Well they say that the worst decision is indecision. It seems this council has this down to a T. I’ve also heard that greatness is never achieved through indecision. Well, I guess we don’t have to worry that we will achieve greatness either……ugh! If you’re ready to read about a whole lot of back and forth and indecision, grab a seat, you’ll be here for a while. LOL I’ll try to summarize it all as briefly as I can. Last night, my hand actually hurt from all of the note taking. And just a head’s up…..the show, I mean the meeting, didn’t finish up until 9:09 PM. Although I doubt that is a surprise to anyone.
DELEGATIONS
Libro Centre Expansion Master Plan – Peter McIntyre, Amherstburg Indoor Sports Association
Mr McIntyre addressed council via Zoom for the virtual meeting. He said he was speaking about a potential building expansion at the Libro Centre. The Amherstburg Indoor Sports Association was formed in late 2020 and is in the process of incorporating. He was supporting the building of an Annex that would be attached to the Libro Centre building. The Annex would be able to accomodate 5 indoor sports and would provide efficiencies since it would be attached to the Libro. I believe he said that the multi-use facility would be used for volleyball, basketball, pickleball, badminton and tennis. It would be used by the residents of Amherstburg but would also be used as a vehicle for sports tourism. He explained that there would be user fees and advertising space and that the facility would pay for itself and would not involve taxpayer money. Mr McIntyre explained that the group had had a CPA review their business plan to ensure that it was a solid one. He also said that the facility would be accessible and self sustaining. He thanked the CAO, Mr Miceli and The Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture, Mr Phill Roberts. (Just some foreshadowing these two would take on big supporting actor roles throughout the evening as they would explain and re explain so many things to the main actors.) Anyway, Mr McIntyre said that once the incorporation was finalized and the business plan was complete, they were looking forward to presenting it to town administration.
Councillor Prue wondered about the cost to build the facility. Mr McIntyre explained that their group would cover the principal and interest and they would be asking the town to arrange the financing. Deputy Mayor Meloche felt that the overall concept was a good one and he was happy that they had sought financial expertise to help them. Councillor Renaud agreed with the Deputy Mayor and wanted to understand the town’s obligations in the matter. Councillor McArthur felt it was a great plan and felt it sounded almost too good to be true. He wondered when the business plan would be ready.
Mr Roberts explained that the plan would come before council. It would have to be vetted to the public, but since the Libro Centre Expansion Master Plan was on tonight’s agenda, they needed to reserve space in the plan to ensure a reasonable location. Mr Roberts explained that a lot of work would have to be done, that the group had already done a lot of work but they all needed to ensure it would be in the right spot on the Libro property.
CAO Miceli explained that this was the beginnings of a public/private partnership, that it was a group with a desire to build the Annex. He said that administration would continue to work with the group. The CAO said that the town would analyse the business plan with the three CPA’s that we have on staff and that there is experience on staff with building recreation facilities to review all of the documentation.
Councillor Simone wondered if the building would be able to host tournaments. The CAO explained that presently we do not have a facility like this but that yes it would be able to host tournaments.
Councillor Courtney felt that the town has a joint use agreement with the School Board for use of the gym and wondered if the town were doubling up. (Sigh……this was just the beginning of a lot of questions that seemed somewhat out of nowhere.) The CAO explained that yes there is an agreement with the board but that the availability does not align to all user times. Translation, the gym at a school is not available all day and many evenings…… The CAO explained again that this was simply a preliminary plan and that they’re waiting for the full proposal and business plan. Council just needed to be appraised of the idea due to the Libro Center Expansion Master Plan that was on the agenda that night. (More on that fiasco later.)
Finally, a motion was made and the delegation was received. (I am looking forward to hearing more about this initiative as things come together for this group. It sounds like a fantastic idea for our town!)
Due to technical difficulties (I’m guessing) the next delegation didn’t happen right away, so the meeting moved on….
Libro Centre Expansion Master Plan
This plan was on the agenda last night for council to adopt it as a planning document for future development of the park property at the Libro Centre. It was a plan for the entire property that surrounds the arena but did not include the arena complex.
