Grey County Committee of the Whole Meeting Transcript — May 14, 2026

00:00:20 Speaker 01: Thank you, Rob. I'll call our

00:00:22 Speaker 01: committee to the whole meeting with

00:00:23 Speaker 01: the revised agenda to order this

00:00:25 Speaker 01: morning. Is there any declaration of

00:00:27 Speaker 01: interest related to any item on

00:00:29 Speaker 01: the Related to any item on

00:00:31 Speaker 01: today's agenda, not seeing any. If

00:00:33 Speaker 01: one should arise during the course

00:00:34 Speaker 01: of the meeting, you can of

00:00:35 Speaker 01: course declare it at that time.

00:00:37 Speaker 01: We have a notice of motion

00:00:40 Speaker 01: here. Business arising from the minutes.

00:00:42 Speaker 01: Councillor Debrine has a motion there.

00:00:45 Speaker 01: I presume, Barb, you're you're willing

00:00:47 Speaker 01: to move that motion? Yes. Is

00:00:49 Speaker 01: there a seconder, Councillor Body? Thank

00:00:52 Speaker 01: you, Barb. Would you like to

00:00:52 Speaker 02: speak to it? Thank you, Deputy

00:00:57 Speaker 02: Warden, and good morning. I am

00:01:01 Speaker 02: just seeking to put my name

00:01:03 Speaker 02: in the hat for another term

00:01:05 Speaker 02: on the Amo County Caucus Board.

00:01:09 Speaker 02: This council supported the endorsement in

00:01:13 Speaker 02: two years ago. If the council

00:01:14 Speaker 02: feels it's of value, I would

00:01:18 Speaker 02: appreciate the support. Thank you, Barb.

00:01:19 Speaker 02: Any questions or discussion? Seeing none,

00:01:22 Speaker 02: I'll call the question. All those

00:01:24 Speaker 02: in favor? That is carried. Thank

00:01:27 Speaker 02: you. We have a delegation this

00:01:31 Speaker 01: morning. Kelsey Bonnyman is online, and

00:01:36 Speaker 01: John Anderson is here at the

00:01:37 Speaker 01: back. There you are, John. Thank

00:01:39 Speaker 01: you. So I will, Bonnie or

00:01:41 Speaker 01: Kelsey rather, I will ask you

00:01:43 Speaker 01: to take the floor. Great. Thank

00:01:48 Speaker 01: you. I'm just pulling up my

00:01:50 Speaker 01: screen here, so please give me

00:01:52 Speaker 01: one moment to get organized. Can

00:01:55 Speaker 01: everybody see my screen? Yes, we

00:01:59 Speaker 01: can. Awesome. Thank you. Great. So,

00:02:03 Speaker 03: thank you for this opportunity to

00:02:05 Speaker 03: speak today about Canada's protected areas

00:02:08 Speaker 03: target, also known as the 30

00:02:11 Speaker 03: by 30 target, and to share

00:02:12 Speaker 03: why Grey County is well suited

00:02:15 Speaker 03: to participate. This came out of

00:02:16 Speaker 03: a conversation we had with staff

00:02:18 Speaker 03: and moved to a delegation. My

00:02:21 Speaker 03: name is Kelsey Bonnyman. I'm

00:02:23 Speaker 03: the Conservation Campaigns Coordinator. with Ontario

00:02:26 Speaker 03: Nature, and as mentioned, I'm joined

00:02:27 Speaker 03: by John Anderson and members of

00:02:29 Speaker 03: the Great Bruce Climate Action Network

00:02:31 Speaker 03: in the chambers today. Thanks, folks,

00:02:34 Speaker 03: for joining. The Climate Action Network's

00:02:35 Speaker 03: mission is to engage communities and

00:02:38 Speaker 03: local groups in collaborative

00:02:41 Speaker 03: climate-focused decision-making and action. With many

00:02:44 Speaker 03: municipalities leveraging their natural areas as

00:02:47 Speaker 03: cost-effective solutions to climate change, John

00:02:49 Speaker 03: and I felt we could jointly

00:02:51 Speaker 03: highlight the 30 by 30 opportunity.

00:02:53 Speaker 03: as a path to support the

00:02:55 Speaker 03: county's climate and environmental goals. So

00:02:58 Speaker 03: I'll be speaking a bit about

00:02:59 Speaker 03: the protected areas target, the process,

00:03:02 Speaker 03: and benefits for getting involved, and

00:03:04 Speaker 03: our offer of assistance. Ontario Nature

00:03:08 Speaker 03: is an environmental charity established in

00:03:11 Speaker 03: 1931 with the mission to protect

00:03:13 Speaker 03: wild species and wild spaces through

00:03:16 Speaker 03: conservation, education, and engagement, and we

00:03:19 Speaker 03: represent thousands of members and supporters

00:03:23 Speaker 03: across the province. And just to

00:03:24 Speaker 03: provide a brief background, the 30

00:03:26 Speaker 03: by 30 target is a national

00:03:29 Speaker 03: and international commitment ratified at the

00:03:31 Speaker 03: UN Conference on Biological Diversity in

00:03:34 Speaker 03: 2022, and it aims to halt

00:03:37 Speaker 03: and reverse biodiversity loss by protecting

00:03:39 Speaker 03: 30% of all land and water

00:03:43 Speaker 03: by 2030. Canada's commitment to the

00:03:44 Speaker 03: target is a path to address

00:03:47 Speaker 03: climate change and the extinction

00:03:50 Speaker 03: crises through landscape conservation, while

00:03:53 Speaker 03: recognizing and respecting indigenous rights and

00:03:56 Speaker 03: territories. Achieving the target will require

00:03:59 Speaker 03: whole-of-society support from local to global.

00:04:01 Speaker 03: And the maps on the screen

00:04:03 Speaker 03: are pulled from the national database

00:04:05 Speaker 03: that tracks progress on the target,

00:04:06 Speaker 03: and it represents all of the

00:04:08 Speaker 03: protected and conserved areas in Canada

00:04:10 Speaker 03: and Ontario to date. Municipalities, being

00:04:14 Speaker 03: key land planning authorities, often already

00:04:16 Speaker 03: protect lands in a way that

00:04:18 Speaker 03: would qualify. towards the target, and

00:04:21 Speaker 03: Ontario Nature supports partners and supports

00:04:23 Speaker 03: and partners with local governments to

00:04:26 Speaker 03: support their participation in the target.

00:04:31 Speaker 03: Just a bit of background on

00:04:32 Speaker 03: what our involvement has been over

00:04:34 Speaker 03: the past five years through the

00:04:36 Speaker 03: Municipal Protected Areas Program. Ontario Nature,

00:04:39 Speaker 03: to date, has worked with thirty

00:04:41 Speaker 03: partners, including fifteen municipalities, some of

00:04:43 Speaker 03: who are on the screen there,

00:04:46 Speaker 03: and collectively these. partners have contributed

00:04:48 Speaker 03: nearly 40,000 hectares towards the target

00:04:50 Speaker 03: with our support. And our role

00:04:52 Speaker 03: is to assess their natural areas

00:04:55 Speaker 03: to determine whether they qualify and

00:04:56 Speaker 03: meet the criteria for protected and

00:05:00 Speaker 03: conserved areas. Municipalities typically submit

00:05:01 Speaker 03: their highest quality natural areas, and

00:05:04 Speaker 03: to date, several municipalities in Ontario

00:05:06 Speaker 03: have committed to the target itself

00:05:08 Speaker 03: within their own jurisdiction. That's not

00:05:11 Speaker 03: required for your your involvement in

00:05:13 Speaker 03: this, but it's just nice to

00:05:15 Speaker 03: know that. there's commitments taking

00:05:17 Speaker 03: place across local governments to the

00:05:20 Speaker 03: target. Okay, so let's take a

00:05:22 Speaker 03: quick look at what qualifies. So

00:05:25 Speaker 03: to be counted as a protected

00:05:27 Speaker 03: or conserved area, properties must meet

00:05:29 Speaker 03: the four main criteria listed here.

00:05:32 Speaker 03: I won't bore you, but in

00:05:35 Speaker 03: short, to qualify, sites must be

00:05:38 Speaker 03: mapped, have high-quality habitat for wildlife

00:05:41 Speaker 03: with appropriate management, and they must

00:05:42 Speaker 03: be protected long-term through. overlapping plans,

00:05:45 Speaker 03: policies, and laws. And there's no

00:05:48 Speaker 03: penalty if sites don't meet the

00:05:50 Speaker 03: criteria; they would simply be removed

00:05:51 Speaker 03: during the assessment. We also provide

00:05:55 Speaker 03: recommendations to show how they could

00:05:56 Speaker 03: qualify in the future. And with

00:05:59 Speaker 03: participation being voluntary, there is no

00:06:02 Speaker 03: regulatory or policy restrictions imposed for

00:06:08 Speaker 03: participating. I wanted to provide a

00:06:10 Speaker 03: quick snapshot of the protected areas

00:06:11 Speaker 03: that. already count towards 30 by

00:06:13 Speaker 03: 30 within the county, which are

00:06:16 Speaker 03: largely owned by nature conservancies, the

00:06:20 Speaker 03: missing piece is municipal protected areas.

00:06:22 Speaker 03: And you'll see the map on

00:06:23 Speaker 03: the right shows what it could

00:06:25 Speaker 03: look like if we assessed and

00:06:26 Speaker 03: submitted Gray County's managed forests, just

00:06:30 Speaker 03: as an example. And I'm specifically

00:06:32 Speaker 03: highlighting the forests because when we

00:06:33 Speaker 03: met with staff, we agreed that

00:06:35 Speaker 03: these would be good candidate areas

00:06:37 Speaker 03: for assessment. Lands that Gray County

00:06:40 Speaker 03: owns. Lands that Great County owns

00:06:41 Speaker 03: and manages are an essential piece

00:06:42 Speaker 03: of the puzzle in this region,

00:06:44 Speaker 03: and we're currently speaking with lower

00:06:46 Speaker 03: tiers in the county to

00:06:50 Speaker 03: encourage this regional commitment to

00:06:54 Speaker 03: conservation. So, why do municipalities participate?

