[0:34] morning everyone it is N9 o'clock I'll call this meeting to

[0:39] order before we Again Begin I want to recognize and acknowledge the

[0:44] traditional keepers of this land with whom we share today the township of

[0:48] Southgate is a part of the traditional territories of of the anishinabi six

[0:53] nations of the Grand River the sagin oji nation the hodon and the S mate the land

[1:00] that surrounds us is part of who we are as it reflects our histories may we live

[1:05] in peace and friendship with all its diverse

[1:09] peoples I want to note that today is an anniversary of sorts it is the

[1:15] anniversary of the massacre in Montreal at the Eco poly technique uh so today is

[1:21] the national day of remembrance um so I wonder if maybe we

[1:25] take a moment of silence to remember those that lost their

[1:28] lives

[1:47] thank you and I also would note coincidentally

[1:52] that today in 1921 Agnes mcfa was elected to the

[1:56] Canadian Parliament being the the first woman that was elected to the Canadian

[2:02] Parliament of course Agnes is a Southgate native I know grey Highlands

[2:07] takes pleasure in trying to claim her but she is in fact from South

[2:15] K Madam clerk is there anyone registered for open form uh none today M thank you

[2:21] I need a confirmation of the agenda as presented someone care to move that

[2:26] Jason and Jim any discussion Barb was it

[2:35] amended it's just as amended it's fine sure okay thank you thank you all those

[2:41] in favor that is carried thank you is there any Declaration of Interest

[2:45] related to any item on today's agenda not Jason I have one in the Clos

[2:51] session I'm not sure which one it is but okay all right I'm sure you can yeah

[2:57] provide the clerk with the paperwork thank you and of course if if any other

[3:00] uh interest arises during the course of the meeting you can declare it at that

[3:04] time so we have a public meeting related to the uh 2024 fees and charges

[3:10] presentation or the bylaw and so on so um who will be leading

[3:18] that you sure Madam clerk yes all right excellent thank you so carry on Madam

[3:25] clerk the floor is yours okay um the uh track change document was included in

[3:32] the agenda so um you can refer to that as we move through the presentation uh

[3:38] the presentation's very high level so if you have questions on uh the uh

[3:43] schedules that we did make changes to just uh I think we can ask as we go

[3:47] that's fine so just general I uh added a slide

[3:51] there where we didn't have any amendments proposed to quite a few of

[3:55] the schedules so first uh schedule a

[3:59] Administration uh very minimal amendments here um maybe

[4:04] Dina if you want to elaborate on that I can do it that

[4:08] way uh thank you for you uh Mr Mayor the only changes on the administration um

[4:15] these that we decided was just to round up some photoc copies and faxes uh

[4:19] laminating costs very slightly and uh we changed our statement of accounts to

[4:24] have one fee rather than the um complicated structure that was there

[4:29] before so it's just every statement of account is

[4:35] $30 okay if there's no questions on that schedule move on to uh fire I'll let

[4:44] Derek elaborate on that

[4:50] microphone morning everyone um so we added the false alarms call in there

[4:55] which was a bylaw that was passed previously and we just thought it was a

[4:59] perfect time to update it as well as the smoke alarm cost recovery that was

[5:03] passed in 2020 that still didn't make its way into the fees and charges bylaw

[5:08] so we included that in there and we just updated our uh initial our file search

[5:15] reports to $100 versus it came in at 80 something dollars before that

[5:24] so Dre you good morning and uh thank you with regard to smoke alarm recovery I

[5:31] know that at times you do a blitz where you are where if smoke alarms are

[5:36] donated I suppose to the fire department but when would that fee be be imposed

[5:43] and how is it collected so when we do smoke alarm

[5:47] blitzes essentially we go into the houses and if we find deficient smoke

[5:50] alarms we kind of give them an option here's a loner one we're not going to

[5:54] leave them without any coverage and if you don't return that within 10 days

[5:58] then we're going to send you a bill for it otherwise at that point we can offer

[6:01] them too if you want us to install these smoke alarms or we're going to we'll

[6:03] install them for you at the cost of the smoke alarm that way everyone's

[6:07] safe wonderful thank

[6:11] you okay moving on from fire uh building

[6:16] department use your microphone please microphone

[6:20] please I apologize it's been a while uh so the building department has reviewed

[6:27] and uh has made some changes to our Fe fees the application and changes of use

[6:31] fees have increased inspection and file searches have increased that's

[6:35] Administration sewage deck swimming pool permit fees have increased and there's

[6:39] also various minimal increases throughout the lines of the process I

[6:44] will state at this time that uh if anybody requests or requires the

[6:50] justification for these fees it is available at no cost by contacting our

[6:55] office thank

[6:58] you

[7:03] moving on from building uh the solid waste schedule uh

[7:08] Jim is unavailable so I'll between Dina or yeah Dina you go ahead um so some of

[7:16] these fees have um increased the um collection cart delivery fee has been

[7:22] added and a new change is the collection cart collection carts will be um um

[7:30] charged at time of building permit for new homes um the this is a a significant

[7:36] change for how we do business um some of our administrative practices are to

[7:41] provide service and collect fees um following that and we are shifting to

[7:47] fee for service where we are um getting the service paid for before we provide

[7:53] the the uh the carts so you'll see that there's another change coming forward um

[7:58] when we talk about water but that's those are the changes there at

[8:04] least thank you through you with regard to the delivery cart fee that has not

[8:10] been we didn't have that on the fees and charges before is that for when people

[8:16] request a a replacement bill bin and they can't pick it up at the Depot or is

[8:20] that for a let's just say use an example of a new home and the township is

[8:27] delivering the the bin to the newly occupied homes

[8:32] how who's paying for that and that's correct so at at the um if the developer

[8:39] wishes us to deliver waste collection bins it will be charged at building

[8:43] permit fee um with their building permit because currently we are not charging

[8:48] and we are delivering the bins so that that's not a service we should not be

[8:53] charging for for developers um we will um for people who want to pick them up

[8:59] we will have them available in um I believe in dundock and in agront so that

[9:05] they're able to pick them up uh close by if they are not able to pick them up we

[9:10] will charge a delivery fee um however there will be an exemption process for

[9:16] um people that cannot I believe there's an exemption process that we're putting

[9:22] in place or very rare circumstances on a case-by Case basis

[9:28] correct thank you

[9:34] okay moving on uh

[9:40] Recreation uh one of the changes we made was just the titles of a couple

[9:44] categories just so we could uh be a little more understanding of some fees

[9:50] in some different facilities such as the Pavilion uh now we can give the

[9:55] programming rate because it was not they were in a separate category

[10:00] um so we just kind of Blended some of them to get the fees and charges more

[10:06] um more the same across the board between all

[10:11] facilities and the other changes was uh we went with a 2% increase across the

[10:18] board on fees and we eliminated some of the unused fees that we haven't been

[10:23] charges charging and a couple of them are in the arena

[10:27] Auditorium so those are the changes in

[10:38] wreck I seeing no questions for that uh Library Lacy's uh not available to but I

[10:45] can take this one she um removed the scanning fee there's no consumable

[10:49] involved they've been scanning to email so that fee was removed and then there

[10:53] was actually slight decreases to the mill room rental fees um main reason

[10:57] there is just so it was uh a rounded number for collection she doesn't have

[11:01] debit or credit available at the library so it's just easier when there's cash

[11:05] only and that was

[11:14] it yep planning's next that's it for the library sorry no so moving on to

[11:22] planning I'll let uh Dina take that

[11:27] one so um thank you Mr Mayor we did make quite a few changes to our planning fees

[11:34] um we did an extensive uh survey amongst I believe eight different

[11:40] municipalities as well as had our um senior planner Bill review the fees and

[11:46] we also spoke with uh GRE Highlands Matt ripkey um Victoria and I had a meeting

[11:51] with him um so we are more um it's this average fees we are trying to be in line

[11:58] with what our costs are as far as adding um new staff in the planning department

[12:05] um and so several fees have increased um some of them significantly to be in line

[12:11] with others which

[12:14] SCH okay yeah so there are any questions there I'll find

[12:22] this through you and we're going through this at the conservation Authority as

