Owen Sound Board - River District Meeting Transcript — September 10, 2025

00:00:16 Speaker 01: I'd like to call the River District Board of Management meeting to order, September tenth, and I'm chairing tonight in the absence of Chair Dave Parsons.

00:00:27 Speaker 01: Also absent tonight are Councillor Travis Dodd.

00:00:29 Speaker 01: Councillor Travis Dodd and Member Olivia Leggett, Member Smith is joining us virtually.

00:00:35 Speaker 01: Hi Jen, and I'd just like to welcome Adrian Robinson, who is our newest member.

00:00:41 Speaker 01: It's her first night, so we'll all go gently on her, I'm sure.

00:00:46 Speaker 01: The land acknowledgement: We acknowledge with respect the history, spirituality, and culture of the Anishinaabe people, who consist of the people of the Three Fires, known as Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi.

00:00:56 Speaker 01: Odawa and Bodawatami nations, on whose traditional territories we gather, and whose ancestors signed treaties with our ancestors, we recognize also the Métis and Inuit, whose ancestors shared this land and these waters.

00:01:10 Speaker 01: May we all, as treaty people, live with respect on this land and live in peace and friendship with all its diverse peoples.

00:01:18 Speaker 01: I'll just—is there any additional business from anyone tonight?

00:01:22 Speaker 01: Not seeing.

00:01:22 Speaker 01: Okay, Jen, go ahead.

00:01:24 Speaker 01: Oh yeah, sorry.

00:01:25 Speaker 01: I just have sort of a verbal report from some of the comments I received from members of my block that I'd like to share later.

00:01:35 Speaker 01: Okay, thanks very much.

00:01:36 Speaker 01: Anyone else?

00:01:38 Speaker 01: Seeing none.

00:01:39 Speaker 01: Are there any declarations of interest tonight?

00:01:43 Speaker 01: No. Okay.

00:01:45 Speaker 01: Confirmation of minutes.

00:01:47 Speaker 01: First off, we have at four A. The minutes of the River District Board of Management meeting held on July ninth, and I'll look for somebody who was at that meeting to move the minutes?

00:01:58 Speaker 01: Okay, Tim.

00:02:00 Speaker 01: Do I need a second?

00:02:00 Speaker 01: Or I don't think so.

00:02:01 Speaker 01: No. Okay.

00:02:02 Speaker 01: All those in favour?

00:02:04 Speaker 01: And that's carried.

00:02:05 Speaker 01: Hand up.

00:02:06 Speaker 01: Good.

00:02:06 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:02:08 Speaker 01: Four B. The minutes of the closed session of the River District Board of Management meeting held July ninth.

00:02:14 Speaker 01: Looking for a mover again.

00:02:16 Speaker 01: Okay, Kathy.

00:02:18 Speaker 01: Any questions or comments?

00:02:19 Speaker 01: Anyone?

00:02:20 Speaker 01: No. I guess we couldn't do that anyway.

00:02:22 Speaker 01: All those in favour?

00:02:24 Speaker 01: That's carried.

00:02:24 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:02:25 Speaker 01: Hello, Winterford.

00:02:28 Speaker 01: Hello.

00:02:28 Speaker 01: There are no deputations or presentations tonight.

00:02:31 Speaker 01: I don't see any members of the public here to ask questions.

00:02:35 Speaker 01: There is no correspondence which requires direction.

00:02:39 Speaker 01: So that brings us to reports of city staff.

00:02:42 Speaker 01: And tonight, I'd like to welcome Constable Steve Beanie.

00:02:45 Speaker 01: He'll be presenting our report from the Owen Sound Police Service.

00:02:48 Speaker 01: Welcome.

00:02:51 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:02:52 Speaker 01: As I said, I'm Steve Beanie.

00:02:54 Speaker 01: For those who don't know me, with the Olmstead Police, I'm one of our core members.

00:02:59 Speaker 01: Currently a unit of one, I'm afraid.

00:03:01 Speaker 01: But when staffing increases, we're obviously hoping to add to that.

00:03:06 Speaker 01: Be here on behalf of Detective Sergeant Guarini, who's actually training a new auxiliary class for us tonight.

00:03:11 Speaker 02: So we're excited to have a new group of volunteers to help us with the service.

00:03:16 Speaker 02: Just in respect to some of our foot patrol numbers in the River District this summer.

