Monday February 28th Regular town council meeting

**Important note. Councillor Lavigne and Deputy Mayor DiPasquale were absent tonight. Also, council went in-camera mid-meeting and had an added in-camera meeting scheduled for the end of the meeting.** (Why am I noting this right away? Well, to help with my year-end review stats. Have to plan ahead.)

So, the meeting started off so very positively. I was having serious “proud to live in this great town” moments. Unfortunately, as the meeting began to drag on, well, I started to have “why oh why am I here” moments. I’m starting to understand why the presenters present and then quickly leave.  So, we’ll begin with the positive. 🙂

Council chambers was pretty full tonight. There were a lot of young people and teenagers, as well as several residents along with most of us “regulars.” (I’m not the only regular, at least, I guess, right? lol)

PRESENTATIONS Essex Powerlines Corporation Update & Youth in Community Fund Cheque Presentation  – Joe Barile, General Manager, Essex Powerlines Corporation

Up first was the Essex Powerlines report. Mr. Barile went a bit out of order and cut his presentation up a bit. First, he skipped to the Youth in Community Fund section. He explained that each year they donate $10,000 to a community driven event. This year’s recipient was a group of young girls who are involved with a Young Girls Empowerment Group. (I think I got the name right?) This group meets weekly at the Libro Arena and it aims to develop young girls skills and abilities. What a great initiative! It was so fantastic to see these proud young girls go up to have their picture taken with Mr Barile, the Mayor and the big cheque.

DELEGATIONS Allan Parks – A-Team Robotics

Then, Mr. Barile allowed Mr Park and his group to present before he went on to his full Essex Powerlines Presentation. The A-Team Robotics delegation was truly awe-inspiring. Mr. Parks spoke briefly and said the group builds a new robot every year. He then stood back and allowed the 4 teenagers to speak and explain their robot. They’re ready to compete with the robot, but it’s not simply a robotics initiative. The teens also work on building, programming and even the business aspects (promotion, business plan etc.). It was truly a fantastic presentation. The 4 teenagers spoke beautifully and truly made me proud to live in Amherstburg. If these young people are our future, I will rest easy tonight. Some of the councillors had some questions, but I’m not going there tonight. I only have one question….can they build me a robot who can manage to stay focused and write my blog for me after every meeting? The students showed us their robot. I don’t think she’s as pretty as I am, so I say it’s a no-go for my replacement. I think I will press on to enjoy the fame and glory that this blogging brings right?

 PRESENTATIONS Essex Powerlines Corporation Update & Youth in Community Fund Cheque Presentation  – Joe Barile, General Manager, Essex Powerlines Corporation

Then Mr Barile was back to continue with his presentation. He explained that Essex Powerlines only controls 19% of our hydro bills. (I see where this is going...) Obviously, most are aware the provincial part of the rates have gone up, way, way up. (He explained the line diagram of the comparison between the province, Essex Power and Inflation. I’m guessing that was helpful for those who did not read the report ahead of time and/or for those who did not understand the report….) He explained the new repair process. In the past, they would have to wait for someone to call them and let them know the power was out, then they would send someone out with a flashlight to try to find the problem. Now, with new technology, they can pinpoint the exact spot of the outage and send someone to fix it. (I wonder if they can fix the lights are on but no one’s home problem we have sometimes? Or maybe the robot could?) Councillor Fryer went on at some length, in my opinion, about the people, the residents, the hefty hydro bills….it sounded like a campaign speech to me. (Uh-oh….is anyone thinking of reelection?) He also mentioned that he lives on Texas Road (AGAIN) and that they have Hydro One. (I tuned right out….why oh why does it always come back to Texas Road?) Just to give those of you who stayed home drinking tea on your lazy-boy recliners a bit of perspective, it was 7:15…..yep an hour and 15 minutes and council had heard one delegation and the Essex Powerlines Report. Perhaps my frustration is more easily understood now? lol

Added Delegation – Miss Lynn O’Brien

At the beginning of the meeting, Councillor Pouget had requested to waive the rules of order and allow a last-minute delegation. Council agreed, so here it was.

Miss O’Brien approached the microphone with folders and folders of papers. (Uh-oh….this can not be good…) . She said she was limited in what she could say because of the privacy act and protecting other people’s privacy. (Translation, we heard one person’s small part of a what must be a multi-layered problem, so there are lots of holes in this.) From what I could understand, it appears Miss O’Brien had an issue with the property she was renting that happened this past summer. She said she is now homeless yet continues to pay rent for a place where she can not live. She brought her complaints forward to the by-law department and administration. She feels that things were not dealt with properly by the by-law department. The problem seems to do with large amounts of pesticides applied to the property were she lived. She approached the Minister of Affairs & Housing who told her she would have to go before council. So, here she was, but she could not give specifics. She did say that according to the Minister of Affairs & Housing that a town does not have to enforce it’s by-laws, that it is up to the town. (Well, I learned something new….however, it appears Aburg enforces our by-laws I think.) Anyway, she said she was asking for council’s help with the situation. (Even though Judge Wapner has passed away, here we are, back in The People’s Court.)

Councillor Pouget said she has grave concerns about this issue and then began to ask questions. Mayor DiCarlo immediately said if Councillor Pouget was going to ask questions of administration, they had to be done in-camera. So, bada-bing, bada-boom, Councillor Pouget made a motion to go in-camera, so off they went and so did we. Council moved into the adjacent meeting room and we (the residents in the gallery) headed off to wait in the lobby. (At least we didn’t get kicked out to the parking lot this time…LOL)

Well, we waited in the lobby for about 45 minutes. (I really started to question my own sanity sometimes….why oh why do I do this? It’s like a train wreck and you just can’t look away….)

So, about 8:15 we were all allowed back into the council chambers. Just to hear a motion that the delegation was received and she can further discuss her concerns with administration. (My take on that? Back to square one....)

