Grey County Committee of the Whole Meeting Transcript — September 10, 2026

00:03:52 Speaker 01: I'd like to call this meeting

00:03:53 Speaker 01: of September tenth, twenty twenty-six, to

00:03:56 Speaker 02: order. At this point in time,

00:03:57 Speaker 02: as you are able, please join

00:03:59 Speaker 02: us in the standing for and

00:04:00 Speaker 02: singing of "O Canada." O Canada,

00:04:12 Speaker 02: our homeland, native land, true. patriot

00:04:18 Speaker 02: love in all of us command.

00:04:23 Speaker 03: With glowing hearts, we see thee

00:04:29 Speaker 03: rise, the true North, strong and

00:04:32 Speaker 03: free. From far and wide, O

00:04:37 Speaker 03: Canada, we stand on guard for

00:04:41 Speaker 04: thee. God keep our land glorious

00:04:49 Speaker 04: and free, O Canada! We stand

00:04:56 Speaker 04: on guard for thee, O Canada!

00:05:03 Speaker 04: We stand on guard for thee.

00:05:09 Speaker 04: Thank you, Madam Clerk. Could you

00:05:19 Speaker 04: please conduct our roll call? Councillor

00:05:24 Speaker 04: Mackie. Councillor McKay. Councillor Carleton.

00:05:27 Speaker 04: Councillor Pringle. Councillor McQueen. Councillor

00:05:31 Speaker 05: Nielsen. Councillor Patterson. Councillor

00:05:34 Speaker 05: Decker. Councillor Kentner. Councillor Keaveny.

00:05:38 Speaker 05: Councillor Body. Councillor Craig. Councillor

00:05:42 Speaker 05: Milne. Councillor Debrine, Warden Matrasovs,

00:05:45 Speaker 05: Councillor Bordignon, senses regrets today.

00:05:49 Speaker 05: Councillor Eccles, present, and Councillor Hutchinson.

00:05:53 Speaker 05: We have all members in attendance

00:05:55 Speaker 05: today, with the exception of Councillor

00:05:57 Speaker 05: Bordignon. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Let

00:06:01 Speaker 05: us begin by respectfully acknowledging that

00:06:04 Speaker 06: we are gathering on the traditional

00:06:05 Speaker 06: territory of the Anishinaabek Nation, the

00:06:09 Speaker 06: people known as the Three Fires.

00:06:10 Speaker 06: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi nations,

00:06:14 Speaker 06: and further we give thanks to

00:06:17 Speaker 06: the Chippewas of Nawash, known and

00:06:19 Speaker 06: the Chippewas of Saugeen, known collectively

00:06:21 Speaker 06: as the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation. These

00:06:24 Speaker 06: are the traditional keepers of our

00:06:26 Speaker 06: lands and waters since time immemorial.

00:06:28 Speaker 06: And in our south lies the

00:06:31 Speaker 06: traditional territories of the six nations

00:06:33 Speaker 06: of the Grand River, the Haudenosaunee.

00:06:34 Speaker 06: We are dedicated to honouring Indigenous

00:06:39 Speaker 06: history and. culture, and committed to

00:06:42 Speaker 06: moving forward in the spirit of

00:06:44 Speaker 06: truth, reconciliation, friendship, and collabouration

00:06:48 Speaker 06: with all First Nations, Métis, and

00:06:51 Speaker 06: Inuit peoples. In our agenda today,

00:06:59 Speaker 06: in section five, we have three

00:07:01 Speaker 06: sets of minutes to adopt that

00:07:03 Speaker 06: we'll look at separately. The first

00:07:04 Speaker 06: one is item five a. It's

00:07:06 Speaker 06: recommended that the minutes of the

00:07:07 Speaker 06: county council meeting. and the committee

00:07:09 Speaker 06: of the whole meeting, dated August

00:07:10 Speaker 06: thirteenth, twenty twenty six, and the

00:07:13 Speaker 06: resolutions contained therein be adopted as

00:07:15 Speaker 06: presented. May I ask for a

00:07:16 Speaker 06: mover and a seconder? Moved by

00:07:18 Speaker 06: Councillor Hutchinson, seconded by Councillor

00:07:20 Speaker 06: McKay. Any discussion? All those in

00:07:23 Speaker 06: favour? And that motion is carried.

00:07:27 Speaker 06: Five B. It's recommended that the

00:07:29 Speaker 06: closed session committee of the whole

00:07:30 Speaker 06: minutes meeting minutes dated August thirteenth,

00:07:33 Speaker 06: twenty twenty six, and August twentieth,

00:07:36 Speaker 06: twenty twenty six, be adopted. 2026

00:07:40 Speaker 06: be adopted as provided. Moved by

00:07:41 Speaker 06: the Deputy Warden, seconded by Councillor

00:07:45 Speaker 06: Nielsen. Any discussion? All those in

00:07:48 Speaker 06: favour? That motion is carried. And

00:07:50 Speaker 06: finally, we it is recommended that

00:07:52 Speaker 06: the minutes of the special committee

00:07:53 Speaker 06: of the whole meeting dated August

00:07:56 Speaker 06: 20th, 2026, and the resolutions contained

00:07:59 Speaker 06: therein be adopted as presented. May

00:08:00 Speaker 06: I ask for a mover? We've

00:08:02 Speaker 06: got Councillor Eccles online, and we've

00:08:06 Speaker 06: got Councillor Patterson. Any discussion? All

00:08:08 Speaker 06: those in favour? And that motion

00:08:11 Speaker 06: is carried. We don't have closed

00:08:13 Speaker 06: meeting matters nor reports, so we

00:08:14 Speaker 06: can move on to the bylaws.

00:08:19 Speaker 06: It is recommended that bylaws 53-0226

00:08:22 Speaker 06: to 53-0426 be introduced and taken

00:08:26 Speaker 06: as read a first, second, and

00:08:28 Speaker 06: third time. Finally, passed, signed by

00:08:30 Speaker 06: the warden and the clerk, sealed

00:08:31 Speaker 06: with the seal of the corporation,

00:08:33 Speaker 06: and engrossed into the bylaw book.

00:08:35 Speaker 06: The first is a bylaw to

00:08:39 Speaker 06: amend 49, 49, 45, 16, being

00:08:42 Speaker 06: the off-road vehicles on certain roadways

00:08:44 Speaker 06: bylaw. The next bylaw is a

00:08:46 Speaker 06: bylaw to adopt a land acquisition

00:08:48 Speaker 06: or disposition policy for the County

00:08:50 Speaker 06: of Grey, and the third is

00:08:52 Speaker 06: a bylaw to confirm all the

00:08:54 Speaker 06: actions and proceedings of Council. May

00:08:55 Speaker 06: I ask for a mover and

00:08:56 Speaker 06: a seconder? Moved by Councillor Kavaney,

00:08:59 Speaker 06: seconded by Councillor Dicert. Any discussion?

00:09:03 Speaker 06: All those in favour? and that

00:09:06 Speaker 06: motion is carried. News and celebrations.

00:09:08 Speaker 06: We're going to start off with

00:09:11 Speaker 06: two two of our senior management

00:09:12 Speaker 06: have some news to share. Let's

00:09:19 Speaker 06: look to Director Myers first. Thank

00:09:21 Speaker 06: you very much, Warden. Good morning,

00:09:23 Speaker 06: County Council. I have two pieces

00:09:24 Speaker 06: of news to share with you

00:09:26 Speaker 06: today. The first one is from

00:09:28 Speaker 07: Georgian College. So on Tuesday, they

00:09:30 Speaker 07: welcomed the new semester and fall

00:09:32 Speaker 07: cohorts to Georgian. Really happy to

00:09:34 Speaker 07: say that this is the largest

00:09:35 Speaker 07: they've ever had. Over 500 attended

00:09:39 Speaker 07: the new student orientation on Tuesday.

00:09:40 Speaker 07: It was so big that they

00:09:40 Speaker 07: had to move it to the

00:09:42 Speaker 07: gym and get professional AV. So

00:09:44 Speaker 07: that is a really, really good

00:09:45 Speaker 07: thing to hear about what's happening

00:09:47 Speaker 07: here in Owen Sound campus. And

00:09:49 Speaker 07: Dave Shori is who welcomed them

00:09:51 Speaker 07: all to campus, which I think

00:09:52 Speaker 07: could not be a better welcome

00:09:53 Speaker 07: to Grey County and to Georgian

00:09:55 Speaker 07: College Owen Sound. And we also

00:09:57 Speaker 07: hear that the warden's welcome to

00:09:58 Speaker 07: Grey County video was played, which

00:10:00 Speaker 07: is excellent. So really proud. of

00:10:03 Speaker 07: the growth that Georgian Owen Sound

00:10:04 Speaker 07: Specific has experienced over the last

00:10:05 Speaker 07: couple of years, and this year

00:10:08 Speaker 07: being a remarkable outcome. The second

00:10:09 Speaker 07: is still exciting, but not quite

00:10:12 Speaker 07: as exciting. And it's about the

00:10:14 Speaker 07: closure at Gray Roots, beginning September

00:10:16 Speaker 07: fifteenth until October fourteenth is our

00:10:18 Speaker 07: worst case scenario. But we are

00:10:20 Speaker 07: replacing the third and final phase

00:10:22 Speaker 07: of the roof. So exciting because

00:10:24 Speaker 07: this is the last flat roof

00:10:25 Speaker 07: that I will have to deal

00:10:26 Speaker 07: with at Gray Roots, which is

00:10:29 Speaker 07: really good to know. But No,

00:10:31 Speaker 07: but because this phase is over

00:10:32 Speaker 07: top of all of the exhibit

00:10:33 Speaker 07: space, all of the public programmeming

00:10:35 Speaker 07: space, we are closing because we

00:10:38 Speaker 07: have to tarp everything off indoors,

00:10:39 Speaker 07: so there'll be nothing for people

00:10:40 Speaker 07: to be able to go and

00:10:42 Speaker 07: do and experience. And Morrison is

00:10:43 Speaker 07: already closed for the season at

00:10:45 Speaker 07: the end of the summer. So

00:10:45 Speaker 07: all of this to say, there's

00:10:47 Speaker 07: been a lot of interest. You've

00:10:48 Speaker 07: probably seen a couple of news

00:10:51 Speaker 07: releases about it and news articles.

