Tonight, there was a planning meeting scheduled for 4:00. I arrived around 5:45 and the planning meeting was still going…..close to 6:00, I thought the planning meeting was over, so in I went to get a seat. Yikes! The council chambers was packed!!! (I actually thought what the heck did I miss on the regular agenda that would bring out this many people????) I asked around and it turned out it was a short break that was taken during the planning meeting and that the meeting was not over. So, when the planning meeting resumed, I stayed and listened. I usually don’t attend planning meetings (the regular meetings keep me busy enough), but I sat and listened. There was much distress about a property on the 6th Concession where the owner wants to build a dog kennel. It seems the property owner has already done a lot of modifications to his property (without permits also it seems) and well, the neighbours were upset. Very upset and rightfully so in my opinion. Anyway, I did not take notes, since I hadn’t read the report and I was only hearing the second portion of the meeting. That planning meeting didn’t finish until around 7:30. Then council took another short break.
**Councillor Courtney was absent tonight**
So, the regular meeting that was supposed to start at 6:00, started up around 7:40. It only lasted a little over an hour and was relatively uneventful. Most items passed with little to no discussion. I apologize in advance that this blog will be kind of boring and uneventful, because well, the meeting was kind of boring and uneventful for the most part.
Workplace Wellness Program Policy
This looks like a very interesting initiative. The policy is to help Town employees with their physical, mental and emotional well-being. The small cost is budgeted, and this was passed by council with no discussion. Initiatives for employee wellness are becoming more and more common for many employers. (Does anybody remember this council’s first budget?…..they cut the training expenses for staff members??? Not very pro-wellness, at least to me…..)
Purchase of iCity Payroll Time Entry and Human Resources Software
Modules from Aptean Software
The issue of outdated technology was addressed by council some time ago. It seems an RFP went out for some new software and the price is in. Administration is looking to get a budgeted expenditure approved for some updated technology for town hall. I think this is probably a very good thing. Councillor Meloche had a couple of questions about which part of the budget was funding this purchase, but it passed very quickly.
Libro Centre Pro Shop – New Tenant
Very good news here! There’s a new tenant for the Libro Centre Pro Shop. Council approved an agreement with Nantais Athletic Inc.
(Supplementary agenda item) Creek Road Reconstruction (Meloche Road to County Road 20) – Tender Results
I found this item on a supplementary agenda, so I did not read the report on Friday when I wrote the pre-meeting blog. There was quite a bit of discussion, but the long and short of it, council approved the contract for Creek Road Reconstruction to the tune of about $1.5 Million. I think this is good news! Great news really.
Condominium Conversion for 130 Pickering Drive
Condominium Conversion for 421 Dalhousie Street
I happened to attend a planning meeting a while back where they were discussing this (sort of by accident LOL Hmmmm……same thing happened tonight too LOL ). Anyway, at the planning meeting, a developer was explaining the proposal for the two properties above, to convert the buildings into condominium buildings.
From the report :
“Given the ownership of the subject lands and management structure, all units in the
existing apartment building will be maintained as rental units by the property owner. The reason for the condominium conversion request is for administrative, legal and financial reasons. Notwithstanding the proposed condominium conversion application. It is the intention of the Applicant to maintain the existing apartment units as rental. In addition, in the case of the subject condominium conversion application the Applicant will, if necessary, further guarantee that the existing building units be maintained as rental through an agreement registered on title. This agreement would guarantee that the apartment building units would be required to remain as rental properties for ten-year period. This rental guarantee for the ten-year period was offered with the intention to satisfy the concerns raised by administration.”
Basically, it seems that converting the buildings to condominiums creates a tax advantage for the owner. However, the owner is agreeing to keep the units as rental units for 10 years. Any town or city needs a balance, in my opinion, of houses, condominiums and rental apartments. Council will either have to approve or deny this proposal. I can see both sides of this issue….it’s a tough one.
Councillor Meloche questioned the impact that this conversion may have on the rental market. Rebecca Belanger, Manager of Planning and Development Services said this would not impact rental housing since the rentals would still be protected under the Landlord and Tenant Act. Councillor Pouget was concerned that the residents didn’t receive a letter about the conversions. There was some back and forth about the letters and types of letters sent and received. A lady from the company that is doing the building conversions spoke and answered some questions. Councillor Pouget pointed out that the town would be losing $176,000 to $250,000 (I think I got the numbers right, if not, I will edit) in revenue should the conversion be approved and she felt that that is a significant loss.
There was more discussion but finally both buildings were approved to be converted to condominium buildings.
