[27:20] foreign

[27:24] thank you very much uh Madam Deputy

[27:26] Clerk and good morning everybody good to

[27:28] uh good to see everybody it's been a

[27:30] while for me so I'm I'm happy to be here

[27:33] and uh love seeing all your smiling

[27:35] faces so early in the morning

[27:37] uh I want to start by calling this

[27:39] meeting to order and item number two is

[27:41] disclose your procure and your interests

[27:42] I don't have any before me I've not been

[27:45] aware of any uh is there anyone here who

[27:47] feels they have a purity interest at

[27:49] this time

[27:50] seeing no one if you do at some point

[27:52] throughout the meeting please let us

[27:54] know if we can record it for the record

[27:57] uh item number three approval of the

[27:58] agenda 3.1 is resolved at the contents

[28:01] of the agenda for September 2nd 2023 be

[28:04] approved as circulated can I have a move

[28:06] in a second or please counselor Belanger

[28:08] counselor Tim's all in favor

[28:10] that motion carries unanimously

[28:13] all right moving on to item number four

[28:15] bylaws 4.1 resolved at a bylaw to

[28:18] appoint temporary Municipal by law

[28:20] enforcement officers for the town of

[28:21] Wasaga Beach be received and to be

[28:24] deemed to have been read a first second

[28:25] and third time passed in number

[28:28] 2023-91 and I'll open the floor uh to

[28:31] whichever staff member wants to speak to

[28:33] this

[28:34] is that you Andrew yeah I'm happy to

[28:36] start off and then I'll I'll pass the

[28:38] floor to either Jerry or Danny if if I

[28:40] miss anything that they want to add so

[28:42] thank you and uh and uh we appreciate we

[28:46] you pulling this meeting together on

[28:47] such short notice uh we've been

[28:50] observing how yesterday went and

[28:52] certainly we we want to do our best to

[28:55] thank the community for all of their

[28:57] patience at the checkpoints we do know

[29:00] it is it is an inconvenience

[29:03] um we do believe that it is working and

[29:05] yesterday was relatively quiet

[29:08] um so what we are doing is preparing for

[29:10] today I won't get into intelligence that

[29:13] has been shared with us but uh we do

[29:16] believe that there are uh more coming

[29:18] today that we want to be as best

[29:21] prepared as we can OPP are doing a

[29:23] tremendous job throughout Town

[29:25] um and what we are looking to do is help

[29:27] beef up The Presence at the actual

[29:29] checkpoints in order to do that we have

[29:32] a private security firm that we have

[29:34] routine to assist the municipality and

[29:37] what we are looking to do is have them

[29:39] become temporary bylaw officers so that

[29:42] they are able to lay charges for those

[29:44] offenders that cause problems at the

[29:46] checkpoints again we hope it will be

[29:49] minimal but we have to be prepared as

[29:51] best we can so with that Danny or Jerry

[29:54] is there anything you wanted to add and

[29:56] again we won't get into too much

[29:57] technical detail here but Jerry or Danny

[30:01] is there anything that you wanted to add

[30:02] that I've missed

[30:06] uh why don't we go to uh Danny next

[30:11] thank you your worship and good morning

[30:13] members of council yeah this just makes

[30:15] good tactical sense for us uh you know

[30:17] we did we did observe yesterday

[30:20] um at the checkpoints that there there

[30:21] was some pressure so essentially this

[30:24] just allows us it doubles the the number

[30:27] of of people on the ground uh that are

[30:30] in a position to issue fines so

[30:33] tactically we just think this is a

[30:35] really good move

[30:37] Jerry uh no I think thank you you

[30:40] worship both Danny and Andrew of the I

[30:42] think they've got all the pertinent

[30:44] points in front of us so I think uh I I

[30:46] I just the reinforce what they've shared

[30:48] with Council right Chief anything to add

[30:53] I do not your worship

[30:55] all right thank you all right Council so

[30:58] if I'm understanding correctly uh from

[31:00] staff we're looking to deputize uh each

[31:03] of these security guards so is that