SWIFT Initiative – Dan Circelli & Bob Campbell – Connecting WindsorEssex

Okay, I’m going to do my best here, but technology is not my forte. Most of what I know about technology involves me teaching myself  via trial and error. When there are too many errors, it involves some heated arguments with my husband who cites my lack of patience.

Mr Circelli spoke and explained the Internet Exchange Point, that this would provide improved internet speed, improved security and reduced transit costs.  (Well, that was easy, I’m sold, sign me up.) He got into a lot of technical stuff that well, I don’t want my tech savvy readers to hate me when I mess it all up, so, let’s just say it all sounded really good. Mayor DiCarlo asked a few questions. (I think he’s probably the only one who is very “techy”, because nobody else said much lol. Councillor Fryer never even mentioned the mysterious computer hacker or the ghost of Texas Road. lol)

Employee Code of Conduct / Committee Structure

If you recall, a few months ago, council appointed a new member to the drainage board, Mr. Josh Mailloux. At the same meeting, they had also appointed a representative of the Chamber of Commerce to the Audit and Finance Commitee. All of the members of the committees in the Burg have to receive a final approval from council in order to sit on the committee. So, all appeared over and done with. However, since that time, it has been discovered that Mr Mailloux is a volunteer firefighter for Amherstburg, therefore he is considered a town employee (yes, even though it’s an on-call, part-time position). It also appears that prior to his appointment to the Drainage Board, he had served 7 years on the Committee of Adjustment, yet has been a firefighter for 8 years. (It looks like no one caught the conundrum earlier.) The big “problem”, it seems, is that town employees are not allowed to serve on committees. The committees are supposed to be made up of lay-people, just regular residents, who are not employed by the town. Then, just to add a bit more spice to the mix, it appears there are 2 more committees that have been “breaking the rules” so to speak. The Traffic Committee is comprised of town employees. It appears that each member has a vote. Also, there is a new committee on the horizon, the The Emergency Management Program Committee. It seems that council will also have to address this issue with this new committee. However, from what I understood, the EMPC (The Emergency Management Program Committee) falls within provincial regulations and provincial regulations trump municipal ones.

So, in a nutshell, here were council’s choices :

Option 1

Allow Mr. Mailloux to represent as a lay member on the Drainage Board as appointed on December 12, 2016 and pass a resolution waiving the requirement for the policy. (i.e. waive the rules.)  Allow the Traffic Committee to continue to operate as a committee of Council with 1 voting Council member and 5 voting staff members and pass a resolution waiving the requirement of the by-law, i.e., once again, waive the rules. Once the Emergency Management Program Committee is established by Council, once again, waive the rules. (Lay person translation continue to break the rules willy-nilly now that it’s been brought to your attention…)

 

Option 2

Reconsider the appointment to the Drainage Board made on December 12, 2016 based on the requirements of the policy and appoint another applicant to the Board. Then, dissolve the Traffic Committee based on the requirements of the policy and allow traffic requests and complaints to filter through one administrative member, who will in turn consult with all necessary departments and provide a recommendation to Council by way of a report. And finally, once the Emergency Management Program Committee is established by Council, administration will bring a by-law to appoint the members to enact Town legislation. And, as a future possibility, council may also wish to have administration update  the policy to ensure the most accurate and up to date policy is available for staff/employees to reference with respect to their conduct while employed with the Town of Amherstburg. (Lay-person translation….follow the rules you’ve established, council.)

I’ll be honest, I was very happy to hear Councillor Fryer make the motion to adopt option 2. (I’m a bit of a rule-follower myself, so I think this is a good thing. However, my happiness would soon be short-lived.) Councillor Meloche immediately started to question if somebody could complain that they had applied and weren’t appointed. (Nah, I doubt Eddie Francis will be calling to complain that council passed over his impressive resume for the Economic Development Committee….should be safe in the complaints department. ) There was much back and forth between the Clerk who patiently explained and reexplained the policies to council. At one point, Councillor Meloche wondered what would happen if council decided to reconsider and reappoint Mr Mailloux to the Drainage Board. (I almost screamed…..should I laugh, cry, scream, throw my arms up in frustration??? Why do I seem to feel I’m the only one in the room who understands these reports and policies? The entire point here was to “reconsider” and remove Mr. Mailloux and reappoint based on the policy! Not to “reconsider” and then break the rules right away again!!! But I digress…it appears the word “reconsider” was being used very loosely by some.)

So, just when I thought that council was finally doing right and following the rules, Councillor Fryer wanted to break them again. (ugh!) Yes, Councillor Fryer wanted to appoint 2 people instead of just one to the Economic Development Committee. This would bring that committee to a total of 9 people, instead of the 8 currently in the policy. Councillor Meloche wasn’t keen on this idea, but Councillors Courtney and Pouget were. Councillor Fryer named Mr. John Edwards and Mrs Marta Leardi to be appointed to the Economic Development Committee. He felt he could not decided between the two. (Still boggles my mind they let Eddie Francis slip away but here we were….) So, basically, council decided to apply the rules and policies and remove Mr. Mailloux and disband the Traffic Committee, yet in the very next breath, break the rules and add an extra to the Economic Development Committee. (If anyone can find a shred of logic here, I’m listening.)

INFORMATION REPORTS

As predicted, some on council started to speak and speak…..so I got up and left. It was about 9:00 and I was still baffled at how the meeting started out so extremely positive, yet somehow managed to spiral into a vortex of nonsense. Council still had to get through several small items and ANOTHER in-camera meeting to discuss :

Item A – ESA update – Section 239(2)(b)  I think ESA stands for Electrical Safety Authority or maybe it stands for Exiting Sanity in Amherstburg…..I don’t know.

Maybe the meeting is still going….maybe it’s not. What I do know is that Councillor of the Week goes to the A-Team’s robot. Yep, I nominate the robot, it sat quietly and listened rather than talk about itself all night….Well I did leave early so maybe the mysterious computer hacker attacked it like someone’s computer not so long ago….