00:03:21 Speaker 02: Of course, the summer being our busiest time of year, July and August.

00:03:25 Speaker 02: Not only is it high call volume, but we're also at typically a minimum staffing due to vacation schedules and things like that.

00:03:31 Speaker 02: So it's exponentially an increase.

00:03:33 Speaker 02: Despite that, we had some strong numbers for foot patrols.

00:03:36 Speaker 02: In July, we logged 111 hours foot patrol, and in August it was 99 hours.

00:03:43 Speaker 02: In addition to that, approximately 40 hours of bike patrol as well.

00:03:46 Speaker 02: So all things considered, we're quite pleased with that.

00:03:49 Speaker 02: There's always room for improvement.

00:03:51 Speaker 02: This summer, again, full of lots of calls for service, but not only that, we were able to participate in some community events.

00:03:58 Speaker 02: We participated with the Reach Barbecue, which was a fundraising event.

00:04:02 Speaker 02: It was quite successful, which we helped generate some financial support for the Reach Centre.

00:04:07 Speaker 02: They Reach relies on support from the community, and these funds help support programmemememememememememememememing and help purchase necessary supplies.

00:04:13 Speaker 02: So we're very happy to help participate with that, as well as the hottest yard sale and other community events this summer.

00:04:20 Speaker 02: As a brief update, as I mentioned, I'm our core officer, and I'll be leaving later this month and moving into our detective branch.

00:04:28 Speaker 02: And Constable James Dye will be replacing me, so you may see him here in the near future or walking the beat downtown on a regular basis.

00:04:36 Speaker 02: Once, as I mentioned earlier, as soon as we get some of our new recruits fully trained, we're hoping to add a second person to the core unit,

00:04:42 Speaker 02: which would obviously help more presence in the downtown core.

00:04:48 Speaker 02: Outside of that, that's pretty much all I have for you tonight.

00:04:50 Speaker 02: If there's any questions, okay.

00:04:53 Speaker 02: Are there any questions, anyone, for Constable Beanie?

00:04:56 Speaker 01: Wow, we're letting you off easy tonight.

00:04:58 Speaker 01: Thanks very much.

00:05:03 Speaker 01: Okay, eight B is report from the Director of Corporate Services regarding the River District 2025 Mid-Year Financial Update.

00:05:12 Speaker 01: Ms. Allan, thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:05:15 Speaker 03: There is not a lot to report.

00:05:16 Speaker 03: Sort of out of the norm in your mid-year financial update.

00:05:19 Speaker 03: Everything's trending as it normally would be, in line with budget.

00:05:23 Speaker 03: There is a slight surplus anticipated in time for year end, and that would be mostly related to revenue from parking being slightly higher than we anticipated.

00:05:35 Speaker 03: There are two recommendations in the report.

00:05:37 Speaker 03: One is that we issue the annual payment of two thousand dollars to Citizens on Patrol.

00:05:42 Speaker 03: That is in line with the budget,

00:05:45 Speaker 03: and two that any surplus persisting at year end would be passed back to the board by way of a check for you to deposit into your bank account and applied to your reserve balance.

00:05:57 Speaker 01: Okay, thanks.

00:05:58 Speaker 01: Would someone care to move those two motions?

00:06:02 Speaker 01: Well, let's get them on the floor and then we can discuss.

00:06:06 Speaker 01: If that's okay, someone want to move?

00:06:07 Speaker 01: Win a friend?

00:06:09 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:06:11 Speaker 01: You move them.

00:06:11 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:06:12 Speaker 01: Winterford moves them.

00:06:12 Speaker 01: So now, questions or comments, Kathy?

00:06:16 Speaker 04: Okay, you're not gonna.

00:06:18 Speaker 04: So you're saying issue the payment to the board, but that's not gonna be done until the year's done, correct?

00:06:24 Speaker 04: Right.

00:06:25 Speaker 04: That's all I was wanting.

00:06:28 Speaker 04: Okay.

00:06:29 Speaker 04: Any other questions?

00:06:32 Speaker 04: Okay.

00:06:32 Speaker 04: All those in favour?

00:06:37 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:06:37 Speaker 01: Carried.

00:06:38 Speaker 01: Thanks very much.

00:06:40 Speaker 01: Report eight C, also from the Director of Community Services and the Director of Corporate Services, the 2026 budget for board review and input.

