Monday November 25th regular town council meeting

Well, tonight’s meeting wrapped up in about an hour and a half. It was fairly uneventful and boring at times, which in an odd way, was refreshing even though it does not give me a lot to write about. LOL

**Councillor McArthur was absent tonight.**

I had forgotten until late last night that there was an open microphone session at 5:00 today. When I arrived, that was still going, but it finished up about 5:40.

Before the meeting started, Councillor Prue came to near where I was sitting to talk to a member of administration. When they were finished speaking, he asked me if everything was smoothed over regarding his comments about bloggers at the last meeting. Councillor Prue told me that he was most definitely not talking about me when he made those comments. I thanked him for allowing me to copy and paste his email into a blog in order to clear everything up and get the facts out there. He said he cleared it up with the person involved and I got the impression that the issue stemmed from emails and not blogs. Unfortunately, a few people in town took to their keyboards and got out their tar and feathers and were ready to bring me to town square based on Councillor Prue’s comments two weeks ago. Anyway, for those who haven’t had a chance to read it, here’s the blog, setting out all the facts :

https://amherstburg2.wordpress.com/2019/11/22/councillor-prue-clears-the-air/

If you were one of the people with the tar and feathers, I hope you take a read, if you haven’t already. 🙂

Long Service Award Recognition 2019

There are a number of employees celebrating 10 year, 15 year, 20 year, 30 year and 35 year milestones with the town. Each person was acknowledged. Those that were not in attendance were listed. Those that were in attendance received an award and had a short biography read about their service to the town of Amherstburg. Congratulations to all!!!!!

Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment for Secondary Dwelling Units

I had only briefly skimmed through this lengthy report on the weekend. Councillor Prue inquired about on street parking for secondary dwelling units, especially if the unit is downtown. Mr Galvin from administration explained that there will be a traffic study coming down the road especially in regards to Duffy’s and that the new development will change traffic patterns.

Then Councillor Prue inquired about fire escapes. It seems that according to the Ontario Building Code, a wood fire escape is acceptable. He felt that something should be done to make it safer, i.e. a metal fire escape. The Fire Chief agreed that it doesn’t look to make sense but that municipal bylaws are superseded by provincial laws. He said that the builders are bound by the Ontario Building Code. It seems that the town will reach out to the builders to see if there is anything that can be done, however, ultimately, nothing above and beyond the building code is required.

Employee Recognition and Expressions of Care Policy

At the moment, the town has a policy regarding retirement recognition, long service awards and expressions of care to recognize town employees throughout their careers up to retirement. The policies were updated in 2009, 2011 and 2013, so it is time to update the policy again since it is beyond it’s 5 year time frame. As well, the town recognizes fire department employees in a separate annual banquet and awards system.

It looks like administration is combining the two policies into one in order to be able to recognize the part-time staff as well, under the same policy. (Most of the town’s firefighters are part-time volunteer firefighters.) The updated policy was included with the agenda.

This carried with no discussion.

Health and Safety Policy Including the Health and Safety Policy Statement

It appears that this policy needs review annually. The updated policy was included with the agenda.

This carried with no discussion.

Workplace Violence, Harassment and Discrimination Prevention Policy

It looks like this is a new policy to replace an older policy that had been put in place. Some language has been removed and some new language was added. There are a few things that were added to this policy, but of note, there has been wording added to cover cyber bullying, cyber harassment and cyber stalking. The policy is included with the report, but I found this note worthy :

“Cyber Bullying, Cyber Harassment, Cyber Stalking: refers to tormenting, threatening,
intimidating, harassing, humiliating, actions against a person using an electronic medium such as the internet, a cell phone, interactive and/or digital technology.”

“Zero Tolerance for the purpose of this policy means a very strict, uncompromising
enforcement of rules.”

This new policy carried with no discussion.

Site Plan Control Development Agreement-15 Renaud Street

This looks to be an agreement for a new plaza that will be built on Renaud Street. Councillor Prue wondered if the town could insist to have something other than a wooden fire escape since this property is in an industrial zone. Mr Galvin said that the plans comply with the building code but that administration could reach out and have a conversation with the developer. The CAO pointed out that there is concrete topping in the plans for fire protection but that he could talk to the developer to see what could be done. Councillor Prue felt that he would like them to try to use moral suasion. This item then carried.

Accountability and Transparency Policy Review

And another policy on the agenda tonight. Seems this policy has been around for a few years and also needs some updating. From the report :

“Continuing its role as a leader in the areas of accountability and transparency, the Town
of Amherstburg has committed to the enhancement of open communication through a larger strategy designed to review, create or adapt policy to be even more responsive to
the public.”

This carried with no discussion.

Council-Staff Relations Policy

And, another policy for review! It seems that council is obligated to adopt a policy regarding council-staff relations. From the report :

“On March 1, 2019, the Municipal Act was amended to include section 270 (1) 2.1,
namely:
A municipality shall adopt and maintain policies with respect to the following
matters:
2.1 The relationship between members of council and the officers and
employees of the municipality.
The Town does not currently have a policy that meets this legislative requirement.”

I found this part of the new policy very interesting:

“Respect For Time
Priorities and timelines must be respected by all members of Council and staff. It is expected that all participants will be well prepared for meetings and will prioritize appropriately, according to direction given by management or Council. Staff will spend time on significant projects only once direction is given by Council to do so.”

Councillor Simone had two quick questions for clarification and then this item carried. Looks like council was already following this new policy tonight, since we were witnessing an effective and efficient meeting……

Municipal Modernization Program (supplementary agenda)

This looks to be an opportunity for a grant. From the report :

“On November 1, 2019, the Honourable Steven Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs
and Housing advised that Intake 1 of the Municipal Modernization Program would be
available to Municipalities. Under this program the Province is making $125 million
available through 2022-2023 to help small municipalities (under 100,000 population)
to conduct new service delivery reviews.

Municipalities are operating in a world that is changing at an unprecedented pace.
Citizen expectations with respect to service levels continue to rise, areas of
municipal responsibility are increasing, demographics are shifting, population is
decreasing, infrastructure is aging, and the competition for economic development is
growing. This is all occurring and ratepayers are demanding that municipalities limit
tax rate increases to unsustainable levels in light of the service level demands. This
was prominent in the discussions during the 2020 budget deliberations and the
public budget information meeting held at the Libro Centre.
The recently announced Municipal Modernization Program established by the
Province, provides the Town an opportunity to conduct a service delivery review by
an independent third party to identify opportunities for the Town of Amherstburg to
recognize savings and efficiencies. The outcome from such a review would benefit
the taxpayers and may assist in reducing or containing cost pressures faced by the
municipality.”

The grant application must be submitted by early December if council is interested in seeking efficiencies. The report goes on to outline the importance of municipalities working together. The provincial government recently announced that there would be no forced amalgamations however, with shared services among municipalities, that can sometimes drive savings. (Look at how Amherstburg was able to save $565,000 with the policing contract and a chunk of that savings was used to reduce our tax rate.)

Deputy Mayor Meloche said he understands modernizing or regionalisation and felt the grant money would be revenue neutral. The CAO went on to explain that provincial funding to municipalities is not guaranteed and that the province is saying it’s not sustainable. It seems that towns with populations under 100,000 get seed money from the government for various services. The expectation is that once this grant money is given, the study would be done and the town would report back to the province by June 30th 2020.

Councillor Prue felt this was deja vu. He said that the province has said they’re not looking at amalgamation but it seems that they are. He saw the same thing happen in the area in Toronto where he used to be Mayor. Councillor Prue went on to say that they presented their findings and that the government felt that it proved they should be amalgamated at the time. He felt that he was of two minds on this issue. One, there was a risk of moving ahead with this because of the possible end result however, it the town doesn’t participate, then it would seem that they didn’t cooperate. Councillor Prue felt it was very important to keep our autonomy regarding planning.

Deputy Mayor Meloche agreed and felt that the seed for amalgamation was planted long ago. He cited the EMS service and the talk of regional policing all over the province. He felt it was important to try to maintain our autonomy as well.

The CAO pointed out that the provincial government wants the municipalities to find savings on their own and that we could be at risk of losing $1.4 Million in funding from the province.

Councillor Courtney and Councillor Renaud joined in the discussion, but ultimately council decided to take the grant money and get the study done to achieve cost savings and efficiencies.

Unfinished Business

Councillor Prue said that at the end of the budget deliberations he said he had a number of motions regarding the budget and would like a staff report. He had nine items included in the motion (I wrote these out by hand, so they are not exact words, but I think I got the gist of them.)

1. Include the previous year’s actuals
2. consolidated reserves included
3. a bench mark comparison for each $100,000 of house value, not the value of the average house
4. analysis by type, aligning with audit
5. reserve analysis, amounts both up and down
6. target percentage to fund reserves
7. black and red font instead of brackets
8. public consultation meeting chaired by a member of council to avoid rowdyism and run more like a council meeting, with time limits for speakers
9. input from council prior to budget presentation

Deputy Mayor Meloche felt that the targeted percentages for reserves was already addressed in the current budget document. The Treasurer explained that in the 2020 work plan for the Finance Department, they would be looking at the reserve policies, structures and best practices. Mayor DiCarlo pointed out that Councillor Prue was just asking administration to review these items. Councillor Prue said that 7 of the 9 recommendations came from the Audit and Finance Committee.

The Deputy Mayor pointed out that using red and black ink could be very problematic, since colour cartridges are costly and that when photocopies are made, it would all be in black. (I agree wholeheartedly……printing hundreds of copies in colour would be very costly……the brackets work just fine in my opinion…..)

Councillor Simone asked about having an open microphone pre-meeting with the residents in May (I think that’s what she said??). As well, she asked about providing a copy of the budget to residents with no fee. Councillor Prue considered these friendly amendments, so now there were eleven recommendations for administration to look into for the report.

New Business

Several small items were brought up. Deputy Mayor Meloche congratulated all involved this past weekend with the Santa Clause parade. He enjoyed seeing all of the commercial business all lit up and he enjoyed riding in the “Mayormobile”. LOL He also commended all those involved with the house tours. He thanked those who opened their homes and those who decorated them. They were both beautiful events! (We have great things happening in Amherstburg! – I wonder how many members of council participated in these two events????)

Councillor Prue asked about a speed limit sign being installed on Brock Street. It seems it will be up this week.

Councillor Prue also inquired about a Windsor Star article from November 19th. The article was about a simple green building to be built for affordable assisted living for seniors. He asked about the possible location of the building, since the CAO was quoted in the article. The CAO said that it would be brought to council in the new year and that he was not at liberty to say where the building may be located. (This brought out a few snickers from the conspiracy theorists in the gallery……sigh……I’m not sure what the big deal is about where the building will be, just so long as we get the building…...)

I went back and found the article and found this : “A site has been tentatively selected, but not likely to be made public pending council’s final approval of the plan early in the new year, said Amherstburg CAO John Miceli on Tuesday.” I wonder why Councillor Prue would inquire about the location then? And by the way, I fixed a small typo in the Windsor Star quote, it said “CEO John Miceli”, but he is the town’s CAO.