 

 

 

In preparation for Monday February 27th Regular town council meeting

Monday night’s meeting appears to be business as usual. I scanned through the agenda (note, scanned some of it, read some of it, skipped some of it….so this is but a brief summary of the entire 302 page agenda). Here are the highlights…

DELEGATIONS Allan Parks – A-Team Robotics

This appears to be a local robotics team made of Amherstburg youth and lead by Mr. Parks. This local team competes worldwide on robotics projects. Looks like Mr. Parks is presenting the team to council to raise awareness about their group. What a great initiative!  (I wonder if they can create a robot to replace me to blog about the meetings? lol A robot won’t complain about the awful chairs!)

PRESENTATIONS Essex Powerlines Corporation Update & Youth in Community Fund Cheque Presentation  – Joe Barile, General Manager, Essex Powerlines Corporation

If I remember correctly, Essex Powerlines made a presentation to council last year. I think it’s an annual thing. If I recall it was relatively short, so hopefully, this year the trend will continue. 😉  I think we’re all well aware that hydro rates have gone up, up, up….. The presentation seems to address that the rates have skyrocketed. It appears that Essex Powerlines has created some preventive maintenance initiatives, so rather than wait for a power failure, problems are being addressed ahead of time. I’m no electrician, so some of the report I’m not really sure about, but I’ll listen and see what I can learn.

SWIFT Initiative – Dan Circelli & Bob Campbell – Connecting WindsorEssex

Okay, this one I’m really not sure about. It looks like a presentation about the internet and technology. It appears they want to bring higher speed internet to local communities. If so, this ought to be interesting…..watching which council members trip over each other to speak the most to appear the smartest…..To me, this means, I can blog more and faster lol. I wonder if it will help with mysterious computer hackers hacking into certain town computers? LOL

REPORT – PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND LEGISLATIVE SERVICES 11.1 Request for the Deferral of Development Charges – 182 Pickering Inc.

Here I saw the word “deferral” in the title and I thought, well, they’ll love this one! However, with a little more reading it appears to be a request for some service charges are being deferred LOL. Not quite the deferral that council is used to I think. This looks like it has to do with a new apartment building coming to Pickering Street.

Employee Code of Conduct / Committee Structure

This issue is going to be very interesting. Council has been offered 2 choices by administration and will have to choose one. Here’s the backstory. If you recall, a few months ago, council appointed a new member to the drainage board, Mr. Josh Mailloux. At the same meeting, they had also appointed a representative of the Chamber of Commerce to the Audit and Finance Commitee. All of the members of the committees in the Burg have to receive a final approval from council in order to sit on the committee. So, all appeared over and done with. However, since that time, it has been discovered that Mr Mailloux is a volunteer firefighter for Amherstburg, therefore he is considered a town employee (yes, even though it’s an on-call, part-time position). It also appears that prior to his appointment to the Drainage Board, he had served 7 years on the Committee of Adjustment, yet has been a firefighter for 8 years. (It looks like no one caught the conundrum earlier.) The big “problem”, it seems, is that town employees are not allowed to serve on committees. The committees are supposed to be made up of lay-people, just regular residents, who are not employed by the town. Then, just to add a bit more spice to the mix, it appears there are 2 more committees that have been “breaking the rules” so to speak. The Traffic Committee is comprised of town employees. It appears that each member has a vote. Also, there is a new committee on the horizon, the The Emergency Management Program Committee. It seems that council will also have to address this issue with this new committee. However, from what I understood, the EMPC (The Emergency Management Program Committee) falls within provincial regulations and provincial regulations trump municipal ones.

So, in a nutshell, here are council’s choices :

Option 1

Allow Mr. Mailloux to represent as a lay member on the Drainage Board as appointed on December 12, 2016 and pass a resolution waiving the requirement for the policy. (i.e. waive the rules.)  Allow the Traffic Committee to continue to operate as a committee of Council with 1 voting Council member and 5 voting staff members and pass a resolution waiving the requirement of the by-law, i.e., once again, waive the rules. Once the Emergency Management Program Committee is established by Council, once again, waive the rules.

And with all choice, there is consequence. I took this from the report : “Option 1 provides for the waiving of the Code of Conduct for Staff/Employees and this may come with some public criticism. The Code of Conduct for Staff/Employees “is designed to describe the manner in which employees should treat one another, Elected Officials and the general public they come into contact with in representing the Town of Amherstburg.” If Council is perceived to be waiving the employee code of conduct, regardless of the reason, it may come with some criticism.” (I think we’re all aware how some on council handle criticism...) So, if council chooses to waive the rules for this situation, they better be prepared to justify it and be prepared for any other Pandora’s box issues that could come forward. Sort of like how the fees get waived for some and not others….makes some question how decisions are made.

Option 2

Reconsider the appointment to the Drainage Board made on December 12, 2016 based on the requirements of the policy and appoint another applicant to the Board. Then, dissolve the Traffic Committee based on the requirements of the policy and allow traffic requests and complaints to filter through one administrative member, who will in turn consult with all necessary departments and provide a recommendation to Council by way of a report. And finally, once the Emergency Management Program Committee is established by Council, administration will bring a by-law to appoint the members to enact Town legislation. And, as a future possibility, council may also wish to have administration update  the policy to ensure the most accurate and up to date policy is available for staff/employees to reference with respect to their conduct while employed with the Town of Amherstburg.

Consequences for option 2. Taken from the report :”Option 2 provides consistency by maintaining the requirement of Policy C00-00, Section 7.0 and ensures that Council upholds the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Staff/Employees.” So, basically, a positive consequence in that council would be applying the rules in a consistent manner.

So, what will council do Monday night? Waive the rules or stick with the rules and fix the 3 affected committees?  Will let you know Monday  night.

