Surprisingly, tonight’s meeting wrapped up at 7:47 PM and had negligible drama. So, the good news is that the blog will be short and sweet. The bad news is that the blog will be boring. LOL! It just goes to prove that you just can’t have it all!
Council met in-camera at 4:00 to discuss :
SPECIAL IN-CAMERA MEETING
That Council move into an In-Camera Meeting of Council pursuant to Section 239 of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended for the following reasons:
Item A – Litigation Involving Identifiable Individual.
• Section 239(2)(b) – personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees;
• Section 239(2)(e) – litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board;
• Section 239(2)(f) – advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose;
Item B -Third Party Information Supplied in Confidence to the Municipality in Relation to Emergency Planning:
• Section 239(2)(a) – the security of the property of the municipality or local board;
• Section 239(2)(b) – personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees;
• Section 239(2)(f) – advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose;
• Section 239(2)(h) – information explicitly supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board by Canada, a province or territory or a Crown agency of any of them;
• 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 C – Council Education and Training Session on Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).
The regular meeting started at 6:00. Item C from the above in-camera meeting was carried forward into the public agenda.
I decided to stay home and watch the meeting with my feet up.
**Councillor Courtney was in attendance via Zoom and appeared to be at work. He left part way through the meeting and never came back.**
DELEGATIONS
Delegation: Larry Amlin re: Duffy’s Property
Mr Amlin addressed council first. He expressed his concern about lack of development of the old Duffy’s property into parkland. He noted that the fences had been erected in 2017 and nothing has happened at the property since that time. He wanted answers with how things are proceeding and if there was anything that could be done to push it along. He asked that the fence be repositioned to the breakwall, landscape the area and make it usable until a site plan is ready. He noted that on Canada Day downtown Amherstburg was packed and that people like to gather at the waterfront. (They sure do!!! That’s why Open Air is such a huge success for Amherstburg!!!!) Mr Amlin expressed a desire to work together and to get it done and develop the property.
Councillor McArthur spoke and agreed with Mr Amlin. He felt that the property is currently an eye sore. He noted that the town is still waiting for the Environmental Assessment and that we are not allowed to take the fence down. He agreed that the property is vital to Amherstburg.
Deputy Mayor Gibb then spoke and felt that the development of the Duffy’s property is the single biggest thing he’d like to see accomplished during his term. He noted at the beginning of his term, Councillor Crain had arranged a meeting for himself, Deputy Mayor Gibb, Councillor Allaire, and the CAO with MPP Anthony Leardi. He said that the biggest part of their discussion was about trying to move along the Environmental Assessment of the property. Deputy Mayor Gibb asked Mr Amlin to send emails to MPP Leardi and the Ministry of the Environment, as he does to council to try to help the process along.
Mr Amlin said he was asking why it was held up. He wondered what we can do as a town to move it forward. (I couldn’t help but note that Mr Amlin had just been asked to email the MPP and the Ministry of the Environment to help move this forward but I digress….)
Mayor Prue noted that all of council agreed with Mr Amlin and wanted to see the park developed.
CAO Critchley explained that after the Environmental Assessment there were a series of environmental tests that were asked for. The town submitted what was requested. She said that it is a 16 week MINIMUM to review these items. Then, the Ministry asked for more testing. Again, the engineers coordinated the testing, got it done and resubmitted the new samples requested. The CAO mentioned the minutes of the March 13th meeting and that they reflected that an amount of money had been set aside for the Duffy’s property. She said that at the moment, the town is still waiting for Ministry of the Environment approval and until then, they can not move the fence.
Ms Baillargeon, Director of Parks said that as of June 29th, they were told they should hear back around mid July and then could plan next steps. She noted that the town is working closely with the engineers.
Mr Amlin felt that the soil testing had been done over a year ago but now there was talk of 16 weeks for results.
CAO Critchley reiterated that it was a MINIMUM of 16 weeks to receive a reply, but that the town had had to do a second boring, gather more samples, get together a submission and then resubmit once again, which had all been done.
Mayor Prue told Mr Amlin that MPP Leardi would be the right person to talk to about getting this moving.