00:10:52 Speaker 07: But staff will be on site.

00:10:53 Speaker 07: The building is closed. All programmeming

00:10:55 Speaker 07: is closed for that month, and

00:10:57 Speaker 07: we are very hopeful that all

00:10:58 Speaker 07: will. go well and we can

00:10:59 Speaker 07: open a little bit earlier. But

00:11:00 Speaker 07: just in case, that is the

00:11:02 Speaker 07: time we're buying because we are

00:11:03 Speaker 07: in fall season. We have held

00:11:05 Speaker 07: this project off until this time

00:11:05 Speaker 07: so that it wouldn't be done

00:11:09 Speaker 07: over the summer. And all memberships

00:11:10 Speaker 07: are being extended for the term

00:11:12 Speaker 07: of the roof replacement. So if

00:11:13 Speaker 07: it is a full month that

00:11:14 Speaker 07: we're closed, all memberships will gain

00:11:17 Speaker 07: an additional month, and everybody has

00:11:19 Speaker 07: been made aware of that. So

00:11:21 Speaker 07: two good things happening in our

00:11:23 Speaker 07: department and across Gray County. And

00:11:24 Speaker 07: thank you very much for the

00:11:29 Speaker 07: opportunity to share. Thank you, Director

00:11:30 Speaker 07: Myers, and indeed, Gray Roots is

00:11:32 Speaker 08: a gem, so it's worth protecting

00:11:35 Speaker 08: and making sure that there's a

00:11:36 Speaker 08: legacy of of good infrastructure around

00:11:39 Speaker 08: it, so we can all be

00:11:45 Speaker 08: patient. Thank you, and with that,

00:11:47 Speaker 08: we'll go to Director Cornell. Thank

00:11:49 Speaker 09: you very much, Water Matrousovs, and

00:11:51 Speaker 09: good morning, County Council. Next week,

00:11:53 Speaker 09: our long term care homes will

00:11:55 Speaker 09: participate in Long Term Care Engagement

00:11:58 Speaker 09: Day. Long-term care engagement day. That's

00:12:01 Speaker 09: Friday, September 18th. It's a provincial-wide

00:12:04 Speaker 09: initiative led through a partnership with

00:12:07 Speaker 09: Advantage Ontario and the Ontario Long-Term

00:12:08 Speaker 09: Care Association. The goal of the

00:12:11 Speaker 09: event is to open the doors

00:12:14 Speaker 09: of long-term care and showcase the

00:12:17 Speaker 09: vibrant life that is happening inside

00:12:20 Speaker 09: those doors. It's a chance to

00:12:23 Speaker 09: recognize the many partnerships that make

00:12:25 Speaker 09: that vibrant life possible. So. we

00:12:28 Speaker 09: look forward to celebrating our residents,

00:12:31 Speaker 09: our families, our team members, volunteers,

00:12:34 Speaker 09: and our valued partners. With a

00:12:37 Speaker 09: special shout out to our designated

00:12:39 Speaker 09: care partners, all who support a

00:12:40 Speaker 09: role in colouring it and in

00:12:42 Speaker 09: making sure that our Colour It

00:12:44 Speaker 09: Your Way promise comes to life

00:12:46 Speaker 09: every day. So Friday, September eighteenth,

00:12:48 Speaker 09: there's events happening at each of

00:12:51 Speaker 09: the three homes. There's some information

00:12:52 Speaker 09: on the website, and I think

00:12:53 Speaker 09: there. was a media release that

00:12:56 Speaker 09: went out about it, so we're

00:12:59 Speaker 09: really looking forward to a great

00:13:01 Speaker 09: event. Thank you. Great, thank you,

00:13:02 Speaker 09: and I look forward to participating

00:13:05 Speaker 08: in that over at Gray Gables

00:13:07 Speaker 08: on that day. So, with that,

00:13:09 Speaker 08: then I will look for news

00:13:12 Speaker 08: and celebrations from our communities. We'll

00:13:15 Speaker 08: go to the deputy warden. Thank

00:13:17 Speaker 10: you, Madam Warden. This year represents

00:13:20 Speaker 10: the 169th edition of the Dundalk

00:13:22 Speaker 10: Paul Fair this weekend. The theme

00:13:25 Speaker 10: is the Let the Good Times

00:13:27 Speaker 10: Grow, and there'll be the usual

00:13:29 Speaker 10: attractions of livestock competitions. There's there's

00:13:31 Speaker 10: going to be a drone show

00:13:32 Speaker 10: on the Saturday evening, truck and

00:13:36 Speaker 10: tractor pull for those that are

00:13:38 Speaker 10: so inclined, and what else? The

00:13:40 Speaker 10: Ambassador Programme starts kicks off Friday

00:13:44 Speaker 10: night, so that's always an exciting

00:13:47 Speaker 10: thing to to attend because there's

00:13:48 Speaker 10: usually an auction of baked goods,

00:13:50 Speaker 10: and I'm a sucker for that.

00:13:52 Speaker 10: kind of stuff, so I'll be

00:13:52 Speaker 10: there. So anyway, come and join

00:13:54 Speaker 10: us. It's going to be a

00:13:54 Speaker 10: great weekend. The weather looks great,

00:13:58 Speaker 10: and it's going to be a

00:13:59 Speaker 10: great event. Thank you. Thank you,

00:14:01 Speaker 10: and I'm sure that's going to

00:14:02 Speaker 08: kick off a lot of announcements

00:14:05 Speaker 08: that were coming up. And I

00:14:07 Speaker 08: don't mean to be participating in

00:14:08 Speaker 08: the competition about whose fair is

00:14:10 Speaker 08: the best and the oldest, but

00:14:12 Speaker 08: I will say, I will say,

00:14:13 Speaker 08: one of my favourite themes in

00:14:15 Speaker 08: visiting all the fairs over the

00:14:17 Speaker 08: county was in Gray Highlands last

00:14:18 Speaker 08: year. Bounty in gray. County. I

00:14:21 Speaker 08: mean, how how can you not

00:14:25 Speaker 08: love that one? So, with that,

00:14:27 Speaker 08: we'll go to Councillor Keaveny. Thank

00:14:29 Speaker 08: you, Madam Warden. Good morning, everyone.

00:14:30 Speaker 11: Two things happening in Meaford, and

00:14:32 Speaker 11: yes, we did have the best

00:14:33 Speaker 11: fair last weekend. But anyway, our

00:14:35 Speaker 11: scarecrows are out, so that's what's

00:14:38 Speaker 11: special about Meaford right now. Is

00:14:40 Speaker 11: overnight the scarecrows have appeared? So

00:14:42 Speaker 11: come and check that out. But

00:14:44 Speaker 11: tomorrow, September the eleventh, is the

00:14:47 Speaker 11: twenty fifth anniversary of nine eleven,

00:14:48 Speaker 11: and we are. Of 9/11, and

00:14:49 Speaker 11: we are having a ceremony at

00:14:52 Speaker 11: our fire hall where we do

00:14:54 Speaker 11: have a piece of a beam

00:14:55 Speaker 11: from the World Trade Centre, and

00:14:58 Speaker 11: it will be an opportunity to

00:15:01 Speaker 11: to reflect and to honour all

00:15:02 Speaker 11: of the first responders and everyone

00:15:03 Speaker 11: connected with that horrible tragedy 25

00:15:05 Speaker 11: years ago. And I just wanted

00:15:07 Speaker 11: to quickly share that 15 years

00:15:11 Speaker 11: ago on the 10th anniversary, I

00:15:13 Speaker 11: had the privilege of attending with

00:15:14 Speaker 11: our local firefighters the the 10th

00:15:16 Speaker 11: anniversary event in New York, and

00:15:19 Speaker 11: because we had traveled. so far,

00:15:20 Speaker 11: they took our group right up

00:15:22 Speaker 11: the steps to the front where

00:15:24 Speaker 11: the the ceremony was taking place.

00:15:25 Speaker 11: So it was really special to

00:15:26 Speaker 11: feel honoured at that point in

00:15:28 Speaker 11: time as a Canadian. And I'm

00:15:29 Speaker 11: not sure how it would be

00:15:30 Speaker 11: now, but on that day, it

00:15:32 Speaker 11: was very special and very much

00:15:35 Speaker 11: a privilege to be there. So

00:15:37 Speaker 11: come to me for tomorrow if

00:15:40 Speaker 12: you can, 10 a.m. at our

00:15:43 Speaker 12: fire hall. Thank you. Thank you

00:15:46 Speaker 12: very much, Councillor Keaveny. And other

00:15:47 Speaker 12: news or celebrations? We'll go to

00:15:50 Speaker 12: Councillor McQueen. thank you, Madam Morgan,

00:15:52 Speaker 13: and County Council. So, just following

00:15:54 Speaker 13: the Dundalk Fair, will be the

00:15:57 Speaker 13: Feversham Agricultural Society Fair, which is

00:15:59 Speaker 13: the 159th. So, I guess we're

00:16:02 Speaker 13: a couple years behind. But anyway,

00:16:03 Speaker 13: it's happening on the September 18th

00:16:04 Speaker 13: to the 20th. There is the

00:16:06 Speaker 13: car show in the evening, and

00:16:08 Speaker 13: it's the interesting with the car

00:16:10 Speaker 13: show. It's put on by the

00:16:11 Speaker 13: junior group of the Agricultural Society,

00:16:13 Speaker 13: which I think this is coming

00:16:18 Speaker 13: onto the third year. Very well

00:16:21 Speaker 13: attended, and then they were also

00:16:24 Speaker 13: going to be having a yard

00:16:25 Speaker 13: decorating contest, and they're calling it

00:16:27 Speaker 13: farm plates and tailgates. So they're

00:16:29 Speaker 13: having a contest for you to

00:16:30 Speaker 13: to dress up your front yard

00:16:31 Speaker 13: and be entered into a judging

00:16:33 Speaker 13: contest. To leading up to that

00:16:36 Speaker 13: fair, it's a good time. They'll

00:16:37 Speaker 13: also have the truck and tractor

00:16:39 Speaker 13: pull there as well. I think

00:16:40 Speaker 13: it's the antique tractor pull on

00:16:42 Speaker 13: the Saturday, and then they'll have

00:16:44 Speaker 13: the morning of the. of the

00:16:46 Speaker 13: Sunday the pickup truck or four

00:16:47 Speaker 13: by four pulls in the agricultural

00:16:49 Speaker 13: large tractors in the afternoon, so

00:16:50 Speaker 13: it's usually well attended. And again,

00:16:52 Speaker 13: once you get all your fair

00:16:53 Speaker 13: fulfilment out of the Dung Dock

00:16:55 Speaker 13: Fair, you come on over to

00:16:57 Speaker 13: the next weekend to the Beaver

00:16:59 Speaker 13: Sham Fair. And I know last

00:17:02 Speaker 13: year when the drone show was

00:17:04 Speaker 13: supposed to happen in Dung Dock,

00:17:05 Speaker 13: it got cancelled because of the

00:17:06 Speaker 13: inclement weather. So they actually followed

00:17:09 Speaker 13: up with the drone show at

00:17:10 Speaker 13: Beaver Sham Fair the following weekend.

