Grey County County Council Meeting Transcript — April 9, 2026

00:07:47 SPEAKER_171: Good morning County Council I would like to call to order this meeting of April ninth twenty twentysix As you are able please join us in the singing of O Canada

00:08:05 SPEAKER_172: Our home and native land true patriot love in all of us command With glowing hearts we see

00:08:21 SPEAKER_173: thee rise the true North strong and free From far and wide O Canada we stand on guard for thee God

00:08:37 SPEAKER_173: keep our land glorious and free O Canada we stand on guard

00:08:50 SPEAKER_173: for

00:08:53 SPEAKER_173: thee O Canada we stand on guard for thee

00:09:12 SPEAKER_171: Madam Clerk could you please conduct our roll call

00:09:18 SPEAKER_174: Councillor Mackie Councillor McKay Councillor Carleton Councillor Pringle Councillor McQueen sends his regrets today Councillor Nielsen

00:09:29 SPEAKER_174: Councillor Patterson Councillor Dicker Councillor Kentner Councillor Keaveny Councillor Body Councillor Gregg Councillor Milne Councillor McQueen

00:09:42 SPEAKER_175: Warden Matrasovs Councillor Morton present and

00:09:48 SPEAKER_174: Eccles Councillor Hutchinson present All members in attendance today with the exception of Councillor McQueen

00:09:58 SPEAKER_174: Thank you Let

00:10:01 SPEAKER_174: us begin

00:10:07 SPEAKER_171: by respectfully acknowledging that we are gathering on the traditional territory

00:10:13 SPEAKER_171: of the Anishinaabek Nation the people of the Three Fires known as the Ojibwe Odawa and Potawatomi Nations and further we give thanks to the Chippewas of Saugeen and the Chippewas of Nawash known collectively as the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation traditional

00:10:30 SPEAKER_171: keepers of these lands and waters since time immemorial in our south lies the traditional territories of the Six Nations of the Grand River and Haudenosaunee

00:10:40 SPEAKER_171: We are dedicated to honoring Indigenous history and culture and committed to moving forward in the spirit of truth reconciliation friendship and collaboration with all First Nations Métis and Inuit people

00:10:59 SPEAKER_171: Item five is the adoption of the minutes It is recommended that the minutes of County Council meeting and the committee of the whole meeting dated March twenty six twenty six and the resolutions contained therein be adopted as presented May I

00:11:11 SPEAKER_171: ask for a mover Moved by Councilor Dobrin seconded by Councilor Nilson Any discussion All those in favor

00:11:18 SPEAKER_171: And that motion is carried

00:11:20 SPEAKER_171: We do not have any closed meeting matters for today's council agenda Nor reports that allows us to move on into the bylaws It's recommended that bylaw 5726 be introduced and taken as read a first second and third time Finally passed

00:11:35 SPEAKER_171: signed by the warden and the clerk sealed with the seal of the corporation and engrossed into the bylaw book It is the bylaw to confirm all actions and proceedings of the council May I ask for a mover Moved by Councillor

00:11:46 SPEAKER_171: Patterson seconded by Councillor Dickert Any discussion All those in favor That motion is carried

00:11:53 SPEAKER_171: New News and celebrations We'd like to begin first with Director Myers who will update us on an exciting week that's been happening this week and we fully participate in this So Director Myers

00:12:07 SPEAKER_025: thank you so much Good morning County Council I am really pleased to share that we are in the midst of Archives Awareness Week So this is a celebration that began on April 7th and concludes tomorrow But just to take a

00:12:18 SPEAKER_025: moment to recognize Karen Noble and all the amazing work That she does in the archives and what a great record that is Our history to be able to tell stories of who we are and where we're going So just if

00:12:29 SPEAKER_025: you haven't been to the archives lately please any time Karen would love to have you But a celebration to the archives this week Thanks

00:12:37 SPEAKER_171: Thank you Director Myers I remember I guess it would have been now 20

00:12:42 SPEAKER_171: yeah 25 years ago visiting the archives

00:12:46 SPEAKER_171: to find out more about what became my home Thank you

00:12:49 SPEAKER_171: Okay News and celebrations from county council members We'll start with the deputy warden

00:12:56 SPEAKER_176: Thank you Madam Warden and good morning Council I just wanted to remind everybody that we in Southgate Holstein in particular are hosting Maple Fest this Saturday and Sunday It's always a big event Bring your grandkids bring your kids bring your

00:13:09 SPEAKER_176: whole family Enjoy all the things that are going on and we look forward to seeing

00:13:17 SPEAKER_171: Thank you and I'll look around We'll go to Councilor Carlton next

00:13:22 SPEAKER_177: Good morning County Council And for anyone who can't make it from the south end of the county they can go to the north end of the county to Campbell for the Maple Tour and Fun Fair Breakfast served at the United

00:13:32 SPEAKER_177: Church and six places on the tour this year with a vendors market at the community center for everybody So come out and enjoy

00:13:41 SPEAKER_171: Excellent Other County Council news Looking around the room Looking Online

00:13:49 SPEAKER_171: Okay well that gives everybody plenty of opportunities this weekend At this point in time I will call for a motion to adjourn Yeah the mover moved by Councillor Pringle seconded by Councillor McKay Any discussion All those in favor

00:14:04 SPEAKER_171: Okay this council is adjourned We'll take a moment to switch over with the technology

00:14:28 SPEAKER_171: Okay I'd like to call to order this committee The whole agenda of April ninth twenty twentysix At this point in time I'll put out a question if there are any declarations of interest

00:14:39 SPEAKER_171: See no hands raised We will continue business arising for minutes

00:14:45 SPEAKER_171: Seen none We will continue We do have a delegation this morning I would like to welcome Mr Leach who is the vice president for the Sogee Valley Children's Safety Village to come to present us an annual update on what's going

00:14:58 SPEAKER_171: on there

00:15:00 SPEAKER_171: Welcome Mr Leach

00:15:09 SPEAKER_179: Great First of all I want to thank Tara

00:15:13 SPEAKER_180: and Council for provide me another opportunity to come before you It's been a couple years since I've been here

00:15:20 SPEAKER_180: and the reason for my presentation is just to say thank you to the county to the staff and to County Council for all your support over the years for the Children's Safety Village So I just want to bring you a

00:15:34 SPEAKER_180: bit of a bit of an update as to where we are right now So you can move along with their slide

00:15:42 SPEAKER_180: Our goal has never changed We wanted to reduce childhood accidental injuries and death by providing handson safety training at the Safety Village I want to apologize for my back for those behind me here

00:15:56 SPEAKER_180: And I noticed that when the camera was first shining it was a rear view camera and that really showed off my bald spot a little bit more than I I was hoping for Anyways next slide please

00:16:08 SPEAKER_180: This has been one of our models all along A few you could make a difference in the life of a child would you Next slide please

00:16:16 SPEAKER_180: County Council you have made a difference Thank you thank you thank you

00:16:22 SPEAKER_180: Last year over 2600 children attended our safety training programs and since after COVID when we got underway with our handson interactive safety training at the village we've had over 12000 children go through our village and take that handson safety training

00:16:38 SPEAKER_180: continue to grow We're fully booked We actually had March break We had programs all during March break We started April first We're fully booked to the end of June We just this past week had a board meeting and opened up

00:16:53 SPEAKER_180: our our

00:16:55 SPEAKER_180: opportunity to book make bookings online for September to to November So we're there's so much demand that we decided we'd open up our bookings a little bit Bit earlier so So we're well underway Next slide please