[31:05] they're able to uh uh enforce the bylaws

[31:08] and actually lay the fines and these are

[31:10] these are uh form one provincial

[31:13] offenses correct

[31:16] that is correct

[31:18] and so these are the same type of fine

[31:20] you'd get as a traffic ticket is that

[31:22] correct

[31:24] enforceable by the court

[31:26] I'm sorry I didn't I didn't catch all of

[31:29] that your worship yeah no problem so

[31:31] this is the same type of fine as a as a

[31:34] speeding ticket it's enforceable by the

[31:35] courts and uh you get it you have so

[31:38] many days to dispute it or you're found

[31:40] guilty and you're expected to pay it

[31:42] correct that that is uh correct uh your

[31:45] worship it is a part one fine uh under

[31:48] the provincial offenses Act

[31:50] okay all right any questions or comments

[31:53] uh from members of council

[31:56] counselor ego

[31:57] yes thank you uh your worship I guess I

[32:00] I go through these deals quite often and

[32:03] you know I see the young guards there

[32:06] the young officers will they be safe

[32:09] could they be harassed badly at these

[32:12] checkpoints

[32:15] so I'll I'll take that one and get Danny

[32:18] if you want to add anything that I may

[32:20] miss so part of the reason why we're

[32:22] doing this is to help them

[32:24] um again Lessons Learned uh we do

[32:27] believe there needs to be a bit of a

[32:28] stronger Presence at each of these

[32:30] checkpoints

[32:32] um and they're doing the best they can

[32:33] but we do believe by adding this element

[32:36] to it it will increase the safety of

[32:38] those guards that we have retained I

[32:41] should uh mention also that we are

[32:43] videotaping all of these checkpoints so

[32:45] Safety First what we have instructed

[32:48] them if there's somebody intent on

[32:50] blowing through the checkpoint do not

[32:53] get in the way step out of the way we do

[32:55] not want anyone getting hurt but we will

[32:58] be capturing all of those cars on

[33:00] videotape and we have the ability to go

[33:03] after them after the fact which is

[33:05] exactly what we intend to do but safety

[33:07] first we do believe that this added

[33:10] element will will help improve the

[33:12] safety and effectiveness of these

[33:13] checkpoints thank you Andrew all right

[33:16] thank you councilor white what's next

[33:20] uh thank you very much for worship

[33:23] um and appreciate everybody coming

[33:24] together for this so quickly this

[33:25] morning

[33:27] um yeah I was very vocal in opposing the

[33:29] checkpoints in the beginning however I

[33:31] do feel that we are here now and it's

[33:33] the Willy Council to do this so I think

[33:35] it's definitely appropriate to make sure

[33:36] they have the tools necessary to uh to

[33:38] make this effective and safe for

[33:39] everybody so I will be definitely

[33:41] supporting this thank you

[33:43] all right counselor Belanger and I do

[33:45] see counselor him as well

[33:48] thank you through you your worship uh uh

[33:51] last night when I did go out to Eastdale

[33:53] and then back in 92 there there was uh

[33:56] an opp in the parking area across from

[34:00] the Gaspar out there so I'm assuming if

[34:04] they're not communicating to the

[34:05] checkpoint uh they're communicating to

[34:08] other OPP if there's oncoming vehicles

[34:11] but at any point are we uh

[34:16] block the road if we know their our

[34:19] vehicles

[34:21] um that are you know within a half mile

[34:24] or a mile of the of the checkpoint or

[34:27] because obviously that would slow them

[34:31] down as opposed to them driving by

[34:34] so if they're through mayor and mayor

[34:37] Smith we've been monitoring and

[34:39] adjusting as we go as we see uh the

[34:42] effectiveness throughout the the date

[34:44] and you may have noticed on Thursday

[34:46] essentially we instructed that the

[34:49] checkpoints be free-flowing because we

[34:52] were not seeing a lot of modified cars

[34:54] and we're trying to minimize this

[34:55] disruption to the community the best

[34:57] that we can so they were essentially

[34:59] free-flowing for most of Thursday we