00:17:12 Speaker 13: But it did say still still

00:17:13 Speaker 13: said. Dundalk Fair, so it was

00:17:15 Speaker 13: it was a pretty cool show

00:17:16 Speaker 13: because I don't know if it's

00:17:18 Speaker 13: the same this year, but they

00:17:19 Speaker 13: had a tractor, I think it

00:17:22 Speaker 13: was a John Deere tractor. Just

00:17:23 Speaker 13: saying, in the in this in

00:17:28 Speaker 13: the sky, and they had the

00:17:29 Speaker 13: wheels going around, which is pretty

00:17:30 Speaker 13: cool. I thought with regards to

00:17:36 Speaker 13: have that action. So sorry, it

00:17:38 Speaker 13: was a John Deere. I'm sure

00:17:42 Speaker 13: it was. Yeah. So thank you.

00:17:45 Speaker 13: Thank you. Other new. Other news

00:17:48 Speaker 14: and celebrations. We'll go to Councillor

00:17:52 Speaker 14: Body. Try that one. I don't

00:17:54 Speaker 14: see a Councillor Mackey's hand going

00:17:56 Speaker 14: up, but Chatsworth Fire Department started

00:18:00 Speaker 14: a stair walk in memory of

00:18:01 Speaker 14: of September 11th, and it will

00:18:02 Speaker 14: be at the Onsound Bayshore Community

00:18:05 Speaker 14: Centre this this Saturday at 9:30.

00:18:06 Speaker 14: Because of the number of people

00:18:08 Speaker 14: that they've built up and number

00:18:10 Speaker 14: of firemen that come. you go

00:18:14 Speaker 14: up and down, up get how

00:18:16 Speaker 14: many laps? But it basically is

00:18:19 Speaker 14: to match the number of flights

00:18:21 Speaker 14: going up the World Trade Centre

00:18:23 Speaker 14: that the firefighters were on their

00:18:25 Speaker 14: way up on that on that

00:18:27 Speaker 14: day. We'll be around cool ice.

00:18:28 Speaker 14: We will have our lights turned

00:18:31 Speaker 14: on. There will be a water

00:18:33 Speaker 14: and a food stations in each

00:18:34 Speaker 14: corner, which of course those guys

00:18:36 Speaker 14: didn't have. Some of the walkers

00:18:38 Speaker 14: will have their full uniforms. on.

00:18:40 Speaker 14: Some of them get sick to

00:18:41 Speaker 14: their stomach because of the heat

00:18:44 Speaker 14: and the effort. They won't have

00:18:46 Speaker 14: masks on like those guys would

00:18:48 Speaker 14: have had. They will have fresh

00:18:50 Speaker 14: air to breathe. Totally different. But

00:18:52 Speaker 14: it's it's a moving thing to

00:18:54 Speaker 14: be involved with, and just for

00:18:56 Speaker 14: me, just to walk the stairs

00:18:57 Speaker 14: to understand what those guys were

00:19:00 Speaker 14: going through in that day. So,

00:19:02 Speaker 14: if you are free Saturday morning

00:19:06 Speaker 14: at nine thirty, please come to

00:19:08 Speaker 14: the Bayshore and participate. It's it's

00:19:13 Speaker 14: it's a it's an amazing experience,

00:19:18 Speaker 14: and thanks to Chatsworth Fire Department

00:19:20 Speaker 15: for kicking it all off and

00:19:21 Speaker 15: and building it. Thank you very

00:19:24 Speaker 15: much, Councillor Body. Any other news

00:19:25 Speaker 15: and celebrations? Okay, I'm not seeing

00:19:28 Speaker 15: anything further. So in that case,

00:19:30 Speaker 15: then we'll look for a motion

00:19:32 Speaker 15: to adjourn. Moved by Councillor Greg,

00:19:34 Speaker 15: seconded by Councillor Hutchinson. All those

00:19:46 Speaker 15: in favour? Okay. This council meeting.

00:19:47 Speaker 16: is closed, and we'll wait for

00:19:49 Speaker 16: or finished. We'll wait for a

00:19:51 Speaker 08: moment to start committee. The whole.

00:19:52 Speaker 08: Okay, so I'd like to call

00:19:53 Speaker 08: to order this committee. The whole

00:19:56 Speaker 08: meeting of September tenth, twenty twenty

00:19:59 Speaker 08: six. At this point in time,

00:20:01 Speaker 08: I will put out a call.

00:20:04 Speaker 08: Are there any declarations of interest?

00:20:07 Speaker 10: We'll go to the deputy warden.

00:20:10 Speaker 10: Thank you, Warden. I'm going to

00:20:13 Speaker 10: declare an interest on report PDRCW

00:20:18 Speaker 10: forty twenty six County Official Plan

00:20:20 Speaker 10: Amendment twenty eight involving H by

00:20:24 Speaker 10: construction final report as the principals

00:20:29 Speaker 10: are members of my family. Okay.

00:20:33 Speaker 02: Thank you, Madam Clerk. You got

00:20:35 Speaker 02: that. Okay. Thank you. Any other

00:20:37 Speaker 02: declarations of interest? Okay. All right.

00:20:40 Speaker 02: Next business arising for minutes. Moving

00:20:43 Speaker 02: on, then we will go to

00:20:49 Speaker 02: our delegations. So we just have

00:20:51 Speaker 02: one delegation from the Soggy Preservation

00:20:53 Speaker 02: Society. So I will invite Ms.

00:20:54 Speaker 02: Smelko to come forward to the

00:20:56 Speaker 02: lectern, and we have your slides

00:21:01 Speaker 02: ready. And I think staff have

00:21:03 Speaker 02: coached you on how all that's

00:21:06 Speaker 02: going to work. Right. Okay. So

00:21:09 Speaker 02: welcome. You have the floor. Good

00:21:11 Speaker 02: morning, Madam Warden and Councillors. It's

00:21:15 Speaker 02: nice to see you today. I'm

00:21:17 Speaker 02: Judy Smelko, President of the Soggy

00:21:20 Speaker 02: Preservation Society, and a proud resident

00:21:23 Speaker 02: of West Gray. SPSI was formed

00:21:25 Speaker 02: to effectively participate in the licensing

00:21:28 Speaker 02: and rezoning process for three new

00:21:32 Speaker 17: aggregate licence applications in West Gray.

00:21:34 Speaker 17: Through these processes, we quickly learned.

00:21:36 Speaker 17: how important strong local policy is

00:21:39 Speaker 17: to managing aggregates responsibly. Unfortunately, we

00:21:42 Speaker 17: also found that Gray County policies

00:21:46 Speaker 17: that West Gray relies on were

00:21:48 Speaker 17: failing both us and the municipality.

00:21:50 Speaker 17: Last year, we worked with West

00:21:52 Speaker 17: Gray to explore developing our own

00:21:56 Speaker 17: municipal aggregate policies, as well as

00:21:58 Speaker 17: using an interim control bylaw to

00:22:00 Speaker 17: give the municipality time to do

00:22:03 Speaker 17: that work. before making further zoning

00:22:05 Speaker 17: decisions. Ultimately, the decision was made

00:22:08 Speaker 17: that this should be addressed at

00:22:09 Speaker 17: the county level. In February, West

00:22:11 Speaker 17: Gray formally asked Gray County to

00:22:12 Speaker 17: undertake that work. The request was

00:22:13 Speaker 17: received for information, and I am

00:22:16 Speaker 17: here today to follow up on

00:22:18 Speaker 17: that. We would like to share

00:22:21 Speaker 17: some of what we've learned along

00:22:23 Speaker 17: the way in this delegation. As

00:22:25 Speaker 17: I'm sure you know, next year

00:22:28 Speaker 17: there is an official plant update,

00:22:30 Speaker 17: including the aggregates. section, today

00:22:33 Speaker 17: we are hoping to get the

00:22:36 Speaker 17: ball rolling by starting the pre-work

00:22:39 Speaker 17: needed to determine our best path

00:22:41 Speaker 17: forward to achieve the comprehensive aggregate

00:22:45 Speaker 17: framework and policy update we so

00:22:47 Speaker 17: desperately need. One path we believe

00:22:50 Speaker 17: deserves serious consideration is an update

00:22:51 Speaker 17: of the 2004 aggregate inventory study.

00:22:52 Speaker 17: This study had a 20-year planning

00:22:55 Speaker 17: horizon, so it is now outdated.