[12:26] well this is geared to cost recovery correct the staff time uh applications

[12:33] circulation to other agencies pulling all of that work

[12:38] together for an official plan Amendment or a zoning bylaw Amendment yeah um so

[12:43] yeah some of the files are actually very labor intensive with the amount of

[12:47] meetings repeat meetings um and consultations and staff time yes as

[12:53] administrative staff as well as the planning rev and the goal is that

[12:58] development p for development correct thank

[13:03] you any questions there he moving on the last um schedule with a change was water

[13:11] um so amendments here uh the water meter uh cost did increase a little bit on new

[13:16] and replacement uh meters and then we added um an inspection or reinspection

[13:22] of an installation of a water meter fee um the process is changing slightly with

[13:28] that as well uh we're going to be charging the water

[13:30] meters at time of building permit issuance same as the collection cards

[13:35] and uh the uh water guys in town just have a bit of a different process now

[13:39] they're inspecting rather than installing so there's a fee for uh their

[13:43] inspection to cost recover that that's

[13:50] it quick question about the installation I didn't actually realize that they're

[13:55] no longer going to install the water meters

[14:00] correct who is installing them and are they certified I don't know what the

[14:07] process is through the mayor so it would be the plumber like the whoever's

[14:11] building the home it's it's up to them to get it in uh installed and then the

[14:16] guys inspect and that also falls under occupancy I believe right Bev yes yeah

[14:24] yes thank you so just one more comment regarding that um we did also look at

[14:28] the municipalities around us and what they do and we are also going to be

[14:33] developing and providing an installation guide with our building permits and uh

[14:38] licensed plumber will be installing it and then um prior to occupancy our water

[14:43] staff will inspect it and get the information they need and they were no

[14:47] longer install without a fee did you want to add anything B no

[14:53] good all right so those are uh the changes um

[15:03] there was um we did have an opportunity for people to submit uh any questions or

[15:09] comments uh in writing to us or phone call and we did not receive any from the

[15:13] public so if there's no more questions from members of

[15:19] council that would be the end of our public meeting oh look the deputy mayor

[15:23] has a question Martin go ahead I've been

[15:28] waiting go ahead

[15:32] Martin um Lindsay with the lottery licenses

[15:37] when we get money for that does that go to LG or is that Township I've never

[15:42] understood how those things uh no that's Township Revenue that's Township Revenue

[15:46] okay um and I have two to go ahead yeah thank Bev you mentioned uh the sewage

[15:54] private sewage disposable disposal uh you have have classes four

[15:59] and five and then there was not any number to a fee like what's the

[16:04] difference between that Su it is on page 25 there's a line saying sewage disposal

[16:11] fee and then there was something for four and five

[16:16] class we're getting into murky Waters here I

[16:20] know it's what you had me remov B oh

[16:26] okay um class four and five just different styles of styles

[16:36] okay excuse me thank you class four and five septic systems are just different

[16:42] styles or different ways of building a septic system um the fee is still the

[16:46] same for both of them okay but uh they just have to separate them so that it's

[16:52] known in the public that either one there's also class one two and three but

[16:56] it won't go down there okay that's about it okay thanks Martin

[17:02] thank you

[17:05] Barb forgot what I was going to ask it's okay it was actually just to point out

[17:11] that Martin wanted to speak kept looking up

[17:17] here thank you any further questions Monica hi good morning everybody um just

[17:23] for just through you chair uh to Lindsay for Waste um if it was already said I

[17:28] apologize but I was just wondering for the increase for the recycling organic

[17:33] and waste carts um what like what was the reason for that for the

[17:39] increase uh sure through you mayor Mel um they the guys are doing a lot of

[17:45] assembly with the carts uh that we weren't uh recovering those costs and

[17:49] also um moving them around the township so they're available uh because they do

[17:54] all the um assembly in agront at the uh transfer station or at the landfill

[17:59] sorry so um they're tracking it across then so they're available at the dundock

[18:03] transfer station so just recouping some of those costs through the collection

[18:08] cards okay thank you any other

[18:13] questions Barb just one final question about you indicated that there was no

[18:20] public comment was this only sorry was this only circulated in the agenda or

[18:28] was it uh advertised in the paper or out on social media yes so website social

[18:34] media and we did um a newspaper advertisement yeah

[18:41] okay all righty then um obviously

[18:47] there's is there anybody for verbal comments I don't see anybody online I

[18:51] don't see any well obviously nobody here in the audience so no all right well

[18:56] then um

[19:00] do I need to do I need a motion to adjourn the public meeting portion or

[19:04] just carry on we'll just note that it was adjourned at 9:18 all right okay

[19:09] then um I don't believe there's any delegations or presentations adoptions

[19:15] and the adoption of the minutes of November 15 special and closed session

[19:19] meetings someone care to move that Jim seconded by Martin thank you any

[19:24] discussion all those in favor that is carried thank you very

[19:30] much uh moving on to reports of Municipal officers first we have uh fire

[19:34] chief Derek melani who is here he's going to be talking about Firehouse subg

[19:39] grants someone care to move that please Martin seconded by Barb welcome

[19:45] Chief this is not about sandwiches right that would be correct not about

[19:50] sandwiches um so every year Firehouse Subs opens an application to give a

[19:56] grant or a gift of money to to local fire departments where there is a

[20:00] Firehouse Sub uh there's one in Orangeville and one in Owen Sound and so

[20:05] you submit items that you you wish that you could have which maybe is outside of

[20:11] a regular budget scheme um and we were generous enough to get

[20:17] $34,000 approximately from them for some of this equipment so some of the

[20:21] equipments that we would be getting is an airbag kit for car accidents as well

[20:26] as rural rescue um we haven't had one of those in 10 years um as well as some

[20:31] other appliances for the truck so right now we only have gated uh hydrant gates

[20:36] for the 65 or two and a half inch ports on the hydrant so to actually get one

[20:40] for the 4 inch on the front each one is about

[20:44] $4,000 so we put in for a bunch of items like that and we were successful so just

[20:50] want to thank Firehouse Subs for considering us and picking us excellent

[20:56] excellent well kudos to you chief for uh submitting

[21:01] that application and congratulations on being successful I wonder if maybe you

[21:05] could submit one for a maybe a ladder truck something like that just there's

[21:11] only a $50,000 Limit Oh that might buy the tires maybe every little bit helps

[21:17] in any case any questions regarding Martin go ahead morning Derek uh I think

[21:22] it's great when I read that I said wow five House Subs they're great subs and

[21:26] they give back to the community so that's cool

[21:28] uh the one question in the concluding comments when you put and take staff

[21:34] time to put an application do you I guess Lindsay do you really have to come

[21:39] back and ask counsel to put it in authorize it when you're done all the

[21:42] work is there legality there because so council's just authorizing the fire

[21:47] chief to execute the agreement yeah yeah which we're required to do oh you're at

[21:52] this time yeah okay and the other one is AJ stone is that the only equipment

[21:58] supplier for these needs or is it one we've used all in the time so we have a

[22:03] good relationship with them through you the mayor uh we

[22:07] actually have a bunch of vendors that we normally use AJ Stone was just the one

[22:11] that was able to supply us everything on our wish list instead of it had to be

[22:15] through the Grant had to be through one supplier um and AJ Stone hit all the

[22:20] boxes for offering all this equipment we we needed where some of our other

[22:23] manufacturers would only be able to offer us the airbag or the appliances

[22:27] not everything together okay that's good then so good to have a wish list done at

[22:31] December yep for sure that's cool that's it for me all right thanks Martin

[22:36] anybody else Monica uh yes I would uh just through

[22:41] you chair uh to fire chief just Echo the mayor's um Express comments of

[22:46] appreciation for the staff efforts in applying for the Firehouse Sub Public

[22:50] Safety foundations of Canada Grant um it's a really great thing um just with

[22:55] regards to the grant amount I'm just wondering if there is a

[22:59] discrepancy um the report states that the original quote for desired equipment