00:17:11 SPEAKER_180: These are some of schools I know you've had an opportunity to review these slides and I apologize if I've missed any schools in your community But these are some of the schools that I picked off of our our registration that

00:17:23 SPEAKER_180: have attended from from Gray County and we continue to have the support of our fire our Chiefs Association We still haven't built a little fire hall in the village We have pad poured We have some money set aside from the

00:17:36 SPEAKER_180: Gray County fire chiefs and we've been in touch with West Gray Elmwood and Newstead fire departments They're all anxious to come together and I've been sending them information and designs and Hopefully within the next year we can get a fire

00:17:50 SPEAKER_180: hall built on there and that can add to our outside children's village program as well Next slide please

00:18:00 SPEAKER_180: As the question came up there during the your Your Gray County family Day you know how do we show our support for Gray County Well we have a street that's been named since we opened the village Gray County Line Next

00:18:13 SPEAKER_180: slide

00:18:15 SPEAKER_180: Our Wall of Honor We have those who have donated over fifty thousand to the Operation Safety Village have their name put on our Wall of Honor and Gray County is on that Wall of Honor Next slide please

00:18:29 SPEAKER_180: And of course this past summer we had Gray County Family Day and understand negotiation negotiations are underway again What a tremendous day Now the weather helped out tremendously for that day but a huge crowd and a lot of smiles and

00:18:40 SPEAKER_180: a lot of little kids that's there for the day So we had we had a great day We had a lot of fun and like I said I was talking to my

00:18:47 SPEAKER_180: partner Marilyn Rosner and she indicated last night that discussions are underway again to hold another Gray County Family Day Next slide please

00:18:57 SPEAKER_180: So thousands of children from Kindergarten to grade Grade one attend our programming

00:19:03 SPEAKER_180: The demand has continued to grow so occasionally this past year we've opened up our programming to Grade Sevens and Eights We have to change things a little bit and we actually get the Grade Sevens and Eights to be leaders of

00:19:15 SPEAKER_180: the smaller children when they're when they're attending the village So we're always trying to improvise our our programming so we can accommodate more and more We have had children from far away as Tobermory

00:19:29 SPEAKER_180: To attend the village we also have had a day when we have nothing but autistic children at the village and you know that was kind of a special day for us Another reason why the safety village has a fence all

00:19:40 SPEAKER_180: the way around it as well We don't want to lose any child Next slide please

00:19:46 SPEAKER_180: Always a

00:19:48 SPEAKER_180: big part of our programming is Sparky's apartments our evacuation bedroom Currently looking at a grant opportunity to put in second story evacuation Evacuation from the village We're looking at some designs with a carpenter right now Not sure how that will

00:20:03 SPEAKER_180: fare out but the question keeps coming up from those that live in an apartment complex from a second floor If a fire in our living room or our basement area how do we escape So been working with our fire department

00:20:16 SPEAKER_180: our fire instructor looking at how do we create a second story opportunity for children to to know to learn what to do in that situation

00:20:26 SPEAKER_180: Next slide please

00:20:29 SPEAKER_180: So we have classroom instruction in our fire classroom We have our community classroom which is police nine one danger or stranger danger So after that activity the kids have an opportunity to do a walkabout

00:20:45 SPEAKER_180: through the village and there's all kinds of activities from hydro danger recreation water safety and

00:20:52 SPEAKER_180: of course farm safety And we'll get to That in a second

00:20:55 SPEAKER_180: because that has continued to grow We are in a rural part of Ontario That's part of the reason that we built the safety village to begin with The closest opportunity had been Waterloo Children's Safety Village for anybody that lived in

00:21:08 SPEAKER_180: this particular area to take their children And you know came to my attention that you know there's nothing in this particular area and that's why we we started building this village in 2009

00:21:20 SPEAKER_180: Yes I have aged quite a bit since 2009 thousand and nine

00:21:25 SPEAKER_180: and I continued to age apparently Anyways our the motto of all the safety villages in Ontario is Tell me I'll forget show me and I may remember and involve me and I will understand And we have so many testimonials coming

00:21:39 SPEAKER_180: in from parents and teachers right now of what the kids have learned at the safety village And we get these online and through our Facebook and our website Parents write back and tell us what their child has come home with

00:21:51 SPEAKER_180: So hopefully and we there's packages that go with the children and the teachers when they've attended the class and we're hoping that these children have the opportunity to share these with their parents and the parents have an opportunity to learn

00:22:03 SPEAKER_180: as well So next slide please

00:22:06 SPEAKER_180: We've had some super safety days We're going to be changing up this summer but for the past four or five years we've been running super safety days in Gray County and its support has been absolutely tremendous These are just some

00:22:18 SPEAKER_180: slides of some of the units that were there Gray County Paramedics have always been there Next slide please

00:22:26 SPEAKER_180: West Gray Fire Department has always been a big sponsor

00:22:30 SPEAKER_180: Next slide please Dundalk Fire Department These are just some slides from our of course the sunshiny We had obviously very good super safety days

00:22:40 SPEAKER_180: What has been added to the safety village this past year Next slide please

00:22:45 SPEAKER_180: A bigger undertaking not without some controversy but we built a new barn and we also got a silo donated to us from a local farmer So this building was in use this past fall and it's in use as of

00:23:01 SPEAKER_180: right now And it just expands our farm safety program There's such a huge demand and we have the Ontario Federation of Agriculture heavily engaged in fundraising order for this particular unit to to be made and come off the ground so

00:23:17 SPEAKER_180: So we're we're quite excited I was telling one gentleman here

00:23:21 SPEAKER_180: I still think it's too big This is a miniature village but I build the pad and they put the building on the pad So anyway we're quite pleased It's a well constructed building Just so you're aware this has been added

00:23:35 SPEAKER_180: to our insurance as well We have a very comprehensive insurance policy and whenever we add a new building or complex to the building we have to let our insurers know so that we're fully insured Next slide please

00:23:47 SPEAKER_180: We continue to run Halloween in the village It started out as a

00:23:51 SPEAKER_180: few years ago We had 658 children show up although 100 registered We hit over 3000 a year ago Last year was a bit rainier days so we only had about 2000 about 10 well only 2000

00:24:06 SPEAKER_180: Anyways we also it's free of charge Parents

00:24:11 SPEAKER_180: and grandparents really get involved In this Halloween event you can see from the pictures there that parents are dressed up as much as the kids are

00:24:19 SPEAKER_180: and we have the Paw Patrol there as well greeting the children We also collect donations and this past year went to Salvation Army That's where all the food donation we're able to fill the back of an SUV or fill an

00:24:32 SPEAKER_180: SUV and a truck up So we're very pleased with you know the donations that do come in and we always give it to the food bank Next slide please This is just some of the equipment that shows up at our

00:24:44 SPEAKER_180: our Halloween and I can't read the name on that one there Mr Terry Tell me what that says

00:24:52 SPEAKER_180: Hanover Thank you Next slide please So again

00:24:58 SPEAKER_180: you have made a difference with your financial support and we do thank you

00:25:03 SPEAKER_180: Next slide please

00:25:05 SPEAKER_180: We look forward to continue to work together and make this village and our community the safe place for children

00:25:11 SPEAKER_180: Any questions

00:25:18 SPEAKER_171: Thank you very much Mr Leach And indeed it has been Yes my granddaughter has now been there because we were able to attend the family day together And at three years old she was already introduced to some of the rules

00:25:29 SPEAKER_171: of the road

00:25:32 SPEAKER_171: So are there any questions from anyone We'll go to the deputy warden Not a question Madam Warden But I just wanted to thank provide my thanks to Al and I can't think of a better spokesperson for the Safety Village You