The plan is truly beautiful!!! The massive amount of acreage was planned out in order to properly place items as budget money becomes available. Bear in mind, nothing in the document was written in stone, simply a guiding document to help plan the future development of the property. Hold on to your hats folks! Council’s weakness at decision making shone far and bright last night!
Councillor Prue asked right away if the plan had to be adopted tonight. He wondered if it could wait and wondered why it had to be done that night. (As soon as I heard those words I knew we were doomed……and we were…..I just don’t get it……council was elected to make the decisions……yet their go-to move is to delay things and in some of the most creative ways I have seen…..) Mr Roberts said that there wasn’t a rush but that the plan had been vetted with the public and all of the committees of council. He said there would be an upcoming open house about the skate park and a decision about its location would be made at a later date. He just felt it would be prudent to have a plan in place for the large amount of property at the Libro Centre.
Councillor Prue then began to list item numbers from various recommendations about the property……he wondered why BMW dirt bikes would be placed near an environmental area where the walking trails would be. He felt he was ready to receive the report but that he had lots of questions……
CAO Miceli explained that it would be adopted as a planning document. He explained that nothing was set in stone and that each decision regarding the property would come to council. He felt that this was a guiding document, another layer of planning to move forward. He told council that they could change it at any time but he did suggest public consultation if they were to make changes. (Since the plan has already gone through vigorous public consultation.)
Councillor Prue then said that there is community angst about Centennial park and possible development and that he had so many questions. (For the record, this community member does not have any angst about Centennial Park…..do you? ) He wondered if each item would be addressed or if everything was looked at as one package.
CAO Miceli explained that the trail and the baseball diamond had already been identified. All of the user groups had been consulted. He explained that administration was simply trying to follow through with the direction received from council. Some of the items are on course to be installed at the Libro (the ball diamond and the trail) and administration is working on the 2021 work plan.
Councillor Prue felt that these projects shouldn’t stop but felt that council has to answer to the public and he wondered what was happening with other parks. (Huge eye roll right here!!!! The plan is about the Libro property!!!! And it’s a beautiful plan at that!!! Why was this being dragged down????)
Mr Roberts felt that the CAO had hit the nail on the head. He said that the money had been budgeted to build the ball diamond, so with this plan, administration knows where to build it. He reiterated that this was a planning document and by having amenities in one area, it creates economies of scale.
Then, Mr Steve Langlois from Monteith Brown Planning spoke. His firm had developed the plan. He echoed what the CAO and Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture had to say. He said the translation was that this was a dynamic exercise for planning. He mentioned the skate park had allowed for proper spacing and they were able to allocate for the space in the plans, even though it’s location has not been officially decided. He said that council will make decisions going forward not just this year but for years to come and the plan would help council to make wise decisions. (I guess that’s assuming that council will actually make a decision!!!)
Deputy Mayor Meloche agreed that it was a plan and some things need to be set as soon as possible, while other items can wait.
Councillor Courtney spoke and said that Councillor Prue had alluded to many emails and phone calls regarding Centennial Park. He felt that there wasn’t any clarity regarding the amenities. He felt that the diagram was very grand but that public consultation was only for one day at two different times and only 107 people came. He felt he had concerns with the size and scale of the plan. He wondered if the desired outcome was for sports tourism or to provide amenities to the residents. (We can’t have both????)
Mr Langlois then explained that several amenities are there to replace those that were lost. He said that this was not a “Build it and they will come” idea, it was created for the residents and the future growth of the town. He explained that there is more and more demand for trails and playgrounds with fitness areas. He also said the plan wouldn’t happen overnight, it would be phased in gradually as funds were available. (Clearly!!!! This was a beautiful plan and vision and will not only take a lot of money, but time too!! I thought that was obvious, but I guess not.)
Mr Roberts then spoke again. He felt that there had been an inference that public consultation wasn’t robust. (Remember Councillor Courtney felt that only 107 people went to a consultation meeting that was only held for one day at two different times?…..yes, that…..) Mr Roberts explained that there was a lot of public consultation. He congratulated Mr Rick Daly for getting 107 people to show up in person to discuss the plan as well as ongoing discussions on Talk the Burg. He also explained that Mr Daly met with every stakeholder group. He wasn’t sure if there was an inference that more public consultation was needed, but that was as much as he’d ever seen during his career. He offered there could be more if council really wanted more consultation arranged.