Councillor Simone had some questions regarding the street sweeping schedule. She also had a question regarding Beaudoin Park getting funds and wondered if the plans were on schedule. The CAO said that a report from Mr Roberts will be forthcoming at the next council meeting.

And then, off they went in-camera :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING
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 reason:
Item A – Integrity Services – Section 239(2)(k) – A position, plan, procedure, criteria or
instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board.

And it all wrapped up about 7:30. Overall, a pleasant, if at times boring, meeting. See you in two weeks Amherstburg!

 

 

In preparation for Monday November 25th regular town council meeting

So this week’s agenda is only 344 pages and a 4 page supplementary agenda. Not too bad. Here are the highlights as I see ’em:

Employee Recognition and Expressions of Care Policy

At the moment, the town has a policy regarding retirement recognition, long service awards and expressions of care to recognize town employees throughout their careers up to retirement. The policies were updated in 2009, 2011 and 2013, so it is time to update the policy again since it is beyond it’s 5 year time frame. As well, the town recognizes fire department employees in a separate annual banquet and awards system.

It looks like administration is combining the two policies into one in order to be able to recognize the part-time staff as well, under the same policy. (Most of the town’s firefighters are part-time volunteer firefighters.) The updated policy is included with the agenda.

Health and Safety Policy Including the Health and Safety Policy Statement

It appears that this policy needs review annually. The updated policy is included with the agenda.

Long Service Award Recognition 2019

There are a number of employees celebrating 10 year, 15 year, 20 year, 30 year and 35 year milestones with the town. They are listed for recognition for their long time service. Congratulations to all!

Workplace Violence, Harassment and Discrimination Prevention Policy

It looks like this is a new policy to replace an older policy that had been put in place. Some language has been removed and some new language was added. There are a few things that were added to this policy, but of note, there has been wording added to cover cyber bullying, cyber harassment and cyber stalking. The policy is included with the report, but I found this note worthy :

“Cyber Bullying, Cyber Harassment, Cyber Stalking: refers to tormenting, threatening,
intimidating, harassing, humiliating, actions against a person using an electronic medium such as the internet, a cell phone, interactive and/or digital technology.”

“Zero Tolerance for the purpose of this policy means a very strict, uncompromising
enforcement of rules.”

Site Plan Control Development Agreement-15 Renaud Street

This looks to be an agreement for a new plaza that will be built on Renaud Street. Awesome!

Accountability and Transparency Policy Review

And another policy on the agenda tonight. Seems this policy has been around for a few years and also needs some updating. From the report :

“Continuing its role as a leader in the areas of accountability and transparency, the Town
of Amherstburg has committed to the enhancement of open communication through a larger strategy designed to review, create or adapt policy to be even more responsive to
the public.”

As someone who has sat through countless council meetings, I firmly believe that accountability and transparency are extremely important. Again, the updated policy is included with the report.

Council-Staff Relations Policy

And, another policy for review! It seems that council is obligated to adopt a policy regarding council-staff relations. From the report :

“On March 1, 2019, the Municipal Act was amended to include section 270 (1) 2.1,
namely:
A municipality shall adopt and maintain policies with respect to the following
matters:
2.1 The relationship between members of council and the officers and
employees of the municipality.
The Town does not currently have a policy that meets this legislative requirement.”

I found this part of the new policy very interesting:

“Respect For Time
Priorities and timelines must be respected by all members of Council and staff. It is expected that all participants will be well prepared for meetings and will prioritize appropriately, according to direction given by management or Council. Staff will spend time on significant projects only once direction is given by Council to do so.”

Hmmmmm…….very interesting…..properly managing time creates for efficiency and effective in my opinion……so, when councillors show up at meetings with a huge list of questions that could have been easily asked and answered ahead of time…..is that respecting people’s time? Is it demonstrating that they’re prepared or ill-prepared?

Municipal Modernization Program (supplementary agenda)

This looks to be an opportunity for a grant. From the report :

“On November 1, 2019, the Honourable Steven Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs
and Housing advised that Intake 1 of the Municipal Modernization Program would be
available to Municipalities. Under this program the Province is making $125 million
available through 2022-2023 to help small municipalities (under 100,000 population)
to conduct new service delivery reviews.

Municipalities are operating in a world that is changing at an unprecedented pace.
Citizen expectations with respect to service levels continue to rise, areas of
municipal responsibility are increasing, demographics are shifting, population is
decreasing, infrastructure is aging, and the competition for economic development is
growing. This is all occurring and ratepayers are demanding that municipalities limit
tax rate increases to unsustainable levels in light of the service level demands. This
was prominent in the discussions during the 2020 budget deliberations and the
public budget information meeting held at the Libro Centre.
The recently announced Municipal Modernization Program established by the
Province, provides the Town an opportunity to conduct a service delivery review by
an independent third party to identify opportunities for the Town of Amherstburg to
recognize savings and efficiencies. The outcome from such a review would benefit
the taxpayers and may assist in reducing or containing cost pressures faced by the
municipality.”

The grant application must be submitted by early December if council is interested in seeking efficiencies. The report goes on to outline the importance of municipalities working together. The provincial government recently announced that there would be no forced amalgamations however, with shared services among municipalities, that can sometimes drive savings. (Look at how Amherstburg was able to save $565,000 with the policing contract and a chunk of that savings was using to reduce our tax rate.)

Anyway, this looks to be a grant application, so I would think that council would be very interested in this.

And after the meeting is all said and done council will go in-camera to discuss :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING
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 reason:
Item A – Integrity Services – Section 239(2)(k) – A position, plan, procedure, criteria or
instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board.

Overall, that’s Monday night in a nut shell. We’ll see how it all pans out.

Councillor Prue clears the air

For my readers, you may recall that at the November 12th Town Council meeting, Councillor Prue declared, once again, that he was not in conflict regarding the Boblo Island development agreement. He made a fairly strong commentary and referred several times to bloggers and their commentary on this issue. Councillor Prue stated that several bloggers are insisting that he should not vote about the Boblo Island development. He then went on to explain that he has a common interest and therefore does not have a conflict regarding the Boblo development. Councillor Prue finished his statement with a wish that those bloggers should “cease and desist”.

After the meeting, I went home to double check my blogs. I was fairly certain that I could not be the blogger Councillor Prue had mentioned. At the time, I thought that Councillor Prue MAY have been referring to the following excerpt from my October 15th blog.

On October 15th I wrote :

“Then a resident came to the microphone and said that he felt that Councillor Prue had a conflict since he is a resident on Boblo Island. He felt that Councillor Prue shouldn’t be voting on something that affects him directly.

Councillor Prue replied that he is not in conflict since he has a position in common with the other residents and that he had checked with the Integrity Commissioner….”

On Wednesday, November 13th, I emailed Councillor Prue and asked if I was the blogger that he was referring to at the previous night’s meeting. He clarified that no, I was not the blogger that he was referring to. I requested if I could copy and paste his email into this blog and he graciously agreed. Here is his response to my email :

“On Sun, Nov 17, 2019 at 2:24 PM Michael Prue <mprue@amherstburg.ca> wrote:

Thank you for your emails . Let me preface my remarks with the clear statement that you are NOT the blogger in Question . My remarks were not referring to youbut to those who challenge my integrity . My reply was intended to be forceful .I will continue to speak out to expose what I believe to be wrong . I support everyone’s free speech . Your right is no different . I have dealt with the person directly and will take no further action . If you were offended I am sorry .

Michael Prue
Councillor
Town of Amherstburg
271 Sandwich St. South, Amherstburg, ON, N9V 2A5
Tel:      Fax: (Town Hall) 519-736-5403     TTY: 519-736-9860″

So there it is. I am happy that I was NOT the blogger Councillor Prue was referring to. I felt it was important to clear the air about this, for my followers and for my haters. I do appreciate Councillor Prue allowing me to copy and paste his email into the blog in order to clear this up.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

 

 

Budget meeting #2 – Wednesday November 20th

This is a guest blog written by Lori Wightman as I was unable to attend Wednesday’s budget deliberations. Thank you Lori! I hope everyone enjoys her summary. Here it is:

Day 2 of budget deliberations and it occurred to me that I should have asked to borrow Sarah’s seat cushion (those chairs are so uncomfortable). There were 3 members of the public in attendance plus myself. 

Fire

They started right on time and jumped right into the fray with a discussion about the Fire Assistant position. (pg. 75)

You’ll remember from last budget this was a part time position for an intellectually/developmentally challenged person – it was approved last year but for only part of the year and as a temporary position to be reconsidered this year. The ask this year is that it be changed from a Temporary Part time to Regular Part time position.

Councillor Simone started the discussion asking if we can just keep it as we have now and revisit next year. There was some confusion about whether she meant leave it temporary or leave it for just part of the year and she clarified temporary for part of the year. Lots of back and forth with discussion from the Deputy Mayor and Councillor Simone about the possibility of leaving the position temporary to be revisited and/or reducing hours or wages. The quote was “We don’t want to have to hire someone else just because we created a position.”

Chief Montone explained that this position was to give a disadvantaged person the job experience and skills so that they can move on and obtain other employment, so in that way it was temporary to the specific person but that they are asking for it to be in place so that they can offer the opportunity to the next person and the next. Councillor Prue agreed that the town should not be in the position of promoting precarious work and that it would benefit us to have a secure employee and help someone to take the next steps in becoming independent.

The CAO spoke about how Amherstburg should have a leadership role in accommodating intellectually/developmentally challenged people and that this will encourage business owners (he acknowledged Ken Thrasher in the gallery) to do the same. 

Councillor Courtney then stepped in with a motion that this be made a contract position with benefits and salary.  (I believe that means that it will need to be re-asked each year, whereas if it had been made Regular Part time it would have just been a position in the organization)

And there we have it – Fire Assistant approved. 

Next came a whole lot of questions about revenue under the fire budget, the pick up truck and it’s sale revenue. A. Whole. Lot. of. Questions. I couldn’t help but notice that many of these questions were for clarification and could have/should have been asked prior to deliberations. When councillors are going over the budget in preparation they can call administration and ask for clarification on things. I don’t know why they don’t. I see the same thing happening in regular council meetings. 

The next budget ask was for a $500 increase to the employee recognition event. (pg. 79) Chief Montone explained (in response to the question “why an increase?”) that with cost of living,  prices for food etc have gone up and that there has been no increase to list line item since 2014. Councillor Courtney felt that the event could cut corners instead of asking for more, Councillor Prue felt they could charge more for tickets for family and friends to attend and make up the cost. Deputy Mayor Meloche and Councillor McArthur felt it was a small price to pay to continue to recognize valued employees.

In the end the $500 increase was denied. 

Next up was the $5000 maintenance fees for the fire truck being placed on Bob-lo debate. 

The first question was by Councillor Courtney – In the budget document it says “approved by council” does this mean previous council?  (kind of an odd question)

What followed was a loooong debate. 

Councillor Courtney felt that putting the truck on Bob-lo was a temporary solution to high water levels and now those levels have receded. That we have provided services to Bob-lo for 20 years, why change now? That Amico is addressing water levels. And he asked how this will benefit anyone. 

AS AN ASIDE – while water levels have receded from their highest levels, they are still significantly higher than usual. ERCA General Manager Richard Wyma talked about this at an event recently.