00:25:44 SPEAKER_182: always do a great job and we appreciate all that you do

00:25:48 SPEAKER_182: Well I do actually have one small question What about the older kids that want to drive the little trucks around Is there any notion of making a little more leg room there for for an older guy that you know could

00:25:59 SPEAKER_182: drive I know Nile would like to do that too

00:26:08 SPEAKER_180: It it is a valid question because we do have some children that are larger children We do have a golf cart

00:26:15 SPEAKER_180: on and we use that on a regular basis Also those for children who are physically disabled and not able to participate in a jeep or a scooter So we use the golf cart so they can be part of their class

00:26:27 SPEAKER_180: so they don't miss out on So they they also circulate through our little seven streets so they're part of their classroom get together So we try not to It's fully accessible and open to all children of age color race description

00:26:42 SPEAKER_180: physical capabilities

00:26:46 SPEAKER_171: Excellent Good to know too So if there are any golf courses in the area that are looking to retire a golf court golf cart that might be a good addition to the fleet

00:26:56 SPEAKER_171: Any other questions

00:26:59 SPEAKER_171: Okay Well thank you again We appreciate this update And as the deputy warden has said you are always an excellent spokesperson and we appreciate all of the work that all the volunteers put into making sure that this is a place

00:27:10 SPEAKER_171: for learning but also so enjoyable for the children Thank you

00:27:18 SPEAKER_171: Okay we'll move to item five which is determination of items requiring separate discussion There are nine different items on the consent agenda so if you could name any that you wish to pull for separate discussion A through I

00:27:31 SPEAKER_183: We'll go to Councilor Eccles online

00:27:34 SPEAKER_183: Thank you very much I'd like to pull item I

00:27:39 SPEAKER_183: the Ontario Land Tribunal report

00:27:45 SPEAKER_171: Okay Thank you very much So item I has been pulled Any others

00:27:50 SPEAKER_171: Okay Not seeing any further hands Then the recommendation is that the following consentage items be received and that staff be authorized to take actions necessary to give effect to the recommendations the staff reports and that the correspondence be supported or

00:28:05 SPEAKER_171: received for information as recommended in the consent agenda May I ask for a mover and a seconder Got it Moved by Councillor McKay seconded by Councillor Hutchison All those in favor

00:28:17 SPEAKER_171: And that motion is carried

00:28:23 SPEAKER_171: So carrying on with items under seven for discussion and direction we have item seven A The first is it's recommended that report CCR CW zero three six regarding an update to the election protocol for members of Gray County Council

00:28:39 SPEAKER_171: policy be received and the policies be endorsed May I ask for a mover and a seconder Moved by Councillor Nielsen seconded by Councillor Kevney It's now on the floor for discussion So I welcome to the lectern the deputy clerk

00:28:54 SPEAKER_171: Welcome

00:28:56 SPEAKER_184: Good morning County Council and through you Madam Although Although Gray County does not formally participate in the municipal elections all municipalities are required to have an election protocol policy in order to establish some guidelines for members of council during this

00:29:10 SPEAKER_184: time period Clerk staff wish to bring the policy forward for consideration prior to nominations opening in May of this year This policy was last reviewed in 2022 Changes to this policy include enhanced guidance for staff registered candidates and council members

00:29:26 SPEAKER_184: around county resources so social media use and overall conduct leading up to an election Additional information on this for councilors can be found in the code of conduct The purpose of this policy is to help ensure current council members do

00:29:39 SPEAKER_184: not receive advantages in the election by virtue of currently holding office So in regards to campaign signs not being permitted on county property under Section 33G

00:29:51 SPEAKER_184: I just wanted to clarify that tenants are able to place campaign signs on tenant Properties properties and clerks staff will make an administrative change to this part of the policy I'm happy to take any questions at this point from council

00:30:03 SPEAKER_184: on updates to the policy

00:30:07 SPEAKER_171: Okay Any questions or comments from committee The whole members

00:30:11 SPEAKER_171: Not seeing any hands online

00:30:14 SPEAKER_171: Not seeing any hands here I

00:30:17 SPEAKER_171: think you provided some straightforward information Okay So in that case then I'll call the question All those in favor

00:30:23 SPEAKER_171: And that motion is carried Thank you very much to Deputy Clerk

00:30:27 SPEAKER_171: Next we will look on item seven B It's recommended that report FRCW zero eight twenty six regarding twenty six property tax policy be received and that County Council reduce the tax ratio for the multi residential property tax class from one

00:30:43 SPEAKER_171: point one zero three zero to one point zero which is the final one quarter of the movement required to equalize the treat treatment the treat all residential classes and that county council adopt all other 2026 tax

00:30:59 SPEAKER_171: ratios and subclass reductions for the 2026 taxation and that the necessary bylaws be drafted for council's consideration and approval May ask for a mover Move by Councillor Body seconded by Councillor Dickert It's now on the floor for discussion So I'd

00:31:14 SPEAKER_171: like to welcome Director Spicer to begin this

00:31:37 SPEAKER_171: Thank you Madam Warden

00:31:39 SPEAKER_185: I'll start off and just give a few remarks on my report And I'm waiting for Peter Freeze to come online I did give him an estimate and I was a little

00:31:51 SPEAKER_185: Off my estimate I told them we'd probably be 1045ish and so I let them know about five minutes ago where we were on the agenda

00:32:01 SPEAKER_185: So as part of tax policy we are required to bring a report to you each year to get council's confirmation that they are in agreement with what we're proposing for policy And this year the only change that we

00:32:17 SPEAKER_185: are making is the fourth movement to reduce the multiresidential property tax ratio from 1110300 to

00:32:29 SPEAKER_185: which is the same as residential as well as the new multires class

00:32:35 SPEAKER_185: and that will equalize the ratios across

00:32:38 SPEAKER_185: all the multires classes that we currently have

00:32:42 SPEAKER_185: As

00:32:43 SPEAKER_185: a reminder Gray County is the upper tier municipality We are responsible on the county's behalf for setting tax policy and this is set annually after collaboration with treasury staff from member municipalities as well as our tax consultant Peter Freeze

00:33:01 SPEAKER_185: So what this does is the tax policies serve to apportion the tax burden across the different tax classes and they're required to be ratified through a bylaw each year And I know we've had questions from the public in the past

00:33:13 SPEAKER_185: and I'll just reiterate that

00:33:16 SPEAKER_185: if we change ratios

00:33:21 SPEAKER_185: it doesn't change the amount that we raise from taxation So when you pass the bylaw for the revenue expenditures for the year

00:33:31 SPEAKER_185: that's what tells how much we have to raise from taxation and the ratios determine how much each class pays and the properties assessed then take on their proportionate share

00:33:45 SPEAKER_185: So we have

00:33:49 SPEAKER_185: eleven mandatory property tax classes

00:33:53 SPEAKER_185: and there's a current value assessment for each property And as a reminder in 2026 properties continue to be assessed based on values at January one 2016 and there has been no change in or announcement in the reassessment

00:34:10 SPEAKER_185: date We thought perhaps that might be in the spring budget the end of March and that didn't happen

00:34:17 SPEAKER_185: Your member municipalities are responsible for the administration of tax billing and tax adjustments collection issuing rebates and responding to tax inquiries And

00:34:29 SPEAKER_185: we

00:34:30 SPEAKER_185: blow our portion So we do a levy installment request to each of your member municipalities So there's four levy requirements throughout the year So the first one's based on last year's budget and until we pass the tax policy

00:34:47 SPEAKER_185: then until that's passed then it's not picking up the increase required for 2026