[23:04] was 36,5 1256 but the received agreement is

[23:09] for a total of 3459 721 so just wondering if there was any

[23:14] clarification that was needed in the difference of the grant granted amount

[23:18] and whether it affects the original plan for the equipment purchase just to make

[23:21] sure that the fire department gets everything they

[23:24] need Chief through you the mayor um so we don't believe there's any issue with

[23:30] that whatsoever so as a municipality we get a certain percentage of our HST back

[23:34] where the quote at 36,000 has the HST included so we're thinking Firehouse Sub

[23:40] did the math itself there and accounted for what we would get back for

[23:44] HST oh perfect all right thank you great job thanks Monica anyone

[23:51] else okay I'll call the question all those in

[23:54] favor that is carried thank you very much thank thanks chief economic

[23:59] development officer Brena Carroll has the next report is regarding a business

[24:03] retention and uh expansion program someone care to move that

[24:08] please Barb second by Monica Brena welcome wonderful thank you Mr Mayor um

[24:15] yes this report is just to um inform Council and request approval for the

[24:22] commencements of of our business uh retention and expansion program which

[24:27] would start in the new year this is in line with uh goal onea of our new

[24:32] strategic plan um to do a br study and implement the results from the study so

[24:40] um basically the this program would be run

[24:43] inhouse um and we would survey businesses through conducting interviews

[24:49] um in the first quarter of 2024 um and then through that process

[24:55] we'll we'll gather information about um uh action plans to for our business

[25:02] community and then also it's an opportunity to refer businesses to local

[25:07] supports as needed excellent thank you Brena any

[25:14] questions John good morning thank you Mr Mayor

[25:19] through the chair uh for Brena will you be going door too to the businesses

[25:24] downtown also to get any input or

[25:30] questions yes thank you um and through you Mr Mayor um yes so they will be

[25:36] we'll be doing in-person interviews or I will be doing them um we'll send out an

[25:42] initial email to businesses then we'll do downtown walks in dundock and

[25:47] Holstein um to kind of book that time um and and then we'll also call through

[25:53] different businesses that aren't located in those areas and and then go to them

[25:58] um to to do the interviews so the interviews should take about 30 to 40

[26:03] minutes and then there will be followup uh By Me following those

[26:11] interviews okay thank you Martin

[26:18] morning there you go thank you uh morning uh the

[26:24] uh the team of six to 12 is that going to be com IED of staff and business

[26:29] owners or first question yes so it will be mostly staff um and maybe some

[26:38] representatives from our business Community or chamber and that will uh to

[26:42] be uh formulating the survey and there's a draft survey available through omafra

[26:48] so we can select questions and then add questions that we want to want to see so

[26:54] um yes once this is approved then I'll go about putting together that group

[26:58] um but yes mostly staff from various departments okay second question then uh

[27:03] are you going to be using the chambers information too or you doing it inhouse

[27:08] which I think is great yes but are you gonna use their data as well um I'm

[27:14] hoping to use the the chamber to utilize their mailing list so they sent out a

[27:20] newsletter every every month or so and um so we'll use that in order to inform

[27:26] businesses about the program um and yeah mostly to get in touch with businesses

[27:32] is the information we'll use from them may I have one more absolutely and then

[27:37] with the uh this is going to the brick and mortar

[27:40] shops is that is the chamber and yourself trying to Target the

[27:46] inhome businesses that are flourishing in dundock you see them posted all the

[27:50] time is that an Avenue you're looking into as

[27:53] well it's definitely yes I'm trying to do a cross-section of businesses

[27:58] so being able to interview some of the inhome businesses would be excellent as

[28:02] well I do have some contact information with them although I haven't made um

[28:07] many connections with them but except through social media so I'm I'm hoping

[28:12] to to talk to inhome businesses as well thank you okay any other questions

[28:21] Barb thank you and through you um thanks Brena for bringing this forward so

[28:25] quickly the business um the businesses you're going to do a walkabout in you

[28:30] know dundock and Holstein to the bricks and mortar businesses um a campaign

[28:35] through the paper and social media to attract other businesses for those on

[28:41] Farm businesses the um the home bus the the ones that are out in the rural

[28:47] settings are you going to be reaching out to them because the chamber doesn't

[28:52] necessarily have all businesses as members how will we reach out to those

[28:59] businesses yes thank you thank you for the question and through you Mr chair um

[29:04] for those businesses we do have an existing business directory um so we I

[29:09] will go through and email all those businesses um which we had some great

[29:15] response obviously from our strategic plan from businesses so we had about 60

[29:19] people respond from varying Avenues and then um I will also call through that

[29:26] list as well to see if I can access people so I'm hoping to use every Avenue

[29:31] to be able to um reach out to those businesses as well thank

[29:37] you do you uh Brandon have any idea how long it's been since we've done one of

[29:42] these I I remember one was done uh I think that's when I was mayor

[29:48] before so it'd be in the 2010 to 14 in there somewhere be interesting to see

[29:54] that and compare some of those metrics to what you

[29:58] get now this time just to see how things have changed um Henry Meek was the uh

[30:04] Edo at that time so anyway just a thought there might be even well I'm

[30:09] sure there are some businesses that would carry over from that time uh there

[30:13] might be some business contacts in there that you might find useful yeah thank

[30:19] thank you Mr Mayor I'll definitely look into that one I haven't seen that one

[30:23] but now that I know the timeline for that I'll look I'll look for that and

[30:28] then the last one the county ran one with eg businesses it was through Bruce

[30:34] gray and Simo County specific to the a um Agra food sector and that was in 2018

[30:40] so I've read through that and that that was helpful in a way um so that would be

[30:44] the the last one that covered businesses in this area is my understanding okay

[30:49] you good Monica you had a question uh yes thank you uh mayor Brian

[30:56] um and just through you and just to your last comment actually

[30:59] to that point I think that's an excellent idea it's almost like a

[31:01] reverse Gap analysis where we want to see where we are and we're going but if

[31:05] we could see where we were been and where we are now that would be amazing

[31:08] so uh that's an amazing idea and just to through you chair to the Edo thank you

[31:14] for such a great report business retention and expansion is definitely

[31:18] something that is music to the ears of many um just with regards to timelines

[31:22] and Milestones as this program is very detailed and it's spanning from the

[31:27] quarter of 2023 to September 2024 again appreciation of the thorough planning

[31:33] would there be a possibility now of a little bit of elaboration on specific

[31:38] milestones and deliverables expected through each phase of the program uh

[31:43] just to make sure like transparency accountability and then we could also

[31:46] look forward um or I can understand if it's just like the beginning um if

[31:51] that's something that could be talked about at a later

[31:55] Point um yes thank you so much counselor um singur for that question and through

[32:01] you um so there will be um kind of an announ uh a sharing of

[32:09] the results after that F initial stage um of the survey and then various um so

[32:17] after the first quarter of 2024 once the survey data has been um

[32:23] compiled um will hold a review meeting with that leadership team

[32:27] um and then start developing action plans so so that will be shared um and

[32:34] then following that period we'll also be um sharing the results with the public

[32:39] and working with uh business owners in order to develop action plans for what

[32:44] they want to see um in the community based on the results to the survey

[32:51] so there will be public meetings as part of the program uh

[32:57] likely held during the um second quarter um and then ultimately there will be a

[33:04] report and then publication of of the findings of the report through social

[33:08] media and and the paper um I hope that answers your question yes very exciting

[33:14] thank you for that thank you all righty not seeing any more questions

[33:20] I'll call the question all those in favor that is carried thank you very

[33:25] much Brana moving on to uh our new Treasurer Taylor McMahon we have a

[33:32] report there regarding capital and operating interm spending Authority

[33:36] prior to the 2024 budget approval would someone care to move that please Martin

[33:41] and Barb Taylor welcome okay thank you for having me this morning um as

[33:46] outlined in the report we thought it was prudent to go ahead and ask for

[33:49] pre-approval on the budget since um we don't have approval on the 2024 budget

[33:54] at this time and we have major projects that we don't want to go either without

[33:58] tendering um or gaps in service on the operating side um so that's what we're

[34:03] hoping to do and then we're hoping to make this an annual report so that

[34:06] there's no gaps in service going forward and that we can maintain favorable