Chief Montone explained that the directive from 2017 council was that on a go forward basis a truck would be placed on the island – not as a temporary measure but as a short term solution. The water levels were not the reasoning but they did lend an urgency because the ferry had issues transporting a big fire truck if levels were too high. He said Amico had been extremely helpful – resolving the issue of where to house the truck at a significantly reduced cost.

Councillor Courtney didn’t think it was needed. He said he has spoken to previous council and they have “backpedaled” on this issue. (This confused me because he originally questioned if it was previous council who approved it but says now that he spoke to previous council members about it).He was concerned that if the town puts the truck there and then decide to take it back are they open to liability. The CAO explained that council has the right to legislate levels of service. Councillor Courtney said, “But we’ll look terrible.”

There was then a long discussion about how this benefits Bob-lo residents in reduced insurance premiums because as of right now they are considered “unprotected” in regards to fire service. Councillor Courtney believed that was an accepted risk they took when buying on Bob-lo. “If they want it, they can pay extra for it.” The CAO pointed out that Bob-lo residents pay an inordinate amount of money into the town’s coffers – 4% of tax revenue comes from Bob-lo residents. (I did the math, Bob-lo residents make up 1% of our households, yet pay 4% of our tax revenue). Councillor Courtney then said “Taxpayers should not offset the costs for those living on Bob-lo.”

As an aside – this statement was surprising to me. Bob-lo island residents are just as much taxpayers as Malden residents or rural residents. More so even. And as such are entitled to municipal services. This seemed a disrespectful thing to say regarding a group of taxpayers. 

The Chief explained that as trucks are replaced on the mainland, they will be moved to Bob-lo. So we would not be buying a new truck. Then a long discussion ensued about response times – Councillor Courtney gave a timeline of 30 minutes for crews to get to fire on Bob-lo which the Chief seemed to take exception to – throwing out the actual response times of 3:27 from pager to responding from hall or 5:37 from call to action on scene (which are AWESOME numbers by the way) , how would firefighters get to the truck that is kept in the old dancehall, Councillor Prue was concerned that a historic building was being used to house the truck, how residents on Bob-lo have offered to be volunteer firefighters, how much cost THAT would add. 

After all that, the budget line item – that was just for maintenance costs on the truck, not whether or not it should be there – was approved. 

Councillor Renaud asked why overtime costs in the fire department were so high, Chief Montone explained that there were 4 full time firefighters and the overtime costs were mostly for covering those positions when the people were off. To reduce overtime they would have to restrict training, work sick or restrict use of vacation. Deputy Mayor Meloche asked if it was cheaper to hire a 5th person than to pay the overtime. Chief Montone said that could be a solution and that they were watching that to see.

And with that – a full hour in – the fire budget is approved in principle

On to the Parks, Facilities, Recreation and Culture Department:

Long series of questions about the rent revenue from 320 Richmond (old St. Bernards). Councillor Prue wanted to know how much was rented, what the square footage was and if we were having trouble renting it out. (all questions that could have been asked prior to the deliberations). The CAO explained that these amounts are the best estimates of rental revenue as they have two tenants committed with more possible. 

Treasurer Justin Rousseau explained that with all potential lease space rent revenues would be about $227,000 but all space is not finalized yet. 

Then there was a long set of questions on this with ensuing explanations from administration. Kudos to administration for giving detailed explanations – sometimes overly detailed – to every question asked even when they should have been asked sooner. (I know I’m repeating myself about this but deliberations could have been cut by hours if some of these questions had been asked prior to the meetings)

There was discussion about the building at 99 Thomas Rd and the budget ask for alterations to put in a woodworking bench. The town does woodworking jobs – for benches and such – so this would get used. Deputy Mayor Meloche asked about what the building is used for currently. CAO Miceli said there is a Building Condition Report coming . Deputy Mayor Meloche made a motion for a report detailing the strategic use of the building and it was carried.

Then we got our first lifestyles break. YAY! I was talking to someone that told me Lasalle’s budget deliberations are done within a few hours. Wow. 

Next up was Libro Centre

Councillor Prue said the facility is wonderful but could we look for efficiencies as the costs are up a lot. For example could the snack bar be run by user groups? The Recreation Manager said that they are finalizing an RFP that council directed to look at just that issue. 

Councillor Simone referenced p 106 The Professional Fees for the Facilities Master Plan and asked if we had a timeline for that plan. The CAO said it will be finished in 2020.

Councillor Courtney said that the Libro takes a hit with ice rentals and that’s where we can make money. He asked if we could get the ice rentals online, so people could do it from their homes 

(Wait. Just yesterday he was saying that we didn’t need to spend dollars to make bylaw complaints and planning registration available online because it only takes two minutes to do it in town hall)

In the end, LIbro budget approved in principle. 

Parks Budget

P 112 The Parks department is asking for one part time groundskeeper to help with the workload in Parks – which has only increased with new property acquisition. 

The Parks Manager Annette Zahaluk spoke very passionately that this was not an addition, this was a position that was taken away a few years ago and that this would just bring her department back to where it was. She added that she doesn’t ask for managers, she’d rather take on extra administrative jobs in the department herself in order to save money for more “boots on the ground” employees. Working with the short staff she does results in things not getting done sometimes as timely or as well as they could and that results in complaints.

Councillor Courtney said that people have complained but he thought that it was attributed to the weather not short staffing. He stated he did not want to approve any positions and could the department survive without this added person? Could students be used? 

Ms. Zahaluk said that the job is a skilled job, people are schooled and trained in it so to train a summer student takes time, energy and then they are gone. 

Councillor Prue asked couldn’t you pair a student with a full time person, or maybe two students with a supervisor? He couldn’t see why hiring students isn’t a good option.

Ms. Zahaluk and the CAO explained that there is a turnover rate with students, we sometimes have to let them go, they are not horticultural students so they are not invested in the job, training is intensive.

(This trend of assuming that students can do any old job instead of trained, professional people is disturbing to me. It is the diminishing of valuable skills that leads to more and more precarious work and in my opinion detrimental to everyone. I mean I could probably get a highschool law class student to write me a will but is it a good idea and will it be as thorough and well done as one a credited lawyer would give me – probably not) 

A question from the gallery – Can’t we use co-op students? Apparently St. Clair has it’s own co-op placement for its own grounds and Western doesn’t have a horticultural co-op. So no. 

Councillor Renaud asked if we got more complaints this year. 

Mayor DiCarlo said he did. 

Ms. Zahaluk said that weather this year was an issue and that our 2 part timers made a huge difference. 

Councillor Prue asked if filling this position would eliminate the overtime costs in the budget ($10,000). Ms. Zahaluk said not necessarily, overtime is generally over budget because she can’t schedule around the weather. Councillor Prue didn’t seem to get what was meant by that but it seems that if the weather is bad you may need to work more when it’s not to get the work done. 

Mayor DiCarlo pointed out that festivals may play into overtime as well. 

Ms. Zahaluk said that the one extra staff member will cover sick time, vacation, holidays for rest of staff. 

Councillor Prue moved that the position be approved but that the overtime ask be reduced. 

That was carried. 

Parks budget approved in principle

Recreation Services p 118

Question from Councillor Courtney – “The revenue NOT in brackets, is that revenue we projected and didn’t get?”

Treasurer Justin Rousseau explains it’s a reduction in revenue.

Deputy Mayor Meloche asked about farming out the concession stand and if we would keep ownership of equipment, Rec. Manager said that would be part of the negotiations with the RFP.

Then there was a long discussion on what advertising was sold at the Libro and where – along the boards, along the fence at the baseball diamond, how one arena is a bigger draw because it’s used more. Councillor McArthur wanted to know how short are we from filling all our advertising and do we get money from the digital signs on the outskirts of downtown/

The CAO said there is high interest on the digital signs and they hope to be self sustaining. 

The Rec. Manager said they are looking into sponsorships 

Resident in the gallery pointed out that the million dollar ball fields have horrible site lines, no bleachers etc. If we made that better we could sell a lot of advertising in those areas. 

Recreation budget approved in principle

Lunchtime…thank goodness, I need to stretch and get out of that seat. 

Tourism and Culture p. 130

Councillor Prue was not for the fireworks barge $10,000. If you remember last year our Canada Day fireworks had to be canceled because of high water levels. People complained and asked why the town didn’t have a back up plan. This barge is the back up plan. Councillor Prue thinks that if water levels are down then we can have fireworks but if they go up, well, the public will understand. (some of the public did NOT understand last year!)

Councillor Courtney suggested taking $10,000 out of the pyrotechnics and pay for the barge from that. 

Manager of Tourism Anne Rota said that the $110,000 allotted for Community Events is not just for fireworks – that is for 6 events. She said there were lots of complaints over the cancellation of the fireworks last year and that there is only $11,000 for the pyrotechnics. 

Councillor Simone asked if we are looking for sponsors – Ms. Rota said we are always looking for sponsors and that if it is the will of council she is fine with removing the $10,000 ask for the barge.. Ms. Rota said there is no way to know now if we would or wouldn’t but the Tourism department can always come back to council and ask for the money if the barge is needed. Councillor Prue said if we need the barge well then we just won’t have fireworks

The Libro Centre was proposed as an alternate spot to hold the festival but it was pointed out that there is a fire/liability risk there and it is definitely not as beautiful as along the river.

(I’d also like to point out there is also less shade, far more people would have to drive, our downtown businesses would suffer…)

Ms. Rota also stated it might be time to start thinking if we really wanted fireworks and all its associated environmental concerns. There are alternatives that the tourism department is looking into. 

With that the $10,000 for the fireworks barge is taken out. 

P.131 $1,000 for Training and Conference expenses

Question posed – do you receive certificates for training and does everyone travel together to conferences? (another coulda been asked before question)

Yes to certificates and usually only one or two get sent to training and it’s generally training for grant writing so very needed. 

Tourism budget passed in principle 

Planning – Legislative Budget pg133

The ask here is for a permanent full time planning position to replace the temporary full time planning position. 

It seems there is always a risk when we have these temporary full time positions that the person will leave to gain permanent full time work. Last year there were 83 planning applications this year the department has already processed an amount surpassing that by September. We are the 3rd highest in applications among neighbouring municipalities but the lowest in manpower.

Deputy Mayor Meloche pointed out that we spend the time and money training these people only to see them leave for permanent work elsewhere. 

Mr. Galvin said this position would help with deliverables, doing the day to day stuff which frees up a manager to do more managing responsibilities. 

(As an aside…I know often people say I don’t care what other municipalities are doing but sometimes we must look at others in order to see best practices, what worked, what didn’t. And additionally, I don’t believe our municipality should be in the habit of adding to the precarious workforce – if someone is doing full time work for us we should be paying them what full time work should get be it wages, benefits or job security. No one should work year in and year out for our town but now KNOW from year to year if they’ll have a job – Just my opinion)

Phew! Position approved – we got a permanent planner.

Professional Fees – Planning Studies Pg143 

Councillor Courtney asked if the Planning Manager Frank couldn’t do these studies but Mr. Galvin said the majority is done by a third party.

Councillor Prue asked if the Heritage District study couldn’t be done by our very qualified committee – we need to have a heritage district, people come to see historic Amherstburg and we will lose our “flavour” and the tourism that comes with it if we don’t designate a district. 

