
[56:09] renovations
um that we didn't have a timeline in
[56:12] there. timeline wasn't indicated, but
certainly uh it was an indication that
[56:16] they could start the project this year
either now or in the fall depending if
[56:20] the contract was awarded.
>> Okay. So, and we we set aside 100,000
[56:26] and we're short another 100, right? So,
I would I would
[56:32] prefer to do the building prior to the
vehicle being delivered and just to go
[56:39] ahead with that and then uh whatever we
need to budget for next year, put it in
[56:44] there.
That's my
[56:46] » the building isn't on tonight's agenda,
but I know
[56:49] » I understand. Yeah. So, that's part of
it,
[56:51] » but definitely you're uh supporting the
chief's recommendation on the truck.
[56:54] Good.
>> Yes.
[56:55] » Thank you. Yeah.
>> Uh other thoughts on the truck?
[56:58] Councelor Quinn has given a nod thumbs
up and councelor Robinson and councelor
[57:04] Miller coming.
>> Um so you know we already made the
[57:07] decision on the truck and and yes it's
over. Um but there is a suggested way to
[57:14] um to compensate for that and I think
the building um could be uh started in
[57:19] late fall but budgeted in 2027. And um I
think both of those overages are
[57:25] manageable. So I'd support going ahead
with the truck and look forward to
[57:29] seeing the report on the building.
>> I see it.
[57:33] » Uh
I mean expensive. There's no question
[57:38] about it.
>> Absolutely.
[57:39] » And uh I mean we've been down this road
before. We've replaced I guess three
[57:44] major pieces of apparatus in the last 12
15 years somewhere in that area I guess.
[57:50] Um,
and every time it goes in, the price is
[57:54] always higher than we ever [laughter]
anticipated. But I guess the reality is
[57:58] these are, even though [clears throat]
it's a piece of equipment which would
[58:01] not go out to every call, there are
parts of town that do not have hydrants
[58:06] services. And so this would be needed at
mutual aid situation. I guess when we
[58:12] had the automatic a with lakes it was
probably more frequently that way in a
[58:15] mutual aid situation with our rural
partners would be called upon I guess to
[58:19] be used and the lifespan is 30 years
>> correct
[58:24] the through the chair the recommendation
from the fire underwriters is 20 years
[58:28] but uh with the maintenance schedule
that we currently have and obviously you
[58:32] can see the vehicle it's in the garage
um well-maintained wellkept
[58:37] um repairs are are done immediately uh
you can extend the life uh of the
[58:43] vehicle. And certainly to put into
context, the app the aerial apparatus
[58:49] that's downstairs
uh when purchased 12 years ago was $1.4
[58:53] million. Peter Fire Department just
ordered the identical truck with the
[58:58] same drawing. It is now $4.6
million.
[59:03] Um so um as we move forward with
vehicles, we can't get away from
[59:10] um that unbelievable, in my opinion,
unacceptable rising cost. Uh but again,
[59:16] when you're looking at an emergency
piece of apparatus that has an impact on
[59:22] one life or one building, um I could not
stand here in good conscious and put a
[59:28] price tag on that.
>> Thank you. uh you have consensus to move
[59:32] ahead with the uh your with that tender
award that tender uh and uh that
[59:38] building report will come back in the
near future I'm sure.
[59:42] » Correct.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[59:43] » Thank you.
>> Uh director McMun going to talk to us
[59:49] about another contract for Ashevol
concrete milling and paving.
[1:00:04] No, I'm sorry. That's not yet. I missed
you on 9.4. It's the new transmission
[1:00:12] name. Thanks.
>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Test.
[1:00:14] » You had me wondering there for a second.
[laughter]
[1:00:17] » Um, yeah. So, thanks for the
introduction to the report. So staff uh
[1:00:20] so the report this evening uh is titled
award of contract 26PW-010
[1:00:26] new trans transmission main phase 1. The
second part of the approval or the
[1:00:31] recommendation sorry is the approval
request for engineering services
[1:00:35] associated with the contract
administration and inspection services
[1:00:39] for phase one.
So staff are recommending that council
[1:00:42] award contract 26PW-010
for phase one of the new transmission
[1:00:47] main and sewer separation project to
Ingmanson Construction Limited in the
[1:00:51] amount just shy of 2.5 million and
authorize an additional agreement with
[1:00:56] EVB engineering for contract
administration and inspection services
[1:00:59] valued at $171,445
excluding HST.
[1:01:05] Uh this particular project is the first
f phase of a a larger multi-year
[1:01:10] infrastructure program designed to
improve the town's long-term potable
[1:01:14] water supply and fire protection
capacity.
[1:01:18] The overall initiative will establish a
continuous 16-in transmission water man
[1:01:23] connecting the existing trunk water man
on Chamber Street at Empress Avenue to
[1:01:28] the new elevated water tower at 12
Airare Drive across from the public
[1:01:32] works garage while also upgrading
associated municipal infrastructure.
[1:01:38] That would be the um uh the sewer
separation portion of the project. So,
[1:01:42] think of it as full reconstruction
through that roughly 1.9 km corridor.
[1:01:48] Phase one of the works will include
construction of a new 16-inch
[1:01:52] transmission water man from the new
water tower to RTO Avenue South at
[1:01:56] Lauren Street. Construct a new 8-in
distribution water man on Lauren Street.