Mr Amlin felt that Mayor Prue should get in his car and drive to Toronto to meet with people.
Councillor Pouget reiterated what CAO Critchley had said. She then read the direction given at the March 13th meeting from the minutes and noted that council had done seven things regarding this project and even had money set aside.
Councillor Courtney came into the meeting via Zoom and asked if a municipality was treated differently regarding development than a private entity. The CAO said that yes, there is quite a difference. She noted that the town needs an entirely public Environmental Assessment process. She noted that a park is a high risk and high use development that is used by children and seniors and that a municipality is held to a higher standard.
(Side note….for those of you that are concerned about getting the Duffy’s property moving and actually want to take action, send an email to our MPP, Anthony Leardi and to the Ministry of the Environment. Anthony.Leardi@pc.ola.org and minister.mecp@ontario.ca There are the email addresses for both. You’re welcome.)
And finally, the delegation was received.
Delegation : Linda Saxon re: Murray Street Payment in lieu of parking (supplementary agenda)
Ms Saxon’s delegation was on a supplementary agenda and I did not have a chance to read it ahead of time. She was delegating about the report found later in the agenda about a building that is being renovated on Murray Street and that is giving the town money in lieu of providing parking. Ms Saxon was referring to AODA legislation. I had a difficult time following her delegation and I was unsure what she was requesting.
The delegation was received.
79 Murray Street Payment in Lieu of Parking Request
This report was moved forward on the agenda since it pertained to Ms Saxon’s delegation.
From my pre-meeting blog :
The above property is currently being redeveloped into one residential and two commercial spaces. Prior to its redevelopment, the property had 3 residential units and one retail space. From the report : “Administration calculated the existing parking exemption, based on 3 residential units and 1 retail storefront. At that time, the required parking was 9 spaces in total. The property had 2 parking spaces at the time, which still exist, and therefore the property has been historically deficient by 7 parking spaces. Section 3.23(l) does not require that the applicant provide or make up the deficiency of the 7 parking spaces and therefore they are ‘grandfathered’ in for the site. Of the 2 parking spaces on the site, one will be dedicated to the residential unit, and the other will be an accessible parking space. However, based on new uses proposed on the sites, the site would be deficient by 2 parking spaces.”
Long story short, when it’s just not possible to create parking spaces out of nowhere, a payment in lieu is allowed. So here is the recommendation :
It is recommended that:
1. Council APPROVE the payment in lieu of parking in the amount of $9,700 for two parking spots for the subject lands known as 79 Murray Street; and,
2. By-law 2023-082 being a by-law to approve the payment in lieu of parking for 79 Murray Street be taken as having been read three times and finally passed and the Mayor and Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to sign same; and,
3. Payment in lieu of parking in the amount of $9,700 BE RECEIVED from the applicant and DEPOSITED into the Parking Reserve Fund (2000).
I bolded one portion above so that it is clear that one of the two parking spots will be an accessible parking space.
There was quite a bit of discussion about this issue but overall, it really didn’t matter. Eventually, the motion was made for the staff recommendation above and it carried.
MPAC – Property Assessment in Ontario Presentation
There was a lady (I did not catch her name) that presented a powerpoint presentation to council. She was from the MPAC office. She explained the procedure about how property taxes are assessed. She noted that just because property values go up, does not mean that taxes will increase. The five factors for assessment are location, lot size, quality of construction, square footage and the age of the property. (Soooo…..a large, custom, waterfront home will pay a lot more property tax than a medium-size subdivision home I guess…..ultimately, I guess the amount we pay in municipal taxes is somewhat in our control, based on how we each chose to live….?) Here is the link to her presentation if any of my readers are interested : https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=11792
Councillor Crain noted that MPAC assessments were discussed when he was at the ROMA conference earlier this year. He wondered when the new assessments would be done. The presenter said that she did not know and they were waiting for the provincial government to announce when they would be done.
Her presentation was received.
There were a lot of items on the agenda and many went through with very little or no discussion at all. I will just mention those that received some discussion.