[34:11] pricing excellent thank you any

[34:16] questions okay not seeing any all those in

[34:20] favor that is carried thank you Taylor it's always a sign of a good report if

[34:25] there's no questions all clerk I don't I don't have one for that I just wonder if

[34:30] um I see Hannah's on the line but if you want to introduce

[34:36] her thank you uh at this time I'd like to take a moment to introduce Hannah

[34:40] kums she is South Gates new bylaw officer she started with this Monday and

[34:47] uh things are going swell okay thank you excellent welcome

[34:55] Hannah you want to tell us a little bit about yourself while you got the

[34:58] opportunity and I don't give Bev the floor very often but I'm sure I'll be

[35:03] giving you the floor more thank you Mr M I would love to say

[35:08] a few words so first off I'm very glad to be with the township of

[35:13] Southgate I have traveled a lot originally I'm from Australia I was in

[35:18] the military over there and came to Canada I went into the police force I

[35:24] was with the RCMP for quite a while and then decided bylaw enforcement was where

[35:29] I wanted to focus my career so then I went into

[35:33] bylaw excellent excellent well I would have guessed you were from Australia but

[35:38] not because of the accent no I'm kidding of course because of the accent but

[35:43] you're probably thinking there is no accent right correct I don't feel I have

[35:48] an accent because I didn't hear it everyone else

[35:52] does in any case welcome and uh we hope you uh enjoy your time here with

[35:58] Southgate thank you very much okay thank you Bev for that thank

[36:03] you uh Lindsay so uh let's see where are we at okay now we're down to the clerk

[36:09] Lindsay green she has a couple reports there the first is regarding the

[36:12] Integrity commissioner reappointment and agreement renewal would someone care to

[36:16] move that

[36:19] please Joan well yes thank you and Barb thank you uh Lindsay

[36:28] uh through you mayor Mel this is uh our agreement is expiring at the end of the

[36:32] year uh we want to maintain our professional relationship we have right

[36:36] now with principal Integrity so uh staff are recommending that we reappoint and

[36:41] uh uh renew our agreement with the principal Integrity um the fee went up a

[36:47] little bit not a lot that's included under the financials and the agreement

[36:52] uh is uh with the Bas I'll just take questions if there is any thank you

[36:55] Lindsay are there any questions Martin

[37:03] got there you go thank you uh I sound like a broken record at times when I see

[37:09] stuff like this it just saddens me that we have to have an Integrity

[37:13] commissioner it just bugs me no end and Barb and I were talking to Deputy mer we

[37:21] were talking about it last night you know uh thank you Dina for the

[37:25] municipal subscription I did that at the beginning

[37:29] of the year and with that print copy you get daily newsletters and I could say

[37:35] I'm sickened by the amount of reaches of the code of conduct and then an

[37:40] Integrity commissioner having $440,000 of taxpayers fees to pay for

[37:45] it the lack of I'm so thankful we have a good team

[37:51] here you know and and to see that lack of disrespect and and the privilege that

[37:57] some people think they have when they get

[38:00] elected it it's it's unfortunate that we have to go this right so you know I'm

[38:05] all for it we have to it's mandated but you know they talk about trickle down

[38:12] economic economy you know this trickle down effects for leadership too when you

[38:17] get a speaker in the House of Commons getting heckled and part of his speech

[38:22] is about the lack of decorum and heckling in the house this is federal

[38:28] and then you see all this stuff going on in Municipal it's just unfortunate so I

[38:33] know we have to have it and that's the way it is but it's just

[38:40] too bad thank you Martin and to be clear

[38:44] that 40,000 was not here in South Gate no no no just so everybody's clear on

[38:50] that

[38:52] part okay oh sorry Jason actually that was one of my questions

[38:58] what do we spend a years it uh through you mayor Mel so they do have an annual

[39:04] retainer which is $1,200 and then um if they get a call or have to do an

[39:10] investigation then they charge an hourly rate unfortunately I can't predict that

[39:14] because it's just how much the service is used and I don't get a whole lot of

[39:18] details because it's U maintained confidential between whoever's calling

[39:22] and the Integrity commissioner but um it it just depends we get ly bills if they

[39:27] are uh contacted or need to do any work then we receive them monthly but we can

[39:33] count on the annual retainer and uh that's about all I all I know until I

[39:38] get a bill if I get one what in the past have we spent a year roughly or I was

[39:42] just curious that was um I think probably for this year I'm projecting

[39:47] for the end of the year it'll be around probably closer to

[39:52] 5,000 and that would include our uh we did an annual we did the training when

[39:56] they came back in whichever month that was March maybe I don't know when that

[40:00] was but

[40:03] yeah okay Barb through you are we charged when we consult with the

[40:10] Integrity commissioner on whether or not we have a conflict of interest or is

[40:14] that covered by the retainer so if I send an email as per the process I

[40:21] explain the subject matter and I get a response there is an extra charge for

[40:26] that yeah so everything basically is is charged yeah their hour their hourly

[40:32] rate the hourly rate is 275 an hour if I read the report correctly so in some

[40:38] respects that's not too bad you know in terms of legal fees right yeah Joan you

[40:46] have a question go ahead thank you Mr Mayor through you uh so Lindsay you said

[40:51] uh it would be about $5,000 for this year is it comparable to last year or

[40:58] more or less I'd honestly have to look councelor

[41:03] John I would say it's it's probably a little bit more but that's uh to be

[41:07] expected with a new term of council for sure like in 2022 it was outgoing for

[41:13] most of the year so I it's usually to be expected with a newer

[41:19] term thank you L say yep okay any other questions not seeing any I'll call

[41:26] question all those in favor that is carried thank you very

[41:30] much the next item is the bylaw related to the proceeding report uh to appoint

[41:36] the Integrity commissioner for the four-year term someone care to move that

[41:39] Jim seconded by Jason any discussion Lindsay anything to add regarding the

[41:44] bylaw no okay yeah I'll call the question all those in

[41:49] favor that is carried thank you very much uh the next report from the clerk

[41:55] is regarding the milang Township Recreation services agreement renewal

[41:59] someone care to move that please Joan seconded by Jim thank you

[42:04] mam clerk um I don't have a whole lot to add

[42:08] here I'm glad Kevin's still here if you have questions uh the agreements pretty

[42:12] much the same as uh the one we've had the last couple years so we're renewing

[42:17] for another uh four-year term um I don't know if Kevin has

[42:21] anything to add absolutely Kevin you want to uh not the agreement it's a good

[42:26] agreement for Minkin and us uh the numberers certainly decreasing in the

[42:31] usage from meenon um with the change of the demographics and everything going on

[42:37] there the actual um percentage is pro is now they're paying in around 6% not not

[42:46] the 10 because of the Capp uh contribution but um they question

[42:52] numbers and everything said look at you're you're 6% now and that's probably

[42:56] pretty close on the numbers without going through a whole big research and I

[43:02] think they come back happy at that is that uh is the agreement subject

[43:09] to inflationary increases or is it strictly

[43:13] a negotiated number it was never in there before we

[43:19] never increased it annually we've increasing our rates annually to keep

[43:25] that right okay good thank you anyone else have any

[43:29] questions Martin go ahead Kevin you said meanin there the numbers are down is

[43:35] that primarily Arena use or is it you know are they going to shelburn or

[43:41] whatever so originally this agreement was on just the arena usage and

[43:47] unfortunately when dundock and flusher an Amalgamated minor hockey that took

[43:53] Meenan kind of out of the area so most of their their children or youth that

[43:58] are in in meanin are now going to Honeywood or shelburn some are still

[44:02] coming our way but um a lot of the Farms are now minates

[44:08] they don't have an urban population there that's playing sports so uh

[44:14] without going through actual numbers and tracking everybody um I I think they're

[44:21] pretty happy with this but they do also pay into the parks and w in the pool so

[44:27] they do get usage in there but it's at 6% that's probably an accurate

[44:34] representation now with our subdivision coming in and the number of kids youth