00:06:57 Speaker 03: In short, having your lands assessed

00:06:59 Speaker 03: is a free and simple process

00:07:02 Speaker 03: requiring minimal staff time. It can

00:07:04 Speaker 03: generate good news stories

00:07:07 Speaker 03: and complement strategic and environmental objectives.

00:07:09 Speaker 03: Mental objectives in Great County's case,

00:07:11 Speaker 03: the target aligns with priority two

00:07:13 Speaker 03: of the strategic plan, as well

00:07:15 Speaker 03: as official plan and climate action

00:07:18 Speaker 03: plan goals that aim to protect

00:07:23 Speaker 03: nature and build climate resilience. We're

00:07:25 Speaker 03: nearing the end, but here's an

00:07:26 Speaker 03: overview of what it would look

00:07:27 Speaker 03: like for Great County to become

00:07:29 Speaker 03: involved and have their lands assessed

00:07:32 Speaker 03: by Ontario Nature. As mentioned, we've

00:07:34 Speaker 03: met with staff already, so step

00:07:36 Speaker 03: one has been completed. We're currently

00:07:39 Speaker 03: at step two. where we're requesting

00:07:41 Speaker 03: council approve an assessment of the

00:07:45 Speaker 03: county's managed forests by Ontario Nature,

00:07:46 Speaker 03: and designate one to two staff

00:07:49 Speaker 03: to support. And once we get

00:07:51 Speaker 03: approval to move forward with an

00:07:54 Speaker 03: assessment, staff will support by sharing

00:07:56 Speaker 03: relevant data and information with us,

00:07:57 Speaker 03: and we provide a simple checklist

00:08:00 Speaker 03: to streamline that process. Step four

00:08:02 Speaker 03: is optional, but we welcome staff

00:08:04 Speaker 03: to review the assessment and check

00:08:07 Speaker 03: for accuracy, and. step five is

00:08:09 Speaker 03: celebrating. I'll show you some

00:08:11 Speaker 03: examples of how partners celebrate their

00:08:14 Speaker 03: successful contributions on the next slide.

00:08:17 Speaker 03: In total, designated staff typically spend

00:08:19 Speaker 03: a total of one to two

00:08:22 Speaker 03: workdays, largely on steps one through

00:08:24 Speaker 03: three, which is meeting with us,

00:08:27 Speaker 03: gaining consent, and sharing data. And

00:08:29 Speaker 03: we ask that these steps one

00:08:30 Speaker 03: through three occur before the end

00:08:32 Speaker 03: of July, so we have time

00:08:37 Speaker 03: to complete the assessment on your

00:08:38 Speaker 03: behalf. and as mentioned, here are

00:08:41 Speaker 03: the examples of municipalities we've worked

00:08:42 Speaker 03: with and the ways that they've

00:08:46 Speaker 03: celebrated their contributions. We provide media

00:08:48 Speaker 03: templates and amplify stories on our

00:08:50 Speaker 03: platforms, and see some pretty good

00:08:54 Speaker 03: pickup from various media outlets as

00:08:56 Speaker 03: well. Great. Well, thank you so

00:08:58 Speaker 03: much for your time and your

00:08:59 Speaker 03: consideration. And John and I are

00:09:03 Speaker 03: here if there are any questions.

00:09:04 Speaker 03: Very good, thank you, Kelsey, for

00:09:07 Speaker 03: your presentation. Are there any questions

00:09:15 Speaker 03: from council or comments, Councilor Ackles?

00:09:18 Speaker 04: Thank you, Kelsey. I take it

00:09:23 Speaker 04: that your group is trying to

00:09:25 Speaker 04: organize or identify all the lands

00:09:32 Speaker 04: that are in conservation. Yeah. Okay.

00:09:33 Speaker 04: And get that map so that

00:09:37 Speaker 04: we can meet the thirty thirty.

00:09:41 Speaker 04: You're meeting with Gray County. Our

00:09:45 Speaker 04: three conservation authorities have a vast

00:09:47 Speaker 04: amount of land as well in

00:09:49 Speaker 04: in our county, as well as

00:09:53 Speaker 04: across in Simcoe and Dufferin and

00:09:55 Speaker 04: and Bruce County as well too.

00:09:58 Speaker 04: Is there a a chance that

00:10:02 Speaker 04: those and from some other conservatory

00:10:03 Speaker 04: groups, I know in my in

00:10:07 Speaker 04: the where I live in Forest

00:10:10 Speaker 04: Creek, just between Almond and Crawford,

00:10:15 Speaker 04: there's the Conservatory of a Ontario

00:10:18 Speaker 04: Conservatory, has probably 150 acres as

00:10:20 Speaker 04: well identified. Are we working to

00:10:23 Speaker 03: get that identified as well too?

00:10:26 Speaker 03: Yeah, thank you for your question.

00:10:28 Speaker 03: So we've we've been in communications

00:10:30 Speaker 03: with the Gray Sable. With the

00:10:31 Speaker 03: Grey Sable Conservation Authority last year,

00:10:34 Speaker 03: and we were scheduled to do

00:10:37 Speaker 03: an assessment of their lands, but

00:10:38 Speaker 03: I think Conservation Ontario got the

00:10:42 Speaker 03: contract to do that work on

00:10:45 Speaker 03: their behalf. So they're supporting Grey

00:10:46 Speaker 03: Sable Conservation Authority to submit those

00:10:50 Speaker 03: lands. So they're coming; they'll be

00:10:53 Speaker 03: in the database by next by

00:10:57 Speaker 03: next year, is my understanding. As

00:10:59 Speaker 03: for the other conservancies, I understand.

00:11:00 Speaker 03: there are two that have already

00:11:02 Speaker 03: submitted their lands to the target,

00:11:03 Speaker 03: which is what kind of comprised

00:11:07 Speaker 03: those green areas I showed you

00:11:11 Speaker 03: on the initial map. And but

00:11:14 Speaker 03: our focus is largely working with

00:11:16 Speaker 03: municipalities, so conservation organizations, yeah, are

00:11:19 Speaker 03: not our main scope of work

00:11:22 Speaker 03: at this point. Did I answer

00:11:23 Speaker 03: your question? Okay, there. Okay, thank.

00:11:28 Speaker 03: Yep, it sounds like you did.

00:11:29 Speaker 05: Thank you, Kelsey. Councillor Greg, please.

00:11:32 Speaker 05: Hi. Good morning, all, and thanks

00:11:33 Speaker 05: for the presentation this morning, Kelsey.

00:11:35 Speaker 05: Just to introduce myself and background,

00:11:38 Speaker 05: I'm the current chair of Graceville

00:11:41 Speaker 05: Conservation Authority, so I'm acutely familiar

00:11:44 Speaker 05: with all the materials in your

00:11:46 Speaker 05: presentation this morning. We had this

00:11:50 Speaker 05: report and similar presentation before us

00:11:52 Speaker 05: last October, and as many are

00:11:53 Speaker 05: aware here, we have 29,000 acres

00:11:56 Speaker 05: that we can contribute towards the

00:11:58 Speaker 05: 15. Contribute towards the fifteen thousand

00:12:01 Speaker 05: hectares that five to seven of

00:12:03 Speaker 05: the conservation authorities in Ontario, which

00:12:06 Speaker 05: we're working with Conservation Ontario, to

00:12:08 Speaker 05: contribute to the thirty to thirty.

00:12:14 Speaker 05: So, my actual one question was:

00:12:17 Speaker 05: It's hard to disseminate from that

00:12:19 Speaker 05: map that you've provided a before

00:12:21 Speaker 05: and after projected after if the

00:12:24 Speaker 05: county was involved, but the

00:12:27 Speaker 05: before whether or not that included

00:12:30 Speaker 05: the land. That included the lands

00:12:33 Speaker 05: already that Graceable has advanced cooperating

00:12:35 Speaker 05: with Conservation Ontario. I think because

00:12:38 Speaker 05: of our vast size, we're certainly

00:12:40 Speaker 05: a leader in the ability to

00:12:42 Speaker 05: contribute lands towards this initiative.

00:12:45 Speaker 05: I take it from what you've

00:12:47 Speaker 05: just presented this morning that map

00:12:49 Speaker 05: does not include Graceable Conservation Authority

00:12:51 Speaker 03: lands. But could you just clarify

00:12:56 Speaker 03: that to be sure? Yeah, of

00:12:59 Speaker 03: course. So I've spoken. to Rick

00:13:01 Speaker 03: from Conservation Ontario, who's leading that

00:13:03 Speaker 03: assessment work with Grey Sable Conservation

00:13:06 Speaker 03: Authority. I believe he's involved in

00:13:08 Speaker 03: that. He told me that they're

00:13:10 Speaker 03: currently working on the assessment, and

00:13:12 Speaker 03: so that will be once that's

00:13:13 Speaker 03: finished, they will be populated in

00:13:15 Speaker 03: the database. But they're currently on

00:13:17 Speaker 03: the map that I've that I

00:13:19 Speaker 03: showed you, and that you have

00:13:23 Speaker 05: a copy of. They are not

00:13:25 Speaker 05: included as of yet, but they

00:13:29 Speaker 05: will be soon, is my understanding.

00:13:33 Speaker 05: Okay, thanks. And follow-up question is:

00:13:37 Speaker 05: as part of sustainable forest management

00:13:40 Speaker 05: practices, logging is a critical component

00:13:42 Speaker 05: of that. Is there any restrictions

00:13:45 Speaker 05: which would be placed upon the

00:13:47 Speaker 05: county if there was a willingness

00:13:50 Speaker 05: to move forward, acknowledging that even

00:13:53 Speaker 05: within the city boundaries here? of

00:13:57 Speaker 05: Oceansound, we have significant slope and

00:14:01 Speaker 05: erosion concerns. Mature forests that are

00:14:03 Speaker 05: not managed do not allow for

00:14:05 Speaker 05: proper development of future trees because

00:14:08 Speaker 05: there's the canopy just doesn't allow

00:14:10 Speaker 05: for it. So, logging is a

00:14:11 Speaker 05: critical practice that should be considered.