Deputy Mayor Meloche said we have a buildings of interest list, can we not just go by the list and figure out a district and can we see an updated list as surely some have been removed.

Councillor Simone asked if these numbers were in previous budgets or are they new? (Easily researched question)

Some, like the DC Study are government mandated and some, like the heritage district one were put forth in a motion by committees.

Councillor Courtney asked who does these studies, who’s the expert and was told an RFP goes out. He then said the budget page was a little deceiving in that the ask is for $150,000 but $75,000 comes from reserves but we have to pay that back into reserves. He was told that that money was put in reserves specifically for this so it does not get replenished

Treasurer Justin Rousseau said we can’t keep putting it off, the money was put aside for this and it needs to get done. Councillor Courtney said the optics are bad and he needs to be able to explain it – perhaps pie charts or graphs would help (What?Huh?)

Then there was a big discussion where Councillor McArthur pointed out if we can’t do the Zoning Bylaw review until the Official Plan is done then why can’t we put off the Zoning Bylaw review until 2021 since the Official Plan won’t be done until later in 2020. Sounds logical, I guess.  But the zoning bylaw review needs to be done immediately after the Official Plan…so I guess we take our chances on the timing. 

Motion made to remove $50,000 for zoning bylaw review and $25,000 to remove heritage district review. 

Councillor Prue wanted to divide the motion because he is reluctant to remove heritage district review but is fine with zoning bylaw being gone ( I actually do agree with dividing this motion as the two included things are entirely different)

And there you go – $50,000 struck out of budget for zoning bylaw review, but $25,000 for heritage district review stays in.

Planning Legislative Budget approved in principle. 

Planning – Building Services pg.144

Approved in principle – no questions, no discussion – it was glorious.

Planning – Licensing and Enforcement pg. 147

The big ask her was for a Bylaw Development Co-ordinator – contract position. 

Councillor Simone asked if a committee of council could do this job. (sigh)

Mr Galvin said not really, this position would involve reviewing case law, looking at different bylaws as they evolve over time – many bylaws are anything but simple. 

Deputy Mayor Meloche had reservations over hiring this position as we just hired a bylaw officer, why not take the time to see how the department adapts before deciding we need another body. 

Councillor Courtney said our current staff could just do their natural due diligence and “leaf through other bylaws like Toronto’s or something” 

(I was thinking to myself at this point that this position must be far more involved than just copying another municipalities bylaws for our own,right? And then Nicole Rubli, the Licensing Manager stepped up to the podium and answered my question – like she read my mind)

Ms. Rubli said that bylaws must be looked at with respect to legislation, the Charter, the Municipal Act etc. While a review of bylaws can be done relatively easily (for qualified staff – my editorial) it’s the legislation that must be compared. 

Mr. Galvin explained the department could do the work, it’s just not as fast and they can’t often do a comprehensive review 

Councillor Prue asked if a whole year of the contract position is needed

Mr. Galvin said it depends on the onboarding – some candidates might do it in 9 months, some may take the full year. 

Discussion on merits of making it a 6 month contract (sigh) vs. cutting it altogether.

Decision is to deny the position and see how the department works with the newly hired bylaw officer and the new software. 

Planning – Licensing and Enforcement budget approved in principle

Police p. 155

I feel like there should be a drum roll here or something….

The big thing here is the savings from the police switch ( $564,000) and what should happen with it. If you remember, previous council agreed that savings should be put aside in case we need them to switch back to Amherstburg Police – it was what some in the town had demanded. So now, though council is faced with an outcry to drop our proposed tax rate – this is a simple way to drop it 2% – don’t sock it away put it back into the budget. Will they do it? Will those residents who wanted it be okay with that if it reduces our proposed tax rate. Let’s see…..

Councillor Prue felt that he had to go by the recommendations of the audit committee (he actually said he felt “bound” to do what they recommended – odd choice of words, in my opinion, it’s just a recommendation not a sworn oath) and put just $100,000 away for a switch back and leave the rest in the budget. His reasoning – residents were told they’d get savings. 

Deputy Mayor Meloche made a friendly amendment that we put the entire $564,000 back in the budget. Councillor McArthur also thinks residents should enjoy the savings. Councillor Courtney though it was crazy to revisit this as he thinks things will end with regional policing everywhere. 

There was a bit of a side discussion from Councillor Courtney about the indexing amount of $141,075 that he thought should be added to the the $564,000 as savings but it’s not savings and shouldn’t be referred to as such. The savings to the town is $564,000

Councillor Prue said that the previous council said monies would be put aside for switching back and we shouldn’t break faith with that so we should put $100,000 away (in my opinion, a hundred grand isn’t going to do doodly squat if we wanted to switch back, so why bother? And, I’ve heard of zero problems regarding our current WPD- Amherstburg detachment in the last year.  – Now THAT is a question I would have liked to hear a councillor ask – how has our service been in the last year – that would go a long way toward making the decision on whether we should sock away some money. But oddly, no one asked that.)

CAO Miceli clarified that whether we put the money in reserves or use it to reduce the tax rate it all boils down to the same thing – savings.

In the end it went to a recorded vote with the motion being to put $100,000 into a reserve and use the rest to reduce tax rate. 

Support: Councillor Courtney, Councillor Simone, Councillor Prue

Oppose: Councillor McArthur, Deputy Mayor Meloche, Councillor Renaud

With the deciding vote, once again, resting with Mayor DiCarlo who voted to support the motion. 

So we’ve got $100,000 going into reserves and $464,000 to reduce the tax rate. 

Police budget was moved in principle.

Tax rate was now down to 1.55%

Next up was the Engineering/Public Works budget but I had to get to my real job by then so I didn’t get any of the following highlights first hand but here are a couple that I heard via the RTT twitter feed:

No to Roads Operator position

Yes to Full time Water and Wastewater operator position to be paid through water rates

No to Economic Development officer (Wait! Wasn’t this a rallying cry during the election and over the last year – we need economic development! Hmmmm)

Deputy Mayor Meloche suggested a “top up” to the capital program by $250,000 that would put the tax rate at 1.62%. He felt that projects are just “getting kicked down the road”. No seconder so that doesn’t happen (I don’t disagree with him – I heard a lot of “can you make do for one more year” or “maybe next year” comments in these deliberations. I’m curious to see what our 2021 budget will look like. 

Big thanks to Sarah for asking me again to guest blog – despite the uncomfortable chair, the writer’s cramp and the numerous trees I killed taking 37 pages of notes – I enjoyed it. 

Budget meeting #1 – Tuesday November 19th 2019

Well, I attended last night’s budget deliberations. I managed to make it through to the end of the night with only some (ok, many) boring moments. I’ll sum it all up as best I can, but please note that I take my notes by hand and at times numbers were flying around and sometimes topics changed quickly.

First, council had met in-camera at 5:00 to discuss :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING
That Council move into an In-Camera Meeting of Council at 5:00 pm pursuant
to Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, for the following
reasons:
Item A – Section 239(2) (i) – a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial,
financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality
or local board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice
significantly the competitive position, or interfere significantly with the contractual or
other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization;
Item B – Section 239(2)(d) – Labour relations or employee negotiations

2020 Grants to Community Groups and Organizations

Each year, during the budget deliberations council gives out grant money to various organizations. This year was no different, however, it did seem more complicated than in years past…..although maybe my memory is fading and I’ve managed to repress memories of budget meetings past? I’m not sure. Each organization presented what their organization is all about and make their request for a certain sum of money.

Amherstburg Freedom Museum – Mary-Katherine Whelan

Ms Whelan was the first delegate. She explained that the freedom museum archives and exhibits items of historical value. Amherstburg was the chief entry point of the underground railway for the slaves that were seeking freedom. She went on to explain various fundraisers that they have held. She went on to explain the extensive renovations that took place on their building that closed the building for 2 months which created a loss of revenue. The Freedom Museum has hosted visitors from all over the world. This year they were requesting $8,000. Last year they received $6,500.

Amherstburg Historic Sites Association (Park House Museum) – Stephanie Pouget-Papak

Ms Pouget-Papak presented next. She explained that the Park House also offers conservation and preservation of artifacts as well as fostering peace and inclusiveness. She pointed out that many museums are fully funded by the municipality in which they exist and they really need council’s support. The Museum just found out that due to cut backs from the Ford government a major operating grant will not be given to them this year. The Museum has enough work for another full time worker but there is no budget to hire somebody. She said that they need the grant from council to use the money toward’s their programming. This year they were requesting $8,500 and received that same amount last year.

Amherstburg Food and Fellowship Mission – Tim McAlllister

Mr McAllister explained the the Food and Fellowship Mission was established in 1998. They are there to help the less fortunate and disadvantaged six days per week. They provide emergency food baskets, clothing, a baby program and various other essentials for those in need. He explained that this year they had to do some repairs to the walk-in freezer, the dishwasher and other items. This year, the Food and Fellowship Mission was asking for $3,500 and last year received $2,500.

Councillor Courtney asked why they were seeking an extra $1,000. It seems they asked for $3,500 last year as well, however received the lesser amount of $2,500. Mr McAllister explained that everything is going up…..the costs are going up, the cost of food is going up, the number of people being served is also rising.

Fort Malden Golden Age Centre – Dorothy Thrasher

For whatever reason, Mrs Thrasher was not there to present to council. I checked the report and it appears they were seeking $2,807 as an in-kind grant for use of rental space at the Libro Centre. Last year they received $3,137.

A-Team Robotics – Allan Parks

A group of young men presented to council. The explained their roles on the robotics team. They are a group of high school students that build robots. They build an entirely new robot each season to meet specific criteria. The showed a short video of this year’s robot named “Alouette”. They have won multiple awards. The group has a budget of $31,000. It’s funded by the students and some businesses through donations. However, the group no longer have a meeting space which is creating an extra expense. They built a robot for Woof-A-Roo to launch tennis balls for the dogs. (How cute is that?) As well, the group is very active with outreach at various events in town, including the Canada Day festival kids table, the Uncommon Fest, they have a mentorship program and they buddy at the Miracle League as well. They showed pictures of their competition and I just have to say they were super impressive!

A-Team Robotics was requesting a $4,600 grant as an in-kind grant to use space at the Libro Centre. As well, they were requesting $5,400 in a cash grant. (This will be important later.) Grand total of $10,000.

Several members of council had questions for the students about what type of space would be needed etc. I am half wondering right now if they could create me a robot to type of these blogs….I’m a fast typist, but these 4 hour meetings can be really, really long…..imagine if I could just talk to the robot and the robot could just type what I said (error free) for me? Now, that would be impressive! LOL

Amherstburg Community Service – Kathy DiBartolomeo

Ms DiBartolomeo spoke next. She explained how the Amherstburg Community Service (ACS) provides transportation services for the elderly and those with mobility issues. Access to transportation helps people to avoid social isolation as well as the ability to get to appointments or social functions. Rides are provided locally and to Windsor. The repairs and the maintenance of the vehicles is very expensive and sometimes they’re forced to cancel rides, which causes missed appointments and many other serious quandaries. This year, they’re requesting $5,000. Last year they received $7,500.

