Council only has one meeting scheduled for the month of March so it’s been kind of nice to have a break for a while. The agenda came out ten days ahead of time, as per the new procedural bylaw, to allow us all to prepare for the March 25th meeting. The agenda is 543 pages….
First, council will meet 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 – Received Communications from Upper Level of Government
- 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.
Item B – Information Relating to Security of Information Architecture, Systems and Processes
- 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.
Item C – Sale of Disposition of Land – Lease Renewal at Municipal Building
- Section 239(2)(c) – a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.
There is a 5:00 planning meeting scheduled as well.
The agenda for the 6:00 Regular meeting doesn’t seem to have anything of interest, except for the information report about Open Air. For those of us that love Open Air, you’ll love the report. For the few that don’t like it, well, you probably won’t like the report. So, use your judgment and stop reading this blog if you need to.
For those of you that like to read the agenda in its entirety, here’s the link : https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=4df61d70-0d01-4c9e-9edf-1c8d91fe9e68&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English
And if you prefer the PDF format, here it is
And here’s a little preview of some of the items up for discussion on Monday night!
DELEGATIONS
Delegation – Item #14.1 – Open Air – Dave Doherty
Mr Doherty will address council regarding Open Air. It appears that he will be asking council to make the footprint bigger for the event in order to include Flow Cafe and Bikes / Meal Prep in the footprint.
Delegation – Item #14.1 – Open Air – Bethany D’Alimonte
Ms D’Alimonte will also address council about Open Air. It appears that she is requesting to have the road barriers moved in order to include more businesses into the footprint for Open Air.
Delegation – Item # 13.2 – Business Licencing – Sarah Brush
Ms Brush will be addressing council about the new business licensing bylaw. She feels that the bylaw was passed in December 2023 without any input from the business owners. It appears that she is asking council to revisit this bylaw.
Map and Grow Tree Program
It seems that the Map and Grow Tree program began in 2022 based on a presentation by THRIVE on climate action. It appears the presentation was made to the old council on November 8 2021. The program is structured as a partnership between the University of Windsor and the Town of Amherstburg to give away 200 trees per year to residents. It seems that the residents would then permit the University of Windsor students to track and measure the growth of the trees.
This is from the discussion section of the report and explains the funding : “The Earth Day Map and Grow Tree program meets Amherstburg Strategic Pillar 4 Shape Growth Aligned with Local Identity, #5: Preserve the town’s greenspaces, agricultural lands and natural environment. The Town supports the purchase of the trees and distribution on Earth Day. Up until this year, businesses have provided financial support for the University of Windsor to manage the program. This year, the University expects to have sufficient funding to support the program. Administration recommends that we formally allocate a portion of the current operating budget in parks for tree planting to this program as it provides for another means in which to expand the tree canopy. Monitoring of the success of the program will be done annually, and adjustments to reduce funding for this program may be necessary should there be a requirement for trees in parkland instead. The funding allocated for this project would cover costs to purchase trees and the remainder to support the Universities portion of the program to track them.”
And here is the recommendation :
It is recommended that:
1. That Council SUPPORT up to $10,000 from the annual Parks Tree Operating Budget to the Earth Day Map and Grow Tree program.
Proposal for Draft Plan of Condominium: 359 Dalhousie Street – County File No. 37-CD-24002
It seems that a new condo development is going through the planning process. I took a peak at the plans and it looks like it will be a nice-looking building. Here is the recommendation :
It is recommended that:
1. Council ENDORSE the proposed Draft Plan of Condominium for 359 Dalhousie Street; and
2. Council DIRECT Administration to notify the County of Essex that the Town of Amherstburg supports the proposed Draft Plan of Condominium for 359 Dalhousie Street.
Zoning By-law Amendment for the Definition of Supportive Community Home
This item seems to be about the property at 184 Victoria Street South. It seems to need a zoning bylaw amendment in relation to the definition of a supportive community home. Here is the recommendation :
It is recommended that:
1. By-law 2024-016 being a by-law to amend Zoning By-law No. 1999-52, to amend the zoning to update the definition of Supportive Community Home, be taken as having been read three times and finally passed and the Mayor and Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to sign same.