00:14:14 Speaker 05: And I just would like to

00:14:15 Speaker 05: be confident that there's no restrictions.

00:14:17 Speaker 05: I'm somewhat comfortable with the amount

00:14:18 Speaker 05: of staff time that you've articulated.

00:14:20 Speaker 05: The staff time that you've articulated

00:14:24 Speaker 05: in the presentation that would be

00:14:26 Speaker 05: involved it does not seem to

00:14:29 Speaker 05: be significant, and I note that

00:14:31 Speaker 05: because proportionate to other counties, our

00:14:36 Speaker 05: planning department on a per capita

00:14:38 Speaker 05: basis is somewhat higher. So I

00:14:42 Speaker 05: would have extreme reluctance to add

00:14:45 Speaker 05: further work to work plans for

00:14:47 Speaker 05: a department that already comparative is

00:14:48 Speaker 05: a little little higher than our

00:14:51 Speaker 05: peers across the province. So. just

00:14:54 Speaker 03: a couple little questions there.

00:14:56 Speaker 03: If you could just end with

00:14:59 Speaker 03: that, thanks. Yeah, absolutely. So to

00:15:02 Speaker 03: answer your question about the productive

00:15:04 Speaker 03: forest versus non-productive forest component, we've

00:15:07 Speaker 03: spoken with the Ministry of Environment

00:15:09 Speaker 03: and of Conservation Parks, and they've

00:15:11 Speaker 03: they've said that the non-productive forests

00:15:12 Speaker 03: are very likely to qualify. The

00:15:15 Speaker 03: non-productive forests are also likely to

00:15:18 Speaker 03: qualify, but we have to look

00:15:21 Speaker 03: at the management plans. Look at

00:15:23 Speaker 03: the silv Plans. Look at the

00:15:26 Speaker 03: silver silvicultural plans, harvest amounts. So

00:15:28 Speaker 03: we we review the management plans

00:15:32 Speaker 03: and share that information with the

00:15:35 Speaker 03: ministry, who reviews all of assessments.

00:15:37 Speaker 03: So we're confident that these are

00:15:38 Speaker 03: good candidates for an assessment. As

00:15:41 Speaker 03: for the capacity question, yeah, this

00:15:42 Speaker 03: process is largely involving sharing the

00:15:47 Speaker 03: data and information. That's where we

00:15:48 Speaker 03: see the most time taken up

00:15:51 Speaker 03: for staff. But if they just

00:15:52 Speaker 03: send us. the management plans, we

00:15:53 Speaker 03: are. The process is meant to

00:15:56 Speaker 03: be effective and streamlined, so yeah,

00:15:58 Speaker 03: I don't see it taking more

00:16:00 Speaker 03: than one to two days of

00:16:02 Speaker 03: their time over the entire assessment.

00:16:11 Speaker 03: I hope that answers your question

00:16:13 Speaker 03: as well. Yeah, I'm seeing acknowledgement

00:16:15 Speaker 03: that that answers the question. Thank

00:16:16 Speaker 03: you. Any other questions from council?

00:16:18 Speaker 03: Scott, please. Thank you, Deputy Warden

00:16:19 Speaker 06: Milman, and thank you to Kelsey

00:16:22 Speaker 06: for the deputation day. Just to

00:16:23 Speaker 06: build on Councillor Greg's question, there,

00:16:25 Speaker 06: we did have a really good

00:16:27 Speaker 06: meeting with the Ontario Nature team

00:16:30 Speaker 06: back in January to discuss this,

00:16:31 Speaker 06: and we had some of those

00:16:33 Speaker 06: same questions with respect to our

00:16:35 Speaker 06: forest being working forest in terms

00:16:38 Speaker 06: of being sustainably harvested, but also

00:16:40 Speaker 06: some of the recreational activities that

00:16:43 Speaker 06: we have within the forest, including,

00:16:44 Speaker 06: you know, hiking in some cases

00:16:45 Speaker 06: in the winter, snowmobiling in. Wheeling

00:16:49 Speaker 06: in one forest, we allow

00:16:51 Speaker 06: for ATVing and also hunting. And

00:16:53 Speaker 06: and Kelsey, I certainly don't want

00:16:55 Speaker 06: to put you in the spot.

00:16:58 Speaker 06: I think as staff, we were

00:17:00 Speaker 06: we were reassured that that those

00:17:01 Speaker 06: recreational activities could still continue. They

00:17:02 Speaker 06: could still be working for us,

00:17:05 Speaker 06: with the exception of perhaps the

00:17:06 Speaker 06: one forest that allows ATVs. That

00:17:08 Speaker 06: may or may not fit. And

00:17:11 Speaker 06: I think we're going to look

00:17:13 Speaker 03: into that further. But generally speaking,

00:17:16 Speaker 03: recreation, even even the hunting that

00:17:17 Speaker 03: we allow in our in our

00:17:19 Speaker 03: county force could continue should county

00:17:21 Speaker 03: council seek to to move forward

00:17:23 Speaker 03: with with an assessment here. Yeah,

00:17:25 Speaker 03: I just want to build off

00:17:29 Speaker 03: that quick. There are no restrictions,

00:17:32 Speaker 03: no policy or regulatory restrictions imposed.

00:17:35 Speaker 03: So even if you do contribute,

00:17:35 Speaker 03: there's no changes that would occur

00:17:38 Speaker 03: to management or ownership since this

00:17:39 Speaker 03: process is voluntary. And thank you.

00:17:42 Speaker 03: Yes, ATV use is one of

00:17:45 Speaker 03: the incompatible uses, so we would

00:17:48 Speaker 03: have to take a look. at

00:17:51 Speaker 03: that. Recreation is fine as long

00:17:53 Speaker 03: as it's low impact, so hiking,

00:17:56 Speaker 03: leashed dog walking, kind of the

00:17:58 Speaker 03: typical uses within trails, and hunting.

00:18:00 Speaker 03: We've seen several properties with hunting

00:18:03 Speaker 03: be be submitted and contribute as

00:18:05 Speaker 03: well. So there's no issues with

00:18:06 Speaker 03: with those activities. Thank you. Good.

00:18:09 Speaker 03: Thank you, Kelsey. Thank you, Scott,

00:18:10 Speaker 03: for those comments. Anyone else? Okay.

00:18:14 Speaker 03: Well, thank you very much, Kelsey.

00:18:17 Speaker 01: For your presentation. Thank you, John,

00:18:19 Speaker 01: and others for your attendance this

00:18:21 Speaker 01: morning. We we appreciate the time

00:18:22 Speaker 01: and the information you've shared with

00:18:24 Speaker 01: us. Thank you. Okay, moving on.

00:18:29 Speaker 01: We have the consent agenda. We

00:18:35 Speaker 01: have the determination of items requiring

00:18:37 Speaker 01: separate discussion. Does anyone wish

00:18:41 Speaker 01: any of those items on the

00:18:42 Speaker 01: consent agenda to be removed for

00:18:44 Speaker 01: further discussion or direction? Seeing none,

00:18:46 Speaker 01: I will. ask for a motion

00:18:50 Speaker 01: to receive those items. Councillor Debrine,

00:18:52 Speaker 01: Councillor Hutchison, Councillor Deckard. You have

00:18:54 Speaker 01: a question? No, you're good. Okay.

00:18:58 Speaker 01: All right. All those in favor?

00:19:00 Speaker 01: That is carried. Thank you. Items

00:19:03 Speaker 01: for direction and discussion. First item

00:19:04 Speaker 01: is the regarding the County Official

00:19:05 Speaker 01: Plan Amendment Twenty Nine in Pulford

00:19:14 Speaker 01: final report. Someone care to move

00:19:16 Speaker 01: that, please? Councillor Ackles, Councillor Deckard.

00:19:17 Speaker 01: I believe Derek McMurty. There he

00:19:22 Speaker 01: is. Come on up, Derek. You're

00:19:24 Speaker 01: going to speak to the report

00:19:26 Speaker 07: cards, please. Morning, County Council. My

00:19:27 Speaker 07: name is Derek McMurty, and I'm

00:19:30 Speaker 07: the county planner assigned to this

00:19:32 Speaker 07: file, OPA 29. So, the proposed

00:19:34 Speaker 07: county official plan amendment is to

00:19:36 Speaker 07: redesignate a portion of the

00:19:40 Speaker 07: subject lands from rural to rural

00:19:42 Speaker 07: with exceptions, and the exception will

00:19:45 Speaker 07: permit the creation of three new

00:19:47 Speaker 07: rural lots beyond which the county's

00:19:49 Speaker 07: lot density policies would otherwise permit.

00:19:52 Speaker 07: Pre-submission consultation between the consultant, the

00:19:54 Speaker 07: municipality, and the county identified

00:19:59 Speaker 07: the submission requirements, and the required

00:20:00 Speaker 07: reports were submitted in support

00:20:02 Speaker 07: of the applications. This includes

00:20:05 Speaker 07: a planning justification report, stage one

00:20:07 Speaker 07: and stage two archaeological assessment, and

00:20:10 Speaker 07: a private servicing and hydrogeological assessment.

00:20:19 Speaker 07: Geological assessment, a zoning bylaw amendment,

00:20:22 Speaker 07: and a consent application—or sorry, three

00:20:24 Speaker 07: consent applications—are also required by the

00:20:27 Speaker 07: municipality of West Grey. A joint

00:20:30 Speaker 07: public meeting to discuss the applications

00:20:32 Speaker 07: was held on March 17, 2026.

00:20:35 Speaker 07: The subject property has frontage onto

00:20:37 Speaker 07: Lookout Drive, Highland Drive, and Lake

00:20:39 Speaker 07: Drive, with access being from Lookout.