[1:02:02] Isolated sanitary sewer repairs on RTO
Avenue South. So, we're replacing a
[1:02:06] portion of a existing sewer combined
sewer on RTO Avenue North.
[1:02:14] um
replacing it this year because there the
[1:02:17] the pipe is compromised and we we uh
having a hard time sleeping at night
[1:02:21] hope holding hoping that it holds
together. Um so we've designed the
[1:02:25] street uh so what will be phase two of
the project such that we won't need to
[1:02:31] change that pipe again. We change it now
and then when we roll into phase two
[1:02:34] we'll just continue on with that with
that sewer.
[1:02:38] Um the project will also include a
development of a multi-use pathway uh
[1:02:42] between airare drive and Lauren Street.
So that's the easement that runs in
[1:02:45] behind the bottling plant making its way
from Lauren Street over over to the
[1:02:48] tower. And then of course full
reconstruction of Lauren Street between
[1:02:52] RTO Avenue South and the easement.
Sorry, I meant I said Rita Avenue North
[1:02:56] there. I meant RTO Avenue South earlier.
Uh the this particular tender closed um
[1:03:02] just last week uh on June 29th, 2026 and
attracted four qualified bids. After
[1:03:08] review by town staff and EVB
Engineering, IMG Igman Construction
[1:03:12] Limited was confirmed as the lowest
compliant bidder at approximately 2.5
[1:03:16] million, nearly 100,000 lower than the
next closest bid.
[1:03:21] EBB engineering also confirmed that the
bid falls within the project pre uh
[1:03:26] tender budget estimate and recommended
award of the contract.
[1:03:31] As we know, this broader project is
supported through the province's health
[1:03:34] and safety water stream funding program,
which will fund up to 73% of eligible
[1:03:40] project costs to a maximum contribution
of $13.3 million.
[1:03:45] engineering costs associated with EVB
services are also eligible for the same
[1:03:49] funding and they would have been
represented when we put our application
[1:03:53] in in the first place. There was a
portion in that application for contract
[1:03:57] admin and inspection.
Um,
[1:04:02] yes. So, they're also eligible for the
same funding, reducing the town's share
[1:04:05] of the proposed engineering services
contract to approximately $46,000 290
[1:04:11] for sorry, $46,290,
excluding tax.
[1:04:16] Subject to council approval,
construction is expected to begin in
[1:04:19] early August 2026
with sanitary sew repairs substantially
[1:04:23] complete by August 31st, 2026. That's
the section on that I spoke of earlier
[1:04:28] on RTO Avenue South. and the remainder
of phase phase one to be substantially
[1:04:33] completed by December 1st, 2026.
The project aligns with council
[1:04:38] strategic priority of investing in
infrastructure to support community
[1:04:41] growth and service reliability.
So, with that, I'm happy to take any
[1:04:47] questions, but I just wanted to note
that this is a word of contract here
[1:04:50] this evening. Um, time is a little bit
of the essence. I'd like to get shovels
[1:04:53] in the ground on this project and get
get rolling on it. So, happy to take any
[1:04:58] questions. Councelor
McGuire.
[1:05:02] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you,
Director McMahon. Um, good pricing and
[1:05:06] good responses to So, that's really nice
to see. I'm wondering when, uh, when
[1:05:10] they do the design work, can we ask them
to try to optimize the utility holes so
[1:05:15] they're not in the drivable path.
There's a lot of intersections in town
[1:05:19] where there's utility holes, right? you
know, if you're turning a corner at an
[1:05:22] intersection or um there if you you
know, if you look after it snows where
[1:05:27] the tires generally go, they put the
utility holes there. I'm wondering is
[1:05:30] that something we can ask them as it's
part of the design?
[1:05:33] » Not at this stage, not for this
particular phase, but
[1:05:36] » um if I could through the chair, the the
one thing that we need to be cognizant
[1:05:41] of particularly when we're um you know,
Smith Falls being in the Canadian
[1:05:45] Shield, we know we're going to be
dealing with rock. often more than not,
[1:05:48] we try to utilize existing trenches,
rock trenches, so that uh so we can
[1:05:53] mitigate costs on these projects. Um I
understand what you're saying. You know,
[1:05:57] you're driving in the driving lane and
you know, you'll come upon a manhole
[1:06:02] that might have a a depression in that
frame and cover and and you feel a bump.
[1:06:07] Um
my sense is with new construction that
[1:06:12] that risk should be mitigated with
installing it right in the first place
[1:06:16] if that makes sense. So quite often more
than not, it comes down to um you know
[1:06:21] the vertical adjustment of those
manholes, the frames and covers on top
[1:06:24] that being addressed at paving
operations to make sure that there's a
[1:06:27] nice transition through that structure
as opposed to moving things within the
[1:06:31] roadway corridor to get the sewer uh the
sewer lines out of the traveled lane.
[1:06:38] So I do understand the question. This
phase is already designed. Um
[1:06:44] many [clears throat] many times often
there uh there's a lot of infrastructure
[1:06:47] within the roadway and we're trying to
shoehorn a bunch of different pipes in
[1:06:51] the ground. That is definitely um
evident in this project where we're for
[1:06:59] for much of the project we're
incorporating a 16-in water man on top
[1:07:03] of a an 8 in distribution main plus a
sanitary sewer plus a storm sewer.
[1:07:09] Currently, right now, we're running with
a a single pipe system, the combined
[1:07:13] sewer. Um, so I'll have to say there's a
lot more linear infrastructure under the
[1:07:17] under the ground.
