Grey County Committee Meeting Transcript — December 10, 2025

00:02:24 Speaker 03: home. Like to call this meeting

00:02:26 Speaker 03: to order at nine oh one.

00:02:28 Speaker 03: Any declarations of interest for today's

00:02:31 Speaker 03: meeting? Seeing no raising of hands

00:02:35 Speaker 03: or anything. If any should arise

00:02:36 Speaker 03: during the course of the meeting,

00:02:37 Speaker 03: please declare them at that time.

00:02:39 Speaker 03: We have no delegations this morning.

00:02:41 Speaker 04: Did want to mention that we

00:02:42 Speaker 04: were supposed to have Steve Duff

00:02:43 Speaker 04: with us for this meeting. He's

00:02:46 Speaker 04: from Omaha. We had asked for

00:02:47 Speaker 04: an ag economic update from someone,

00:02:49 Speaker 04: and he had agreed to do

00:02:50 Speaker 04: it. But unfortunately, his time is

00:02:52 Speaker 04: not his own. and he was

00:02:53 Speaker 04: unable to attend today. So Brittany

00:02:55 Speaker 04: is going to arrange to have

00:02:56 Speaker 04: him sometime next year to give

00:02:58 Speaker 04: that same economic update. We just

00:03:00 Speaker 04: wanted everyone to hear kind of

00:03:01 Speaker 04: what farmers are facing economically at

00:03:03 Speaker 04: these times. We have four items

00:03:06 Speaker 04: of direction or discussion today. First

00:03:09 Speaker 04: off, cutting of ash and elm

00:03:10 Speaker 04: trees and removal on roadsides. And

00:03:12 Speaker 04: Sean Anthony, operations manager, transportation

00:03:14 Speaker 04: services, is going to lead us

00:03:16 Speaker 04: through that discussion. Take it away,

00:03:18 Speaker 04: Sean. Sounds good. So I just

00:03:25 Speaker 04: have a maybe a brief overview

00:03:27 Speaker 04: of what we're doing in operations

00:03:29 Speaker 04: in terms of dealing with this

00:03:33 Speaker 04: massive issue. It's not a, I

00:03:37 Speaker 04: guess, directed plan or anything like

00:03:40 Speaker 04: that. We have a tree crew

00:03:41 Speaker 04: that deals with all kinds of

00:03:42 Speaker 04: hazard tree issues on county rightaways,

00:03:45 Speaker 04: but that inherently covers ash trees

00:03:48 Speaker 04: as well. So the county runs

00:03:52 Speaker 04: a a tree crew from April

00:03:55 Speaker 04: to the end of October. That's

00:03:59 Speaker 04: comprised of four staff, a supervisor,

00:04:01 Speaker 04: lead hand, and and two operators.

00:04:05 Speaker 04: And the purpose of that crew,

00:04:06 Speaker 04: like I said, is just to

00:04:08 Speaker 04: remove hazard trees from the traveled

00:04:09 Speaker 04: or from the the the right

00:04:11 Speaker 04: of way to protect the traveling

00:04:13 Speaker 04: public. So in terms of equipment,

00:04:16 Speaker 04: they have a like a kind

00:04:18 Speaker 04: of an all-purpose truck with a

00:04:20 Speaker 04: space cap on it that houses

00:04:21 Speaker 04: all of their small tools and

00:04:23 Speaker 04: stuff like that, pull saws, chainsaws,

00:04:26 Speaker 04: and PPE and all that kind

00:04:27 Speaker 05: of stuff. They usually incorporate one

00:04:30 Speaker 05: of the tandem dump trucks that

00:04:33 Speaker 05: we have, which has a hopper

00:04:35 Speaker 05: on it for collecting mulch and

00:04:39 Speaker 05: all that kind of stuff that

00:04:40 Speaker 05: results from these activities. They have

00:04:44 Speaker 05: a Vermeer chipper, 130 horse. chipper

00:04:47 Speaker 05: that they bring along with them

00:04:50 Speaker 05: as well. We have two skid

00:04:52 Speaker 05: steers. We just purchased one last

00:04:53 Speaker 05: year just because of this growing

00:04:55 Speaker 05: the growing nature of this this

00:04:59 Speaker 05: issue. So each of those skid

00:05:01 Speaker 05: steers has a brushing head on

00:05:02 Speaker 05: it as well. In terms of

00:05:06 Speaker 05: training that we send this crew

00:05:08 Speaker 05: to, we use a bore culture

00:05:09 Speaker 05: training Canada, and so they'll they'll

00:05:14 Speaker 05: take the following two. courses: technical,

00:05:16 Speaker 05: technical tree felling and hazard tree

00:05:19 Speaker 05: felling, and that we feel is

00:05:22 Speaker 05: is sets them up for success.

00:05:25 Speaker 05: Now, our operators and stuff like

00:05:27 Speaker 05: that—they're not our tree crew is

00:05:29 Speaker 05: not, you know, climbing trees and

00:05:31 Speaker 05: doing what you know a professional

00:05:34 Speaker 05: arborist would be doing. All their

00:05:37 Speaker 05: operations are from the shoulder, the

00:05:38 Speaker 05: roadside, or or the ditches sort

00:05:40 Speaker 05: of thing. Where we do need

00:05:44 Speaker 05: some technical help with with some

00:05:47 Speaker 05: of those more precarious hazard trees

00:05:49 Speaker 05: and stuff like that, we'll we'll

00:05:51 Speaker 05: contract that work out to a

00:05:56 Speaker 05: local arborist. In terms of data

00:06:00 Speaker 05: collection, we're using Field Maps, which

00:06:03 Speaker 05: is an an Esri app. We've

00:06:06 Speaker 05: created a deficiency layer where users,

00:06:07 Speaker 05: so any of our staff, can

00:06:10 Speaker 05: use their phone to to drop

00:06:12 Speaker 05: a deficiency. so so not just

00:06:14 Speaker 05: hazard trees, but they can do

00:06:15 Speaker 05: potholes and all that kind of

00:06:17 Speaker 05: stuff on this deficiency app. It's

00:06:20 Speaker 05: multi-purpose. So if they drop a

00:06:22 Speaker 05: hazard tree point on the map,

00:06:24 Speaker 05: they can also add pictures and

00:06:27 Speaker 05: then set that the status of

00:06:28 Speaker 05: that deficiency to resolved or unresolved.

00:06:31 Speaker 05: So that that was brought in

00:06:33 Speaker 05: in 2024, and it just allows

00:06:34 Speaker 05: us to keep track of our

00:06:37 Speaker 05: progress. There's also some optional fields

00:06:39 Speaker 05: in that app that we've added

00:06:42 Speaker 05: about. tree species and stump removal

00:06:43 Speaker 05: and all that kind of stuff,

00:06:45 Speaker 05: so that makes us really easy.

00:06:46 Speaker 05: It makes it really easy for

00:06:49 Speaker 05: our staff when they go out

00:06:50 Speaker 05: at the beginning of the season.

00:06:52 Speaker 05: They can find all these hazard

00:06:55 Speaker 05: trees, collect that information. Then, where

00:06:57 Speaker 05: we identify that we do need

00:06:59 Speaker 05: external help, we can really easily

00:07:01 Speaker 05: just sort through that data and

00:07:02 Speaker 05: put together a tender that we

00:07:03 Speaker 05: can we can put out to

00:07:08 Speaker 05: market. So, since the beginning of

00:07:10 Speaker 05: twenty twenty. So since the beginning

00:07:12 Speaker 05: of 2024, like I said, when

00:07:16 Speaker 05: this app came online, we've added

00:07:19 Speaker 05: 542 deficiencies related to tree maintenance,

00:07:21 Speaker 05: of which 484 have been resolved

00:07:23 Speaker 05: and 52 remain unresolved. Just to

00:07:26 Speaker 05: give the the committee a bit

00:07:29 Speaker 05: of the scope, so many of

00:07:31 Speaker 05: these represent multiple trees in in

00:07:33 Speaker 05: one location. So it's not like

00:07:35 Speaker 05: 542 individual trees. This just like

00:07:38 Speaker 05: a point on the map. There

00:07:39 Speaker 05: might be multiple trees that are

00:07:41 Speaker 05: are issues. so the amount of

00:07:44 Speaker 05: individual trees requiring maintenance is actually

00:07:48 Speaker 05: quite a bit higher than five

00:07:49 Speaker 05: hundred forty-two over the past two

00:07:51 Speaker 05: seasons. And then just in terms

00:07:53 Speaker 05: of our operations, in terms of

00:07:54 Speaker 05: keeping the right of way clear

00:07:56 Speaker 05: of debris and all of that

00:07:59 Speaker 05: kind of stuff, in most cases

00:08:01 Speaker 05: we'll chip the tops of the

00:08:03 Speaker 05: trees and take away the mulch

00:08:06 Speaker 05: and leave it either at one

00:08:09 Speaker 05: of our yards or our various

00:08:11 Speaker 05: other properties. Or various other properties

00:08:13 Speaker 05: that the the county owns, typically

00:08:16 Speaker 05: we'll leave the body wood for

00:08:18 Speaker 05: firewood scavengers. They seem to do

00:08:20 Speaker 05: a pretty good job of of

00:08:22 Speaker 05: collecting that on their own. So

00:08:24 Speaker 05: as long as it's not presenting

00:08:27 Speaker 05: a safety hazard for the the

00:08:31 Speaker 05: traveling public or anything like that,

00:08:33 Speaker 05: then then we'll just leave the

00:08:35 Speaker 05: body wood. Generally, currently we're keeping

00:08:37 Speaker 05: pace, I feel, but not necessarily

00:08:38 Speaker 05: getting ahead. So obviously, ash is

00:08:41 Speaker 05: present. So obviously, ashes presenting an

00:08:45 Speaker 05: additional challenge in terms of hazard

00:08:47 Speaker 05: trees. So it's really picked up

00:08:49 Speaker 05: in the past twenty or so

00:08:51 Speaker 05: years. So maybe we're slightly getting

00:08:53 Speaker 05: ahead, especially now that we've been

00:08:55 Speaker 05: doing a lot more work bundling

00:08:56 Speaker 05: up these these tenders, and we've

00:09:01 Speaker 05: been putting that out to market

00:09:02 Speaker 05: on on a annual basis, and

00:09:06 Speaker 05: and getting a lot more work

00:09:08 Speaker 05: done that way as well. Um,

00:09:09 Speaker 05: and then I would just add

00:09:12 Speaker 05: to that we've. seen commensurate increases

00:09:14 Speaker 05: with our our brushing budget as

00:09:16 Speaker 05: well, year over year. So, that's

00:09:18 Speaker 05: kind of the summary that I

00:09:20 Speaker 05: I had for the the committee

00:09:24 Speaker 04: today. But happy to take any

00:09:26 Speaker 04: questions. Thanks so much, Sean. That

00:09:31 Speaker 04: was a good start for the

00:09:33 Speaker 04: discussion. Does anyone have any questions

00:09:35 Speaker 04: or comments for Sean? Just raise

00:09:37 Speaker 04: your hand, please, if you do.