Anderdon Court Repair Options
If you recall, at the June 12, 2023 meeting, council decided to install new hard surface courts at the Libro Centre. They also set aside $40,000 to repair the Anderdon courts and had requested some prices and options. Well, the prices and options are ready…. Here are the three options, from the report :
“Option 1 – Minor Crack Repairs (Annual)
This would involve grinding down the current cracks to eliminate tripping and filling them with crack sealer, then repainting court colours over repairs and repainting the line work necessary to see the courts. This work would likely need to be on an annual basis and that as some point this would no longer be a viable option.
Crack repairs would cost approx. $ 8,500.00 + HST, annually. This treatment, when considering annual inflation at approximately 3% as well as non-recoverable HST would cost approximately $36,190 to complete it 4 times. As such the $40,000 allocated by CR20230612-006 for use on the Anderdon Courts would result in up to 4 opportunities to apply this treatment. There is no warranty on this work. It may last only one season or longer dependant on weather and use of courts.
If Council proceed with this option the following recommendation is suggested to be made: “That Council DIRECTS Option 1 at a cost of approximately $8,500 plus HST be completed at the Anderdon Courts for as many treatments as can be completed within the $40,000 previously approved in CR20230612-006.”
Option 2 – Crack Seal and Acrylic Coating
This option includes cleaning out cracks and filling with concrete mixture then sand smooth, apply rite way repair system to spec, apply acrylic re-surfacer with sand to spec on repaired areas, apply one coat of acrylic re-surfacer with sand to entire area, apply two coats of acrylic colour with sand (2 colours), apply acrylic white lines to spec.
The cost for this is $45,000 + HST. This option the Vendor will supply a 2-year warranty. There is currently insufficient funding to proceed with this option.
If Council proceed with this option the following recommendation is suggested to be made: “That Council APPROVES Option 2 at a cost of $45,000 plus HST to be completed at the Anderdon Courts and; That Council DIRECTS the $6,000 in additional funding required for Option 2 be a reduction of $6,000 from the $100,000 identified in CR20230612-006 for Libro Courts.”
Option 3 – Minor crack repairs (One Time)
Same solution as presented in Option 1, however it would only be done once. The cost would approx. be $ 8,500.00 + HST. If Council proceeds with this option the following recommendation is suggested to be made: “That Council APPROVES Option 3 at a cost of $8,500 plus HST to be completed at the Anderdon Courts and; That Council DIRECTS the surplus funding for the Anderdon Courts, of approximately $31,000 be directed for use in the creation of the Libro Courts.”
Councillor Crain noted that about $40,000 had been set aside for temporary repairs to keep the courts usable. He wondered how much an entire reconstruction would cost. Ms Baillargeon, Director of Parks said that it would cost about $150,000 for a new court with a warranty.
Councillor Courtney made the motion for Option #1 as noted above. He felt that four applications that might get two years of life per repair was the best option. He felt that what council decided showed a message about the future for the courts.
Mayor Prue passed the gavel and felt that staff had recommended option 3 and wondered why no one had spoken against it.
Councillor Allaire felt that Option 3 only fixes the courts once. She felt that option 1 would give longevity and keep the courts going longer.
Councillor Crain asked if in fact, administration had recommended option 3, since he hadn’t seen that in the report. And, NO, they had not. They had simply provided the 3 options and left it up to council to decide which one they wanted.
Deputy Mayor Gibb said that he was in favour of option 1 as well since he did not know how long it may be until the Libro courts are done.
Councillor McArthur noted that the Anderdon courts get a lot of use. He felt that fixing them was showing commitment to the county courts.
Mayor Prue passed the gavel again to ask a question. He asked about the courts in Malden. He felt that they were probably past saving but wondered if the weeds could be sprayed so that the courts could be played on. It seems a resident had asked him about this. Ms Baillargeon said that the Malden courts were beyond repair and were unusable since the base would have to be dug out and replaced.
The motion for option 1 carried. At this point I noted in my notes that Coucillor Courtney had left the zoom call. (He never did return).
