In preparation for Tuesday April 9th Regular town council meeting

Tuesday April 9th looks like it will be a long evening for council. 

First, there is a special meeting scheduled for 4:00 to discuss one item : 

Development Charge By-Law Background Study – Watson and Associates

There isn’t a report attached so I don’t know what that item entails. 

Then there is another special meeting scheduled for 5:00. 

It looks like the 5:00 meeting is all about the Official Plan. 

Here is the agenda in PDF https://calendar.amherstburg.ca/council/Detail/2024-04-09-1700-Special-Council-Meeting/746d1a63-bb00-4aa0-b088-b14200ef5eb0   263 pages

And here it is in html https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=6f7836dd-f629-481e-803c-bf4153b41bde&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English

The agenda has several items all related to the Official Plan. It seems that this is a guiding planning document that will be used by council now and in the future to plan for land use in the Town of Amherstburg for the next 30 years. There are projected population numbers as well as projected employment rates. 

The various reports are quite lengthy and I’m not going to summarize all of them. I don’t feel documents such as this can be effectively summarized. So here is the policy directions report (150 pages) for those of you that are very interested in the Official Plan. Happy reading! https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14623

And because the special meeting at 5:00 is all about the Official Plan (which is a HUGE subject), the regular meeting is scheduled to start at 7:00. The good news is that the agenda is not heavy and I don’t anticipate the lengthy show of a meeting like we had last week….gulp…I hope? 

So, for the 7:00 regular meeting, here are the agendas : 

PDF format (only 45 pages!) https://calendar.amherstburg.ca/council/Detail/2024-04-09-1900-Regular-Council-Meeting/a7e3b390-aa2d-43e4-951e-b14200effce2

And HTML format for those that prefer that https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=a2c10b2e-728a-4cee-b3ee-a8aa936dffba&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English

2024 Mill and Pave Program – Tender Results

Looks like some more roads are going to be fixed up! The request for tender went out and the results are in. This is from the report so that you know which roads will be getting some road work done. “The sections of road included in the RFT and to be completed under the recommended award of tender are ranked 191st (Alma St Between Conc. Rd 4 North and Conc. Rd 5 South), 223rd (Alma St Between Conc. 4 North and Conc. 4 South) and 240th (Alma St Between Conc. Rd 4 South and Meloche Rd) in the 2021 Roads Needs Study. These roads are all considered in the ‘1-5 years’ category. If not rehabilitated these roads will continue to deteriorate. The inclusion of the roads supports the Town’s asset management plan recommendations to apply a single lift mill and pave to roads that have a pavement condition index (PCI) around 60. This is being done to extend the lifecycle for these roads and slow their deterioration.”

And here is the recommendation : 

It is recommended that: 

1. The Chief Administrative Officer and Clerk, or their designates, BE AUTHORIZED to execute an agreement with Mill-Am Corporation in the amount of $746,620 plus HST, being funded as outlined in the financial matters section of this report, for services outlined in the tender documents, subject to approval of technical content by the Director of Infrastructure Services and to financial content by the Director of Corporate Services/Chief Financial Officer, or designates; and,

2. The Chief Administrative Officer, or designate, BE AUTHORIZED to amend the agreement with Mill-Am Corporation if required to expand the scope of the work plan, provided such additional services remain within the total project funding of $900,000 inclusive of HST and subject to approval of technical content by the Director of Infrastructure Services and to financial content by the Director of Corporate Services/Chief Financial Officer. 

Housing Enabling Water Systems Fund Grant Submission 

It looks like the province has opened up some grant funding for water systems upgrades to support more housing. It seems that it’s to help municipalities repair and/or expand drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. It looks like the province will provide funding to eligible applications up to 73% of the cost of the work. The criteria for the grant applications are listed in the report and it looks like applications have to be submitted by April 19 2024. Administration is seeking council direction to apply for the grant funding…..the recommendations are long and specific…..sit down for this! LOL 

• It is recommended that:
  1. THAT the Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Infrastructure Services BE AUTHORIZED to apply to the Housing Enabling Water Services Fund (HEWSF), for the South East Quadrant (SEQ) Infrastructure project noted in this report, subject to the documents being satisfactory in legal form to the Chief Administrative Officer, in technical content to the Director of Infrastructure Services and in financial content to the Chief Financial Officer and;
  2. The following funding sources BE APPROVED to address any eligible cost not funded by the grant;
     1. Sanitary Development Charge Reserve (0125);
     2. Detailed Design Cost Recovery;
     3. Water Reserve (0200) and;
  3. The Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Development Services/Deputy CAO, with support from Watson and Associates, BE DIRECTED to negotiate a funding agreement with the developers with property included in the SEQ infrastructure project in order to secure developer charge funding for the sanitary servicing costs not funded by the grant for this project as well as recovery of costs from the detailed design to fund a portion of the water servicing costs not covered by the grant and;
  4. The following recommendations BE APPROVED upon written confirmation of the Town being awarded funding under the Housing Enabling Water Systems Fund for the SEQ Infrastructure project:
     1. That the Chief Administrative Officer and Clerk, BE AUTHORIZED to sign and execute any agreements, declarations or approvals required resulting from receiving funding under the Housing Enabling Water Systems Fund, satisfactory in financial content to the Chief Financial Officer, and in technical content to the Director of Infrastructure Services and;
     2. The Mayor BE AUTHORIZED to sign the Transfer Payment Agreement for the Housing Enabling Water System Fund, if so required by the grant provider and;
     3. That the Chief Administrative Officer and the Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to take any such action required to the recommendations noted above and sign any required documentation/agreement(s) for the implementation of the South East Quadrant Infrastructure project, satisfactory in legal form to the Chief Administrative Officer, in technical content to Director of Infrastructure Services and in financial content to the Chief Financial Officer; and;
     4. Authority BE DELEGATED to the Chief Administrative Officer to award and issue purchase orders and or sign and execute any agreements as may be required for the necessary services to execute the scope of work for the South East Quadrant Infrastructure Project and;
     5. Administration BE DIRECTED to provide a report to Council to commence the necessary Local Improvement process and;
     6. Administration BE DIRECTED to provide a report back to Council on the funding agreement with the developers.

Annual Treasurer’s Report – 2023 Council and Appointee Statement on Remuneration and Expenses

This is the annual report that council receives that shows their salaries and expenses. Included in the report are also residents that sit on committees that receive a stipend. 

So, here is the link to the report for those that want to see how much, in total each person receives : https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14638

And if you’re looking for the breakdown for pay and reimbursements, it is all listed here : https://pub-amherstburg.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14639

UNFINISHED BUSINESS 

Members of council can about any items on the unfinished business list. 

NEW BUSINESS

Members of council can make motions or ask questions ranging from mundane (that could have been an email) to important. 

And that’s about it folks. Tuesday’s meeting appears that it will be a looong meeting, due to the Official Plan special meeting….but the regular meeting that starts at 7:00 doesn’t seem to have too much meaty stuff. 

Just remember, the meeting will be on Tuesday April 9th instead of Monday. I believe the date was changed due to the solar eclipse that will be happening on Monday. 

Have a great week Amherstburg!