00:09:40 Speaker 04: Simon, I see you unmuted. Oh.

00:09:43 Speaker 04: Well, thank you very much for

00:09:45 Speaker 06: this presentation because it is always

00:09:46 Speaker 06: it's been on my mind more

00:09:48 Speaker 06: than once, and I can see

00:09:49 Speaker 06: it is an immense problem. All

00:09:52 Speaker 06: I think all the staff and

00:09:54 Speaker 06: so on are doing utmost to

00:09:57 Speaker 06: to make this all work, and

00:10:00 Speaker 06: I thank you very kindly on

00:10:01 Speaker 06: behalf of the public that that

00:10:04 Speaker 06: you have looked into this problem.

00:10:05 Speaker 06: So that's that's my comment. Not

00:10:06 Speaker 06: really a question, just a comment.

00:10:09 Speaker 06: Wonderful. thank you, Simon. I'm sure

00:10:10 Speaker 06: others would agree. Paul, please. Yeah,

00:10:12 Speaker 06: thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks

00:10:14 Speaker 06: for the update on that. It's

00:10:16 Speaker 07: good to know what's happening out

00:10:18 Speaker 07: there, and the odd time I

00:10:18 Speaker 07: see them out and about. But

00:10:20 Speaker 07: the question I have is the

00:10:23 Speaker 07: body wood. That's great that it's

00:10:25 Speaker 07: left there for whoever can make

00:10:26 Speaker 07: use of it, and I'm sure

00:10:28 Speaker 07: lots of people can. But sometimes

00:10:29 Speaker 07: the body body wood or the

00:10:31 Speaker 07: the some of it's too big,

00:10:33 Speaker 07: and do do you circle back?

00:10:35 Speaker 07: I know sometimes there's I've seen

00:10:36 Speaker 07: bigs big. I've seen big big

00:10:39 Speaker 07: chunks of trees still on the

00:10:43 Speaker 07: side of the road. I probably

00:10:47 Speaker 07: need the roads crew to come

00:10:48 Speaker 07: back with some equipment as well.

00:10:52 Speaker 05: But I just wanted if you

00:10:55 Speaker 05: had a comment there. Sure. Through

00:10:57 Speaker 05: the chair, yeah. So our our

00:10:58 Speaker 05: area supervisors. So we've got four

00:11:00 Speaker 05: individual depots throughout the counties, and

00:11:02 Speaker 05: then or throughout the county, and

00:11:03 Speaker 05: each area is supervised by an

00:11:05 Speaker 05: area supervisor. And typically, they'll be

00:11:07 Speaker 05: out patrolling. So if they see

00:11:08 Speaker 05: anything that looks kind of out

00:11:10 Speaker 05: of the ordinary, then they'll let

00:11:12 Speaker 05: the crews know to to come

00:11:15 Speaker 05: back and deal with it. Additionally,

00:11:16 Speaker 05: all of our our patrol staff

00:11:18 Speaker 05: have chainsaw training, so they can

00:11:20 Speaker 05: kind of go out and and

00:11:21 Speaker 05: deal with those those types of

00:11:23 Speaker 05: issues individually as well. But yeah,

00:11:25 Speaker 05: we we kind of do a

00:11:27 Speaker 05: debrief at the end of every

00:11:28 Speaker 05: season with our our tree crew

00:11:30 Speaker 05: foreman and just go through some

00:11:32 Speaker 08: of these items and make sure

00:11:34 Speaker 08: that that's top of mind for

00:11:35 Speaker 08: them. And just a follow up.

00:11:39 Speaker 08: And just to follow up on

00:11:40 Speaker 08: that, yeah, some of the stuff

00:11:43 Speaker 08: I've seen is like probably three

00:11:44 Speaker 08: or four feet diameter, like maybe

00:11:47 Speaker 08: an old tree that's died, and

00:11:49 Speaker 08: there's like the big trunk, and

00:11:51 Speaker 08: and I'm sure your your crew

00:11:52 Speaker 08: is is is well trained that

00:11:53 Speaker 08: there's a certain spot not to

00:11:54 Speaker 08: cut on an old tree because

00:11:55 Speaker 08: there's probably fence in there as

00:11:57 Speaker 08: well, and it'll be a a

00:12:01 Speaker 08: quick way of ruining your day

00:12:03 Speaker 08: when the chainsaw gets into some

00:12:05 Speaker 08: wire. But I'm sure you're all

00:12:07 Speaker 08: trained in that as well, and

00:12:10 Speaker 08: that's probably why. On that as

00:12:13 Speaker 05: well, that's probably why some of

00:12:17 Speaker 05: that big big stuff is left

00:12:19 Speaker 05: because of that reasoning and stuff

00:12:20 Speaker 05: like that. But yeah, no, no,

00:12:23 Speaker 05: no, no other thing to cite

00:12:25 Speaker 05: to talk about. Just thanks for

00:12:28 Speaker 05: the update on that. Thanks, Paul.

00:12:31 Speaker 05: Any further comments, Sean, on anything

00:12:32 Speaker 05: that Paul said? Yeah, I would

00:12:34 Speaker 05: just say that it is an

00:12:36 Speaker 05: ongoing discussion. That it's a lot

00:12:40 Speaker 05: of these trees are, you know,

00:12:43 Speaker 05: as you said, they're they're very

00:12:45 Speaker 05: technical and and. present health and

00:12:46 Speaker 05: safety challenges. So one of the

00:12:50 Speaker 05: the things that we're always discussing

00:12:52 Speaker 05: is the difficulty for that that

00:12:53 Speaker 05: tree crew foreman to to give

00:12:56 Speaker 05: up the saw and and kind

00:12:58 Speaker 04: of get the the rest of

00:13:03 Speaker 04: the crew gaining those same same

00:13:06 Speaker 04: levels of skills. But generally, that

00:13:08 Speaker 05: that supervisor is somebody that comes

00:13:09 Speaker 05: back every single year and they've

00:13:11 Speaker 05: got many years of experience cutting

00:13:12 Speaker 05: trees, so they typically know what

00:13:14 Speaker 05: they're getting into. but yes, health

00:13:17 Speaker 05: and safety is always top of

00:13:20 Speaker 05: top of mind. Blair has a

00:13:22 Speaker 05: question in the chat. How can

00:13:25 Speaker 05: we help as landowners through the

00:13:29 Speaker 05: chair? So, I guess just you

00:13:30 Speaker 05: know, it's kind of the same

00:13:33 Speaker 05: with the with the weeds spraying

00:13:37 Speaker 05: and stuff like that. So we're

00:13:39 Speaker 05: we're limited to what we can

00:13:40 Speaker 05: do in the right way, and

00:13:41 Speaker 05: then anything that extends beyond is

00:13:43 Speaker 05: kind of you know. it falls

00:13:44 Speaker 05: outside of our scope, so we

00:13:46 Speaker 05: really would rely on on landowners

00:13:47 Speaker 05: for for doing their share. Wherever

00:13:50 Speaker 05: we see something that does present

00:13:53 Speaker 05: a challenge for traveling public or

00:13:54 Speaker 09: a health and safety concern, but

00:13:57 Speaker 09: it's on private property, it just

00:14:00 Speaker 09: sort of extends into the right

00:14:02 Speaker 09: of way. Then we'll get landowner

00:14:04 Speaker 09: permission to go in and and

00:14:06 Speaker 09: take care of those trees as

00:14:08 Speaker 09: well. So, if they're willing to

00:14:10 Speaker 09: work with us, then we'll work

00:14:11 Speaker 09: with them. Perfect, Paul. You have

00:14:12 Speaker 09: another comment? Yeah, just just a

00:14:15 Speaker 09: follow-up. Thank you, Madam Chair. With

00:14:19 Speaker 09: regards to trees that are dying

00:14:20 Speaker 09: or are dead along hydro lines,

00:14:21 Speaker 09: do you work fairly closely with

00:14:22 Speaker 09: hydro because obviously that's that's a

00:14:23 Speaker 09: technique in itself? Because when you're

00:14:25 Speaker 09: trying to fall those trees, just

00:14:27 Speaker 09: as a side, I know that

00:14:28 Speaker 09: number years ago there was a

00:14:31 Speaker 09: dead tree in my dad's farm,

00:14:33 Speaker 09: and it was obviously dead, and

00:14:34 Speaker 09: I tried. numerous times to get

00:14:35 Speaker 09: hydro like to come out, and

00:14:36 Speaker 09: you know if you don't cut

00:14:37 Speaker 09: it, it's going to fall on

00:14:39 Speaker 09: the hydro lines, type of thing.