00:22:58 Speaker 17: This new study would allow us

00:23:02 Speaker 17: to take a look at

00:23:05 Speaker 17: what the aggregate world looks like

00:23:07 Speaker 17: today and develop modern science-based policies

00:23:09 Speaker 17: for the effective and responsible management

00:23:12 Speaker 17: of the resource. We also propose

00:23:15 Speaker 17: that aggregate-rich municipalities consider the use

00:23:17 Speaker 17: of an interim-controlled bylaw while this

00:23:20 Speaker 17: work is being done to

00:23:24 Speaker 17: pause decisions on new applications. We

00:23:27 Speaker 17: are not alone in wanting to

00:23:30 Speaker 17: see this update. The Ontario Federation

00:23:35 Speaker 17: of Anglers and Hunters, representing 100,000

00:23:38 Speaker 17: members, subscribers, and supporters, including more

00:23:40 Speaker 17: than 9,000 members in our local

00:23:44 Speaker 17: zone H, supports SPSI's efforts. OFA

00:23:46 Speaker 17: H's Matthew Robbins, fish and

00:23:48 Speaker 17: wildlife biologist, shares: Ontario's agri-food industry

00:23:53 Speaker 17: has the potential to be equal

00:23:55 Speaker 17: parts sustainable and productive, but current

00:23:57 Speaker 17: compliance and policy short And

00:24:00 Speaker 17: policy shortcomings place our vulnerable natural

00:24:04 Speaker 17: systems at unacceptable risk. OFAH supports

00:24:06 Speaker 17: the Soggy Preservation Society's effort to

00:24:08 Speaker 17: help Gray County set a new

00:24:12 Speaker 17: precedent for appropriate and evidence-based aggregate

00:24:14 Speaker 17: policy. Last year, there was one

00:24:17 Speaker 17: big takeaway from us going through

00:24:20 Speaker 17: this with West Gray: this pre-planning

00:24:23 Speaker 17: stage takes time. So our ask

00:24:26 Speaker 17: today is simple: start the pre-planning

00:24:27 Speaker 17: stage. Start the pre-planning now. Determine

00:24:36 Speaker 17: what the aggregate policy update should

00:24:37 Speaker 17: look like next year. Explore the

00:24:40 Speaker 17: options, scope, and costs. By

00:24:42 Speaker 17: starting this now, you will

00:24:46 Speaker 17: be saving time in the long

00:24:49 Speaker 17: run. So let's take a step

00:24:52 Speaker 17: back and look at the bigger

00:24:55 Speaker 17: picture. Gray County has enormous aggregate

00:24:58 Speaker 17: resources spread across our municipalities. together

00:25:01 Speaker 17: we hold approximately sixty percent of

00:25:04 Speaker 17: Southern Ontario's aggregate resources. There are

00:25:07 Speaker 17: currently one hundred and thirty-nine active

00:25:09 Speaker 17: licences and seven active new licence

00:25:13 Speaker 17: applications in various municipalities. We are

00:25:15 Speaker 17: licenced to extract more than twenty-five

00:25:19 Speaker 17: million tonnes of aggregate every year,

00:25:23 Speaker 17: but on average, we actually extract

00:25:26 Speaker 17: only about fifteen percent of that

00:25:29 Speaker 17: licenced capacity. we also have 14

00:25:31 Speaker 17: water taking permits associated with aggregate

00:25:34 Speaker 17: operations. These total approximately 138 million

00:25:36 Speaker 17: liters per day. For comparison, all

00:25:38 Speaker 17: municipal water taking permits combined total

00:25:41 Speaker 17: just over half that amount, at

00:25:51 Speaker 17: about 70 million liters per day.

00:25:53 Speaker 18: So we are talking about an

00:25:55 Speaker 18: industry that has a wide range

00:25:57 Speaker 17: of impacts with a very significant

00:25:59 Speaker 17: footprint and. significant potential for future

00:26:01 Speaker 17: expansion. In our submission, we use

00:26:03 Speaker 17: the situation in West Gray as

00:26:06 Speaker 17: a case study. We live with

00:26:08 Speaker 17: the Walker Redford pit. It is

00:26:10 Speaker 17: applying to expand, and there are

00:26:12 Speaker 17: two new operators seeking licences on

00:26:14 Speaker 17: properties in close proximity to each

00:26:16 Speaker 17: other, on the opposite sides of

00:26:18 Speaker 17: the Sogeeen River, as you can

00:26:21 Speaker 17: see from. this map, the very

00:26:23 Speaker 17: first issue we identified was that

00:26:25 Speaker 17: these applications were allowed in the

00:26:28 Speaker 17: first place. With the vast resources

00:26:31 Speaker 17: in West Grey, why are we

00:26:32 Speaker 17: allowing applications in one of the

00:26:36 Speaker 17: most sensitive areas, adjacent to over

00:26:38 Speaker 17: three kilometres of the Sawgine in

00:26:40 Speaker 17: a vibrant tourism destination area? Here

00:26:43 Speaker 17: are just a few things we

00:26:47 Speaker 17: found through the rezoning process for

00:26:49 Speaker 17: the first application. Policies failed to

00:26:52 Speaker 17: consider any. Policies failed to consider

00:26:55 Speaker 17: anything beyond the pit property, including

00:26:57 Speaker 17: the soggy river system, the ecosystem,

00:27:00 Speaker 17: and established planning pattern. Cumulative impact

00:27:02 Speaker 17: policies were open for interpretation and

00:27:05 Speaker 17: not applied to the first application.

00:27:06 Speaker 17: Policies did not require study of

00:27:08 Speaker 17: air quality nor potential impacts to

00:27:10 Speaker 17: water during the operation of the

00:27:13 Speaker 17: pit. They did not require standard

00:27:17 Speaker 17: monitoring of air quality, noise, and

00:27:19 Speaker 17: water quality, nor did they. require

00:27:22 Speaker 17: the best management practices plans to

00:27:24 Speaker 17: go hand in hand with that

00:27:27 Speaker 17: monitoring to mitigate and minimize impacts,

00:27:30 Speaker 17: as required by provincial policies. Sadly,

00:27:33 Speaker 17: many of these issues are

00:27:36 Speaker 17: not unique to us. We have

00:27:39 Speaker 17: watched other groups like us go

00:27:41 Speaker 17: through expensive OLT hearings to fight

00:27:44 Speaker 17: for these very protections, and recent

00:27:45 Speaker 17: OLT rulings have supported their asks

00:27:48 Speaker 17: for better protections. Monitor Protections, monitoring,

00:27:51 Speaker 17: and mitigation. One final significant gap

00:27:54 Speaker 17: we've identified is that our policies

00:27:56 Speaker 17: focus on what a proposed pit

00:27:58 Speaker 17: is today, rather than what it

00:28:01 Speaker 17: could become within the planning context.

00:28:05 Speaker 17: Walker Redford Pit is a good

00:28:07 Speaker 17: example. It's number one on the

00:28:10 Speaker 17: map. It began as a wayside

00:28:12 Speaker 17: pit and has evolved into a

00:28:14 Speaker 17: much more complex operation that can

00:28:17 Speaker 17: include crushing, asphalt, and ready. mix

00:28:19 Speaker 17: plants, recycling, and water taking for

00:28:20 Speaker 17: a wash plant that was granted

00:28:23 Speaker 17: just last year. A licence today

00:28:26 Speaker 17: may look very different ten or

00:28:28 Speaker 17: fifteen years from now. That could

00:28:31 Speaker 17: mean expansion, new activities, or even

00:28:33 Speaker 17: a shift from above the water

00:28:34 Speaker 17: table to below water table extraction.

00:28:38 Speaker 17: This is particularly significant beside a

00:28:41 Speaker 17: river or a sensitive water source.

00:28:43 Speaker 17: The new applications may look simple

00:28:45 Speaker 17: today, but. once a site is

00:28:54 Speaker 17: approved, we need to be confident

00:28:56 Speaker 17: it is appropriate for its future

00:28:59 Speaker 17: potential, not just today's proposal. Rezoning

00:29:03 Speaker 17: is our opportunity to get that

00:29:05 Speaker 17: right. That is why we need

00:29:07 Speaker 17: to reevaluate our citing policies. We

00:29:09 Speaker 17: believe the best path forward is

00:29:13 Speaker 17: for Gray County to undertake an

00:29:15 Speaker 17: independent, non-biased. aggregate inventory policy study

00:29:18 Speaker 17: to establish the evidence needed to

00:29:20 Speaker 17: update our policies properly. The study

00:29:23 Speaker 17: would give us a much clearer

00:29:25 Speaker 17: picture of our 139 active operations

00:29:28 Speaker 17: while reviewing our current policies

00:29:31 Speaker 17: and updating the mapping and

00:29:33 Speaker 17: constraints needed to guide responsible ciding.

00:29:35 Speaker 17: It would help answer the important

00:29:39 Speaker 17: question: What does responsible management look

00:29:41 Speaker 17: like over the long term? It

00:29:43 Speaker 17: would also allow us to look

00:29:46 Speaker 17: beyond individual applications, considering things like

00:29:49 Speaker 17: cumulative impacts, effectively the evolution

00:29:52 Speaker 17: of existing and proposed licences, and

00:29:56 Speaker 17: compatibility with current and future land

00:30:00 Speaker 17: uses. And this is where county

00:30:03 Speaker 17: leadership has a real practical benefit.

00:30:06 Speaker 17: In one way or another, all

00:30:09 Speaker 17: municipalities rely on great county aggregate

00:30:11 Speaker 17: policies. County leadership means shared costs,

00:30:15 Speaker 17: shared information, consistent policies, and less

00:30:17 Speaker 17: duplication, while giving every municipality the

00:30:19 Speaker 17: same strong foundation for making future

00:30:24 Speaker 17: decisions. It also gives the industry

00:30:25 Speaker 17: greater certainty about the rules across

00:30:28 Speaker 17: Gray County and can help reduce

00:30:29 Speaker 17: costly appeals. So my biggest question

00:30:32 Speaker 17: today is: Why are we waiting

00:30:34 Speaker 17: until the official plan update begins

00:30:38 Speaker 17: next year? We already have seven

00:30:40 Speaker 17: applications. We already have seven active

00:30:43 Speaker 17: applications. Every month we wait is

00:30:45 Speaker 17: another month that more can show

00:30:54 Speaker 17: up, and municipalities are currently making

00:30:56 Speaker 18: decisions under policies everyone knows are

00:30:59 Speaker 18: outdated. The process takes time. We

00:31:00 Speaker 17: can start pre-planning for the update

00:31:04 Speaker 17: now. That way, when the official

00:31:05 Speaker 17: plan update gets underway next year,

00:31:08 Speaker 17: we aren't starting from scratch. At

00:31:11 Speaker 17: the end of the day, we

00:31:14 Speaker 17: all understand how important agriets are.