[35:02] were given advice from the OPB to get

[35:05] them up as soon as possible that's why

[35:07] we move so quickly to have them in place

[35:09] for Thursday so that we can quickly

[35:11] respond Friday as we started to see the

[35:15] cars move into town and out of the

[35:18] interest of safety of the checkpoint

[35:19] operators we asked them to slow the cars

[35:22] down a little bit we're trying to keep

[35:24] it 10 to 15 cars no more than that

[35:27] backup we don't want to cause too much

[35:28] traffic but by slowing the cars down it

[35:32] does make it safer for the checkpoint

[35:33] operators and then they can flag any car

[35:36] that that we need to pull aside we do

[35:39] have spotters well up the road that is

[35:41] signaling ahead we've got a few coming

[35:44] be prepared

[35:46] um we did request that OPP be at those

[35:49] checkpoints with us they are hanging

[35:52] back a little bit from the actual

[35:53] checkpoint we're going to be revisiting

[35:56] that today and we have requested that

[35:58] additional support because we do believe

[36:00] that that presence would make the

[36:02] checkpoint stock much more safer and

[36:05] more effective but there is a

[36:07] significant police presence in town that

[36:10] has been supporting and I think you've

[36:12] all seen that overnight and again none

[36:15] of us want to be doing any of this but

[36:17] we are doing the best that we can to try

[36:20] and keep our community safe

[36:23] thank you uh Andrew counselor Tims oh I

[36:26] just want to add that uh the checkpoints

[36:28] on the west end of town are going very

[36:30] well uh when I was going through but I

[36:34] do have a question

[36:35] um

[36:36] do we have a lot of ride happening in

[36:38] town this was uh um shared with me that

[36:42] there are checkpoints within town as

[36:44] well that are stopping every car

[36:47] so not on the proposed or or the

[36:50] activated uh outskirts of town but

[36:53] within the town limits

[36:55] yeah through mayor Smith

[36:57] um the police are being quite uh quite

[37:00] diligent at pulling over uh a lot of the

[37:03] modified cars

[37:04] um we have actually spoken with some of

[37:07] the occupants of some of these cars and

[37:09] a lot of them are coming out with

[37:11] pitfalls of tickets so it's not just one

[37:14] stop uh the the worst offenders they're

[37:16] getting multiple tickets multiple

[37:19] pullovers some are being uh towed away

[37:22] and impounded

[37:23] um and the the one good thing is

[37:27] um again I don't want to give away too

[37:29] much Intelligence on this open call but

[37:31] there were a number of planned large

[37:34] Gatherings yesterday and the opp managed

[37:38] to intercept all of them I won't

[37:41] disclose where they were to occur but

[37:44] you will recall last year the kind of

[37:46] events that you saw at Canadian Tire

[37:48] that was planned for yesterday it is

[37:51] planned for today so they are being very

[37:54] effective

[37:56] at getting ahead of all of that and

[37:58] preventing a lot of that so our hope is

[38:00] that we can keep out in front of this

[38:02] and keep our community safe and ideally

[38:05] for memories of Summer that we can have

[38:07] Sunday be as normal as possible

[38:09] okay

[38:10] all right anyone else wishes to comment

[38:13] or have any questions

[38:16] mayor Smith I see Danny in the chambers

[38:19] uh okay Danny go ahead

[38:22] thank you uh your worship panel look to

[38:25] Madam clerk on a housekeeping item

[38:28] um our bylaw our car rally bylaw gave us

[38:31] the authority to close the roads for

[38:32] three days

[38:34] um because we stood the the road

[38:36] closures up a little bit early that that

[38:38] three days would expire at a time that's

[38:41] not ideal for us I do believe it would

[38:44] be within council's Authority today to

[38:46] extend those road closures and what we'd

[38:48] recommend is that they be extended till

[38:50] 12 a.m Tuesday morning

[38:54] all right thank you Danny I don't think

[38:56] anyone have an issue with that

[38:59] to extend that all right uh we'll leave

[39:01] that for the clerk to put into or adapt