00:14:40 Speaker 09: And it just it seemed be

00:14:42 Speaker 09: like like it took a while,

00:14:43 Speaker 09: and then finally they got it

00:14:44 Speaker 09: and they came cut it down.

00:14:45 Speaker 09: But sometimes they leave a big

00:14:47 Speaker 09: big stock and they take all

00:14:48 Speaker 09: the limbs up and they leave

00:14:51 Speaker 09: it up standing up. But I

00:14:55 Speaker 09: know that's something that you probably

00:14:57 Speaker 05: have to work with because you

00:14:59 Speaker 05: know obviously it takes a different

00:15:01 Speaker 05: kind of training, or sometimes maybe

00:15:03 Speaker 05: a bucket truck or something like

00:15:05 Speaker 05: that, or you have to hire

00:15:07 Speaker 05: somebody out, like you mentioned. To

00:15:10 Speaker 05: hire somebody else, like you mentioned,

00:15:11 Speaker 05: a separate contractor in that. But

00:15:13 Speaker 05: I just wondered how well you

00:15:14 Speaker 05: work with hydro. Yeah, that's a

00:15:16 Speaker 05: great point and an ongoing challenge.

00:15:17 Speaker 05: I'm not having the luxury of

00:15:19 Speaker 05: a bucket truck or anything like

00:15:21 Speaker 05: that. We're limited in what we

00:15:24 Speaker 05: can do, and on top of

00:15:25 Speaker 05: that, you know, our our tree

00:15:27 Speaker 05: crew is is is trained, but

00:15:29 Speaker 05: we don't expect them to do

00:15:30 Speaker 05: anything that would any sort of

00:15:33 Speaker 05: work around hydro lines or anything

00:15:35 Speaker 05: like that. So what they'll do

00:15:36 Speaker 05: is. they'll they'll put that on

00:15:36 Speaker 05: the app. There's a field on

00:15:39 Speaker 05: the app where they can indicate

00:15:41 Speaker 05: that there's, you know, a utility

00:15:42 Speaker 05: present such as Bell or such

00:15:44 Speaker 05: as Hydro, and then we'll bundle

00:15:45 Speaker 05: all that up at the beginning

00:15:48 Speaker 05: or midway through the season or

00:15:49 Speaker 05: end of the season, and we'll

00:15:53 Speaker 05: send it over to the appropriate

00:15:57 Speaker 05: utility. If their feedback is we're

00:15:59 Speaker 05: not concerned about it, we're not

00:16:00 Speaker 05: going to do anything about it

00:16:01 Speaker 04: at this time. But we feel

00:16:05 Speaker 04: it's a danger to the traveling

00:16:07 Speaker 04: public. Then generally speaking, that. will

00:16:09 Speaker 04: be one of those ones where

00:16:11 Speaker 04: we'll we'll bundle it up into

00:16:13 Speaker 04: a tender and and put it

00:16:14 Speaker 04: out to market for for an

00:16:18 Speaker 04: arborist with a bucket truck to

00:16:20 Speaker 04: come deal with. Thanks, Sean. Any

00:16:21 Speaker 10: other questions for Sean? Seeing no

00:16:23 Speaker 10: raised hands. Thanks so much for

00:16:25 Speaker 10: this update, Sean. I think it

00:16:26 Speaker 10: was greatly appreciated and very timely.

00:16:27 Speaker 10: So thank you. Thank you. 4B.

00:16:31 Speaker 10: The next items for declaration or

00:16:33 Speaker 10: items for direction or discussion is

00:16:34 Speaker 10: the West Gray. Is the West

00:16:36 Speaker 10: Grey Hanover boundary adjustment and Scott

00:16:37 Speaker 10: Taylor, Director of Planning, is going

00:16:39 Speaker 10: to give a high level level

00:16:41 Speaker 10: overview of this item? Thanks, Chair

00:16:42 Speaker 10: Smith, and good morning to to

00:16:44 Speaker 10: the committee. I just have a

00:16:47 Speaker 10: brief presentation I am going to

00:16:48 Speaker 10: share with you, so I'll just

00:16:51 Speaker 10: get my screen shared here, and

00:16:53 Speaker 10: hopefully we'll be off to the

00:16:56 Speaker 10: races. Can someone just confirm that

00:16:57 Speaker 10: they can see that slideshow there?

00:16:59 Speaker 10: Yes, we can. Okay, great. Thank

00:17:00 Speaker 10: you so much. Yeah, pleased to

00:17:03 Speaker 10: be to sharing this news with

00:17:04 Speaker 10: you and. and I will say

00:17:07 Speaker 10: just at the outset, this presentation

00:17:09 Speaker 10: was heavily adapted from a presentation

00:17:11 Speaker 10: that was put together by both

00:17:12 Speaker 10: West Gray and Hanover staff that

00:17:14 Speaker 10: they presented at the November nineteenth

00:17:16 Speaker 10: public meeting, which was held both

00:17:18 Speaker 10: in person and virtually from from

00:17:20 Speaker 10: Elmwood. In that regard, so we'll

00:17:23 Speaker 10: just move on to the next

00:17:25 Speaker 10: slide here. So with respect to

00:17:27 Speaker 10: some background on this, this is

00:17:29 Speaker 10: a project that's that's been in

00:17:30 Speaker 10: the works for a few years,

00:17:32 Speaker 10: and and there's been some very

00:17:34 Speaker 10: dedicated work done by by a

00:17:36 Speaker 10: working. group between both West Grey

00:17:38 Speaker 10: and Hanover, and that working group

00:17:39 Speaker 10: consisted of each of the two

00:17:41 Speaker 10: mayors, so Mayor Patterson and Mayor

00:17:43 Speaker 10: Eccles in that regard, and one

00:17:47 Speaker 10: additional councillor from each of the

00:17:49 Speaker 10: municipalities. That all sat around a

00:17:51 Speaker 10: table. It also was comprised of

00:17:53 Speaker 10: of the two CAOs from from

00:17:55 Speaker 10: West Grey and Hanover, and then

00:17:57 Speaker 10: a whole series of support staff

00:17:59 Speaker 10: at different times. So the clerks

00:18:00 Speaker 10: work work quite often. They are

00:18:03 Speaker 10: taking minutes. At times, they needed

00:18:04 Speaker 10: to pull in technical expertise from

00:18:07 Speaker 10: the treasurers or other staff in

00:18:11 Speaker 10: that regard. So you might be

00:18:12 Speaker 10: asking yourself, what was the county's

00:18:13 Speaker 10: role here? So the county county

00:18:17 Speaker 10: staff helped facilitate this group and

00:18:21 Speaker 10: and and and provided technical information

00:18:21 Speaker 10: where we could assist in that

00:18:25 Speaker 10: regard. So Cao Schertzler was heavily

00:18:27 Speaker 10: involved with this group and and

00:18:29 Speaker 10: facilitated the discussions on an as

00:18:31 Speaker 10: needed basis. And and in the

00:18:34 Speaker 10: planning department, we helped provide some

00:18:37 Speaker 10: some planning advice and some support

00:18:38 Speaker 10: and mapping in that regard. So

00:18:42 Speaker 10: the group has been. meeting quite

00:18:45 Speaker 10: regularly, basically throughout this term of

00:18:47 Speaker 10: council, and as you may be

00:18:48 Speaker 10: aware from from the press release

00:18:50 Speaker 10: and and some of the links

00:18:52 Speaker 10: in the the agenda, there there

00:18:54 Speaker 10: is a proposed municipal restructuring proposal

00:18:55 Speaker 10: in in place here, and we'll

00:18:57 Speaker 10: take you through that here in

00:18:59 Speaker 10: just a second. And and so

00:19:00 Speaker 10: at this stage, both West Grey

00:19:02 Speaker 10: and Hanover councils have supported in

00:19:04 Speaker 10: principle what we're calling a mutual

00:19:06 Speaker 10: prosperity. boundary adjustment, so this would

00:19:08 Speaker 10: see some lands potentially going from

00:19:10 Speaker 10: the municipality of West Grey into

00:19:11 Speaker 10: the the town of Hanover. In

00:19:13 Speaker 10: that regard, this is a long

00:19:15 Speaker 10: process, and and and this is

00:19:17 Speaker 10: just one of the steps in

00:19:19 Speaker 10: terms of getting that conditional support.

00:19:21 Speaker 10: What that conditional support led to

00:19:22 Speaker 10: from both councils, as I noted,

00:19:25 Speaker 10: was a joint public meeting that

00:19:26 Speaker 10: was held in Elmwood on November

00:19:28 Speaker 10: nineteenth. Both before the public meeting,

00:19:30 Speaker 10: at the public meeting, and since

00:19:32 Speaker 10: the public meeting, we've had. lots

00:19:34 Speaker 10: of comments received from from different

00:19:36 Speaker 10: landowners and and some groups in

00:19:39 Speaker 10: that regard. There's been a mixture

00:19:41 Speaker 10: of of questions, just trying to

00:19:43 Speaker 10: understand what happens, what the next

00:19:45 Speaker 10: steps are, and everything else. There's

00:19:47 Speaker 10: been some that have voiced support

00:19:48 Speaker 10: for the proposal, and and some

00:19:50 Speaker 10: that have raised some other

00:19:51 Speaker 10: concerns with respect to the proposal.