[clears throat]
[1:07:20] » Although, just all that other linear
infrastructure staying put, the sewer
[1:07:23] and the
is that that's the limitation.
[1:07:28] » Sorry,
>> sorry. All the other infrastructure
[1:07:29] staying put in the ground. All we're
updating at this point is the water
[1:07:33] manes. So the service mains or the
service lines and the sewer lines are
[1:07:38] staying but
>> no if I if I could through the through
[1:07:41] the chair. Um no this project is
effectively uh a full reconstruction.
[1:07:47] » So new services to property line not
indifferent to a phase one and phase two
[1:07:51] of George Street. So it'll be the same
idea. Uh the only thing that we're able
[1:07:55] to not have to change in phase one would
be the sewer that runs down the ement
[1:08:01] because it's in good condition. and it's
not that old. It's a it's a concrete
[1:08:04] pipe uh in really really good condition.
So, we're not touching that at all.
[1:08:08] We're just replacing the um the trunk
water main distribution pipe that we
[1:08:13] have down through that ement.
>> So, so Lauren Street from the easement
[1:08:17] down to Rita Avenue South will be full
reconstruction and then the balance of
[1:08:21] the projects uh next year and the year
after will be full reconstruction as
[1:08:24] well.
>> Mayor Panko,
[1:08:27] » thanks for uh two questions I guess. one
um we've done a lot of the contract
[1:08:33] administration inspection internally for
past projects and this one you're
[1:08:38] looking at hiring outside is it using
EVB
[1:08:42] is there I know a lot of the cost is
covered so 27% covered by by
[1:08:48] is it primarily a funding situation or
workload situation or
[1:08:53] » yes through the chair it's a little bit
a little bit of both um right now my
[1:08:58] staff We're focused on getting things uh
surveyed, getting things ready for
[1:09:04] design for uh I would call our own
capital project for next year, which
[1:09:08] we're focused on James Street. Uh
that'll be the next on on the books for
[1:09:13] uh full reconstruction. So there's
there's a tremendous amount of work to
[1:09:16] do there over the over the course of the
balance of the summer and fall. Um so
[1:09:21] that's what we're focused on. So it
always was the intention with this
[1:09:24] particular project to use contract or
sorry uh consulting services for um for
[1:09:33] contract in and inspection for
for phase one and then the subsequent
[1:09:40] phases of this project notably because
it is it is largely funded and it does
[1:09:45] take the pressure off staff to focus on
other assignments that we have. Uh
[1:09:49] second question it just sort of takes me
back to takes us back to last Thursday
[1:09:53] and the storm system that hit and we had
a lot of localized flooding in town and
[1:09:59] uh again it's how do you prepare for
systems like that that come through but
[1:10:03] understanding
um they're not that infrequent anymore
[1:10:07] and they may not hit all of town at a
time but they we do get heavy systems
[1:10:11] coming through. So when it comes to our
our storm sewer, I mean I suppose an
[1:10:15] engineering standard based on the
formulas how how big a pipe should be,
[1:10:21] but I guess and and looking forward
um should we be looking at making these
[1:10:27] pipes just a little bit larger to be
able to handle the greater loads that
[1:10:30] are coming in the those 1% storms that
seem to happen far more frequently than
[1:10:36] one every hundred storms.
>> Yeah, thanks thanks for the question. So
[1:10:40] with with storm server design, we we
design to a a 1 in5ear storm and that's
[1:10:45] standard MECP uh ministry guidelines. Um
the short answer to that question is if
[1:10:51] we had to design for uh a 100redyear
storm or or something in excess of a
[1:10:56] 100red-year storm, which I would argue
we were subject to last Thursday.
[1:11:00] Anecdotally, I've heard reports of as
much as 100 millimeters of rain in a 45m
[1:11:05] minute period. It came down hard and
fast and um we certainly felt the brunt
[1:11:10] of that with areas such as Lumbard
Street down by Abel and Aberdine that
[1:11:15] were were completely flooded. Um over on
Hershey Drive at Queen Street was the
[1:11:21] the ditches were all flooded and over
overflowing on the road down in that
[1:11:24] area. So the short answer is you would
you would never be able to get a pipe in
[1:11:29] the ground large enough um to handle to
handle those flows. So, anything over
[1:11:34] and above a five-year storm would be uh
the the design would contemplate
[1:11:40] overland flow. Um so, you think of a
roadway that has um you know, a 6-in
[1:11:45] curb face along the the edge of roadway.
The roadway in itself will will hold a
[1:11:50] tremendous amount of water as well. Um,
and if we're looking at like a new
[1:11:55] subdivision design, that's why we
incorporate side and rear yard swell
[1:12:00] systems in in uh those new subdivisions
as well as either retention or detention
[1:12:05] ponds as part of the overall storm water
management system. Um, but I will note
[1:12:10] with last Thursday storm and you know
the the amount of roadway flooding that
[1:12:15] we had around town, we had a number of
reported um sewer backups throughout
[1:12:20] town. uh primarily in areas that maybe
perhaps don't have a storm sewer network
[1:12:26] and and they're subject to a combined
sewer on their street.