[39:04] and adjust the uh the uh the next

[39:09] resolution

[39:12] mayor Smith all right before you do are

[39:15] there any other comments

[39:17] I do have a few so

[39:19] um

[39:20] hey I'm very happy to be back with all

[39:23] of you and see you and I want to commend

[39:25] all of council for being here on such

[39:27] short notice uh it shows our dedication

[39:29] and commitment to the safety of our

[39:31] community and uh while we have uh all of

[39:34] council here I think it's also important

[39:37] uh to commend our staff especially our

[39:39] senior staff uh Team who have been

[39:42] working uh basically Round the Clock uh

[39:44] and have done in my opinion absolute

[39:46] phenomenal job I've been in touch with

[39:48] them regularly uh they've done uh an

[39:51] outstanding job and I couldn't be more

[39:52] proud of them so ladies and gentlemen

[39:55] thank you and make sure you please pass

[39:57] that on on behalf of council to other

[40:00] staff that are out there uh doing uh

[40:03] what you do so well today so it's much

[40:05] appreciated uh there's a couple of

[40:07] things I think are important to note and

[40:09] if I go off offsite you're at Madame

[40:11] clear please let me know but

[40:13] um you know I've received um

[40:16] I don't want to say countless I probably

[40:17] received 10 emails in the last three or

[40:19] four days uh to my office some of them

[40:22] of which you have all been copied on

[40:24] from a select few uh members of the

[40:27] public and or business individuals

[40:30] and and I don't know about the recipe

[40:32] but when I read these emails the first

[40:34] thing that comes to my mind is is how

[40:36] self-serving and and how uncaring uh

[40:40] individuals are for our community as a

[40:42] whole

[40:43] uh the fact that this you know these

[40:45] Road checks May uh inhibit someone for a

[40:48] couple of minutes to get to The

[40:49] SuperStore or the liquor store uh or

[40:52] they may have to wait to get back into

[40:54] town should they have left for 10

[40:55] minutes or something versus the Safety

[40:58] and Security

[40:59] uh and well-being of our community I I

[41:02] don't know about the rest of you it's

[41:03] just mind-boggling to me

[41:05] and so I do plan to prepare uh somewhat

[41:08] of a canned response in the next few

[41:11] days for a lot of these and there are a

[41:13] few that I plan to respond to directly

[41:15] some of those being some business people

[41:17] who uh quite frankly I'm very surprised

[41:20] at at the uh the self-centered selfish

[41:23] uh outlook on them and their sole

[41:26] business only in our community

[41:28] um but what I what I'm getting at here

[41:30] is we have 25

[41:32] 000 residents in this community

[41:34] another 10 000 roughly part-time

[41:37] residents and and countless visitors and

[41:40] I've received maybe 10 emails

[41:43] um it's such a small amount of people

[41:45] it's probably not even worth responding

[41:47] quite frankly

[41:49] um but they've sent an email so they

[41:50] weren't a response

[41:52] um when I look at social media

[41:54] uh which I have done for the last three

[41:57] days I've been instructed very clearly

[41:59] by senior members of staff to stop

[42:01] reading it

[42:02] when you've got nothing better to do

[42:04] it's what you do and it's my advice as

[42:07] well so I do need to follow it but this

[42:09] is an important uh item in our community

[42:11] right now I think that this is precedent

[42:13] setting and and if we need to move

[42:15] forward and do this ever again we do

[42:16] need to learn and understand it well

[42:20] um but even on social media I'm seeing

[42:22] the same 50 maybe a hundred people who

[42:26] are out there attempting to stir the pot

[42:28] and often are being shut down by

[42:31] rational individuals in our community

[42:34] um and so you know we we just cannot

[42:36] make our decisions based on social media

[42:39] and I'm not saying we have or we will I

[42:41] know that the council and our senior

[42:44] staff are much brighter than that for

[42:45] sure

[42:46] um but again it's it amazes me uh how

[42:50] people