00:19:53 Speaker 10: So staff at at both the

00:19:55 Speaker 10: municipalities and the counties have been

00:19:56 Speaker 10: working to answer those questions within

00:19:58 Speaker 10: those links that were shared on

00:19:59 Speaker 10: the agenda today. There is a

00:20:03 Speaker 10: frequently asked questions. and and that

00:20:04 Speaker 10: will have to be a living

00:20:07 Speaker 10: document and and updated from time

00:20:08 Speaker 10: to time in that regard. So,

00:20:09 Speaker 10: what's being proposed at this stage

00:20:12 Speaker 10: is a transfer of land of

00:20:13 Speaker 10: about sixteen hundred and thirty four

00:20:15 Speaker 10: acres at the north end of

00:20:16 Speaker 10: Hanover and at the east end

00:20:18 Speaker 10: of Hanover. So, these would be

00:20:20 Speaker 10: lands in the municipality West Grey

00:20:21 Speaker 10: that would be potentially shifting their

00:20:22 Speaker 10: municipal boundaries into the town of

00:20:25 Speaker 10: Hanover. In this regard, I will

00:20:27 Speaker 10: say that most of these lands

00:20:27 Speaker 10: that we're talking about are privately

00:20:30 Speaker 10: owned. So we're not talking about

00:20:32 Speaker 10: municipal land shifting shifting hands. We're

00:20:33 Speaker 10: talking about privately owned lands that

00:20:35 Speaker 10: would go from potentially one municipality

00:20:37 Speaker 10: into another. And so we just

00:20:39 Speaker 10: have a map here showing you

00:20:41 Speaker 10: the lands in question. So what

00:20:44 Speaker 10: you see, obviously, to the to

00:20:47 Speaker 10: the left there is is the

00:20:48 Speaker 10: in the gray is Bruce County

00:20:49 Speaker 10: and Brockton in that regard, and

00:20:52 Speaker 10: then we have Hanover and West

00:20:54 Speaker 10: Gray. It's the lands that are

00:20:55 Speaker 10: sort of in that wine colored

00:20:58 Speaker 10: purple that would be potentially shifting

00:21:00 Speaker 10: from from West Gray to Hanover,

00:21:01 Speaker 10: and so roughly. in the north,

00:21:02 Speaker 10: it would be the lands to

00:21:05 Speaker 10: the east of the county land

00:21:07 Speaker 10: and north, or to to the

00:21:09 Speaker 10: east of the county line. Sorry,

00:21:11 Speaker 10: and to the north of the

00:21:12 Speaker 10: the current Gray Road Twenty Eight,

00:21:13 Speaker 10: and then on the east end

00:21:14 Speaker 10: of Hanover, it would be lands

00:21:17 Speaker 10: both primarily south of Gray Road

00:21:18 Speaker 10: Four and and a portion of

00:21:20 Speaker 10: land to the to the north

00:21:23 Speaker 10: of Gray Road Four there as

00:21:25 Speaker 10: well, including the former Bucks Crossing

00:21:27 Speaker 10: Golf Course in that regard. I

00:21:29 Speaker 10: just have a couple air photos

00:21:32 Speaker 10: to. oops, sorry, to better show

00:21:34 Speaker 10: you what we're looking at here.

00:21:36 Speaker 10: And so, what you see on

00:21:38 Speaker 10: on the left hand side of

00:21:40 Speaker 10: your screen is is primarily the

00:21:42 Speaker 10: the north end of the proposal,

00:21:45 Speaker 10: the north and the east. And

00:21:46 Speaker 10: what you see on on the

00:21:48 Speaker 10: right hand side is is the

00:21:50 Speaker 10: eastern end of the proposal. So

00:21:52 Speaker 10: just from looking at the air

00:21:54 Speaker 10: photos, you can see there is

00:21:57 Speaker 10: a mix of land uses there.

00:21:59 Speaker 10: There's certainly land some lands that

00:22:01 Speaker 10: are that are heavily treed and

00:22:03 Speaker 10: naturalized in that regard. There's there's

00:22:05 Speaker 10: farmlands including There's farmlands included here.

00:22:07 Speaker 10: There's some individual parcels, particularly in

00:22:08 Speaker 10: the north end, which might be

00:22:11 Speaker 10: a mixture of residences or small

00:22:12 Speaker 10: businesses. And then, as I noted

00:22:13 Speaker 10: on on the east end here,

00:22:16 Speaker 10: we have what was the former

00:22:18 Speaker 10: Bucks Crossing Golf Course. In that

00:22:20 Speaker 10: regard, and so with respect to

00:22:23 Speaker 10: the proposal at hand, there's been

00:22:26 Speaker 10: lots of questions about about the

00:22:27 Speaker 10: financial terms of this agreement. So

00:22:29 Speaker 10: what's been supported in principle at

00:22:30 Speaker 10: this stage is that Hanover would

00:22:33 Speaker 10: provide financial compensation to West Grey,

00:22:35 Speaker 10: and the reason for this compensation

00:22:37 Speaker 10: is because if these lands are

00:22:39 Speaker 10: changing municipal boundaries, then then West

00:22:40 Speaker 10: Grey would be losing some tax

00:22:42 Speaker 10: assessment in this regard. So the

00:22:44 Speaker 10: proposed deal at this stage is

00:22:45 Speaker 10: that Hanover would pay West Grey

00:22:48 Speaker 10: ten million dollars, and that

00:22:50 Speaker 10: would be paid through equal installments

00:22:53 Speaker 10: of five hundred thousand dollars a

00:22:54 Speaker 10: year over a twenty year period.

00:22:57 Speaker 10: In that regard, and so some

00:22:59 Speaker 10: of the the other things to

00:23:01 Speaker 10: note about this proposal is there's

00:23:03 Speaker 10: there's no. development proposed at this

00:23:05 Speaker 10: time. This is a very long

00:23:07 Speaker 10: term proposal, and and certainly in

00:23:09 Speaker 10: if you go back a couple

00:23:11 Speaker 10: slides to the the sixteen hundred

00:23:14 Speaker 10: and thirty four acres that we

00:23:16 Speaker 10: showed you, there there is the

00:23:17 Speaker 10: thought that if development happens in

00:23:20 Speaker 10: these lands, it will be phased

00:23:22 Speaker 10: in over a number of

00:23:24 Speaker 10: years. First off, there would need

00:23:27 Speaker 10: to be infrastructure improvements in terms

00:23:28 Speaker 10: of the construction and expansion of

00:23:30 Speaker 10: of water and sewer pipes. In

00:23:32 Speaker 10: that regard, there would need to

00:23:34 Speaker 10: be further planning process. To be

00:23:35 Speaker 10: further planning processes, environmental assessment processes,

00:23:39 Speaker 10: and and so this is a

00:23:41 Speaker 10: very long term proposal. This goes

00:23:42 Speaker 10: beyond what Hanover would need to

00:23:43 Speaker 10: support their immediate growth needs, but

00:23:45 Speaker 10: this allows, if it were to

00:23:47 Speaker 10: be approved, Hanover to to plan

00:23:49 Speaker 10: for their long term growth future,

00:23:53 Speaker 10: not just for the next ten

00:23:54 Speaker 10: or twenty years, but for for

00:23:55 Speaker 10: for decades in that regard. And

00:23:57 Speaker 10: so at this stage, the the

00:24:00 Speaker 10: the planning work hasn't been done

00:24:02 Speaker 10: in terms of updating official plans

00:24:03 Speaker 10: or zoning bylaws. It's anticipated longer

00:24:06 Speaker 10: term that these lands would include

00:24:08 Speaker 10: a mixture of commercial, industrial, and

00:24:09 Speaker 10: residential development. We've we've made it

00:24:13 Speaker 10: clear throughout the process, or the

00:24:14 Speaker 10: two municipalities have made it clear

00:24:15 Speaker 10: throughout the process. There's no obligation

00:24:19 Speaker 10: for any property owner to develop.

00:24:20 Speaker 10: So if you're one of those

00:24:21 Speaker 10: properties and and the lands do

00:24:23 Speaker 10: shift municipalities as the planning advances

00:24:25 Speaker 10: on this, you might choose to

00:24:26 Speaker 10: develop, or you might choose not

00:24:28 Speaker 10: to. You might choose to simply

00:24:29 Speaker 10: continue to to farm or. use

00:24:32 Speaker 10: your lands as you currently do,

00:24:33 Speaker 10: and so farming can continue. And

00:24:37 Speaker 10: and you know one of the

00:24:39 Speaker 10: key principles in the discussions, right

00:24:41 Speaker 10: from sort of the the earliest

00:24:44 Speaker 10: meetings on this, is is

00:24:46 Speaker 10: the importance of of farming to

00:24:47 Speaker 10: Gray County, to West Gray and

00:24:50 Speaker 10: Hanover in that regard. So everything

00:24:52 Speaker 10: has been done to try to

00:24:54 Speaker 10: allow those that wish to continue

00:24:55 Speaker 10: farming and allow those quality lands

00:24:56 Speaker 10: to to continue in production for

00:24:58 Speaker 10: for as long as as long

00:24:59 Speaker 10: as the landowner. As as long

00:25:02 Speaker 10: as the landowners may choose in

00:25:04 Speaker 10: that regard. With respect to some

00:25:06 Speaker 10: of the benefits, we've got three

00:25:08 Speaker 10: slides here speaking to the West

00:25:11 Speaker 10: Gray benefits, the Hanover benefits, and

00:25:12 Speaker 10: the Gray County benefits. But just

00:25:14 Speaker 10: prior to going into the details

00:25:15 Speaker 10: of those slides, one of the

00:25:17 Speaker 10: things sort of we've noticed as

00:25:19 Speaker 10: municipal staff, and and and perhaps

00:25:21 Speaker 10: some of our politicians would agree

00:25:22 Speaker 10: with us, was in general residents

00:25:23 Speaker 10: or visitors to our community or

00:25:25 Speaker 10: even businesses don't always know where

00:25:27 Speaker 10: the current municipal boundaries are. no

00:25:29 Speaker 10: doubt to to municipalities and counties

00:25:30 Speaker 10: and politicians. These municipal boundaries can

00:25:32 Speaker 10: be very important because they can

00:25:34 Speaker 10: delineate service areas or or where

00:25:36 Speaker 10: you vote and and various things

00:25:37 Speaker 10: like that. But at the end

00:25:40 Speaker 10: of the day, you may live

00:25:41 Speaker 10: in one community, shop in a

00:25:43 Speaker 10: different community, and work in a

00:25:45 Speaker 10: third community. And and so people

00:25:46 Speaker 10: are are constantly crossing these municipal

00:25:47 Speaker 10: boundaries in in their day to

00:25:48 Speaker 10: day lives, both in a recreational

00:25:51 Speaker 10: basis and and in a professional

00:25:52 Speaker 10: basis. And and so we we've

00:25:54 Speaker 10: tried to look at this. through

00:25:57 Speaker 10: a regional approach, and and to

00:25:59 Speaker 10: make sure that there are benefits

00:26:02 Speaker 10: to all involved, including the landowners

00:26:05 Speaker 10: and the municipalities in the county.

