Owen Sound Committee - Community Services Meeting Transcript — September 17, 2025

00:00:17 Speaker 01: Good evening, everyone.

00:00:18 Speaker 01: It's September the seventeenth at five thirty.

00:00:21 Speaker 01: This is a Community Services Committee meeting, and with all members save and except Councillor Dodd, I will begin the meeting with the land acknowledgement.

00:00:32 Speaker 01: We acknowledge with respect the history, spirituality, and culture of the Anishinaabe people, who consist of the peoples of the three fires known as Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi nations,

00:00:51 Speaker 01: on whose traditional territories we gather and whose ancestors signed treaties with our ancestors.

00:00:57 Speaker 01: We recognize also the Métis and Inuit, whose ancestors shared this land and these waters.

00:01:03 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.

00:01:14 Speaker 01: I will call around the table to see if there's any additional business, as well as from staff members.

00:01:19 Speaker 02: Councillor Farmer, through the chair, I was hoping to just get an update on my recollection from the last meeting that I was at, that we were anticipating information about Bill 5,

00:01:31 Speaker 02: but I didn't see that and was wondering if we could find out more about what happened to that motion.

00:01:38 Speaker 01: Staff will be addressing that during the minutes when the minutes are approved.

00:01:43 Speaker 01: Any other additional business items from staff or okay?

00:01:47 Speaker 01: Seeing none.

00:01:48 Speaker 01: Are there any declarations of interest?

00:01:51 Speaker 01: If there seems to be one arise during the meeting, please indicate.

00:01:53 Speaker 01: In the meeting, please indicate confirmation of the minutes of the meeting held on July 16.

00:02:00 Speaker 01: I'm looking for someone to move the minutes.

00:02:03 Speaker 01: Sunit has moved the minutes.

00:02:07 Speaker 01: Will we do discussion prior to approval?

00:02:10 Speaker 01: We'll ask on the director to comment on Bill 5.

00:02:14 Speaker 03: Thank you, Madam Chair, and my apologies to the committee.

00:02:18 Speaker 03: We had intended to get a report on Bill 5 ready for this meeting, but as you can see,

00:02:23 Speaker 03: and the manager of planning will speak to the development that was approved over the summer months later in the meeting.

00:02:32 Speaker 03: And we always try to prioritize development, and not that Bill 5 is not important, but it just isn't as time sensitive.

00:02:40 Speaker 03: So our intention is to bring that report to committee in October.

00:02:46 Speaker 04: Councillor Feimer, through the chair.

00:02:48 Speaker 04: Thanks.

00:02:48 Speaker 04: I'm curious because when we did move the request from a member for that update, we attached a date to it.

00:02:57 Speaker 04: Going forward, I'm wondering if, like, should we be avoiding firm deadlines for reports like that, or is there a process to flag as staff are preparing agendas to have those kind of updates,

00:03:10 Speaker 04: so that folks aren't in the position of having to reach out and say, "Hey, I thought we were gonna talk about X," and maybe for more productivity.

00:03:21 Speaker 04: in that update.

00:03:23 Speaker 03: Through the chair, I think it's really great to attach timelines to requests because it helps us prioritize things.

00:03:32 Speaker 03: When the manager and I had talked about this, we were working on something, and we knew to get that done.

00:03:41 Speaker 03: That this particular item wasn't going to get done, we should have communicated that with the member who moved the motion and all of the committee.

00:03:49 Speaker 03: So certainly we'll endeavor to do a better job of that going forward.

00:03:55 Speaker 03: Thank you.

00:03:57 Speaker 01: Next, we have deputations and presentations, and we have a presentation from the River District Coordinator regarding the salmon tour, and I'll ask Vivek to come forward.

00:04:29 Speaker 01: Excuse me, Vivek.

00:04:30 Speaker 01: I'm sorry.

00:04:31 Speaker 01: We need to vote on the minutes.

00:04:32 Speaker 01: We didn't do that.

00:04:33 Speaker 01: All in favour of the minutes?

00:04:36 Speaker 01: That's carried unanimously.

00:04:37 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:04:38 Speaker 01: Go ahead.

00:04:42 Speaker 05: Good evening.

00:04:43 Speaker 05: Thank you for the opportunity to provide an overview of this year's salmon tour.

00:04:46 Speaker 05: And through you, Madam Chair, today I'll be highlighting the key efforts, including the new app launch, social media engagement, and the upcoming Salmon Discovery Day on October 4th.

00:04:57 Speaker 05: The salmon tour is one of Owen Sound's signature fall experiences, drawing visitors to watch the Chinook salmon work their way up the beautiful Sydenham River to the spawning beds at the English Falls Arboretum.

00:05:09 Speaker 05: Our goals are to enhance tourism and economic activity, provide educational opportunities, and strengthen community connections.

00:05:17 Speaker 05: This year, we focused on building both in-person and digital engagement.

00:05:23 Speaker 05: One of the most recent additions this year is the launch of the tourism app, Your Own Owen Sound digital tour guide.

00:05:34 Speaker 05: It offers a selection of self-guided tours with maps and information.

00:05:38 Speaker 05: Visitors can access educational content, making the experiences more interactive and family-friendly.

00:05:45 Speaker 05: This app is in its infancy, and we're using the Salmon Tour as a way to gather public feedback during the beta testing phase to identify bugs, usability issues,

00:05:53 Speaker 05: and functional problems before the library of tours grows.

00:05:57 Speaker 05: This is just me fooling around on my phone.

00:06:00 Speaker 05: Looks very impressive.

00:06:08 Speaker 05: Social media continues to be one of our strongest engagement tools.

00:06:11 Speaker 05: We've created two Facebook events: a general salmon tour event to showcase the season, and a dedicated Salmon Discovery Day event for October 4th.

00:06:20 Speaker 05: These events allow us to reach thousands of people, track interest, and share updates instantly.

00:06:26 Speaker 05: Early numbers show strong community awareness.

00:06:28 Speaker 05: These two events are being promoted simultaneously to both locals and those coming in from out of town.

00:06:36 Speaker 05: We're very pleased to share that Owen Sound received an RTO 7 storytelling grant this year.

00:06:41 Speaker 05: This grant allows us to bring an influencer to experience and promote the Salmon Tour.