Committee Appointments – Economic Development Advisory Committee

At a previous meeting, council asked administration to advertise for the opening created on the Economic Development Advisory Committee. It appears 9 people are interested. It also appears there is a vacancy on this same committee for a Chamber of Commerce representative. Will see who is named Monday night.

INFORMATION REPORTS

Normally, I don’t list the information reports. Really, they’re simply reports that council receives for information purposes only. However, lately, some members of council feel it necessary to speak at length on various items. Information reports are perfect situations to speak at length, really, kind of about nothing. (Some members of council are becoming experts at this…) Will see what they say, if anything, about any of these lol.

• 2016 Economic Development Committee Accomplishments
• Monthly Activity Report – APSB Meeting of December 6, 2016
• 2016 Annual Audit Planning Report
• February 9, 2017 – February 21, 2017 Accounts Payable

CONSENT CORRESPONDENCE

Once again, I usually don’t list or discuss consent correspondence. However, much like information reports, these are perfect situations for councillors to speak at length without saying much at all. Will see if anyone speaks up on these ones.

•  Marijuana Controls under Bill 178 – Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
• Opioid Addiction and Overdose – Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
• Creating an Invasive Plant Management Strategy  – Ontario Invasive Plant Council & ERCA Workshop
• Carbon Tax Credits for Municipalities
• Request to Establish Guidelines for Ward Boundary Reviews – Fred Eisenberger, Mayor of Hamilton
• Bill C-274 Update, Taxation on Family Business Transfers – Guy Caron, MP

Accounts payable

I usually look through the accounts payable to see what we paid out in legal fees as well as anything else that jumps out of interest. This week I noticed the following :

• legal fees totalled approximately $7,800 (pretty good!)
• ERCA , plan review fees, 2nd half of 2016 $5,110.00

The only reason I now look for what we’re paying to ERCA is because Councillor Fryer wanted to hand them $100,000 of our tax money, when we already give them plenty of our tax money! I know in my last blog, there had been monies given to ERCA too. Hopefully Councillor Fryer is reading this or other social media and has seen that most don’t seem to support handing over more of our tax money to ERCA, regardless of how wonderful and progressive their initiatives may be.

All in all, there should be some items of interest Monday night. And a great positive thing? No in-camera meeting scheduled! Let’s see who shows up prepared Monday night.

 

Monday February 13th Regular Town Council Meeting

Was Amherstburg town council feeling the Valentine’s Eve love tonight? Nope, not all. There was bickering, arguing, several laughs, snide comments, underhanded comments (oh, yes, I caught them all! but I can’t write them all lol….gotta keep the lawyers at bay right? ), recorded votes, motions for deferrals and all sorts of conflict. I guess the hearts, flowers and Cupid’s spirit did not hit town hall tonight. I left the meeting at 9:15 and it was still going. Maybe by now everyone is kissing and making up. Well, the few who remained anyway?

When I arrived for the meeting, Council was still in-camera. They finished up shortly before 6:00 and the meeting started shortly after 6:00.

They changed the order of the items on the agenda to accommodate a presentation and also the the 7 delegations. So, first up for a “short” presentation was :

2016 Annual Report & 2017 Budget – Richard Wyma, General Manager/Secretary-Treasurer, Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA)

Mr Wyma gave ERCA’s 2016 annual report to council along with the power point presentation. I did not take notes. I thought he would present and that would be that. Boy was I wrong. To me, I think we all know that ERCA is all about protecting the environment and species of animals, right? What’s to really say about that? Well, after the presentation the questions began. Councillor Pouget wanted to know about the 50 Million Tree Initiative. She also questioned Holiday Beach water quality. Councillor Meloche wanted to know about River Canard and drains and flooding. These issues created much back and forth. Councillor Courtney wanted to know about the partnership with the school boards. Councillor Fryer wanted to discuss phragmites. Mr. Wyman spoke about beetles. (Is my lack of enthusiasm showing?) I checked my watch. It was 6:45 with no end in sight. (I felt my eye lids getting heavy….very heavy….) Councillor Meloche had a question about the foundation money and operational costs.

So, since Mr Wyman was still there, they moved forward an Information Report.

13.5 Council Question – Essex Region Conservation Foundation Donation (ERCF)

This report had to do with the motion from a few weeks ago. Councillor Fryer had originally wanted to donate $100,000 to ERCF (a branch of ERCA), then changed the motion and asked administration to prepare a report instead. Tonight, when the discussion started, Councillor Fryer thanked administration for developing the report for Amherstburg’s residents (I beg to differ….we didn’t ask for the report, he did, but whatever...). He noted that other municipalities and entities had donated money to ERCA without being asked and started asking about any left over monies from the year-end budget. (Was he thinking of giving any overages to ERCA???) Councillor Lavigne seemed less than impressed. He pointed out that almost all of the money given to ERCA comes from the tax payers in one form or another. He did not like that ERCA seemed to say that the trails were not tax payer funded. Whether it’s the federal government or the municipal government handing it over, it’s still tax payer money. Councillor Lavigne even quoted from an article in the newspaper that ERCA had stated something about “no tax money used”…. Mr. Wyman suggested that was a misquote. There was some back and forth between Councillor Lavigne and Mr. Wyman and the general feeling I got in the gallery was that everyone seemed to agree more with Councillor Lavigne. (And that we really wanted to move on to another issue….this was dragging on and on and on and on….) Councillor Meloche asked some questions about the forecast surplus in Amherstburg’s budget. Councillor Fryer then said he agreed with Councillor Lavigne but that tax payer money is used to pay for many items (ex, Libro arena) and that it’s okay to use tax payer money for ERCA. Councillor Fryer then went on to say that ERCA’s levies are $15 per household. Finally, at 7PM, the ERCA presentation and discussion were over and we moved on to the delegations. So much for “short”. There was nothing “short”  about tonight, just a little foreshadowing for you….