[42:51] are so self-absorbed and and it's it's

[42:54] quite disheartening for me I don't know

[42:55] about the rest of you but when I do read

[42:57] this stuff it's disheartening for me to

[42:59] think that these people believe there's

[43:01] no one else in the world but them

[43:03] so uh having said that the the other

[43:06] thing the last thing I want to touch on

[43:07] is is the opp because I think this is an

[43:10] important topic

[43:12] um for a council to have discussion on

[43:14] uh if not some today but in future and

[43:17] that is as we went through this process

[43:20] uh and staff correct me if I'm wrong but

[43:22] as we went through this process and and

[43:24] we sat down with the opp 90 or 95 of

[43:29] what we're doing today we did basically

[43:32] based on the information and the

[43:34] expertise that we receive from the opp

[43:37] uh everything we're doing today we

[43:39] passed by the OPP uh at no time did they

[43:43] object to any of it and in my opinion it

[43:46] was clear to me during these meetings

[43:49] that the opp was fully prepared would be

[43:52] fully prepared to deal with this event

[43:54] this weekend and that they would be

[43:56] working with us and specifically have an

[43:59] officer at every one of our checkpoints

[44:02] along with our security and our bylaw

[44:04] officers not to stop the cars not to

[44:07] question the drivers not to profile but

[44:10] to be there as a show of force and

[44:12] security that the opp were very much

[44:16] involved and very much aware of what

[44:17] we're doing and that it was all legal

[44:19] and and fell within the constitutional

[44:21] rights of individuals and and I would

[44:24] say that the very fact that we uh Danny

[44:27] and Senior staff and their hard work

[44:29] were able to

[44:32] get an injunction from a superior senior

[44:37] Superior Court Judge uh with respect to

[44:40] this matter tells me that what we have

[44:42] done and what we are doing is

[44:44] constitutional and does fall well within

[44:46] the laws and rights of individuals

[44:48] courts do not hand these things out

[44:51] willy-nilly today

[44:52] if anything they are more adverse to

[44:55] giving these things out or doing this

[44:57] than ever before

[44:59] and so I as mayor I'm very confident in

[45:01] what we have done and how we're moving

[45:03] forward I know that the opp have and

[45:07] will continue to do a great job within

[45:09] the community

[45:11] um but where I am extremely disappointed

[45:13] and I think we need to have discussion

[45:15] uh moving forward

[45:17] um is that the opp told us they would be

[45:20] at every checkpoint

[45:22] and and I don't know about the rest of

[45:24] you but for me having an opp officer at

[45:26] those checkpoints if for nothing else I

[45:30] think just

[45:31] increases their safety uh and the

[45:35] security of our staff and the uh the

[45:38] company that we've hired to do this and

[45:41] the fact that they have not stepped up

[45:42] even though they've been asked to do so

[45:44] I know that Andrew has had some

[45:46] conversations with the detached commit

[45:48] Detachment commander and they have not

[45:50] kept their word on this quite frankly

[45:52] I'm annoyed as hell about it

[45:55] um you know they were extremely happy

[45:58] that they had a council now that was

[46:00] willing

[46:01] and able to work with them not against

[46:04] them uh as in the past and we have done

[46:07] everything they've asked we have stepped

[46:10] up we have gone above and beyond what I

[46:14] believe is our part in in securing the

[46:17] safety of our community and they need to

[46:20] do their part they need to keep their

[46:22] word and so I'm going to leave that uh

[46:24] to staff today but uh I I want to make

[46:27] Council aware that I believe we need to

[46:29] have conversation on this afterwards

[46:31] because if we're going to partner

[46:33] with any organization including the opp

[46:37] moving forward we need to be rest

[46:39] assured as they do

[46:40] that we're all going to keep our word

[46:42] and do what we say we will do and I

[46:45] believe the town in this case has gone