Councillor Courtney seemed somewhat off put by this and didn’t like the way Mr Roberts was inferring what he was inferring. (To hear the sentence live was something……take a look for it on the video if you’re interested.) He felt that he doesn’t delve into administration’s duties yet then talked about how he was born and raised here in Amherstburg and played most of the sports that are offered in town. (Sooooo……was he inferring because he was born and raised here and played sports that he knows more than Mr Roberts or those who shared their opinions about the Libro plan????? Does it matter where you were born to be able to have an opinion about the Libro??? Does it matter if you play most of the sports or only one or none?……) He then questioned the AMA Tennis and Badminton Association since he hadn’t heard of it and felt he is very involved in the town’s athletics. It seems the AMA Tennis and Badminton Association is run by one person and Councillor Courtney felt that her one opinion was asked as a stakeholder and then administration went with it. Councillor Courtney felt that stakeholders were asked for their wish list and would just nod and agree that the concept was beautiful. He felt they wouldn’t take into account the size and scale of the project, like council would. He seemed to feel that council should have been offered more than one possible plan. Councillor Courtney felt that the town needs a clear direction of which way to go and seems to think the town is suffering from an identity crisis. (I beg to differ……personally, I think that some people just have a really hard time accepting a direction other than the one that they want…….so even though there was tons of consultation and many people and user groups weighed in with what they’d like to see…..why is this concept a problem???? Why is the public consultation being questioned? The public spoke…) Councillor Courtney felt that there hadn’t been a cost analysis yet. He seemed to be reluctant to make a decision about this plan. Very reluctant. Frankly, Councillor Courtney spoke and spoke and spoke……if you want to hear it all, please consult the video. And THEN Councillor Courtney said that he WAS inferring that 107 people are not a lot of people for consultation. (LOL! So I guess he was inferring after all…..he got upset about it earlier, yet here we were……consult the video…..on a side note…..as someone who has gone to some public consultation meetings, just as a member of the public…..107 people is a darn good turn out! Was it just not the 107 people that Councillor Courtney was hoping would show up? People are busy and usually don’t break down the doors for public consultation about much…..I went to the one about the Duffy’s property and I don’t even know if they got 100 people all day for that? But I digress……) Then Councillor Courtney wondered if this were the plan that they would want to endorse. He felt he was trying to do his part to come in efficiently for the meeting. (Um……he had been talking far too long for any semblance of efficiency, in my opinion…….)
OK, I’m changing paragraphs, but Councillor Courtney was still talking and talking and talking (if you have an hour or two, go take a listen)…..he felt that a decision hadn’t been made about the pool yet or the skateboard park and other items. Councillor Courtney was hesitant to move this forward. He said he wasn’t sure that some amenities should be situated at the Libro. (Seems he forgot that this was simply a plan and nothing was written in stone……that nothing was being finalized at all…..but I digress….) And then, he spoke about “hometown pride”. He spoke of the history of H. Murray Smith park, the McCurdy track and the big hill, that these things mean a lot to a lot of people, for name recognition and that we need to protect our history. (This is a delicate walk right here……items are named after great former members of our community and I know it’s been mentioned that those names can continue on, but perhaps commemorated on something else…..things change, the town has evolved…..I grew up right near Centennial Park…..I could see the hill from my backyard…..in the 70s and 80s it was a very busy park – you’re going to know how old I am now lol – but I think there’s a big difference between protecting our history and staying stuck in it……it’s not the 70s or the 80s anymore…..kids are different than they were at my age and yes, I have three….I know how they’re growing up compared to how I did…..as much as I have wonderful memories of Centennial Park and that area, they don’t…….are we just trying to desperately hang on to memories of times gone by and in turn closing the door on change or progress? )
And then, it was Mr Daly’s turn to speak to try to clarify. He said that initially this was a spatial exercise for the Libro footprint to see where amenities could fit. (This includes some lost amenities and some possible new ones.) He reiterated again that it was not saying that things have to go in a certain spot, but that they can actually fit in certain areas. He then spoke of the stakeholders and the way that tournaments are offered to associations.