00:20:43 Speaker 07: Drive, the property is located approximately

00:20:46 Speaker 07: seven kilometers south of Markdale and

00:20:48 Speaker 07: seven kilometers west of Flesherton. The

00:20:51 Speaker 07: proposed severed lots would all have

00:20:53 Speaker 07: access from Lookout Drive. The subject

00:20:55 Speaker 07: property is located within a rural

00:20:59 Speaker 07: development locally known as Highland Estate

00:21:02 Speaker 07: Estates and predates the county's current

00:21:03 Speaker 07: official plan policies. The subject property

00:21:06 Speaker 07: is approximately eight point seventeen hectares

00:21:08 Speaker 07: in size and contains a single

00:21:11 Speaker 07: residential. dwelling, and the property is

00:21:13 Speaker 07: primarily used for residential purposes. The

00:21:16 Speaker 07: subject property is surrounded by rural

00:21:20 Speaker 07: residential lands, forested lands, and Curly's

00:21:22 Speaker 07: Lake to the north, rural residential

00:21:24 Speaker 07: lands and forested lands to

00:21:26 Speaker 07: the south, and west, and active

00:21:27 Speaker 07: farmlands and forested lands to the

00:21:29 Speaker 07: east. So, OPA 29 will amend

00:21:31 Speaker 07: Section 5.4.3 of the County OP,

00:21:33 Speaker 07: which is the county's lot density

00:21:37 Speaker 07: policies. with a site-specific amendment and

00:21:39 Speaker 07: redesignated portion of the lands from

00:21:42 Speaker 07: rural to rural, with exceptions as

00:21:43 Speaker 07: stated previously. This would permit three

00:21:46 Speaker 07: new rural lots that would otherwise

00:21:47 Speaker 07: exceed those lot density policies. Currently,

00:21:48 Speaker 07: the original township lot that would

00:21:51 Speaker 07: contain the proposed lots has twenty-four

00:21:54 Speaker 07: lots, while the county OP would

00:21:56 Speaker 07: only permit a total of four

00:21:59 Speaker 07: lots. The proposed lots will have

00:22:01 Speaker 07: an area of zero point three

00:22:03 Speaker 07: seven hectares, zero point three three

00:22:07 Speaker 07: hectares, and zero point six Hectares

00:22:09 Speaker 07: and 0.62 hectares, and will be

00:22:11 Speaker 07: serviced by private wells and septic

00:22:13 Speaker 07: systems. The retained lot would have

00:22:15 Speaker 07: an area of approximately 6.85 hectares,

00:22:19 Speaker 07: and would continue to be used

00:22:20 Speaker 07: as a residential use. Here is

00:22:23 Speaker 07: a map showing the proposed zoning

00:22:25 Speaker 07: of the subject property. The portion

00:22:29 Speaker 07: being affected by OPH 29 is

00:22:36 Speaker 07: the same as the portion being

00:22:38 Speaker 07: zoned ER-572. The NE zone in

00:22:41 Speaker 07: the northeast portion of the property

00:22:43 Speaker 07: will remain unaffected by the

00:22:46 Speaker 07: OPA or the required zoning bylaw

00:22:47 Speaker 07: amendment. Here is a map of

00:22:49 Speaker 07: the proposed severed lot boundaries. The

00:22:52 Speaker 07: municipality of West Grey, the municipality

00:22:59 Speaker 07: of Great Highlands, Enbridge, Grey County

00:23:01 Speaker 07: Planning Ecology, and the Saugeen Valley

00:23:05 Speaker 07: Conservation Authority provided comments, all indicating

00:23:07 Speaker 07: that there are no concerns with

00:23:09 Speaker 07: the proposal. The Saugeen The Sauganash

00:23:12 Speaker 07: Jibway Nation also provided comments indicating

00:23:15 Speaker 07: that no further archaeological assessment to

00:23:17 Speaker 07: confirm Highland Estates is not a

00:23:18 Speaker 07: settlement area. However, the PPS also

00:23:21 Speaker 07: supports limited residential lot creation on

00:23:24 Speaker 07: rural lands, provided that the

00:23:26 Speaker 07: lots can be serviced adequately by

00:23:29 Speaker 07: private on-site servicing. A private servicing

00:23:31 Speaker 07: and hydrological assessment was submitted with

00:23:32 Speaker 07: the application and determined. that

00:23:35 Speaker 07: the lots can be adequately serviced

00:23:38 Speaker 07: by on-site private servicing. The PPS

00:23:41 Speaker 07: also provides direction on consultation

00:23:42 Speaker 07: regarding potential archaeological and heritage resources.

00:23:47 Speaker 07: A stage one and stage two

00:23:49 Speaker 07: archaeological assessment was completed and determined

00:23:51 Speaker 07: that no further archaeological assessment was

00:23:55 Speaker 07: required. The Saugyeen Ojibwe Nation had

00:23:56 Speaker 07: also reviewed the archaeological assessments

00:23:59 Speaker 07: and had stated that no further

00:24:01 Speaker 07: archaeological assessments are required. As for

00:24:05 Speaker 07: the county official plan, the subject

00:24:06 Speaker 07: lands are currently designated as rural

00:24:09 Speaker 07: on Schedule A. From an ecological

00:24:11 Speaker 07: perspective, the property contains or is

00:24:13 Speaker 07: adjacent to significant woodlands, significant wildlife

00:24:15 Speaker 07: habitat, and potential habitat for threatened

00:24:17 Speaker 07: and endangered species. County planning staff

00:24:19 Speaker 07: determined that the potential impact to

00:24:20 Speaker 07: the natural heritage features would be

00:24:24 Speaker 07: negligible, and an environmental impact study

00:24:26 Speaker 07: would not be required, as the

00:24:27 Speaker 07: development will occur on previously disturbed.

00:24:30 Speaker 07: lands. Staff further noted that the

00:24:32 Speaker 07: development would not negatively impact Curley's

00:24:33 Speaker 07: Lake or any wetlands in the

00:24:35 Speaker 07: area. Lastly, the subject lands were

00:24:39 Speaker 07: not covered by the Westbury Official

00:24:42 Speaker 07: Plan, which only covers to Durham

00:24:45 Speaker 07: and Newstead. Based on all of

00:24:46 Speaker 07: this, the proposed development is generally

00:24:48 Speaker 07: consistent with the PPS and

00:24:50 Speaker 07: generally conforms to the goals and

00:24:52 Speaker 07: objectives of the County Official Plan.

00:24:54 Speaker 07: As previously mentioned, the proposed lots

00:24:55 Speaker 07: would greatly exceed the maximum lot.

00:24:58 Speaker 07: density. It is important to note

00:25:00 Speaker 07: that county staff remain generally hesitant

00:25:04 Speaker 07: to recommend approval for residential development

00:25:06 Speaker 07: that proposes to create new lots

00:25:07 Speaker 07: in the rural designation beyond what

00:25:09 Speaker 07: is permitted in the county's official

00:25:11 Speaker 07: plan. However, as with any planning

00:25:14 Speaker 07: act application, it is important to

00:25:16 Speaker 07: consider the site-specific context and situation.

00:25:17 Speaker 07: In this case, county staff suggest

00:25:21 Speaker 07: that proposed lots may still meet

00:25:23 Speaker 07: the general intent of the county

00:25:25 Speaker 07: official plan within the rural designation

00:25:28 Speaker 07: for. a variety of reasons. To

00:25:30 Speaker 07: start, the proposed lots are small

00:25:32 Speaker 07: and would not expand the boundaries

00:25:34 Speaker 07: of the existing residential cluster. Further,

00:25:38 Speaker 07: the proposed lot is located on

00:25:40 Speaker 07: an existing residential street with services

00:25:42 Speaker 07: such as waste pickup and snow

00:25:45 Speaker 07: clearing. It is also in close

00:25:47 Speaker 07: proximity to the settlement areas of

00:25:50 Speaker 07: Markdale and Flesherton, where residents can

00:25:51 Speaker 07: meet their day-to-day needs. In addition

00:25:53 Speaker 07: to the, in addition, the lots

00:25:55 Speaker 07: can also be serviced by on-site

00:25:59 Speaker 07: servicing without impacting the surrounding properties,

00:26:02 Speaker 07: as per the servicing report submitted

00:26:05 Speaker 07: with the application. Lastly, the existing

00:26:07 Speaker 07: dwelling is to remain on

00:26:08 Speaker 07: the retained lot, and no new

00:26:09 Speaker 07: sensitive receptors are likely to be

00:26:13 Speaker 07: constructed on it. Staff are recommending

00:26:15 Speaker 07: that report PDR CW dash twenty

00:26:17 Speaker 07: dash twenty twenty six be received,

00:26:20 Speaker 07: and that all written and oral

00:26:23 Speaker 07: submission official plan amendment number twenty

00:26:25 Speaker 07: nine were considered and. Number twenty-nine

00:26:27 Speaker 07: were considered and helped to make

00:26:29 Speaker 07: an informed recommendation and decision, and

00:26:31 Speaker 07: that proposed county official plan amendment

00:26:33 Speaker 07: number twenty-nine to permit the redesignation

00:26:34 Speaker 07: of rural lands to rural with

00:26:37 Speaker 07: exceptions, to permit additional lot creation

00:26:39 Speaker 07: on lands legally described as plan

00:26:43 Speaker 08: eight one three block six eight,

00:26:45 Speaker 08: the geographic township of Glen Elg,

00:26:47 Speaker 08: now and is now of Westray,

00:26:52 Speaker 08: be approved, and a bylaw to

00:26:53 Speaker 08: adopt the county official plan and

00:26:56 Speaker 08: be prepared for consideration by county

00:26:58 Speaker 08: council. That. concludes my presentation. Thank

00:27:02 Speaker 08: you. Thank you, Derek. Council, we

00:27:04 Speaker 08: have a motion moved and

00:27:06 Speaker 08: seconded to adopt the recommendations. Is

00:27:08 Speaker 08: there any questions or discussion? Not

00:27:10 Speaker 08: seeing any, Derek. You must have

00:27:12 Speaker 08: done a great job. Call the

00:27:14 Speaker 08: question. All those in favor? That

00:27:16 Speaker 08: is carried. Thank you, sir. Okay,

00:27:19 Speaker 08: we have a motion or a

00:27:23 Speaker 08: report here on the Gray County

00:27:25 Speaker 08: Joint Accessibility. Advisory Committee and minutes

00:27:27 Speaker 08: related to a meeting on April

00:27:29 Speaker 09: 17th. Tara is going to give

00:27:31 Speaker 09: a report on that meeting. Would

00:27:33 Speaker 09: someone care to move that we

00:27:36 Speaker 09: receive those minutes, Councilor Keaveny and

00:27:37 Speaker 09: Councilor Gregg? Tara, please. Thank you

00:27:40 Speaker 09: to Deputy Warden. Through you, the

00:27:43 Speaker 09: Gray County Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee

00:27:45 Speaker 09: met on April 17th. The committee

00:27:48 Speaker 09: heard about the regional transit study

00:27:49 Speaker 09: and asked if there was any

00:27:52 Speaker 09: feedback from an accessibility perspective. to

00:27:55 Speaker 09: provide to please provide that to

00:27:57 Speaker 09: county staff to incorporate into the

00:28:01 Speaker 09: future report and plan. The West

00:28:03 Speaker 09: Gray Miss Polly West Gray Owens

00:28:05 Speaker 09: Sound brought forward their election accessibility

00:28:07 Speaker 09: reports, and the City of Owens

00:28:10 Speaker 09: Sound presented information on proposed changes

00:28:12 Speaker 09: to the street sidewalk patio guidelines.