[1:12:30] Um you know, the the pipes simply can't
handle that volume of of water when
[1:12:35] you're mixing mixing it with sanitary
flow at the same time. So um it's going
[1:12:39] to find the path of least resistance and
absent people having backflow preventers
[1:12:44] on their service laterals, it's
unfortunately going to end up in some
[1:12:48] cases in people's basements. Um, the
message for for people at home that
[1:12:53] we've been that we've been talking to is
uh, you know, first and foremost to
[1:12:58] notify your insurance company to to
initiate a a claim. Um,
[1:13:04] yeah. So, we're we're still dealing and
fielding a a lot of those calls kind of
[1:13:08] as we speak. So,
>> well, I guess the question really goes
[1:13:11] if it's if we're only planning for one
and five year and I mean, how much extra
[1:13:15] cost would there be to put a bigger pipe
in there that accommodate
[1:13:20] especially understanding it it there's
potentially new development that could
[1:13:24] happen in that area of town in the
future and a lot of side a lot of I
[1:13:28] guess uh storm feed probably would feed
into this as well. So I don't know if
[1:13:34] it's I I know it's a it's a situation
where you can't repair for everything
[1:13:39] but you can accommodate more does it
make sense consider that I know there's
[1:13:43] only a small section being repaired
right now but I'm thinking longer term
[1:13:46] when the pipe search run up you know to
uh is that consideration but
[1:13:52] for future discussion
>> yeah it is I mean we could sit here and
[1:13:56] talk technicalities all all night and
I'd start losing people that are are
[1:13:59] queued in on the call the call here this
evening so yeah
[1:14:02] » okay thank you Councelor Quinn, did you
want to come in?
[1:14:05] » Yeah, I'm going to throw something in
here totally off of all this. What? We
[1:14:10] don't need to make a decision tonight,
but is there not product that we could
[1:14:14] be using rather than ash fault, rather
than covering everything with a solid
[1:14:20] cover? Is there not product that we
could start to think about using where
[1:14:24] the water could go through?
[1:14:28] And and I don't need an answer tonight.
Let's just
[1:14:32] think of it. Well, well,
>> just a thought.
[1:14:35] » Hold that thought then. Thank you.
>> Um I'm people are in a general agreement
[1:14:41] with proceeding with this tender. Um
excellent report goes up and it's nice
[1:14:48] to get this uh phase going
and uh 9.5. Now we can talk about
[1:14:56] Ashwalt concrete milling and paving.
>> Yes, thank you Mr. Chair. Uh so with
[1:15:00] this particular report, staff are
recommending the council award contract
[1:15:05] 26-PW-005
for the town's 2026 Ashvalt concrete
[1:15:10] milling and paving uh coined as ACMP.
You'll hear me talk about um so award
[1:15:17] that program to uh Drock Paving in the
amount of $866,54412
[1:15:25] excluding HST.
Uh the project was publicly tendered and
[1:15:29] uh this particular project only
attracted two biders um with Drock
[1:15:35] Paving submitting the lowest compliant
bid approximately 299 and a half
[1:15:40] thousand lower than the next bidder. So
the annual ACMP program focuses on
[1:15:46] roadway re sorry roadway rehabilitation,
aphalt resurfacing, concrete curb and
[1:15:52] sidewalk repairs, accessibility
improvements,
[1:15:56] and related infrastructure upgrades
throughout the throughout the
[1:15:59] municipality.
Major works this year include the
[1:16:02] rehabilitation of Percy Street between
Pearl Street and Broadview Avenue,
[1:16:07] rehabilitation and sidewalk improvements
on Canal Street. So between Becka Street
[1:16:11] and the new uh Timber Bridge,
new sidewalks on Union Street and Ferrer
[1:16:17] Drive. So Union Street will be the let
me see the the the west side of Union
[1:16:23] Street. um
uh from Cornelia down to
[1:16:30] uh I forget what the name of the street
is, but a part partway down before we
[1:16:33] hit the VIA station. And there's an
Ashevolt sidewalk from that point on to
[1:16:36] the uh to the VIA station.
So, currently there's no sidewalk on
[1:16:40] that side.
>> Uh doing some work over on Fer Drive as
[1:16:44] well. There's some areas over there that
are missing sidewalks, some old
[1:16:47] dilapitated Ashewell sidewalk that we're
going to rehab as well. and then uh some
[1:16:53] localized curbing repairs on Aberdine
Avenue to try to address some of the uh
[1:16:57] the water issues that we have over on
Aberdine in in a certain area.
[1:17:02] Um we're looking at uh pavement some
pave some isolated pavement
[1:17:07] rehabilitation on Becka Street North and
James Street. So these are
[1:17:12] uh significant enough uh areas that
we're going to uh mill and pave. Just a
[1:17:17] a quick kind of dirty overlay if that
makes sense. They're heavily heavily
[1:17:20] pledoled.
Uh and then the replacement of sidewalk
[1:17:25] uh that was removed over at the former
water treatment plant as part of that
[1:17:28] project. We're going to reinstitute that
sidewalk over on that side. And I will
[1:17:32] note that that money is being funded
through the insurance claim. So that
[1:17:35] money will come back to the uh to this
program.
[1:17:38] » Yeah.
>> Thank you. Uh councelor Brennan, you
[1:17:42] wanted to
>> Yep. Thank you. Uh I love this. It's um
[1:17:46] when we do the the road work because
it's people see it's their tax dollars
[1:17:50] at work and and I always look forward to
this report. I had a couple questions
[1:17:54] though. Um I noticed on Percy Street
uh you've got on here some speed humps.
[1:18:02] » Sorry.