There were a couple questions from council.

Rose City Gymnastics

This is a new request for 2020, however nobody was present to delegate. According to the report they were seeking $6,750 as an in-kind grant for use of rental space at the Libro Arena. Previously, they had received $12,095  which was a 2 year commitment that was made in 2018 for 2018-2019.

Presentation – Audit & Finance Advisory Committee

2020 Budget Review and Recommendations

The Audit Advisory Committee presented to council. Councillor Prue is the chair and Councillor Simone is a member of the committee. The three volunteer lay people presented to council. They are Mr Gordon Moore, Ms Gillian Heisz and Mr John Purdie.

Mr Moore spoke first with their recommendations. He noted what he felt were stringent time limits to review the budget and that they had full cooperation from administration during their review. He asked that council hold their questions until the end. Ms Heisz spoke next and listed off 10 recommendations regarding non-staff expenditures. Then, listed off 5 more recommendations regarding staff expenditures. Mr Purdie then listed 5 expenditures regarding revenues and reserves. Then, listed off 4 more recommendations for best practices. And then made 11 more recommendations for future budgets. Frankly, it seemed like a little much. Then, the committee read a disclaimer at the end. It struck me as bizarre.

In my opinion, it seemed the committee nit picked at the budget, made a whole ton of recommendations and then said well, it’s our opinion. Just struck me odd.

Disclaimer of my own now I guess……yes, I read through the budget. I found it easy enough to follow, although extremely boring. I actually fell asleep reading it one night. It is not an interesting document LOL, at least not to me. But I did read it and I did understand it. And no, I’m not an accountant.

After the presentation, there were a few comments from council, but not anything worth typing out.

2020 Grants to Community Groups & Organizations

So now, the presentations were finished and it was time to start debating and making some decisions. First up, was to decide how to divvy up the grant money.

Councillor Prue noted that $35,000 was spent last year and wondered if council may have an appetite to increase or decrease that amount. Deputy Mayor Meloche agreed and wondered if it should be bumped up a bit due to provincial government cutbacks to organizations. Councillor Prue noted that 2 museums presented and that the province has been cutting back on museum funding. He made a motion to increase the grant amounts to $40,000.

I’m going to pull a small portion out of the report because it’s important. “The listed 2020 grant requests total $44,557, including $14,157 under Waiver of Fees and $30,400 in Grants to Organizations. These totals include $12,807 in requests from ineligible organizations.”

“The allowances for Grants to Organizations expense and Waiver of Fees expense recommended in the 2020 Budget are based on the funding levels approved by Council in 2019 in the amounts of $35,000 and $19,000 respectively, totaling $54,000.”

So as it stood, the money was already in the budget for these amounts, which I think led to a lot of confusion. It seems that council wasn’t differentiating between the cash grants and the in-kind grants during their debate.

Anyway, Deputy Mayor Meloche proposed to do all of the grants except the Golden Age Club and the in-kind portion of the A-Team Robotics. That totaled just over $47,000. Councillor Prue felt that he’d prefer to give the A-Team the in-kind grant of $4,600 and let them raise their own cash portion. Councillor McArthur pointed out that space has value.

The CAO pointed out that A-Team Robotics is a new group and that the rules must be waived for this group, since they’re not a charity or a not for profit organization. He pointed out that council had to waive the rules or they would be violating their own bylaw.

Mr Rousseau, the Treasuer, spoke and explained to council that the money is all there in the budget to do the entire thing if council would like to. The Mayor pointed out that council needed to waive the rules, so a motion was made and they did.

At this point, everybody was adding and subtracting numbers to see what kind of total would be found. They were adding up various scenarios……I just sat and waited.

Councillor Courtney pointed out that Rose City Gymnastics was not present at the meeting and that they’re not part of our community. He acknowledged that the Golden Age Club wasn’t present either, but that they are a part of our community. He said he was not in favour of giving grant money to Rose City Gymnastics. He felt that the school board was not supporting the A-Team and he said he’d contact Ron LeClair. He felt this was the third year waiving fees to an outside agency. Councillor Prue also felt that Rose City was an outside agency and that it may not be money well spent and was trying to keep the amount at $40,000.

Deputy Mayor Meloche looked at the economic impact of the gymnastics event and how it brings a lot of people to town. The event spurs economic development and that people want to come back to Amherstburg. He pointed out that it was only half of the amount this year and that the request had been reduced. Deputy Mayor Meloche pointed out that when the hotel is built it will be an even further driver with a full economic impact. (If you can believe it, two people in the gallery guffawed at this comment. The negativity from some residents is mind boggling. How can talking about our new hotel that is in the planning stages be something to guffaw about?) Councillor Courtney felt that the taxpayers are footing the bill and that Rose City Gymnastics had already had 2 years of free use of the Libro.

Councillor McArthur spoke and said he sided with the Deputy Mayor. He pointed out that council was invited to give out medals at last year’s event. (Note to self…..I wonder which members of council attended? Some seem to go to everything and some seem to go to very, very few events…...if any at all.) Councillor McArthur pointed out that there were hundreds of kids there and that number could be doubled with parents in attendance. The families bought food and items from the Canadian Tire store. He felt that for $6,000 it was worth it to plant our flag for sports tourism. He felt it was free advertising for our town and that many people benefit indirectly.

CAO Miceli pointed out that the event brings 500 athletes and that on average $100 per day is spent in the community. Councillor Courtney said he agreed with all of the other organizations except Rose City Gymnastics. He wondered if that organization violated the policy. The Clerk pointed out that they are a not for profit organization and that nothing in the policy indicates it has to be a local organization.

Councillor Prue then made a motion to divide the motion. (which would mean to vote on each item individually). The motion failed since 4 members of council were opposed (Councillors McArthur, Renaud, Simone and Deputy Mayor Meloche). Councillor Courtney and Councillor Prue were the only 2 to support dividing the motion.

(Inside voice here, but this kind of made me relieved…..I think sometimes motions are amended or divided or whatever to try to confuse the votes….so I was relieved to see that 4 members of council weren’t interested…..right on!)

So the motion stood as still all together. Then a motion was made to reconsider the $40,000 cap on grants. Councillor Prue asked for a recorded vote regarding the reconsideration of the $40,000 since he felt it needed two thirds of the vote to be reconsidered. The Clerk pointed out that it only needed a majority of council since the procedural bylaw takes precedence over Robert’s rules. (Another interesting turn of events….)

Motion to reconsider the maximum of $40,000 for grants :

In Favour : Councillor McArthur, Deputy Mayor Meloche, Councillor Renaud, Councillor Simone and Mayor DiCarlo

Opposed : Councillor Courtney and Councillor Prue

So now the discussion raged on about the $40,000 limit. Councillor Prue felt they were being generous with the extra $5,000. He was reluctant to bring it to $45,000 since it was the first item in the budget. He felt that if council continued they would be worse than the proposed 4.55% increase.

Councillor McArthur felt that he wouldn’t go to a lower amount on the backs of the gymnasts just because they don’t live here. He said that he supports sports tourism.

Councillor Simone asked a question regarding the amounts and again, the Treasurer pointed out that the numbers were already there in the budget. There was $54,000 in the budget combined in cash and in-kind. He pointed out that at this point, council would be under budget. However, he also pointed out that often other organizations come forward to have fees waived, for example the Farmer’s Market.

So the motion was put forth for the $40,000 and it failed. (Just 2 councillors in support, I’m sure you know which 2 by now. )

Then Deputy Mayor Meloche made a motion to include all of the requested grants, including cash and in-kind. The motion carried. All of the organizations got what they wanted and needed.

It was now 7:45……not quite two hours in…..if this was foreshadowing……oh my……council took a 15 minute recess.

The meeting resumed shortly after 8:00. Almost everybody had left. There were only about 8 of us left in the gallery. There was a motion made to waive the rules of order to allow a resident to speak. Ms Brenda Kokko-Pare addressed council regarding the mosquito program in Fraserville.

Ms Kokko-Pare pointed out that last year’s budget was cut in half and this is the third council she has addressed about this issue. She explained the mosquito problem that they deal with daily and how it negatively affects their quality of life. She even pointed out that the school in the area has “mosquito days” and the student stay inside for recess or can only play on the pavement. She explained the success of the program when it was implemented in 2015. However, this past summer was unpleasant due to the budget cuts.

There were several questions asked by council to administration about the program and the costs. The recommended amount for this year was back up to the original amount this year since there are a new type of mosquito that exists and they have to change the treatment type. Councillor Prue wondered if there were any difficulties with an environmental impact from the treatments. However, administration pointed out that the town has to get the products from the Ministry and they have to get approval.

Council received the delegate and then it was time to get into the nitty gritty. Again.

CAO’s office

A motion was made to accept the budget in principle and it carried. No debate. No questions. (Wow! I was hopeful……would the rest of the evening be like this? No. LOL. Not even close.)

Clerk’s Office

Again, a motion was made to accept it in principle. Councillor Prue had a question regarding crossing guards since the costs were up in the budget. The Clerk explained that there is an anticipated study for February 2020 that could either eliminate, change or add crossings. Councillor Prue felt it made more sense not to fund the $10,000 and just take the money from reserves if it were needed.

The CAO pointed out that Councillor Prue was correct in the sense that administration was being conservative. He said it could be brought back later and council could run a variance.

There was some back and forth about not allotting the money in the budget since it was for unknown expenses that may or may not be required. It was pointed out more than once that it could be removed but that council needs to be prepared that they could run a variance in 2020 by removing the funds. (Note to self, keep an eye on those variance reports….) 

The treasurer pointed out that in general, over all, the finance department does not budget in a deficit but also realizes the political climate that council must consider. (I think this is a super important point for those who do not seem to understand how municipal budgets work……administration prepares a “conservative” budget and then council decides what stays and what gets cut – not the other way around.)

Councillor Courtney said he was confused and asked about going through the budget line by line. The Mayor said that as each department is addressed, then questions can be addressed within that department.

Councillor Prue questioned page 22 of the budget regarding archive storage for records. He noted a recommendation of the Audit and Finance Committee had recommended digitizing documents. He wondered how much it would be to digitize and dispose and felt somebody could do that in 3 to 6 months time.  The CAO explained that there is a large number of boxes and the costs to digitize them would be much higher than $10,000. He indicated that some of the records are 135 years old and need proper storage. The long term plan is to digitize them but it would take longer than 3 to 6 months.

The Clerk pointed out that there are 733 boxes of files and that going forward records are being digitized. (That’s a lot of boxes!) She said there are unsorted files regarding amalgamation and records dating back into the 1800s. They need to protect the records from damage and need to be stored properly.

Councillor Prue asked about the pending increase in insurance premiums. The Clerk explained that the policy renews January 1st and they received an email to expect increases from 10% to 20%. The town is anticipating a 15% increase since we have low claims. Deputy Mayor Meloche said he had spoken with the Mayor in LaSalle and that insurance rates are escalating on a trend of 15% due to the natural disasters that are happening more frequently.  The Clerk pointed out that an RFP was done in 2014 for insurance and the town saved over $500,000. She is slated to do another RFP in 2020 for the 2021 policy term.

So all this to say, they removed $10,000 from the Clerk’s budget for the crossing guard study.