00:28:15 Speaker 09: The changes include improvements to accessibility,

00:28:19 Speaker 09: public safety, and streetscaping. Other discussion

00:28:22 Speaker 09: items included a report on the

00:28:24 Speaker 09: new commemorative forest monument proposed design,

00:28:25 Speaker 09: which will be located near the

00:28:27 Speaker 09: Bayshore in the City Bown Sound,

00:28:29 Speaker 09: and staff addressed questions that the

00:28:31 Speaker 09: committee had on that item. A

00:28:33 Speaker 09: site plan was also reviewed, which

00:28:35 Speaker 09: provided an overview of the Bruce

00:28:37 Speaker 09: Gray Catholic District School that

00:28:40 Speaker 09: is located at the at the

00:28:41 Speaker 09: city will be located at the

00:28:44 Speaker 09: city limits. The Fourth Ave West

00:28:46 Speaker 09: reconstruction projects between 15th and 20th

00:28:48 Speaker 09: Street were highlighted. and that we'll

00:28:51 Speaker 09: see replacement of both underground and

00:28:53 Speaker 09: above ground infrastructure on that road,

00:28:55 Speaker 09: with a view of improving pedestrian

00:28:59 Speaker 09: safety and accessibility. The committee had

00:29:00 Speaker 09: no comments on that project. The

00:29:03 Speaker 09: 16th Street East pedestrian tunnel and

00:29:04 Speaker 09: sidewalk expansion project was also reviewed,

00:29:08 Speaker 08: and that will begin. It's anticipated

00:29:09 Speaker 08: to begin in May or June

00:29:11 Speaker 08: of this year, and also seeks

00:29:16 Speaker 08: to improve safety and accessibility on

00:29:18 Speaker 08: that project. There's any questions on

00:29:22 Speaker 08: how There's any questions? I'm happy

00:29:25 Speaker 08: to try to try to answer

00:29:28 Speaker 08: them. Thank you, Tara. Are there

00:29:30 Speaker 08: any questions from council? Not seeing

00:29:34 Speaker 08: any. I'll call the question. All

00:29:35 Speaker 08: those in favor? That is carried.

00:29:37 Speaker 08: Thank you, Tara. Next, we have

00:29:39 Speaker 08: a report regarding Gray Road 40

00:29:43 Speaker 08: emergency culvert replacement. This is the

00:29:45 Speaker 08: item that constituted the revised agenda,

00:29:48 Speaker 08: and I'm thinking probably council has

00:29:50 Speaker 08: saved all their. questions and discussion

00:29:52 Speaker 08: for this particular report, Trevor. No

00:29:55 Speaker 08: pressure, but I do need a

00:29:57 Speaker 08: mover and seconder to receive the

00:30:00 Speaker 08: report. Councilor Pringle and Councilor Carlton,

00:30:02 Speaker 10: thank you, Trevor. The floor is

00:30:05 Speaker 10: yours, sir. Thank you, Deputy Warden,

00:30:09 Speaker 10: and good morning, County Council. Today,

00:30:11 Speaker 10: I'll be providing some information relating

00:30:12 Speaker 10: to the emergency culvert replacements required

00:30:16 Speaker 10: on Gray Road Forty. You may

00:30:19 Speaker 10: recall that this portion of road

00:30:20 Speaker 10: under Recall that this portion of

00:30:23 Speaker 10: road underwent a full reconstruction in

00:30:25 Speaker 10: 2024. So, during the initial

00:30:27 Speaker 10: background work for that project, our

00:30:31 Speaker 10: engineering staff inspected Culverts 978 and

00:30:32 Speaker 10: 981. At the time, both structures

00:30:34 Speaker 10: were found to be in fair

00:30:36 Speaker 10: condition and still maintaining their general

00:30:39 Speaker 10: circular shape. Because of their significant

00:30:41 Speaker 10: depth, being between six and ten

00:30:44 Speaker 10: meters below the road surface, staff

00:30:47 Speaker 10: determined that they were ideal candidates

00:30:49 Speaker 10: for our trench. Ideal candidates for

00:30:51 Speaker 10: our trenchless thermoform culvert lining program

00:30:54 Speaker 10: to extend their service life. Due

00:30:58 Speaker 10: to the timing of the Gray

00:31:01 Speaker 10: Road Forty project that year in

00:31:04 Speaker 10: 2024, the work for the thermoform

00:31:05 Speaker 10: culvert lining was tendered, awarded, and

00:31:08 Speaker 10: scheduled to take place during the

00:31:11 Speaker 10: 2025 construction season. So everything changed

00:31:13 Speaker 10: in on June 30th in 2025

00:31:15 Speaker 10: when the county was hit with

00:31:17 Speaker 10: a severe summer storm that brought

00:31:19 Speaker 10: rainfall levels exceeding a 130. Levels

00:31:21 Speaker 10: exceeding a 130-year event. This massive

00:31:23 Speaker 10: volume of water caused significant surcharging

00:31:27 Speaker 10: at the pipe inlets for both

00:31:29 Speaker 10: structures, which led to the collapse

00:31:31 Speaker 10: of the inlets and immediately reduced

00:31:33 Speaker 10: their capacity, creating a damming effect.

00:31:35 Speaker 10: As water began to swirl and

00:31:37 Speaker 10: pool, started undermining the bottom of

00:31:40 Speaker 10: the embankment, causing significant erosion at

00:31:43 Speaker 10: the toe of the slope. While

00:31:45 Speaker 10: water could still pass through the

00:31:47 Speaker 10: pipes, the structural stability of the

00:31:50 Speaker 10: surrounding embankment was seriously compromised. Because

00:31:51 Speaker 10: these culverts are located so deep

00:31:53 Speaker 10: beneath the road, the inlet failures

00:31:55 Speaker 10: weren't visible from the road surface,

00:31:57 Speaker 10: and the erosion damage at the

00:32:00 Speaker 10: time was not extensive enough to

00:32:03 Speaker 10: be easily noticed by our operations

00:32:05 Speaker 10: staff. Further, the culvert cleanout program

00:32:08 Speaker 10: and inspections that we do annually

00:32:09 Speaker 10: typically occur prior to the start

00:32:11 Speaker 10: of winter shifts. Excuse me. As

00:32:13 Speaker 10: a result, staff only discovered the

00:32:16 Speaker 10: failure during a routine inspection. As

00:32:18 Speaker 10: a result, staff only discovered the

00:32:19 Speaker 10: extent of the damage in October

00:32:24 Speaker 10: 2025 when our lining contractor arrived

00:32:28 Speaker 10: on site to begin the work

00:32:30 Speaker 10: and realized they couldn't line the

00:32:32 Speaker 10: crushed pipes. So, upon word of

00:32:33 Speaker 10: this, engineering staff quickly brought in

00:32:37 Speaker 10: Pearson Engineering to design a temporary

00:32:39 Speaker 10: shoring system that would allow a

00:32:41 Speaker 10: repair to the culvert ends so

00:32:43 Speaker 10: that the culvert lining contractor could

00:32:45 Speaker 10: proceed with the lining. However, when

00:32:50 Speaker 10: the tender for the temporary work

00:32:51 Speaker 10: closed in December, it came in

00:32:54 Speaker 10: at over 800. It came in

00:32:55 Speaker 10: at over 860,000, 865,000, also coupled

00:32:58 Speaker 10: with approximately $90,000 worth of culvert

00:33:00 Speaker 10: lining. This was substantially higher than

00:33:01 Speaker 10: our provided estimate, and much higher

00:33:03 Speaker 10: than what staff had anticipated when

00:33:04 Speaker 10: compared with a full replacement cost.

00:33:07 Speaker 10: Given that a liner has a

00:33:09 Speaker 10: shorter service life compared to a

00:33:12 Speaker 10: new structure, we decided the most

00:33:13 Speaker 10: fiscally responsible move was to pivot

00:33:16 Speaker 10: to a full replacement strategy in

00:33:17 Speaker 10: 2026. Over the last few months,

00:33:21 Speaker 10: staff have been preparing a design

00:33:25 Speaker 10: and contract documents for a tender

00:33:27 Speaker 10: for the replacement of the two

00:33:29 Speaker 10: culverts. We've been currently waiting on

00:33:33 Speaker 10: the completion of a geotechnical

00:33:35 Speaker 10: report for the slope to be

00:33:37 Speaker 10: completed, at which point we would

00:33:39 Speaker 10: be putting that work out tender.

00:33:40 Speaker 10: Now, at the same time, staff

00:33:44 Speaker 10: have been completing routine site visits

00:33:47 Speaker 10: since December to monitor the rate

00:33:49 Speaker 10: of erosion of the slope at

00:33:51 Speaker 10: each culvert. As you're all aware,

00:33:55 Speaker 10: the winter of 2025-2026 was a

00:33:57 Speaker 10: brutal one. Gray County experienced significant

00:33:58 Speaker 10: heavy snow loads, followed by a

00:34:03 Speaker 10: rapid spring melt and heavy rainfall,

00:34:04 Speaker 10: causing substantial flooding in many locations

00:34:06 Speaker 10: throughout the county. These environmental factors

00:34:08 Speaker 10: accelerated the erosion of the embankment

00:34:10 Speaker 10: slope at a rate far faster

00:34:13 Speaker 10: than what would occur in a

00:34:25 Speaker 10: typical spring season. So, during a

00:34:26 Speaker 10: routine site visit on May 6.