Summary of Site Plan Applications Since December 1, 2023
It looks like council receives a list of site plan applications. It doesn’t look too exciting…..
Request to Consider Initiating Amendments to the Economic Development Community Improvement Plan
It seems that since council already had a Community Improvement Plan, they must follow the planning act in order to make amendments to it. It appears that the area for the CIP would be amended as well as provisions to attract industrial/commercial development and provisions for the town to offer incentives to attract medical offices or urgent care.
Here is the recommendation :
It is recommended that:
1. Administration BE INSTRUCTED to initiate an Official Plan Amendment to amend the Town of Amherstburg Official Plan policies about where Community Improvement Areas may be defined within the Town of Amherstburg;
2. Administration BE INSTRUCTED to initiate the process to amend the Economic Development Community Improvement Plan as approved in By-law 2023-058 for the purposes of:
a. Amending the Economic Development CIP Project Area;
b. Adding new provisions to allow the Town of Amherstburg to offer land as an incentive to attract industrial and commercial development; and
c. Adding new provisions to allow the Town of Amherstburg to offer incentives to attract medical offices and urgent care centres.
2024 Special Events Approval Part II
I love events and it looks like a few are up for approval on Monday night! I think Amherstburg is becoming well known for hosting some fantastic events (Open Air included!) Here’s the list for Monday night :
It is recommended that:
1. The following events BE APPROVED:
a. W.R.A.C.E. – Amherstburg Canada Day Run/Walk/Wheel – July 1, 2024
b. Share the Road – Essex County – Kelly-Ann Way Grand Depart Ride – June 15, 2024
c. Park House Museum – Music Off the Back Porch – May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 6, October 4, 2024
2. An exemption from table number 3-1(2) of Noise By-law #2001-43 with respect to the operation of any electronic device or group of connected electronic devices incorporating one or more loudspeakers to allow for music BE GRANTED for the following events:
a. W.R.A.C.E. – Amherstburg Canada Day Run/Walk/Wheel – July 1, 2024
b. Park House Museum – Music Off the Back Porch – May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 6, October 4, 2024
3. The fee waiver requests BE APPROVED as follows:
a. W.R.A.C.E. – Amherstburg Canada Day Run/Walk/Wheel – July 1, 2024
b. Park House Museum – Music Off the Back Porch – May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 6, October 4, 2024
4. The Special Events Resource Team BE DIRECTED to confirm that the requirements identified by the Team are met prior to the event.
Licensing Committee Appointment 2024-018 & Business Licensing By-law 2024-019
About six months ago, council had directed administration to open applications for the Licensing Committee. It looks like the terms of reference are now prepared and council had previously selected five lay people to sit on this new committee.
The members of this new committee are : Anne Creery, Dan Gemus, David Mazza, Del Oxford and Ryan D’Alimonte.
It looks like everything is in place and all the final details are ready. Here is the recommendation :
It is recommended that:
1. By-law 2024-018 being a By-law to Appoint Members to the Licensing Committee be taken as having been read three times and finally passed and the Mayor and Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to sign same;
2. That the 2022-2026 Committee Terms of Reference BE AMENDED to include the Licensing Committee as noted in the report of March 25, 2024; and
3. By-law 2024-019 being a By-law to regulate business licensing be taken as having been read three times and finally passed and the Mayor and Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to sign same.
Council Meeting Livestreaming and Agenda Software Agreement Extension
It seems that in 2018 the town entered into an agreement for agenda software. A renewal of service is required in 2024 and will commence a new five year term. For those of us that have read agendas for a while, we’ve seen the changes in the format. Instead of just a PDF being available, there is a html format also available. As well, the html format links to the meeting video and allows you to find specific items during the meeting more easily. (Well at least I think so anyway).
Here is the recommendation :
It is recommended that:
1. The proposal to extend the agreement for Council Meeting Livestreaming and Agenda Software BE APPROVED;
2. An increase to the 2024 Information Technology Computer Maintenance budget centre not to exceed $8,200.00 (excluding HST) BE AUTHORIZED and Administration BE DIRECTED to fund one-time the 2024 increase from the IT Reserve (20-3-1010000-0060); and,
3. Associated contractual requirements for incremental increases related to the Council Meeting Livestream and Agenda Software Agreement BE AUTHORIZED AND INCORPORATED into future operational budgets for the duration of the contract term.
