[0:00] will begin the council meeting on
Wednesday, May 7th, 2025. We begin this
[0:04] gathering by acknowledging that the land
upon which we meet is a traditional
[0:09] territory of First Nations people. We
convey our respect to our indigenous
[0:14] neighbors and thank them for their
contributions to our culture, community,
[0:18] our past, and our partnerships in the
future. We commit to a continued journey
[0:24] of listening and learning and building
relationships.
[0:28] We'll call the meeting to order at
1:35. Is there any disclosure of
[0:35] pecunary interest or in the general
nature
[0:39] thereof? Seeing no hands, we'll move on.
The confiration of the agenda is uh
[0:46] before you. It's been circulated. any
errors or
[0:50] additions which will recommend that the
regular agenda of council dated May 7th
[0:55] 20125 be accepted as presented. Thank
you councelor
[1:04] You have a question? No.
Okay. Go ahead. Thanks Mayor under new
[1:11] business. I wanted to bring something
up.
[1:15] Uh can you get into talking? Yeah. Uh
the
[1:19] warf street. Okay. Yeah. Stuff like that
can just be reported with no
[1:29] problem. All right. Anything
else? Then we'll entertain a motion that
[1:35] the regular agenda be accepted with the
inclusion of the missing street line
[1:39] awards bill. Any new business? Moved by
Martin. Is that correct? Will you move
[1:43] it? Okay. Don, will you second that? All
in favor?
[1:50] Carry. Delegations and presentations. I
have been advised that there is
[1:58] none. In council committee of
adjustments, none at this
[2:02] meeting. Public meetings. There is
none. And uh we are into staff reports
[2:10] very quickly on this agenda.
uh chief administrator officer uh Amanda
[2:16] uh in regard to emergency shelter
license agreement with the Glaco
[2:19] Agricultural Society.
Yeah, we missed the consent agenda. Oh,
[2:24] we did. Oh, I thought we did. Okay. I
thought we called the
[2:29] Okay. Yeah. Okay. Uh the consent agenda.
Did we skip right over it? We did. Just
[2:34] three items. Okay. Uh the circulated
council the draft minutes the voucher
[2:39] reports and the middle county
highlights move it moved by deputy mayor
[2:44] should seconded by councelor meers. All
in favor
[2:52] carried. Okay staff reports uh 811. If
you could lead it off that'd be great.
[2:59] [Music]
Uh thank you may you hear you. Um this
[3:05] report is being brought forward with a
recommendation to formalize the use of
[3:09] the Gleno agricultural hall as a
designated emergency emergency shelter
[3:14] uh uh for the municipality through a new
agreement with the agricultural society.
[3:19] Uh the location offers significant
improvements over our current shelter
[3:23] site which is the arena uh more physical
space uh and better amenities. Uh the
[3:30] agreement clearly outlines
responsibilities for both parties and
[3:34] guarantees municipal access to the site
when needed um and allows for future
[3:39] collaboration on items uh like future
discussions on generators for the
[3:44] building. Uh importantly, there are no
immediate financial commitments uh and
[3:48] any future costs uh would be brought
back to council for future
[3:53] consideration. Uh I will note I'd like
to note the Gleno Agricultural Society
[3:57] has been excellent to work with uh very
receptive and collaborative uh to
[4:03] supporting local emergency preparedness.
So we're thankful uh for that and staff
[4:08] is recommending to council to approve
the agreement and authorized the mayor
[4:13] and clerk to sign to ensure we're better
prepared uh for uh emergency situations.
[4:20] Thank you very much. Yes, the agreement
was circulated. It's an 8page document.
[4:25] I'm sure you've had the time to read it.
Um, what I found interesting about it is
[4:30] that uh if there's an
emergency, we're in just like
[4:37] that. It provides a venue. Are there
questions? Go ahead, Council Meers.
[4:41] Follow.
Yeah. Thanks. Um, okay. We have the
[4:47] arena, right? Is there no way that we
can uh do something with the arena to
[4:53] put a generator in there
and has a community
[4:58] center? Um is there anything that goes
on in there? I don't know if the chief
[5:02] can answer that for me or um do they
have any emergency stuff going on
[5:09] there because um the fire department is
basically a shelter too, right?
[5:17] Yeah, we um uh it depends where the uh
element of disaster is, depends on the
[5:23] trade winds as well. Get a derailment or
something like that. Uh that's why it's
[5:28] good to have several locations. But um
uh and then again uh
[5:35] u we we have talked about generators at
the arena uh in the past, but I'll let
[5:41] Amanda lead away on that. She said those
conversations with Thank you. Um, thank
[5:48] you for the question. Uh, the, uh,
municipalities are required to have one
[5:54] primary emergency shelter and then
alternate locations. Uh, and there are a
[5:58] number of amenities that we look for in
emergency shelters. Certainly, one is
[6:02] generator power. Uh, none of ours have
that available right now. Um, and the
[6:08] agricultural society doesn't either at
their building right now. Um the
[6:13] agricultural society though when
comparing it to our other locations um
[6:18] has a few advantages of that building
even over our arena that's adjacent. Uh
[6:23] those advantages would be one just sheer
size and space. If an emergency were to
[6:28] happen and we had to open a shelter in
the middle of winter uh with ice in the
[6:33] usable space in the arena is quite
limited uh just to the upper level and
[6:38] the the lobby area. um and the dressing
rooms which create segregated space. So
[6:44] usually for emergency shelters you want
like one large open space and then other
[6:50] multiple uh spaces which is a type of
layout that the agricultural society
[6:55] hall does have which is why it would be
considered advantageous uh just based on
[7:01] the space available. Uh and the same
limitations exist at our other halls.