00:34:35 Speaker 10: 2026, staff observed that shear cracking

00:34:42 Speaker 10: on the slope had migrated upwards

00:34:43 Speaker 10: to the edge of the granular

00:34:47 Speaker 10: road shoulder. At this point, the

00:34:48 Speaker 10: situation transitioned from a plan repair

00:34:52 Speaker 10: to an immediate emergency. Without intervention,

00:34:53 Speaker 10: this is a very real risk

00:34:55 Speaker 10: that this entire section of Road

00:34:56 Speaker 10: 40 could fail or collapse. And

00:34:58 Speaker 10: we can see if we scroll

00:35:00 Speaker 10: up the picture above that there's

00:35:01 Speaker 10: an image. or sorry, below. Where'd

00:35:03 Speaker 10: it go? It should be in

00:35:05 Speaker 10: the report. So go up. There.

00:35:07 Speaker 10: Yeah, it should be after the

00:35:09 Speaker 10: pictures. That's the oh there it

00:35:11 Speaker 10: was it just hadn't loaded, so

00:35:15 Speaker 10: this is just a brief illustration

00:35:17 Speaker 10: I put together in anticipation for

00:35:19 Speaker 10: the report. So what ends up

00:35:22 Speaker 10: happening with the shear cracking is

00:35:25 Speaker 10: basically when a slope fails it

00:35:28 Speaker 10: kind of falls in pieces and

00:35:30 Speaker 10: it'll slide down the slope. So

00:35:32 Speaker 10: what ended up happening over the

00:35:34 Speaker 10: winter months is you notice the

00:35:35 Speaker 10: first piece of segment would shear

00:35:38 Speaker 10: crack and start to slide, followed

00:35:40 Speaker 10: by another portion and so on.

00:35:42 Speaker 10: So as those shear cracking. cracks

00:35:45 Speaker 10: climbed up the slope, basically once

00:35:46 Speaker 10: that spring melt started happening, we

00:35:48 Speaker 10: were out there probably weekly taking

00:35:51 Speaker 10: taking looks at that. And again,

00:35:52 Speaker 10: in the last roughly two weeks,

00:35:54 Speaker 10: that's where it really accelerated with

00:35:56 Speaker 10: all the significant rainfall. The water

00:35:58 Speaker 10: was like heavy, so the soil

00:36:01 Speaker 10: was waterlogged. All of that additional

00:36:06 Speaker 10: weight in the soil started pull

00:36:09 Speaker 10: it down quicker, and all that

00:36:12 Speaker 10: led to eventually a shear. crack

00:36:13 Speaker 10: that formed at the top. Currently,

00:36:14 Speaker 10: that shear crack at the road

00:36:18 Speaker 10: is small. You wouldn't necessarily see

00:36:23 Speaker 10: it if you were just

00:36:25 Speaker 10: walking along there. But what you

00:36:28 Speaker 10: can see is about two or

00:36:31 Speaker 10: three meters down. There's another shear

00:36:33 Speaker 10: crack. That one's dropped maybe about

00:36:35 Speaker 10: six to eight inches. And then

00:36:37 Speaker 10: further down, you can see from

00:36:39 Speaker 10: the pictures above. Yeah, so the

00:36:41 Speaker 10: one top right, you can see.

00:36:43 Speaker 10: how basically there's different kind of

00:36:45 Speaker 10: shelves of brass there. So each

00:36:49 Speaker 10: one of those is a different

00:36:51 Speaker 10: type of shear crack, and those

00:36:53 Speaker 10: are all sliding down. So to

00:36:55 Speaker 10: address this threat immediately, staff utilized

00:36:58 Speaker 10: the emergency procurement provisions of our

00:36:59 Speaker 10: purchasing bylaw. We reached out to

00:37:01 Speaker 10: five local contractors to secure quotes

00:37:02 Speaker 10: for an emergency replacement of both

00:37:06 Speaker 10: structures. Three of those contractors were

00:37:07 Speaker 10: able to commit to the work

00:37:09 Speaker 10: on this timeline, and we ultimately

00:37:12 Speaker 10: awarded the project to Rubos Farm

00:37:14 Speaker 10: Service Limited for seven hundred one

00:37:16 Speaker 10: thousand four hundred thirty-four dollars and

00:37:17 Speaker 10: eighteen cents. Staff opted to use

00:37:20 Speaker 10: concrete culverts for the replacement, while

00:37:23 Speaker 10: they do carry a slight price

00:37:25 Speaker 10: premium, they do offer a substantially

00:37:28 Speaker 10: longer service life, which is critical

00:37:30 Speaker 10: given the depth of these culverts.

00:37:31 Speaker 10: So we ideally don't want to

00:37:32 Speaker 10: go back there for quite some

00:37:36 Speaker 10: time. and finally, I should mention

00:37:38 Speaker 10: that the geography of this area

00:37:40 Speaker 10: makes the detour routes particularly challenging

00:37:41 Speaker 10: and lengthy. The planned route will

00:37:43 Speaker 10: send travelers south on Gray Road

00:37:45 Speaker 10: Seven to Kimberly, and then back

00:37:47 Speaker 10: on Gray Road Thirteen to tie

00:37:49 Speaker 10: back into Gray Road Forty. To

00:37:51 Speaker 10: help residents and commuters plan ahead,

00:37:53 Speaker 10: we are utilizing Municipal Five One

00:37:57 Speaker 10: One for real-time updates, and we'll

00:37:58 Speaker 10: also be hand-delivering direct notices to

00:38:02 Speaker 10: those living on these sections of

00:38:05 Speaker 10: road that will be. directly impacted,

00:38:08 Speaker 10: we've also reached out to our

00:38:14 Speaker 10: partners in Gray Highlands, the Blue

00:38:18 Speaker 10: Mountains, and Meaford to let them

00:38:19 Speaker 10: know about the issue and ensure

00:38:21 Speaker 10: they are aware as the impact

00:38:22 Speaker 10: on their local networks. We suspect

00:38:27 Speaker 10: a number of drivers will come

00:38:28 Speaker 10: up with their own unique detours

00:38:31 Speaker 10: and find their own way around,

00:38:33 Speaker 10: given the length of the detour.

00:38:35 Speaker 10: Thank you, and yeah, I can

00:38:36 Speaker 10: take any questions you may have.

00:38:38 Speaker 10: Thank you, Trevor. Are there any

00:38:39 Speaker 10: questions, Councillor McQueen? I say, Mister

00:38:41 Speaker 10: Report, what's the time frame and

00:38:43 Speaker 10: time duration? Through you, Deputy Warden,

00:38:46 Speaker 10: we are sort of in the

00:38:47 Speaker 10: process of talking with that through

00:38:48 Speaker 10: with the contractor. So right now,

00:38:50 Speaker 10: we're looking at roughly a five-week

00:38:52 Speaker 10: closure. It takes about three to

00:38:53 Speaker 10: three and a half weeks for

00:38:55 Speaker 10: the first. culvert, the nine seventy-eight,

00:38:56 Speaker 10: which is the deeper culvert, and

00:39:07 Speaker 10: then we have to switch and

00:39:09 Speaker 10: move over to the second culvert.

00:39:12 Speaker 10: Unfortunately, we can't. Ideally, you'd like

00:39:15 Speaker 10: to do them at the same

00:39:18 Speaker 10: time, but because they're about eight

00:39:20 Speaker 10: hundred meters apart, we have five

00:39:21 Speaker 10: residences in between those. And in

00:39:22 Speaker 10: order to allow them access, we

00:39:24 Speaker 10: need to kind of start at

00:39:25 Speaker 10: one, jump to the other. So

00:39:28 Speaker 10: ultimately, that's one of the main

00:39:31 Speaker 10: reasons why it's a little longer

00:39:32 Speaker 10: process than it would be if

00:39:34 Speaker 10: we could just do it all

00:39:35 Speaker 10: together. June, July, September. Yes. Sorry.

00:39:40 Speaker 10: Currently, right now, they're planning to

00:39:42 Speaker 10: be on site on the, I

00:39:43 Speaker 10: guess, the Monday, twenty fifth. I

00:39:45 Speaker 10: think it is. Yeah. So not

00:39:47 Speaker 10: next week. Originally, we were trying

00:39:51 Speaker 10: to get them there for next

00:39:55 Speaker 10: Tuesday, but in order to get

00:39:58 Speaker 10: the signage and all that stuff

00:39:59 Speaker 10: in place, we're pushing it to

00:40:00 Speaker 10: the twenty fifth. Pushing it to

00:40:05 Speaker 10: the 25th, I believe, maybe 26th.

00:40:07 Speaker 10: But so that time frame probably

00:40:08 Speaker 10: works the best to get it

00:40:10 Speaker 10: done before the heavy traffic of

00:40:11 Speaker 10: the summer and stuff like that.