00:06:46 Speaker 05: Their content will highlight both the natural beauty of the city and the convenience of Owen Sound as a day trip or an overnight getaway destination.

00:06:54 Speaker 05: A key focus will be showcasing that our community is accessible and enjoyable for all, including new parents with small children who may be looking for their first family trip.

00:07:02 Speaker 05: This is a valuable opportunity to extend our reach well beyond our traditional audience and attract new visitors who may not have considered Owen Sound before.

00:07:10 Speaker 05: Lily will be enjoying an overnight stay at the Harrison Park Cabin while exploring the Salmon Tour with her family.

00:07:21 Speaker 05: Salmon Discovery Day is our flagship event, taking place on October 4th in partnership with Grey Sauble Conservation Authority.

00:07:27 Speaker 05: It will feature a full day of activities, educational workshops, children's activities, interactive stations, and more.

00:07:33 Speaker 05: Local partners and community groups are playing a big role in programmememememememememing, including the animation of Harrison Park with vendors.

00:07:39 Speaker 05: Take part at your own pace, starting at 11 a.m. at the West Side boat launch.

00:07:44 Speaker 05: Walk along the West Harbor Wall toward 10th Street, cross over the river to the River District Boardwalk for a fresh view of the river.

00:07:51 Speaker 05: Take a side quest to the Farmers Market or River District shopping.

00:07:54 Speaker 05: Rest at the Tom and take in a 20-minute video clip of the film All Too Clear beneath the surface of the Great Lakes while you enjoy light refreshments.

00:08:02 Speaker 05: Continue to the Mill Dam and learn about the importance of the fish ladder from portions of the fish ladder from the Sydenham Sportsman, carry on to Harrison Park to connect with community groups and artisans,

00:08:11 Speaker 05: hike your way to the Arboretum to watch nature at work in the spawning beds, enjoy a salmon tasting before you hop on the shuttle service to return to your car at the Westside Boat Launch.

00:08:21 Speaker 05: Shuttle services will begin at noon at the Tom and will run a circuit to the main connection points, allowing for more accessible tours for those with minor mobility issues, young families,

00:08:31 Speaker 05: or people like me who will be totally gassed by the end of the tour.

00:08:34 Speaker 05: This shuttle will be in a hop-on, hop-off format and is complimentary.

00:08:39 Speaker 05: Full event details are being updated on the Facebook event page, where the public can find schedules and announcements.

00:08:50 Speaker 05: These efforts wouldn't be possible without collabouration.

00:08:52 Speaker 05: Owen Sound Tourism and Graceville Conservation Authority have partnered with groups, tourism businesses, and more to offer a fulsome experience to both locals and visitors.

00:09:01 Speaker 05: These partnerships help extend our reach and enhance the visitor experience, while also supporting local groups.

00:09:07 Speaker 05: I'd like to highlight Park Bus, a tourism operator focused on day trips from Toronto.

00:09:13 Speaker 05: We're happy to be working with them closely to encourage visitors to the area, including taking part in Salmon Discovery Day.

00:09:22 Speaker 05: As we approach the peak spawning days, we anticipate that draw a strong turnout, particularly for Salmon Discovery Day.

00:09:27 Speaker 05: We also believe this will be a first step in the revitalization of tour promotion.

00:09:31 Speaker 05: We will continue to build momentum through social media and other advertising pathways to ensure the greatest impact.

00:09:37 Speaker 05: Looking beyond 2025, we see opportunities to expand programmememememememememing, improve digital tools, and increase regional tourism impact.

00:09:45 Speaker 05: So that concludes the update.

00:09:46 Speaker 05: Thank you for the opportunity tonight, and I'd be happy to take any questions.

00:09:52 Speaker 01: Thank you so much, Vivica.

00:09:54 Speaker 01: I'm most impressed with your partnership page.

00:09:56 Speaker 01: I like to see all those names.

00:09:58 Speaker 01: Questions around the table?

00:10:01 Speaker 01: Go ahead, Mark.

00:10:04 Speaker 06: Through you, Madam Chair.

00:10:05 Speaker 06: Not much questions from the sun.

00:10:07 Speaker 06: Just a kudos.

00:10:09 Speaker 06: This looks absolutely amazing.

00:10:11 Speaker 06: The app I think is going to be wonderful.

00:10:13 Speaker 06: And if I wished, I was available October fourth to join in.

00:10:16 Speaker 06: But another great project by the team.

00:10:21 Speaker 06: And bringing in the social media influencer is going to be a pretty interesting outcome.

00:10:28 Speaker 06: I think I'm interested to see the outcome of that as well.

00:10:30 Speaker 06: So great job once again.

00:10:34 Speaker 04: Go ahead, John.

00:10:35 Speaker 04: Through the chair, a point of industry curiosity: How does one identify which influencer to work with?

00:10:45 Speaker 04: Thank you, through Madam Chair.

00:10:47 Speaker 05: It's fun because they all have managers now, and so working with RTO Seven, they're in touch with a list of kind of vetted influencers specific to different genres.

00:10:59 Speaker 05: This person in particular, Lily.

00:11:01 Speaker 05: She is a travel blogger, essentially.

00:11:04 Speaker 05: So she goes to all sort of luxurious places and makes them look amazing, and makes you want to go.

00:11:08 Speaker 05: And so we're going to have Owen Sound looking as good as it does featured there.

00:11:15 Speaker 05: Very good.

00:11:17 Speaker 05: Go ahead.

00:11:22 Speaker 03: Thank you, Madam Chair.

00:11:23 Speaker 03: If other people are like member Chemek, and they're not available on October fourth, is the tour still available and self-guided other times?

00:11:35 Speaker 05: Yes, thank you.

00:11:35 Speaker 05: It is always available.

00:11:37 Speaker 05: The great thing is that you'll be able to download the map on your app and just use it that way.

00:11:41 Speaker 05: I wasn't sure if you were looking during the video at all, but it did recognize that we were by the farmers market,

00:11:48 Speaker 05: so it will ping you once you've entered the geographic area to those stops and let you know that there's information for the farmers market again.

00:11:55 Speaker 05: That showed it had a little bit of information about the market and things like that.

00:11:59 Speaker 05: So it's a really interactive tool that we really hope a lot of people will try.

00:12:03 Speaker 05: And in addition to that, the maps will be available online.

