[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