Owen Sound Council Meeting - Regular Meeting Transcript — April 28, 2025

00:02:00 Speaker 02: So I'll call tonight's meeting to order.

00:02:03 Speaker 02: Call for council.

00:02:04 Speaker 02: Is there any additional business, Councillor Farmer?

00:02:09 Speaker 02: Thank you, through the Mayor.

00:02:09 Speaker 03: I'll have two items about upcoming events.

00:02:14 Speaker 03: And Councillor Koepke.

00:02:16 Speaker 03: Thank you, Worship.

00:02:17 Speaker 04: I have one item regarding garbage cans.

00:02:20 Speaker 04: And Deputy Mayor Greig.

00:02:22 Speaker 04: I have three items.

00:02:23 Speaker 05: One is regarding the Earth Film Festival, one is regarding a tree sale at the Conservation Authority this Saturday, and one is the national flag flying policy and etiquette.

00:02:34 Speaker 06: And looking to my left, nobody.

00:02:38 Speaker 06: Looking on screen, Councillor Dodd.

00:02:42 Speaker 06: He's indicating nothing.

00:02:43 Speaker 06: So all councillors present, with the exception of Councillor Dodd, who is attending from home on screen.

00:02:51 Speaker 06: Declaration of interest.

00:02:52 Speaker 06: Does anyone have any?

00:02:54 Speaker 06: Councillor Hamley?

00:02:56 Speaker 07: Yeah, Your Worship, I'm declaring a pecuniary interest on item eleven B, which is the Housing Enabling Core Services Grant Transfer Payment Agreement,

00:03:06 Speaker 07: and the nature of my disclosure is that I work for the Province of Ontario.

00:03:11 Speaker 07: Great, thank you.

00:03:13 Speaker 07: So we're at number four on our agenda.

00:03:15 Speaker 08: For A, B, and C, our minutes from meetings.

00:03:17 Speaker 08: I'll go to Councillor Farmer to move those.

00:03:20 Speaker 09: Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greig, that the minutes of the following council meetings be adopted as printed: one, the closed session of the Community Services Committee meeting held on March 19, 2025; two,

00:03:31 Speaker 09: the closed session of the regular council meeting held on March 24, 2025; and three, the regular council meeting held on April 14, 2025.

00:03:40 Speaker 09: And call the question.

00:03:41 Speaker 09: All in favour?

00:03:43 Speaker 09: Let's count the room.

00:03:44 Speaker 08: Councillor Dodd is in favour, so it's unanimous.

00:03:47 Speaker 08: Number five, motion to move council into committee of the whole.

00:03:52 Speaker 09: Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greig, that City Council now move into committee of the whole to consider public meetings, deputations and presentations, public forum matters arising from correspondence, reports of city staff,

00:04:03 Speaker 09: consent agenda, committee minutes, matters postponed, motions for which notice was previously given, and additional business.

00:04:11 Speaker 09: Great, thank you.

00:04:11 Speaker 09: All in favour?

00:04:13 Speaker 09: That is carried.

00:04:13 Speaker 09: Councillor Dodd has voted in favour.

00:04:16 Speaker 09: So, in committee of the whole.

00:04:19 Speaker 08: We have no public meetings, and at number seven, we have one of the most favourite things that we like to do each year, and that is the presentation of the Volunteer of the Year Award,

00:04:31 Speaker 08: Senior Volunteer of the Year Award.

00:04:34 Speaker 08: Councillor Koepke, you're the chair of the Community Services.

00:04:38 Speaker 08: Want to come down and help me?

00:04:39 Speaker 08: Great.

00:05:04 Speaker 08: There we go.

00:05:05 Speaker 08: That was easy to find.

00:05:06 Speaker 08: We want to welcome everyone to the council chamber tonight.

00:05:10 Speaker 08: And going sideways already.

00:05:13 Speaker 08: A few years ago, when we redecorated and redesigned this building, the hallway was extended out there, so we could have public receptions like we had tonight.

00:05:22 Speaker 08: And it's wonderful to see the room full of people and be able to use it.

00:05:27 Speaker 08: So, in behalf of City Council and Councillor Koepke, who is the chair of the Community Services Committee, we welcome honoured guests, their nominators, family,

00:05:36 Speaker 08: and close friends to our City of Owen Sound Volunteer of the Year recognition.

00:05:43 Speaker 08: We're pleased to be joined by MPP Paul Vickers.

00:05:46 Speaker 08: Oh, you're hiding in the front row.