[7:06] The Erid Community Center certainly it's
an alternate location and as the mayor
[7:10] said in the event of an emergency
occurring in Gleno or you know where we
[7:15] needed to utilize that space it's
absolutely available as an alternate
[7:19] location. Uh but as a primary location
the space uh size of it uh may not be
[7:25] adequate. So if we have to evacuate you
know a large segment of a municipality
[7:30] uh fitting them in that space would be
challenging as well as with the the
[7:36] facility we lease currently in
Warsville. Uh so uh through reviewing
[7:40] with our uh CMC uh Chief Johnson that uh
we are of the opinion that of all the
[7:46] facilities and amenities kind of
available in our area um the
[7:50] agricultural ball does best meet the
needs uh in an emergency situation. And
[7:56] of course, we would always continue to
still have access to our own facilities
[7:59] and buildings uh for emergency purposes,
either to augment uh or if the hole
[8:06] location wasn't needed, if there was
another location that was preferred for
[8:10] whatever reason.
Okay, Council Meers, is that it
[8:16] followup? Okay. And go Deputy Mayor
Schles, please go ahead. Thank you,
[8:22] Mayor. I'm just wondering what cost we
could be looking at here. and I see a
[8:26] shared interest in exploring the
potential for a generator installation
[8:29] facility will be considered in the
future. So I'm just wondering you can
[8:33] tell us a little bit about that.
Sure. Uh through Mayor. Uh so at this
[8:39] time the agreement doesn't have any the
agreement does not have any financial
[8:43] commitments on behalf of the
municipality. Um just like one of the
[8:49] preferences and strong preferences for
emergency shelter locations is to have a
[8:54] generator installation
um and availability in the case of hydro
[8:59] outages during an emergency. Um right
now we don't have one in our emergency
[9:05] sites uh and there is there is not one
at the agricultural society. uh through
[9:11] this this discussion with them, we've
talked about, you know, their interest
[9:14] in installing a generator in the future.
Um whether there was a partnership
[9:20] opportunity uh but we have had no
discussions of that type kind of further
[9:25] along other than we have an interest in
every both parties to the agreement have
[9:30] an interest in a generator there. But
any future discussions on that would be
[9:36] brought back to council for future
consideration. uh if it was something
[9:40] that was even pursued. So even if that's
never discussed at this location, the
[9:46] the amenities at the agricultural hall
are still, you know, don't have
[9:51] generator power just like our arena
doesn't. But the the layout and space is
[9:56] considered more advantageous for an
emergency shelter.
[9:59] I could draw so but we will have it an
emergency shelter. It will eventually
[10:06] need to generate an
installation that is for conclusion that
[10:11] we take this step we
will earn credential for a generator.
[10:19] Um through you I don't think it's a
foregone conclusion. No I would say uh
[10:24] for any location that's an emergency
shelter it would always be something
[10:27] that's on the radar. Uh it is a
preferred thing for an emergency
[10:31] shelter.
Um, and as the agricultural society has
[10:36] expressed interest in pursuing that, I
do think we would have future
[10:39] conversations on it, but it is not as by
way of right a requirement for an
[10:44] emergency shelter. Um and if there ever
were uh some sort of discussion with the
[10:50] agricultural society where we we didn't
like the arrangement uh either the
[10:55] current arrangement with no generator or
a future discussion on a generator we
[11:00] could always make designate our
emergency shelter uh to another location
[11:05] dates on this. you know can germinate at
any time just uh intended to provide us
[11:10] additional resiliency and uh options and
flexibility in in the event of an
[11:16] emergency. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. In
terms of generator, I have I think on
[11:20] two occasions forwarded uh uh
information regarding grant applications
[11:25] and such and that's what we keep our
eyes open for and I'm sure the
[11:30] agricultural society will do it as well.
they're u uh under their ministry funded
[11:37] to some degree too. So sometimes there's
a there's opportunities in terms of
[11:44] council is the fire hall an alternate
emergency shelter at this point in time.
[11:54] I can answer that to uh councelor McIll.
He is the alternate EOC emergency
[12:00] operations center. It can also be used
as a shelter area if needed. Uh but it's
[12:05] its official designation is the
alternate EOC.
[12:10] Okay. So if I could continue. So there
is a generator there. But I realize that
[12:16] you know there's problems with having
the fire hall as a as a as a shelter
[12:22] because you know there's a fire there's
heavy equipment going in and out. It's
[12:27] it's it's it's not great. But there's a
generator. So if there was a power
[12:31] outage at this time, I think the uh
clinical fire would probably be
[12:38] preferred location to any location that
had no heat, no power, no air
[12:45] condition. So So yeah, I think I'm I'm
in favor of this recommendation, but I
[12:51] think we will have to get a generator
there at some point. Go ahead. Yeah,
[12:58] thank you, Mayor. And I just want to add
a comment uh to your point that um
[13:03] before opening an emergency shelter, our
municipal procedures require that the
[13:09] emergency operations the emergency
control group uh made up of the mayor
[13:14] and uh some staff members uh would meet.
they would choose the appropriate
[13:18] emergency shelter location based on all
of the considerations of the emergency
[13:23] at that time and then they would uh uh
oversee the opening of it with whatever
[13:29] required amenities. So um to your point
if it was a hydro outage or new power
[13:34] would be important so we would the
control group would take those factors
[13:38] into consideration.
Okay, any further
[13:44] questions? Yep. Go
ahead. This is probably for the chief.
[13:49] I'm just wondering if we did have an
emergency in St. Albert Avenue or
[13:52] BSville. Is there a plan in place to use
any facilities there or emergencies
[13:56] there?
