[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