[46:46] above and beyond and again I commend

[46:48] staff for that because that's who's been

[46:50] getting this done so I I'm open to

[46:53] comments on this if anyone wishes to

[46:55] comment and the staff as well and then

[46:57] we'll move on councilor Belanger

[46:59] yes the three-year your worship not a

[47:02] not a comment on what you just indicated

[47:05] because I totally agree but because it

[47:08] is a public meeting and I had a number

[47:11] of conversations with the same

[47:13] individuals you heard from I think

[47:15] there's a two important points people

[47:18] have short memories like most of the

[47:21] people in business that raised a concern

[47:23] it was that the roadblocks and the

[47:27] traffic situation uh we were creating

[47:30] might impact their business

[47:33] but I would remind them uh of the last

[47:37] time h2oi was allowed to come into a

[47:40] town uh that the traffic chaos they

[47:43] created and I indicated that that what

[47:47] did they think the traffic would be if

[47:49] 300 to a thousand of these cars were on

[47:53] our streets and and we know that that

[47:55] that was chaos but the the second thing

[47:58] that I think is really important

[48:01] um we we just had a special budget

[48:03] meeting uh where we estimated our OPP uh

[48:08] increase uh at 262 thousand dollars and

[48:13] the last h2oi was very expensive to the

[48:17] municipality and we know that that will

[48:19] be faced and over the the next four

[48:21] years those costs uh so I I would remind

[48:25] the public there is there is a cost to

[48:28] these checkpoints but not nearly as high

[48:31] as having helicopters in the air and

[48:34] command centers and and all the rest of

[48:37] it so you know 262 000 is one percent on

[48:40] all our taxes and not only are we uh

[48:44] taking great care of the safety of our

[48:46] residents uh but we also are doing our

[48:49] best to limit the impact on on taxation

[48:53] so uh I just wanted to make those two

[48:55] points in a public meeting thank you

[48:57] thank you councilor anyone else

[49:02] seeing no one else all right again I'll

[49:05] just reiterate have the utmost respect

[49:06] for the Ontario Provincial Police and

[49:08] what they do they keep our community

[49:09] safe on a regular basis but we need to

[49:12] be able to to count on uh what we're

[49:15] told and uh and we'll keep our word as

[49:17] well

[49:18] all right uh Council sorry uh Madam

[49:21] clerk you have a resolution amended

[49:24] I do so prior to adoption at the bylaws

[49:28] um I do have a motion to waive the

[49:30] portion of the car Riley bylaw so I will

[49:35] propose the following that Council

[49:37] waives section 5.3 of bylaw

[49:40] 2023-74 to permit a road closure to

[49:43] extend beyond three days ending at

[49:46] midnight Tuesday September 5th 2023.

[49:50] all right you've heard the question

[49:51] could I have a mover and a second or on

[49:53] that or any any questions first of all

[49:54] sorry

[49:56] seeing none a mover and a secondary

[49:58] uh counselor ego and uh councilor DeLeo

[50:01] all in favor

[50:03] motion carries unanimously

[50:05] all right uh the resolution uh 4.1

[50:09] 2023-91 I've already read that you've

[50:12] heard that could I have a move in a

[50:13] second or for that as well

[50:15] uh counselor Tims and Deputy Mayor Snell

[50:18] all in favor

[50:19] that also carries unanimously

[50:22] moving item to 4.2

[50:25] 2023.92 resulted a bylaw to confirmed

[50:28] the proceedings of the council the

[50:29] corporation of the town of Wasaga Beach

[50:31] and its special emergency meeting held

[50:33] Saturday September 2nd 2023 be received

[50:36] and to be deemed and read a first second

[50:38] and third time passed in numbered number

[50:41] 2023-2 can I have a move in a second for

[50:44] this confirmatory bylaw who by councilor

[50:46] Tim's executive by counselor Eagle all

[50:49] in favor

[50:51] that also carries unanimously and if

[50:53] there's nothing else from staff this

[50:55] meeting is adjourned thank you everybody

[50:58] thank you

Special Emergency Council Meeting - 02 Sep 2023

Transcript