>> Some speed humps on on the Percy Street.
[1:18:06] » Yeah.
>> So I imagine that's near the school or
[1:18:10] » Exactly.
>> Okay. So there was some uh
[1:18:12] » yeah there's sorry through the chair
community safety zone over in that area.
[1:18:15] So we're looking at speed mitigation. So
it'll be
[1:18:18] » Ashvalt speed hump similar to what we
have on Herald Street.
[1:18:21] » Yeah. And I I know you guys uh
prioritize what we're going to do every
[1:18:25] year. And uh I'm always going to get
questions about this street or that
[1:18:30] street. So, there's two streets that I
had in mind and I had flagged before and
[1:18:35] one is John Street uh which leads up to
um
[1:18:41] Chimo and so there's no sidewalks there
and it's a feeder to the school and then
[1:18:47] there's a the street right in front of
Chimo is
[1:18:52] » Ross
>> Ross. So, and there's no sidewalk there.
[1:18:55] So, um hopefully that's on the radar. Uh
John Street is not in good condition all
[1:19:02] the way down to Broadview. Um and so uh
that's that's one. And then my other old
[1:19:09] nugget is Allen Street in Margaret. Um
because um I've gotten questions about
[1:19:15] that as well. And that's a feeder to a
school. And then it's um it's right
[1:19:20] outside of the apartment buildings uh
where there's a lot of seniors there and
[1:19:24] for walking, that sort of thing. So,
those are two two uh items that I I hope
[1:19:30] we can flag for uh the not too distant
future. Um and you know, the um I'll
[1:19:38] just comment on the Percy Street piece.
Um because I have the opportunity to
[1:19:43] walk mostly most of these streets daily,
especially Percy, and it doesn't seem
[1:19:49] like the sidewalk's that bad. Um
everything needs doing. I understand
[1:19:53] that. Um but the uh and it's just down
the one it's just one side of the of the
[1:19:59] of the street that goes and leads into
the school. But um anyway, uh it's good.
[1:20:06] It's all good. Just those two those two
uh areas I think that we need to
[1:20:11] address.
>> Yeah. If if I could, Mr. Chair, I just
[1:20:13] wanted to um emphasize that we're not
replacing all of the sidewalk on Percy
[1:20:18] Street. We're making some uh some
improvements, some AODA compliant
[1:20:22] crosswalks in those area with the
tactile walking surface indicators.
[1:20:26] Those are those plates that we put in
the in those crosswalks. So, it's not a
[1:20:30] replacement of all the sidewalks. So, I
just wanted to to mention mention that.
[1:20:33] Y
>> thank you and thank you for this report.
[1:20:38] And you know what I love about what
you've done here? You've broke
[1:20:42] everything down into this street is
going to cost this much. this street is
[1:20:47] going to cost so much more because we're
doing more there. And I love that
[1:20:51] because now people can see how many
times how many times are we asked, well,
[1:20:56] why can't I have a new sidewalk down
here? Why can't I have my my street
[1:21:01] redone? Blah blah. Look at look at how
much it actually costs because they
[1:21:06] don't realize the cost to all of this
construction. So, thank you very much
[1:21:10] for the report. Thank you for breaking
it all down. [laughter] just makes it
[1:21:15] easier to and I support what you're
>> Thank you,
[1:21:19] » Mayor Panko.
>> Yeah, thanks for and we can always look
[1:21:22] forward to this. I mean, it it does it's
meaningful work obviously. Um, a couple
[1:21:26] questions. So, the uh on Union is it
this is going to take and create a
[1:21:32] sidewalk from Cornelia to the point
where the ashvault sidewalk starts just
[1:21:39] past uh Alexander. I want to say
Franklin is that in that area.
[1:21:44] » Franklin will be your Franklin will be
represent the gas station, mobile gas
[1:21:47] station.
>> Yeah, it's the next the next block
[1:21:50] heading towards the uh the name's
escaping me right
[1:21:53] » Alexander.
>> Yes. Yeah.
[1:21:54] » So is um I guess the question is is that
section
[1:21:59] in in good shape or would it make sense
to replace the sidewalk all the way to
[1:22:04] the the via station
when we're when we're mobilizing? Um
[1:22:09] just recognizing there a lot of people
tend to walk that route
[1:22:13] » all times of the year. I see people
trying to walk down through there
[1:22:16] dragging their suitcase and and um and I
don't think it would be an awful lot
[1:22:22] more money to send extend it then we're
done with that area uh would be one
[1:22:27] question. The second question would just
be with Canel Street um understanding
[1:22:32] it's not a through no through traffic.
It's very lightly used uh street
[1:22:36] certainly from a vehicular standpoint uh
and and a fairly significant cost. Um
[1:22:42] and I guess obviously there's reasons
why that needs to be done or why it's
[1:22:46] prioritized.