Lloyd Sayer – Library Strike

Mr Sayer cancelled his delegation because the strike is finally over! 🙂  After an hour of ERCA discussion, I was getting envious that I hadn’t decided to stay home too LOL. I wonder if he was at home with his feet up in a La-Z-Boy recliner drinking a tea? (because that’s what I wished I were doing right then…)

Brian Beattie, AMA Sportsman Association – Request to Waive Fees for Annual Father’s Days Fishing Derby (Bob Meloche)

I believe it was Bill Richards who spoke on behalf of the organisation. He requested the fees to be waived for their event and they were. It was quick and painless.

John F. McDonald – Request to Waive Fees and Exemption from Noise By-law for Park House Music off the Back Porch

Mr McDonald asked for the fees to be waived for his event as well. There seemed to be some confusion if he needed an exemption for the noise by-law or not. After a few minutes, it was decided he needed both, so council waived the fees and the noise by-law for his event.

Ron Renaud, Waterbee Pools – Request for Minor Variance to the Sign By-law

Mr. Renaud was requesting council’s permission to erect a permanent sign on a property that he owns in Amherstburg to advertise his business that he runs from another location. Should this have been a big deal? Probably not, but it was. He felt that it was his sign, his land and his business. He explained that several years ago the town approached him to use his property to do something and he willingly worked with the town. He was asking now for the town to work with him. Councillor Fryer did not like the fact that there was no address on the proposed sign, just a logo with a web site. There was some back and forth about this between Councillor Fryer and Mr. Renaud. (Does Councillor Fryer think he knows more about running Mr. Renaud’s business than Mr. Renaud does?) Deputy Mayor DiPasquale asked administration to explain what the problem was with the situation. Administration explained that Mr Renaud needed several exemptions. The first was an exemption for the location. Because of the new by-law that council passed a few months ago, businesses can not advertise off site. Secondly, he needed an exemption for the size of the sign. The by-law is for a sign up to 5 feet high and his sign is 8 feet high. Councillor Pouget asked if this were the appropriate venue for his request and wondered if this were the appropriate committee. Administration explained that ONLY council can grant the exemptions. (I saw this fiasco coming 4 months ago when council passed such a restrictive by-law, but what do I know? Sorry, it doesn’t look like the buck can be passed on this one….) Councillor Meloche started questioning the by-law itself and this went back and forth many many times between him and administration.(I wondered if Mr Renaud was getting tired of standing there? They could have offered him a chair, but….well….maybe it was better to just stand….I guess I could have given up my seat cushion for a short while for him? It really was dragging on…) Councillor Pouget then talked about concerns that were brought up during the debate about distracted driving. Mr. Galvin, Director of Planning, Engineering and Legislative services (I probably got his title wrong, but I’m too tired to look it up and it’s long) explained that the issue of causing distracted driving was about situations were there is a proliferation of signs. He talked about the many facets of this situation…the need for businesses to advertise, the need to attract new business and the need for safety. (It seemed to me that council was trying to deflect responsibility for the by-law that they passed and the imminent issue that was now becoming before them…just my opinion….) Councillor Fryer then spoke that he felt that the town was focusing on economic development and that council should be helping business. (Normally, I would have been pleased to hear this…..but my wicked memory reminded me that Councillor Fryer was the one who made the motion to get rid of our Economic Development Officer two years ago or so….and the said Officer eventually left as I’m sure he knew it was a matter of time…) Anyway, Councillor Pouget then expressed that she can not support this sign, that it would be going backwards and opening up this issue to everybody to come forward with requests. (Isn’t that already happening? I’ve heard more neighbour disputes and mini-court cases at town council meetings than I thought possible…..everybody and their brother lines up with requests every two weeks. In fact, I heard one tonight. Somebody would like a vending machine with pop and water in the lobby. I think they’ll have to get a delegation for that lol)

Councillor Lavigne pointed out that ultimately council can do as they see fit and asked some more questions of Mr. Galvin. Councillor Courtney then said that Dr Petras had wanted a bigger sign and that council refused him. (More on that in a minute.) She also said she thinks that Mr. Renaud should put an address on his sign. Councillor Meloche said that council should be working with business and helping them grow and expand. Deputy Mayor DiPasquale said council worked hard on the by-law and that he’d have a hard time supporting this exemption. Councillor Fryer asked for a recorded vote. Mr. Renaud then said he was willing to change the size of his sign if council so wished, and he reiterated wanting to work with council. Councillor Courtney then had some back and forth again with administration. She didn’t seem to understand why he couldn’t erect the sign on his own property. (oh boy…..council, you created this mess with that by-law….time to be accountable for it…..) Then Councillor Lavigne jumped in and said that council did in fact approve Dr. Petras’  sign (which in fact they did, I remember.) He then said that Councillor Courtney made the motion. (That one I’m going to check on and will update tomorrow night…..my wicked memory tells me that Councillors Courtney, Fryer and Pouget voted against Dr. Petras’  sign, but I will check and get back to you once I have a chance to dig through some old notes…..maybe I’m wrong….it happens. Rarely. lol) Councillor Lavigne also pointed out that Dr Petras’  sign was a different situation, it was a sign for his business on the property where he does business. He felt that council needs to be able to adjust and that council waives fees for people, so why not grant the exemption? Councillor Pouget did not seem to like that and said council only waives fees for non-profits. Councillor Lavigne said they just waived the fees for the Sportsman’s Club and it’s a for-profit. Councillor Pouget then spoke about how that is what’s best for the community. (Phew!! hope you were able to follow that! It was tennis-match type of back and forth)

So the recorded vote, to allow the exemption for the location and size of the sign:

In support : Councillor Courtney, Councillor Fryer, Councillor Lavigne, Councillor Meloche, Mayor DiCarlo

Opposed : Councillor Pouget and Deputy Mayor DiPasquale

Editor’s note….as promised above, I went back through my old notes to find out what happened with the Petras Dental sign. It all happened at the October 26 2015 meeting (pre-blog days, but I still took notes.) Effectively, Councillor Courtney did make the motion to approve this sign, however, as is often the norm, there is a story behind every motion. So, Councillor Courtney made the motion, then the debate got heated. She then wanted to withdraw the motion but Mayor DiCarlo suggested to keep it on the table and allow council to vote on it otherwise it would leave the business owner, Dr Petras, hanging with nothing at all if council were to simply not make a motion. The motion stayed to allow the variance, however, the only ones to support the Dr Petras sign were Deputy Mayor DiPasquale, Councillor Lavigne, Councillor Meloche and Mayor DiCarlo. Those who voted against the sign variance were Councillors Courtney, Fryer and Pouget. 