00:26:07 Speaker 10: In this regard, so with respect

00:26:09 Speaker 10: to to the benefits to West

00:26:11 Speaker 10: Gray, one of the most obvious

00:26:12 Speaker 10: ones that we just talked about

00:26:13 Speaker 10: is is the financial compensation. So

00:26:16 Speaker 10: that would be the the ten

00:26:18 Speaker 10: million dollars paid over over twenty

00:26:20 Speaker 10: years, and that would make up

00:26:23 Speaker 10: for some of the the loss

00:26:25 Speaker 10: of assessments in that regard. There

00:26:28 Speaker 10: would be spinoff benefits from the

00:26:30 Speaker 10: growth in in both the residential

00:26:31 Speaker 10: and industrial sectors. So picture someone

00:26:33 Speaker 10: a new business opens in Hanover,

00:26:36 Speaker 10: and and maybe somebody already living

00:26:38 Speaker 10: in rural West Gray or even

00:26:41 Speaker 10: Durham and New Stat might find

00:26:43 Speaker 10: a job at that business, and

00:26:45 Speaker 10: they could they could drive back

00:26:48 Speaker 10: and forth to that business, and

00:26:49 Speaker 10: and then there would also be

00:26:51 Speaker 10: anticipated that there'd be an expansion

00:26:53 Speaker 10: in services and amenities that again

00:26:54 Speaker 10: could benefit residents in in both

00:26:56 Speaker 10: municipalities in that regard. With respect

00:26:57 Speaker 10: to some of the benefits to

00:26:59 Speaker 10: to Hanover more directly, they would

00:27:02 Speaker 10: of course potentially assume new lands

00:27:04 Speaker 10: for. development, and as I said,

00:27:08 Speaker 10: this development, if it were to

00:27:11 Speaker 10: be approved, would be phased in

00:27:13 Speaker 10: over a period of many years.

00:27:15 Speaker 10: As that development happens, of course,

00:27:16 Speaker 10: there would be new assessment growth

00:27:18 Speaker 10: in the town to fund important

00:27:20 Speaker 10: services and infrastructure in that regard.

00:27:23 Speaker 10: And then there would be lands

00:27:24 Speaker 10: for, for obviously, more homes and

00:27:27 Speaker 10: businesses. And this closely aligns with

00:27:29 Speaker 10: not only the county official plan

00:27:32 Speaker 10: in that regard, that speaks to

00:27:35 Speaker 10: sort of long-term availability for growth

00:27:36 Speaker 10: lands across the county, but also

00:27:37 Speaker 10: some of our provincial objectives in

00:27:38 Speaker 10: that regard, in terms of helping

00:27:40 Speaker 10: ease the need for housing and

00:27:42 Speaker 10: providing meaningful employment to to all

00:27:43 Speaker 10: those across the province, and in

00:27:46 Speaker 10: this case, more importantly, across Grey

00:27:48 Speaker 10: County and and Hanover and West

00:27:49 Speaker 10: Grey. And so, with respect to

00:27:51 Speaker 10: the benefits to Grey County, some

00:27:53 Speaker 10: of them would be similar to

00:27:56 Speaker 10: those benefits to to Hanover. There

00:27:57 Speaker 10: would, of course, be increased assessment

00:28:00 Speaker 10: in in the county's levy. There

00:28:02 Speaker 10: would be additional jobs and and

00:28:05 Speaker 10: and and residences for for residents

00:28:07 Speaker 10: of of the South Grey region,

00:28:08 Speaker 10: and it's really positioning South Grey

00:28:11 Speaker 10: as as a vibrant economic community.

00:28:13 Speaker 10: And and the hope would be

00:28:14 Speaker 10: that there would be shovel ready

00:28:17 Speaker 10: lands for development. And so, if

00:28:19 Speaker 10: we get opportunities with with large

00:28:21 Speaker 10: or small employers, or even some

00:28:22 Speaker 10: of our existing employers to expand,

00:28:23 Speaker 10: or or the need for more

00:28:25 Speaker 10: housing, then these would provide provide

00:28:28 Speaker 10: sufficient area for for some of

00:28:30 Speaker 10: this growth. With respect to some

00:28:33 Speaker 10: of the other considerations, obviously, if

00:28:36 Speaker 10: you are a resident in this

00:28:39 Speaker 10: area, one of the key considerations

00:28:41 Speaker 10: would be what does this mean

00:28:43 Speaker 10: to my taxes? And and so

00:28:46 Speaker 10: the the the Hanover tax rate

00:28:48 Speaker 10: is slightly higher than than West

00:28:49 Speaker 10: Grey's rate now. So one of

00:28:51 Speaker 10: the things that's been committed to

00:28:53 Speaker 10: as part of this process would

00:28:54 Speaker 10: be phasing in any potential tax

00:28:58 Speaker 10: increase over five years. And so

00:29:00 Speaker 10: if if if this were to

00:29:01 Speaker 10: be approved by the province, that

00:29:04 Speaker 10: that tax increase wouldn't hit the

00:29:05 Speaker 10: landowner all in the same. Owner,

00:29:08 Speaker 10: all in the same year. If

00:29:09 Speaker 10: the lands were to shift municipal

00:29:11 Speaker 10: boundaries, Hanover would provide those municipal

00:29:12 Speaker 10: services to the land. So that's

00:29:14 Speaker 10: everything from police and fire and

00:29:16 Speaker 10: library and parks, but also to

00:29:18 Speaker 10: some of over time the hard

00:29:20 Speaker 10: infrastructure like extension of water lines

00:29:22 Speaker 10: and and sewer lines in that

00:29:23 Speaker 10: regard. And so, with respect to

00:29:25 Speaker 10: the next steps on this project,

00:29:27 Speaker 10: there is a report going to

00:29:29 Speaker 10: County Committee of the Whole tomorrow,

00:29:31 Speaker 10: and that is seeking County Council

00:29:33 Speaker 10: support for this proposal. There's report.