00:31:18 Speaker 17: They are the foundation of

00:31:21 Speaker 17: our infrastructure and our communities. Our

00:31:24 Speaker 17: agriet industry and the abundance of

00:31:27 Speaker 17: both licenced and unlicenced supply is

00:31:30 Speaker 17: an important asset to Gray County.

00:31:32 Speaker 17: With that asset comes risks and

00:31:34 Speaker 17: impacts. Gray County also has extraordinary

00:31:37 Speaker 17: rivers, forests, farmlands, wetlands, natural heritage,

00:31:39 Speaker 17: rural communities. and a vibrant tourism

00:31:42 Speaker 17: industry, also assets that have great

00:31:45 Speaker 17: value. We can support both, and

00:31:47 Speaker 17: we can protect both. Our job

00:31:49 Speaker 17: is to find the balance. We

00:31:51 Speaker 17: believe an aggregate inventory and policy

00:31:53 Speaker 17: study can help help us do

00:31:56 Speaker 17: precisely that. While ICBLs at the

00:31:58 Speaker 17: municipal level can provide the protection

00:32:01 Speaker 17: needed while we do the work.

00:32:04 Speaker 17: Again, if there's one thing we

00:32:05 Speaker 17: learned from working through this with

00:32:07 Speaker 17: Westray. Working through this with West

00:32:09 Speaker 17: Gray, it's that the pre-planning and

00:32:12 Speaker 17: groundwork takes time. So we are

00:32:15 Speaker 17: asking you to start that work

00:32:23 Speaker 17: now. Start exploring the options, including

00:32:25 Speaker 17: an aggregate inventory and policy study,

00:32:26 Speaker 17: and the use of ICBLs at

00:32:27 Speaker 17: the municipal level while the work

00:32:28 Speaker 17: is underway. Let's work together to

00:32:31 Speaker 17: build the gold standard aggregate policies

00:32:32 Speaker 08: and management that Gray County needs

00:32:34 Speaker 08: and deserves. Thank you. Okay, thank

00:32:36 Speaker 08: you very much for that. And

00:32:38 Speaker 08: what I am going to do

00:32:39 Speaker 08: is I'm going to put it

00:32:40 Speaker 08: out to council if they have

00:32:42 Speaker 08: any questions or comments to provide

00:32:44 Speaker 08: for you, and then council will

00:32:46 Speaker 08: look to any direction that it

00:32:49 Speaker 08: wishes to do. So when we

00:32:50 Speaker 08: do that back and forth, only

00:32:52 Speaker 08: one person has the microphone on

00:32:53 Speaker 08: at a time. So we'll take

00:32:54 Speaker 08: turns, making sure that you can

00:32:56 Speaker 08: turn yours on as you need

00:32:57 Speaker 08: to. Are there any questions or

00:32:59 Speaker 08: comments to come from council? well,

00:33:01 Speaker 08: committee as a whole. We'll begin

00:33:03 Speaker 08: with Councillor McQueen. Yeah, thank you,

00:33:04 Speaker 08: Madam Chair, and thank you for

00:33:06 Speaker 08: your report. I just wonder if

00:33:11 Speaker 08: we could get a comment from

00:33:13 Speaker 08: our planning staff, Scott, if he

00:33:16 Speaker 08: has any thoughts or any just

00:33:18 Speaker 08: any anything to share on this,

00:33:21 Speaker 08: because obviously there's a process, and

00:33:24 Speaker 08: that's well, just more or less

00:33:25 Speaker 08: a high level. That's okay for

00:33:28 Speaker 08: you, Mr. Madam Ward? Okay, so

00:33:29 Speaker 08: we'll look to Director Taylor. I'm

00:33:31 Speaker 08: also seeing that Councillor Hutchins. That

00:33:32 Speaker 08: Councillor Hutchinson would like to speak

00:33:34 Speaker 19: as well. So, Director Taylor, do

00:33:35 Speaker 19: you want to begin? Thank you.

00:33:38 Speaker 19: Yeah, thank you, Madam Warden, and

00:33:41 Speaker 19: and and thank you to Ms.

00:33:42 Speaker 19: Melco for for the delegation today.

00:33:45 Speaker 19: She was nice enough to spend

00:33:46 Speaker 19: forty five minutes with me yesterday

00:33:49 Speaker 19: and and talk through some of

00:33:50 Speaker 19: what she was going to chat

00:33:52 Speaker 19: about today and and ask some

00:33:53 Speaker 19: questions of staff. So and and

00:33:55 Speaker 19: through to to Councillor McQueen's question.

00:33:57 Speaker 19: So, council is likely aware that

00:33:59 Speaker 19: the county is planning an official

00:34:01 Speaker 19: plan review. next year, so that

00:34:04 Speaker 19: would be starting in 2027. For

00:34:06 Speaker 19: those of you that are are

00:34:08 Speaker 19: veterans on council and have been

00:34:10 Speaker 19: through these reviews in the past,

00:34:12 Speaker 19: you'll know that that they are

00:34:13 Speaker 19: quite extensive and and do often

00:34:16 Speaker 19: take more than one year. So

00:34:18 Speaker 19: we would we would anticipate that

00:34:19 Speaker 19: that official plan review to extend

00:34:21 Speaker 19: into into 2028. We haven't set

00:34:24 Speaker 19: the formal terms of reference for

00:34:26 Speaker 19: that official plan review yet, but

00:34:28 Speaker 19: certainly at this stage we're we're

00:34:30 Speaker 19: open to hearing input from from

00:34:32 Speaker 19: the public and from council, of

00:34:34 Speaker 19: course, and and the incoming council

00:34:37 Speaker 19: after the election on on what

00:34:40 Speaker 19: should be considered in that.

00:34:42 Speaker 19: So certainly having a look at

00:34:43 Speaker 19: all our policies and and ensuring

00:34:46 Speaker 19: that they're both compliant with with

00:34:51 Speaker 19: legislation in this case the Agri

00:34:53 Speaker 19: Resources Act and the Planning Act,

00:34:55 Speaker 19: but also looking at more recent

00:34:58 Speaker 19: policy updates like the Provincial Planning

00:34:59 Speaker 19: Statement. So so as part of

00:35:03 Speaker 19: that consistency exercise, aggregates would would

00:35:05 Speaker 19: certainly be on the table there,

00:35:10 Speaker 20: in terms of of getting started

00:35:12 Speaker 20: earlier. Certainly. staff are happy to

00:35:14 Speaker 20: take council's direction, but at present,

00:35:19 Speaker 20: that that review is is is

00:35:20 Speaker 20: planned to start in in 2027.

00:35:22 Speaker 20: Okay, thank you. So with that,

00:35:23 Speaker 20: I will then look over to

00:35:27 Speaker 08: Councillor Hutchison. Thank you, Madam Warden.

00:35:31 Speaker 08: What I'd like to do is

00:35:32 Speaker 08: introduce the following motion. Excuse me,

00:35:39 Speaker 08: that staff prepare a staff report

00:35:43 Speaker 08: outlining the process, resources, processes, and

00:35:45 Speaker 08: resources. required to undertake a review

00:35:46 Speaker 08: of the aggregate policies prior to

00:35:49 Speaker 08: the next official plan review. Okay,

00:35:50 Speaker 08: so I didn't see any other

00:35:51 Speaker 08: hands up for questions or comments.

00:35:53 Speaker 08: So that has been moved. Is

00:35:54 Speaker 08: there a seconder for that motion?

00:35:57 Speaker 08: Oh, I sorry, Councillor Greg, I

00:35:58 Speaker 08: you had your hand up earlier,

00:36:01 Speaker 21: or oh, okay, right. Okay. Um.

00:36:04 Speaker 21: Sorry, I missed the hand. Oh.

00:36:05 Speaker 21: Okay. So it has not been

00:36:06 Speaker 21: seconded yet. So there is no

00:36:08 Speaker 21: reason, no reason to to um

00:36:09 Speaker 21: withdraw it at this point in

00:36:12 Speaker 21: time. So I'll go to Councillor

00:36:16 Speaker 21: Greg. Then I'll return to you,

00:36:19 Speaker 21: and we'll go from there. So

00:36:21 Speaker 21: Councillor Greg. Well, thank you very

00:36:24 Speaker 21: much, and I'd like to thank

00:36:31 Speaker 21: you, Judy, for the really informative

00:36:32 Speaker 21: um extra component. Also, like you've

00:36:34 Speaker 21: got an appendix that you send

00:36:37 Speaker 21: out, and certainly Mayor Body and

00:36:39 Speaker 21: I got it in. advance. We

00:36:42 Speaker 21: are very appreciative of being

00:36:46 Speaker 21: able to read through the resources

00:36:49 Speaker 21: that you provided in in the

00:36:52 Speaker 21: slideshow presentation here today. So I'm

00:36:57 Speaker 21: just going to reference one question,

00:36:59 Speaker 21: probably to staff here. Judy's appendix

00:37:02 Speaker 21: to the presentation states on page

00:37:05 Speaker 21: 16, which is under the county's

00:37:07 Speaker 21: own official plan, supports further study

00:37:10 Speaker 21: 6.1. Study six point one, and

00:37:17 Speaker 21: I read the plan states the

00:37:18 Speaker 21: county will undertake an aggregate resource

00:37:21 Speaker 21: inventory master plan for aggregate extraction.