Tony and Danielle Smith, The Garage Gym – Parking Concerns on Richmond Street

The following delegations were speaking to the issue that the Traffic Committee recommended a change to 4 parking spots on part of Richmond Street (north side of Richmond and east of Sandwich) to a 15 minute time limit.

Mr Smith spoke as the owner of the Garage Gym. He said that he pays $7500/year in taxes and lives in Amherstburg with his wife and 2 small children. He doesn’t own the building but he pays the taxes. He spoke of moving here 7 years ago and how everywhere was free parking around town. He was opposed to these new time-limit parking spots and said nobody had contacted him.

Mayor DiCarlo expressed that there was miscommunication about the timing and that the signs went up in error too quickly, but they have been removed.

Councillor Lavigne spoke as the chair of the Traffic Committee. He said the Committee is comprised of the Chief of Police, Fire Department, town’s lawyer, by-law departments etc. Everyone is very qualified. He said this issue has been going on for some time. Councillor Lavigne then said that someone did contact Mr Smith in the spring and that he had the emails to prove it. (uh-oh…..) He said that the town does in fact provide LOTS of free parking and that 2 blocks away, there are 95 parking spots available. Councillor Lavigne said he was absent from the meeting when the Traffic Committee approved this change. He wondered if he could make a motion to defer, but then decided to allow the others to speak instead. (Once an item is deferred, all discussion is done.) Councillor Pouget felt council wouldn’t be in this position if the signs hadn’t been put up then taken down. The Mayor quickly pointed out that usually the signs don’t go up quick enough and that it was done in error. (this got a good laugh from the gallery…..not too often things happen chop chop lol)

Ena Monteleone, Love It Yoga – Parking Concerns on Richmond Street

Ms Monteleone spoke of her concerns with these 4 time-limited parking spaces. She said her business was not notified of the up-coming changes. She pointed out that she’s a taxpayer and involved in various local initiatives as well as being a business owner.

Councillor Lavigne clarified that the town has a lot of committees that all follow the same by-laws. They advertise the meetings on the internet, in the newspaper etc. He said it would be virtually impossible to contact each individual. He pointed out that these parking spots belong to the entire town and this has been an ongoing issue since several of the businesses there are “in and out” type business. Councillor Pouget asked Ms Montoleone if she felt one or two spots would be sufficient. Ms Montoleone said she felt one would be sufficient.

Anthony R. Leardi on behalf of 2386554 Ontario Inc. – Parking Concerns on Richmond Street

Mr. Leardi spoke on behalf of the numbered company named above. He reiterated most of the same concerns as Mr Smith and Ms Monteleone. He provided pictures in his presentation. He attended the area on a Saturday from 10AM to 3PM and noted the spots remained empty. (This was while the 15 minute signs were still up, which have since come down.) He felt one spot only would be necessary with a 10AM to 6PM time-frame with a 15 minute limit.

Gerry Theriault, 1659592 Ontario Ltd., O/A G&L Holdings – Parking Concerns on Richmond Street

Mr. Theriault said that he had asked his solicitor to send a letter to the Traffic Committee to change two spots to 20 minute limits. The letter was sent November 1st and received. He attended the meeting on November 17th. He said he could read us the number of his numbered company but admitted that he is the owner of the building (the building with Blondie cleaners, the herbal store, Gumballs and Overalls etc.). He wants everyone to have the opportunity to shop when and where they would like. Mr. Theriault said he owned a store there 21 years ago while Wigles Hardware was still located in the other building. He pointed out that he would often have 3 or 4 customers in his store and Wigles would often have upwards of 10 or 12. There was no issue as people would come and go since it was a retail environment. He said the problem now seems to be that there is a new venue in play (the gym), which has changed the “come and go” style flow of retail businesses. He questioned why the Committee felt 4 spots were necessary instead of the 2 he had requested (never did get an answer on that.) He also noted the qualifications of the committee. He pointed out that both he and Mr. Leardi own and rent their buildings. He said that he has 5 businesses and 7 residents in his building. Mr. Theriault also pointed out that he pays tax too. He also pointed out that Friday is much busier than Saturdays in the retail business world and cited some data from sales at Blondie’s from a Friday versus a Saturday. He also pointed out that people, by nature, will walk to the gym, but not to a retail business. (I guess that makes sense lol) He explained that people that are carrying dry-cleaning in inclement weather, heavy jugs of water or toddlers need parking that is close and available. He said he was appealing to council’s better judgement. When Councilllor Pouget questioned him, he said he was fine with a happy medium of 2 spots.

At this point, council wasn’t sure what to do, so they took a 10 minute recess. (better than a deferral, right?)