00:34:54 SPEAKER_185: So what we've recommended is the use of the same ratios subclass discounts and tax structure in 2025 for 2026 except for the multires

00:35:04 SPEAKER_185: and

00:35:08 SPEAKER_185: so

00:35:09 SPEAKER_185: basically we started on this process four years ago

00:35:13 SPEAKER_185: with Peter's recommendation that we anticipated there might be something come from the province where we were told that we would have to make the rates equal to the new multires rate and if we use that as a fouryear step down

00:35:29 SPEAKER_185: that gave us time to

00:35:32 SPEAKER_185: minimize the impact and as well it

00:35:38 SPEAKER_185: It provided

00:35:41 SPEAKER_185: a sense that we were in control of what was going to happen to that ratio

00:35:46 SPEAKER_185: as well Owen Sound sets their own tax policy because until 2001 they were a separated city

00:35:52 SPEAKER_185: and so we've had conversations with Owen Sound's treasurer Their policy comes next week and this would be their fourth movement as well And if they weren't making a movement then we wouldn't be recommending a movement here at the county because

00:36:06 SPEAKER_185: we need to be in lockstep and if we're not that means the tax shift would not flow as it's intended Because the bulk of the multires units are within the city of On Sound

00:36:18 SPEAKER_185: And with that I see Peter is online and I'm going to let Peter take over

00:36:25 SPEAKER_185: Mister Freeze Good morning

00:36:30 SPEAKER_185: You're just on mute Good morning

00:36:34 SPEAKER_185: Can you hear me Okay

00:36:35 SPEAKER_186: Yes we can now Thank you Yeah

00:36:39 SPEAKER_187: Thank you for your time I'm going to share my screen and

00:36:44 SPEAKER_187: be as efficient as possible

00:36:49 SPEAKER_187: Go through the the annual decisions that the county makes

00:36:56 SPEAKER_187: So this year's property tax

00:37:00 SPEAKER_187: framework and context is similar to the last Last year it's It's actually a little simpler Last year we had the introduction of a new property class and we don't have that complication this year We're still in a reassessment pause which

00:37:14 SPEAKER_187: means we're still using 2016 assessment values So no major changes in the provincial policy environment but you do have your local decisions that apportion the levy and set your raise your taxes

00:37:30 SPEAKER_187: As in the past We always like to even though there's no reassessment understand how things have changed since you made your decisions last year So similar decisions but even if we were to photocopy last year's bylaw and put it in

00:37:44 SPEAKER_187: place we'd have different outcomes because

00:37:47 SPEAKER_187: despite the absence of reassessment we do still have growth That means new properties are coming online and when we when we have growth it is carried by This is really important particularly Where where you're getting into higher growth areas this

00:38:02 SPEAKER_187: is provided by new taxpayers So when we see the increase that occurred last year during the year

00:38:09 SPEAKER_187: your county levy increased by 24 That means compared to where we set these bylaws last year or you set them to the end of the year you had an additional 24

00:38:23 SPEAKER_187: of revenue That's all drive for new assessment There wasn't a 24 increase on existing taxpayers so we want to keep that in mind when we look at the overall change from budget to budget and from tax levy bylaw to tax

00:38:37 SPEAKER_187: levy bylaw This is down a bit from 2024 That is what we are seeing

00:38:43 SPEAKER_187: You know almost universally we read in the paper every day that you know the economy is slowing a bit and growth reflects real world building and changes and property improvements

00:38:55 SPEAKER_187: Um so as that's the distributed differently amongst classes and against different municipalities depending on where growth is occurring Wherever there is county growth there's also local growth You're sharing an assessment base so that's distributed around

00:39:12 SPEAKER_187: the county And again the growth comes from new buildings or improvements

00:39:19 SPEAKER_187: That takes us to the end of the year

00:39:21 SPEAKER_187: We always have to flip into the new year There's always a transition from that year end to January first and where we have circumstances like last year where we had a new class introduced or if we changed

00:39:35 SPEAKER_187: there was other provincial policy changes or reassessment which we don't have Then we have slight adjustments in this year The only adjustment we have is accounting for that transition on the Owen Sound levy

00:39:50 SPEAKER_187: as the

00:39:52 SPEAKER_187: treasurer just mentioned We have slight slightly different tax policy there so when it the the county sets its levy we'll look at exactly how that works Slight shift This is really just rounding

00:40:08 SPEAKER_187: We take that new levy and then that's where your new decisions begin So we have a starting point for the year That's what we call our notional base and the county makes decisions about tax ratios and that's going to distribute

00:40:21 SPEAKER_187: your levy and all local levies except the city of Owen Sound based on a class by class basis and what our tax policy tax ratios do they just weight the assessment in the different classes We're raising more from

00:40:37 SPEAKER_187: you know a business property than we are from a residential property per dollar of assessment and less from farm and managed forests things like that So it's just a weighted It distributes the levy in a different way than if we

00:40:51 SPEAKER_187: had a single rate that applied to every dollar of current value assessment

00:40:58 SPEAKER_187: your status quo or the ratios that you have been using

00:41:04 SPEAKER_187: this is this is what they look like and this is how they affect that share So if we were in a system again where everything was uniform we had a single rate residential makes up seventy four seventy four point eighty

00:41:18 SPEAKER_187: five percent of the assessment base they carry seventy four point eight five percent of the of the tax levy Those things change based on your local tax policy tax ratios Farm pays less than its

00:41:34 SPEAKER_187: share of CVA and that's not a value judgment That's just the you know the way it is Commercial industrial and multi residential pay a larger share based on those higher ratios

00:41:51 SPEAKER_187: In terms of the city of Owen Sound those ratios are different from the counties It is important to know that the county the city portion of the county's levy is determined based on your tax ratios So you

00:42:07 SPEAKER_187: calculate a uniform county rate you apply it to the entire base that determines the requisition How much The folks of Owen Sound will contribute to the overall based on the exact same tax policy that every other local

00:42:24 SPEAKER_187: portion is determined on That gets passed as an amount rather than property by property tax

00:42:31 SPEAKER_187: you know implications on a county rate That amount gets passed over to the city The city's ratios are different so it's redistributed The redistribution is getting milder as we go forward because

00:42:46 SPEAKER_187: over time the city ratios have you know come more in line with the county ratios which was I'm not sure that anybody thought it would take you know 20 odd years but that's the that was the objective of the plan

00:43:01 SPEAKER_187: that they would they would migrate in that direction So multiresidential if everything goes to plan this year you'll be equalized on multiresidential and the only differences will be pipeline Industrial industrial and farm after this year so this effect will

00:43:17 SPEAKER_187: be less and less And once they merge then

00:43:22 SPEAKER_187: then that that transition is done Turns here multires migration

00:43:29 SPEAKER_187: multiresidential is the most moved ratio in the province for a number of reasons

00:43:36 SPEAKER_187: There were regulatory changes in 2017 at the province that triggered a lot of reductions for people that were above two It's also we all know I've never seen I've been in municipal

00:43:47 SPEAKER_187: spheres since the late nineties I've never seen a bigger issue than housing right And and a you know attainable housing and not just ownership So a

00:43:57 SPEAKER_187: lot of councils have moved their ratio down for a whole host of reasons This is how the city and counties have progressed through this migration period

00:44:07 SPEAKER_187: If it goes to one in twenty six so and the treasurer did

00:44:14 SPEAKER_187: highlight that So I won't reiterate There's there's a lot of reasons and it's going to bring you in line with a lot of your neighbors who have also migrated Bruce and Simcoe specifically they're now one as well In terms