Council and Committees

There was a bit of discussion about the $3,000 increase for Councillors training. (Please take the money and get the training! please!) This section of the budget carried as is.

Finance Department

Deputy Mayor Meloche made a motion to decline the request for a manager of accounting position. This carried.

There was some more discussion about, well, I’m not 100% sure what…..the amount of our assets and data…..the part on page 57 about a base budget regarding staff matters….I think that got removed from the budget too. Things were moving fast and kind of all over the place. Then they went back to page 54 and I actually wrote “I am lost” in my notes…..I’m sorry but a blogger can only do so much I guess.

There was a lot of talk about reserves. The Treasurer pointed out that it would be imprudent not to follow the plan regarding reserves. He said that our reserves are nowhere near our nieghbours. We have a lot of infrastructure and the Town’s Asset Management Plan is crucial for stability of the town. He had the numbers for other neighbouring municipalities and in comparison, we are lacking when it comes to reserves. The Treasurer said it has come time to make significant contributions to capital reserves.

The CAO pointed out that a lot of people think we have a lot in reserves. However, Leamington has $57 Million in reserves and Amherstburg only has $16 Million. Also, when it comes to reserves per resident, Essex has $2,500 per resident and Amherstburg has $755 per resident. The CAO pointed out that the town would need $1.9 Million per year to match the average amount in reserves. The CAO pointed out that it took 20 years to get here and it will take 20 years to get out.

(Side note, I think many people forget what bad shape we were in just 5 years ago……things are much, much better than they were, but we are not on solid ground yet.)

There was a motion to strike $50,000 from the base budget for staff related matters. That carried.

And another motion made to strike $10,000 for furniture and fixtures. That carried.

Human Ressources

Councillor Prue asked about the $10,000 for employee recognition and assumed it was for the annual Christmas party. He also noted later in the budget that there is $500 for staff recognition for the Fire Department. He felt it is less and less common for companies in the public sector to have employee recognition events. Councillor Courtney thought council should hold the status quo. He seemed to recall that last year the $10,000 was a compromise since the amount was looking to be increased. The CAO explained that it’s been a long-standing practice for the Fire Department to have recognition for their volunteers since they provide exceptional value to the town. Anyway, I believe this item stayed as is in the budget.

Councillor Renaud asked a question about retiree benefits since it was a budget reduction. I think they removed something from the budget here but moved it elsewhere having to do with retiree benefits…..I truly am not sure…..that was talk about actualizing the expense?? I’m just a blogger trying to write and follow a very dry boring meeting…..

The H.R. budget passed in principle with amendments.

Information Technology

There was a lot of discussion about an item in this budget. There was an expense of $46,000 to implement the City View Online Portal software. The Treasurer explained that this would allow end users to make complaints on line. The CAO said it would give residents access to 24 hour service, with complaints and provide some anonymity. He went on to explain that in the building business most municipalities are going all digital and that it’s a nominal cost to enhance services.

Mr Galvin expressed his surprise that when he arrived here in Amherstburg how much information and numbers are being input manually. He said that most municipalities do this with robust computer systems and that some of our systems are from the 70s and 80s that they’re working on, increasing possibility of error.

Councillor McArthur wondered if this software was the missing link. Mr Galvin said it’s an enhancement of service and they’ve listened to council to be more tech friendly. Councillor McArthur wondered when the service may be ready. It seems it will be the first or second quarter since the system will need testing and validation. Councillor Simone wondered if there would be additional costs if there were kinks in the system.  However, the $40,000 cost includes validation and testing. Councillor Courtney spoke about how much he enjoys the face to face interaction since he had to fill out some permits this year for a shed and such.

There were some questions about over time and Councillor Courtney disputed the numbers on page 70. I did the math on the numbers while they debated and they added up for me……

Eventually, the I.T. budget carried in principle.

(I just have to share a personal little story regarding technology – or lack thereof – in Amherstburg. Someone that I know, got a parking ticket in Amherstburg. Her age starts with a 2. She’s young. She thought it was absolutely ridiculous that the only way she could pay the ticket was to go to town hall in person to pay it. She said to me “What is this? The 70s?” LOL She seemed far more upset about having to go to town hall to pay the ticket than she was about the actual ticket! lol It seems that if you get a parking ticket in Windsor, you can pay it on line……I’m not sure about other municipalities, but it does seem somewhat archaic to not have online options available, so I am glad that council approved this new program to help bring us into the 21st century.)

It was now 10:00. The Mayor asked if anybody was interested in continuing the debate. Deputy Mayor Meloche made a motion to extend the meeting time until 11:00. (The reaction from council and the gallery was less than enthusiastic.) Councillor Renaud raised his hand and said that the meeting was advertised to be from 6:00 until 10:00 and felt that that should be respected for the public. He also talked about how he has sat through many budget debates in the gallery and remembers how long it can be……(THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess he remembers his days in the trenches….;)  ) So, with that the meeting was adjourned at 10:00.

I think at that point council had shaved about $160,000 off of the budget.

The budget deliberations are to continue today from 9:00 until 4:30 and Thursday if needed 2:00 until 8:00.

At this point it’s 10:30 Wednesday night and I’m not sure what happened today. However, a friend was able to attend today’s meeting and she will be preparing a guest blog about today. Once I receive that, I will post it for you. I am confident that council will get the tax increase down to a more reasonable level. Overall, it wasn’t too bad last night……just long…..really long…..

So, I’ll be back with the blog about today’s meeting and then it will be time to prepare for next week’s regular meeting! That’s a lot of politics for me this week! Yikes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday November 12th regular town council meeting

Well tonight’s meeting was a long one……it didn’t need to be, but it was. It didn’t wrap up until about 8:43 (but who was checking their watch constantly and marking down the time during this meeting?).  I started a new note book and my pen ran out of ink (but I had a spare).

Here we go :

First, council met in-camera :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING
That Council move into an In-Camera Meeting of Council at 3:00 pm pursuant to Section 239
of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, for the following reasons:
Item A – Section 239(2)(i) – A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which,if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position,or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization; and, Section 239(2)(k) – A position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board.

Item B – Section 239(3.1) – Education Session.

Then at 5:00, council had a planning meeting.

When I arrived around 5:40, the planning meeting was over and the regular meeting started around 6:00.

At the beginning of every meeting, the Mayor asks members of council if they have a pecuniary interest to declare. Councillor Prue gave quite an impassioned speech.  He said that the item about Boblo Island was not a pecuniary interest for him even though several bloggers are insisting he shouldn’t vote on Boblo. He said that it is not a conflict since it is a “common interest” for himself and all property owners in the area. He cited the section from the Municipal Act. He then said he consulted the Integrity Commissioner because of the blogs and that the Integrity Commissioner said it is incorrect. Councillor Prue also went to the planner and said he lives more than 400 meters away and the radius is 120 meters for a conflict of interest. Councillor Prue said he wants the bloggers to cease and desist.

So before I go on, I went back to check my old blogs. I didn’t think I had said that Councillor Prue had a conflict of interest, although I may have wondered about it. I found that on October 15th I wrote :

“Then a resident came to the microphone and said that he felt that Councillor Prue had a conflict since he is a resident on Boblo Island. He felt that Councillor Prue shouldn’t be voting on something that affects him directly.

Councillor Prue replied that he is not in conflict since he has a position in common with the other residents and that he had checked with the Integrity Commissioner. There was some back and forth and I guess at this point, it really doesn’t matter or I really just don’t care……I’m getting very tired of the grandstanding by a certain two councillors.”

That was all I could find in my blogs. I suggest to the other 3 bloggers in Amherstburg that they check what they’ve written about Councillor Prue in regards to a conflict of interest about Boblo and edit or delete accordingly. He seemed a bit upset about this. So, as it stands, Councillor Prue does not feel that he has a conflict of interest with Boblo and he says that the Integrity Commissioner agrees. But this has given me pause for thought…..if Councillor Prue doesn’t have a conflict because of “common interest”, how could former Councillor Pouget and former Councillor Lavigne have a conflict for living near Belle Vue? This is about as clear as mud.

DELEGATIONS
Boblo Island Development Agreement – Cindy Prince, Vice President, AMICO Infrastructure Inc., and Eric Farron, AMICO Legal Counsel

Subdivision Agreement for Boblo Developments (South-end) – County of Essex File
No. 37-T-14004

There were several speakers on the docket regarding the proposed development for the south end of Boblo Island.

The first person to speak was Cindy Prince. Ms Prince gave a quick update about the hotels since there was a recent article about it in the Windsor Star. She said that every brand that they’ve reached out to have all been interested in Amherstburg. They are currently going through interviews with the brands and will be ready for a recommendation soon. Once that is ready and confirmed, then there will be an announcement and they’re hoping for a spring start for the new hotel. She said everything has been very positive. (woo hooooo!!! Can’t wait! Amherstburg has needed a hotel and it’s finally, almost here…..just a little bit longer…..)

Ms Prince gave a history of Boblo Island first. She went through the time line of when the previous owner filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and Amico was owed $9 Million. Amico never had the intention of owning the island and in 2005 a bankruptcy plan was prepared. In 2006 there were no securities in place for the town…..things were grim.

After 13 years, there is now one new development agreement that replaced all of the other older ones and it calls for the development for the northern and southern area. ERCA has been consulted and all is in order. She explained that the development went in to the OMB and the LPAT several times. She mentioned Councillor Prue’s involvement and he seemed to have been on the opposing side to this development. She said that the LPAT’s decision did not accept Councillor Prue’s assertions. She said that they have consent to develop the rest of the island and that three main concerns have been addressed : the environment, the First Nations and the town’s emergency plan.

She said that there is a very respectful relationship between Amico and the town and that both parties have acted responsibly from an environmental standpoint. They prefer to work with the town. Ms Prince said that there is an operating loss of $1.1 Million per year for 13 years and that they can’t continue to lose money.  They need to develop the south end, the hearing was over a year ago and it’s time to move forward. She asked for council’s support.

Councillor Prue then spoke and said he had over 200 questions. (Yes, I am serious. Completely serious. over 200 questions…….before I go on, I will not be typing out his dozens and dozens of questions and answers that were provided – does it make sense now that my pen ran out of ink? If you’re truly interested to hear it all, please consult the audio of tonight’s meeting on the town’s web site…..over 200 questions…..unbelievable……although Councillor Prue said he doesn’t have a pecuniary interest, he sure had an interest…..a ridiculously big interest…..)

Councillor Prue then made a point of order about how he was quoted in the presentation. He then went on to ask about a 2006 memorandum and a list of specific items. He wondered if the items had been paid. Long story short, yes, everything has been paid in full by Amico. At one point, the CAO stated that the town has no receivables at the moment from Amico.  Then Councillor Prue started asking about property taxes, street lights, which street lights, roads….the list went on and on and on……I can’t relive this all, it was exhausting.

Then Councillor Courtney had a question about the fire truck to be stationed on the island. He was concerned about the cost of emergency services and the upcoming budget. He thought the fire truck would be a temporary solution. The Fire Chief spoke that when the Fire Master Plan is ready it will provide the short term solution and the long term solution for fire protection on Boblo Island. Councillor Courtney also wondered about water levels and their effect on the barge.