>> Yeah, thank you for the question. So the
[1:22:49] the first uh the first question you had
was with respect to Union Street. Um, so
[1:22:54] our our inspection and
the condition of the Ashefold sidewalk,
[1:23:00] um, from Alexander Street down to the
VIA station is in in pretty pretty good
[1:23:04] repair, I would say. Um, to me, it
doesn't necessitate doing anything with
[1:23:09] it right at this point. Um, our focus
there was to get continuity from Chamber
[1:23:14] Street down to that point because it's
absent any sidewalk there right now. So,
[1:23:18] that that was the focus. Not to suggest
down the road we can't come back. If
[1:23:22] that ashwalt happens to deteriorate, we
can deal with it down the road. Um
[1:23:28] and then the second part of the question
was with with Canal Street. Um
[1:23:33] yeah, we're we're we're looking at some
some work there getting sidewalks on
[1:23:36] both sides of the street. So sidewalk
favoring the uh the war monument or the
[1:23:41] Senate half, which there's no sidewalk
there right now. Uh we're installing a
[1:23:46] couple of um street lights down through
there as as well. Uh they'll be the same
[1:23:51] street lights that we have on on Becka
Street as part of the the bridge work
[1:23:55] that we're doing there as well and what
you see in the downtown core. Um
[1:24:00] and the ashwalts in in quite poor repair
in that area. Um, one of the reasons we
[1:24:06] we looked at it as well is, you know,
after
[1:24:09] um, commissioning the the the timber
bridge and then we start to look at the
[1:24:14] condition of the access to the to the
timber bridge, particularly on on the
[1:24:19] east side, um, it it doesn't present
itself very well. So, what I would
[1:24:24] consider a fairly small investment to
rehab that and make it a little more
[1:24:30] inviting, I think will go go a long way.
>> Thank you. I'll support the
[1:24:34] recommendation.
>> Uh Ber,
[1:24:36] » uh thank you. Um yeah, it's a it's like
our most popular one, but it's also our
[1:24:41] most debated one because everybody in
town knows a street that they think is
[1:24:45] in worse shape than one of the ones on
here. So every year we this comes
[1:24:48] forward. I ask how did we rate it?
What's our data? Um and we haven't seen
[1:24:53] it yet. So I'd love to see how we came
up with this. like to me canal street,
[1:24:57] you know, it's bad, but it's aesthetic
because there's some spots on McGill,
[1:25:01] some spots on um uh on Maple. We got
some really rough rough areas on on the
[1:25:07] north end of town. So, if we had that
data, then I can say this is this is how
[1:25:12] we rationalized it. This is how they
were prioritized. I don't like getting
[1:25:15] into um this kind of anecdotal debate or
politicizing it. So if we could get more
[1:25:21] information on the how we picked them,
it would make it a lot easier to uh to
[1:25:26] sell that in the community.
>> Yeah. Through through that, Mr. Chair.
[1:25:30] Um
>> yeah, so so so most of the decisions
[1:25:35] that we make with respect to our ashalt
works is dependent on what the what they
[1:25:39] call the PCI, pavement condition index.
Uh we did some uh investigative work on
[1:25:44] that a couple years ago with our uh
through street scan where they came and
[1:25:48] they have a piece of equipment, a
vehicle that drives and it and it uh
[1:25:51] computes what that PCI would would be.
Um however, it's not always uh that easy
[1:25:58] to solely look at at those to make
decisions when we're looking at pay
[1:26:02] pavement restoration. Um, for instance,
we have historically about, we'll call
[1:26:08] it a million dollars on an annual basis
since council started to afford money
[1:26:12] towards this project. Um, it it doesn't
necessarily get stretched very far when
[1:26:18] we're looking at works on these streets.
Um
[1:26:22] and oftentimes we get into investigative
work where we will go out and um core
[1:26:29] the road to try to determine what the
existing thickness of ashvalt is to
[1:26:33] determine whether or not we can do a a a
milling a grind if you will and then an
[1:26:38] overlay.
So if we're not able to do that, if
[1:26:41] we're into full depth removal, then that
effectively doubles or makes that
[1:26:46] project two and a half times more
expensive than it was before. So then we
[1:26:50] may pivot and look to another street
where we may get a little more bang for
[1:26:54] the buck if that makes sense where we
can stretch those dollars further and
[1:26:58] perhaps just go and do a what we call a
shave and pave and mill it off and pave
[1:27:01] 40 ms of ashall on top to reinstitute
the riding surface. So it's a little bit
[1:27:07] of a crapshoot. Um we are still trying
to develop something to bring back to
[1:27:11] council so we can present it and say
here's the plan moving forward
[1:27:15] understanding none of it's ever written
in stone. There may be a whole plethora
[1:27:18] of reasons why things need to pivot and
change on an annual basis.
[1:27:23] » Thank you. Uh just a couple of comments
for me. Thank you for the report. Um
[1:27:28] would there be pedest pedestrian snow
plow now uh on Union Street right to the
[1:27:34] via station that once we put the
sidewalk in even on the paved we'll be
[1:27:39] able to
>> correct. Yes.
[1:27:41] » So they'll be a pave or a snowplow.
Great.
[1:27:44] » Correct. And I just wanted to second
council Brennan's comment on John Street
[1:27:49] leading to the really uh busy school.
There's no sidewalk on either side. So
[1:27:55] » for next year if if uh if we have any
say about it, it would be nice to see
[1:28:00] that one in there. And I don't think
talking about schools is politicizing
[1:28:06] it. I think that's just uh
[clears throat] wanting to flag that
[1:28:09] one. All right. Uh you've got consensus.
Good luck. a great summer paving.
[1:28:17] » Um, we're moving on to Mr. Granky,
shared services agreement.