00:44:30 SPEAKER_187: of what that will do because this is a distribution it doesn't reduce or increase the taxes that are raised It changes where The taxes are concentrated so it's going to shift off of multiresidential obviously onto

00:44:48 SPEAKER_187: the other classes There's also going to be a shift out of Owen Sound because Owen Sound is a big concentration of the county's multires So it's going to come out of there but specifically off of those classes when we look

00:45:03 SPEAKER_187: at the county's levy

00:45:07 SPEAKER_187: This table is as redistributed under the city ratios as

00:45:14 SPEAKER_187: it falls down to the actual property level This would be 151000

00:45:19 SPEAKER_187: shift before levy change off of multiresidential properties This is very similar to the shift that has happened every year So it's you've really changed the landscape in terms of the taxes on rental properties including many that

00:45:35 SPEAKER_187: the county owns and operates through its role as the housing manager

00:45:43 SPEAKER_187: So you know shifts will occur between local area municipalities

00:45:49 SPEAKER_187: but not net shifts Generally they're going to be shifts in terms of directly off multires onto those other properties

00:45:59 SPEAKER_187: So those are the you know those are the impacts This would bring you to one and get you settled The other thing that you're making decisions on this is kind of a predetermined outcome If if you based on what ratios

00:46:15 SPEAKER_187: you go with you will

00:46:18 SPEAKER_187: raise more money this year due to levy change and that's a function of your budget Levy change is always applied last and it's shared equally this year The levy change after growth

00:46:31 SPEAKER_187: that's being brought forward is four point six two percent and you know when we look at year end that will sort of come out at you know the net change on property will depend on what class you're in If you

00:46:46 SPEAKER_187: move that multi res because there'll be a little bit of a shift as we saw

00:46:52 SPEAKER_187: This is seven point one three percent higher than your original two thousand twenty five So you had the growth which was carried by a select number of properties We have the policy shift and the levy change as

00:47:08 SPEAKER_187: it rolls out Those are all the impacts So that's how we get from last year's bylaw basically to this year's bylaw

00:47:14 SPEAKER_187: I went through that I know we've been It's it's not a lot of huge new news so I tried to go through that efficiently But I'm happy to answer any questions or provide additional insight

00:47:30 SPEAKER_171: Thank you very much Mr Freeze for walking us through those details So we'll put it out to the committee the whole members Now they have questions either for Director Spicer or for Mr Freeze

00:47:41 SPEAKER_171: Okay Well this has been an ongoing process so I think we've all become familiar with it now and here we are in this final round So okay Well in that case then I'll call the question All those in favor

00:47:52 SPEAKER_171: And that motion is carried Thank you both

00:47:55 SPEAKER_188: Thank you Have a nice day Thank you You too

00:48:00 SPEAKER_171: And that allows us to move on to item 7C which is it's recommended that report CAOR CW 1226

00:48:09 SPEAKER_171: regarding the annual status report on the county strategic plan be received for information May ask for a mover and a seconder

00:48:18 SPEAKER_171: Thank you I've got it moved by Councillor Carlton and seconded by Councillor Mackay Ah sorry Mackie Ah it's twice now Twice in two Years Come on I've been doing pretty well

00:48:33 SPEAKER_171: All right so the clerks have that noted Then excellent Okay well then I would like to welcome to the lectern then executive advisor Ryer who will be presenting this report

00:48:46 Aaron Whitney: Thank you Warren Matrasovs and good morning County Council I'm here today to provide an annual update on our county strategic plan called Working Together For for success which continues to serve as a guiding framework for our county senior management team

00:49:01 Aaron Whitney: and their departments

00:49:05 Aaron Whitney: So before we dive into the progress that we have made I wanted to quickly review how the current strategic plan came to be Working together for success was adopted by you our county council on March twenty eighth two thousand and

00:49:20 Aaron Whitney: twenty four and this followed an engagement process that included input and suggestions from council senior staff and the public The main goal of the strategic plan is to ensure that our organizational efforts ultimately align with our

00:49:36 Aaron Whitney: community priorities So this document outlines goals and initiatives that in turn directly inform our annual budget creation and help to create departmental work plans for staff So in short it's a clear reference from your direction right to our

00:49:52 Aaron Whitney: daily services for the years 2024 to 2027 The

00:49:59 Aaron Whitney: plan itself is structured around four main pillars or priorities and those are shown on the screen in bold print They are internal operations and service delivery building communities for the future workforce development and giving everyone

00:50:15 Aaron Whitney: a place to call home Within each of those main pillars you'll see the objectives listed below and then there are specific attainable goals identified for each objective which we'll get into momentarily

00:50:31 Aaron Whitney: So as I noted previously the priorities and initiatives in the strategic plan directly correlate to the work being completed across our departments This is not a document that was created to sit on a shelf It's a reference that is continually

00:50:45 Aaron Whitney: reviewed to ensure that our work ties back to your priorities Each member of our senior management team is required to create an annual performance plan document and within each of those performance plans they have identified specific goals that are

00:51:01 Aaron Whitney: required to align with those in the corporate strategic plan Each SMT member then meets with the CAO andor deputy CAO to ensure that there's oversight monitoring tracking of progress and that in turn ensures that we are meeting

00:51:17 Aaron Whitney: the objectives and working together for success And finally as noted in the strategic plan we have made a commitment to provide an annual update report to council on the progress that's being made and that's why I'm here

00:51:33 Aaron Whitney: So in writing this report it became evident just how much work we have collectively accomplished We are entering our final year of the strategic plan and in my opinion it's really a good news story that we can share all that

00:51:46 Aaron Whitney: has been done throughout the strategic plan across all of those four main priorities that I mentioned There are 77 actionable goals Of those 77 25

00:51:58 Aaron Whitney: or 32 percent have already been completed 50 or almost 65 percent are in progress and only two have not been started For those not started limited staffing resources or competing priorities have played

00:52:14 Aaron Whitney: a part But I want to be clear that does not mean these goals will be abandoned Staff are constantly reviewing workloads and priorities in collaboration with your direction and we remain focused on completing council's top objectives Overall these statistics

00:52:31 Aaron Whitney: prove that we are well positioned to deliver on your expectations A large part of the success of this plan goes to our senior management team and their respective staff Part of the report in front of You included a long chart

00:52:45 Aaron Whitney: that summarizes the status of each individual goal and I want to give a big thank you to our SMT team for assisting with those updates While I'm not going to go into detail on each of those SMT is here and

00:52:57 Aaron Whitney: available if you do have specific questions Once we look at our overall accomplishments

00:53:06 Aaron Whitney: so looking at our first priority which is internal operations and service delivery this priority is focused around reducing risk improving financial forecasting ensuring cost containment and enhancing our quality of customer service As the screen

00:53:22 Aaron Whitney: shows there were 29 actionable goals under this priority 10 of which are completed 18 are in progress and one has not been started The county has achieved some significant accomplishments in this area most notably under Director Cornell's

00:53:39 Aaron Whitney: leadership Our longterm care homes completed the Accreditation Canada survey and received exemplary standing And as you know we've also implemented multiyear budgeting with the help of Director Spicer and her team which is really proving to assist in strengthening

00:53:55 Aaron Whitney: our longterm financial planning In this final year of the STRAT plan we will continue to look at efficiencies in our agreements process and work to expand on our asset management plan

00:54:08 Aaron Whitney: Priority two is called building communities for the future This priority encompasses planning and infrastructure economic development tourism and culture protecting our environment and the First Nations reconciliation and relationship building There are twentyseven goals in this

00:54:24 Aaron Whitney: priority area with seven completed nineteen in progress and one not yet started We have many notable milestones that have been achieved including the opening of the Durham Paramedic Base Which was created using a standardized base template under