[14:01] So, yes, deputy mayor. Um all the
community centers in those areas would
[14:06] be our first pick for that. Uh provided
that there was no danger in those areas.
[14:11] uh failing that we could bring down to a
central one which is kind of what what
[14:15] uh we're proposing with the Gleno
Agricultural Hall because it'll be set
[14:19] up with all all the supplies and
everything else required to shelter
[14:24] people in time of emergency.
[14:28] And uh further to that, as the chief
knows, the county has a trailer that's
[14:33] full of CS. I think there's 100 CS in
there and blankets and things of that
[14:37] nature. So they can be uh uh towed to
the designated shelter area and uh
[14:44] accommodations if warming center was
required or something like
[14:49] that. Okay. I think we talk about it. No
more questions. Uh recommendation is
[14:55] before you 181 that the county that the
council of the municipality of southwest
[15:00] middle sex receive the report dated May
7th by the
[15:03] CAO and that the council approved the
emergency shelter license agreement
[15:07] between the municipality of southwest
middle sex and the Agricultural Society
[15:12] as presented and authorized by the mayor
clerk to execute the agreement on behalf
[15:16] of the
municipality. That is the
[15:18] recommendation. Is there a mover and a
second? Councilman Colin second for
[15:25] this. I'll
second. Okay. Discussion.
[15:32] Yes.
I do like the point though that
[15:36] councelor Mars brought up about the
effort community center. Yeah. I mean
[15:40] the only problem it's not quite as
central but we own it and and you know
[15:47] it's it's a fair size.
There might be a subject issue there if
[15:51] we had two 300 people and those are
factors you know can you put can you put
[15:57] 200 people in there
well okay yeah you're probably right
[16:04] and then you know you got the c the cod
footprint too you put 100 cs in there
[16:10] but but community center is an alternate
location is it
[16:17] so it's not designated as an official
alternate location. Uh we can make those
[16:22] decisions as the emergency unfolds. If
that's the proper place, then that's
[16:26] where we'll put people and we have
mobile equipment that we can take
[16:29] wherever we need
to. But we do need a primary emergency
[16:34] shelter for the community in Gleno
agricultural hall right now is our
[16:40] recommendation for the best location. Uh
that's part of uh requirements for our
[16:45] emergency management plan. Sorry.
Yep. Council Myers. Thank you, Mayor.
[16:52] Um, here is for information. Are we
voting on this right now? Yep, we are.
[16:56] There's a motion on the form. So, why
does it say forward information?
[17:01] We're uh
u go ahead.
[17:06] Thank you for Mayor. So, the
recommendation is noted in uh two parts.
[17:11] The first section is to receive and file
the report itself for information and to
[17:16] approve the shelter agreement attached
to the report um for execution. Uh and
[17:23] that that's why it's it's worded in that
way.
[17:28] Okay.
[17:30] Yes. But just picking up on council's
comments that the fire hall right now
[17:36] has a generator agricultural test. So
when we do the
[17:41] fire of the generator, I think I think
that's very high risk having a fireall
[17:47] as the primary emergency center. Uh
we're going to the fire department can
[17:51] be extremely busy during an emergency.
Uh in the event of a winter emergency or
[17:57] an ice storm or something like that, uh
those trucks uh um would have to be be
[18:04] maintained uh between uh calls. uh make
sure they're clean. Uh the apparatuses
[18:09] are functional and uh it's
uh the fire
[18:16] hall it may serve as a as a secondary
unit for uh the comfort of individuals.
[18:24] But uh it is a bit high risk in
relationship to the jobs that the fire
[18:30] department have to do. I think I uh
would be a pretty busy place in the
[18:35] event of an e just the generator
services
[18:42] and not all.
[18:46] Yeah, there's always option of four
generators coming in as well that the
[18:51] community could in the event of
emergency could
[18:56] obtain go ahead and uh thank you mayor.
Um thank you. There are a number of uh
[19:05] requirements
and amenities that are preferred in an
[19:10] emergency shelter. Um a generator being
only one of them. Uh so there are the
[19:16] others are a large space, the ability to
house as many as people as possible. Um
[19:22] as many people as possible. If we're
were to evacuate the whole municipality
[19:26] or a certain segment, we would need
multiple hundreds uh of spaces. uh
[19:31] washrooms, showers, uh accessibility. Um
you know, the fire station has uh
[19:38] administration rooms, but they are
upstairs, so they're not accessible. Um
[19:42] there are So, taking all those factors
into account, uh the generator um being
[19:49] at a location, as the mayor said, that
does have some uh challenges as an
[19:53] emergency shelter. Uh again, this uh
partnership with the agricultural
[19:58] society is recommended as a primary use
based on all the amenities and space
[20:04] that are at that location.
Yes. Go ahead, Council Mel. Yeah, I'll
[20:10] support the recommendation. I think I've
I've got enough answers to my questions
[20:14] because it sounds like you know even
though we if we
[20:18] do pass this recommendation and the egg
hall becomes our primary facility if say
[20:25] circumstances like say for example there
was no power and no power in Gleno but
[20:32] say there was power in that could be and
so then the staff and the mayor may
[20:39] probably say well we better use happen
because there's power there and there's
[20:43] no power going or say they might say
there's a generator. They the fireball
[20:49] is not not not really the preferred
location, but if there's a generator
[20:55] there and there's power at the fire
hall, they're probably going to use a
[20:58] firewall at this
time. So, yeah, I'll support the
[21:03] recommendation. Okay. Yes, counc.
