Well, I was very much looking forward to tonight’s meeting of our new town council and I was not disappointed. Not in the least. It was nice to see a group of people behaving respectfully and keeping the meeting moving along at a reasonable pace.
**Mayor DiCarlo was absent tonight**
The meeting got off to a late start….around 6:15 or so, but moved along well and finished up around 7:40. Overall, that’s a great thing in my book. It was a full house to welcome the new council. It was wonderful to see so many people there tonight!
PRESENTATIONS
The Co-production of Public Trust in Amherstburg – Suzanne McMurphy, Ph.D., MSS, MLSP, University of Windsor
(small side note before I begin…..I love, love, love this kind of stuff….I love studies….I find them fascinating…..if this part is too detailed for you, just skim past to the rest…lol. Just wanted to warn you in advance.)
For those of you who were perhaps not aware, Dr. McMurphy had been doing a study about Public Trust and it involved the previous town council. She had video recorded almost all of the previous council’s meetings and I believe then analysed them as part of her thesis.
Dr. McMurphy began by thanking the previous council for allowing her to video tape all of the public meetings. She began with a focus of how the previous council was elected during a time of financial hardship when the public trust was quite low and how they worked to develop the public trust once again. As well, the town had a new mayor, a new CAO, a new Treasurer and several new members of council, which all affected the feelings of trust in the municipality.
The purpose of Dr McMurphy’s study included, among other things, how public trust develops with municipal government, identifying factors that influence public trust, determine sources of data for measuring public trust and examining how public knowledge and public trust interact.
The four “preliminary chapters” explored in Amherstburg were :
- Financial Times and Taxes
- Ditches, Drains and Infrastructure
- Community Well-Being
- Safety and Security
She gave a brief overview of her study. She made it clear that she only used public information that is in the public domain, for example, the municipal act, the agendas, bylaws, news sources, public media etc.
She explained the four types of trust that she had identified :
- Competency-based trust
- Beneficence-based trust
- Integrity-based trust
- Shared values based trust
She said that the focus of her presentation would be on what was done right by the previous council. (I’m going to guess that the good, the bad and the ugly will be in her full thesis document once it is ready…..and yes, I will read it in it’s entirety. Word for word. Can’t wait until it’s ready!)
She had a few key recommendations for our new council and here they are:
- Continue to promote co-production of services through committees and public forums (she mentioned that the public consultations for the budget for example were a very good initiative)
- Continue to inform the public of issues, decisions, priorities through reports, council agendas, decisions, etc.
- Discuss options, provide information, capacities and limitations in public council
meetings - Be visible—come to public events and engage public
- Promote your administrative staff and let them demonstrate their expertise in council meetings, reports, public engagement, etc.
Of interest, she felt that perhaps some of the reason that the police issue was a difficult issue is because it mixed together two types of trust….council’s trust VS Windsor Police Service’s trust. She felt that it would be something to watch going forward how the town will reestablish their trust and Windsor Police Service will reestablish theirs as well, but also separate them at the same time.
Councillor Simone asked about the possibility of televising meetings and if it would be beneficial. There was some back and forth about this and the costs. It was generally agreed that it would be beneficial, however, live streaming costs around $32,000 per year. The CAO said he could bring this item forward for consideration for the budget meetings. It had been considered by the previous council but it was not approved.
2018 Tax Write Offs and Rebates
This is a fairly lengthy report about rebates for charities, write-offs of unpaid taxes and vacant building rebates. This appears to be standard annual practice when it comes to book keeping.
This carried with no discussion.
2018 Tax Collector Roll Adjustment under Section 354 of the Municipal Act, 2001
This appears to have to do with the report above. It seems that the taxes on a specific property has been in arrears since 2003. It seems the owners had abandoned the property and eventually the house on the property had to be torn down with those costs being added to the outstanding tax arrears balance. It looks like the finance department is looking to try to continue to collect these fees, but it appears the outstanding amount will be written off.
This also carried with no discussion.