00:29:36 Speaker 10: Proposal. There's reports, reports planned at

00:29:38 Speaker 10: both Hanover Council and West Grey

00:29:41 Speaker 10: Council on December fifteenth and sixteenth,

00:29:43 Speaker 10: respectively, with respect to the proposed

00:29:45 Speaker 10: restructuring agreement. And if it's supported

00:29:46 Speaker 10: by County Council and if both

00:29:47 Speaker 10: municipalities opt to sign the agreement,

00:29:49 Speaker 10: then that would all be sent

00:29:51 Speaker 10: on to the Ministry of Municipal

00:29:52 Speaker 10: Affairs and Housing. So in

00:29:56 Speaker 10: this case, it's the Ministry that

00:29:57 Speaker 10: has to approve such a boundary

00:29:59 Speaker 11: change. And and should should the

00:30:02 Speaker 11: minister do so. Ah, should should

00:30:04 Speaker 11: the minister do so? They would

00:30:06 Speaker 11: they would issue an order approving

00:30:09 Speaker 11: that in that regard. If that

00:30:12 Speaker 11: order were to be received, then

00:30:15 Speaker 11: the municipalities and the county would

00:30:17 Speaker 11: work together on the long-term planning

00:30:20 Speaker 11: for these projects. As I said,

00:30:22 Speaker 11: there would need to be official

00:30:26 Speaker 11: plan updates. There would need to

00:30:29 Speaker 11: be zoning bylaw updates, other environmental

00:30:32 Speaker 11: assessments in that regard. So it

00:30:34 Speaker 11: really is a long-term approach. And

00:30:36 Speaker 11: and so you know, if you

00:30:37 Speaker 11: picture a few years down the

00:30:39 Speaker 11: road, if if this were to

00:30:40 Speaker 11: be approved, again, not all the

00:30:41 Speaker 11: the lands would be. designated to

00:30:43 Speaker 11: development right away. It would be

00:30:45 Speaker 11: done in phases and and and

00:30:48 Speaker 11: sort of smaller chunks as as

00:30:50 Speaker 11: Hanover is able to build the

00:30:52 Speaker 11: infrastructure in that regard and and

00:30:54 Speaker 11: reasonably plan for for their long

00:30:56 Speaker 11: term future. So that's what I

00:30:58 Speaker 11: have for today. Maybe just before

00:31:00 Speaker 11: I turn it back to you,

00:31:01 Speaker 11: Chair Smith, I would just invite

00:31:03 Speaker 11: CEO Schertz if he has any

00:31:05 Speaker 11: further comments here, just because he

00:31:06 Speaker 11: has been heavily involved in in

00:31:08 Speaker 11: helping facilitate this process throughout. Thanks,

00:31:10 Speaker 11: Scott. and through you, Chair. I

00:31:12 Speaker 11: think Scott's done an excellent job

00:31:13 Speaker 11: of summarizing all the work that's

00:31:17 Speaker 11: been done to date to to

00:31:19 Speaker 11: get it to this stage. It's

00:31:21 Speaker 11: been a collaborative effort amongst the

00:31:22 Speaker 11: two municipalities and the county in

00:31:25 Speaker 11: working through this. And yeah, I

00:31:28 Speaker 11: think as Scott noted, there's there's

00:31:31 Speaker 11: definitely some benefits that that we

00:31:33 Speaker 11: see as part of this. Noting

00:31:35 Speaker 11: that in terms of the one

00:31:37 Speaker 11: aspect as relating to farming, both

00:31:38 Speaker 11: municipalities have indicated throughout this process

00:31:40 Speaker 11: that you know the the ability

00:31:42 Speaker 11: to continue to farm. If if

00:31:44 Speaker 11: the landowners want to continue to

00:31:45 Speaker 11: farm, they will have the ability

00:31:48 Speaker 11: and right to do so for

00:31:51 Speaker 11: as long as they would like

00:31:52 Speaker 11: to do that. And so that's

00:31:55 Speaker 11: something that's been recognized and been

00:31:57 Speaker 11: respected right from day one from

00:31:58 Speaker 11: the conversations with with the two

00:32:02 Speaker 11: municipalities. And and as Scott noted,

00:32:03 Speaker 11: you know both municipalities trying to

00:32:06 Speaker 11: ensure that. Is trying to ensure

00:32:07 Speaker 11: that the mitigating potential impacts from

00:32:10 Speaker 11: a from that tax increase that

00:32:12 Speaker 11: Scott noted, trying to mitigate that

00:32:13 Speaker 11: phasing that in over a five

00:32:15 Speaker 11: year period helps to helps to

00:32:19 Speaker 11: try to mitigate some of those

00:32:25 Speaker 11: those pieces. So both municipalities, I

00:32:28 Speaker 11: think, have done a really good

00:32:29 Speaker 12: job trying to trying to anticipate

00:32:31 Speaker 12: what those impacts might be and

00:32:33 Speaker 12: trying to work out solutions to

00:32:36 Speaker 12: help mitigate those those things. So

00:32:38 Speaker 12: anyway, so that's it's like I

00:32:40 Speaker 12: said, it's been a collaborative team

00:32:42 Speaker 12: effort for sure, and it's been

00:32:44 Speaker 12: a it's. been a journey. Definitely,

00:32:47 Speaker 12: this is something that County Council

00:32:49 Speaker 12: supported back in 2020 2021, recognizing

00:32:52 Speaker 12: that there's going to be a

00:32:54 Speaker 12: number of these these settlement areas

00:32:57 Speaker 12: where that they're adjacent to neighboring

00:33:00 Speaker 12: municipalities that we're going to have

00:33:02 Speaker 12: to work through some of these

00:33:03 Speaker 12: these things. And they do take

00:33:05 Speaker 12: time. They take time to go

00:33:07 Speaker 12: through those those conversations and discussions

00:33:11 Speaker 12: and to figure out what makes

00:33:14 Speaker 11: the most sense and what benefits

00:33:16 Speaker 11: both municipalities in the end. and

00:33:18 Speaker 11: and in turn the county and

00:33:20 Speaker 11: the region as a whole. And

00:33:21 Speaker 11: so this is something that's yeah

00:33:23 Speaker 11: we're just moving still through the

00:33:25 Speaker 11: process, working with the ministry staff

00:33:28 Speaker 11: to put some further details with

00:33:28 Speaker 11: respect to what that restructuring order

00:33:31 Speaker 11: package will look like. So we're

00:33:33 Speaker 11: working on that with West Grey,

00:33:35 Speaker 11: Manitoba, as we speak. Thank you,

00:33:37 Speaker 11: Randy, and thank you, Scott, for

00:33:38 Speaker 11: that update. Are there any questions

00:33:40 Speaker 11: or comments for Scott or Randy?

00:33:41 Speaker 11: If so, raise. your hand, Shirley.

00:33:44 Speaker 11: Thank you, Chair Smith, and I

00:33:47 Speaker 11: just wanted to share that I

00:33:52 Speaker 11: found this a really interesting process

00:33:55 Speaker 11: because I think a lot of

00:33:57 Speaker 11: us, as lower tiers, see the

00:33:59 Speaker 11: potential of perhaps going through this

00:34:00 Speaker 11: at some point in time. So

00:34:04 Speaker 11: I'm just curious to know, Randy,

00:34:05 Speaker 11: in your mind at this point

00:34:10 Speaker 11: or in the future, does this

00:34:13 Speaker 11: change of you know moving

00:34:14 Speaker 11: these lands into Hanover's boundaries actually

00:34:19 Speaker 11: changed the appraised value of some

00:34:21 Speaker 11: of these properties as they now

00:34:25 Speaker 11: become you know potentially available for

00:34:26 Speaker 11: development. I understand the taxes will

00:34:28 Speaker 11: increase, and that's just because of

00:34:30 Speaker 11: Hanover having a different rate. But

00:34:34 Speaker 11: does the value of these lands

00:34:35 Speaker 11: actually increase for the owners? Through

00:34:39 Speaker 11: you, Chair, a great question, Councilor

00:34:42 Speaker 06: Kibney. I think what we've seen

00:34:44 Speaker 06: in the past. is where there

00:34:46 Speaker 06: may be a valuation change in

00:34:48 Speaker 06: terms of a property is when

00:34:50 Speaker 06: we get into the actual official

00:34:52 Speaker 06: plan designation and zoning changes for

00:34:54 Speaker 06: properties and lands. And as Scott

00:34:59 Speaker 06: noted, that's that would be one

00:35:00 Speaker 06: of the next steps if the

00:35:02 Speaker 06: minister does approve, if if a

00:35:05 Speaker 06: the councils approve this, and then

00:35:07 Speaker 06: the ministers approve the restructuring order.

00:35:10 Speaker 06: One of the next steps would

00:35:14 Speaker 06: be to actually designate and zone

00:35:17 Speaker 06: those lands. That's when we've seen

00:35:20 Speaker 06: that the property values then tend

00:35:26 Speaker 06: to increase in terms of. the

00:35:28 Speaker 06: potential valuation, because then the the

00:35:31 Speaker 06: best use of that property changes

00:35:32 Speaker 10: potentially in terms of the the

00:35:34 Speaker 10: use of those lands. So that's

00:35:35 Speaker 10: that's when we see that there's

00:35:37 Speaker 10: a change in terms of property

00:35:39 Speaker 10: values based on just our experience

00:35:41 Speaker 10: in the past dealing with appraisals

00:35:44 Speaker 10: and and when that trigger happens

00:35:46 Speaker 10: with respect to actually official. plan

00:35:49 Speaker 10: designation, zoning changes. Thank you, Randy.

00:35:51 Speaker 10: Anyone else have any comments or

00:35:55 Speaker 10: questions? Simon, please. You do have

00:35:58 Speaker 10: two in the chat, there, Lori.

00:35:59 Speaker 10: You want to deal with those

00:36:01 Speaker 10: first, or I'm not seeing any

00:36:03 Speaker 10: new ones in the chat. Sorry.

00:36:06 Speaker 10: Anyways, thank you, Chair, and thank

00:36:07 Speaker 10: you for Randy and Scott there

00:36:11 Speaker 10: for their in-depth presentation. I'm very

00:36:14 Speaker 10: impressed. with all the work you

00:36:17 Speaker 10: have done, and a couple of

00:36:20 Speaker 10: questions come to mind. Though, and

00:36:22 Speaker 10: maybe you cannot. There's not no

00:36:25 Speaker 10: time to answer all my questions.

00:36:27 Speaker 10: One of them certainly is on

00:36:28 Speaker 10: my mind, and I I applaud

00:36:31 Speaker 10: Hanover for the apartment building that

00:36:33 Speaker 10: they have built there. 90 units,

00:36:35 Speaker 10: like that, is certainly for smaller

00:36:36 Speaker 10: housing. Is there any, or and

00:36:39 Speaker 10: this is probably not your field,

00:36:41 Speaker 10: but are there any plans for

00:36:44 Speaker 10: smaller houses there, or in more

00:36:45 Speaker 10: dense housing on the large estate

00:36:47 Speaker 10: housing that we see? Randy or

00:36:48 Speaker 10: Scott, through you, Madam Chair. Thank

00:36:50 Speaker 10: you for your question, Simon. So,

00:36:54 Speaker 10: the the lands that are potentially

00:36:55 Speaker 10: being added, there's no specific plans

00:36:57 Speaker 10: for them yet in terms of

00:36:59 Speaker 10: you know which lands could be

00:37:01 Speaker 10: residential or which lands could be

00:37:02 Speaker 10: industrial or. or commercial or anything

00:37:04 Speaker 10: else. With respect to the existing

00:37:05 Speaker 10: town of Hanover, the town's done

00:37:08 Speaker 10: a fair amount of work over

00:37:11 Speaker 10: over the past you know fifteen

00:37:12 Speaker 10: years to to try to make

00:37:14 Speaker 10: sure they're they're using their existing

00:37:16 Speaker 10: land base to to the extent

00:37:16 Speaker 10: possible. And and so we're seeing

00:37:17 Speaker 10: at a planning level, obviously there's

00:37:19 Speaker 10: there's some some apartment buildings happening,

00:37:20 Speaker 10: which is wonderful from a rental

00:37:21 Speaker 10: housing perspective. But we're also seeing

00:37:23 Speaker 10: a lot of conversions. We're seeing

00:37:25 Speaker 10: existing homes being sort of chunked

00:37:26 Speaker 10: out into different apartments. In some

00:37:31 Speaker 10: cases, you know, the addition of

00:37:34 Speaker 10: new semi-detached dwellings or townhouses in

00:37:35 Speaker 10: in sort of an infill capacity,

00:37:39 Speaker 10: and even the new sort of

00:37:41 Speaker 10: residential planned so subdivisions we've seen

00:37:44 Speaker 10: over the last ten years. You

00:37:46 Speaker 10: know, it's not just single-detached housing

00:37:48 Speaker 10: anymore. There's lots of town townhouses

00:37:50 Speaker 10: and semis in that regard. So.