Amherstburg Emergency Management Program and Response Plan – 2023 Update
This is a fairly long report with some proposed updates to the Emergency Response Plan. Here is the recommendation :
It is recommended that:
1. The updated Emergency Management Program and Response Plan BE APPROVED; and,
2. By-law 2023-029 being a by-law to adopt an Emergency Management Program governing the provisions of necessary services during such emergencies be taken as having been read three times and finally passed and the Mayor and Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to sign same.
There was some discussion about this. It seems that with the current siren system only about 8% of the homes are notified. Chief Montone said that there would be a campaign to encourage people to sign up for Amherstburg Alerts. He also said that in certain areas there would be a door to door flyer campaign so that people could get signed up.
The motion was made for the recommendation and it carried.
Fire Services By-law Amendments
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that:
1. By-law 2023-076, being a By-law to Establish and Regulate the Amherstburg Fire Department be taken as having been read three times and finally passed and the Mayor and Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to sign same; and,
2. By-law 2023-077, being a By-law to Appoint Deputy Fire Chiefs for the Amherstburg Fire Department be taken as having been read three times and finally passed and the Mayor and Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to sign same.
There was a motion to divide the above recommendation.
The first part went through.
The second part…..Councillor Pouget felt that it was unfair to appoint the position and that the position should be advertised. She said she would vote against it.
The second portion went through 3 to 2…..I watched the vote and Councillor Courtney was gone from the zoom call. In favour : Deputy Mayor Gibb, Councillors Crain and McArthur. Opposed : Councillors Pouget and Allaire.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Council can ask questions about any unfinished business items. As well, there are two cheque listing reports (April and May) that council can ask about any cheques that were written. I took a look through the lists, but nothing jumped out at me.
Councillor Pouget had a bunch of questions about a bunch of cheques that were written. Councillor Allaire also then had a bunch of questions about a bunch of cheques. She seemed to jump to her next question before administration had finished answering her first cheque question. The whole thing seemed kind of like nitpicking and a waste of time ….likely a veiled attempt of trying to justify the expense of producing this monthly report…..
NEW BUSINESS
Boat ramp
Councillor Allaire asked about the public boat ramp. It seems that administration is waiting for bids for the archaeological process.
Boblo ferry
Councillor Pouget made a motion for administration to investigate the development agreement regarding Boblo Island and to report back about the ferry.
Mayor Prue passed the gavel. He explained that he did not have a conflict since he pays for the ferry service like the other Boblo Island residents.
Councillor Pouget felt it was concerning how many times the barge keeps breaking down.
The motion carried.
Duffy’s
Councillor Pouget made a motion regarding Mr Amlin’s delegation that the Mayor be provided with all documentation regarding the Duffy’s property and that he go to Toronto and have meetings with all of the appropriate levels of government.
Mayor Prue noted that he would do so but that there would be a cost (gas, hotel, meals etc.) and that the results should be available in about two weeks for the environmental assessment.
Councillor Crain noted that the Mayor could meet with people without going to Toronto, such as Zoom or even phone calls. He also noted that the Mayor likely had contacts in the government since he spent time in the legislature.
Councillor Pouget mentioned perhaps postponing for two weeks. Mayor Prue suggested she could withdraw the motion and do it at the next council meeting, August 14th. Councillor Pouget felt that if the results were not good in two weeks, then the Mayor could meet with the officials. Mayor Prue made a comment about making some phone calls and then the motion carried.
Mayor Prue mentioned a concern about the lights at the new Dairy Queen being too bright. It will be looked at as part of the site plan. Mayor Prue also mentioned people going the wrong way on Murray Street during Open Air. The CAO will talk to the staff sergeant regarding this problem.
And just like that, it was 7:47PM and the meeting was adjourned!!! I couldn’t believe it!
Because of the summer schedule, council doesn’t meet again until mid-August. Woo hoo!!! So that means, that we can ALL set aside Amherstburg politics for a few weeks and get out and enjoy summer!!! There will be lots going on right here in our beautiful town! I can be found outside enjoying Open Air weekends and I hope to see you all out and about enjoying them too! Get out, enjoy and have fun! See you in a month Amherstburg!
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