00:37:23 Speaker 21: Subsequently, there's a paragraph ending in

00:37:24 Speaker 21: Gray County Op in 1899, section

00:37:27 Speaker 19: two point seven point four one.

00:37:31 Speaker 19: Is this what was responded to

00:37:33 Speaker 19: in the 2004 plan, or is

00:37:35 Speaker 19: that still outstanding language from? the

00:37:37 Speaker 19: 1899 document. I just wonder some

00:37:38 Speaker 19: clarification on on that part of

00:37:39 Speaker 19: the information that the deputation provided.

00:37:41 Speaker 19: Okay, so we'll go to Director

00:37:42 Speaker 19: Taylor for that. Thank you, Madam

00:37:43 Speaker 19: Warden, and and through you to

00:37:45 Speaker 19: Councillor Greg. Thank you for the

00:37:46 Speaker 19: the question, Councillor Greg. With respect

00:37:48 Speaker 19: to that that section that's quoted

00:37:51 Speaker 19: in in the the appendix or

00:37:53 Speaker 19: or the compendium to to the

00:37:55 Speaker 19: delegation. today, so that is a

00:37:57 Speaker 19: quote from from the county's former

00:37:59 Speaker 19: official plan in that regard, and

00:38:02 Speaker 19: I won't go into too much

00:38:04 Speaker 19: detail, but a bit of a

00:38:06 Speaker 19: history lesson here. And I wasn't

00:38:07 Speaker 19: with the county at the time,

00:38:09 Speaker 19: but my understanding is, as as

00:38:12 Speaker 19: the county was going through that

00:38:15 Speaker 19: official plan work in in the

00:38:17 Speaker 19: late '90s, leading up to that

00:38:17 Speaker 19: approval, there was concern about the

00:38:19 Speaker 19: accuracy of the provincials ager the

00:38:20 Speaker 19: provincial aggregate mapping at that stage.

00:38:22 Speaker 19: So what got approved by the

00:38:23 Speaker 19: province in that 1999 official

00:38:24 Speaker 19: plan was was directly the the

00:38:27 Speaker 19: province's mapping, but there was concurrence

00:38:28 Speaker 19: around around the council and staff

00:38:31 Speaker 19: tables of the day to say

00:38:33 Speaker 19: we need to dig into this

00:38:34 Speaker 19: a little further further and and

00:38:36 Speaker 19: look at where those resources really

00:38:39 Speaker 19: are and and also look at

00:38:40 Speaker 19: where those resources are constrained. So

00:38:42 Speaker 19: it could be that we have

00:38:44 Speaker 19: great resources under one of our

00:38:48 Speaker 19: settlement areas, but we're not digging

00:38:51 Speaker 19: up our settlement area, or it

00:38:53 Speaker 19: could be that we have great

00:38:54 Speaker 19: resources under significant natural heritage features,

00:38:58 Speaker 19: but but we need to value

00:39:00 Speaker 19: our natural environment in that regard.

00:39:02 Speaker 19: So then. from 2001 to 2004,

00:39:04 Speaker 19: the county, in partnership with the

00:39:06 Speaker 19: province and a number of others,

00:39:09 Speaker 19: undertook what's called the Egbert Resource

00:39:12 Speaker 19: Inventory Master Plan. and And the

00:39:13 Speaker 19: primary purpose of of that master

00:39:15 Speaker 19: plan was to look at where

00:39:17 Speaker 19: those sand and gravel resources are,

00:39:19 Speaker 19: and and where those existing constraints

00:39:22 Speaker 19: were to to future extraction of

00:39:23 Speaker 19: those resources. Where the resources are,

00:39:26 Speaker 19: it was noted that we would

00:39:27 Speaker 19: need to protect those resources for

00:39:30 Speaker 19: for future utilization. and extraction in

00:39:34 Speaker 19: that regards. That study was done

00:39:35 Speaker 19: in 2004. That fell fed into

00:39:38 Speaker 19: the official plan review that kicked

00:39:40 Speaker 19: off in 2005 to update both

00:39:42 Speaker 19: the county's mapping and policies based

00:39:44 Speaker 19: on that. So that official plan

00:39:45 Speaker 19: review took a number of years.

00:39:47 Speaker 19: It was adopted by county council

00:39:48 Speaker 19: in in 2009 and ultimately approved

00:39:50 Speaker 19: by the province in 2011. So

00:39:52 Speaker 19: it was 2011 that the county

00:39:54 Speaker 19: was first able to formally update

00:39:56 Speaker 19: the county official plan with that

00:39:58 Speaker 19: new. mapping and those new policies,

00:40:00 Speaker 19: and then that that that mapping

00:40:04 Speaker 19: and policy was reviewed again extensively,

00:40:06 Speaker 19: leading up to the new county

00:40:07 Speaker 19: official plan in 2019. So so

00:40:08 Speaker 19: the the study, if you will,

00:40:09 Speaker 19: identified where the sand and gravel

00:40:10 Speaker 19: resources were, where the constraints were,

00:40:15 Speaker 19: and then when we led up

00:40:17 Speaker 19: to that new official plan in

00:40:19 Speaker 19: 2019, we looked at that at

00:40:21 Speaker 19: the most recent layers of mapping,

00:40:22 Speaker 08: looking at the most recent environmental

00:40:25 Speaker 08: constraints as well to further refine

00:40:26 Speaker 08: that mapping and updated our. And

00:40:29 Speaker 08: that mapping and updated our policies

00:40:31 Speaker 08: at that time. And so, coming

00:40:35 Speaker 08: into this next official plan review,

00:40:38 Speaker 08: that's where, where with council's buy-in,

00:40:39 Speaker 08: we'd have another look at that

00:40:42 Speaker 08: policy and and mapping in that

00:40:44 Speaker 08: regard to make sure it's still

00:40:45 Speaker 08: relevant. But sorry, that was a

00:40:49 Speaker 08: bit of a long-winded answer to

00:40:51 Speaker 08: your question, Councillor Greg. Okay, thank

00:40:53 Speaker 08: you. And I will go to

00:40:55 Speaker 08: you for follow-up, Councillor Greg. But

00:40:56 Speaker 08: as this is just as this

00:40:57 Speaker 08: is a delegation, and there has

00:40:59 Speaker 08: been very good information shared. Indeed,

00:41:01 Speaker 08: we have heard that there will

00:41:03 Speaker 21: be a motion about a staff

00:41:05 Speaker 21: report. So the the ultimately the

00:41:08 Speaker 21: discussion and and the digging deep

00:41:10 Speaker 21: into the the information would be

00:41:11 Speaker 21: normally taken from the delegation and

00:41:14 Speaker 21: into a staff report, and then

00:41:17 Speaker 21: there'd be further dialogueue from from

00:41:20 Speaker 21: committee. The whole there. So with

00:41:22 Speaker 21: that in mind, I'll go to

00:41:25 Speaker 21: Councillor Greg for your follow up.

00:41:29 Speaker 21: Well, I was just going to

00:41:30 Speaker 21: say, I think there's certainly. See,

00:41:33 Speaker 21: I think there's certainly I couldn't

00:41:34 Speaker 21: respond in the moment to some

00:41:36 Speaker 21: of the the asks that are

00:41:38 Speaker 21: in the document, such as two

00:41:39 Speaker 21: kilometre setbacks and so forth from

00:41:41 Speaker 21: major rivers. There's an opposing side

00:41:43 Speaker 21: that would have a lot of

00:41:48 Speaker 21: information to provide to me and

00:41:49 Speaker 21: probably to all of council to

00:41:51 Speaker 21: best inform our decision. I just

00:41:54 Speaker 08: two weeks ago I had an

00:41:56 Speaker 08: event recognizing the exchange of a

00:41:58 Speaker 08: retired quarry. It took 14 years

00:42:00 Speaker 08: to get approvals in place for

00:42:02 Speaker 08: that quarry. that's been handed over

00:42:04 Speaker 08: to the conservation authority for long-term

00:42:05 Speaker 08: stewardship. So there's already, and you

00:42:06 Speaker 08: know, those 14 years are after

00:42:08 Speaker 08: the 2004 master plan. So there

00:42:09 Speaker 08: certainly would be a lot of

00:42:13 Speaker 08: other information that would have to

00:42:15 Speaker 08: come forward to to steward our

00:42:16 Speaker 08: our decision making here around the

00:42:19 Speaker 22: table. So, but thank you very

00:42:21 Speaker 22: much for the in-depth information provided

00:42:24 Speaker 22: today. Okay, thank you. So if

00:42:25 Speaker 22: I didn't miss any other. hands,

00:42:28 Speaker 22: then I will return to the

00:42:30 Speaker 22: motion that Councillor Hutchison has has

00:42:31 Speaker 22: shared with us verbally. I believe

00:42:35 Speaker 22: I did see a hand go

00:42:36 Speaker 22: up for seconding. Was there a

00:42:37 Speaker 22: seconder? Yeah, it was Councillor Dobrin.

00:42:40 Speaker 22: So it is moved and seconded.