00:06:51 Speaker 01: Whoever would like to take this, go ahead.

00:06:55 Speaker 03: I won't go through the report in great detail.

00:06:58 Speaker 03: But Brianna, maybe you could put up on the screen the actual attachment.

00:07:04 Speaker 03: We are bringing the budget forward earlier than we typically do.

00:07:07 Speaker 03: This normally comes at the November meeting, but we did have an opportunity to sit down with Dave and Kathy just recently to talk about next year's budget.

00:07:17 Speaker 03: So, the current increase is currently just over three percent, and other than the normal increases that we would have seen associated with just the wages,

00:07:30 Speaker 03: there is a small increase to the line item for flowers in the downtown, and that just reflects that the cost of those flowers has been going up each year.

00:07:40 Speaker 03: That's not one hundred percent of the cost.

00:07:42 Speaker 03: That is about one third of the cost, and the city carries the remaining balance of that.

00:07:48 Speaker 03: Other than that, all of the budget line items are staying the same, save for insurance.

00:07:55 Speaker 03: We've increased that slightly to match what the current policy is.

00:07:58 Speaker 03: Okay.

00:08:03 Speaker 03: Are there any questions for Kate?

00:08:08 Speaker 01: Okay, that's pretty easy.

00:08:10 Speaker 01: There must be a motion there.

00:08:12 Speaker 01: I'm sorry, I don't have it in front of me.

00:08:15 Speaker 01: Here it comes.

00:08:18 Speaker 01: Okay, so the motion directs staff to provide notice of a public meeting to be held on November 12th, and provides direction on the allocation of one-time funds to special initiatives.

00:08:30 Speaker 01: Can we move those together?

00:08:33 Speaker 01: Okay, Pam.

00:08:34 Speaker 01: Yep.

00:08:36 Speaker 05: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:08:37 Speaker 05: And just speaking to the special initiatives, there were two previous resolutions from earlier in the year.

00:08:44 Speaker 05: One dealt with the River District Action Plan, and I'll have a report for you at your November meeting, sort of on the methodology and approach for the update of that action plan.

00:08:55 Speaker 05: We have the previous approval on the display board, but at the request of Dave and Kathy, we had put in here a third item,

00:09:06 Speaker 05: and it was really a partnership with the city or others on initiatives relating to the unhoused in the River District.

00:09:15 Speaker 05: And our meeting with Dave and Kathy sort of followed shortly after the meeting with the stakeholders and the city and Owen Sound Police Services and a lot of the service providers.

00:09:27 Speaker 05: And just in terms of getting ready for that public meeting in November, you wouldn't have to identify a particular initiative for these funds,

00:09:38 Speaker 05: but you may want to identify it in your budget as something that you would be open to, and then it sort of makes it transparent.

00:09:46 Speaker 05: It wouldn't be necessarily approving anything; it would just give you that sort of flexibility, and it makes it public and transparent in terms of actions that might come out of that stakeholder meeting.

00:10:00 Speaker 05: So I just wanted to bring your attention to that, and that's really what the second part of the motion is about.

00:10:08 Speaker 05: Okay.

00:10:09 Speaker 05: Is there any questions or comments on that?

00:10:11 Speaker 05: Anyone?

00:10:13 Speaker 05: Okay.

00:10:13 Speaker 05: Someone care to move the motions?

00:10:16 Speaker 05: Kathy.

00:10:17 Speaker 05: Okay.

00:10:18 Speaker 05: All those in favour?

00:10:21 Speaker 05: And that is carried.

00:10:22 Speaker 05: Thank you.

00:10:26 Speaker 01: Eight D. Report from the River District Coordinator regarding the...

00:10:31 Speaker 01: Sorry.

00:10:34 Speaker 01: Oh.

00:10:38 Speaker 05: Sorry, Mr. Chair.

00:10:39 Speaker 05: The clerk is just asking if we have what we need, and I guess the second part of the motion looks for direction on the allocation of one-time funds.

00:10:46 Speaker 05: So we're perhaps looking for a motion that says that that ten thousand dollars that would be discretionary to be applied to a special initiative, at the discretion of the board in 2026,

00:10:58 Speaker 05: would be identified in your draft budget, or not for the purposes of the public meeting.

00:11:03 Speaker 05: Sorry, I should have made that clearer.

