Well, another busy weekend ahead, so I thought I’d take a read of the agenda tonight to prepare for Monday night’s meeting. It’s a fairly big one, 395 pages…..here are the highlights as I see them :
DELEGATIONS
Perch Pit – Bill Deslippe
I skimmed through a very impressive power point presentation. It seems that Mr Deslippe is seeking relief from a bylaw in order to be able to operate a food truck behind the Water Front Ice Cream Store. As it stands, the town has a bylaw that a food truck can not operate within 200 meters of an existing restaurant. Council will have to decide…..
PRESENTATIONS
Legion Noise Study Preliminary Findings – Colin Novak, Akoustik Engineering Ltd.
For this portion of the agenda, it says “presentation to follow”. So, I am unable to skim through the presentation to prepare. My ears will be wide open (haha pun intended) to hear about the noise study.
REPORTS – PARKS, FACILITIES, RECREATION AND CULTURE
Road Closures/Business Temporary Encroachments – Amherstburg Uncommon Festival
Amherstburg is gearing up for the Uncommon Festival scheduled for September 27, 28 and 29th. Looks like council will be asked to exempt some bylaws to allow for street closures and a few extended patios. 🙂
Beaudoin Park Improvements Request for Proposals (RFP) Results
This item says “report to follow”, so I am unable to skim the report at this time. I’ll have to listen closely Monday to see what types of prices have come in for the Beaudoin Park Improvements.
REPORTS – ENGINEERING AND PUBLIC WORKS
Culvert No. 3 – Collison Drain and Culvert No. 59 – Hamel Bezaire Drain – Engineering Services Request for Proposals (RFP) Results
Looks like the Request for Proposal results are in for some culvert and drain work. I don’t know where this particular culvert or drain is……but regardless, the prices are about $11,000 over budget and $1,100 over budget respectively.
Financial Plan for the Town of Amherstburg’s Municipal Drinking Water System
It looks like the town is legally obligated to have a financial plan for our water drinking system. The plan is fairly lengthy, lots of columns of numbers, but ultimately, I believe that council members can be held personally liable should anything happen to the drinking water, so I foresee all the hands raising high in the air and being in favour of the plan. (I can’t really blame them…..)
REPORTS – CAO’s OFFICE
Pregnancy and Parental Leave for Members of Council
Basically, it seems there is no policy for members of council to take a pregnancy or parental leave. I took this from the report :
“The attached policy brings the Town into compliance with the amendments to the
Municipal Act with respect to pregnancy and parental leaves for Council members and
provides a notification form for use by a member of Council to notify the Town when a
member chooses to exercise their right to a pregnancy or parental leave.” It looks like a member of council would be entitled to 20 weeks of leave for a pregnancy or parental leave.
Drainage Board Appointment
It seems that the drainage board is down to 4 members and needs 5. Council will have to appoint one new member to fill the vacancy.
INFORMATION REPORTS
At every meeting, council receives some reports that are considered “information reports”. Generally, council receives them but they are always free to take action should they chose to. I only sometimes write a commentary about an information report if there is one or two that I find interesting or that it stands out for some reason. I found a couple of them interesting this week.
2019 Rotary Rib Fest relocation
The Rib Fest was held at it’s new location, the Libro Centre, in July. Council had passed the following motions in regards to the Rib Fest :
“1.The request BE SUPPORTED for the 2019 Rib Fest to be held at the Libro Centre with property upgrades capped at $20,000,
2. The cost BE ABSORBED within the 2019 approved budget in principle; and,
3. Administration BE DIRECTED to bring back a report with all associated costs
pertaining to the upgrades.”
The report outlines the direct costs incurred by the town and the indirect costs. The biggest cost was the purchase of the fencing for the event, however, the fences can now be used for other town events going forward. Overall, it sounds like the event was a success, although the weather did negatively affect attendance for this year. The venue seems to have been successful and I look forward to next year’s event!
Unfinished Business Item – June 24, 2019
This caught my eye too. This goes back to a question regarding the Audit and Finance Committee. Just a bit of background, the previous council had implemented an Audit and Finance Committee, then abolished it about 2 years later. This new council implemented an Audit and Finance Committee once again. Council had made the following motion :
“That Terms of Reference dated January 12, 2015, BE USED in the interim as the
Terms of Reference for the current term of the Audit Advisory Committee; and,
Administration BE DIRECTED to provide a report to Council regarding the cost of
resources required if an expanded Terms of Reference and mandate for the Audit
Advisory Committee are established.”