Thank you, Mayor Allen. who would look
[21:08] after the upkeep of the generator if we
put one in in between the hall because
[21:15] these generators they they got to be
plenty of use them so yeah they have
[21:21] commands for that thank you so this
report does not contemplate the
[21:26] installation uh of a generator at the
agricultural hall
[21:31] if if there were a future contemplation
of that a report uh with an agreement
[21:36] and all of the information would be
brought to council and it would
[21:39] certainly include uh the details on
maintenance and associated cost and
[21:44] work. We're committed we are obligated
to make a primary uh to identify a
[21:51] primary evacuation center. Uh that's
part of council's responsibility and uh
[21:58] as Amanda has said staff have taken into
many considerations. They have expansive
[22:04] washrooms for male and female. We also
have very adequate parking there. It is
[22:09] accessible and uh other amenities that
they have good kitchen, stainless steel
[22:14] uh appliances. Uh so uh after their
evaluation uh it is it's not saying
[22:21] that's the only building that can use
but it is going to be identified as a
[22:24] primary center. One more question. Yeah,
go ahead. Yeah, thank you mayor. Um, so
[22:31] basically we're just going to have an
outside hookup with a portable generator
[22:35] coming coming in. Is that what it is?
This is all hypothetical. We're talking
[22:39] generators. It really is a part of the
agreement and we do know that uh in the
[22:45] long term it would be an ideal
requirement to have but uh this we're
[22:51] not the motion that is before us is not
speaking about uh the potential of
[22:58] generators I believe. Is that correct?
But that that will be pursued over the
[23:04] course of time because we know that it
is certainly beneficial uh to uh the
[23:09] community uh if we could acquire one and
uh we'll uh you know we haven't got a
[23:16] crystal ball but we out of common sense
we realize that it would be ideal to
[23:20] have a generator there and we will see
if funds can be found for such a a
[23:26] project.
Very often there are the odd grants on
[23:31] something like this particularly if
there is a disaster in municipality that
[23:37] is a high level news item. Uh very often
following such an event uh the province
[23:43] will say you know what generators we
have funds available and you submit your
[23:48] application. I've seen it in the past.
We haven't been successful with that but
[23:52] I have seen it in the past. Yes. I'll
second the recommendation.
[23:57] Okay, I think everyone's had a hit at
this. Okay, again, uh it's an agreement
[24:04] uh that meets the needs of the emergency
management committee uh that were
[24:09] mandated to do and uh it will be
uh u certainly uh the aspects of a
[24:17] generator will come to council in the
future. I have no doubt about that at
[24:21] all in this term. Okay, I'll call the
question. All in favor?
[24:29] Good questions. And uh we know that
there are
[24:33] shortcomings. I would like to know if
they uh the kitchen has gas there. You
[24:38] know, kitchen has gas that comes from
gas. I think Yeah, it does. So that's
[24:44] that's a real benefit. So there's no
hydro. At least they can provide food
[24:48] for
people. Okay.
[24:54] uh 8 uh 21 uh the composition of
council. Uh that's a interesting topic.
[25:01] the man that is going to lead us in. Uh
the composition of this council began in
[25:07] 2000 uh following amalgamation
where Ecford uh Eford and Aen Mosa and
[25:16] Wardsville and Gleno uh united as
Southwest Middle Sex. And uh during that
[25:24] time uh the u councils and uh the three
councils and committees uh identified uh
[25:32] the eight members passed two from each
board and the mayor and the deputy mayor
[25:37] which uh equate to eight. So I'll let
Amanda walk us through that. It's been
[25:43] 25 years since we've discussed
this. So that's the history on it. Now
[25:48] Amanda I'll let you lead after following
that. Thank you, Mayor Mayhew. Um, so
[25:54] I'm presenting this report on behalf of
Kendra uh today regarding next steps
[25:59] following council's April 23rd decision
to reduce its composition to five
[26:03] members uh for the 2026 election uh
which would change the composition to
[26:09] five members being uh one member per
three w three of the wards uh plus a
[26:14] mayor and deputy mayor. Um, at the April
23rd meeting, uh, the information was
[26:19] provided, uh, for direction. Um, uh, but
since that time, we reviewed the notice
[26:24] requirements in our municipal bylaw, and
we wanted to bring those, uh, to
[26:28] council's attention. uh that uh tonight
we're or we're we're asking if uh
[26:34] council could decide uh whether it would
like to proceed with a formal public
[26:38] meeting uh either on May 21st or June
5th uh or to forgo the notice
[26:43] requirement that is included in our
bylaw. Um holding a public meeting would
[26:48] fulfill the notice bylaw and provide an
opportunity for structured input. Uh,
[26:52] alternatively, council could choose uh
to move forward uh without additional
[26:57] consultation vote in your uh ability.
Um, if there were a public meeting, I
[27:05] would just like to advise there would be
a public notice issue at the meeting. It
[27:08] would be uh a time on our regular
agenda. So, if you think about how we
[27:12] have a set time for a drain kind of
situation and anyone from the public who
[27:18] was in attendance would be able to
speak. Um, just share information. So,
[27:24] we're seeking council direction on this
and happy to answer any questions.
[27:30] Any questions from council? just, you
know, I I have talked both of this with
[27:35] Amanda, but I think optics are important
uh from the public and uh it's a it's a
[27:43] a decision with some weight on our
shoulders and uh I think uh I kind of
[27:49] support public consultation on this. I
think the object is just look better. I
[27:54] know that uh very often times they're
not well attended things like this but
[28:00] uh despite that it may be our duty to uh
you know extend the hand uh and deliver
[28:07] some information from this uh to the
public and accept their input. Are there
[28:13] any further comments on that?