00:12:07 Speaker 05: We'll have print maps available as well at City Hall and at Tourism, all very soon because the fish decided to start running already.

00:12:19 Speaker 03: Sorry, last thing.

00:12:20 Speaker 03: If I could, I just want to really thank Viv.

00:12:21 Speaker 03: Could I just want to really thank Vivica and Jen Wright, who have stepped in this summer.

00:12:25 Speaker 03: We've been shorthanded in tourism, and they've done a great job supporting this.

00:12:29 Speaker 03: And thanks for sharing this, Vivica.

00:12:33 Speaker 01: Thank you so much, Vivica.

00:12:34 Speaker 01: We look forward to having this in our sound.

00:12:39 Speaker 01: Next item is correspondence, for which I do not see any items listed.

00:12:44 Speaker 01: Next is a report from Parks and Open Space regarding Harrison Park marker tree and a request for an ecological restoration and cultural recognition.

00:13:00 Speaker 03: Thank you, Madam Chair.

00:13:02 Speaker 03: So, the Soggy and Ojibwe Nation has requested the City of Owen Sound recognize a marker tree, and I wonder if Christina can go to the attachment in the report with the photos.

00:13:13 Speaker 03: This tree is in Harrison Park, and it's a significant living artifact within their original territory.

00:13:20 Speaker 03: According to Saan Elder Lenore Kishig, marker trees like the one at Harrison Park were historically modified when they were young to serve as vital navigational markers or cultural signposts for the Nisg̱a'a, marking trails,

00:13:35 Speaker 03: water sources, and important sites.

00:13:40 Speaker 03: The unique tree at Harrison Park is showing some signs of stress,

00:13:44 Speaker 03: and you can see from the picture that it's in an area where there's vehicular traffic as well as a lot of people headed right beside the tree to get to that washroom.

00:13:56 Speaker 03: So the parks manager met on site with Ben McLeod and Sasha Fernando, and based on that meeting, Saan will engage both an arborist and an ecologist,

00:14:06 Speaker 03: and they'll review and make some additional recommendations that weren't in the letter attached.

00:14:11 Speaker 03: And so, in terms of thinking about this request, our official plan certainly has a goal of celebrating cultural heritage and protecting natural heritage environments that align with the request.

00:14:25 Speaker 03: And the initiative really reflects recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, offering educational opportunities, promoting Indigenous stewardship and reconciliation, and fostering sustainable practices.

00:14:40 Speaker 03: So the idea would be in the correspondence.

00:14:44 Speaker 03: It talked about an unveiling ceremony on September 30th, and that was probably a little bit optimistic.

00:14:50 Speaker 03: But the idea would be to have a dedication ceremony yet this fall, once we have an interpretive plaque and have that made and installed.

00:15:02 Speaker 03: So, in terms of the finances, the cost for that temporary interpretive panel would be around $400, and it would be upgraded to a permanent panel as part of that overall interpretive plaque update.

00:15:13 Speaker 03: You won't really know it's temporary.

00:15:15 Speaker 03: The one at the Manitoba is also a temporary installation.

00:15:20 Speaker 03: Saan will provide the text and associated images, and actually, I think those arrived on Monday, so that's terrific.

00:15:27 Speaker 03: We've got the post-installation utility, and then the ecological protection work.

00:15:32 Speaker 03: And based on Eckert's sort of best estimates in terms of getting the road and the pedestrian connection,

00:15:40 Speaker 03: we're looking for that exact scope of work to be defined as the ecologist and the arborist do their further work.

00:15:49 Speaker 03: So, with that, the recommendation is that, in consideration of the report regarding the Harrison Park marker tree request, ecological restoration and cultural recognition,

00:15:59 Speaker 03: the committee would recommend council approve the request for ecological restoration and cultural recognition, with the costs associated with the plaque to be taken from the capital reserve for plaques,

00:16:11 Speaker 03: and up to ten thousand dollars from the parkland reserve be allocated to the ecological protection.

00:16:19 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:16:21 Speaker 01: Just before I go around the table for questions, the report did identify that a draft of the interpretive plaque is attached, and I presume that's not available yet.

00:16:31 Speaker 01: It's in on page four at the bottom paragraph.

00:16:42 Speaker 01: My apologies.

00:16:44 Speaker 01: Yeah, that's not a problem.

00:16:46 Speaker 01: I just you had mentioned that you only just got it, so we do look forward to seeing that at some point.

00:16:52 Speaker 01: I guess if it can be maybe sent out to the members.

00:17:01 Speaker 01: Okay, so around the table, looking for Allie.

00:17:05 Speaker 07: This is great.

00:17:06 Speaker 07: I'm really excited to see some commemoration coming for this tree.

00:17:09 Speaker 07: I can remember the first time seeing it, being really struck by it.

00:17:12 Speaker 07: So I think this is great.

00:17:14 Speaker 07: I did have one question.

00:17:15 Speaker 07: Given that Saan has requested kind of cultural recognition, and that Harrison Park is a part four designated property as a cultural heritage landscape, I took a review of the heritage attributes of Harrison Park,

00:17:26 Speaker 07: and this isn't explicitly noted, but there very distinct features of Harrison Park are noted.

00:17:31 Speaker 07: I'm wondering if it's worthwhile to kind of communicate that we understand that and also appreciate the diverse heritage of Harrison Park.

00:17:39 Speaker 07: If that designation bylaw should be slightly revised to include this as a heritage attribute, the member is absolutely right, and I think that's a great idea.

00:17:53 Speaker 03: That we would update those heritage attributes, and we can do that certainly, you know, as part of our work plan in 2026.

00:18:01 Speaker 03: Thank you, John.

00:18:03 Speaker 08: I would like to move the motion.

00:18:05 Speaker 08: Then, with that addition of adding that recognition to the formal bylaw in the next year's work plan, this makes so much sense.

00:18:15 Speaker 08: I think that as we promote the cultural history of Owen Sound, we just have to recognize that that cultural history is on Indigenous land, and honouring that is really important.

00:18:31 Speaker 08: Happy to move that.

00:18:32 Speaker 08: Are there other potential amendments or ways that we could better recognize or expand that recognition?

00:18:42 Speaker 08: Looking to other members of the committee or staff, as we are open to friendly amendments.

00:18:51 Speaker 08: Does anyone else have an ally?