Current State of Town’s Records Management Program
I found this report fairly interesting about the various records that the town is legally obligated to maintain and store. Here’s the link to the full report for those who may be interested :
https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14382
As it stands, records are kept in a variety of formats. It’s probably not that long ago that Amherstburg had to take out a stone and chisel to create records LOL (Just kidding folks….) It seems that currently there is an electronic records management system as well as archival (physical) records storage. There are several challenges outlined in the report in order to maintain the records safely and in various formats. Here is the recommendation from the report :
It is recommended that:
1. Administration BE DIRECTED to include for consideration in the 2025 budget deliberations a proposal to address resourcing challenges in the Records Management Program of the Town of Amherstburg.
Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy
It seems that the routine disclosure and active dissemination policy is ready. This policy appears to be about how town hall provides public access to everyday, non-confidential records to the public. It appears that the goal is to provide the information in an easily accessible format, to reduce staff time responding to formal information requests and to provide more accountability and transparency with local government.
It is being recommended to adopt the routine disclosure and active dissemination policy.
INFORMATION REPORTS – Report on Open Air
Sigh. Big heavy sigh. Open Air is on the agenda AGAIN. I guess the multiple surveys that show that people love Open Air and the multiple awards just don’t matter? I just don’t get why some members of council need to rehash Open Air over and over and over again. The report is quite interesting and it gives a history of the various motions and survey results for this term of council. Here’s the link to the report for all of the Open Air lovers to read if you’d like to read it https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14368
If you don’t like Open Air, I’d suggest you do not read the report and definitely stop reading this blog. You won’t like either one.
The report provides the history of the various motions that council has made and voted on. I particularly enjoyed seeing a synopsis of the survey results that council had asked for last fall in 2023. Here they are :
Open Air Visitor Survey (813 participants were surveyed)
- 41% of participants surveyed were visitors from outside of Amherstburg
- 6% of participants surveyed stayed overnight
- 99% of visitors surveyed would like to see Open Air Weekends return
- Open Air Weekends demonstrated that it appealed to all age groups
Businesses in the Footprint Survey (19 Respondents)
- 79 % participated in Open Air Weekends
- 68% benefitted from the Open Air Weekends
- 68% would sponsor an activity at Open Air Weekends
- 84% received good or excellent feedback from their customers
Businesses outside of the Footprint Survey (10 Respondents)
- 20% outside of the footprint have benefitted from the Open Air Weekends
- 50% liked the Open Air Weekends
- 60% would sponsor an activity at Open Air Weekends
- 60% received good or excellent feedback from their customers
Talk the Burg Survey (549 respondents).
- 89.3% attended Open Air Weekends
- 77.8% liked the 2023 Open Air Weekends Footprint
- 83.2% would like to see Open Air Weekends return
- 74.8% would like Open Air Weekends to return every weekend
Take a long hard look at those results. An objective, long hard look. I’ll be listening VERY closely Monday night.
Since it is an information report, it is recommended to receive the report.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Council can inquire about any unfinished business items.
NEW BUSINESS
Council can bring up any new business items. Generally, it seems that small items that affect specific situations are brought up that could’ve been handled outside of a public meeting. It’s almost like this is done for show.
And that’s it folks! Fingers crossed for another efficient and orderly meeting like last time! 🙂 Have a great week everyone!
amherstburg2 
i have a different point of view about incentives. i looked up the word bribery and that’s what an incentive is, only if you say bribery, that is illegal. what does that say about the character or morality of the people your trying to attract to the region. to me it says they will take that deal until a better one comes along. our county is full of small towns and one city, where companies took the money and ran. for a small community that is devastating. i’d much rather the town sell itself on all the positive attributes it has to offer, such as safety, good schools, it’s all around sense of better living. i know in a boardroom or just a professional looking to locate, it’s the dollars and what can you give me. is that fair to the companies and professionals that are here because this is a great place to be. what this town offers is a very good quality of life, and maybe those that want to come here, should be paying us for the privilege of that advantage. i’m just happy we don’t have money to bribe, i mean give incentives to locate here. i know i’m flying solo on this thought.
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