[44:40] using their facilities thank you good thank you

[44:43] Kevin any other questions Monica yes thank you just

[44:49] through you chair to um Kevin uh for recreation um just with regards to a

[44:56] long-standing partnership is commendable that the township of Southgate has

[44:59] maintained such a long-standing partnership with mington with that being

[45:03] said um there are there was already some comments about the positive outcomes

[45:08] resulting from this partnership was there any other further highlights that

[45:12] uh Kevin you may want to touch on just for you know speaking to the

[45:16] collaboration over the years and why it's been such a notable

[45:24] success I would say the success is just based on

[45:28] the fact that meenon is a smaller municipality and they don't have the

[45:31] infrastructure so they've bought into our infrastructure they also pay into

[45:36] shelburn they also pay into Honeywood and uh some of the other

[45:41] facilities and costs are getting you know higher and higher and higher

[45:46] they've been happy that we've been able to maintain our operating deficit uh in

[45:51] 10 years it's it's only gone up from 95 uh 995

[45:59] 100,000 to 130,000 so we've only gone up

[46:04] $35,000 in 10 years as some of the other facilities of you know depending on how

[46:10] you manage it deficits or differ in each facility so I think they're happy with

[46:17] the way we operate wonderful thank you thank you Kevin thank you for the

[46:22] question Monica anyone else I would think it would be fair to

[46:27] state that over the years and we have our own experiences here in Southgate

[46:30] it's generally always cheaper to buy Services than it is to provide them

[46:36] directly so it works well for both municipalities okay not seeing any

[46:43] further questions I'll call the question all those in

[46:46] favor that is carried thank you very much the next item is the bylaw related

[46:50] to that agreement um someone care to move J uh

[46:55] Jim rather uh Monica will second that anything further regarding the bylaw

[47:00] nope not seeing any all those in favor that is carried thank you very

[47:06] much thank you Lindsay thank you Kevin uh human resources manager kayb

[47:11] best is Kayla she is online There She is welcome Kayla this is a report regarding

[47:18] staff step increases and cost of living allowance someone care to move this

[47:24] please Martin and Joan thank you Kayla the floor is yours

[47:29] welcome thank you uh I don't have too much to say on this report this is our

[47:35] annual report that we uh bring to council regarding our pay grid and our

[47:40] staff step increases so we've gone through the new performance appraisal

[47:44] process and we have recommended step increases in there and then also Cola

[47:50] which is the cost of living um we use the October number it came in at 2

[47:57] 286 so rounded to the nearest 10th is 3.3% so that's a recommendation that's

[48:03] in the report thank you kale and I'm sure it

[48:07] was just a slip of the tongue but I think you meant

[48:10] 3.2 for the cola you said two sorry three 3.

[48:16] 286 okay good excellent um any

[48:22] questions Jason

[48:26] um Here We Go Again everybody will be thinking but uh it's just something I

[48:31] know we do it every time this year but I mean we've just approved half of our

[48:35] budget we're going to approve this I don't know just seems like a lot

[48:40] before we've got the budget done to you know if it I have no idea what the

[48:46] budget's going to come in at so I don't know just a question are we jumping the

[48:50] gun until we know what our numbers are going to be I don't know who that's too

[48:54] but

[48:58] Kayla I believe the reason we do this ahead of time is because it's effective

[49:02] January 1 so we need to be able to get everything in line for staff

[49:09] um it's general practice for us I don't know if Dena has any comments on top of

[49:15] that Dina I can't comment on historically

[49:20] what what the township has done but it seems like this is an annual report that

[49:24] we bring forward in order to um you know make sure that our payroll processes are

[49:29] all up to date as of January 1st um you'll notice when you we approved

[49:36] half the operating um budget and that's typical half of 2023 is operating budget

[49:44] is what we approved going forward and that should be an annual thing that we

[49:48] do so that of January 1st um Services aren't diminished we should be

[49:54] continuing those services so um as far as the capital um our process um changed

[50:01] a bit this year um just to add in those those um specific projects the ecopark

[50:08] specifically is a large amount a huge project probably the largest project the

[50:13] township has ever done but that's not hitting the tax base so we don't need to

[50:16] worry about that hitting the tax base um but I think typically this is um an

[50:22] important um report to bring forward in order that's the staff that have done

[50:27] their jobs throughout the year and are are moving forward to their next step in

[50:32] their grid um get that approval and uh that the cola is adjusted um

[50:37] appropriately every year thank you Di and and I will note

[50:42] that the policy does say that the uh changes take effect as of January 1 um

[50:47] so to Kayla's point this is something we've done every year in the past and so

[50:53] that that's the reason why it's done the way it is if Council wishes to make

[50:57] changes to that policy then of course they're you know that's a prerogative

[51:02] Council to change that policy but that's the reason why it's done the way it

[51:06] is any other questions Martin thank you Brian uh first off a

[51:13] comment uh Dina you touched on it the fact that there are 38 employees that

[51:19] have met or exceeded that's that could be in the good news part of the agenda

[51:24] is that's good news uh Kayla reading the staff comments you

[51:28] mentioned employees that not are not eligible are are at a job rate what kind

[51:34] of what kind of worker is in involved in that part of your comments uh not on the

[51:41] pay Grid at Job rate I've never seen that before quite

[51:45] frankly yes uh thank you so our pay grid is uh goes up to step six which is

[51:53] considered job rate so those that have been with the municipality for a long

[51:58] time are at their job rate so they would just get the cola increase they wouldn't

[52:02] get a step increase in addition to the cola thank you okay thank you

[52:09] Barb thank you through you thank you Kayla the um the consequence of not

[52:16] imposing this now or implementing this now would be that once the budget is

[52:21] approved and our policy is that we Implement Cola a

[52:26] minimum it would be a requirement to go retroactive to January 1 and that

[52:32] creates more Administration and and uh confusion sometimes I I did want to

[52:39] refer to the financial implications the

[52:43] impact without the user fee wages so when we collect user fees to um I would

[52:51] I'm assuming that's like water and wastewater staff it the impact is

[52:57] 193,194

[53:06] of the levy was about 140,000 so this would be about 1.2 an

[53:13] impact to the budget of 1.2% overall I'm I'm throwing numbers out

[53:18] there and sorry I just did the math in on my piece of paper thank

[53:23] you uh the calculation for this year's 1% hasn't been done yet um but I believe

[53:29] you're correct in last year it was about 150 was 1% if anyone wants to correct me

[53:35] feel free

[53:38] but Taylor did you have anything you wanted to add or no I agree with Deon

[53:43] okay thank you any other

[53:46] questions okay I'll call the question all those in

[53:49] favor sorry May sorry did oh sorry I thought I heard

[53:56] did you have a question Monica I did and I think maybe Kayla had a

[54:00] comment sorry I know so it's a little all right Monica go ahead with your

[54:06] question oh sure I I don't mind uh Mr uh chair but I don't know if Kayla she had

[54:12] a comment to the last point so I don't want to jump ahead of her

[54:16] sorry maybe maybe you'll answer Monica's question sure yes thank you I just

[54:22] wanted to say yes it's water and waste water for the user but it's also the

[54:25] building

[54:29] department okay thank you Kayla Monica your question yes thank you uh thank you

[54:34] chair for that um just two questions uh and I'll ask them one by one because one

[54:40] might answer the other um just for the cola increase and the application uh

[54:45] with the recommended 3.3% Cola increase to the entire pay grid including those

[54:49] on probation I was just through you chair could the staff provide insights

[54:54] into how how does Cola increase aligns with a broader economic context and

[54:58] whether it adequately addresses the cost of living for employees in the

[55:07] region who would like to take a run at that one Kayla I could try sure it's a

[55:13] good question so we do use the uh Ontario October CPI to try and stay in

[55:21] line with where uh the economy is however we are also completing that

[55:28] market check as so that will be separate and that will just make sure that we

[55:33] stay in line as well okay thank you for that and just a

[55:38] quick followup yep please just with regards to the council and volunteer

[55:43] firefighter pay grids which to the point of a CAO was talking about the pay grids