00:42:41 Speaker 22: It's on the floor for discussion

00:42:43 Speaker 22: now, and we'll make sure that

00:42:45 Speaker 22: the clerks put it up so

00:42:46 Speaker 22: everybody can read it. And we'll

00:42:47 Speaker 22: go to Councillor Nielsen. Thank you

00:42:48 Speaker 22: very much, Gordon Matrosov. Just a

00:42:52 Speaker 23: question that relates to timing of

00:42:54 Speaker 23: the motion. Director Taylor's already said

00:42:55 Speaker 23: that 2027 will be the start

00:42:58 Speaker 23: of the official plan process. The

00:42:59 Speaker 23: motion we are here in September

00:43:01 Speaker 23: of 26 asking to get a

00:43:03 Speaker 23: report on the you know expenses

00:43:05 Speaker 06: and feasibility of starting this before

00:43:06 Speaker 06: that exercise. I'm just wondering if,

00:43:09 Speaker 06: respectfully, like I I'm not disagreeing

00:43:10 Speaker 06: with the motion, just just trying

00:43:11 Speaker 06: to understand the timing. Is it

00:43:14 Speaker 06: practical to move the motion? The

00:43:15 Speaker 06: report's likely not going to get

00:43:17 Speaker 24: to this body until after the

00:43:19 Speaker 24: election, in which case we're getting

00:43:22 Speaker 24: really close to. when the start

00:43:23 Speaker 24: is. Just wondering if there's a

00:43:26 Speaker 24: comment on that timing. Okay. First,

00:43:28 Speaker 24: I'll go to the mover for

00:43:30 Speaker 24: intention, and then I'll look to

00:43:31 Speaker 24: Director Taylor in terms of if

00:43:34 Speaker 24: this, if this, if this motion

00:43:35 Speaker 24: were to pass, does it cause

00:43:40 Speaker 24: any complications in the work that's

00:43:41 Speaker 24: been outlined by Director Taylor? So,

00:43:43 Speaker 24: Councillor Hutchinson, do you want to

00:43:47 Speaker 24: respond first? Sure. Thank you, Madam

00:43:48 Speaker 24: Ward. Thanks for the question. That's

00:43:50 Speaker 25: why I said on the

00:43:52 Speaker 25: end there is prior, so it's

00:43:55 Speaker 25: open-ended. Once they start that. work,

00:43:57 Speaker 25: whether it's in the first, second,

00:44:00 Speaker 25: quarter, whatever, wherever it fits into

00:44:02 Speaker 25: the staff schedule, so not moving

00:44:04 Speaker 25: ahead of anything else that needs

00:44:05 Speaker 25: to be done. So as they're

00:44:07 Speaker 25: going through it and evolve through

00:44:09 Speaker 25: the the the actual full official

00:44:11 Speaker 25: plan, wherever that lands, they're going

00:44:12 Speaker 25: to open up that specific topic.

00:44:14 Speaker 25: That's where I'm asking. So it's

00:44:17 Speaker 25: prior to the official plan full

00:44:20 Speaker 25: presentation. Thank you. Okay, so I'll

00:44:21 Speaker 25: look either to Director Taylor or

00:44:24 Speaker 25: the CAO. Okay, we'll go to

00:44:26 Speaker 25: the CAO through you, Warden. Thank

00:44:28 Speaker 25: you for the question, Councillor Nielsen,

00:44:30 Speaker 25: and thank you for the clarification,

00:44:31 Speaker 25: Councillor Councillor Hutchinson. With respect to

00:44:36 Speaker 25: obviously the timing, depending on the

00:44:38 Speaker 25: direction, obviously from Council today, we'll

00:44:42 Speaker 25: work as staff to figure out

00:44:43 Speaker 25: what the timing would be based

00:44:48 Speaker 25: on the wording in the motion.

00:44:51 Speaker 06: From what I'm hearing, if it's

00:44:53 Speaker 06: passed, we would obviously bring that

00:44:55 Speaker 06: forward, that report forward, prior to

00:44:56 Speaker 06: the the kickoff, so to speak.

00:44:57 Speaker 06: of the official plan, so that

00:44:59 Speaker 06: we can make sure that council

00:45:03 Speaker 06: has that information. I suspect, based

00:45:04 Speaker 06: on just current current workload and

00:45:07 Speaker 06: other things, that will probably early

00:45:09 Speaker 06: in the incoming council, probably early

00:45:10 Speaker 06: in the in the new year.

00:45:12 Speaker 06: But again, we can work through

00:45:15 Speaker 06: that as staff, depending on the

00:45:16 Speaker 06: direction that we receive from council

00:45:19 Speaker 06: today. Okay. So, no further follow

00:45:20 Speaker 06: up on that. Any other discussion?

00:45:23 Speaker 06: Okay. All right then, I'll call

00:45:26 Speaker 06: the question. All those in favour,

00:45:31 Speaker 06: and that motion is carried. Thank

00:45:42 Speaker 06: you. Okay. So thank you very

00:45:44 Speaker 06: much, Miss Smelko. We appreciate, as

00:45:47 Speaker 06: you've heard, we appreciate you sharing

00:45:48 Speaker 06: all of the details that you

00:45:50 Speaker 06: have in the materials as well

00:45:51 Speaker 06: as in your delegation today. Thank

00:45:54 Speaker 06: you. Okay. So next, we will

00:45:56 Speaker 06: move on to item five, determining

00:45:59 Speaker 06: the items we wish to pull

00:46:01 Speaker 06: for further separate discussion. So, in

00:46:03 Speaker 06: the consent agenda, item six, we

00:46:05 Speaker 06: have five different items: six A

00:46:07 Speaker 06: through E. We'll go to Councillor

00:46:08 Speaker 06: McQueen for something to be pulled.

00:46:10 Speaker 06: Thank you, Madam Warden. Yeah, I'd

00:46:12 Speaker 06: like to pull six A, please.

00:46:15 Speaker 06: Okay, six A. Thank you. Anything

00:46:17 Speaker 06: else, Councillor Gray? Six C, please.

00:46:21 Speaker 06: Six C. Anything else? Okay. Not

00:46:22 Speaker 06: seeing any others, so therefore it's

00:46:26 Speaker 06: recommended that staff be authorised to

00:46:31 Speaker 06: take actions necessary to give effect

00:46:32 Speaker 06: to the recommendations in the staff

00:46:34 Speaker 06: reports, and that the correspondence be

00:46:36 Speaker 06: supported or received for information as

00:46:37 Speaker 06: recommended in the consent agenda. And

00:46:40 Speaker 06: the items specifically have been duly

00:46:42 Speaker 06: circulated and published in the agenda

00:46:45 Speaker 06: today. And we have the two

00:46:49 Speaker 06: items, six A and six C.

00:46:53 Speaker 06: A and six at C pulled

00:46:55 Speaker 06: for separate discussion. May ask for

00:46:57 Speaker 06: a mover and a seconder. Move

00:47:01 Speaker 06: by Councillor Dobrin, seconded by Councillor

00:47:03 Speaker 06: Dickert. It's now on the floor

00:47:05 Speaker 06: for discussion. All those in favour?

00:47:09 Speaker 06: And that motion is passed. Okay,

00:47:13 Speaker 06: so we will return to those

00:47:18 Speaker 06: items at the conclusion of section

00:47:19 Speaker 06: later in our agenda. And let

00:47:20 Speaker 06: me see. So let's go into

00:47:22 Speaker 06: our first of our discussion, and

00:47:23 Speaker 06: then I think. we'll break for

00:47:24 Speaker 06: lunch. After we'll see how long

00:47:34 Speaker 06: we are between 7A and 7B.

00:47:35 Speaker 06: So we'll move on to item

00:47:37 Speaker 06: 7A. It's recommended that report CAO

00:47:38 Speaker 26: R CW 2326 be received in

00:47:40 Speaker 26: regards to the ERO posting 0260740,

00:47:41 Speaker 26: and that staff be directed to

00:47:43 Speaker 26: issue comments as indicated in the

00:47:46 Speaker 26: response to the province's proposals before

00:47:49 Speaker 26: the comment deadline of September 12.

00:47:54 Speaker 26: Of September 12th, and that staff

00:47:56 Speaker 26: be authorised to proceed prior to

00:47:58 Speaker 26: the county council approval, as per

00:48:01 Speaker 26: Section 26.6B of the Procedural Bylaw

00:48:03 Speaker 26: 513422. And may I ask, remover

00:48:07 Speaker 26: and a seconder to get it

00:48:10 Speaker 26: on the floor. Move by Councillor

00:48:14 Speaker 26: Hutchison, seconded by Councillor Mackie. It's

00:48:17 Speaker 26: on the floor for discussion, and

00:48:19 Speaker 26: we're going to look to the

00:48:21 Speaker 26: Deputy CAO for this. Good morning,

00:48:23 Speaker 26: members of council, and thank you,

00:48:25 Speaker 26: Madam Warden. I will keep my

00:48:28 Speaker 26: comments on this one fairly brief

00:48:31 Speaker 26: because they're very similar to the

00:48:36 Speaker 26: comments we've raised a number of

00:48:37 Speaker 26: times as we've gone through this

00:48:39 Speaker 26: process. So the province has posted

00:48:41 Speaker 26: a ERO posting seeking feedback

00:48:45 Speaker 26: on two regulatory new pieces of

00:48:47 Speaker 26: regulation under the Conservation Authorities Act

00:48:50 Speaker 26: that talk about board formation

00:48:53 Speaker 26: for the new regional conservation authorities.

00:48:55 Speaker 26: and board formation for OPCA, the

00:48:58 Speaker 26: Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, which is

00:49:01 Speaker 26: the new provincial body sitting between

00:49:04 Speaker 26: a ministry and the the seven

00:49:06 Speaker 26: new regional conservation authorities. So the

00:49:10 Speaker 26: comments, broadly speaking, reflect the conversations

00:49:12 Speaker 26: we've had around this. At the

00:49:13 Speaker 26: staff are pulled together, broadly reflect

00:49:16 Speaker 26: the conversations we've had around this

00:49:21 Speaker 26: table previously. That the move to

00:49:22 Speaker 26: large regional conservation. authorities away from

00:49:26 Speaker 26: the 36 smaller conservation authorities leads

00:49:27 Speaker 26: to, as a either as an

00:49:30 Speaker 26: intended or an unintended outcome of

00:49:31 Speaker 26: that process, will lead to the

00:49:35 Speaker 26: erosion of local municipal voices

00:49:37 Speaker 26: around conservation authority board tables.