00:11:08 Speaker 01: Okay, so maybe we can back up then, and we can start with the first motion, which again, Brianna was on the screen.

00:11:17 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:11:19 Speaker 01: That we direct staff to provide notice of a public meeting to be held on November 12th, 2025.

00:11:25 Speaker 01: You still okay with moving that, Kathy?

00:11:26 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:11:27 Speaker 01: All in favour of that one?

00:11:29 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:11:30 Speaker 01: And then the second motion, and the clerk is going to help with the wording,

00:11:35 Speaker 01: will be that the River District Board provides direction to set aside ten thousand dollars in the budget for the possible purpose of one-time funds for a special project—is that close?

00:11:58 Speaker 05: I think you would just want to say that it be identified in the draft budget for the public meeting in November,

00:12:04 Speaker 05: and then you get input and make a decision on the budget after having public input.

00:12:09 Speaker 05: But the idea would be to identify it.

00:12:12 Speaker 05: So, okay.

00:12:14 Speaker 05: Who'd like to move that?

00:12:16 Speaker 05: Sure.

00:12:16 Speaker 05: Kathy again.

00:12:17 Speaker 05: Okay.

00:12:18 Speaker 05: All those in favour?

00:12:21 Speaker 05: Okay.

00:12:21 Speaker 05: That's carried.

00:12:22 Speaker 05: Thank you.

00:12:24 Speaker 01: And now to Vivica with a report on the River District Block Captains reorganisation.

00:12:33 Speaker 06: Thank you, and through you, Mr. Chair.

00:12:35 Speaker 06: The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the Block Captain programmemememememememememememememe and recommend that the board review the current Block Captain map, ensure that all Block Captain positions are filled,

00:12:44 Speaker 06: and make changes to current Block Captain assignments if so desired by the board,

00:12:49 Speaker 06: leveraging the River District Board of Management and/or community members for the River District Block Captain role helps to facilitate a community of support for businesses and for strong communication.

00:13:00 Speaker 06: The roles and responsibilities of the Block Captains are as follows: welcome new businesses or operators of businesses, act as a River District ambassador promoting positive experience in person and online,

00:13:12 Speaker 06: help to encourage new businesses to participate in upcoming events, initiatives, or important River District Board of Management agenda items,

00:13:20 Speaker 06: support staff in the distribution of physical materials and promote the River District Review newsletter as the main point of information.

00:13:27 Speaker 06: Obtain feedback on initiatives where feedback from the membership is warranted and share the River District coordinate or share with the River District Coordinator and Board as appropriate.

00:13:35 Speaker 06: Provide feedback to the board members who represent the membership.

00:13:39 Speaker 06: Ensure businesses know who the point of contact is with the city for various communications, resources, or concerns.

00:13:45 Speaker 06: Act as a liaison between city staff, the River District Board of Management, and River District membership, and facilitate cooperation among businesses.

00:13:53 Speaker 06: The recommendation is that, in consideration of Report CS 25-093 respecting 2025 River District Block Captain Reorganisation,

00:14:02 Speaker 06: the River District Board of Management directs staff to update the River District Block Captain map as discussed in this meeting, and update the Block Captain map on the River District website.

00:14:14 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:14:15 Speaker 01: Thanks, Vivica.

00:14:16 Speaker 01: And I must say, being a block captain has been quite an experience.

00:14:19 Speaker 01: I've been into businesses I've never set foot in in Owen Sound and met some really interesting people.

00:14:24 Speaker 01: So, for me, it works as a really interesting experience.

00:14:28 Speaker 01: That's for sure.

00:14:29 Speaker 01: Would someone care to make the motion?

00:14:34 Speaker 01: Tim.

00:14:34 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:14:35 Speaker 01: Any questions or comments?

00:14:39 Speaker 01: Okay, Winifred.

00:14:44 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:14:46 Speaker 01: I have been looking at this, and it stating that there is a position available for block captain.

00:14:56 Speaker 01: Is this one of the ones that's already assigned, or is this a new one?

00:15:04 Speaker 06: The report states that we are looking to fill the one vacancy, as well as realign any of the current positioning at this meeting, so we can update a more formally updated one to the website.

00:15:20 Speaker 06: Okay, Jen, I can see your hands up there.

00:15:22 Speaker 06: Go ahead.

00:15:23 Speaker 06: Yeah, I thought when I looked at it, Olivia is not listed on there, and she has taken a block captain position.