[55:48] just through you chair again um it's noted that it applies again uh to

[55:52] council and volunteer firefighter pay grids so

[55:55] so could staff provide information on how the cola increase for Council aligns

[56:01] with comparable municipalities ensuring that it remains competitive for the

[56:07] role

[56:11] Dan um I believe that we could do another Market check on

[56:19] Council wages if that's what council wishes for staff to do um

[56:25] I they were in line when we checked last time and I'm not sure if everybody uses

[56:31] Cola to update the wages the the way that we've agreed to do so I think this

[56:36] keeps us in line but I can't say for sure yeah I'm thinking we did just do a

[56:41] a comparative study not that long ago didn't we

[56:45] Kayla yeah so yes regardless of the 3.3 or whatever percent it is uh I think

[56:52] we're going to remain pretty close to where our competitors are our

[56:56] comparables are at um most use Cola because it's a it's an easy way to try

[57:03] to stay in line so I would think we're going to be uh not too far off um did

[57:09] you have a question Barb go ahead more of a just a comment or a little bit more

[57:14] of a history Kayla did a market check analysis last year at the tradition is

[57:21] that the outgoing Council reviews the remuneration

[57:25] for the incoming Council and as a result of that market check analysis there were

[57:32] significant changes to our to the council pay grid uh the stippen was

[57:38] increased as well as the individual per Dums for half and full day so um the

[57:47] cost of living was also through Kayla's report uh recommended as a an annual

[57:54] increase so just to keep it competitive but it was compared if I'm not mistaken

[58:00] Kayla that uh Market check analysis was done in around August September in

[58:07] around the summertime so that it could be implemented before the election and

[58:12] the the the neighboring municipalities were all considered we were not the

[58:18] least paid Council but we uh um there are several that actually have a flat

[58:25] rate like Wellington Wellington North that certainly is paid quite a bit less

[58:32] thank you yeah everybody tries to get to that 55 U percent

[58:38] off thank you okay any further questions okay I'll call the question

[58:44] all those in favor opposed if

[58:50] any okay that's carried moving on to Public Works

[58:55] manager Jim Ellis who is not here today but he has a couple reports the first is

[59:00] the standing uh Timber award recommendations John Watson's online

[59:06] he's going to take this report I understand but I need a move into second

[59:10] or first for this Jason and Barb welcome

[59:19] John there we go thank you mayor mil yep uh yeah so we put forward a tender we

[59:28] had Eckles forestry Mark some of our standing Timber

[59:33] forests and he we put out a tender through echles forestry and the proposed

[59:40] winning bids for property number one is Bamberg

[59:45] Sawmill uh for a total of

[59:49] 9,550 uh proposed winner for property two would be Tri Bridges for a total of

[59:56] $30,000 and the winning proposed winning bid for property number three is Pine

[1:00:02] View Cedar Products uh

[1:00:23] $22759 successful biders have to complete the

[1:00:29] work I believe it's in the tender I can't remember the exact wordage but I

[1:00:34] believe it has to be completed throughout this

[1:00:39] winter thank

[1:00:43] you I would think uh a lot of those properties you wouldn't be able to do

[1:00:48] them unless the ground was frozen so I suspect it'll be done this winter for

[1:00:51] sure yeah any other questions not seeing any I'll call the question

[1:00:57] all those in favor that is

[1:01:01] carried and John the next report you have is regarding the bulk water Filling

[1:01:07] Station award recommendation someone care to move that please Jim and Joan

[1:01:15] John uh and John it's almost a the triple JS right on

[1:01:22] good uh so with the um bringing the water tower online we're

[1:01:29] wanting to install a bulk water Filling Station there um currently there's a lot

[1:01:34] of contractors that um do directional drilling or stuff like that that require

[1:01:40] bulk water and we've just had them hooking on the fire hydrants in the past

[1:01:43] but there's no good backflow PR prevention to protect our water source

[1:01:51] um and also not a good way of filling them for

[1:01:56] it so by putting in this bulk water Filling Station um we would be able to

[1:02:01] protect our water source as well as um Bill the contractors or whoever comes to

[1:02:08] get the water

[1:02:12] um properly um so any there was three bids and the one that we're recommending

[1:02:19] is through scg Pro process sure fill for a total of

[1:02:29] $583 thank you John any questions Jason just wondering John do we have any

[1:02:36] estimation of what we think we'll sell in a year

[1:02:39] or that I couldn't tell you Jason I'm not sure no I just

[1:02:45] wanted it likely just be a splash of money oh or droing the bucket

[1:02:53] yeah we might might be all wet on that estimate

[1:02:57] though okay we'll stop I'll stop anyway you have I have one more but I'm not

[1:03:02] going to mention it uh Derek would you be using this facility and would our

[1:03:07] partners of other fire departments be using it quick quickly to fill up or

[1:03:11] we're gonna charge them double through the May no we we wouldn't

[1:03:17] be using that we have access to the fire hydrant and I think what this is coming

[1:03:20] in is for those individuals maybe the street sweep or something that they have

[1:03:25] to get water that way um we're allowed obviously to use the hydrants and we're

[1:03:30] not billing any residents for water we use for fire suppression

[1:03:34] so good answer any other

[1:03:40] questions mark uh Monica yes thank you just through you chair um just

[1:03:45] considering like the long-term maintenance um outlined in the Southgate

[1:03:49] strategic plan uh just wondering um what are the main maintenance requirements

[1:03:55] for the selected shill system and additionally what would the ongoing

[1:03:59] costs or considerations related to the system maintenance look

[1:04:04] like John

[1:04:09] um I can't answer that completely Monica I'm sorry but I I can't really see there

[1:04:14] being a whole lot of Maintenance to it um it would just be part of the regular

[1:04:20] uh water Department's checks every day um and as far as the Billing System I

[1:04:25] can't speak to that sorry I don't know and just have a

[1:04:30] followup if that's okay yep go ahead please and thank you through you chair

[1:04:34] and just to you John absolutely I mean in time things will you know more

[1:04:38] information can come available so thank you for for answering that and just for

[1:04:42] the interface just to touch on the point of various contractors that would

[1:04:46] possibly be using it uh I just wanted to ensure that would there be like training

[1:04:51] and educational programs planned for users to familiarize themselves uh with

[1:04:57] the new system is that like a big undertaking for understanding how to

[1:05:03] operate I can't see it being a a much of an undertaking um most municipalities

[1:05:10] around this area that have a water system have one of these bulk filling

[1:05:13] water stations already so it should be fairly common place for any contractors

[1:05:18] that would be using them they'd probably be familiar with them already um but it

[1:05:22] shouldn't be a whole lot to show them how to do it either perfect okay thank

[1:05:28] you thank you Monica thank you John any further

[1:05:33] questions I'll call the question all those in

[1:05:36] favor that is carried thank you very much

[1:05:40] John um I see it's 5 after 10 why don't we take a five or 10 minute break we'll

[1:05:46] come back at 11 or 105 so we'll recess for 10

[1:05:53] minutes

[1:13:25] okay we'll uh we'll bring the meeting back to

[1:13:29] order we have some bylaws and and motions to uh go through uh the first is

[1:13:35] the bylaw to adopt the fees and

[1:13:40] charges Joan and Monica are you

[1:13:47] online Jan's here okay I guess I started maybe a little minute too soon so we'll

[1:13:53] just wait until Monica comes back online or till quarter after thank you Brena

[1:13:59] take care oh

[1:14:03] yeah yeah Lindsay's bringing cake apparently

[1:14:09] so oh bringing cake for their

[1:14:22] Christmas

[1:14:42] back to order first is our bylaw to adopt the fees and

[1:14:46] charges is there a mover for that bylaw Jim and Barb will second that

[1:14:53] any discussion

[1:14:56] Barb I actually just to comment I was actually going to suggest that we

[1:15:01] because we just had the public meeting and we were going to pass the bylaw in

[1:15:05] the same meeting but um the fact that we did advertise it in the paper on social

[1:15:10] media on the website I think we've we've satisfied that need so thank you thank

[1:15:16] you bar any other questions

[1:15:21] comments okay all those in favor that is carried thank you very

[1:15:26] much the next is to appoint our treasur Taylor

[1:15:31] McMahon someone care to move that please Jason and Martin thank you any