00:49:42 Speaker 26: As noted in the report, we

00:49:46 Speaker 26: currently have 17 members from various

00:49:47 Speaker 26: different municipalities across Gray County that

00:49:49 Speaker 26: participate in conservation authority boards. under

00:49:52 Speaker 26: the proposals that are embedded within

00:49:55 Speaker 26: these regulations, that would fall to

00:49:58 Speaker 26: three three re-elected representatives. If Grey

00:49:59 Speaker 26: County so chose to use elected

00:50:01 Speaker 26: representatives, they would come from Grey

00:50:03 Speaker 26: County around this horseshoe, rather than

00:50:06 Speaker 26: our member municipalities. Two would

00:50:09 Speaker 26: sit on the the Lake Huron

00:50:11 Speaker 26: Regional Conservation Authority, and one would

00:50:14 Speaker 26: sit on one of the Lake

00:50:16 Speaker 26: Erie Conservation Authorities. The staff

00:50:18 Speaker 26: point out in the report that

00:50:21 Speaker 26: this does this shift. The way

00:50:23 Speaker 26: in which the regulation is written

00:50:24 Speaker 26: does skew the balance of representative

00:50:25 Speaker 26: voices on regional conservation authorities to

00:50:27 Speaker 26: municipalities with larger urban centres, larger

00:50:29 Speaker 26: population bases. And so, in this

00:50:32 Speaker 26: instance, the majority of the board

00:50:33 Speaker 26: would be formed by members appointed

00:50:36 Speaker 26: by large urban municipalities to our.

00:50:39 Speaker 26: German municipalities to our west, representing

00:50:43 Speaker 26: less than a quarter of the

00:50:45 Speaker 26: total watershed of the regional conservation

00:50:48 Speaker 26: authority. The balance of the board,

00:50:50 Speaker 26: a minority of the board, would

00:50:52 Speaker 26: represent largely the the rural areas

00:50:53 Speaker 26: of the Lake Huron conservation regional

00:50:56 Speaker 26: conservation area. A similar pattern plays

00:50:59 Speaker 26: out in the Lake Erie one,

00:51:02 Speaker 26: and in fact, we we have

00:51:04 Speaker 26: much much higher proportional representation per

00:51:06 Speaker 26: square kilometre of Grey County that

00:51:08 Speaker 26: falls into that area for. that

00:51:11 Speaker 26: one than we do for the

00:51:13 Speaker 26: Lake Huron one, just simply because

00:51:15 Speaker 26: it is a relatively small area

00:51:17 Speaker 26: of that regional conservation authority, which

00:51:19 Speaker 26: is in which is within the

00:51:21 Speaker 26: watershed, with the intent of recognising

00:51:24 Speaker 26: the difficulty of balancing the pressures

00:51:25 Speaker 26: of space and population. In these,

00:51:27 Speaker 26: staffers suggested a recommendation that perhaps

00:51:31 Speaker 26: rather than allowing up to four

00:51:32 Speaker 26: members, they reduce the the total

00:51:34 Speaker 26: maximum membership down to three. It

00:51:38 Speaker 26: doesn't really do great deal for

00:51:40 Speaker 26: great counties' representation on either one

00:51:42 Speaker 26: of the two boards, but would

00:51:44 Speaker 26: seek to soften some of the

00:51:46 Speaker 26: urban representation that was on those

00:51:49 Speaker 26: those regional conservation authority boards into

00:51:52 Speaker 26: the future. The regulation doesn't speak

00:51:55 Speaker 26: to funding at this point in

00:51:57 Speaker 26: time; that remains an unknown thing.

00:51:58 Speaker 26: And the regulation does allow for

00:52:01 Speaker 26: great county to either give up

00:52:03 Speaker 26: a seat, bargain a seat

00:52:05 Speaker 26: away, either one of the

00:52:07 Speaker 26: two tables with another member

00:52:09 Speaker 26: minister. With another member municipality, or

00:52:11 Speaker 26: indeed to send an unelected representative

00:52:12 Speaker 26: for one or both or all

00:52:15 Speaker 26: three of its seats at those

00:52:16 Speaker 26: tables, if it so desired. The

00:52:18 Speaker 26: second amendment that's in the regulation

00:52:20 Speaker 26: is around the OPCA, and staff's

00:52:22 Speaker 26: comments on this one are broadly

00:52:23 Speaker 26: broadly seeking clarity. The the exclusion

00:52:26 Speaker 26: of lobbyists on that seems like

00:52:28 Speaker 26: a very sensible approach to dealing

00:52:31 Speaker 26: with the OPCA board. However, the

00:52:33 Speaker 26: language in there does appear to

00:52:34 Speaker 26: restrict. membership to of the OPCA

00:52:37 Speaker 26: board to anyone that has served

00:52:38 Speaker 26: as a senior staff member or

00:52:41 Speaker 26: indeed as a board member on

00:52:43 Speaker 26: a conservation authority board. Staff raised

00:52:44 Speaker 26: in their comments the fact that

00:52:46 Speaker 26: these individuals may have significant board

00:52:48 Speaker 26: experience and significant experience within the

00:52:51 Speaker 26: environmental regulatory field and conservation authority

00:52:53 Speaker 26: field, and may well have skill

00:52:55 Speaker 26: sets which, if they so chose

00:52:58 Speaker 26: to put themselves forward, might be

00:52:59 Speaker 26: of value to the OPCA board.

00:53:01 Speaker 27: and so we're seeking clarity in

00:53:04 Speaker 27: terms of the way in which

00:53:08 Speaker 27: the regulation is written to define

00:53:13 Speaker 27: whether or not that simply to

00:53:15 Speaker 28: stop concurrent, concurrently being staff and

00:53:17 Speaker 28: a member or a board member

00:53:20 Speaker 28: at an RCA and the OPCA,

00:53:22 Speaker 28: or whether indeed that is a

00:53:24 Speaker 28: restriction on anyone that has ever

00:53:27 Speaker 28: served on a conservation authority board

00:53:29 Speaker 28: or being a senior staff member

00:53:31 Speaker 28: at a conservation authority not being

00:53:34 Speaker 28: able to participate on the OPCA

00:53:40 Speaker 28: board. So say that's a slight.

00:53:45 Speaker 29: To say that's a slightly secondary

00:53:48 Speaker 29: comment to the main comment, which,

00:53:50 Speaker 26: as noted in the report, sees

00:53:52 Speaker 26: that continued erosion of rural voices

00:53:54 Speaker 26: on the regional conservation authority boards.

00:53:57 Speaker 26: And with that, I'm quite happy

00:54:00 Speaker 26: to take any questions. Okay,

00:54:02 Speaker 26: thank you very much for that

00:54:04 Speaker 26: introduction, and we've read the report.

00:54:05 Speaker 26: So therefore, let's open it up

00:54:06 Speaker 26: for discussion. We'll begin with Councillor

00:54:09 Speaker 26: Green. Thank you. Good morning, and.

00:54:11 Speaker 26: through you, Warden. The only I'm

00:54:13 Speaker 26: fully supportive. Thank you very much

00:54:14 Speaker 26: for the comments. Yes, we've been

00:54:16 Speaker 26: at this for a while, trying

00:54:21 Speaker 26: to say the same thing in

00:54:24 Speaker 26: maybe a different way, hoping it

00:54:26 Speaker 26: gets a better response. I'm just

00:54:28 Speaker 26: wondering if our comments could also

00:54:31 Speaker 21: be circulated to the conservation authorities.

00:54:34 Speaker 21: Okay. Any response to that, the

00:54:36 Speaker 21: BCA? The P.C.O. Through you, Madam

00:54:38 Speaker 21: Warden. Yes, we we took taken

00:54:44 Speaker 21: the liberty of circulating these draft

00:54:48 Speaker 21: comments to all nine member municipalities,

00:54:48 Speaker 21: so that staff and and councils

00:54:51 Speaker 21: can be aware of of the

00:54:55 Speaker 21: draft comments. And we've invited feedback.

00:55:01 Speaker 21: We also are routinely and regularly

00:55:03 Speaker 21: meeting with Conservation Authority C.A.O.s, so

00:55:05 Speaker 21: that we can start to become

00:55:07 Speaker 21: aware of the work and the

00:55:09 Speaker 21: nature of the relationship. And had

00:55:11 Speaker 21: discussed the nature of these comments.

00:55:13 Speaker 21: Discuss the nature of these comments

00:55:16 Speaker 21: with them, and broadly speaking, they

00:55:19 Speaker 21: were they were supportive as well.

00:55:21 Speaker 21: So we will circulate

00:55:25 Speaker 21: them after the fact as well.

00:55:27 Speaker 21: Okay, thank you, and we'll go

00:55:30 Speaker 21: to Councillor Gregg. Thank you. Just

00:55:31 Speaker 21: know from resulting from our August

00:55:34 Speaker 21: Conservation Authority meeting in Greystowl, we've

00:55:38 Speaker 21: provided our comments on the registry.

00:55:38 Speaker 21: Your report hinted at it, Niall,

00:55:41 Speaker 21: and perhaps you want to

00:55:43 Speaker 21: just echo it a little bit.

00:55:47 Speaker 21: Echo it a little further, but

00:55:49 Speaker 21: the proportional model for for population,

00:55:51 Speaker 21: Gray County is estimated to be,

00:55:53 Speaker 21: I think it was six point

00:55:55 Speaker 21: five percent. The threshold is five

00:55:56 Speaker 21: percent, so the rural or the

00:55:58 Speaker 21: rural regions are outpaced by the

00:56:00 Speaker 21: urban centres by not so much

00:56:02 Speaker 21: of a big factor. We quickly

00:56:05 Speaker 21: could drop to. that less than

00:56:09 Speaker 21: five percent and lose a seat.

00:56:11 Speaker 21: So certainly there was concern at

00:56:13 Speaker 21: the conservation authority meeting in August

00:56:19 Speaker 21: about that particular threshold and how

00:56:21 Speaker 21: easily we could potentially lose a

00:56:24 Speaker 26: member there. Alternatively, there was interesting

00:56:25 Speaker 26: conversation about municipalities who would have

00:56:29 Speaker 26: a member on on authority boards

00:56:32 Speaker 26: on the regional authority boards, and

00:56:34 Speaker 26: some of them had populations attributed

00:56:36 Speaker 26: to them as low as thirty

00:56:38 Speaker 26: one. Is lowest thirty one residents,

00:56:41 Speaker 26: or in our case, we all