00:18:53 Speaker 07: I don't know if this programmememememememememe still runs.

00:18:55 Speaker 07: There used to be something called Heritage Trees with Forestry Canada.

00:18:59 Speaker 07: I don't know if it was a temporary programmememememememememe or a full programmememememememememe, but I know it recognizes trees across the country as markers of cultural heritage as well.

00:19:08 Speaker 07: So that could be something worth looking into in addition to the bylaw.

00:19:14 Speaker 07: Morgan, did you have comments?

00:19:15 Speaker 07: Lance, through you, chair.

00:19:24 Speaker 09: Tree Canada did look at the heritage tree, and it did not get past.

00:19:30 Speaker 09: They chose to go with the Tom Thomson tree in leaf, and but this one wasn't accepted.

00:19:37 Speaker 09: You could reapply.

00:19:38 Speaker 09: Yeah.

00:19:41 Speaker 01: Any other comments around the table?

00:19:43 Speaker 01: We have a motion on the floor to approve, along with the addition of amending the tree or the historic bylaw regarding this particular tree.

00:19:56 Speaker 01: All those in favour?

00:19:58 Speaker 01: That's carried.

00:19:59 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:20:05 Speaker 01: Next item is from the Director regarding an agreement renewal with the Festival of Northern Lights.

00:20:13 Speaker 03: Thank you.

00:20:17 Speaker 03: So, the Festival of Northern Lights began in 1987 as a volunteer grassroots initiative, and it became an incorporated nonprofit in 2012.

00:20:26 Speaker 03: Nonprofit in 2011?

00:20:28 Speaker 03: Volunteers play a critical role with the festival.

00:20:32 Speaker 03: They maintain displays, create new displays, and collect donations, and really are the backbone of the festival.

00:20:40 Speaker 03: The city does provide substantial in-kind support through our Parks Division with labour and fleet.

00:20:48 Speaker 03: Today, the festival—or sorry—the festival runs from mid-November to early January each year, and it happens along the Sydney River in the River District, as well as in Harrison Park.

00:21:00 Speaker 03: Usually, there's an opening night celebration that follows the Koawana's Parade.

00:21:07 Speaker 03: During the presentation to Council in the spring of 2025, the festival shared that it's been working hard to become more self-sufficient, requiring less financial support from the city as the organisation focuses on sponsorship, donations,

00:21:21 Speaker 03: and volunteer efforts.

00:21:23 Speaker 03: As I mentioned, the festival still does rely extensively on park staff for setup and tear down each year.

00:21:30 Speaker 03: The relationship between the city and festival has been guided for a number of years by an agreement.

00:21:36 Speaker 03: I know they go back to 2011 and then 2016.

00:21:40 Speaker 03: The current agreement has lapsed during the pandemic.

00:21:45 Speaker 03: Council had extended the term on a number of agreements, but it is an appropriate time to update this agreement.

00:21:53 Speaker 03: So the new draft agreement that we're proposing would cover the years 25 to 29, so a five-year agreement.

00:22:00 Speaker 03: In terms of the in-kind park support and fleet support, the old agreement used to break down the number of hours for the Parks' lead hand and the labourers.

00:22:11 Speaker 03: And in aggregate, we looked at the average or sort of the average time and the max time in the last three years.

00:22:19 Speaker 03: And what we're suggesting is the new agreement just be revised to show a total number of 920 hours of staff support for setup, maintenance during the event, as well as teardown.

00:22:30 Speaker 03: As well, in the past there was maximum hours for various fleets, so trucks and trailers and bucket trucks.

00:22:37 Speaker 03: And again, what we're doing by doing that is shortchanging our own staff, and it's complicated.

00:22:44 Speaker 03: So what we're again doing is just saying that the fleet resources, although we'll continue to track those costs, would basically match the staff resources.

00:22:56 Speaker 03: Another important change: the festival displays, the size and style of the displays.

00:23:01 Speaker 03: If you've been out and around the festival, you'll see that they've really grown.

00:23:05 Speaker 03: So another change to the draft agreement is that if there are displays that we don't have the tools or the fleet to set up,

00:23:14 Speaker 03: that the festival would be required to supply equipment to ensure safe setup.

00:23:20 Speaker 03: So, in 2024, the last full year of the festival, the cost for labour and equipment was total $39,928.

00:23:31 Speaker 03: In terms of the storage of festival displays, right now the festival displays are stored in the Greenwood Cemetrey shop, sort of in the west part of that shop,

00:23:41 Speaker 03: and the displays have outgrown the current storage area at Greenwood, and the storage there creates some challenges and inefficiencies for our Parks and Cemetrey operation.

00:23:53 Speaker 03: So the agreement really aims to support the festival's independence while facilitating them to secure new storage.

00:24:03 Speaker 03: So staff have worked to assist the festival in securing a new private storage location, and they've suggested that they don't need financial support, but in order that they're not short,

00:24:16 Speaker 03: the cost of storage will be about $20,000 each year.

00:24:19 Speaker 03: So we're recommending that the agreement provide a financial transfer of $20,000 each year.

00:24:26 Speaker 03: That would be a reduction.

00:24:27 Speaker 03: The last agreement had a $40,000 transfer.

00:24:32 Speaker 03: Although when we talk about the reserve, not all of that transfer was accepted.

00:24:36 Speaker 03: So there has been a festival reserve building up.

00:24:41 Speaker 03: In terms of the festival reserve, there's a reserve sitting at around $85,000.

00:24:49 Speaker 03: The current festival tree has reached the end of its useful life.

00:24:54 Speaker 03: The lights don't work.

00:24:55 Speaker 03: The setup is very complicated and precarious.

00:24:59 Speaker 03: And what we're proposing is that a certain amount of funds, up to $65,000, be allocated to a replacement.

00:25:07 Speaker 03: With the details of that replacement to come back through this committee, so it wouldn't be in time for setup in 2025.

00:25:14 Speaker 03: But that those details would come through the Chair.

00:25:17 Speaker 03: A couple of questions.

00:25:20 Speaker 04: First, has any consideration been given, or is it identified in any of our downtown or official plans, the possibility of replacing a living tree in the core, or in the general Market Square,

00:25:37 Speaker 04: or City Hall area, acknowledging that because I want to say at every meeting, back in my day, there was a living tree,

00:25:45 Speaker 04: and my understanding is that is the inspiration for the metal tree that is displayed annually.