Ms Prince said that the Home Owner’s Association had offered a solution for a boat for ice breaking to be available 24/7. The CAO pointed out that the previous council did approve to look at a building for a fire station on Boblo and that Amico will be donating the land for this. Councillor Courtney felt that the current level of service has been adequate but is now concerned about the costs.

Councillor Prue went back to certain sections in the agreement and had questions about sidewalks and street lights. There was a lot of back and forth…..forth and back…..Mr Galvin explained that they’re still going through boxes of old agreements since they’re not on microfiche……

Now, it seems that the questions were to be about the south end of the island – the new development area. Councillor Prue said he had lots of questions…..he continued to read from documents and citing pages and numbers. It went on and on. To give you a time frame, it was now 7:00…..this had been going on for an hour……an hour!

It was explained that the Homeowner’s Association is not in the town’s jurisdiction. It seems that those were the documents to which Councillor Prue was referring.

Deputy Mayor Meloche spoke about buying a condo and getting a stack of papers with the rules and regulations. He felt the issues were being cluttered with things that have nothing to do with the town. (I wasn’t really sure anymore…..I had mentally checked right out…..this had dragged on way too long…..)

Councillor Courtney said he had been contacted by some homeowners that were asking for deferral. Then Councillor Prue said he had more questions……(yes I have 3 big exclamation marks next to that in my notes…..more questions!!!)

Then a lawyer that works on behalf of Amico got up to speak. I believe her name was Ms Lyons. She explained the process and that the permit had been filed regarding the endangered species and there are no issues foreseen with this. Councillor Prue spoke about having phoned the Ministry of Natural Resources last week about this. Ms Lyons said that this is a process and it’s unfolding in accordance with the law.

Councillor Prue then went on and on some more and the lawyer came back to the microphone. There was discussion about the First Nations and it seems they have been consulted and are in agreement with the development.

It was now 7:19……

The CAO confirmed that the town did not hold securities against the developers in the past. He said that before the town releases the securities, council will have another opportunity to confirm that services are met. The CAO said that this development will generate over $3 Million in development charges. As it stands, Boblo pays 4% of our town tax revenue and that the south end will bring in double what the north end currently does. (So…….what was the hold up council? get this show on the road!)

Ms Prince spoke a bit about the long term plans. She said that 5% is required green space, however, the island will be giving 47% of the development as green space. It seems it’s still being negotiated who will own it and be responsible for it.

A member of the Home Owner’s Association spoke, he was filling in for the President who was unable to attend. He said that their Association is incorporated and the board of directors are elected. Mr Amico sits on the board and everybody is a member. It’s an open and collaborative group. He said that over 134 residents signed letters of support for the south end development, which represents over 75% of the residents. The vast majority of the residents of the island agree that the island has to be viable. He said that without more residents, it would be hard to even maintain things as is. He pointed out that his house insurance is over $20,000 due to lack of emergency services. He said that without the extra taxes the town would suffer and the residents would suffer as the ferry fees could go over $10,000 per year if there are no changes.

Honestly, I have pages and pages of more notes but none of it matters…..it went on and on…..questions……questions…..questions…..after much anguish and angst, at 7:49 PM, the motion carried to adopt the subdivision agreement.

Then council took a 10 minute break. The meeting resumed at 8:00 (and finished at 8:43…..so do the math, the rest of the meeting only took 43 minutes but Boblo took almost 2 hours…..didn’t Councillor Prue state he was pro economic development during the campaign? Wouldn’t a beautiful new development on Boblo be great economic development? Why 200 questions? Why the “points of order”? Why fight so hard against this development if there is no pecuniary interest when 75% of the Boblo residents support this development? It just doesn’t add up…..)

2019 Tax Write-Offs and Rebates

Each year, the town has to write off some property taxes and this year is no different. Looks like around $142,000 will be written off.

Tonight, Councillor Simone made the motion, Councillor Renaud seconded it and bada-bing, bada-boom the taxes were written off. Just a few short weeks ago, a bill of $17,000 was written off after Councillor Courtney asked a whole bunch of questions……where were Councillor Courtney’s questions tonight? Strange he had so many questions about $17,000 yet not even one question about $142,000?

Asset Management Policy

The town’s asset management policy is ready to be adopted. This sums it all up really well: “Adoption of the new Asset Management Policy is recommended in order to bring the Town into compliance with legislation and to avoid the risk of jeopardizing the Town’s ability to access senior government funding.”

There were a few questions about this item, but it passed relatively quickly.

2020 Calendar of Council Meetings

All of the council dates are set for 2020. Council always adopts their calendar for the next year so that they can prepare their schedules. Next year’s regular meetings, special meetings and even the budget meeting dates are all there, so everyone has plenty of time to be prepared.

This carried with no discussion.

Kingsbridge Subdivision – Options for Additional Entrance

This is an information report for council. You may recall that some members of council made a big deal about having a third entrance to the Kingsbridge subdivision.

The Traffic Impact Studies have been done and a third entrance/exit is not deemed to be necessary. The County was also contacted and will not support a third entrance either. So, a study was ensued…..if council really, really wants another entrance/exit…..the cost is about $1,975,000.

Since there is no justification for a 3rd entrance based on the Traffic Impact Study, the developer would not be required to provide for an entrance at their cost. The County would not be obligated to pay for one either. So, the entire cost would have to be born by the town.

And Councillor Prue had the first question. He wondered about the $2 Million price tag. Todd Hewitt, from administration, explained that the study showed that a third entrance is not required. He said that the value of the land, if there are trees etc could drive the price well past $2 Million should council want to proceed.

Councillor Courtney had questions about the traffic impact study and wasn’t sure how accurate they may be. Mr Hewitt explained the process of a traffic impact study and how they work.

After a bit of back and forth, council simply received the report and will not be pursuing the cost of a third entrance/exit for Kingsbridge.

New Business

Meal Time Express does a fund raiser Secret Santa Dinner every year. This year’s event is November 17th. They give the proceeds back to the community. Details of the event are on the Mayor’s Facebook page (I think he said on his cover photo?) if you’re interested. It seems ticket sales are down. I wanted to give this a little plug, if you’re interested.

NOTICE OF MOTION
As introduced at the October 28, 2019, Regular Council Meeting
22.1 Climate Change Emergency Declaration – Councillor McArthur

At the last meeting, Councillor McArthur had made a notice of motion to declare a climate change emergency in Amherstburg. He spoke on it tonight. Councillor McArthur noted that he is not a scientist but that yesterday we had a record snow fall and there are clearly changes happening in the environment. He mentioned that hundreds of communities have a climate change emergency declaration. He noted that this is a symbolic motion and can serve to send the message that we take the issue seriously.

Councillor McArthur pointed out that there are huge variances in the weather, like in his golf game. (I like his dry sense of humour!) He cited some data with averages in the weather showing how the temperature is getting warmer slowly but surely. He felt that as he has aged his philosophy has changed. His daughter is growing up and he is also now a Councillor so he must also think of the interests of the town and the environment.

After he spoke, it went around the table, each member of council shared their thoughts of support for the motion and it carried.

The meeting finished at 8:43 PM (I think I may have mentioned this already? LOL) It was much longer than it needed to be, in my opinion.

Budget deliberations start next Tuesday November 19th from 6:00 until 10:00. I’ll be back with a blog about that some time later next week. In the mean time, I’m going to get my rest and try to read through the budget!

 

In preparation for Tuesday November 12th regular town council meeting

Next week’s council meeting falls on Tuesday night since Monday is a holiday for town hall (Remembrance Day), but before I give you my preview I’d like to take a moment to discuss this Saturday’s public budget meeting.

This afternoon, I attended the public consultation meeting for the budget session. The behavior of some of the members of the public that were in attendance was, what I can only describe as a total disgrace for our town. Our town staff presented the budget and the explanations of how and why our budget process works the way it does. On the other hand, several members of the public that attended the meeting behaved with a complete lack of respect and decorum towards our town staff and our mayor.

There were a few people sitting behind me that did not stop whispering and talking during the CAO and the Treasurer’s presentation. One of these people took to the microphone later to express that she “doesn’t understand” certain parts of the budget process. Hmmmmm……perhaps listening with the two ears we were given, rather than talking with the one mouth we were given would help one to understand better.

Some members of the public took to the microphone and spoke very loudly (some may say yelled) at members of town staff. This will only serve as a black mark on our beloved community. Such a shame. The lack of respect shown by many members of the public was troubling at best. I had thought we had hit an all time low during the police debate meetings, but it seems a few people still had even lower lows that they wanted to display.

This barrage of disrespect during public meetings has become problematic. Council says they want people to come forward and be engaged but if this is what public meetings will entail, I think it will only serve to scare away the more reasonable people that aren’t the confrontational type. It’s a real shame that a few loud people behave so poorly at our public meetings and cast such a shadow on our town. Why can’t people disagree without being disagreeable?

Anyway, enough about this afternoon. I won’t be blogging about it in detail. It serves no purpose to do so, in my opinion.

The agenda is 577 pages. Here are the highlights of Tuesday night’s upcoming meeting as I see them:

First, council will meet in-camera at 3:00 to discuss :

SPECIAL IN-CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING
That Council move into an In-Camera Meeting of Council at 3:00 pm pursuant to Section 239
of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, for the following reasons:
Item A – Section 239(2)(i) – A trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which,if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position,or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization; and, Section 239(2)(k) – A position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board.

Item B – Section 239(3.1) – Education Session.

I have no idea what Item A could be about, but I will offer up an educated guess about Item B……back a few years ago, I sat in a public meeting for an “education session” that was given to council by the Integrity Commissioner. At the end of the session, he said something about council could have received their training in-camera but they didn’t and he was pleased that it was done in public…….so, all this to say, could Tuesday night’s “Education Session” be with the Integrity Commissioner? Who knows……I guess we’ll only find out if there is a motion of some type that comes from that meeting. I won’t hold my breath.

DELEGATIONS
Boblo Island Development Agreement – Cindy Prince, Vice President, AMICO Infrastructure Inc., and Eric Farron, AMICO Legal Counsel

This looks to be a very interesting presentation regarding Boblo, past, present and future. One part caught my eye right away :

“2006
•Municipality realized it had no securities in place
•Started negotiations with Amico to work together. New agreement prepared”

It appears that Amico paid the town around $1.5 Million for taxes, water lines etc, without being obligated to do so. It appears that all is in order regarding zoning permits to now develop the south end of the island. It also seems that the owners of the island have some exceptions and disagreement to Councillor Prue’s involvement regarding ways to change (or hinder?) the development process. It seems that the LPAC decision lines up with the environmental evidence  and all is still in order despite Councillor Prue’s questioning.  The municipality was commended regarding emergency plans for the island. As well, it seems that the First Nations have been consulted and do not have any concerns regarding the development.

It looks like Amico is looking to work with council and the town to develop the rest of the island. Will council be willing to work with them? Stay tuned on Tuesday night.

2019 Tax Write-Offs and Rebates

Each year, the town has to write off some property taxes and this year is no different. Looks like around $142,000 will be written off.