00:15:33 Speaker 06: So I just wondered if we actually do have a vacant spot or not.

00:15:44 Speaker 06: Okay, so you can make that correction then.

00:15:56 Speaker 06: In light of that, we can look at it.

00:16:00 Speaker 06: I know there was some interest in reallocating block captains to different blocks to realign it better with their businesses, and so that would be the discussion we could have now.

00:16:09 Speaker 06: Okay, Tim, go ahead.

00:16:17 Speaker 07: So one thing that I had brought up, and I'd like to bring up here,

00:16:20 Speaker 07: is I am finding myself personally the block that I'm currently representing is a bit too much of a commitment for me at this time,

00:16:30 Speaker 07: especially throughout the spring and summer months when I'm working very long hours.

00:16:34 Speaker 07: I feel I'm just not representing it well.

00:16:37 Speaker 07: So I'd like to request if anybody is feeling more ambitious, that I take a lighter load, and they switch with me.

00:16:46 Speaker 07: Okay.

00:16:48 Speaker 07: Any takers?

00:16:51 Speaker 07: Winifred.

00:16:52 Speaker 07: I would love to take more.

00:16:54 Speaker 07: However, I'm not downtown all the time now.

00:16:58 Speaker 07: Like, I'm not at the store anymore.

00:17:01 Speaker 07: So, I'm the same as you.

00:17:06 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:17:06 Speaker 01: So we are missing a couple of people tonight as well.

00:17:09 Speaker 01: So maybe we can just keep that one in mind, and if somebody steps up, we can arrange that.

00:17:15 Speaker 01: Or perhaps there's even a way to maybe share out a part of your block with somebody else that would not mind.

00:17:24 Speaker 01: Yeah, yeah.

00:17:25 Speaker 01: And I will say, though I hesitate to, that mine is actually not that dense.

00:17:30 Speaker 01: So I could in fact take on a little bit more if we wanted to do that.

00:17:35 Speaker 01: But then, I don't know how that would affect this entire project that we're passing here tonight.

00:17:41 Speaker 01: Does that change things, Vivica?

00:17:47 Speaker 05: Perhaps the item can be postponed at the next meeting.

00:17:50 Speaker 05: We'll bring a big map.

00:17:53 Speaker 05: The boundaries of the block captains are not magical, so if the group wants to redraw those, and we'll make sure that we have updated information on Olivia's area, but we could just postpone the update,

00:18:09 Speaker 05: the number two part of the resolution, until the November meeting.

00:18:15 Speaker 01: Okay, thanks, Pam.

00:18:17 Speaker 01: So then we're looking for someone to move item one: update the River District block captain map as discussed in the meeting.

00:18:25 Speaker 01: Who'd care to make that motion?

00:18:27 Speaker 01: Me?

00:18:27 Speaker 01: Did someone make it?

00:18:28 Speaker 01: Winterfront.

00:18:29 Speaker 01: Okay, great, excellent.

00:18:30 Speaker 01: All those in favour?

00:18:33 Speaker 01: And that is carried.

00:18:34 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:18:36 Speaker 01: Whew!

00:18:37 Speaker 01: There we are.

00:18:38 Speaker 01: A verbal report from Kathy on the board finances.

00:18:43 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:18:51 Speaker 04: Okay, Mr. Chair, there is one hundred and seventy thousand in Scotia Bank under the DIA.

00:19:00 Speaker 04: We earned five hundred and forty-six dollars in interest in last month.

00:19:06 Speaker 04: We have six thousand nine hundred dollars sitting in that gift certificate account, and I am asked for information if there's older gift certificates coming through on the gift certificate account now,

00:19:23 Speaker 04: but there's been no. I don't think you guys know.

00:19:30 Speaker 04: Right, so we need some information on that, and I was thinking that instead of that money just sitting there, that that could possibly go towards our donation towards something good in the community,

00:19:46 Speaker 04: as we were talking before.

00:19:49 Speaker 04: So if that because that money is just sitting there, okay.

00:19:53 Speaker 04: Okay, Kate has a comment.

00:19:54 Speaker 04: Go ahead, Kate.

00:19:56 Speaker 03: I would suggest, and I'm.

00:19:57 Speaker 03: I would suggest, and I'll admit I'm not one hundred percent sure.

00:20:01 Speaker 03: Your auditor would probably be the best person to ask.