[1:15:39] discussion all those in favor that is carried congratulations welcome

[1:15:48] again there's no backing out now the next by law is to appoint an

[1:15:55] enforcement officer Hannah M Hannah kums is there a mover for that Martin and

[1:16:04] Joan thank you any discussion call a question all those in

[1:16:11] favor that is carried and again as well U welcome to

[1:16:19] Hannah uh notice a motion we have a couple here the first is from councelor

[1:16:23] sorus uh related to uh request to attend the Roma conference in

[1:16:29] 2024 someone oh uh Monica you'll move that notice a motion please yes thank

[1:16:35] you is there a second or Martin uh Monica do you wish to speak to

[1:16:42] it you are muted ma'am how's that is that working there

[1:16:48] we go yeah you're with us now thank you thank you so much uh and through you

[1:16:53] chair um I don't have too much to add it's just pretty much the Roma

[1:16:57] conference that is happening in January I'm part of the smart committee so they

[1:17:03] are they have submitted a delegation and they are looking to have

[1:17:07] representation there uh so it's pretty self-explanatory I I believe just to

[1:17:12] have approval to attend and I think it would be

[1:17:18] beneficial okay thank you any questions from

[1:17:22] Council oh oh Barb go ahead so I just wanted to clarify um

[1:17:28] through you to councelor singur the smart committee is that being that

[1:17:33] delegation request going through another municipality because I wasn't aware that

[1:17:37] smart could actually request its own delegation I believe it might be Aeron

[1:17:43] Elders Ley that might be submitting that request for the gas tax it's quite

[1:17:47] possible yes I just know that they're from the committee point of view that

[1:17:51] they're requesting for the committee to be there as to who is submitting that

[1:17:57] it's possible so is is the delegation request regarding the gas tax yes okay

[1:18:04] thank you and so I just wanted to clarify through the

[1:18:08] clerk um the budget the the numbers that I get from going from November 1st to

[1:18:16] last meeting we have done great work in

[1:18:21] reducing our budget from about 4,670 to about

[1:18:28] 2,843 so the addition of this my my understanding is is that councelor sing

[1:18:35] Sor you're asking to go to three conferences which would total about

[1:18:41] $9,200 and that will increase the budget at a minimum to about

[1:18:48] 28,000 through uh you mayor M with yeah without doing the math that that would

[1:18:53] seem about right okay thank you the delegation could also be going

[1:18:59] through the town of Handover because they are the designated uh treasur for

[1:19:04] the smart uh

[1:19:08] business okay uh any further questions all those in

[1:19:15] favor opposed if any that is

[1:19:20] carried uh the next is uh count coun shipston has a notice a motion regarding

[1:19:24] the national anthem uh Martin I presume you'll move that thank you is there a

[1:19:29] second or Jason Martin do you wish to speak to

[1:19:33] it please well it's kind of microphone bad for that today the jar is getting

[1:19:40] filmed um yeah it was kind of fortuitous that Lindsay put a a report in about the

[1:19:47] Integrity commissioner and all that stuff about lack of decorum and respect

[1:19:52] I think would just be a good symbol to do in just for the council

[1:19:58] meetings uh I think if you come in come into the meeting knowing that you're

[1:20:04] part of a greater good you you could have a mindset change that you're not

[1:20:08] here for yourself you're here for the public good and I was thinking about

[1:20:13] this last night and I recalled a a a phrase in John F Kennedy's one of

[1:20:19] his speeches where he I'm gonna paraphrase it but

[1:20:23] the essence is still the same it's it's not what the township can do for

[1:20:30] you but what you can do for the township and I think that if we have

[1:20:35] that humble approach and which we do have here I think doing the national

[1:20:40] anthem before would just be a a positive so that's basically it and with the

[1:20:47] Brena being going away uh there's no reason being virtual and visual that we

[1:20:53] could have a little vignette of the flag and little scenes of Southgate

[1:20:58] too and I'm not saying we sing it because we get don't get that many

[1:21:03] viewers on YouTube we don't want to lose any but having it where we actually

[1:21:09] stand for the anthem would be a good thing I think yeah no absolutely and I

[1:21:15] will note that that was part of the hiring process that Taylor had to lead

[1:21:18] us in the national anthem yeah absolutely no I'm kidding is

[1:21:24] that a financial ter I I think it's a great idea the county does it uh a lot

[1:21:28] of other municipalities do do the national anthem at the start of the

[1:21:31] meeting so I think it's a great idea so uh any uh any further

[1:21:37] questions Jason I think it's a great idea too I just wonder do we we used to

[1:21:42] do it here years ago didn't they or I I remember coming to meeting I just

[1:21:47] wondered yeah I I don't recall sgate ever doing it at one time we did recite

[1:21:52] the Lord's Prayer same as the county and a lot of other municipalities but of

[1:21:55] course we're not allowed to do that anymore uh but I don't recall the Anthem

[1:22:00] being played younger it it could have been years ago I wouldn't be surprised

[1:22:05] it could have been God Save the Queen too who knows yeah of course it be the

[1:22:09] king now Barb thank you I agree with uh councelor

[1:22:14] shipston and councelor rice I I actually had this earmarked for maybe a

[1:22:20] 2024 uh request it's been on my mind so thank you Martin for bringing it forward

[1:22:25] and I I support it 100% okay Monica yes just through you chair just want to Echo

[1:22:33] the comments that's already been made councelor sh shipston thank you for

[1:22:36] bringing this forward and I'm all for it uh for our national anthem and uh yeah I

[1:22:42] I would fully support this okay John thank you Mr Mayor thank you

[1:22:49] councelor shipon I'm in as long as I don't have to sing

[1:22:55] well perhaps you could just

[1:22:59] hum okay uh I'll call the question all those in

[1:23:03] favor that is carried thank you very much moving on to the uh consent agenda

[1:23:09] we have the regular business there are four items there would anybody request

[1:23:13] any of those removed for further discussion someone care to move those

[1:23:18] four might items be uh approved for receiving uh Barb second and by Martin

[1:23:27] thank you all those in favor that is carried thank you the next

[1:23:33] section is correspondence for information there are three items there

[1:23:37] would anyone wish any of those removed for further

[1:23:41] discussion someone care to move them being received Barb seconded by Jason

[1:23:47] thank you Monica did you have a question are

[1:23:51] you okay good just second it yep okay Barb question just to to comment the

[1:23:59] multi-municipal energy working group used to be I believe the multi-municipal

[1:24:02] wind turbine working group and it is Led Out of gry Highlands with a number of

[1:24:08] municipalities that are on board it's interesting that this information is

[1:24:11] coming forward during this time of all of these uh projects for energy storage

[1:24:18] that is um going on in a number of municipalities so I uh I I found them a

[1:24:25] very interesting read right they're a dollar short and a day late here in

[1:24:28] Southgate but nonetheless uh there's a lot of information there excellent okay

[1:24:33] I'll call the question all those in favor of receiving these that is carried

[1:24:37] thank you the next is resolutions from other

[1:24:41] municipalities Barb pull I'd like to pull

[1:24:46] 12.3.2 okay is there any other uh requests for items to be removed there's

[1:24:52] quite a list of them there not seeing any I'll ask the

[1:24:56] balance them to be received someone care to move that please Jason seconded by

[1:25:01] Monica thank you all those in favor that is carried so we might as

[1:25:07] well deal with 12.3.2 right now as we that will finish the consent items so

[1:25:13] Barb which uh what what would be your uh request thank you mayor M and thank you

[1:25:21] um

[1:25:24] I would like to pull 12.3.2 and move a resolution to receive

[1:25:29] it for information um it's regarding violence

[1:25:33] against women specifically intimate partner

[1:25:36] violence and the resolution uh would be to I just removed

[1:25:43] the whereas Clauses from the duffern county resolution and updated the uh be

[1:25:49] it resolved Clauses to include the township of Southgate the um the

[1:25:54] township of Southgate support the resolution of duffern County and attach

[1:25:58] it with the following now therefore be it resolved that the township of

