Good afternoon. This is Owen Sound City Council on March twenty-third, twenty twenty-six. It’s about five thirty-two. I’m calling the meeting to order. I’m going to go a little out of order here, Council. As everybody knows, we’ve been through a boil water advisory, precautionary boil water advisory. So I’d like to read my statement that came out through media on Friday. So last weekend, our community experienced a precautionary boil water advisory, an event that understandably caused disruption and concern for citizens and businesses across Owen Sound. Residents can rest assured that the accredited labs confirmed water sample results on Wednesday, and that there is no confirmed microbiological contamination. At times of challenge, the people of Greenbriar have always come together to support each other. You think back to frozen pipes and arsenals, and how the community came together so quickly then. Now that the advisory has been lifted, I want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone in our great community. Thank you to Bruce Power and Ice River Springs for their generous support in donating bottled water. Ice River, as you know, is bottled in South Grey. It’s in a green bottle because they recycle plastic for their bottles, and we appreciate what they did for us. A special thank you to many community partners, including Greenbriar, Bruce, sorry, Grey County and supportive outreach services or SOS, United Way of Grey Bruce, Oshawa, Salvation Army, and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Grey Bruce, for immediately jumping into action to ensure that our most vulnerable residents had access to bottled water, with distribution support from Smith & Little, Home Hardware Building Center. I’d also like to recognize and thank the Canadian Coast Guard for their assistance in breaking the ice in the bay to help the source water intake, and that was an idea that came out of the blue from Councillor Hamley, and we thank him for that. Most of all, thank you to our residents. We saw neighbors checking in on neighbors, people sharing updates, and families taking the necessary steps: boiling water, conserving use, and helping ensure everyone around them stays safe. Stayed safe. We had 789 shares on the Facebook page in the first two hours, which is pretty amazing. One resident shared a message with me that captured this moment well, thanking the city for its quick action and recognizing that without it, the outcome could have been far worse. Those words meant a great deal to all of us. I want to assure our community that our water treatment plant was operating exactly as it should. The precautionary advisory was issued because of high turbidity or cloudiness in our intake water source, driven by the natural conditions outside of our control. Following the direction of Grey Bruce’s Public Health, a precautionary boil water advisory was issued out of an abundance of caution, and with the health and safety of our community as a guiding priority. A couple of years ago, through the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, I was able to go on tour of the world’s biggest water treatment plant in Chicago with the manager of it. I made a comment after that that I was convinced that Troy Pelche, our lead down there, could walk into Chicago and run that system in a heartbeat. And I’m convinced that with the Ontario regulations and the way Troy and our staff do things, that we are probably doing them a little more carefully and better recorded and better systems than what I saw in Chicago. This experience also puts our emergency management training into action. Every year, staff across all city divisions take part in emergency preparedness training, so we’re ready to respond when situations beyond our control arise. Plans are built out from those exercises. This was a clear example of that training at work, ensuring departments, partners, and agencies coordinate quickly and effectively to help protect our community. The City of Owen Sound will continue to review experiences like the ones we just had, and add what we have learned to our preparedness training for future events. I want to sincerely thank city staff sincerely, not severely. I want to sincerely thank city staff and our great public health partners for their diligence, professionalism, and long hours, from monitoring water quality and overseeing communications to coordinating and distributing water bottles and supporting residents day and night. Our residents can rest assured that we have a dedicated, experienced, and caring team on the ground at all times. Based on all the information available at the time and guided by the regulations, our staff and partners took the safest, most appropriate actions that they could, and they did it with care, professionalism, and a strong commitment to the community. Owen Sound showed resilience, cooperation, and compassion throughout this event. We say thank you to everyone for looking out for one another, and thank you for your continued trust.

So, thanks. So, next on my agenda is a call for additional business. Does anyone, Deputy Mayor Greig? I have two items. One is the Politicians’ Day held this past Saturday in Elmwood, and the second relates to the response on the ice, rescuing the ice fishermen from a couple weeks ago. Anyone else? Seeing none. Just before we go too much further, I do notice. I think Councillor Farmer will have most of the motions. Councillor Kukreja is on her way home. Was going to Zoom in, but is on her way home from India, and we look forward to having her back. And I understand that today is her birthday. What a fun way to spend your birthday! So, are there any declarations of interest, general nature thereof? Seeing none.

Confirmation of the council minutes. Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greig, that the minutes of the following meetings be adopted as printed: one, the closed session of the regular council meeting held on February ninth, twenty twenty-six, and two, the regular council meeting held on March ninth, twenty twenty-six. Thank you. And all in favor? And that is carried. Next is number five: a motion to move council into committee of the whole. Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greig, that City Council now move into Committee of the Whole to consider public meetings, deputations and presentations, public forum matters arising from correspondence, reports of city staff, consent agenda, committee minutes, matters postponed, motions for which notice was previously given, and additional business. Good. Thank you. All in favor? And that is carried. So we are now in Committee of the Whole. At number six, we have no public meetings. At number seven, we have a deputation. I believe on screen from Karen Kelly, Principal Integrity, with regard to Integrity Commissioner’s report regarding code of conduct complaint.