Yes, go ahead council me. Yeah, I I
[28:18] would agree. I think we should follow
our procedure. In the past, we we've got
[28:23] a lot of staff changes and we've
accidentally um not follow procedure
[28:28] occasionally, but I think it's always a
good idea to follow procedure. Yeah, I
[28:32] think the optics look better. I think
it's transparency is what I'm the word
[28:36] I'm looking for uh that uh we want the
public involved or give them at least
[28:41] the opportunity
to any further comments or discussions.
[28:48] Yes, that
extra put on the next meeting agenda. I
[28:54] don't know what staff go that quick. It
might be two meetings from now. Go
[28:58] ahead. So, um it could be on the 21st
agenda. Um I believe this is by memory.
[29:05] I believe the notice bylaw requires 10
days of public notice of the meeting. Uh
[29:09] and then it would just be slated on the
agenda. We do have a quite a full
[29:13] meeting on the
21st
[29:17] but so we would review and but we would
ensure the public notice was issued uh
[29:22] and we would target an evening meeting
uh most
[29:25] likely people could also submit payments
and writing all just council's
[29:31] information.
Thank you.
[29:34] Yes, councelor B. I wonder if it could
be mentioned in uh public knows that we
[29:41] had to kind of act before May 31st
because of the strong mayor situation
[29:48] and
also even um it would take two/3 of vote
[29:53] to change this.
So it' be pretty hard to change this
[29:59] result right now.
Yeah, it's certainly a
[30:06] council will have lots of discussion on
it. I I couldn't see that wouldn't
[30:14] happen. It's, as I said, it's it's a
it's a delicate subject, but it's uh our
[30:20] I wouldn't be paranoid about strong
mayor policies. Uh in in the event of
[30:25] crisis and last resort, the mayor would
do whatever he had to protect people at
[30:31] this table and all the other citizens
and all those smalls. But uh I think as
[30:36] my report uh uh indicated uh I will be
in constant conversation with the staff
[30:42] and deputy mayor uh following any any
changes in that but uh uh I wouldn't be
[30:50] completely paranoid of that. We only
have about a year and a half left in
[30:53] this
[30:56] term. We'll have someone else holding
the galler.
[31:05] Yeah, correct me if I'm wrong, but I
think we have strong powers right now as
[31:10] May 1st. So
really far as strong mirror powers
[31:16] goes this if we pass this and go to five
that's only going to change things after
[31:22] the next election. So for now we've got
strong air powers. I don't think we're
[31:26] any under any um really big rush to get
this public meeting done. I I think it's
[31:34] a good idea to have it in the evening
because it's better for people and if if
[31:40] the May 21st agenda is really full, I'd
even be okay with going to Well, June
[31:45] 5th will be an afternoon meeting, right?
So, we go to the second second meeting
[31:50] in June. I don't know. I I'll make the
recommendation that we go with a and and
[31:57] staff can schedule
um schedule a public meeting in an a
[32:04] regular evening council meeting. I think
so. Yeah, I'd like to see I think you're
[32:08] shortch changing the public. We have a
very very heavy agenda next agenda. I
[32:13] know Amanda has advised me of that and
uh you know I don't want the
[32:17] conversation cut short. I want to make
to make sure everyone has, you know, a
[32:20] voice that we can hear and uh, you know,
an invitation to the public. Uh, you
[32:25] know, there may even be some coffee
available for or something like that.
[32:29] So, we want to make sure that
uh we're not squeezing it in with a shoe
[32:34] warn. We want to give the public the
courtesy
[32:39] of a really like the time for
inquiries. Okay.
[32:46] Um, there's the motion for this. Uh
what's our status on this? We got a
[32:51] second. Yeah, we're looking for a
second.
[32:54] Okay, mayor
[32:57] should. Okay, everyone has a clear
understanding of the motion. If anyone
[33:02] needs it regret, just raise your
hand. Okay, everyone. Okay. All right.
[33:08] All in favor, please raise your hand.
Carried
[33:11] unanimously. Thank you very much,
council, and we'll look forward to that
[33:15] meeting.
We'll keep you posted on
[33:19] uh on what's on what's going
[33:28] on. 83 uh one we have some sewer relief
uh from uh right there. Uh Sarah, are
[33:37] you going to guys do this? Go ahead.
Thank you for the report before you is
[33:43] to recommend that council approve for
reimbursement of
[33:48] $65368 cents in surf fees for the
customer listed in the report. Uh the
[33:54] abnormally high water usage was due to a
leak and a running toilet which was
[33:59] repair. The excess water did not enter
the sanitary system. Therefore, staff
[34:04] supports provided relief for charges
which council has proved in the
[34:10] similar
cases. Any questions? Yeah. Thank you,
[34:14] council. We used to get these quite
regularly, but it's been some time since
[34:18] we've had one, but they uh they were
quite often on the agenda. Is there any
[34:23] questions? Yes, mayor. I'll move the
recommendation. Okay. And a second that.
[34:28] Thank you, Councelor Myers. Uh call last
call for
[34:33] questions. Things like this happen.
Okay. it uh it won't be the last time a
[34:39] report like this. All in
favor Sarah, thank you very much for
[34:44] that one. I'm sure the u the uh
candidate will be very pleased as
[34:51] well. Public works for construction of
sidewalk tenders. Amanda, are you going
[34:56] to walk us through this? There's nobody
on the screen. Okay.