00:25:50 Speaker 04: Have we considered or named the possibility of returning a living tree to the space?

00:25:59 Speaker 03: The master plan for the downtown did remove that tree, and having green space in an area that's highly pedestrian becomes a problem.

00:26:08 Speaker 03: I'm not sure an evergreen tree in front of City Hall would do well with the salt in the street environment.

00:26:16 Speaker 03: Similarly, to put it in a place that's notable enough close to the Market Square, I think it would be challenging.

00:26:26 Speaker 03: I can't remember what year that tree was initially purchased, but I think it was in the early 2000s, and we've moved it around.

00:26:35 Speaker 03: It has been at the north end of the Farmers Market.

00:26:37 Speaker 03: It's been in front of City Hall.

00:26:39 Speaker 03: It's been at the Julie MacArthur Regional Rec Centre, but no, we haven't looked.

00:26:46 Speaker 03: We have had offers of real trees to be placed, like on a temporary basis.

00:26:52 Speaker 03: But securing a real tree of a size that's big enough is a bit of an engineering feat.

00:26:59 Speaker 03: It absolutely can be done, but it becomes costly to do that.

00:27:05 Speaker 01: Just...

00:27:06 Speaker 01: I wonder if Pam, you could comment about the trees.

00:27:09 Speaker 01: I think at the Billy Bishop or somewhere that are recognized, or maybe you know more, John, about this.

00:27:16 Speaker 01: Are there not some trees that Canadian Mental Health recognize?

00:27:25 Speaker 10: My familiarity with the trees at the Billy Bishop are mostly as a parent doing daycare drop-offs in the neighbourhood.

00:27:31 Speaker 10: My understanding is that they do—they are lit or strung with lights?

00:27:36 Speaker 10: But I'm not sure if that's an annual thing or if I've noticed those off-season as they've stayed in the tree.

00:27:44 Speaker 10: I would look to the Director or staff for more information.

00:27:51 Speaker 01: I guess I'm just familiar because of my days with the Festival of Northern Lights, and my husband who volunteered for seventeen years with them.

00:27:59 Speaker 01: But I thought there was trees lit in blue.

00:28:01 Speaker 01: Trees live in blue lights, in recognition of mental health.

00:28:06 Speaker 01: But I'm not sure.

00:28:09 Speaker 01: Anyways, they were living trees that were recognized at that time, and maybe that's something that the festival themselves can look at again.

00:28:16 Speaker 04: John, through the Chair, the previous agreement, as linked through the report, includes some transparency and sharing of the budget between the festival and the city.

00:28:30 Speaker 04: I believe the language is around submitting a budget annually.

00:28:34 Speaker 04: How does the updated agreement either continue or remove the need for financial oversight of the festival on behalf of the city?

00:28:46 Speaker 04: Can I just comment first?

00:28:48 Speaker 01: Since this is now a nonprofit organisation, they run their own budget.

00:28:56 Speaker 01: The amount they get from the city is an amount, but I'll let Pam... isn't amount, but I'll let Pam comment on that.

00:29:02 Speaker 01: Yeah, thanks for that question.

00:29:04 Speaker 03: And one of the areas of the agreement that actually looked for direction from the City Solicitor was wording to ensure that whatever reporting mechanism is required as an incorporated nonprofit was acknowledged in the agreement,

00:29:23 Speaker 03: and that they would need to comply with those reporting requirements.

00:29:27 Speaker 03: The agreement also asks them to come and do a presentation each year to Council on the festival and on their activities.

00:29:38 Speaker 03: And certainly, I think Council could ask them any questions they have at that time.

00:29:44 Speaker 03: Are there others, Morgan?

00:29:47 Speaker 06: Thank you.

00:29:47 Speaker 06: Just a couple, and Madam Chair, just a couple points of clarification.

00:29:52 Speaker 06: So we are hoping to allocate $65,000 from our reserve to do the replacement tree, and then the other main point is that we're switching because right now we give them free storage,

00:30:09 Speaker 06: so they are then increasing their budget by $20k to find new storage.

00:30:21 Speaker 03: Yes, that's correct.

00:30:23 Speaker 03: They store now in our building at no charge; it will cost them to provide or get storage offsite, and they haven't taken a lot of transfer.

00:30:34 Speaker 03: But to keep them sort of even and not starting $20,000 in the hole, we're recommending that we reduce the allocation from $40,000 from the 2016 agreement to $20,000 in this agreement, and then...

00:30:54 Speaker 06: Just a follow-up on that as well: are they eligible for the MAT tax assistance if they ever need help?

00:31:04 Speaker 03: There was a MAT tax meeting today, and I didn't get to it.

00:31:07 Speaker 03: And that committee is working on the criteria.

00:31:10 Speaker 03: But I would imagine that you know, the festival, like other festivals, I think some of the other festivals got funding late this summer, so I imagine they would be eligible.

00:31:24 Speaker 03: Other questions?

00:31:26 Speaker 01: I need a mover of the recommendation.

00:31:29 Speaker 01: Sunit, move the recommendation.

00:31:31 Speaker 01: All those in favour of the recommendation?

00:31:34 Speaker 01: That's carried.

00:31:35 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:31:40 Speaker 01: Moving on; no other reports in other areas of that department.

00:31:46 Speaker 01: No matters postponed.

00:31:48 Speaker 01: No motions for which notice was previously given, and we're into correspondence, and I'll ask if Sabine wanted to comment on the correspondence items.

00:32:01 Speaker 01: Go ahead.

00:32:02 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:32:03 Speaker 03: Thank you, Madam Chair.

00:32:04 Speaker 03: I'm going to do the development update, and then Sabine is going to speak to the site plan approval.

00:32:09 Speaker 03: So I'm really pleased to provide an update on development and building activity in Owen Sound for July and August.

00:32:17 Speaker 03: The update does represent two months, but it's a really positive update for the city.

00:32:24 Speaker 03: In July and August, we issued 97 permits, and if you think about those two months having 42 working days, that's 2.3 permits a day.

00:32:32 Speaker 03: And there's a lot of work that goes into issuing a permit, so staff have been really busy.

00:32:39 Speaker 03: Staff did 358 inspections, which is eight-and-a-half inspections every day.