00:40:14 Speaker 11: Right. So yeah, three UDW, and

00:40:15 Speaker 11: yeah, the intent basically because of

00:40:16 Speaker 11: the situation it's in. If we

00:40:17 Speaker 11: get a significant rainfall, we could

00:40:21 Speaker 11: lose a full lane of the

00:40:27 Speaker 12: road potentially. So immediately is why

00:40:30 Speaker 12: we've got the emergency decision

00:40:33 Speaker 12: on this. Yeah, I got a

00:40:36 Speaker 12: couple of councillors, but I want

00:40:38 Speaker 12: to go to Niall first. If

00:40:41 Speaker 12: he has a comment, yes, through

00:40:43 Speaker 12: you, through you, Chair. So, just

00:40:45 Speaker 12: to the question, the aim, the

00:40:46 Speaker 12: objective here is to wrap up

00:40:48 Speaker 12: before the summer, the summer long

00:40:50 Speaker 12: weekend, so that we're off. Gray

00:40:53 Speaker 12: Road Forty and Gray Road Forty

00:40:56 Speaker 12: is open again through the summer

00:40:58 Speaker 12: season because we do realize how

00:40:59 Speaker 12: critical that connection is. Okay, thank

00:41:01 Speaker 12: you, Niall. Councillor McKay. Mr. McKay,

00:41:03 Speaker 12: thank you, Deputy Deputy Warden. Have

00:41:10 Speaker 12: you been in negotiations? You mentioned

00:41:12 Speaker 10: Tanisha Bichatworth, and it will impact

00:41:15 Speaker 10: the residents of the Tanisha Bichatworth,

00:41:19 Speaker 10: and also it's going to impact

00:41:21 Speaker 10: our side roads, which a lot

00:41:24 Speaker 10: of them are not capable of

00:41:27 Speaker 10: some of these transport trucks that

00:41:30 Speaker 10: go from east to west. So,

00:41:33 Speaker 10: has been any negotiations, and if

00:41:36 Speaker 10: there has been negotiations. Being negotiations,

00:41:38 Speaker 10: and if some of these back

00:41:39 Speaker 10: roads start deteriorating a bit, is

00:41:40 Speaker 10: it going to be up to

00:41:41 Speaker 10: the cost of the township, or

00:41:43 Speaker 10: will county come in, maybe spread

00:41:44 Speaker 10: gravel or graded or whatever? The

00:41:46 Speaker 10: issue with that particular location, because

00:41:47 Speaker 10: it's down the escarpment, there aren't

00:41:49 Speaker 10: really many additional detours we really

00:41:53 Speaker 10: have. There's a bunch of kind

00:41:54 Speaker 10: of small. side roads that traverse

00:41:57 Speaker 10: down the escarpment. So potentially, we've

00:41:59 Speaker 10: had conversations with basically all those

00:42:01 Speaker 10: directly impacted around, so Meaford Blue

00:42:03 Speaker 10: Mountains and Grey Highlands. They've indicated

00:42:06 Speaker 10: that they would go and try

00:42:09 Speaker 10: and get some grading done in

00:42:12 Speaker 10: advance as part of their kind

00:42:15 Speaker 10: of spring process to try and

00:42:19 Speaker 10: get those roads in a situation

00:42:22 Speaker 10: where they're good. And then we,

00:42:25 Speaker 10: again, these are all discussions we

00:42:26 Speaker 10: can have as if we start

00:42:28 Speaker 10: to notice people are really pushing

00:42:29 Speaker 10: on one or two different. routes.

00:42:31 Speaker 10: Now, ideally, because it's on municipal

00:42:33 Speaker 10: five one one, we're hoping some

00:42:36 Speaker 10: of those longer commuters will find

00:42:40 Speaker 10: alternative routes that go a little

00:42:42 Speaker 10: further south. So, whether they go

00:42:43 Speaker 10: maybe come out of Markdale and

00:42:45 Speaker 10: use corridor thirty and up in

00:42:46 Speaker 13: thirteen that way, but ultimately, yeah,

00:42:48 Speaker 13: there's going to be some potential

00:42:49 Speaker 13: for basically people to get creative

00:42:51 Speaker 13: with where they go. Okay, thank

00:42:52 Speaker 13: you, Warden Matters. Officer, have a

00:42:54 Speaker 13: question. Go ahead, please. Thank you,

00:42:55 Speaker 13: through you as the chair. Just

00:42:59 Speaker 13: on on the note about because

00:43:05 Speaker 13: it's going to be three to

00:43:10 Speaker 13: five weeks because there is the

00:43:12 Speaker 13: long weekend coming up. Thank you

00:43:13 Speaker 13: very much to staff who who

00:43:18 Speaker 13: spoke to our our reciprocal lower

00:43:20 Speaker 13: tier transportation staff. I wonder then

00:43:22 Speaker 13: if if a communication piece can

00:43:23 Speaker 13: also go out when it does

00:43:24 Speaker 13: reopen. I think that might be

00:43:25 Speaker 14: helpful. then, just so people don't,

00:43:27 Speaker 14: our local residents don't have to

00:43:32 Speaker 14: keep checking to see if it's

00:43:33 Speaker 14: open. It'll be nice if we

00:43:34 Speaker 14: can just hear once we know

00:43:36 Speaker 14: that that's been accomplished. Given that

00:43:38 Speaker 14: three to five weeks is is

00:43:40 Speaker 14: a considerable distance in time. Thank

00:43:41 Speaker 14: you. Trevor's writing that down as

00:43:44 Speaker 14: we speak. Yep, three deputy one.

00:43:45 Speaker 14: Yeah, we will make sure that

00:43:47 Speaker 14: notice goes out once it's complete.

00:43:52 Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilor McQueen. Thank you,

00:43:55 Speaker 10: Mr. Orney. I think communication will

00:43:57 Speaker 10: be very important for sure. I

00:43:59 Speaker 10: don't know if there could even

00:44:00 Speaker 10: be something on the radio. I'm

00:44:02 Speaker 10: thinking on the agricultural side of

00:44:03 Speaker 10: things. You know that that'll not

00:44:05 Speaker 10: sure, but getting crop in the

00:44:07 Speaker 10: ground might be later this year,

00:44:09 Speaker 10: and then hanging will start to

00:44:10 Speaker 10: later in June. So it just

00:44:14 Speaker 10: probably, and I know through the

00:44:16 Speaker 10: Grey Egg Services, or just I

00:44:20 Speaker 10: think just as many egg, many

00:44:24 Speaker 10: communication. media that we can reach,

00:44:25 Speaker 10: I think, is important just because

00:44:28 Speaker 10: it is a major corridor through

00:44:29 Speaker 05: there. Yeah, through you, Deputy Warden.

00:44:33 Speaker 05: Yes, we basically we've been putting

00:44:34 Speaker 05: together letters and working with the

00:44:38 Speaker 05: contractor to more or less settle

00:44:41 Speaker 05: when that timing is. Once we

00:44:42 Speaker 05: have that timing, the plan is

00:44:44 Speaker 05: to reach out through our own

00:44:45 Speaker 05: social media channels. We'll reach out

00:44:47 Speaker 05: to the egg side as well

00:44:50 Speaker 05: and try and get that message

00:44:53 Speaker 05: out as much as we can.

00:44:57 Speaker 05: Good, thank you, Trevor. Any other

00:44:59 Speaker 05: questions? Oh, Councillor, great, go ahead,

00:45:01 Speaker 05: please. My question is, I guess,

00:45:03 Speaker 05: on any takeaways that might have

00:45:07 Speaker 05: been gained from this. You wouldn't

00:45:09 Speaker 05: have to sell any member of

00:45:12 Speaker 05: council on the necessity of completing

00:45:15 Speaker 05: this job, but that when you

00:45:17 Speaker 05: look at the photo, Trevor, it

00:45:20 Speaker 05: looks like slop on the side

00:45:23 Speaker 05: of the. the hill, I'm just

00:45:27 Speaker 05: wondering when the reconstruction was done

00:45:30 Speaker 05: two years ago. Wouldn't pretend to

00:45:32 Speaker 05: be a geotech for a second,

00:45:33 Speaker 05: but was the road elevated more

00:45:38 Speaker 05: so, and the slope was increased?

00:45:40 Speaker 10: And we used different soils for

00:45:42 Speaker 10: for compaction. Like, do we wish

00:45:45 Speaker 10: in hindsight that the culvert had

00:45:47 Speaker 10: extended more so beyond the toe

00:45:49 Speaker 10: of the slope? I get it's

00:45:52 Speaker 10: a 130 year rain event, but.

00:45:54 Speaker 10: are there any takeaways staffer are

00:45:55 Speaker 10: are gaining from this here, or

00:45:57 Speaker 10: is that that photo is misleading?

00:46:00 Speaker 10: It's not slop. It's it's actually

00:46:01 Speaker 10: good quality, robust soils. It just

00:46:03 Speaker 10: comes across looking inadequate for, for

00:46:04 Speaker 10: the, the gradient of the slope.

00:46:06 Speaker 10: I guess, yeah. Any any lessons

00:46:08 Speaker 10: learned here? Because we certainly don't

00:46:10 Speaker 10: want to travel this road again.

00:46:13 Speaker 10: Yeah, through you, Deputy Warden. So

00:46:15 Speaker 10: when we did the Gray Road

00:46:17 Speaker 10: 40 job, it was effectively a

00:46:20 Speaker 10: pulverizing pave. So the fill here,

00:46:21 Speaker 10: these two fills in particular, are

00:46:24 Speaker 10: basically as you go down the

00:46:27 Speaker 10: escarpment. Obviously, the pre-existing before a

00:46:30 Speaker 10: road was ever built, there'd be

00:46:33 Speaker 10: little valleys and dips, and so

00:46:35 Speaker 10: these creeks kind of meandered down

00:46:37 Speaker 10: that escarpment. And then what happened

00:46:39 Speaker 10: when Gray Road 40 was originally

00:46:40 Speaker 10: constructed is these were basically culverts

00:46:43 Speaker 10: were put in the bottom, and

00:46:45 Speaker 10: then they're filled. to make them

00:46:48 Speaker 10: more suitable road grade. Now, the

00:46:49 Speaker 10: material that's in there is not

00:46:52 Speaker 10: really material you build a road

00:46:54 Speaker 10: out of. It is very silty

00:46:57 Speaker 10: and full of clay and that.

00:46:58 Speaker 10: But again, in terms of the

00:46:58 Speaker 10: actual stability of the bank without

00:47:01 Speaker 10: the culverts collapsing, those banks have

00:47:04 Speaker 10: been generally very stable over their

00:47:06 Speaker 10: lifetime. One of the parts with

00:47:07 Speaker 10: this process is when the backfill.