00:37:51 Speaker 10: Semies in that regard, so they're

00:37:53 Speaker 10: trying to use their lands as

00:37:55 Speaker 13: best as possible, but also from

00:37:58 Speaker 13: a housing perspective, create those opportunities

00:38:00 Speaker 13: for you know maybe the young

00:38:06 Speaker 13: family that's looking for their first

00:38:08 Speaker 13: apartment or first home, or or

00:38:09 Speaker 10: maybe the more seasoned veteran that's

00:38:10 Speaker 10: actually looking to downsize from from

00:38:14 Speaker 10: a larger home. So that's one

00:38:16 Speaker 10: of the sort of the key

00:38:18 Speaker 10: general tenants in planning is is

00:38:19 Speaker 10: as much as possible we try

00:38:20 Speaker 10: to use what we have and

00:38:22 Speaker 10: grow up, not grow out. But

00:38:24 Speaker 10: at a certain point and Hanover's

00:38:25 Speaker 10: done a lot of work to

00:38:28 Speaker 10: demonstrate this, there will be a

00:38:30 Speaker 10: land shortage within the next number

00:38:33 Speaker 10: of years, and that's why they've

00:38:36 Speaker 10: been proactively working with Westray in

00:38:39 Speaker 10: that regard. So, Simon, that was

00:38:41 Speaker 10: a bit of a ramble. I

00:38:43 Speaker 10: don't know if I've answered your

00:38:44 Speaker 10: question, but happy to take any

00:38:46 Speaker 10: further questions. Oh, thank you very

00:38:48 Speaker 10: much. And there's nothing to hand

00:38:51 Speaker 10: up, so deal with that first,

00:38:52 Speaker 10: and I'm carrying on. Thank you,

00:38:54 Speaker 10: thank you. Thank you, Scott. Thank

00:38:58 Speaker 10: you, Simon. Blair, please. Thank you,

00:39:01 Speaker 10: Scott. Just a. question. I'm just

00:39:02 Speaker 10: wondering how these lands are selected.

00:39:04 Speaker 10: I guess I'm generally in favor

00:39:05 Speaker 10: of development, but in my mind,

00:39:08 Speaker 10: the the south and maybe the

00:39:09 Speaker 10: west sides are probably of poorer

00:39:11 Speaker 10: agricultural quality than some of the

00:39:13 Speaker 10: lands that have been selected. And

00:39:14 Speaker 10: I guess I also didn't know.

00:39:16 Speaker 10: Does the fact that the west

00:39:19 Speaker 10: side falls in Bruce County is

00:39:22 Speaker 10: that a an impediment to working

00:39:22 Speaker 10: on that side of town, or

00:39:23 Speaker 10: how does this all work? Sorry,

00:39:24 Speaker 10: through the chair. I just brought

00:39:26 Speaker 10: up the map here again. Great

00:39:28 Speaker 10: question, Blair. Thank you for that.

00:39:30 Speaker 10: So, setting aside any municipal boundaries,

00:39:33 Speaker 10: from a general planning perspective, sort

00:39:34 Speaker 10: of the way the province lines

00:39:36 Speaker 10: it out is: if you are

00:39:39 Speaker 10: looking at growing one of your

00:39:41 Speaker 10: settlement areas, even if it's if

00:39:43 Speaker 10: it's within your existing community, so

00:39:45 Speaker 10: let's just say you know Durham

00:39:47 Speaker 10: was expanding into into West Grey,

00:39:50 Speaker 10: then the general principle. is you

00:39:53 Speaker 10: look in all directions, and and

00:39:54 Speaker 10: then you try to determine where

00:39:56 Speaker 10: is the logical location for growth,

00:39:58 Speaker 10: and and so that logical location

00:40:01 Speaker 10: takes into account a number of

00:40:03 Speaker 10: factors. So it would take into

00:40:07 Speaker 10: account the land. So you know,

00:40:10 Speaker 10: are they suitable for growth? Are

00:40:12 Speaker 10: they prime agricultural land? Are they

00:40:13 Speaker 10: lower lower quality agricultural lands? Are

00:40:16 Speaker 10: they sensitive natural environment lands? But

00:40:18 Speaker 10: then it would also take into

00:40:21 Speaker 10: effect into consideration the. the ability

00:40:23 Speaker 10: to provide services to those lands.

00:40:24 Speaker 10: So if we have existing water

00:40:26 Speaker 10: and sewer pipes, where do they

00:40:28 Speaker 10: stop? Where can they be easily

00:40:30 Speaker 10: expanded to? Where is it feasible

00:40:31 Speaker 10: to expand the road network to

00:40:32 Speaker 10: and everything else? And so in

00:40:36 Speaker 10: in Hanover is looking at this,

00:40:38 Speaker 10: and they've been looking at it

00:40:41 Speaker 10: for a number of years now.

00:40:42 Speaker 10: They they've truly considered all directions.

00:40:44 Speaker 10: And as you pointed out, you

00:40:46 Speaker 10: know, and you can see it

00:40:48 Speaker 10: on the screen there. The lands

00:40:50 Speaker 10: to the to the west are

00:40:51 Speaker 10: in Bruce County and in Brockton

00:40:53 Speaker 10: and that. Bruce County and in

00:40:54 Speaker 10: Brockton in that regard, but there

00:40:57 Speaker 10: were there was a public meeting

00:40:58 Speaker 10: held back in in 2021 by

00:41:02 Speaker 10: the town of Hanover where they

00:41:03 Speaker 10: were looking at potential future growth

00:41:04 Speaker 10: lands in both Brockton and West

00:41:06 Speaker 10: Gray in that regard, and and

00:41:09 Speaker 10: there were some initial discussions with

00:41:10 Speaker 10: Bruce County and with Brockton about

00:41:11 Speaker 10: whether or not there could be

00:41:13 Speaker 10: some some formal further exploration or

00:41:14 Speaker 10: partnership here. In the end, my

00:41:17 Speaker 10: understanding is is Brockton said sort

00:41:20 Speaker 10: of not at this time, no,

00:41:22 Speaker 10: thank you. and and so Hanover

00:41:25 Speaker 10: continued to chat with West Gray.

00:41:26 Speaker 04: In the discussions in West Gray,

00:41:28 Speaker 04: again, it's it's it's been heavily

00:41:30 Speaker 04: influenced by sort of topography, the

00:41:32 Speaker 04: the the quality of the agricultural

00:41:34 Speaker 04: lands, and the ability to service.

00:41:39 Speaker 04: And so, you know, for those

00:41:40 Speaker 04: that that know the area well,

00:41:43 Speaker 04: there's some major topographical changes in

00:41:44 Speaker 04: in the south end of town

00:41:46 Speaker 04: that don't make for an easy

00:41:48 Speaker 04: expansion, sort of further south or

00:41:50 Speaker 10: just. off the page on my

00:41:52 Speaker 10: map here, the the lands certainly

00:41:53 Speaker 10: to the east and to the

00:41:55 Speaker 10: north are more conducive. But as

00:41:58 Speaker 10: you said, some of those lands,

00:42:01 Speaker 10: both to the east and the

00:42:02 Speaker 10: north, are are quality farmlands and

00:42:05 Speaker 10: and very actively farmed right now.

00:42:07 Speaker 10: And and so the municipalities have

00:42:09 Speaker 10: tried to be sensitive to that.

00:42:10 Speaker 10: And as as Randy has noted,

00:42:13 Speaker 10: that's been sort of a central

00:42:16 Speaker 10: tenant from from the get go

00:42:19 Speaker 10: in terms of ensuring that those

00:42:21 Speaker 10: that that do want to continue

00:42:24 Speaker 10: farming are able to continue to

00:42:25 Speaker 10: farm. and then when we get

00:42:27 Speaker 10: into that future planning stage, not

00:42:29 Speaker 10: all the lands would be would

00:42:31 Speaker 10: be shifted to a development designation

00:42:33 Speaker 10: at first. So likely, a lot

00:42:34 Speaker 10: of those lands would continue to

00:42:37 Speaker 10: be farmed or used in their

00:42:38 Speaker 10: current state for for many years,

00:42:39 Speaker 10: even decades before before development is

00:42:41 Speaker 10: sort of on the doorstep in

00:42:42 Speaker 10: that regard. So I don't know

00:42:44 Speaker 10: if that answers your question, but

00:42:46 Speaker 10: certainly if it doesn't, happy to

00:42:49 Speaker 10: try in a different manner. Are

00:42:50 Speaker 10: you all good, Blair? Thank you.