[35:01] Thank you for you. So um I'm presenting
on behalf of Mora Castillia today
[35:06] regarding the results of the recent
tender for 2025 sidewalk construction
[35:10] program which was approved in the
capital budget. Uh the tender was
[35:14] publicly posted in accordance with our
procurement policy and we received seven
[35:18] uh compliant bids by the deadline. Uh
Fioro Concrete submitted the lowest uh
[35:24] compliant bid at
$82,390. Uh staff reviewed all bids and
[35:30] confirmed that that requirements and
specifications. Uh the recommended bid
[35:35] is well within the
$150,000 budget allocated for the
[35:39] project. Um and supports our ongoing
infrastructure goals and staff are
[35:45] recommending to council to approve
awarding the tender to concrete uh and
[35:51] authorize the mayor and clerk to sign
any necessary documents to project.
[35:57] Thank you very much. That is a very
competitive price.
[36:02] U questioning way of
use concrete used in the past. Um I
[36:10] believe so. Yes. Okay. Because I know
we've done extensive work in Morrisville
[36:15] and happened and uh we certainly were
pleased with the results of
[36:22] that. Deputy Mayor Shice. Thank you,
Mayor. Thank you. Um, I'd just like to
[36:26] point out that if you already know it is
a very reputable company, but I would
[36:31] still uh request that a staff never
check on the sidewalk progress every
[36:37] day, especially the width. In years
past, we've had some real
[36:46] um and last year down by the sidewalks
were too narrow. I just happened to
[36:50] catch it. So it's very crucial every day
double check. There has to be boots on
[36:55] the ground when you lay sidewalks. I
know there has been councils and
[37:00] administrations in the past that have
been we've had
[37:03] to pour concrete up. Not we but uh other
councils other administrations have to
[37:10] do it. Um yes. Go ahead. Council Myers.
I'll move the recommendation. Okay.
[37:15] Thank you. Is there a second for that?
That's our thing. And uh Amanda, if you
[37:20] can take back that we need boots on the
ground every day there. We'd appreciate
[37:25] it. Okay. All right. All in favor? Oh,
just one question. Yeah. Thank you. Is
[37:31] this
[37:35] all tear up?
[37:44] I believe it is. Yes.
Okay. All right. Any more questions? All
[37:50] in
favor? Yeah, it
[37:57] uh width is important. We're mandated to
do the right width. It's not uh we're
[38:03] told how wide our sidewalks have.
[38:14] Yeah.
everything. Yeah.
[38:19] Yeah. It was under this mayor's
policy. All right.
[38:26] Uh community services and facilities.
Not at this time. Uh Chief Johnson is
[38:34] going to introduce 86 to us. 861 updated
emergency response plan. Uh Chief, would
[38:41] you like to walk us through that?
[38:45] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, I can speak
further to this report through you, Mr.
[38:49] Mayor, and council. Before you is my
report to council regarding the updated
[38:53] Southwest Middle Sex Emergency Response
Plan as part of the emergency management
[38:58] and civil protection act. It is a
requirement that we regularly review and
[39:01] update our municipal emergency response
plan. My report details the requirements
[39:06] for these updates and the changes that
we have made to our emergency response
[39:10] plan to better protect our community in
the event of an
[39:14] emergency. This updated emergency
response plan ensures that we are in
[39:19] compliance with the emergency management
and civil protection act and that our
[39:22] municipal emergency response plan aligns
with the Middle Sex County Emergency
[39:27] Response Plan. I would ask that you
please accepted my report to council and
[39:31] endorse this updated emergency response
plan by bylaw. I'm happy to answer any
[39:35] questions.
Okay. Thank you, Chief, very much for
[39:39] that. Uh we appreciate you keeping your
finger on on things like this. Any
[39:46] questions? Yes. Deputy Mayor
Sh. I'll move the recommendation. Okay.
[39:52] Is there a second for that?
Uh, Council
[39:57] Emory, questions
again. All in
[40:01] favor? It is carried. Chief, thanks very
much for that. Uh, I like the idea that
[40:06] all members of the committee will be
getting copies of this, PDF. This is
[40:10] great and uh it's uh it's well done. I I
found it very interesting uh
[40:18] reading. Chief, uh you're going uh
through another report uh regarding
[40:24] Newberry Fire Protection on uh section 8
6.2. Uh lead us off on that,
[40:31] please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh through
you, Mr. Mayor and Council. Before you
[40:36] is my report to council regarding the
updated Newberry Fire Protection
[40:39] Agreement.
My report details the updated uh sorry
[40:45] new newberry fire protection agreement.
On August 24th, 2022, council approved
[40:50] the bylaw 2022 080 being a bylaw to
authorize the signing of an agreement
[40:56] between the village of Newbury and the
municipality of southwest middle sex for
[40:59] fire protection services. This agreement
expired in August 2024.
[41:04] A proposed updated agreement was
presented to Newberry in December 2024
[41:09] and was accepted by Newberry Council on
April 6,
[41:13] 2025. Under this agreement, the village
of Newberry agrees to pay Southwest
[41:17] Middle Sex annual fees for fire
protection assistance.
[41:22] The updated fire service agreement also
provides asurances by the village of
[41:26] Newberry and the Newberry Fire
Department for appropriate levels of
[41:29] firefighter training for their members
as well as apparatus and equipment in
[41:33] compliance to OSHA and NFPA standards in
order to protect our Southwest
[41:39] firefighters when operating jointly at
emergencies with Newberry Fire
[41:43] Department. These insur these asurances
are in line with Southwest Middle Sex
[41:47] Fire Department risk management policies
and weapon requirements. Additionally,
[41:52] under this agreement, Southwest Middle
Sex Fire has the provision to build the
[41:56] village of Newberry MTO rates or
apparatus for any alarms attended within
[42:00] the village village of Newberry that
exceed 1 hour in
[42:03] duration. I would ask that you please
accept my reports council and endorse
[42:07] this updated Newberry fire protection
agreement by I'm happy to answer any
[42:12] questions.