Do I need to go to you? Welcome, Ms. Kelly. You’re on. Thank you. Good evening, Committee. By way of introduction, my name is Karen Kelly. I’m currently an associate with Principles Integrity, working as an integrity commissioner, largely involved with conducting code of conduct investigations. I’m also currently part-time faculty with Seneca Polytechnic, currently teaching a course within the public administration program, municipal law and ethics. And consistent with Principles Integrity’s principles, I’m a retired municipal lawyer, having retired about two years ago from the City of Toronto after practicing for 30 years as in-house legal counsel with a number of different municipalities of varying size. Thank you for the opportunity to provide some opening remarks on the report before you today, and thank you for hearing this matter so early on your agenda this evening. We found it helpful to provide a general overview before getting into the findings of a report, and the report is on your agenda today. That represents a culmination of a process. It’s a process established by the Municipal Act, one in which a complaint about an elected official is brought to the attention of the municipality’s Integrity Commissioner, who, in an independent and confidential manner, conducts an investigation. We report on the findings along with recommendations to the Municipal Council for determination based on those findings and recommendations. Your role is not to conduct an investigation; that has been done. That’s why you have an Integrity Commissioner, and in fact, it’s quite impossible for you to conduct or review the investigation because you do not have access to the witnesses, which are the evidence that led to our findings. We are here to respond to Council’s questions on how our recommendations relate to our findings, but we are not in a position to discuss the details of our confidential investigation. The investigation was conducted in accordance with the tenets of procedural fairness. Everyone in the investigation was entitled to procedural fairness. Principally, Councillor Koepke. That meant that she was provided information that described the complaint and that she was given a fair opportunity to respond, which she did in writing. At the conclusion, Councillor Koepke was also provided with our draft preliminary findings, and she responded to that findings report, giving her an opportunity to be heard before we finalized the report.

That’s before you. She is also able to comment on our report. There is a narrow exception under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act that allows her to participate, but not vote on the matter before Council today. What is out of order is for the councilor or any member, Counselor, or any member of Council, to conduct an investigation on the floor of Council. That investigation was confidential, as required by the Act, and it has been done by ourselves as a neutral third party in accordance with the procedural fairness tenets. What is in order for Council though today is your role is to review the report, decide which sanctions, if any, are neces

Good afternoon. This is Oceansound City Council on March twenty third, twenty twenty six. It’s about five thirty two. I’m calling the meeting to order. I’m going to go a little out of order here, Council. As everybody knows, we’ve been through a boil water advisory, precautionary boil water advisory. So I’d like to read my statement that came out through media on Friday. So last weekend, our community experienced a precautionary boil water advisory, an event that understandably caused disruption and concern for citizens and businesses across Oceansound. Residents can rest assured. that the accredited labs confirmed water sample results on Wednesday, and that there is no confirmed microbiological contamination. At times of challenge, the people of Greenbriar have always come together to support each other. You think back to frozen pipes and arsenes, and how the community came together so quickly then. Now that the advisory has been lifted, I want to make a moment to say, take a moment to say thank you to everyone in our great community. Thank you to Bruce Power and Ice River Springs for their generous support in donating bottled water. Ice River, as you know, is bottled in South Grey. It’s in a green bottle because they recycle plastic for their bottles, and we appreciate what they did for us. A special thank you to many community partners, including Greenbriar. Bruce, sorry, Grey County and supportive outreach services or SOS, United Way of Grey Bruce, Oshawa, Salvation Army, and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Grey Bruce, for immediately jumping into action to ensure that our most vulnerable residents had access to bottled water, with distribution support from Smith & Little, Home Hardware Building Center. I’d also like to recognize and thank the Canadian Coast Guard for their assistance in breaking the ice in the bay to help the source water intake, and that was an idea that came out of the blue from Councillor Hamley, and we thank him for that. Most of all, thank you to our residents. We saw neighbors checking in on neighbors, people sharing updates, and families taking the necessary steps: boiling water, conserving use, and helping ensure everyone around them stays safe. Stayed safe. We had 789 shares on the Facebook page in the first two hours, which is pretty amazing. One resident shared a message with me that captured this moment well, thanking the city for its quick action and recognizing that without it, the outcome could have been far worse. Those words meant a great deal to all of us. Want to assure our community that our water treatment plant was operating exactly as it should. The precautionary advisory was issued because of high turbidity or cloudiness in our intake water source, driven by the natural conditions outside of our control. Following the direction of Grayber’s Public Health, a precautionary boil water advisory was issued out of an abundance of caution, and with the with the health and safety of our community as a guiding priority. A couple of years ago, through the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, I was able to go on tour of the world’s biggest water treatment plant in Chicago with the manager of it. I made a comment after that that I was convinced that Troy Pelche, our lead down there, could walk into Chicago and run that system in a heartbeat. And I’m convinced that with the Ontario regulations and the way Troy and our staff do things, that we are probably doing them a little more carefully and better recorded and better systems than what I saw in Chicago. This experience also puts our emergency management training into action. Every year, staff across all city divisions take part in emergency preparedness training, so we’re ready to respond when situations beyond our control arise. Plans are built out from those exercises. this was a clear example of that training at work, ensuring departments, partners, and agencies coordinate quickly and effectively to help protect our community. The city of Oceanside will continue to review experiences like the ones we just had, and add what we have learned to our preparedness training for future events. I want to severely thank city staff sincerely, not severely. I want to sincerely thank city staff and our great public health partners for their diligence, professionalism, and long hours, from monitoring water quality and overseeing communications to coordinating and distributing water bottles and supporting residents day and night. Our residents can rest assured that we have a dedicated, experienced, and caring team on the ground at all times. Based on all the information available at the time and guided by the regulations, our staff and partners. took the safest, most appropriate actions that they could, and they did it with care, professionalism, and a strong commitment to the community. Owensown showed resilience, cooperation, and compassion throughout this event. We say thank you to everyone for looking out for one another, and thank you for your continued trust.