00:20:03 Speaker 03: I'm not one hundred percent sure what the legal requirements are to hold those funds, but if it were me,

00:20:08 Speaker 03: I would say it'd be worthwhile to hold a smaller amount just in case an old gift certificate is cashed.

00:20:16 Speaker 03: But you're right, we're not seeing any transactions there, volume, and that the majority of those funds you could likely free up doesn't necessarily mean the liability.

00:20:25 Speaker 03: Doesn't necessarily mean the liability goes away, but you wouldn't necessarily have to hold the cash in that account,

00:20:31 Speaker 03: potentially reducing it to say one thousand dollars and freeing up the majority of it towards something else, and just holding a small amount just in case,

00:20:40 Speaker 03: so that if someone did put through one of those gift certificates, it wouldn't bounce.

00:20:44 Speaker 03: Basically.

00:20:49 Speaker 04: Okay.

00:20:51 Speaker 04: So, as far as the auditor, like, they haven't done anything with that gift certificate account or the account itself.

00:21:02 Speaker 04: That was because this money has been sitting there since prior to the city conversion.

00:21:08 Speaker 04: So, yeah, I can't see that anything that is owing or in that account is.

00:21:21 Speaker 04: It's got to be ten years plus old.

00:21:24 Speaker 04: Okay.

00:21:24 Speaker 04: So in that respect, I, I think that maybe at the November meeting we could talk about getting that reduced or something.

00:21:37 Speaker 04: I don't know.

00:21:38 Speaker 04: Go ahead, Pam.

00:21:41 Speaker 03: Those funds you have in your bank account, the city doesn't have access to those funds.

00:21:45 Speaker 03: So certainly, if you wanted to withdraw money from that account, you would be able to do that.

00:21:51 Speaker 03: Absolutely.

00:21:54 Speaker 04: Okay, not withdraw, but have it put into the regular funds and maybe put towards our contribution to the community for something for the community.

00:22:10 Speaker 05: Through you, Mr. Chair, I wonder if it would be helpful for the November meeting for us to just get an opinion from the auditor just about if the balance is X,

00:22:20 Speaker 05: what would be an appropriate amount, and just we can bring that back as an item.

00:22:25 Speaker 05: Sort of, Brianna, how would we do that?

00:22:29 Speaker 05: Just an item that is arising from the minutes, or put it right on the agenda.

00:22:33 Speaker 05: Correspondence from the auditor regarding question posed.

00:22:38 Speaker 05: Okay.

00:22:45 Speaker 05: Okay.

00:22:45 Speaker 04: Thank you.

00:22:45 Speaker 04: Could I have a motion to accept the report?

00:22:50 Speaker 01: Okay, a verbal motion to accept the report.

00:22:52 Speaker 01: All those in favour, and that is carried.

00:22:56 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:22:58 Speaker 01: We have no matters postponed.

00:23:00 Speaker 01: We have no motions for which notice was previously given.

00:23:04 Speaker 01: Correspondents provided for information.

00:23:07 Speaker 01: Brianna, through you, Vice Chair.

00:23:11 Speaker 08: On correspondence provided for information this evening, there is the River District newsletter for the months of August and September.

00:23:19 Speaker 08: Correspondence from United Way of Grey Sauble, respecting a report on mapping discharge pathways from correctional institutions in Bruce Gray, and the SOS story of community impact.

00:23:29 Speaker 08: Business licences were issued to Al Nasar Syrian Food at 132 Ninth Street East, Indulgence VIP at 966 Second Ave East, and Power Fade Golf at 299th Street East Unit B has a new owner.

00:23:42 Speaker 08: Block captains, please be sure to introduce yourself to the new businesses in your block.

00:23:46 Speaker 08: And I would now ask for a motion to receive all of these items for information purposes.

00:23:52 Speaker 08: Okay, who'd like to make that motion?

00:23:53 Speaker 08: Tim.

00:23:54 Speaker 08: Okay, all those in favour?

00:23:57 Speaker 08: And that is carried.

00:23:58 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:23:59 Speaker 01: Additional business.

00:24:01 Speaker 01: Jen, you're up.

00:24:03 Speaker 01: Okay, perfect.

00:24:04 Speaker 01: And bear with me.

00:24:05 Speaker 01: I had some lengthy conversations with who I was able to see on my most recent tour around.