Councillor Courtney then wondered about the infrastructure to host tournaments, that we would need 2 or 3 hotels and that he doesn’t want Amherstburg competing with Windsor. He listed off space that the city has available for sporting events. (Unbelievable. It seems he wants the tourist money just to be spent in Windsor! What about us! Complete lack of vision……lack of vision of the great town that we are and the even greater town we could be……) Councillor Courtney then spoke about fiduciary responsibility and if we really need 4 tennis courts there. In my opinion, it seemed he was taking a beautiful image of what eventually could come to be and trying to find ways to nickel and dime it into something smaller and less grand…..what a shame. Isn’t Amherstburg worthy of great things?
Mr Langlois, from the consulting company, then spoke again. He agreed that there were a lot of balls in the air but that this drawing was just a concept. He said it is a defendable need and is validated through the Parks Master Plan. He reiterated that this plan is a general fit for the future.
(In my notes, I had to stop writing for a bit…..my hand was seriously hurting…..I had been writing fast and furious for over an hour…..)
Councillor McArthur then spoke. He felt that Councillor Courtney had mentioned a lot. (um, ya think?) Councillor McArthur felt that for starters we should be going after sports tourism. (Thank you!!!! Finally a voice of reason!) He felt that the blueprint provides it all, it would allow for tournaments and that all that is missing is the hotel across the street, although the downtown hotel is in the works. He acknowledged that the plan was not carved in stone but was just a starting point and that everything would still need to come to council. He felt that there was value in passing the plan tonight. (My heart skipped a beat…..I hoped that maybe, just maybe, tonight would become a productive meeting after all…..and maybe, just maybe there was some hope that we could be a progressive town……at least one person seemed to be heading in the right direction!..…) Councillor McArthur felt that the plan should be used for starting discussion and he didn’t think that everything could just be plopped onto the 12 acres. He felt that he wanted the highest and best use of the land and to look at how it’s used today. He acknowledged that the landscape of the town has changed. There will be the new high school at Centennial Park, the Community Hub and a Long Term Care Home is eventually coming. He felt that things have to compliment each other. He acknowledged that the location for the skatepark will need to be discussed and debated. Then a lengthy discussion of what defines urban Amherstburg ensued.
The discussion dragged on and on and on……the pool…..what type? Funding? Kayak launch? BMX bikes and their effects on the environment? Near natural areas? Best location? A bike trail? A walking trail? An area reserved for a future fire hall? (It was now 7:25 PM in my notes).
Mr Roberts explained that the skateboard park can’t just be plunked in a park, that the entire park needs to be looked at, the skateboard park can’t just exist in isolation. It would be important to look at what the park would look like overall.
The discussion turned back to the remaining acres at Centennial. I still haven’t managed to put my finger on why those remaining acres are such a big deal? And to how many people?
CAO Miceli explained to council that the Parks Master Plan was adopted by council after public consultation. Monday’s meeting was about space allocation for the 300 acres at the Libro Centre. He felt that administration had brought council the most appropriate use of space. There is money budgeted by council in 2021 for a baseball diamond. He went on to explain that many parks are becoming passive. Many people are now using walking trails and have changed to unprogrammed use. He felt that Centennial Park and the Libro were irrespective of each other and that Centennial would also need it’s own plan with public consultation.
And I am now officially so darn tired of typing about this…..The Mayor brought up concerns that the funding for the trail and the ball diamond are in place and he wondered if the plan weren’t passed at the meeting, if those two items would have to come before council again. Effectively, yes, they would……so long story short, Councillor Prue made a motion to approve the existing area for the ball diamond and the trail and leave the balance of the plan for later for council to feel more comfortable about it. Councillor McArthur seconded it. (What????? I have no idea what happened there – he had been the only one that spoke logically about approving the plan.) And then the motion passed.
So, council debated this for an excessive amount of time to make no decision at all. There is no plan, no vision for the Libro Centre. What a disappointment. How do we get anywhere without a plan? Does council lack vision? Do they want us to remain stagnant? I just don’t know.
It was now 7:58.