00:54:40 Aaron Whitney: the guidance of Director McNab We have also given significant consideration to waste management through the newly formed Joint Municipal Services Committee

00:54:53 Aaron Whitney: Priority three is all about workforce development with 14 goals centered around skills development and succession planning Almost 36 of these goals have been completed to date with 64 in progress Manager Hatton has been instrumental

00:55:09 Aaron Whitney: in the development of both an internal staff newsletter called the Scoop and an external newsletter entitled Gray County Connection Both of these together have worked to enhance connections improve awareness and outreach and have been very well received among staff and

00:55:25 Aaron Whitney: the public

00:55:26 Aaron Whitney: Looking ahead our main focus right now is the development of training resources that will be available to Gray County staff and hopefully our member municipalities as well This effort in collaboration has been spearheaded by Director Moreau and her team as

00:55:41 Aaron Whitney: we work to promote collaboration across Gray while cultivating a resilient workforce that can meet current and future service needs

00:55:52 Aaron Whitney: The fourth and final priority in working together for success is called giving everyone a place to call home As the name implies this priority is centered around increasing housing options To better align with current and future and emerging needs there

00:56:06 Aaron Whitney: were seven goals identified under this pillar Three which are complete and another four making significant progress These numbers show our advancement in developing initiatives around homelessness prevention including the support offered to Safe and Sound that allowed

00:56:22 Aaron Whitney: the expansion of the Winter Warmth program and of course the picture on the screen of Director Shaw and her team highlights the purchase of the motel to support shortterm emergency housing which has allowed for more rooms over the winter with

00:56:35 Aaron Whitney: less operational funding All of these efforts will continue over the next year as we also continue to advance the housing action plan recommendations

00:56:47 Aaron Whitney: So as I hope you can see from the report and the corresponding status chart there is absolutely no shortage of work But we are really proud of the significant progress that has been made and will continue to be made We

00:56:59 Aaron Whitney: are well on our way to hitting many of our goals in this last year of the strategic plan and that's going to continue We will continue to keep tracking and reporting on these initiatives The strategic plan will remain a valuable

00:57:12 Aaron Whitney: resources that is consulted when determining whether to start or stop an initiative and when prioritizing funding for various projects and resources Moving forward as we complete the final year of this plan discussions and research will be conducted with the new

00:57:28 Aaron Whitney: incoming council to determine their next priorities So that's the end of my presentation but I'm happy to take any questions

00:57:37 SPEAKER_171: Thank you very much We'll put it out to and if we could get me back so I can see who's virtual if there are any questions or comments for Advisor Rhyer or perhaps the CAO Deputy Warden go ahead Thank you

00:57:50 SPEAKER_176: Madam Warden and thank you for the report Kayla Do we have you indicated about sixtyfive percent are still in progress Do you have any sense or line of sight to what percentage will be completed or hope to be completed by

00:58:05 SPEAKER_176: the end of this term I know we talk about we're in the last year of the term but really there's six seven months left in the term Please

00:58:16 Aaron Whitney: To you Warden I'll take a crack and then Randy can add anything I don't have specific percentage or data on that but what I can tell you is that a lot If you look at the chart a lot of the

00:58:26 Aaron Whitney: inprogress ones are actually ongoing initiatives So work has started on these and it's not something that has a start or a finish line It's something that will continue to go and it will depend ongoing on the new council's direction on

00:58:40 Aaron Whitney: that

00:58:44 SPEAKER_190: Just to build on what Kayla indicated I think just looking through the ones that are in progress and so ones highlighted in yellow in that chart I think we're good good state to be able to complete majority of those within

00:58:58 SPEAKER_190: the next year remaining of the of the plan So I think we're in a good state at the moment

00:59:08 SPEAKER_192: Okay Next we'll go to Councillor Borden y'all

00:59:11 SPEAKER_192: Thank you Madam Warden Good morning County Council Through you

00:59:15 SPEAKER_192: you know great work and looking at the strap plans to move forward I just my question is you know all the lower tier municipalities worked very hard very hard on their strap plans as well How closely does the upper tier

00:59:26 SPEAKER_192: look at the lower tier strap plans Is that part of the process I know we've talked about in the past Just for clarity because you know they'll set priorities at the lower level which tie to the upper level which is

00:59:36 SPEAKER_192: gray So could you just talk about the correlation between the two

00:59:44 SPEAKER_190: Thank you Warden Thank you for that question Councilor Bourneau With respect to some of the

00:59:50 SPEAKER_190: definite actions and initiatives that are identified in the STRAP plan There's definitely a lot in there that we're working together with municipalities on I don't know have an exact percent but there's a number in there that tie back with initiatives

01:00:05 SPEAKER_190: that we're working on jointly together with municipalities So I'm assuming some majority of those would be also identified in their local strategic plans as well So there's definitely some tie back and connections with municipal Street strategic plans and saying that

01:00:21 SPEAKER_190: there's also making sure that from a from a regional perspective from a county perspective there's initiatives that that county council obviously sets and sets

01:00:32 SPEAKER_190: in place in order to from the county to advance But there definitely are some joint initiatives that we work collectively with municipalities on

01:00:40 SPEAKER_190: Great thank you

01:00:43 SPEAKER_190: Okay any other questions or comments

01:00:46 SPEAKER_190: Yes we'll go to Councilor Body

01:00:49 SPEAKER_190: Thank you

01:00:51 SPEAKER_190: Warden

01:00:53 Ian Boddy 3: We we set these policies and they're great And then we start coming to meetings and they ping We make decisions We read the report you know the week of We pass it We move on to wait for the next report

01:01:05 Ian Boddy 3: and sometimes forget It's wonderful getting this report and seeing these things And frankly it's rewarding to see the check marks and the accomplishments that staff have done and moving the county forward as we all want to do around the ring

01:01:20 Ian Boddy 3: so I'm feeling great about seeing this report Thank you

01:01:27 SPEAKER_171: Okay Any other questions or comments

01:01:30 SPEAKER_171: Seeing no further hands I'll call the question All those in favor

01:01:34 SPEAKER_171: Motion is carried Thank you very much Advisor Rye and CAO Okay so that allows us to move on with the agenda and we are not yet at the top of the hour so we'll just carry on at this point So

01:01:49 SPEAKER_171: we have no closed meeting matters to attend to and next we will go to other business

01:01:56 SPEAKER_171: Oh

01:01:58 SPEAKER_171: oh sorry I've missed something

01:02:01 SPEAKER_171: Oh right Yes it's time to go back to the consent item at this point in time before we move on to items eight and nine So we'll go back to the item that was pulled It's recommended that report PDR CW

01:02:13 SPEAKER_171: sixteen 1626 regarding the Ontario Land Tribunal file list be received for information purposes May I ask for mover and a seconder before we go to discussion Moved by Councillor Kivney and seconded by Councillor Bordenien It's now on the floor for

01:02:27 SPEAKER_171: discussion Councillor Eccles you had requested to pull it so do you want I'm going to look to the Director Taylor to present it first and then I'll look to you for the first question or comment

01:02:39 SPEAKER_171: Fine

01:02:44 SPEAKER_195: Yeah Good morning Madam Warden and members of County Council Thanks for giving me the opportunity to address this report here this morning So these are our regular reports that we bring back to Council whenever we have an update or action

01:02:57 SPEAKER_195: on one of the existing appeals before the Ontario Land Tribunal that's involving a county file In this regard there's still two items on the list both of which had updates through this report I suspect maybe the later item here is