Development Charges Deferral Agreements 56
(As deferred from November 26, 2018)
The previous council deferred this item to the new council. Basically, this is an existing agreement with local home developers and builders that administration is recommending be continued. Council can defer payments for such things as roads and sewers until the builder/developer sells the house or properties. This helps the builder/developer with cash flow and helps encourage new construction in town. It seems to be a win-win relationship for both the town and the developer…..it encourages development and growth yet allows the developer not to have to pay big amounts up front before they get paid by their clients. On the other hand, there is a cost to the town for deferring these development fees and town administration is looking to “tweak” this system to lower some of the town’s costs.
Councillor Prue had questions and did not seem to be in favour of deferring the development charges for the builders. He spoke of the revenue lost to the town. The CAO explained that the town would be charging a new administration fee of $275 to defer the charges to help recoup some of the costs. There was some discussion about how long the development charges are deferred for, from 4 to 18 months. The CAO explained that this was something that the previous council supported, however, he would do whatever the current council wanted. (Either abolishing, changing, modifying or enacting the current recommendation.)
Councillor Courtney had some questions about what type of screening is done for the builders, for example, what type of financial review. He wants to stimulate growth in Amherstburg but also wants to ensure that the builder is obligated to pay the fees. Councillor Prue spoke again and felt that this was not a wise policy and that the developers are the winners and the town/taxpayers are the loser. (In my book, if a developer is creating development in my town, I’m not losing…..that’s a win-win…..)
Council then waived the rules of order to allow a local developer and home builder, Norbert Bolger, to speak. Mr Bolger explained that they were satisfied with the $275 administration fee in order to defer the development charges. He explained that the builder doesn’t get paid until the house is complete and this deferral helps the developer to continue to develop property. He cited an example of building a model home and that can sometimes take up to a year to build and sell it.
There was a little more back and forth and finally council decided to amend the motion (allow the deferral of development charges and charge the $275 administration fee) but to add $275 at each four month increment. This would help to offset costs to the town if the builder takes longer than 4 months to pay the development charges.
Continuing Operations Prior to 2019 Budget Approval
Ideally, council would have the budget in place for January 1st of the new year. However, with this being an election year, that is pretty much impossible. It looks like public consultation and council deliberations regarding the budget are set for early February. In the meantime, administration needs council’s permission to keep things rolling in town until the budget is officially passed in February. It looks like there is $60,000 needed to continue to fund 4 existing positions until such time as the budget is passed.
This carried with no discussion.
Roof Repair – Replacement at Town Hall, 271 Sandwich St. S (Supplementary agenda)
This item was on the supplementary agenda, so I was unable to read the report in advance. For anyone who’s been in town hall lately, you can’t help but notice the buckets in the lobby and the open portion of the ceiling above the buckets that is quite “leaky”.
This is what was in the recommendation :
Administration BE AUTHORIZED to proceed with the Roof Replacement of Area A at Town Hall at an upset limit of $72,744 as a capital over—expenditure to BE FUNDED from current taxation.
This carried with no discussion.
Urban Design Guidelines (UDG) – Draft Presented for Council and Public Review
Well, the draft for the Urban Design Guidelines is in! It looks like administration wants council to approve public consultation about the document in order to eventually finalize it. This is a REALLY lengthy document, that I glanced through. It looks to be pretty comprehensive in terms of harmonizing the appearances of structures in town.
There was quite a bit of discussion about this proposal for Urban Design guidelines. Councillor Prue wondered about a Heritage Conservation District for the downtown area. He feels that a Heritage Conservation District (HCD) exists in many towns in Ontario. He had several questions about how this could be established for Amherstburg.
In the end, Councillor Prue made a motion for the CAO to provide a cost item in the budget for a Heritage Conservation District to preserve the downtown buildings. This passed, which means it will be included in the upcoming budget. If it actually passes or not once the budget is presented, remains to be seen at budget time.
Seniors Advisory Committee and Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee
Town administration is looking to have council approve two new committees, a Seniors Advisory Committee and a Youth Advisory Committee as well.
Councillor Courtney felt that a youth advisory committee may interfere with other organizations already in place in Amherstburg (for example, the House of Shalom). He seemed to be concerned that a Youth Advisory Committee would take away steam from the House.