Cat Spay and Neuter Voucher Program – Lynn Sinasac, Amherstburg Cat Support Crew
Ms Sinasac was back in the meeting and then presented her delegation. Her organisation traps feral cats, gets them neutered and then releases them back to their colony. The organisation gets vouchers from the town to get the cats fixed. Part of the voucher is that the cat gets fixed but also gets ear tipped. The ear is tipped so that if the cat is caught again, anybody will know it’s already been neutered. It’s a pretty efficient process and helps keep the feral cats in check.
Ms Sinasac said that this past year they have caught several kittens and in that case, the group adopts them out. However, if they’re ear tipped, it makes it more difficult to find them families. She was requesting to be able to get some vouchers without the ear tipping requirement.
Ms Rubli, Manager of Licensing explained that the purpose of the program was to manage and fix feral cats. She felt that changing the vouchers to not require ear tipping would mean that the town would be subsidizing a program for people to adopt cats.
Ms Sinasac said that if the cats are found young enough it is possible to tame them so that they’re not feral and then they’re adoptable. She wanted the ability not to have to ear tip only those cats when they’re brought in to be spayed or neutered with the voucher.
Councillor McArthur felt that the system is broken since we’re relying on people to catch the cats and get them fixed. He felt that there was value if the town could help.
Ms Rubli wondered if the group was taking on adoption contracts, like the Humane Society. She also wondered what was happening to the cats if they weren’t adopted.
I have sat through way too many meetings over the last six years about cats LOL. For the record, I am a cat lover. I have two that I adopted from the Humane Society about 10 years ago. Ironically, during this discussion, one of my cats jumped on my lap to lay down and rub her face on my notebook. That made it a bit hard to take notes LOL.
There was a lot of back and forth about this issue. Ultimately, council made a motion that 20 vouchers would be available without ear tipping. While I support the Trap, neuter and release program, I’m not sure why council decided to support an adoption program. I don’t understand why the kittens wouldn’t be brought to the Humane Society?
New Business
At this point of the meeting, members of council can bring up any new business items that could concern the town. I feel it may be time to give this section of the meeting a new title. Here goes :
Showboating 101 or
I got a phone call or an email so I’m going to bring it up at the meeting tonight instead of following up on it in a more appropriate manner, however, I will only bring up certain phone calls or certain emails, not all of them
I find it mind boggling when members of council do this.
So, we heard about an email regarding a possible 3 way stop wanted somewhere on Fryer Street…..then a question about a new Director position that would have oversight on Fire Services…..
That got kind of interesting. The CAO explained that the job posting was a result of the Service Delivery Review (any of my blog followers know how important that document is). The CAO said that in the future, future fire chiefs would report to a Director. Councillor Courtney felt that a Director wouldn’t know more than a chief and wondered if other municipalities have such a structure. Councillor Courtney felt that he doesn’t treat the Service Delivery Review as God and that the study wasn’t a full scale review in his opinion. He felt that council shouldn’t act on all of the information that was in it. He hoped that administration wasn’t using the document as a guiding document, since he feels it was incomplete. (I’m not sure what qualifications Councillor Courtney has in doing studies, providing analysis and reviews to municipalities, but I guess he feels better qualified than the organization that provided the study?)
The CAO offered to prepare a report about the Service Delivery Review recommendations if council so desired. He then went on to tell Councillor Courtney that the Fire Chief where Councillor Courtney works does not report directly to the CAO. Leamington and Kingsville also have the same structure. This then led into a discussion about the Service Delivery Review…..
Then, there was discussion about a phone call that one councillor received about traffic near the new greenhouse on the Third Concessions……and then discussion about a phone call and an email about the tree bylaw and a house in the Sandwich St and Lowes Side Road area…..I stopped taking notes…..I was very tired of hearing “I got a phone call” or “I got an email”……what is the criteria that some emails or phone calls are brought up at council meetings yet others aren’t? Is a public council meeting really the forum for such things? Or is it just being used as a stage for the big show?
And finally, at 9:09 PM, the meeting was adjourned! No in-camera meeting this week! But boy, this council is becoming experts in how to run in circles and not get much accomplished…..I wonder what their platforms will be when they seek re-election?
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