00:42:52 Speaker 10: Scott. And I saw this during

00:42:55 Speaker 04: the Elmwood live streaming that meeting

00:42:57 Speaker 04: as well today. What on earth

00:42:59 Speaker 04: is that obscure shape? Kind of

00:42:59 Speaker 04: looks like a a whale. How

00:43:00 Speaker 04: does that come about that you

00:43:04 Speaker 04: have a property in that obscure

00:43:08 Speaker 04: shape? Yeah, great question, Chair. I'll

00:43:11 Speaker 04: pull up my screen again here.

00:43:13 Speaker 04: It's kind of probably tough to

00:43:14 Speaker 04: see on your screens, but I

00:43:16 Speaker 04: think this is the the the

00:43:18 Speaker 04: one you're referring to—the little whale

00:43:20 Speaker 04: or dinosaur or whatever you have.

00:43:25 Speaker 04: there. So you have the county

00:43:28 Speaker 04: road here, and it's tough to

00:43:30 Speaker 04: see, but there is a former

00:43:32 Speaker 04: rail line that goes up through

00:43:34 Speaker 04: parts of current Hanover into technically

00:43:40 Speaker 04: West Gray in this regard, and

00:43:42 Speaker 04: then back into Hanover. And then

00:43:44 Speaker 04: you also have the river just

00:43:47 Speaker 04: to the north here, and and

00:43:49 Speaker 04: so in order to provide that

00:43:52 Speaker 04: sort of trail connectivity by the

00:43:54 Speaker 04: former rail line, but also to

00:43:55 Speaker 04: have you know a logical geographic

00:43:57 Speaker 04: boundary in terms of the river—that's

00:44:01 Speaker 14: where it was decided to to

00:44:04 Speaker 14: potentially include these lands here. So

00:44:05 Speaker 14: there's an existing house here and

00:44:06 Speaker 14: one other piece of land there.

00:44:09 Speaker 14: But it's really about maintaining sort

00:44:11 Speaker 14: of that infrastructure connectivity through the

00:44:13 Speaker 14: trail, and then using sort of

00:44:16 Speaker 14: the river as as that natural

00:44:17 Speaker 14: boundary. Even though it looks kind

00:44:19 Speaker 14: of out of place compared to

00:44:22 Speaker 14: the square and the rectangle boundaries

00:44:25 Speaker 14: elsewhere, there was there was a

00:44:30 Speaker 14: lot of thought that went into

00:44:31 Speaker 14: sort of why that specific chunk

00:44:33 Speaker 14: of land was was. A chunk

00:44:35 Speaker 14: of land was was considered in

00:44:39 Speaker 14: that regard. Thanks, Scott. It had

00:44:44 Speaker 14: me scratching my head, so I

00:44:47 Speaker 14: had to ask. So, thank you.

00:44:48 Speaker 14: Any other questions or comments? Otherwise,

00:44:50 Speaker 14: Scott and Randy, thank you very

00:44:52 Speaker 14: much for that update today. I

00:44:54 Speaker 14: think it was important for everyone

00:44:57 Speaker 14: to hear. So, thank you very

00:44:58 Speaker 14: much. Moving on to 4C. This

00:44:59 Speaker 14: is CAOR-AAA C 1925 Experimental Acres

00:45:01 Speaker 14: Program 2025 Update. Linda Scott Swanson

00:45:04 Speaker 14: from the Climate Change Manager from

00:45:07 Speaker 14: Gray County will do the presentation.

00:45:10 Speaker 14: as well as Emily McKeag from

00:45:13 Speaker 14: here at Gray Ag Services. But

00:45:15 Speaker 14: first, I'm looking for a motion

00:45:16 Speaker 14: as written that reports CAORAAC 1925

00:45:18 Speaker 14: regarding the Experimental Acres 2025 Program

00:45:21 Speaker 14: outcomes and next steps be received

00:45:24 Speaker 14: for information. Looking for a mover

00:45:27 Speaker 14: and a seconder, please. I move.

00:45:29 Speaker 14: Thank you, Brenda. Seconder. Thank you.

00:45:31 Speaker 14: I also I also saw Shirley's

00:45:33 Speaker 14: hand. so thank you, Shirley. Made

00:45:36 Speaker 14: seconded the motion. Okay, so Linda

00:45:39 Speaker 14: and Emily, we look forward to

00:45:39 Speaker 14: your presentation today. Thank you, Chair

00:45:41 Speaker 14: Smith, and thank you to the

00:45:44 Speaker 14: committee for having us here this

00:45:47 Speaker 14: morning to share this informational report

00:45:50 Speaker 14: on the 2025 Experimental Acres Program

00:45:52 Speaker 14: season. I'm going to briefly speak

00:45:53 Speaker 14: a little bit about the program

00:45:56 Speaker 14: overall and the contents of the

00:45:58 Speaker 14: report, and then leave the heavy

00:46:01 Speaker 14: lifting to Emily to talk to

00:46:03 Speaker 14: you in more. detail about the

00:46:05 Speaker 14: specific projects that happened this year

00:46:07 Speaker 14: and some of the learnings and

00:46:09 Speaker 14: outcomes that that were that occurred.

00:46:10 Speaker 14: So this year we had six

00:46:13 Speaker 14: producers who participated in our program,

00:46:16 Speaker 14: which touched directly 265 acres. We've

00:46:18 Speaker 14: seen year over year a growth

00:46:21 Speaker 14: in the number of acres that

00:46:23 Speaker 14: are touched since the program started

00:46:24 Speaker 14: in 2023. We've had 19 projects.

00:46:27 Speaker 14: that have directly impacted 440 acres,

00:46:29 Speaker 14: but we know that that's sort

00:46:34 Speaker 14: of within a given program year.

00:46:36 Speaker 14: So when you think about those

00:46:37 Speaker 14: farmers or producers who maybe are

00:46:40 Speaker 14: continuing to use those practices in

00:46:44 Speaker 14: subsequent years or sharing their learnings

00:46:45 Speaker 14: with others, we know that it's

00:46:47 Speaker 14: a much larger number of acres

00:46:50 Speaker 14: across the county that have been

00:46:53 Speaker 14: touched by this program. The tagline

00:46:56 Speaker 14: of our program is "Farmers know

00:46:58 Speaker 14: their land best." This is

00:47:01 Speaker 14: very much a producer-driven program.

00:47:03 Speaker 14: It's not us coming in saying,

00:47:05 Speaker 14: "Here are five things. If you

00:47:06 Speaker 14: do them, we'll give you an

00:47:11 Speaker 14: incentive." It really is a micro-grant

00:47:13 Speaker 14: innovation program where we're inviting producers

00:47:16 Speaker 14: to tell us what they know

00:47:18 Speaker 14: has the opportunity, or that what

00:47:20 Speaker 14: they really believe has the opportunity

00:47:22 Speaker 14: to improve production on their land,

00:47:24 Speaker 14: and then based on the applications

00:47:26 Speaker 14: we receive in twenty. We receive

00:47:29 Speaker 14: in 2025. There were I'm going

00:47:33 Speaker 14: to get this right. I want

00:47:34 Speaker 14: to say 13. Sorry, 15. We

00:47:35 Speaker 14: received 15 applications to participate in

00:47:37 Speaker 14: the program, and of those 15

00:47:38 Speaker 14: applications, we could have given funding

00:47:42 Speaker 14: to almost all of them. There

00:47:45 Speaker 14: weren't bad applications. There were just

00:47:47 Speaker 14: applications that were stronger than others.

00:47:49 Speaker 14: So we use a blind review

00:47:50 Speaker 14: process to select the successful projects.

00:47:52 Speaker 14: A number of this committee's members

00:47:54 Speaker 14: sit on that review table. We,

00:47:56 Speaker 14: you know, you don't know whose

00:47:57 Speaker 14: project you're looking at. You just

00:47:59 Speaker 14: get to see what the the

00:48:00 Speaker 14: producer is proposing, and they're scored

00:48:01 Speaker 14: against a pre-established rubric that looks

00:48:04 Speaker 14: at the feasibility, that looks at

00:48:07 Speaker 14: the design, how replicable the project

00:48:10 Speaker 14: might be, so whether or not

00:48:12 Speaker 14: it's something that could be transferable,

00:48:14 Speaker 14: and then also centrally how effective

00:48:15 Speaker 14: that project is likely to be

00:48:17 Speaker 14: with both resilience building on. farms,

00:48:18 Speaker 14: so things that are going to

00:48:21 Speaker 14: decrease runoff, things that are going

00:48:23 Speaker 14: to mitigate against our changing climate,

00:48:24 Speaker 14: and also carbon sequestration. We know

00:48:26 Speaker 14: in our climate plan that Gray

00:48:29 Speaker 14: is blessed with the real opportunity

00:48:32 Speaker 14: to leverage nature-based solutions, in which

00:48:34 Speaker 14: we are considering agriculture, so nature

00:48:36 Speaker 14: or land-based solutions, and so things

00:48:40 Speaker 14: like keeping roots in the ground,

00:48:42 Speaker 14: maintaining green cover, integrating animals into

00:48:44 Speaker 14: rotations. Interrotations and reducing mechanical intervention

00:48:47 Speaker 14: are all things that we look

00:48:50 Speaker 14: for in the project applications. We

00:48:53 Speaker 14: try within the program to bake

00:48:55 Speaker 14: in or build in knowledge sharing.

00:48:58 Speaker 14: So we don't want the benefit

00:49:00 Speaker 14: of these programs to stop on

00:49:01 Speaker 14: the farm or the the the

00:49:03 Speaker 14: location where they happen. We really

00:49:07 Speaker 14: want there to be learning between

00:49:10 Speaker 14: the participants and also beyond the

00:49:11 Speaker 14: participants. So we host two events

00:49:13 Speaker 14: in 2025. a farm tour that

00:49:16 Speaker 14: some of you were able to