00:47:10 Speaker 10: When they backfill, they're going to

00:47:12 Speaker 10: actually put levels of geogrid in

00:47:19 Speaker 10: as well every couple meters, which

00:47:21 Speaker 10: will add even more stability to

00:47:23 Speaker 10: that slope. So again, what we

00:47:25 Speaker 05: end up getting by digging this

00:47:27 Speaker 05: out, we can do something better

00:47:30 Speaker 05: as we're doing it. So unfortunately,

00:47:32 Speaker 05: it was just effectively really bad

00:47:34 Speaker 05: timing with that storm. The culvert

00:47:36 Speaker 05: lining just ended up being delayed

00:47:40 Speaker 05: because of weather, and then of

00:47:44 Speaker 05: course it ended up being in

00:47:46 Speaker 05: a situation where we just got

00:47:47 Speaker 05: caught on that situation. So. it

00:47:49 Speaker 11: has forced us to look at

00:47:51 Speaker 11: lining some of these things in

00:47:52 Speaker 11: advance of construction as well. So

00:47:53 Speaker 11: we have been adjusting our design

00:47:55 Speaker 11: processes as well because of this.

00:47:56 Speaker 11: Thanks for those insights. The only

00:47:58 Speaker 11: thing I would further note is

00:48:01 Speaker 11: this is a very popular cycling

00:48:03 Speaker 11: route, and if you can further

00:48:04 Speaker 11: communications within the cycling community at

00:48:07 Speaker 11: Collingwood, I'd encourage that. I encourage

00:48:08 Speaker 11: that. It's that time of year

00:48:10 Speaker 11: that there'd be hundreds using that

00:48:13 Speaker 11: road daily on weekends. So thanks.

00:48:15 Speaker 11: Now, do you want to respond

00:48:16 Speaker 11: to that, through you, Chair Mill?

00:48:19 Speaker 11: Whilst I have been on a

00:48:22 Speaker 11: bit of a fitness kick this

00:48:25 Speaker 11: year, I won't respond directly to

00:48:26 Speaker 11: the cycling comments. I will not

00:48:27 Speaker 11: probably be one of the hundreds

00:48:29 Speaker 11: of cyclists that use that road,

00:48:31 Speaker 11: but I can, I can

00:48:33 Speaker 11: and well imagine that. I did

00:48:36 Speaker 11: want to pass comment on Councillor

00:48:40 Speaker 11: Gregg's. earlier comment. We are obviously

00:48:41 Speaker 11: taking steps to design this slope

00:48:43 Speaker 11: and redo this slope in a

00:48:45 Speaker 11: way that future failures are not

00:48:47 Speaker 11: going to be the case. But

00:48:49 Speaker 11: I want to just build on

00:48:52 Speaker 11: on Trevor's Trevor's points earlier. This

00:48:53 Speaker 11: was a result of an intense

00:48:55 Speaker 11: summer storm that caused an acute

00:48:57 Speaker 11: failure, and then a particularly heavy

00:48:58 Speaker 11: winter. And so I would like

00:49:00 Speaker 11: to to just not walk away

00:49:02 Speaker 11: from this room thinking this will

00:49:05 Speaker 11: be the last time something like

00:49:08 Speaker 11: this will happen. We obviously try

00:49:10 Speaker 11: to avoid emergencies of this sort

00:49:12 Speaker 11: of nature through proactive inspection, proactive

00:49:14 Speaker 11: repair, and implementing our asset management

00:49:18 Speaker 11: plan processes. Having said that, we

00:49:20 Speaker 11: we have infrastructure which has been

00:49:22 Speaker 11: designed over the last fifty to

00:49:24 Speaker 08: a hundred years that we're managing

00:49:27 Speaker 08: at this point, and it's facing

00:49:32 Speaker 08: a different pattern of intense weather

00:49:34 Speaker 08: fall and weather events that we're

00:49:35 Speaker 08: we're experiencing at the minute. And

00:49:37 Speaker 08: so, so this is certainly one

00:49:39 Speaker 08: element of of the acute nature.

00:49:41 Speaker 08: of some of the weather that

00:49:42 Speaker 08: we're experiencing, as I'm sure all

00:49:44 Speaker 08: member municipalities are seeing in drainage

00:57:48 Speaker 15: ditches and culverts across their across

00:59:20 Speaker 08: their areas. And so, whilst we

00:59:22 Speaker 08: try to avoid these at all

00:59:24 Speaker 08: points, we are experiencing a different

00:59:27 Speaker 08: pattern of weather, which is causing

00:59:28 Speaker 08: some different pressures on our systems.

00:59:29 Speaker 08: Thank you, Noel. Okay, not seeing

00:59:31 Speaker 08: any other questions. I'll call the

00:59:33 Speaker 08: question. All those in favour? That

00:59:35 Speaker 08: is carried. Thank you. Trevor. Okay,

00:59:37 Speaker 08: that concludes our our items for

00:59:42 Speaker 08: discussion regarding in open session. We're

00:59:44 Speaker 08: going to have a closed

00:59:47 Speaker 08: session, but I'm going to suggest

00:59:48 Speaker 08: we take a recess till eleven

00:59:51 Speaker 08: fifteen, and then we'll come back

00:59:57 Speaker 08: and we'll go into closed session

00:59:59 Speaker 08: to deal with the matters listed

01:00:02 Speaker 08: on the agenda. So we are

01:00:11 Speaker 08: recessed. One minute warning. Okay, we

01:00:12 Speaker 08: are back in order here, so

01:00:13 Speaker 08: we have a closed meeting. Some

01:00:16 Speaker 08: matters to deal with in closed

01:00:18 Speaker 08: session. Motion is that the committee

01:00:21 Speaker 08: of the whole does now go

01:00:24 Speaker 08: into closed session pursuant to section

01:00:26 Speaker 08: two three nine two of the

01:00:29 Speaker 08: Municipal Act of two thousand one,

01:00:34 Speaker 08: as amended, to discuss labor relations

01:00:36 Speaker 08: or employee negotiations. And there are

01:00:40 Speaker 08: several, as you can see there,

01:00:41 Speaker 08: and advice subject to solicitor-client privilege.

01:00:47 Speaker 08: Someone care to move that, please,

01:00:55 Speaker 08: Councillor Patterson, Councillor McQueen. All those

01:00:56 Speaker 08: in favor? That is. carried. So,

01:00:57 Speaker 16: all those that are remaining can

01:01:00 Speaker 16: remain, and those that are leaving

01:01:01 Speaker 16: can leave. Please, very good. Thank

01:01:03 Speaker 16: you. Thank you, Rob. We are

01:01:06 Speaker 16: now back in open session, and

01:01:08 Speaker 16: I can confirm that we only

01:01:10 Speaker 16: discuss those items in closed session

01:01:12 Speaker 16: related to the items listed on

01:01:14 Speaker 16: the. closed session agenda. Does anybody

01:01:17 Speaker 16: have any other business to be

01:01:19 Speaker 16: considered today? Not seeing any. We

01:01:20 Speaker 16: have the final item is AMO

01:01:23 Speaker 16: delegation request, and you can see

01:01:25 Speaker 16: there are six related listed there.

01:01:28 Speaker 16: Does anybody wish to add to

01:01:29 Speaker 16: that list or have something considered

01:01:32 Speaker 16: otherwise? Okay. Kayla, please. Awesome. Thank

01:01:34 Speaker 16: you. I was just going to

01:01:36 Speaker 16: give you all a little bit

01:01:38 Speaker 16: more context on each of the

01:01:40 Speaker 16: topics. So, as you are aware,

01:01:42 Speaker 16: the AML conference is scheduled from

01:01:45 Speaker 16: August 16th to the 19th. The

01:01:47 Speaker 16: municipal delegation request form is now

01:01:50 Speaker 16: available, with all requests needing to

01:01:51 Speaker 16: be submitted by Thursday, May

01:01:53 Speaker 16: 21st at 5 p.m. So, we're

01:01:56 Speaker 16: working within a relatively tight timeline.

01:01:57 Speaker 16: Staff have developed a recommended list,

01:02:00 Speaker 16: and this was done by the

01:02:02 Speaker 16: Gray County Senior Management Team being

01:02:04 Speaker 16: invited to submit proposed topics through

01:02:06 Speaker 16: an internal process. And those were

01:02:08 Speaker 16: outlining the issues that they were

01:02:10 Speaker 16: wanting to delegate on, providing background

01:02:12 Speaker 16: information, and explaining what we are

01:02:15 Speaker 16: advocating for and why. We also

01:02:17 Speaker 16: shared that proposed list that you

01:02:19 Speaker 16: all have with the local CALs

01:02:20 Speaker 16: from our member municipalities to ensure

01:02:22 Speaker 16: that there's alignment across our region.

01:02:25 Speaker 16: Following that, Randy Nieland myself. That

01:02:28 Speaker 16: Randy Niel and myself reviewed all

01:02:30 Speaker 16: of these submissions and prioritized them.

01:02:32 Speaker 16: We tried to focus on what

01:02:34 Speaker 16: is realistically attainable through the delegation

01:02:36 Speaker 16: process, keeping the number manageable so

01:02:38 Speaker 16: that we can prepare strong materials

01:02:40 Speaker 16: while also considering the urgency, importance,

01:02:43 Speaker 16: and where we believe we can

01:02:45 Speaker 16: have the greatest impact. So, just

01:02:47 Speaker 16: for some further context, the

01:02:50 Speaker 16: six delegation topics are, with the

01:02:52 Speaker 16: first being the Ministry of Health.

01:02:55 Speaker 16: We are proposing to advocate for

01:02:57 Speaker 16: increased capital funding to support infrastructure

01:02:59 Speaker 16: for. our primary healthcare teams, this

01:03:01 Speaker 16: is as we continue to work

01:03:04 Speaker 16: with our partners to meet the

01:03:06 Speaker 16: provincial goal of connecting all residents

01:03:08 Speaker 16: to a primary care provider by

01:03:11 Speaker 16: 2029. The availability of appropriate space

01:03:13 Speaker 16: for these teams is proving to

01:03:15 Speaker 16: be a key barrier. Our second

01:03:17 Speaker 16: would be with the Ministry of

01:03:20 Speaker 16: Transportation. Staff would like an opportunity

01:03:22 Speaker 16: to build on Bruce County's delegation

01:03:24 Speaker 16: at Roma and provide an update