01:03:12 SPEAKER_195: the the decision from the Ontario Land Tribunal on the Thornbury Acres case and this is specific to the town's official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment in that regard Council will recall we had significant discussion on this over the years

01:03:28 SPEAKER_195: and I just note that this particular hearing doesn't address the plan of condominium application That application is still duly before the board and some of you have heard me say this before but with respect to any Ontario Land Tribunal decision

01:03:43 SPEAKER_195: it's important to note that such decisions aren't precedentsetting No doubt past decisions can be referenced in future planning applications or future tribunal matters but it's not precedentsetting in the same way that maybe a court proceeding would be in

01:03:59 SPEAKER_195: that regard With respect to sort of the outcomes of the decision it's also important to note That the decision before the tribunal was prior to the or sort of the the test of this file

01:04:16 SPEAKER_195: didn't consider the county's

01:04:19 SPEAKER_195: more recent official plan amendment number 23 which updated the rural policies and the provisions around residential farm cooperatives and agruminiums For those that have had the opportunity to read the decision official plan amendment number 23 is referenced

01:04:35 SPEAKER_195: in In the tribunal member's decision but it wasn't it the policy in place that the applications were being tested against And so you'll see in the decision there's a lot of discussion on what I'll call the the 60

01:04:52 SPEAKER_195: rule And and so the county policies prior to official plan amendment number 23 had said that when you're looking at an agrarminium residential farm cooperative or a rural tourist cluster or resourcebased recreational use you needed 60 of

01:05:08 SPEAKER_195: the land to either be used for agricultural purposes or recreational purposes In that regard and because those policies applied to two distinct categories of uses you know it applied to agruminiums or residential farm cooperatives but then also separately to

01:05:24 SPEAKER_195: resourcebased recreational uses and recreational tourist clusters

01:05:30 SPEAKER_195: Staff had intended those policies to be read as exclusively so if you were looking at an agrominium or a residential farm cooperative you needed at least sixty percent of the land to be used for agricultural purposes Or similarly if you're

01:05:42 SPEAKER_195: looking at a recreational use you needed at least sixty percent of the land to be used for recreational

01:05:48 SPEAKER_195: purposes The proponent in this case interpreted the policies a little differently and said you could combine the two So as part of a residential farm cooperative which is what Thornbury Acres applied for they needed to meet that sixty But but

01:06:02 SPEAKER_195: it could be a mixture of recreational uses and agricultural uses That certainly wasn't the intent of staff in drafting that policy but that's how the the

01:06:12 SPEAKER_195: proponent interpreted it and that's how the tribunal's decision ended up interpreting it as well I am however pleased to say that Fish Plan Amendment Number Twenty Three clarifies this and notes that no the sixty percent rule as we'll call it

01:06:27 SPEAKER_195: needs to be applied for agrominiums and residential farm cooperatives as the agricultural uses only and in fact that 60 rule is now bumped up to a 70 rule So 70 of the lands for a new agriminium or residential

01:06:43 SPEAKER_195: farm cooperative need to be farmland so to speak and need to be used for farm purposes OPA 23 also clarifies the maximum number of residential units that can be permitted in a residential farm cooperative So the Thornbury Acres case was

01:06:58 SPEAKER_195: dealing with 31 proposed residential units the new standard under Official Plan Amendment Number TwentyThree is a maximum of four total principal dwellings per forty hectares So it significantly reduces the scale of it

01:07:12 SPEAKER_195: And then it also provides OPA TwentyThree also provides a definition for residential farm cooperatives in that regard which clarifies some of the ambiguity in the previous policies in that regard I will just reiterate though that Thornbury Acres

01:07:27 SPEAKER_195: application preceded official plan amendment number 23 and because the matter was before the tribunal at the time there was a sitespecific exception built into OPA 23

01:07:37 SPEAKER_195: for Thornbury Acres But for any new residential farm cooperative applications coming forward that are not Thornbury Acres they would be tested against the new policies which staff believe believe are a little bit more clear in that regard and maybe better

01:07:53 SPEAKER_195: reflect the intent of both county council and staff in putting those policies in place so that's a bit of an update on Thornberry Acres But certainly if there are any questions happy to take them

01:08:06 SPEAKER_196: Okay so I will go to Councilor Eccles first

01:08:10 SPEAKER_197: Yes thank you for the presentation and Scott or the interpretation of what the ruling was

01:08:18 SPEAKER_197: Your explanation there and whatnot have settled it That it is just dealing with the farming aspect After reading through it about four times I looked to your expertise to be able to get it down to my level of understanding of

01:08:34 SPEAKER_197: what was in there So

01:08:38 SPEAKER_197: I guess

01:08:40 SPEAKER_197: going forward

01:08:42 SPEAKER_197: whether we're going to you know with all of the provincial legislation on building homes intensification of homes and whatnot whether our Amendment amendment twentythree will be able to stand up

01:08:57 SPEAKER_197: going forward How that's going to be interpreted

01:09:01 SPEAKER_197: whether it gets challenged or not under the provincial policy statement So look forward to seeing the decision on the condominium on this Thornberry Acres And I don't think we're done yet with

01:09:19 SPEAKER_197: OLT

01:09:20 SPEAKER_197: comments in and around this new kind of idea of agri condominiums So thank you That's all

01:09:33 SPEAKER_195: Thank you for your comments Councilor Charles I should just clarify too that this decision has been received by the county The county wasn't party to the hearing so in no way do I want to infer that I'm speaking for town

01:09:44 SPEAKER_195: staff town council or town legal counsel in that regard

01:09:48 SPEAKER_195: We've we've had a very preliminary chat with county

01:09:53 SPEAKER_195: the county solicitor on this one just with respect to this but this doesn't preclude any further discussions obviously at the town level with respect to their interpretation of the decision or their discussions with their town councilor town solicitor in that

01:10:05 SPEAKER_195: regard with respect to OPA twenty three it was passed after the two thousand twenty four provincial planning statement but as councillor Ackles has noted certainly you know we look forward to future applications and

01:10:22 SPEAKER_195: or tests or questions with respect to the policy because sometimes those don't come for quite a bit of time after you first pass the policy

01:10:32 SPEAKER_195: Okay Any other questions or comments

01:10:36 SPEAKER_171: All right Seeing no further hands and I'll call a question All those in favor

01:10:40 SPEAKER_171: And that motion is carried Thank you very much Director Taylor

01:10:44 SPEAKER_171: All right I know

01:10:46 SPEAKER_171: So we do just have a few short items remaining We do not have anything for closed session matters We can go to other business The Good Roads Conference has just happened and I would like to open up this updates opportunity

01:11:02 SPEAKER_171: for any committee the whole members who attended to be able to provide any input or reflection on their experience I'm not sure if Director Hoy might be interested to respond on behalf of his staff but I would like to begin

01:11:16 SPEAKER_171: with Councillor McKay McKay

01:11:20 SPEAKER_171: because he does sit on the board for Good Roads and I think it would be good to hear his perspective first

01:11:36 SPEAKER_202: Yeah thank you Warden Yeah just to update Good Roads this year the directors were quite pleased The registration was possibly up somewhat but it hasn't dropped at all Sessions there's already

01:11:52 SPEAKER_202: been comments put in that they found the sessions a lot

01:11:59 SPEAKER_202: more information was gathered than some of them that were kind of boring or way above our heads and our booths were full There was also a waiting list for people coming in so there's a lot

01:12:15 SPEAKER_202: of interesting booths there and there's a lot of information from the booths that were there So yeah it worked out good and it'll be again next year I think it starts in April 4th next year It'll be in Toronto again