00:32:45 Speaker 03: So again, they've been busy.

00:32:47 Speaker 03: Construction value I think is really notable: over $100 million in construction value, which for us is an extraordinary increase over last year but just a tremendous year.

00:33:01 Speaker 03: Our building permit fees collected for the two months were $565,000, and the total for the year is nearly $1 million.

00:33:11 Speaker 03: So in the area of development, we have 553 new residents: 153 new residential units with building permits this year.

00:33:20 Speaker 03: Really kind of interesting looking at where those numbers fall.

00:33:23 Speaker 03: So, one single-family home, four semis, 12 townhouses, six ARUs, which I think is notable, and then 530 apartments.

00:33:32 Speaker 03: So heavily weighted to that multi-residential.

00:33:35 Speaker 03: Of particular note, the SkyDev project: they had a groundbreaking.

00:33:40 Speaker 03: Some of council and staff were there, and that was a terrific event with Greg Jones and his team.

00:33:45 Speaker 03: Their first phase, 267 units, Bayshore Terrace.

00:33:49 Speaker 03: If you're headed to an attack game at the end of the month, you'll see they're hard at work.

00:33:54 Speaker 03: Thirty new life leases; Princess Auto expansion.

00:33:59 Speaker 03: So Princess Auto will have a new building, which means Winners and Homesense can have a bigger space as well.

00:34:06 Speaker 03: And then an important renovation at the Rockview Apartments by Grey County, providing affordable housing in the community.

00:34:14 Speaker 03: With that, that's the update, and I ask Sabine to provide an update on the site plans.

00:34:32 Speaker 11: Through Chair, if you can just go to the second page, I just wanted to draw the committee's attention to this chart,

00:34:41 Speaker 11: basically showing that planning applications year-to-date have essentially doubled from the same time last year, and so that's a pretty significant increase in application numbers and sort of volume that's going through our department right now.

00:34:56 Speaker 11: And I think it's worthy of noting that.

00:35:01 Speaker 11: Thank you.

00:35:01 Speaker 11: If you want to go to the next one, so the site plan approvals are staff-delegated now, and attached to the committee's agenda at the end of each month.

00:35:15 Speaker 11: So I just wanted to go through quickly, sort of a cross-section of what was approved in July and August, and yeah, sort of commercial, industrial, and a whole range of things.

00:35:27 Speaker 11: So the first one is an application by the hospital for a new shed, basically for their transportation equipment.

00:35:38 Speaker 11: The next one is exciting for Owen Sound: Amazon is building a warehouse distribution centre in the industrial park where, sorry, if you went back,

00:35:52 Speaker 11: where basically the big trucks come in and packages get rerouted onto the smaller trucks to go out for delivery.

00:36:01 Speaker 11: So that's an exciting development in the industrial park.

00:36:06 Speaker 11: The city has gone through our own site plan approval process for a new accessory structure at the Public Works Yard,

00:36:16 Speaker 11: so just making sure that we apply all the rules to ourselves that we apply to other developers.

00:36:25 Speaker 11: Owen Sound District Secondary School has also gone through site plan approval to provide for a new accessory structure to store sports equipment and to also do some relining of parking spaces.

00:36:43 Speaker 11: Next one: TD Bank went through site plan approval to provide for an exterior ATM and a new accessible entrance to the existing bank.

00:36:55 Speaker 11: So that'll re-sort of redo that parking lot to make it more useful as well.

00:37:00 Speaker 11: And then finally, we have an 11-unit clustered townhouse—an eleven-unit cluster townhouse development on Ninth Avenue East, just a little bit north of the Eighth Street East intersection.

00:37:11 Speaker 11: So, eleven units—one sort of building of four and one of seven—and anticipate that we'll see that starting before the end of the year.

00:37:24 Speaker 11: Thank you.

00:37:29 Speaker 11: Thank you.

00:37:30 Speaker 11: Other questions for Sabine?

00:37:31 Speaker 11: Go ahead.

00:37:33 Speaker 09: Through you, Chair.

00:37:34 Speaker 09: Can we go to the Bright Shores Hospital plan?

00:37:40 Speaker 09: There it is.

00:37:40 Speaker 09: There.

00:37:41 Speaker 09: Interesting because it has been approved.

00:37:44 Speaker 09: But we, our organisation called Neighbourhoods North, have been trying to get a trail through the East Woodlot and also over the North.

00:37:53 Speaker 09: And we have since done that in the last two weeks.

00:37:55 Speaker 09: I'm quite pleased about that.

00:37:56 Speaker 09: But the point is that they asked us to delay doing the Eastern Woodlot Trail because they're putting in this shed, for lack of a better word,

00:38:06 Speaker 09: and then all of a sudden two weeks ago they said no, we're not doing it now, so the shed's not going in.

00:38:11 Speaker 09: So the question is, do you know anything about that?

00:38:14 Speaker 09: Where is the future shed?

00:38:15 Speaker 09: Is there going to be a shed, or is that not something that you're aware of?

00:38:23 Speaker 12: Through you, Chair, so they have applied for site plan approval and we've taken through the process once.

00:38:30 Speaker 12: That approval is done; like the next step is to apply for building permits, and it'll be up to them to decide when they apply for that building permit.

00:38:48 Speaker 09: Yeah, through you, Chair.

00:38:50 Speaker 09: So they've been accepted to have the plan.

00:38:53 Speaker 09: Is that correct?

00:38:54 Speaker 09: And but they're now saying they're not doing it.

00:38:56 Speaker 09: So so... what does that mean?

00:38:59 Speaker 09: Are they moving it somewhere else?

00:39:01 Speaker 09: Is that what you're saying?

00:39:07 Speaker 03: Through the Chair, so they have approval.

00:39:10 Speaker 03: As Sabine mentioned, their next step is to get a building permit.

00:39:14 Speaker 03: Sometimes things change within an organisation or how they are organising themselves, and we're not always privy to that.

00:39:22 Speaker 03: So they didn't withdraw their application, but we're not aware of any change.

00:39:28 Speaker 03: Sometimes we're the last to know.

00:39:33 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:39:33 Speaker 01: And questions around the table, John.