[1:28:26] Thank you, Mr. Chair. staff are bringing
forward a recommendation to council that
[1:28:31] uh that a bylaw be passed authorizing
the execution of a shared services
[1:28:35] agreement with Tay Valley Township for
building inspection services and also
[1:28:39] that uh that we pass a bylaw appointing
Tay Valley CBO Troy uh Marman as a
[1:28:45] building inspector in the town of Smith
Falls. So this is just relating to
[1:28:49] backup for uh for our CBO. We have uh
one chief building official full-time in
[1:28:55] the uh in the town and occasionally when
he's on on vacation, we do need uh we do
[1:29:00] need to have some uh some coverage. We
don't expect there to be a significant
[1:29:04] uh workload, probably just uh just some
evenings, but somebody to cover uh cover
[1:29:09] inspections while he's uh he's off. So,
we've already established a working
[1:29:13] relationship with Tay Valley from last
year. Our CBO helped them out when they
[1:29:17] were in between uh building uh building
inspectors as well. that that
[1:29:22] relationship has has been established.
The uh the uh the township staff and and
[1:29:27] and our staff are amendable to uh sort
of extending that uh that shared
[1:29:32] services agreement to cover uh their
assistance on an as needed basis here
[1:29:36] here in the town.
>> Uh everybody seems to be in favor of
[1:29:42] this. It's a great uh to work with our
neighbors, continue to work with our
[1:29:48] neighbors, and I hope the our our
building inspector gets a vacation when
[1:29:54] he needs it.
>> Absolutely.
[1:29:56] » Thank you.
>> Thank you,
[1:29:59] Clerk. Castello, you're up.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I will note if
[1:30:05] you if you could look on your agendas, I
I made a a typo on 9.1. That's actually
[1:30:09] supposed to be the Canada Day fireworks
update. I'm not talking about the
[1:30:13] lighting policy twice. So, if you want
to make that small change on your
[1:30:16] agendas, uh community covers. Uh so, as
council recall, Mayor Panko had brought
[1:30:22] this up a couple months ago about the
idea of having uh community covers
[1:30:26] within the town boundaries. Uh this is
an initiative that the Smith Falls
[1:30:30] Equity for All group as well as the
working group uh the food and security
[1:30:34] working group have been working on. Uh
we've developed a bit of a pamphlet and
[1:30:38] a poster which is attached to your
report um that's been included in our
[1:30:42] website and we've also uh included a
page on our website dedicated strictly
[1:30:46] to food insecurity. Uh this was also
something that council supported uh
[1:30:51] declaring a food uh food insecurity
within the town of Smith Falls. Uh so
[1:30:56] what we've done is we've put together a
kind of an information uh packet. Uh
[1:31:01] right now community pantries uh aren't
prohibited in Smith Falls. uh we'd
[1:31:06] actually like to encourage them more and
have uh people actually uh put pantries
[1:31:11] on private property uh whether it's
inside or outside. So this report does
[1:31:16] um indicate what some of the parameters
of having a a community pantry or
[1:31:21] community cover would be. Uh it could be
inside or outside obviously not in right
[1:31:26] ofways on the sidewalks. Um so it's
something that can be enforced from that
[1:31:31] from that um perspective. We've also
included some food safety guidelines
[1:31:36] that we got from the local health unit.
So, anybody who wants to have one of
[1:31:40] these pantries um that might be some
links that they wish to look at. Um so,
[1:31:46] at this point, it's more of an
information piece for council and
[1:31:49] hopefully um to get the word out that
these are actually encouraged by council
[1:31:54] um to help the community and help our
residents with food insecurity. Uh the
[1:31:58] hope is that this report and maybe some
advertising we can do on our website and
[1:32:02] our social media feeds um will encourage
people to have a food pantry um which
[1:32:08] would include obviously non-p perishable
foods, maybe hygiene products uh things
[1:32:12] of that nature um where there would be
signage obviously in place of what is
[1:32:17] permitted. Um each place that has a
pantry what we would encourage would it
[1:32:22] that each one would have a host per se
and they would be in charge of the
[1:32:26] maintenance of it. uh making sure that
the products haven't expired, that
[1:32:29] there's been no pests, uh things of that
nature. So, mostly encouraging our
[1:32:34] community to look at uh preparing and
having a food pantry on their property
[1:32:40] and uh obviously Mayor Panko is the
chair of the Smith Falls Equity for All
[1:32:44] and this was uh his brainchild. So, I
welcome any additional comments that he
[1:32:49] may have. Now, thanks for the excellent
report and not only there's links in
[1:32:54] there to to anybody interested to uh to
follow them comments or questions.
[1:33:01] » Counc,
>> thank you. These pantries that that
[1:33:06] doesn't mean that the town has to
monitor them.
[1:33:09] » Correct. Uh the whole point with the
pantries would be that they would be
[1:33:13] privately uh owned to use that term. Uh
so it's more that that council is just
[1:33:19] letting people know that they aren't
prohibited, they're encouraged. Uh and
[1:33:23] we're giving them the parameters to do
so safely and without having to do any
[1:33:27] type of enforcement.
>> Just to follow up on that, so if
[1:33:30] something happened and someone claimed
they got sick out of eating something,
[1:33:35] that's not a town.
>> It would be on the host.
[1:33:39] » Thank you, Council Miller.
>> Thank you. I just wanted to say thank
[1:33:44] you, Clerk Castello, and thank you to
the equity for all committee for putting
[1:33:48] this together. We're in a real crisis.