Yes. Go ahead, councelor Link. Thank
[42:17] you,
Mayor Fire Chief. Uh, is there ever any
[42:22] joint training with the Newberry Fire
Department? Say what are they called?
[42:32] Uh, I'll let the chief answer that. Yes,
I can answer that. Uh, yes, Counselor
[42:37] Uh, yes, we do schedule joint
training with them. uh minimum one time
[42:42] per year.
Okay. Any further questions?
[42:49] Chief uh for county's hospital is under
the jurisdiction of the new fire
[42:54] department, not ours. That's a sensitive
area that uh needs good fire protection.
[43:00] Uh you have no concerns about that?
[43:06] I have no concerns at this time, Mr.
Mayor.
[43:11] Yeah. Anyway, we know that uh uh joint
fire services are an important part of
[43:17] uh any scene and it's good to have the
paperwork done in advance. Any further
[43:22] questions? Yes, deputy mayor. Just out
of curiosity, does Newberry have full?
[43:31] I believe they do. Yes. Deputy mayor.
Yes. Thank you.
[43:37] Yes, councils. I will move the chief's
recommendation. Okay. Moved by uh
[43:43] council miners, second by deputy mayor
scholice. We've had adequate discussion
[43:48] on this. I
believe all in
[43:51] favor chief. Thanks very much uh for
that work. We did and
[43:56] u look forward to signing the
[44:01] bylaws at this time. No building reports
and no planning
[44:06] reports. Sure.
mutual notice of motion. Any
[44:12] counselors? Seeing none correspondence
and
[44:18] petitions, unfinished
[44:21] business. Uh, new business. Uh, no items
removed from the consent agenda. No add
[44:28] items. No other business. Oh, yes. So,
street light in Portsville. Yes. Go
[44:33] ahead, Council Link. You can apprise
council of that.
[44:37] Thank you, Mayor. I know Amanda touched
on on the update. Uh, I just want to
[44:44] give a little background. I emailed last
Saturday, I believe, was u there's a
[44:50] streamline beside the Warso Museum
sitting there and having sitting there
[44:55] for a few days and when the staff uh
went to look at it on Monday, it was
[45:02] gone. So, I mean, someone permanently
borrowed it. Oh jeez. And um so I I'd
[45:08] like to see a report uh as to what
happens in the whole situation. I'm not
[45:13] looking to blame anybody, just looking
to
[45:18] uh I touched on this before I don't
believe we have the same service. I
[45:22] believe that's what happened here in
that part of the municipality. This is
[45:28] why something like this happened. and uh
Ontario Higer replaced it, took the
[45:34] light off, put it inside the museum and
it sat there according to uh the
[45:40] restaurant owner probably 3 or 4 days
and uh so I mean the longer it stays
[45:47] more chance it's going to be quite so I
I like to report also report on the cost
[45:55] uh like I I'm thinking these are not
that cheap either. Yep. Uh Manda may
[46:00] have some information she can share to
all of council. And Manda, go ahead
[46:05] please. Uh thank you for Mayor. Um so as
as outlined uh to councelor bank, um the
[46:15] uh the light stand pole needed to be
replaced. Uh and that was reported to
[46:21] Hydro1. Hydro1 came uh replaced the
pole. uh scheduled that through our
[46:26] public works team and uh staff were
under the understanding and assumption
[46:31] that Hydro One would be reinstalling the
existing light on the new pool. Uh and
[46:38] that was the municipal understanding uh
and and always is. Uh so in this case uh
[46:44] Hydro1 uh did not and and did not
communicate uh with staff in this
[46:49] instance that the light was not
reinstalled. Uh so staff were actually
[46:53] not aware until it was reported um uh
from from you actually that this had
[46:59] occurred and and went to promptly
investigate. So uh just on the the note
[47:04] of a service standard, there was
certainly no uh intent. This was an
[47:08] understanding of a service level
provided by Hydro1 that was either
[47:11] misunderstood or or
miscommunicated. Um, Mororrow is working
[47:16] on getting pricing for the updated life
and I'm happy to share that with council
[47:20] once uh once we have that in hand uh and
the replacement will be completed.
[47:27] Okay. Right.
[47:32] They
follow.
[47:35] Well, yes, that's quite right what is
saying, but nonetheless, I'm still kind
[47:42] of concerned that it sat around for that
many days and no. Yeah, I don't I still
[47:50] don't share the same opinion, but it
could have well been a trip hazard or
[47:54] something like that as well. So, it's
it's unfortunate. Uh I know words don't
[48:00] uh there's always questions whether it's
hydro one or whether it's the county of
[48:04] middle sex or whether it's the
municipality's responsibility and
[48:07] there's always dialogue that centers
around that um is the county involved in
[48:13] this in any way a they're not
okay of the community
[48:20] there was you
[48:34] I'll check with my merch.
[Music]
[48:43] have not been
[48:48] and sometimes the replacement of that
may be a
[48:53] different there's been a lot of changes
in technology in
[48:59] particular hydro are going to do this
they may it may be
[49:04] entirely entirely a different light led
light or something like that and
[49:10] the uh the value of used lighting is not
really high either
[49:16] anyway. Okay, we'll get it fixed up and
uh council will be apprised of that and
[49:21] councelor make we appreciate that
information. Okay, we can all learn we
[49:26] can all learn from
that question. Yes, go ahead. Yes. I
[49:32] noticed a light missing there in my van
apartment just ahead of it. Is that
[49:41] right? Okay. Well, I know yesterday. All
right. Amanda's writing that down as we
[49:46] speak. Uh she'll uh get on that and
we'll make sure uh that is too. There is
[49:53] always a list of lights that are out. Uh
sometimes Gerber replaces those lights
[49:58] and there's always a list and sometimes
we wait two or three in the past we wait
[50:03] we have two or three calls uh and then
we hit them all at the same
[50:08] time or
efficiency lighting is important. Any
[50:13] further
questions? Any further lights out?