00:24:13 Speaker 01: A few people were on vacation or closed when I was there.

00:24:17 Speaker 01: So, but I did get a pretty broad sort of spectrum of how people are feeling.

00:24:24 Speaker 01: First mention, Randy at Randy's Records wanted me to mention that he is celebrating forty years in September.

00:24:30 Speaker 01: So, hurrah for that.

00:24:32 Speaker 01: I had a few folks who, for one reason or another, were not notified of the police service board meeting, and so we're unable to take part.

00:24:45 Speaker 01: So I'm not entirely sure if we need to maybe canvass businesses to make sure that the city has an up-to-date email address, or just reconfirm so that everyone is in fact getting the notices.

00:24:59 Speaker 01: I had another recommend or you know sort of question regarding a possible need to revisit like how we and residents and people who use downtown dispose of waste,

00:25:18 Speaker 01: perhaps getting garbage cans that can't be opened, but are still obviously accessible for folks who are doing the actual garbage pickup.

00:25:31 Speaker 01: The idea there would be that it would help reduce the amount of household waste that goes into the downtown bins, but also you know,

00:25:41 Speaker 09: where people are removing some of the items that would be a little bit more of a deterrent and more difficult to do.

00:25:48 Speaker 09: Okay, I had one business who was quite has been noticing that their business has dropped about forty or fifty percent and is experiencing quite a bit of like theft in their business.

00:26:08 Speaker 09: And again, I think that relates to just you know having more of a visible presence of police downtown.

00:26:20 Speaker 09: They were concerned about that.

00:26:23 Speaker 09: I did have a lengthy conversation with one member with regards to getting a copy of the constitution of the River District Board or the DIA.

00:26:36 Speaker 09: Um, and finding that from their perspective, they're noticing that since the transition from the DIA as a separate entity into the sort of city fold, there has been a bit of a disconnect,

00:27:00 Speaker 09: and they were hoping to encourage more community hubs, more active discussion among business members, and hopefully getting sort of a regular sort of check-in.

00:27:18 Speaker 09: Now, I mean, we have had sort of that stakeholders meeting with the promise of more of those.

00:27:27 Speaker 09: I was in attendance, and I found it to be quite impactful and a really positive experience.

00:27:34 Speaker 09: So.

00:27:34 Speaker 09: I think sort of moving on from that and growing it, and hopefully will go a long way to creating that dynamic that they feel has sort of dropped off a little bit.

00:27:49 Speaker 09: Along with the request for the constitution, they were interested in documentation that related to when the River District Board expanded to include the library and the Tom, as well as a master list of members.

00:28:14 Speaker 09: There was a question of exactly who is a member of the River District.

00:28:20 Speaker 09: Is it landowners?

00:28:21 Speaker 09: Is it business owners?

00:28:23 Speaker 09: Is it residents?

00:28:24 Speaker 09: Is it all of the above?

00:28:26 Speaker 09: Those were questions that I didn't have answers to.

00:28:29 Speaker 09: So, let me see here.

00:28:32 Speaker 09: What else we got?

00:28:33 Speaker 09: There was some questions as to where the Zamboni machine was, you know, and as it relates to sort of a broader question of garbage and things of the like.

00:28:51 Speaker 09: One particular question came from an upswing in a congregation of individuals around the north side of City Hall, and I want to make very clear that that was not the issue.

00:29:08 Speaker 09: The issue itself is that there seems to be an accumulation of garbage, and you know how or when is that being dealt with?

00:29:18 Speaker 09: Let me see here.

00:29:21 Speaker 09: What else we got here?

00:29:22 Speaker 09: There was a question of how the River District Board is actively dealing with businesses being courted by the mall or spaces outside of the River District itself.

00:29:37 Speaker 09: So, you know, on the outside, it appeared to one member that there wasn't enough being done as far as that goes.

00:29:48 Speaker 09: Wanting to potentially create a little bit more green space to hopefully deal with a little bit of the dog waste issue.

00:29:59 Speaker 09: There was also a question about I kind of, you know, being drawn back to a previous meeting where I had made a comment about someone's concern around snow removal.

00:30:12 Speaker 09: I believe Vivica had said that there was something in the works as far as perhaps a new direction or a new way of dealing with it or a different way.

00:30:23 Speaker 09: I wonder if he had any update on that.