00:39:37 Speaker 04: Through the Chair: as looking at those very impressive stats for apartments and condos, we've had conversations around this table, I think this committee and council,

00:39:48 Speaker 04: around how we assess the need in the market and the way that development is doing that for market-based housing versus housing that's being done by non-market housing developers,

00:39:59 Speaker 04: or specifically with the intention to be affordable.

00:40:03 Speaker 04: Do we track affordability or the market or nonprofit status of developers?

00:40:09 Speaker 04: And if so, is it possible to begin to add that so that we can see when we've got giant numbers like that, what percentage of that is going to land where in the housing spectrum?

00:40:26 Speaker 03: Through the chair, Councillor Merton was recently on the open line, and she had asked me for some similar information.

00:40:35 Speaker 03: And so we have those stats, and we can keep them up to date.

00:40:39 Speaker 03: So, if it's market housing that has an affordable component, like Strathcona or the Twenty-Eight Street West apartments that were recently constructed by Berries,

00:40:51 Speaker 03: we do—we are aware of those—and we can endeavor to report on those in the development update.

00:40:58 Speaker 03: I don't think it's a secret: Saint Clair Place has funding, and we look forward to them being in the stats with a building permit, hopefully before the end of the year.

00:41:09 Speaker 03: I know they're looking forward to meeting with staff to get things rolling.

00:41:19 Speaker 04: Another question through the chair: to staff, as we talk about the expansion of housing,

00:41:26 Speaker 04: some of the community conversations about making sure that everyone has an appropriate place to live is about the adequacy of housing.

00:41:35 Speaker 04: And sometimes, well, some of the rental stock is older than me—easily—and I'm curious:

00:41:41 Speaker 04: do we also track noting that Rockview Terrace had a note in there around a redevelopment following a fire and reinvestment in building permits?

00:41:54 Speaker 04: Do we also track when housing units are renovated or updated when building permits are required for that scope of renovation?

00:42:04 Speaker 04: Acknowledging that you're not counting every coat of paint between tenants, but is there a way that we, as a city,

00:42:10 Speaker 04: are also collecting information about the general health and lifespan of the housing stock in the municipality?

00:42:19 Speaker 03: So while we may issue permits for that work, they're not new units, so the numbers don't show up here.

00:42:26 Speaker 03: They may be in the construction value amount, but they're not new units, so they're not reported in that way.

00:42:33 Speaker 03: So we don't track them.

00:42:35 Speaker 03: But you're looking for an investment in existing infrastructure, and we don't do that through the chair.

00:42:45 Speaker 04: I guess as I sit here with my community member hat on, the idea is:

00:42:49 Speaker 04: how do we figure out what need is and ask for policy solutions or investments from levels of government or third parties to meet the acute needs of our community?

00:42:59 Speaker 04: I think that's really interesting as we talk about the health of our housing stock.

00:43:10 Speaker 04: And I'm—is there any possibility of a role for the city building department to just be flagging what percentage of even those building permits that we are issuing are for updates to or renovations to existing

00:43:29 Speaker 04: rental stock,

00:43:31 Speaker 04: acknowledging that we get to see it when it's something like a repurposing of Frost Manor?

00:43:36 Speaker 04: That might be a case study we've discussed before: the old funeral home that turned into like ten or eleven units.

00:43:46 Speaker 04: The municipality has so much data.

00:43:47 Speaker 04: Is there a way that we can use that to better inform community conversations?

00:43:51 Speaker 04: When otherwise some of that redevelopment or housing spectrum becomes invisible, or it's hard to have fact-based decisions without data.

00:44:04 Speaker 04: Anyone?

00:44:04 Speaker 04: Oh, Morgan.

00:44:06 Speaker 06: Through Madam Chair, this is just more for Councillor Farmer.

00:44:10 Speaker 06: I understand the need for educated and data-informed decisions.

00:44:16 Speaker 06: Absolutely; I don't necessarily agree with collecting data and analysing data just because.

00:44:25 Speaker 06: And I think the data that we have—and of course, we can always do more with data and that kind of stuff—we can look at the number of building units, number of permits issued,

00:44:34 Speaker 06: number of ARUs.

00:44:35 Speaker 06: Like, I think we're getting what we need to have.

00:44:37 Speaker 06: I understand about the health of our housing market.

00:44:40 Speaker 06: I think there's different ways to look at that.

00:44:42 Speaker 06: Like if you're looking at it in terms of health, is there enough housing available for people that need it?

00:44:51 Speaker 06: Do we have any rent evictions happening?

00:44:52 Speaker 06: Do we have horrible landlords?

00:44:54 Speaker 06: I think that data can come from legislation or people putting in complaints.

00:45:01 Speaker 06: Maybe that's where you're going to get that information.

00:45:03 Speaker 06: But I'm not sure if putting importance on finding little nitty-gritty data will actually create informed decisions or just make us go down deeper rabbit holes than we need to be doing.

00:45:21 Speaker 06: I think when we're able to look at the number of ARUs, the number of multi-units, townhouses, and everything else, that's giving us an idea.

00:45:29 Speaker 06: So if people are doing paint jobs, as you mentioned, or changes to their own house, or what they're renting out—I don't know what the goal would be to analyse that information.

00:45:42 Speaker 06: I guess is my question to you: through the chair to Member Kemic, so I don't know if folks are familiar with the RentSafe programmememememememememe that's running in Owen Sound?

00:45:54 Speaker 08: That's a research programmememememememememe through United Way's Poverty Task Force and Queen's University that has brought academic analysis there.

00:46:05 Speaker 08: They've done a couple of different iterations of reports,

00:46:08 Speaker 08: interviewing and getting survey responses both from landlords and tenants to talk about friction in relationships and whether folks have safe and appropriate housing at an affordable rate.

00:46:23 Speaker 08: Because we can't have a livable city if people are choosing between food and shelter.

00:46:30 Speaker 08: And if their ability to call public health to say, "Hey,

00:46:34 Speaker 08: like my unit is moldy," also sets them up for a renovation or puts them in a vulnerable position in a housing market that's not appropriate—like appropriately stocked.

00:46:47 Speaker 08: That research has shown that people hold off on those kinds of complaints, and it's hard for folks to find and maintain housing as a baseline.

00:46:59 Speaker 08: But also, that whole work is around identifying how we meet the need as a community, and whether that's more information to landlords around what's available for upgrades or energy-efficient grants or mediating conflict.