Administration explained that the Committee would be getting input from the House and working with them.
Councillor McArthur spoke and expressed that the Youth Advisory Committee would be working in tandem with other organizations. He expressed the need to find kids where they are and they’re not on Facebook or Talk the Burg. There would be a student from each school, a representative from the House of Shalom, from the robotics club etc. Councillor McArthur said that we need to talk to the youth.
This motion then carried. We will be getting a Seniors Advisory Committee and Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee!!! (In my books, this is a great thing!)
Local Board and Committee Appointments – 2018-2022 Term
It looks like there are eleven boards and committees in Amherstburg. Since a new term is beginning, administration needs to advertise the openings so that people can apply to work on any of the committees that may interest them.
Deputy Mayor Meloche and Ron Sutherland will be serving on the Essex County Library Board.
Councillor Courtney volunteered to sit on the ERCA board and there will be an advertisement in the River Town Times for a lay person to sit on the ERCA Board as well.
Amherstburg Police Services Board Appointments and Abolition (Supplementary Agenda)
This was a supplementary agenda item.
Basically, from what I could tell, since I was not able to read the full report ahead of time…..the APSB will be abolished on December 31 2018 since our policing will be managed by Windsor Police Services through a contract.
Deputy Mayor Meloche put his name forward to serve on the APSB with Mayor DiCarlo until the end of the year. The part that was “problematic” I guess was that a lay person also needed to be appointed. At first, a motion was made to advertise the position and appoint somebody. Councillor Prue felt it didn’t make sense to advertise a position for a mere 20 days (I tend to agree). He felt council could just ask from the audience for somebody to put their name forth. Councillor Courtney said he didn’t want to discuss the “dirty stuff” of the Integrity Commissioner’s report but felt we had had a chair for 3 years and that the APSB could just stay as is, with Mr Rozankovic as the chair.
Councillor Simone asked if abolishing the APSB would affect any human rights complaints. Chief Berthiaume said that he couldn’t really advise on the situation however, if there were any outstanding issues after the new year then the town would take them on.
Finally, after much discussion, it was decided that Mr Rozankovic would stay on the APSB (contrary to the Integrity Commissioner’s recommendations) until December 31 2018 when it will be abolished. Since the OCPC’s decision and with severance issues being resolved, any outstanding human rights issues will fall to the town in the new year.
New Business
Under new business, a Councillor can bring forth any issues and make motions.
Councillor Prue made a motion for administration to re-establish an Economic Development Committee, create terms of reference and advertise for positions etc. This carried. (Yay! I think this is a great thing!)
Councillor Courtney then made a motion about re-establishing a Finance Committee, create the terms of reference and advertise positions etc. This carried too. (Personally, I’m luke warm on this one……we already have a lot of committees…..financially, things have turned around, things are good and this may end up being redundant, but whatever…..)
Councillor Courtney then made another motion about getting a full report for council regarding St. Bernard’s school and the remaining Centennial Park land. He felt that the meetings had been in-camera and that council should have this information. (I’d agree with this one…..just interjecting my opinion again, because, well I can…lol).
Councillor Courtney then made another motion about administration preparing a full report regarding any receivables from Amherstburg Festival Corporation. Councillor Prue seconded it and then asked what this motion was about. Councillor Courtney felt that they are a new council and that they have to finish up any unfinished issues. He felt that this was public information for services rendered, it’s not forgotten and will get resolved.
The meeting finished up around 7:40, which was fantastic! I liked that the meeting ran quickly and efficiently. Overall, I was impressed with our new council and the direction that they seem to want to go and I think they’re off to a great start!
Then council went off in-camera to talk about:
SPECIAL IN-CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING
(As deferred from November 26, 2018)
That Council move into an In-Camera Meeting of Council directly following
Regular session pursuant to Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001, as
amended, for the following reasons:
Item A – Land Lease, Vehicle Parking, Car Dealerships, Sandwich St. S –
Section 239(2)(c) – A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by
the municipality or local board.
Item B – Storm Sewer Easement; 1632/1640 Park Avenue – Section 239(2)(c) –
A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or
local board.
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