00:30:24 Speaker 09: So I have something to offer that business owner, and then I have actually a question of my own as somebody who operates out of the Artist Alley.

00:30:34 Speaker 10: I thought there was a plan to install lighting, but yeah, clearly that has not happened yet, and I wondered if there was a timeline.

00:30:43 Speaker 10: Oh, also, timeline for the kiosk.

00:30:46 Speaker 10: Have we got anything on that?

00:30:48 Speaker 10: Sorry, that was a lot, but I did talk to a lot of people.

00:30:52 Speaker 01: Thanks, Jen.

00:30:54 Speaker 01: So that was a whole lot of questions and comments, and I'm certainly not going to try and get staff to address it all here.

00:31:00 Speaker 01: But perhaps the last two questions are the easiest ones that you have about the lighting in the alleyway and the new and improved kiosk.

00:31:08 Speaker 01: And I don't know who wants to start.

00:31:11 Speaker 01: Pam, go ahead.

00:31:14 Speaker 05: Jen, thanks for the questions, and I know you've been in touch with Vivica, so I'm thinking some of the things like you probably know where to find the contact.

00:31:21 Speaker 05: Know where to find the constitution, and some of those questions have been answered.

00:31:24 Speaker 05: And we can certainly get you anything that you don't have.

00:31:31 Speaker 05: Artist Alley lighting: We have agreements signed with the property owners on both sides.

00:31:36 Speaker 05: Vivica is working with a contractor around the installation.

00:31:41 Speaker 05: She has the lights purchased, and we're certainly hoping we can have that lit before the holiday season.

00:31:50 Speaker 05: Sorry, what was?

00:31:51 Speaker 05: The other one?

00:31:53 Speaker 05: Oh, the kiosk again.

00:31:54 Speaker 05: Vivica's sourced about six different kiosks, and she sent me all the different options, and we just need to pick the best one, which seems kind of hard because they all are great.

00:32:07 Speaker 05: But we will get that done.

00:32:09 Speaker 05: The Glutton has generally been retired.

00:32:11 Speaker 05: We can't source parts for it anymore.

00:32:14 Speaker 05: Our manager of parks could maybe come to a future meeting and just talk about sort of our approach to River District maintenance.

00:32:22 Speaker 05: We did highlight in the budget tonight the costs that the city's incurring, and just like you've noted,

00:32:30 Speaker 05: the garbage we're spending a lot of time picking up garbage downtown instead of doing the things that we'd like to be doing around maintenance and beautification, and so the costs are high,

00:32:43 Speaker 05: but it's not looking like we'd hope it should be looking.

00:32:48 Speaker 05: So we have some things underway to support that.

00:32:54 Speaker 05: Mall versus downtown.

00:32:55 Speaker 05: There's a variety of things that the city does to support the River District.

00:33:00 Speaker 05: There's a policy in the official plan that requires a market study where there's development happening on the east side, but in particular, the city has a community improvement programmemememememememememememememe,

00:33:14 Speaker 05: and the city has to be careful as they City has to be careful as a municipal entity around bonusing,

00:33:19 Speaker 05: and a community improvement plan is a legal way to provide carrots or incentives for developments that are legal.

00:33:26 Speaker 05: So things like the facade programmemememememememememememememe, the landscaping programmemememememememememememememe, and then all the work that Vivica does around marketing and promotion.

00:33:34 Speaker 05: We hope that that's something that helps people want to stay and be part of the River District.

00:33:40 Speaker 05: So there's probably a whole bunch more that I can't think of, but happy always to have a discussion.

00:33:47 Speaker 05: I know there is a report and follow up.

00:33:50 Speaker 05: Jen, you were at that meeting.

00:33:51 Speaker 05: I know the city has promised a report and follow up.

00:33:54 Speaker 05: I know there's been one sort of other grassroots meeting that's happened, outside of that, and certainly that's always great.

00:34:03 Speaker 05: And we're happy to have your input either at the meeting or, you know, in advance.

00:34:09 Speaker 05: And would welcome anybody to stop by and chat with Vivica or I or members of the board.

00:34:15 Speaker 05: So thanks for that.

00:34:19 Speaker 01: Okay, there are no notices of motion, which brings us to adjournment at six o'clock.

00:34:27 Speaker 01: Meeting adjourned.

00:34:28 Speaker 01: See you all in November.

00:34:29 Speaker 01: Thank you.