When the meeting resumed, Councillor Lavigne made a motion to accept the minutes of the Traffic Committee but amend the item about the parking spots from 4 to 2 spots. The motion carried. Then Councillor Fryer wanted to know which 2 spots. Councillor Pouget wanted to know if the rest of items would follow through. Councillor Fryer asked what time frame would be in place for the 2 spots…….So, council took another run at it. Councillor Lavigne specified 2 spots for 15 minutes from 8AM-6PM. And it carried. Woo hoo! (This was like a never-ending ride on a Merry-go-round.…)

AMA Arena Demolition Award of Contract

The old arena building needs to be torn down. Councillor Pouget immediately made a motion to defer this item until council received a complete report with itemised RFP’s, a list of any complaints issues against the company (I didn’t get the whole motion but she wanted a detailed list of a whole bunch of information). Councillor Courtney seconded it. Remember, once there’s a motion to defer, the discussion is over, done, kaput.

In favour to defer : Councillors Courtney and Pouget, Deputy Mayor DiPasquale

Opposed : Councillors Lavigne, Fryer, Meloche. Mayor DiCarlo broke the tie.

So, on with the discussion. Councillor Fryer wanted to know why one successful company was named. The CAO explained that on page 2 of 4 in the report that each company was rated. He explained that this was an RFP (Request for Proposal) situation and not a tender. He said that the difference in price between Jones Group who was number 1 on the list was $41,000 less than the number 2 choice on the list. He felt that Jones Group met the criteria. Councillor Pouget said she wanted this all in writing. She felt that council didn’t know the criteria or what to do if there are any problems. She explained that the old arena is in a heavily populated area and said she felt the report was inadequate. She wanted more information, prices, a breakdown of how each company was evaluated. Councillor Lavigne said he was confused and he had never seen any type of breakdown like what she was referring to. There was much back and forth about the old St-Jean-Baptiste school demolition and that Councillor Pouget felt it was not demolished properly, according to the rules. There was more back and forth between Councillor Pouget and administration as she continued to express her opposition to this process.(I was starting to think that the old arena may just crumble down on it’s own at the rate council was going tonight….I wasn’t sure if they were ever going to make a decision about the demolition…..) Finally, Councillor Fryer made a motion to approve the RFP as is. Councillor Pouget asked for a recorded vote. There were a few more questions about the time frame etc. The CAO explained the process….that 4 members of the committee receive the RFP’s individually. They evaluate them separately and give points based on criteria. Once that’s done, they meet as a group and compile points, then the choices are ranked. Councillor Courtney asked asbestos, but the CAO said that was all factored in.(And the music plays on….the rides goes round and round....)

So, the vote, to approve the Jones Group to demolish the old arena according to the RFP.

Support: Deputy mayor DiPasquale, Councillors Fryer, Lavigne, Meloche, Mayor DiCarlo

Opposed : Councillor Courtney and Pouget

At this point, it was 9:15. Quite frankly, I had had enough, so I left. They still had quite a bit to cover but I felt I had seen the highlights. It couldn’t get any worse could it?

It was a long evening, lots of back and forth. Not going to deny fatigue has set in…..

Happy Valentine’s Day Amherstburg! Love wasn’t in the air tonight, but something was….

Oh and councillor of the week you ask? Well, it, once again goes to Mayor DiCarlo. He was perhaps one of the only ones who didn’t get in an argument with anybody tonight LOL. Maybe he was feeling the Valentine’s spirit?

 

 

In preparation for Monday February 13th Regular Town Council meeting

Well, only a 267 page agenda this week, after a 3 week reprieve between meetings. Not bad! The regular agenda is posted twice, with one with the word REVISED in huge capital letters. I wonder if I’m the only one who caught that? I guess I’ll find out Monday night if I hear “Well, this wasn’t on the agenda….or….this is the first I hear of this….or….I just got this this afternoon…..or why didn’t council hear about this before….” I could go on and on, but I won’t. There’s also a supplementary agenda with another delegation added and (shocker!) ANOTHER in-camera meeting schedule.

*Disclaimer, I only blog about the things that I think are interesting. I do not blog about every single item on the agenda. It would take hours and would be boring (and cause me to pull my hair out).* (The disclaimer is for anyone who thinks they can read my blog instead of the agenda and have all the necessary information…..wink wink)

I scrolled down to page 3 of the agenda and found 7 delegations!!! Count ’em. Seven! Then, an extra was added in on the supplementary agenda, so that now makes eight delegations speaking to council Monday night. I’m not going to lie….the delegations are often a very interesting part of the meeting. Lots of dynamics at play. Here they are according to the order on the agenda :

DELEGATIONS

Lloyd Sayer – Library Strike

According to the delegation report Mr. Sayer wants to address council about his “discontent as to the never ending library strike”. Well, thankfully, the strike is over, although it did happen just very recently. Maybe Mr. Sayer will decide to stay home? Maybe he’ll decide to come anyway and enjoy the meeting?

Brian Beattie, AMA Sportsman Association – Request to Waive Fees for Annual Father’s Days Fishing Derby (Bob Meloche)

It seems that Mr. Beattie is addressing council to request the fees be waived for the Annual Father’s Day Fishing Derby that the Sportsman’s Club wants to host. I wonder if council waived the fees last year? Council seems to waive fees for some and not others. There doesn’t seem to be any criteria about this, it’s pretty much random. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, why have fees if they’re just going to get waived at any given moment?

John F. McDonald – Request to Waive Fees and Exemption from Noise By-law for Park House Music off the Back Porch

It appears that Mr. McDonald will also be asking council to waive both the fees and noise by-law for the Park House “Music off the Back Porch” event. Should I repeat myself? Sure, why not? Some council members do it all the time LOL. So, again, why have fees if council will just waive them if they feel like it? Will the fees be waived for this event, the other event or both events? Tune in Monday night.

Ron Renaud, Waterbee Pools – Request for Minor Variance to the Sign By-law

Mr. Renaud had previously addressed council while they were “deliberating” the sign by-law. (Why did I put “deliberating” in quotations you ask? Because it was a done deal, mind made up long before it was voted on, in my opinion.) Anyway, he had expressed his concerns at the time about being able to advertise his business with a portable sign on another property he owns. With the new by-law that was passed, this is not allowed. No sign for you. Businesses are only allowed to use portable signs on the property where they do business, no off-site signs allowed. So, it appears he will be asking council for permission to erect a permanent sign (instead of a portable one) on another property he owns in order to advertise his business. I’m interested to see how this is received.