So, thanks. So, next on my agenda is a call for additional business. Does anyone, Deputy Mayor Greg? I have two items. One is the Politicians’ Day held this past Saturday in Elmwood, and the second relates to the response on the ice, rescuing the fire, the ice fishermen from a couple weeks ago. Anyone else? Seeing none. Just before we go too much further, I do notice. I think Councilor Farmer will have most of the motions. Councillor Kukragesh is on her way home. Was going to Zoom in, but is on her way home from from India, and we look forward to having her back. And I understand that today is her birthday. What a fun way to spend your birthday! So, are there any declarations of interest, general nature thereof? Seeing none.

Confirmation of the council minutes. Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greg, that the minutes of the following meetings be adopted as printed: one, the closed session of the regular council meeting held on February ninth, twenty twenty six, and two, the regular council meeting held on March ninth, twenty twenty six. Thank you. And all in favor? And that is carried. Next is number five: a motion to move council into committee of the whole. Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greg, that city. Mayor Gregg, that City Council now move into Committee of the Whole to consider public meetings, deputations and presentations, public forum matters arising from correspondence, reports of city staff, consent agenda, committee minutes, matters postponed, motions for which notice was previously given, and additional business. Good. Thank you. All in favor? And that is carried. So we are now in Committee of the Whole. At number six, we have no public meetings. At number seven, a we have a deputation. I believe on screen from Karen Kelly, Principal Integrity, with regard to Integrity Commissioner’s report regarding code of conduct complaint.

Do I need to go to you? Welcome, Ms. Kelly. You’re on. Thank you. Good evening, Committee. By way of introduction, my name is Karen Kelly. I’m currently an associate with. Principles Integrity, working as an integrity commissioner, largely involved with conducting code of conduct investigations. I’m also currently part-time faculty with Seneca Polytechnic, currently teaching a course within the public administration program, municipal law and ethics. And consistent with Principles Integrity’s principles, I’m a retired municipal lawyer, having retired about two years ago from the city of Toronto after practicing for 30 years as in-house legal counsel with a number of different municipalities of varying size. Thank you for the opportunity to provide some opening remarks on the report before you today, and thank you for hearing this matter so early on your agenda this evening. We found it helpful to provide a general overview before getting into the findings of a report, and the report is on your agenda today. That represents a culmination of a process. It’s a process established by the Municipal Act, one in which a complaint about an elected official is brought to the attention of the municipal municipality’s Integrity Commissioner, who, in independent and confidential manner, conducts an investigation. We report on the findings along with recommendations to the Municipal Council for determination based on those findings and recommendations. Your role is not to conduct an investigation; that has been done. That’s why you have an Integrity Commissioner, and in fact, it’s quite impossible for you to conduct or review the investigation because you do not have access to the witnesses, which are the evidence that led to our findings. We are here to respond to Council’s questions on how our recommendations relate to our findings, but we are not in a position to discuss the. details of our confidential investigation. The investigation it was conducted in accordance with the tenets of procedural fairness. Everyone in the investigation was entitled to procedural fairness. Principally, Councilor Kepi. That meant that she was provided information that described the complaint and that was given a fair opportunity to respond, which she did in writing. At the conclusion, Councilor Kepi was also provided with our draft preliminary findings, and she responded to that findings report, giving her an opportunity to be heard before we finalized the report.

That’s before you. She is also able to comment on our report. There is a narrow exception under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act that allows her to participate, but not vote on the matter before Council today. What is out of order is for the councilor or any member. Counselor, or any member of council, to conduct an investigation on the floor of council. That investigation was confidential, as required by the act, and it has been done by ourselves as a neutral third party in accordance with the procedural fairness tenets. What is in order for council though today is your role is