01:12:29 SPEAKER_202: Thank you

01:12:32 SPEAKER_171: Thank you and so I'll just look around the room then to see others who attended that wanted to add anything

01:12:40 SPEAKER_171: And Director Hoy did you want to

01:12:43 SPEAKER_171: We had excellent representation there from your team Go ahead

01:12:49 SPEAKER_205: Yes sir You are Yeah I would say the show was pretty well run this year I thought the trade show was really robust with a lot of really good our contractors we work with and suppliers some new suppliers that we

01:13:02 SPEAKER_205: hadn't met before So the guys were pretty happy with the the show that was there and the presentations werethey seem more informative to us a little more technical Like we were pretty happy with them Other than the rooms seemed abnormally

01:13:15 SPEAKER_205: small there was there was a lot of people at some reason scheduled in in rooms where everybody wanted to see something in a small room and not many people wanted to see something in a big room But other than that

01:13:25 SPEAKER_205: I thought it was interesting to hear some of the new stuff coming down from Bill 98 which Scott has a report coming next week But

01:13:33 SPEAKER_205: there's some you know some provincial stuff coming in that's different But it was nice to hear

01:13:40 SPEAKER_205: how little they know about what's coming in That makes sense

01:13:47 SPEAKER_205: Thank you Any other input

01:13:50 SPEAKER_171: I can say that yes I did find that there were numerous workshops that I could attend that I could grasp the information that was being shared One highlight was that there was one that focused on options and models that had

01:14:03 SPEAKER_171: been tested out in terms of rural transit and it was very interesting Professor Ryan

01:14:09 SPEAKER_171: Gibbons of the University of Guelph was one of the presenters and he was very familiar with what we're undergoing with our four counties and And I know there's a lot of collaboration On that note it was also interesting to hear

01:14:20 SPEAKER_171: from Huron County what they had some staff representation about what they're doing there and in terms of their creative models So I know our staff will continue to to reach out and find out what's all out there so that we

01:14:32 SPEAKER_171: can digest it and see is that something that's workable input for our own county for county and First Nations study as we embark on making sure we can do the right thing That makes a lot of sense for this particular

01:14:46 SPEAKER_171: region I also enjoyed the getting big things done The the one of the plenary speakers that spoke Dan Gardner he spoke Yeah and I thought you know he was using some examples like the Victoria Australia Opera House which and

01:15:02 SPEAKER_171: I had no idea about the history about how that came to be but it was very interesting because it was very relatable to what we do when we look at big projects So it wasn't something that was too hard to

01:15:13 SPEAKER_171: connect to and I thought that was a good choice of of speaker there

01:15:18 SPEAKER_171: All right so with that we'll go to other business Councillor Body

01:15:23 Ian Boddy 3: Yeah actually two items The first one's fairly quick I hope everyone noticed the province made an announcement last Friday with regard to regional governance and

01:15:34 Ian Boddy 3: when we think about how strong mayor power has went to a few cities and kept expanding is this another one that may expand and we may be seeing it I suspect that at some point that there is going

01:15:50 Ian Boddy 3: to be some different regionalization decisions made that may affect us Always encourage Gray County Bruce County to be steps ahead as you were in or

01:16:02 Ian Boddy 3: as they were perhaps ahead of us and around 2000 to be ahead of the province with decisions and would encourage the same thing So think about it My second item is this in our

01:16:15 Ian Boddy 3: policy we are allowed as councillors to go to two different conferences

01:16:21 Ian Boddy 3: If we choose FCM and it is out of the province then we are required to bring our request to council and get approval Both Councillor McQueen and I would like to go before presenting that Though I would need to move

01:16:36 Ian Boddy 3: that we waive the policy requiring the notice of motion so we can discuss it today So that would be my motion that I put on the floor right now to waive notice to be able to discuss it today at this

01:16:50 Ian Boddy 3: meeting

01:16:53 SPEAKER_171: Okay So do we have a seconder for that We have a seconder from Deputy Warden So Madam Clerk do you want to just put that up onto the screen Thank you

01:17:52 SPEAKER_171: Okay so it is now posted that the recommendation that's been moved by Councillor Body and has been seconded by the Deputy Warden is that notice be waived for consideration of outofprovince conference attendance So this is what we're discussing at the

01:18:07 SPEAKER_171: moment is the act action of waiving that consideration Is there any discussion on that

01:18:15 SPEAKER_171: And because this is a wave of consideration the clerk is advising that it requires two thirds in order to be able to pass Okay I'm not seeing hands up for discussion so I'll call the question Then all those in favor

01:18:28 SPEAKER_171: and I see that it's carried well beyond two thirds

01:18:34 SPEAKER_171: Okay

01:18:39 SPEAKER_171: So Councillor Body did you want to move the second motion then

01:18:46 Ian Boddy 3: Yes I would move that Councillor McQueen and myself be whatever the

01:18:54 Ian Boddy 3: wording is approved by council to attend FSM I can speak to it after

01:19:02 SPEAKER_171: Okay so it's been moved by Councillor Body Is there a seconder Seconded by Councillor Nielsen Okay it's on the floor for discussion

01:19:11 SPEAKER_171: Councillor Body

01:19:14 Ian Boddy 3: I think the idea of the policy is that it's often more expensive to go out of province and to Avoid those ex extra costs I did a comparison with AMO and this year AMO will be registration fee of nine fifty

01:19:29 Ian Boddy 3: FCM is eleven fifty so about two hundred dollars more Hotel for AMO is I think three oh nine per night There's hotels at two hundred two hundred and fifty and up but and down But a good one right next door

01:19:44 Ian Boddy 3: is two fifty per night which is actually cheaper To fly from Toronto to Ottawa in in August the price listed for

01:19:55 Ian Boddy 3: Porter was three all nine to go to Edmonton is one sixty eight return one seventy seven so cheaper There's of course no provincial sales tax in Alberta which makes that cheaper So in fact it is cheaper to go to Edmonton

01:20:09 Ian Boddy 3: to FCM than it is to go to Amal in Ottawa within the province and

01:20:15 Ian Boddy 3: both of us have not chosen a second conference to go to and would like to go to this one I can answer any questions if anyone's got any Thanks

01:20:29 SPEAKER_208: Okay thank you Madam Clerk Did you have any additional information in terms of costing

01:20:37 SPEAKER_174: Thank you Madam Warren My numbers were very consistent but I collected with Councillor Body The only thing I would note is there may be just an additional hotel night stay just given the travel but that may be that

01:20:53 SPEAKER_174: may not be necessary just depending on timing of flights and whatnot

01:20:57 SPEAKER_174: So there's that possibility of one additional hotel night stay and then

01:21:01 SPEAKER_174: minor additional travel costs if there are hotels that are farther from the site but nothing that's significant that I would foresee this time

01:21:14 SPEAKER_174: Okay I see Councillor Body's hand is raised Go ahead

01:21:18 Ian Boddy 3: Just in reply to that as Council approved an extra day of travel to go to Amo and Ottawa and so we're booked in an extra night for Amo as we would be for this

01:21:32 SPEAKER_171: Okay Any other comments or discussion

01:21:35 SPEAKER_171: Okay In that case then I'll call the question All those in favor

01:21:41 SPEAKER_171: And that motion is carried

01:21:44 SPEAKER_171: Okay and any other business

01:21:48 SPEAKER_171: All right Next any notices of motion Are there any notices of motion to serve

01:21:56 SPEAKER_171: Okay and with that then I will look for a motion to adjourn

01:22:00 SPEAKER_171: Got it Moved by Councillor Patterson and seconded by the Deputy Warden Any discussion All those in favor And that motion is carried Thank you very much everyone