Asset Management Policy

The town’s asset management policy is ready to be adopted. This sums it all up really well: “Adoption of the new Asset Management Policy is recommended in order to bring the Town into compliance with legislation and to avoid the risk of jeopardizing the Town’s ability to access senior government funding. ” So, I’m guessing and hoping this will be adopted. There is a copy of the entire policy included in the agenda.

Transfer of Municipal Lands-Road Allowance at 26 Whelan Drive; Block 52, Plan
12M373 – in front of 26 Whelan Drive (Lot 37 on Plan 12M373)

This looks to be an agreement about a small piece of property between the town and the owners of a property in Kingsbridge. Doesn’t seem to be anything major from what I can see. It seems that the town doesn’t need the easement or the small piece of property.

Subdivision Agreement for Boblo Developments (South-end) – County of Essex File
No. 37-T-14004

This report ties in with the delegation that is scheduled for the beginning of the meeting regarding Boblo Island. Again, it seems that all is in order to proceed with this new development. There are a multitude of reports included with this, including traffic studies, archaeological studies, environmental assessments etc.

2020 Calendar of Council Meetings

All of the council dates are set for 2020. Council always adopts their calendar for the next year so that they can prepare their schedules. Next year’s regular meetings, special meetings and even the budget meeting dates are all there, so everyone has plenty of time to be prepared.

Cheque Listing for the Month of October 2019

As usual, the monthly cheques are provided. I take a look through to see if there’s anything of interest. I didn’t notice anything of interest this time.

Kingsbridge Subdivision – Options for Additional Entrance

This is an information report for council. You may recall that some members of council made a big deal about having a third entrance to the Kingsbridge subdivision.

“Council, at its meeting of February 25, 2019, made the following resolution:
“That Administration BE DIRECTED to investigate another option for entry and
exit into the Kingsbridge Subdivision and to work with the developer in
regards to the options cost and location ideas.”

The Traffic Impact Studies have been done and a third entrance/exit is not deemed to be necessary. The County was also contacted and will not support a third entrance either. So, a study was ensued…..if council really really wants another entrance/exit…..the cost is about $1,975,000.

Since there is no justification for a 3rd entrance based on the Traffic Impact Study, the developer would not be required to provide for an entrance at their cost. The County would not be obligated to pay for one either. So, the entire cost would have to be born by the town.

Based on what I learned today, for every $250,000 in taxation, that is equivalent to a 1% tax increase. Will council want us to take an 8% increase to pay for a third, not required, entrance into Kingsbridge? I hope not.

Accounts Paid – January 1, 2019 – May 31, 2019

If you recall, Councillor Prue requested the payables from December 2018 to June 2019, so here they are. I guess whoever wanted them can now look through them to see if they can find whatever it is they’re hoping to find?

NOTICE OF MOTION
As introduced at the October 28, 2019, Regular Council Meeting
22.1 Climate Change Emergency Declaration – Councillor McArthur

At the end of the meeting, council will go back in-camera to discuss:

RESUMPTION OF SPECIAL IN-CAMERA COUNCIL MEETING
That Council move back into an In-Camera Meeting of Council after Regular session
pursuant to Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, for the following reason:
Item C – Section 239(2)(d) – Labour relations or employee negotiations.

Here’s to hoping that Tuesday night’s meeting is respectful, calm and not too lengthy.

(Unlike today’s public consultation meeting, which was the polar opposite of respectful, the polar opposite of calm and lasted a good 20 minutes past 3:00 because ONE resident kept having “one more question” to ask..…..)

Monday November 4th Special town council meeting

Tonight was the big, bad budget presentation night. As in past budget presentations that I’ve attended, it happened pretty much the same way as it always does. The CAO and Treasurer presented the reasoning behind the budget and the big picture items. The meeting lasted just slightly over half an hour.

But before I get into the nitty gritty, just a few observations that I had prior to the start of the meeting…..I’m not sure if some members of council thought that because this was a special meeting, that a special dress code (or lack thereof) would be acceptable……Mayor DiCarlo, Deputy Mayor Meloche, Councillor Renaud and Councillor McArthur were all decked out in their suits or sport coats, collared shirts and ties. Councillor Simone was wearing dress pants, a blouse and a sweater. Councillor Prue was wearing a collared shirt with a sweater over top and khaki pants. And Councillor Courtney was wearing a golf shirt and jeans. There seemed to be a mix of business attire, business casual and casual attire going on.  So, jeans being worn by a council member at a council meeting. Maybe it’s just me, but I found that somewhat different and I’m not sure if I have ever seen that before.

Then, I sat and continued to observe and wait. I noticed that Councillor Courtney and Councillor Prue didn’t have their lap tops set up. (The others all did.). As we closed in on the final few minutes before 6:00, I heard Councillor Prue say that he thought he would be given a paper copy. (Um…….I thought Councillor Prue was a great environmentalist…..he spearheaded removing plastic water bottles at the arena, among other “green” initiatives, he talked the talk from what I have seen but……..he now anticipated getting a paper copy of a document that is probably at least 500 pages long?) At this point, Councillor Courtney hastily pulled out his lap top and set it up.

Then the meeting got underway. (Please bear in mind that I take my notes by hand and I did my best to get all the numbers right and get as many of the big points that I could. I will be reading the budget online at some point soon to take a closer look at the details.)

CAO Miceli spoke first. The title of the 2020 budget is “Investment in Financial Sustainability”. He felt that this budget is made to move Amherstburg toward financial sustainability. He told council that the budget is in share point for their review.  The CAO spoke of the town’s Strategic Priorities, Investment in Financial Sustainability and the 2020 budget, document strategy. He said that this is council’s budget to adopt and establish levels of service and it’s a matter of choice of which path to take going forward. He said that the budget includes increased investment in the capital program, they have sought efficiencies and are recommending a funding increase in reserves.

The time for finalizing the budget is as follows:

• the budget will be tabled the week of November 4th
• council can review the budget during the weeks of November 4th and November 11th.
• the public information session is scheduled for Saturday November 9th at 1:00 at the Libro Arena
• budget deliberations begin on November 19th, November 20th and the 21st (if required)

The budget will be posted to the town’s website and Talk the Burg tomorrow. The Audit and Finance committee will receive a copy of the budget tonight.

Then the CAO gave a breakdown of the various parts of the Budget Book. There is also a Staffing Report and Overview of Corporate Staffing. As well, there is the Community Grant Report and Reserve Fund Budget. It seems that the Reserve Fund Budget is a first time thing in Amherstburg and it will provide the details of the flow in and out of funds and how they are used.

The Budget Approach was done based on the Strategic Plans, input to the budget and the budget risk. The CAO pointed out that the government grants and OCIF funding formula has not been announced yet. (I believe these are the funds that the province gives to the municipalities. If you recall, the provincial government was about to cut those funds last spring but the municipalities begged them not to, since they had already approved their budgets…..so the province didn’t…….then…….but I think they said they would probably cut that funding later in the year…..but no word…..yet……) Anyway, it seems that this OCIF funding is 14.5% of our budget, so it it gets cut, well, we will be hurting. Badly.

So, sit down for this…..the proposed tax increase for 2020 is 4.55%. (That came in about 1.5% higher than I had guessed it would be.) The proposed increase equates to $114 per year for the average house assessed at $250,000 or about 31 cents per day. The CAO said that we need an increase of 2.2% just to maintain the status quo.

Now here is where numbers started flying and I did my best to get them right…..but disclaimer, if I made a mistake or misunderstood, I will edit and/or delete if necessary.

The water rate could see an increase of 2.5% as well as waste water could see the same increase. The Asset Management Plan calls for 2% and 1.3% of infrastructure.

A Police Transfer Reserve is recommended in the amount of $564,000 to allow for the possibility of reinstating our own police force should council want to consider that. Also, $500,000 will be set aside as part of a Capital Reserve for the Great Space, Great Places grant application (which included Duffy’s development, Belle Vue grounds and gardens, trails and the Simcoe Street enhancements and the Libro Centre additions – pool, ball diamonds etc.). Also debt reduction is included in the budget. In 2014, the debt sat at $44.7 Million. At the end of 2019, the debt is projected to be $34.2 Million, a reduction of 23.5% in 5 years. The previous council adopted a pay as you go system rather than taking on more debt. There were a couple of “new” positions listed but I didn’t catch them all…..I only caught three…..the Manager of Finance at a cost of $115,256, Part time general labourers for the Parks Department at a cost of $41,800 and a Planner at a cost of $98,000. There were a couple of others, but I’ll have to check the document once it’s available to be sure. The CAO also mentioned the 2020 levies and transferring both to capital funding to create an annual capital program going forward.

Then, the Treasurer, Justin Rousseau took over the presentation. He said that the 2020 Capital budget was a grand total of $11,786,000 and will all be financed without debt. He showed several graphs indicating how the funding is spread out. He also mentioned the funding for municipalities from upper levels of government has not been confirmed yet and that is still a concern. He spoke about the infrastructure cost per resident in Amherstburg. Compared to surrounding municipalities, Amherstburg has the highest cost per resident at $11,331 (I think I got that number right??) He pointed out that we have the highest amount of infrastructure to enjoy, but that means the highest costs to maintain. He felt that progress and planning are key to replacing infrastructure. He then pointed out that council has two weeks to review the budget and ask their questions of senior managements. (Maybe I should bold that……council has two weeks to ask their questions of senior management……that means budget deliberations is not the time to try to put administration on the spot with questions……two weeks……no excuses……The “I just read the report this afternoon” won’t fly with this blogger……do your reading council and get your questions answered ahead of time, be prepared, that’s what we pay you for….)

And, on that note, the budget was tabled and the meeting wrapped up at 6:36. I actually had time to run an errand on my way home after the meeting.

So, on that note, I’ll start looking through the budget document as much as I can before Saturday’s public consultation meeting. In the meantime, I encourage residents to ask questions of our members of council in any way that you are comfortable….email, by phone, in person or at the public meeting. Tonight, there were only about a dozen people in attendance at the meeting, but I’m guessing when the word gets out that we’re looking at a 4.55% increase, well, more people may become interested.

Happy budget reading everyone!

In preparation for Monday November 4th special council meeting

Well, this Monday, there is a special council meeting with one item and one item only on the agenda.

2020 Operating and Capital Budget

If Monday’s meeting is run the same as past special council meetings regarding the budget, the Treasurer and the CAO will present the big picture items for the 2020 budget to council and the public. Council will then have about two weeks to do their reading and ask their questions. As I’ve seen in the past, after this meeting, the budget will be posted publicly and anybody can read through it. (Brace yourself though, it’s a very lengthy, detailed document and is hardly light or entertaining reading…..in my opinion…..)

There will be a public consultation meeting on Saturday November 9th from 1:00 until 3:00 at the Libro arena.

If you are unable to attend the public consultation meeting above, you can always email or call the council members to ask your questions.

Then council deliberations are set for :

• Tuesday November 19th 6 PM to 10 PM
• Wednesday November 20th 9 AM to 4:30 PM
• Thursday November 21st 2 PM to 8 PM (If required)

In the past, council has been able to wrap up their deliberations in two budget sessions and hasn’t required the third session, but who knows what this year may hold?

I’m looking forward to Monday night to hear what is in store for the 2020 budget. See you then!