Tony and Danielle Smith, The Garage Gym – Parking Concerns on Richmond Street 36 Ena Monteleone, Love It Yoga – Parking Concerns on Richmond Street Anthony R. Leardi on behalf of 2386554 Ontario Inc. – Parking Concerns on Richmond Street

I will group these 3 delegations together since they will be addressing the same issue. It appears that they oppose a change that was approved by the Traffic Committee. It looks like the Traffic Committee changed the parking on part of Richmond Street (north side of Richmond and east of Sandwich) to a 15 minute time limit. I went and found the minutes of the Traffic Committee to try to understand the change. (Okay, I didn’t have to look too hard, the minutes were in the agenda LOL). Anyway, the minutes are posted below for your reading pleasure. I believe Councillor Lavigne sits on this Committee, so I would guess he’ll have some explainin’ to do Monday night.

Gerry Theriault, 1659592 Ontario Ltd., O/A G&L Holdings – Parking Concerns on Richmond Street

Mr. Theriault has been added on as a delegation on the supplementary agenda. It appears he will be speaking in support of the 15 minute time restriction for these parking spaces. Hmmmm…..should be interesting. Some on council seem to have a hard time when it comes to making decisions.

Here are the minutes I found for the Traffic Committee Meeting:

Traffic Committee Meeting Minutes – November 17, 2016

It is recommended that:

1. The Traffic Committee Minutes of November 17th, 2016, BE RECEIVED;

2. The first 4 parking spaces, on the north side of Richmond Street east of Sandwich Street, BE DESIGNATED as 15 minute parking;

3. White Crescent, Kentucky Avenue, and States Avenue, BE APPROVED to be signed as alternate monthly parking;

4. The request from St Joseph’s School for a speed reduction on County Road 8 adjacent to the school be sent to the County of Essex for their consideration;

5. The request for a reduced speed limit in and around the area of 5900 Concession 5 North BE DENIED;

6. No Parking signs BE ERECTED on the north side of Whelan Avenue and on the north side of McLellan Avenue;

7. The request for a 3 way stop at Knobb Hill Drive and Texas Road BE DENIED. (I wonder who asked for this?? LOL)

2016 Annual Report & 2017 Budget – Richard Wyma, General Manager/Secretary-Treasurer, Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA)

It appears that ERCA will be giving their annual report to council. As you may or may not be aware, Councillor Fryer was recently nominated as the chair of ERCA. One or two weeks prior to that announcement, he had asked council to donated $100,000 to ERCA to be used for the trails. Council had many questions and eventually Councillor Fryer rescinded his motion. It appears that ERCA will be also presenting their financial report to council. I wonder if they really need more of our money? I wonder if they’ll ask? I wonder if Councillor Fryer will declare a conflict?

AMA Arena Demolition Award of Contract

It appears final approval for the tender to tear down the old arena needs approval. So, it looks like the building will be going down….

Regulation 310/16 – Ranked Ballot Elections

This is kind of interesting, at least to me. Ranked ballots are something relatively new. From what I understand you can rank the people in order of your vote, for example, each of the 5 councillors you vote for could be ranked 1 through 5 in order of importance to you. Unfortunately, the possibility of this being in place for 2018 is too difficult due to time constraints. Basically, council is asked to approve the same old way for 2018, however, administration is recommending to monitor the use of the ranked system in other municipalities and report back to the next council in 2019. Also, the Clerk can continue to explore other  possibilities in order to increase access and participation in the next election. Very interesting concepts.

2017 Special Events Approval

The current council passed a by-law that ALL events must come before them for approval. Whether the event has happened regularly in town for years or whether it’s a first time event, they all must come forward. The good news? Well, it means more people in the gallery with me. I enjoy that. The bad news? They all sit there and sweat while council peruses these items and then they all leave immediately after their event is approved. Why? Well, I think I know why lol. The following is the list of events seeking approval at Monday night’s meeting:

•  Music Off the Back Porch
•  Holistic Fair
•  Ribs and Ragtime
•  J.Wimpy Volleyball Tournament
• Bob Meloche Father’s Day Kids Fishing Derby
• Canada Day Festival
• Woofa-Roo Pet Fest
• Culture Days

The report is lengthy with a synopsis of each event with the necessary information and any exemptions required. And when I say the necessary information is in there, I mean ALL of the necessary information. I hope everyone that’s paid to read the agenda takes the time to read through it so we can avoid mind boggling repetitive questions.

 Accounts Payable

As usual, I scrolled through the accounts payable to search for anything of interest and to check what we’re paying out in legal fees. Well, this was interesting…..we paid ERCA $17,301.80 for the 2017 levy that we owe them. (Is anyone interested in giving them another $100,00? Well, anyone other than Councillor Fryer, that is?) Then I kept scrolling and it appears we paid ERCA another $28,799.45 as part of the 2017 levy. Then, I kept scrolling and I saw a line that caught my interest…Vince Miceli, reimbursement for police clearance, $45.00.  What the heck is that? Who is Vince Miceli and why are we reimbursing him $45 for a police clearance? Yes, I realise it’s the same last name as the CAO, which is why it jumped out at me. May become an issue?????

Legal fees totalled around $6800.00 . Not bad.

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING

And, as seems to be the norm, at the end of the meeting, council will move in-camera to discuss :

ITEM A – Employment – Fire Department – Section 239(2)(b) – Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees; and, Section 239(2)(d) – Labour relations or employee negotiations.

ITEM B – Proposed Property Disposition – Section 239(2)(c) – A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.

Should be an interesting evening Monday. Will be back with my observations Monday night. Until then, have a great weekend!