[1:26:02] Southgate hereby join other Municipal and Regional councils in officially

[1:26:06] declaring intimate partner violence and epidemic as per recommendation number

[1:26:11] one from the culliton kuusik and warom inquest and be it further resolved

[1:26:18] that the township of Southgate recommends that gender-based violence an

[1:26:21] intimate partner violence be declared an epidemic excuse me in the province of

[1:26:26] Ontario and that the township of Southgate requests that the Federation

[1:26:29] of Canadian municipalities the association of on municipalities of

[1:26:33] Ontario and all municipalities and regions in Ontario declare gender-based

[1:26:38] violence and intimate partner violence and epidemic and that the township of

[1:26:42] Southgate requests that the provincial and federal governments enact the

[1:26:45] additional 85 recommendations from the ckw inquest which provides a road map to

[1:26:51] preventing intimate partner violence from escalating to

[1:26:54] femicide and that the township of Southgate requests that the federal

[1:26:58] government starts this enactment by adding the word femicide as a term to

[1:27:02] the criminal code of Canada and that the township of Southgate requests that the

[1:27:07] provincial and federal governments provide the necessary support to

[1:27:10] municipalities regions and their emergency and Social Services to

[1:27:13] meaningfully address the gender-based violence and intimate partner violence

[1:27:17] epidemic and that the clerk be directed to send a copy of this motion to The

[1:27:21] Honorable premier of Ontario Doug Ford the right honorable prime minister of

[1:27:25] Canada Justin Trudeau members of parliament members of provincial

[1:27:29] Parliament the United Nations Amo and all Ontario

[1:27:34] municipalities okay thank you is there yep thank you is there a seconder for

[1:27:38] that motion Monica thank you any discussion

[1:27:44] Martin uh yeah I I agree with this it's been coming on the news lately uh quite

[1:27:49] often and you know you have uh a pandemic you have an epidemic and you

[1:27:54] have endemic endemic is something that's been around a long time and I think

[1:27:59] because of the pandemic and all the stuff that's going on it show it shows

[1:28:03] the flaws that we have in our system and this is just coming being more out there

[1:28:09] because it's it's just being more forceful so

[1:28:13] it's something to really look at I think it's been there forever but because of

[1:28:17] the pandemic and all the mental health issues and stuff it's uh coming to a

[1:28:22] head okay thank you any yeah go ahead Barb it is just a coincidence that this

[1:28:30] is the national day of remembrance um that that this is coming forward there

[1:28:36] are a number of resolutions out there they've been coming for a number of

[1:28:40] months now they'll continue to come um what I did read in the paper is that and

[1:28:46] through our Women's Center in Owens sound the the difficulties is that

[1:28:53] intimate Partners whether whatever gender but intimate partners are faced

[1:28:57] with the rising cost of housing the unavailability of affordable housing the

[1:29:04] being locked down with you know abusive spouses um it has increased and they

[1:29:12] average about 50 deaths a year to intimate partner violence so I thought

[1:29:19] that with the timing was coincidental but appropriate thank you absolutely

[1:29:28] Monica sorry yes thank you uh just through you chair um I was looking to

[1:29:34] also uh pull this so thank you deputy mayor for pulling that uh and just with

[1:29:38] my years working um in Social Services and seeing this firsthand I am very um

[1:29:45] happy to support it and in declaring gender based violence and intimate

[1:29:49] partner violence as an epidemic in different County um and the resolution

[1:29:54] cannot be overstated as it does address the critical issues that directly

[1:29:58] impacts the safety and well-being of our community uh so I just wanted to Echo

[1:30:04] that I stand in solidarity um advocating for a safer more secure community and

[1:30:10] I'm looking forward to seeing improvements in this area so just wanted

[1:30:14] to add that thank you thank you Monica Joan thank you mayor Mill to the chair

[1:30:21] uh working as a social consult development officer right now and

[1:30:27] working in the system on a daily basis it's often times pain me to point out

[1:30:33] that gender-based violence has been on the rise and it's great um Deputy Mayor

[1:30:40] dubrin that we're going forward with this resolution because we we can do

[1:30:45] more than just remember and every day we're fighting for safety Justice

[1:30:50] equality presentation and recognition so this is really a good thing and as

[1:30:57] somebody who work with it on a daily basis I can tell you that this is very

[1:31:03] important that we're pulling this forward thank you thank you John any

[1:31:08] other questions comments okay I'll call the question all

[1:31:13] those in favor that is carried thank you very

[1:31:17] much thank you Barb we have no closed session regarding

[1:31:22] uh consent items County report um website is there um we had a bit of a

[1:31:29] session last night up in Gray County just a little one yeah the uh well Barb

[1:31:35] you go ahead no I don't well I was reelected as

[1:31:40] warden so I'm I'm I'm pretty uh I'm pretty uh excited about that it's a it's

[1:31:46] a great the media asked me what why a second year and I said well two reasons

[1:31:50] one it's love the job and uh the uh the second reason is

[1:31:56] because it's a great Council and a great staff to work with and uh I suppose I'll

[1:32:00] add a third it I have a lot of support here at the local level and I I noted

[1:32:04] that in the warden's address that uh the staff and the council here have been

[1:32:08] very supportive and I appreciate that I really do it's h it's not easy to be a

[1:32:12] million places at once although I wouldn't suggest I'm that

[1:32:16] busy but there are times when uh Deputy Mayor debrin steps in and does official

[1:32:21] duties for for me and I appreciate that so there how's that go ahead excellent I

[1:32:27] just wanted to extend our my congratulations um our

[1:32:31] congratulations uh it is uh it is an exciting time and to be a claimed no one

[1:32:39] stood against you so congratulations well it's either that or nobody else

[1:32:43] wants the job well there is that too there is that too I did want to mention

[1:32:48] that the County Council will be meeting on Friday

[1:32:52] to hopefully tackle the budget again yep any anyone have any questions Rel

[1:33:00] related to County Business okay members privilege anybody

[1:33:07] have any items they wish to uh chat about Monica go ahead I was going to uh

[1:33:14] but I think that I'll keep it for the next council meeting okay thank

[1:33:19] you oh Martin Oh Martin go ahead uh Christmas parade how sorry I missed the

[1:33:26] dundock one but the Holstein ones this Saturday usually good it's grown where

[1:33:31] maybe went 50 feet high the side of the bridge to one highway to the next for

[1:33:35] the people attending so it's it's a interesting parade so yep thank you

[1:33:40] Martin Barb thank you I was going to mention uh

[1:33:44] the upcoming Hol stain non-motorized parade it is in its 30th

[1:33:50] parade having missed only one year and that was during the shutdown in 2020 so

[1:33:56] congratulations to them I'm really looking forward to it and praying that

[1:33:59] it's not going to rain as they're predicting um I did want to also give a

[1:34:04] shout out with regard to the dundock parade the organizers that stepped up to

[1:34:10] bring back the traditional moving parade uh did an outstanding job with over 40

[1:34:17] registrations there were about 32 floats that

[1:34:22] actually uh conveyed onto this onto the street and it was a beautiful night uh

[1:34:28] so congratulations to the organizers and volunteers that and our fire department

[1:34:33] that make that possible thank you Barb any

[1:34:40] others okay not seeing any we have three matters to deal with in closed session

[1:34:45] and I'll just read the uh resolution here to go into Clos session be it

[1:34:49] resolved the council proceed into closed session at it is now 10:25 or 35 rather

[1:34:56] in order to address matters relating to a proposed or pending acquisition or

[1:35:00] disposition of land by the municipality or local board more specifically

[1:35:05] property negotiations a proposed or pending

[1:35:08] acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board more

[1:35:12] specifically opinion of land value and a proposed or pending acquisition or

[1:35:17] disposition of land by the municipality local board more specifically property

[1:35:22] negotiations and that all those Reed required remain in attendance would

[1:35:27] someone care to move that please Barb and Jim all those in

[1:35:32] favor that is carried we'll now proceed into the uh meeting room at the back for

[1:35:37] our closed

[1:35:50] session

2023-12-06 Council Meeting

Transcript