So it seems that this report has to do with council wanting to expand the terms of reference for the Audit and Finance Committee. This committee, like other committees, is formed of volunteers. In this instance, the volunteers do have to have certain financial qualifications to sit on this committee. Further, if you recall, the Deloitte report that came about in 2014 because of the financial mess that we were in at the time. The years from 2009 to 2013 were studied to come forward with recommendations to better our financial picture and future.
From this report :
“Deloitte advised that the Town needed to build upon the foundation of financial management that commenced in late 2013 and 2014 by investing further in the following corrective actions:
•Address resourcing shortages in Finance, fill open positions immediately and gain
external assistance as required;
•Focus on debt repayment and getting financial ratios in line with leading practices;
•Limit capital expenditures where possible to minimize impact on debt load;
•Undertake cost reduction initiatives, specifically around vendor management and
external spend;
•Seek opportunities to increase revenue generation through development charges,
water and tax levies, while staying within benchmarks of peer municipalities;
•Seek opportunities to raise capital through sale of non-core assets; and
•Look for shared service opportunities with neighbouring municipalities”
On April 26, 2016 council approved a motion that all Deloitte recommendations had been implemented. The establishment of an Audit and Finance Committee was a Deloitte recommendation that the previous council put in place. Also, (good news!) the town has received clean audit reports from KPMG since 2014…..I think we just heard all about the last clean audit report at the last meeting!
“The establishment of an Audit/Finance Committee was to assist Council in light of the recommendations of the Deloitte report. As per the Terms of Reference, the purpose of the committee was approved as follows:
The role of the Audit and Finance Advisory Committee is to advise Council on matters related to the audited financial statements and financial reporting to council.” The specific purposes and functions of the committee are outlined in the report, but there are too many for me to list.
To me, it looks like the Audit and Finance Committee is looking for more “power” and that council is looking into giving it to them??? The more I’m reading in this report, the more concerned I’m getting. It seems to me that council is looking at allowing the committee to direct staff should the terms of reference be changed…………….oh boy. Basically, to change the structure and powers from an advisory committee to one with the power to direct staff, (like an auditor general?) comes at a cost……not only the cost of changing the reporting structure at town hall, but a financial cost too. It almost seems that the Audit and Finance Advisory Committee is seeking to be “the auditor” too (like the town has to have done annually anyway……remember the glowing audit report from KPMG last month?)
“In order to provide the resources required to expand the role of the AuAC, as suggested in the report, Council must clearly define the scope and independence of the committee. Based on the dialogue and comments received by members appointed to the AuAC by Council and in order for them to add value to the community it is recommended that the Committee be independent. The independence will allow them to move forward in examining Administrative recommendations and decisions of Council in a pre-emptive nature. In order for this to occur there should be an additional staff resource reporting to the AuAC. This can be achieved by hiring a dedicated staff member performing tasks or through a professional services contract as directed by the AuAC. It is estimated that the cost to perform such a function will be in the range of $50,000 – $180,000. Contracted services will vary depending on assignments given and staff costs will fluctuate based on the decision of Council.”
OR……council, the ones elected and accountable to make the decisions can get to work, get the training they need and start doing their work. The Audit and Finance Committee is made up of volunteers. Their role is to advise council (like other committees) and then council is paid to make the decision and be held accountable for it.
“Council is the duly elected body by residents to govern and make decisions based on
information and recommendations presented to Council for decision. It is the responsibility of members of Council, as was identified in the Deloitte report, to gain the financial understanding to make informed decisions. Ultimately the performance of Council will be measured by residents at every election. It is Council that is held accountable and responsible to the ratepayers and not the AuAC. For these reasons, what Council should consider is additional training for itself from municipal partners such as AMO, MFOA and AMCTO which provide Municipal Councillors with the skills and training they need in their roles as community leaders, team players, communicators, budget experts, strategists, planners and much more.”
My thoughts on this???? WOW! If any members of council feel they are unable to make the financial decisions required for our town, please don’t seek re-election. Seven people were duly elected to represent us and to make the decisions for us, the big ones and the small ones. Getting some opinions and advice is fine, but trying to shift the power and responsibility to an un-elected group is problematic to me……very problematic. Hopefully council just accepts this report and moves on, gets some training if required and is prepared to read, understand and make decisions about the budget that they’ll be presented with in November.
And on that note, my mind is blown! I’ll be listening intently Monday night.
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