00:47:14 Speaker 08: They've done a lot of that research,

00:47:16 Speaker 08: but we have some power as a committee and council and a municipality to identify and support needs across our housing spectrum—where the most acute need is at the end,

00:47:32 Speaker 08: with people coming out of homelessness and finding that small affordable, kind-of missing-middle stuff.

00:47:39 Speaker 08: But it's really hard to have those conversations to say: actually,

00:47:43 Speaker 08: maybe we want to propose a bylaw or a policy that would see the city change development charges only for—or provide grants for—some sort of mechanism to make it easier to build the kind of housing

00:47:58 Speaker 08: that we need.

00:48:00 Speaker 08: The risk I see inspiring some of that question is that it's really profitable to make new units or to build new units that you can then rent out at the current market rate,

00:48:10 Speaker 08: which is high, and it's less profitable to properly maintain aging housing stock.

00:48:19 Speaker 08: Which creates a vulnerability.

00:48:20 Speaker 08: And I think that we are the only source of data for that in a more universal way, which is what makes me curious.

00:48:29 Speaker 06: Just to go on that: if someone is already doing that research, then I think we can leave it up to them to do that research,

00:48:39 Speaker 06: and we can put it maybe in our project plan or you know, put it on the council meeting minutes at some point for them to come and tell us about it.

00:48:50 Speaker 06: So then we can create policy or look into it a little bit further.

00:48:54 Speaker 06: But I don't know about—I think what you asked about: you know, the percentage of affordable housing versus percentage of market housing.

00:49:01 Speaker 06: That's a great stat.

00:49:02 Speaker 06: That's something they can do.

00:49:03 Speaker 06: But to dive further, if some other institution is already taking care of that and they've merged with a post-secondary place?

00:49:11 Speaker 06: Yeah, that's not totally accurate.

00:49:13 Speaker 06: Okay, so you mentioned that United Way is already doing this with Queen's and they've partnered with Queen's for it and they were looking at Owen Sound.

00:49:23 Speaker 06: So if they're already doing that, maybe that's something they can move into and provide that report to us, and then we can look further down.

00:49:31 Speaker 06: But I don't know if this is a rabbit hole that we need to get staff to go down to.

00:49:36 Speaker 06: So neat.

00:49:39 Speaker 06: Through you, Madam Chair—a different question than this: have we heard anything from Flatow or where that development is going?

00:49:53 Speaker 11: Like—sorry.

00:49:54 Speaker 11: So we are working; it's an ongoing process, and we're working with those developers, including Tres Flato, Red Hawk, and Barry's Construction for Telfer Creek,

00:50:06 Speaker 11: to move towards sort of final approval for the plans of subdivisions.

00:50:11 Speaker 11: Some of those developers are actively working with staff towards that.

00:50:15 Speaker 11: Others are in the process of making some adjustments to their plans, and we will continue to work with them.

00:50:24 Speaker 11: And honestly, the current situation, in as far as the housing market at large, may be impacting some of the developers.

00:50:37 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:50:38 Speaker 01: Is it on the same thing, John?

00:50:40 Speaker 01: Well, I think right—

00:50:45 Speaker 01: And I think staff resources are not available to do the kinds of things you're asking for.

00:50:52 Speaker 01: They have enough on their plate, and I mean all great comments.

00:50:57 Speaker 01: But I don't want this to go on and on at this meeting.

00:51:02 Speaker 08: Through the chair, I would just like to point out that as members of council, we can't speak for staff, and I would appreciate hearing that from staff.

00:51:10 Speaker 08: Also, just to clarify, the research being done is qualitative, not quantitative.

00:51:14 Speaker 08: We have access to numbers; they have access to interviews.

00:51:17 Speaker 08: But if staff are in a position to or want to pass on my original question of whether that's something that could be a benefit as we design policy going forward,

00:51:26 Speaker 08: I'd be open to that or happy to continue that offline.

00:51:30 Speaker 08: Okay, Allie, go ahead first.

00:51:34 Speaker 07: Yeah, I think interesting points too.

00:51:36 Speaker 07: I echo what Morgan is saying.

00:51:38 Speaker 07: I see some possibility.

00:51:41 Speaker 07: I don't know how to scope it, if that makes sense, and then it could be really tricky.

00:51:46 Speaker 07: This is a bit of my ignorance.

00:51:47 Speaker 07: Is there no way to know if, like, an eviction is occurring, like a rent eviction?

00:51:53 Speaker 07: Is anything submitted to the City in terms of if they have to get someone to move out?

00:52:02 Speaker 07: I'm not aware that we get that information.

00:52:06 Speaker 03: As I listened to the discussion, the one thing that does come to mind, and through Corporate Services, I think we report on property standards issues.

00:52:19 Speaker 03: So I wonder if there's a lens that could be applied where we could report on property standards related to rental apartments, and that might give an idea of that.

00:52:30 Speaker 03: It's sort of the negative.

00:52:31 Speaker 03: You're looking for investment data, and it looks at where there are issues, but it might sort of give an idea of that.

00:52:39 Speaker 03: And the other idea might be to see what data Grey County might have that would support this request.

00:52:47 Speaker 03: So, okay.

00:52:49 Speaker 03: So the seed is planted.

00:52:52 Speaker 03: Basically, okay.

00:52:55 Speaker 01: Sabine, thank you very much for those updates.

00:52:58 Speaker 01: That's great.

00:53:00 Speaker 01: Moving on.

00:53:02 Speaker 01: Do we need a motion?

00:53:03 Speaker 01: To okay, a motion to receive the information items.

00:53:07 Speaker 01: Morgan, all those in favour?

00:53:10 Speaker 01: That's carried.

00:53:11 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:53:12 Speaker 01: And.

00:53:13 Speaker 01: Any additional business, John?

00:53:14 Speaker 01: You had something.

00:53:18 Speaker 01: No, that was dealt with.

00:53:19 Speaker 01: Sorry, Bill Five.

00:53:20 Speaker 01: Yep.

00:53:21 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:53:22 Speaker 01: Are there any notices of motion?

00:53:25 Speaker 01: Seeing none.

00:53:27 Speaker 01: Next item is adjournment, and I will declare the meeting adjourned at six twenty-five.

00:53:32 Speaker 01: Thank you.