Extension of Legal Services Retainer Agreements
From the report :
“In March 2015, the Town advertised a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Legal Services.
The three selected respondents were:
- McTague Law Firm LLP
- Mousseau Deluca McPherson Prince LLP
- Shibley Righton LLP
Council subsequently authorized the Mayor and Clerk to enter into a legal services
retainer agreement with each of the above mentioned firms.
The agreements are set to expire on July 21, 2018. While it is common for agreements
of this nature to have holdover or extension clauses, these agreements do not contain
said clauses.”
Because the election of a new council is fast approaching, administration is looking to extend the above agreements until March 2019. That will give them time to send out a new RFP for the new council to then decide what to do after March 2019.
This carried with no discussion.
Committee Member Appointment – Committee of Adjustment
A member of the Committee of Adjustment has resigned and the vacancy needs to be filled to finish out the term until November 2018. Mr. Josh Mailloux is no longer a paid member of the volunteer fire service in Amherstburg and he is the recommended candidate to fill the vacancy for the next few months.
This carried with no discussion.
Ombudsman Investigations – Closed Council and JPAC Meetings in
2017 and 2018
As reported recently in the news, council was found to be in violation of one of two in-camera council meetings and several JPAC meetings. It seems that a procedural bylaw will need to be amended to incorporate the Ombudsman’s recommendations. The Ombudsman’s report is included in the report and is a public document.
Councillor Fryer asked the Clerk to clarify that had these meetings happened in 2018 would they have been legal. The Clerk clarified that yes, there had been amendments to the act and that had these same meetings happened in-camera in 2018 that they would have been legal. Mark Galvin, Director, Planning, Development and Legislative Services pointed out that the meetings were done in good faith and that this was documented in the report. He felt that council had gone above and beyond by creating the JPAC committee to have more transparency and that if council hadn’t done that then there would not have been a violation. (Mr Galvin was the acting CAO tonight, since Mr Miceli was absent.)
2018 First Quarter Operating Variance as at March 31, 2018
This report outlines any variances through the various departments. Some departments are running slightly over budget and others are under budget. However, it will be the numbers at the end of the year that will show the final portrait.
The two departments that are under budget at the moment are:
- The Office of the CAO
- Corporate Services
The departments that are running over budget at the moment are :
- Fire Deparment
- Planning, Development & Legislative Services
- Parks, Facilities, Recreation and Culture
- Engineering & Public Works
- Police Department
Councillor Meloche had some questions regarding the timelines and the timeliness of the variance reports. He felt that council was at the end of the second quarter but was only now receiving first quarter reports. He was also questioning if there was a plan to get things back on track for those departments running over budget.
The Treasurer explained that the month of May is very fully preparing for audit reports and it tends to delay the first quarter report.
New Business
This happened at the end of the meeting but here’s where it got interesting. Councillor Pouget made a motion for administration to prepare a full report with a breakdown of new employees and the costs including benefits hired during the last 4 years. She requested the report be ready for the first meeting in September. She felt that it will be a whole new council next term and they would have the breakdown ready for them. Councillor Meloche wondered why the report would need to be ready for September if it was to be of use for the new council. Counillor Pouget felt this would help them be prepared for budget deliberations.
Councillor Lavigne felt that if if somebody is running for council they should be looking at budgets now and preparing now for the budget deliberations. He felt hesitant about the request for the report, since it would not provide a clear picture. He felt that the report would simply be used to make council look badly and that it could be used as a platform for campaigning. (hmmmmm……food for thought……who would want such a report????) Mr Galvin pointed out that all of this information is available on line and that anybody could sift through the information to find the context. (Absolutely!!! But then the person who wants this report would have to spend their own time digging through information to find what they want, rather than have someone else prepare it I guess……and I have a good guess who wants this information too……but I think this person will just to have to use their own time to find it all…..but I am assuming that somebody wants this information I guess……) At this point, Councillor Fryer said he agreed with Councillor Lavigne and he withdrew his second to the motion. No one else seconded the motion, so it died.
Then, that was it. The meeting was over in a little over an hour. Not too much grand standing tonight. It was actually a relatively boring meeting, much like this blog was a relatively boring blog. Sorry if I bored you, not much to work with tonight. Council will be lame duck as of Friday July 27th, nomination day. I’m not sure how lame duck meetings go, but I guess I’ll find out in August. Until then, As the Deadline Looms has come to the end of it’s season. The deadline is Friday for those who wish to run for council. The next meeting will be in August when every one will be in election or reelection mode.
For those of you wondering what I decided to do…..I’ll let you know on Friday. The deadline. 😉
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