Uh it's not unique to Smith Falls, but
[1:33:52] I'm really proud of the work that we're
doing in this town to try and address
[1:33:55] that. So, this information is really
great and if you're listening to this
[1:34:00] meeting tonight and can share this with
your neighbors, um it would be a few
[1:34:03] minutes well spent.
>> Thank you, Mayor Pat.
[1:34:07] » Yeah, thanks Classello for bringing this
forward and and for council support in
[1:34:10] the past. Hopefully support tonight. Um
it yeah the principle really is is is
[1:34:15] pretty straightforward. Leave what you
want and and and take what you need. And
[1:34:18] it's it's a real grassroots initiative.
Uh I have had uh a number of people
[1:34:24] reach out since this first came forward
a couple months ago uh indicating they
[1:34:28] have an interest in in uh not just
opening one but looking after one. And
[1:34:32] that's going to be really what what's
required. It does note um where it's
[1:34:38] nothing on town property without an
encroachment agreement. And so that's
[1:34:41] something that if an organization had an
interest in putting one in a park
[1:34:47] [clears throat] or town square
somewhere, they they would to reach out
[1:34:50] to the town for an encroachment
agreement. And I don't know if if
[1:34:53] Manager Granky would have to come a
little bit further on that. Um but I
[1:34:57] think it provides an opportunity for
really discretion, right? People can
[1:35:02] discreetly leave things there and people
can discreetly pick them up and uh again
[1:35:06] just help support the the food
insecurity challenges in our community.
[1:35:10] So Frank G, if you don't mind maybe
speaking just to how that would work if
[1:35:13] someone said, "Well, I say an
organization wanted to put one uh at
[1:35:18] Lower Reach Park because it's an easy
access point for people. How would all
[1:35:21] that work?"
>> Thank you, mayor. Yeah. So, an
[1:35:23] encroachment agreement, it's a process
that we uh that we follow from time to
[1:35:27] time. And oftent times, usually when
when council sees an encroachment
[1:35:31] approval, it's for if if there's a a
porch that's been sitting on a municipal
[1:35:34] rightway for for a hundred years and
that was just discovered to uh through a
[1:35:38] survey and and to facilitate a sale. But
but ultimately what the encroachment
[1:35:42] agreement does is it defines
responsibilities.
[1:35:45] So in in this case, an organization, a a
company, somebody would have permission
[1:35:51] to to put a a permanent installation on
on town property. And then we would
[1:35:55] through that agreement, we and council
would allow it, but they would be uh
[1:36:00] they would own the the obligations as
far as as maintenance and and any sort
[1:36:05] of liability. The agreement process can
spell out who's responsible for say
[1:36:09] clearing a pathway there and and
anything there just to just to to cover
[1:36:14] off and and define
the responsibilities and and obligations
[1:36:18] to to allow that to to happen. And that
only applies if this is something that's
[1:36:22] that's that a third party is looking to
put on on town property. The clerk
[1:36:27] referenced if there's if somebody's
looking to put it on private property,
[1:36:30] we wouldn't be involved in that process.
>> Thank you very much.
[1:36:34] » Um any other comments? Just my one is
I'm aware of other committees where two
[1:36:40] or three neighbors got together and put
one together rather than and then they
[1:36:46] support each other with there. So
there's lots of options and uh again
[1:36:52] we're receiving this as information and
encouragement. Uh I know there's a lot
[1:36:57] of support around the horseshoe and
mayor bank.
[1:37:00] » Just one final comment. Anyone who's
interested in learning more go to
[1:37:02] littlefreepantry.org.
[1:37:05] Um, it shows a map where they exist in
other places in North America. They're
[1:37:09] actually pretty common in in in many
places. Uh, and there's also drawings
[1:37:14] there. Uh, so a template if someone
wants to build one, you can actually
[1:37:17] pull the drawings off of there and then
use it to to guide your your own little
[1:37:21] free pantry.
>> Can we get some of our wonderful
[1:37:26] communication person to put this all
together into a wonderful
[1:37:31] [clears throat]
Facebook or media release?
[1:37:34] » You certainly can. Thank you. Don't go
away. Uh you're up next uh on the
[1:37:40] municipal lighting pilot.
>> Thank you. This is probably going to be
[1:37:43] the shortest report this evening. Uh
looking to remove the old water tower
[1:37:47] from that policy uh regarding
illumination of municipal assets and
[1:37:51] adding our new beautiful Confederation
bridge.
[1:37:57] Uh, counc
>> would it be possible just to keep it? Do
[1:38:01] we need to iterate the assets in the in
the bylaw or could we just say municipal
[1:38:07] assets that are lighted will be lighted
and then if something comes and goes, we
[1:38:10] don't have to change it every time.
[1:38:15] » I don't see it happening very often.
It's only the second time.
[1:38:20] see or do you want to add?
>> Um, yeah, I I like the the principle of
[1:38:25] of making it more generic. Um,
the only we only have three that are
[1:38:31] capable of of different colors and hues
of lighting. So, that's why we
[1:38:36] specifically mention them, but I'm sure
we could come up with language that are
[1:38:41] capable of being changed or something
like that if if council felt more
[1:38:45] comfortable with that.
But if somebody wanted to light up the
[1:38:49] public works garage, that's not on the
list.
[1:38:53] » Correct.
>> So, we don't want to be It's not generic
[1:38:56] of all of our assets,
>> right?
[1:38:58] » Although it's
[1:39:26] Heat.
[1:39:31] Heat.
[1:39:37] Heat.
[1:39:59] Heat.