[50:20] Seeing none we have a motion. Is there a
motion on the floor? Yeah.
[50:24] Uh then
okay.
[50:29] Okay.
Uh new business. Uh we've gone through
[50:33] that county council and conference
updates. Oh no, we had two. Oh, did we?
[50:39] The hiring committee. Yes, that's
correct. Yeah, we sure do. Uh 121
[50:44] appointment of council members for the
hiring committee recommended the council
[50:47] of municipality of southwest Middle Sex
appoint uh and there's one as I
[50:52] understand it. Okay. Are there any
volunteers
[50:57] that just could
um I spoke to councelor councelor Miguel
[51:03] mentioned in the last meeting going with
someone that hasn't sat on the committee
[51:07] before and councelor said he would be
interested if he hasn't sat on one in
[51:12] the past. Okay. Good experience. Yep.
Okay. And uh councelor McIll shared with
[51:20] me the Senate that he thought someone
who is not
[51:25] ser opportunity to start.
Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead
[51:32] C I'll nominate
council second for that deputy mayor
[51:39] should thank you council Gil. All in
favor it's carried 121 is done.
[51:48] Uh 122 uh statement of strong mayor
policy uh brought Ward. Are there any
[51:53] questions?
Yes.
[51:57] Just like to thank the mayor for
clearing the air on this. We all have an
[52:01] understanding on what we expect. Yeah.
The mayor too and they are cleared on
[52:06] that as well. But uh it is uh uh this is
uh not my wish. uh has been uh put down
[52:15] by the province and uh we're under uh
their governance to some degree but uh I
[52:22] can assure you uh that my position will
not be uh abused in any way. I believe
[52:28] in transparency and
cooperation but thank you deputy mayor
[52:34] uh for those comments.
[52:38] Okay.
Motion to receive. Okay. And a motion to
[52:43] receive and file the mayor's statement.
Collers. All in favor?
[52:51] Carried. Thank you,
Amanda.
[52:56] Um, we have got county council and
conference updates. Uh, county council.
[53:02] It was in the consent agenda.
Announcements. Any announcements?
[53:08] Yes. Go ahead, Council Gill. I'll say
this one more time. I got tickets for
[53:14] the L Presbyterian Church for Barbecue
dinner Saturday, May 31st. It's a
[53:20] drive-thru from 5 till 6:30 p.m.
$25 per ticket. And the meat is
[53:31] also until May 15th. We have to let the
the caterer know by then how many meals
[53:40] to expect. So I sold tickets to Sunday,
but if there's anybody else talk to me
[53:46] after the meeting. Thank you. Thank you.
Any other
[53:51] announcements? Council, we're always
under the watchful eye of Howie and Paul
[53:56] Vanderoot. And uh good thing they're
here at every meeting. And I'd just like
[54:01] to announce it was Paul Ben's birthday
yesterday. So uh council wishes Paul a
[54:06] very happy birthday and uh we enjoy your
presence at all our meetings. Thank you
[54:11] Paul. Happy birthday Paul. And I know
how he is a chauffeer. So uh we
[54:16] appreciate
that. Uh close sessions. Uh there's
[54:22] none. I
understand. Uh business arising from
[54:26] Nicole Cole sessions. This is not
relevant. We have bylaws.
[54:31] Uh, council will adopt uh bylaw
20257, our emergency response plan, and
[54:40] bylaw 25/28, the Newberry Fire
Protection
[54:45] Agreement, and bylaw
2559, stop up and close land adjacent to
[54:52] 157 Main Street. Uh, discussions of the
previous council meeting were on that.
[54:58] and bylaw
202560 adopt the budgetary estimates for
[55:05] the 2025 tax
rate and bylaw
[55:11] 202561 to confirm the proceedings of
council. Are there any uh questions uh
[55:17] you'd like to
forward on those? Yeah. Uh thank you,
[55:22] mayor. I just want to make a note um
that the agenda was updated. Uh so um
[55:27] just yesterday so there was an
additional bylaw uh 61 to declare land
[55:33] surplus which was circulated to council
by email. Uh so the resolution will read
[55:39] for that one as well as the
confirmatory. So it will be 2025
[55:44] 57 by 57 262
262. Okay. Thank you. All right. So
[55:52] there's that one additional bylaw on
that. Uh
[55:57] um is that part of the that bylaw is
necessary for the agreement purchasing
[56:01] sales? Yes. And uh but the mayor's
position on that. Should I declare a
[56:07] conflict of interest on that? We'll pass
that by first and then do the others.
[56:11] Not necessary. That's fine. No, thank
you very much council. I did have some
[56:16] hesitation further to discussions of
council on that. This is not necessary.
[56:21] Okay. Motion to adopt the bylaws as
presented. Councelor McCullen, Councelor
[56:26] Miguel. Questions? All in favor? Carry.
Council. Thanks very much. What time is
[56:32] it? 233. We did pretty good to
back 117 pages. We did pretty well.
[56:40] Okay.
[56:43] Motion to adjourn. Second for that.
Council
[56:48] Gil. All in favor? Car.