00:05:50 Speaker 08: Alex Ruff was unable.

00:05:52 Speaker 08: He's not elected yet.

00:05:54 Speaker 08: I forgot about that.

00:05:55 Speaker 08: He's tied up doing something else tonight.

00:05:57 Speaker 08: I can't remember what it was, but he was unable to join us.

00:06:02 Speaker 08: I shouldn't have said yet, should I?

00:06:05 Speaker 08: Bias.

00:06:07 Speaker 08: We're very pleased to present the 2025 Volunteer of the Year, Youth Volunteer of the Year, and Senior Volunteer of the Year awards.

00:06:15 Speaker 08: Owen Sound is so rich in our history of arts, culture, sports, and is well known for its many successful service groups and events.

00:06:24 Speaker 08: None of these would exist without the help of many volunteers.

00:06:28 Speaker 08: And you think of the Blue Bets at the hospital, every hockey coach, lacrosse coach, basketball coach, all the different seniors groups, excuse me, and service groups.

00:06:54 Speaker 08: It is all the volunteers in our community that really make our community such a great place to live.

00:07:00 Speaker 08: We're grateful to all the many citizens who volunteer their time to make Owen Sound such a great place.

00:07:07 Speaker 08: So, starting off, there.

00:07:08 Speaker 08: Starting off their presentation to the 2025 Youth Volunteer of the Year, it is Olive Barosky.

00:07:13 Speaker 08: Olive, want to come up?

00:07:21 Speaker 08: Welcome.

00:07:21 Speaker 08: Olive is a high school student here in Owen Sound, nominated by Francesca Daben on behalf of United Way of Grey Bruce.

00:07:34 Speaker 08: Bandit Fest is a grassroots music and arts festival.

00:07:35 Speaker 08: The grassroots music and arts festival founded by Olive, to showcase emerging youth talent and foster community engagement.

00:07:44 Speaker 08: She is described by her nominator as an innovative leader with the ability to foster collabouration, making her a role model among her peers.

00:07:54 Speaker 08: Olive is also active volunteer with Owen Sound Farmers Market, United Way of Grey Bruce, and Summerfolk.

00:08:01 Speaker 08: So please join us in congratulating Olive, Owen Sound's 2025 Youth Volunteer of the Year.

00:08:07 Speaker 08: Congratulations!

00:08:16 Speaker 08: Thank you.

00:08:17 Speaker 08: You're doing a great job already.

00:08:18 Speaker 08: Thank you.

00:08:19 Speaker 08: Here we're trying to get back.

00:08:20 Speaker 08: Congratulations, Paula.

00:08:22 Speaker 08: Thank you so much.

00:08:24 Speaker 08: Enjoy.

00:08:24 Speaker 08: Put down my vodka for a minute.

00:08:26 Speaker 08: Just.

00:08:27 Speaker 08: Thank you.

00:08:28 Speaker 08: Oh, oh, so sorry.

00:08:42 Speaker 08: Okay, real quick.

00:08:54 Speaker 08: I said I wasn't going to say anything, so I'll be snappy.

00:08:57 Speaker 10: I just want to thank my parents for bringing me here and doing a lot to support me,

00:09:03 Speaker 10: and I want to thank Francesca Dobbin and everyone at United Way for supporting me in making Bandit Fest happen.

00:09:09 Speaker 10: Thank you.

00:09:10 Speaker 11: Next, we have presentation of a Volunteer of the Year, being Dave Barber.

00:09:26 Speaker 08: Dave, who's nominated on behalf of the Silver Seas of Owen Sound.

00:09:34 Speaker 08: Welcome, Dave is a resident of Owen Sound.

00:09:37 Speaker 08: Was nominated by Ross Haley and the Silver Seas of Owen Sound, a non-profit group that supports the community through service.

00:09:45 Speaker 08: Over the past year, Dave has volunteered for five hundred and seventy-nine hours at various events like Hockey Fest, the Owen Sound Hospital, Owen Sound Attack Games, school breakfast programmemememes, the Home Show, community barbecues,

00:10:00 Speaker 08: the Owen Sound Spectacular, and Salvation Army food drives.

00:10:06 Speaker 08: I think recently he retired as an auxiliary police officer over at Owen Sound Police Services, and probably still twenty years I was there.

00:10:15 Speaker 08: Twenty years and still washing cars?

00:10:18 Speaker 08: No. Okay.

00:10:19 Speaker 08: So he was going back in for a while.

00:10:21 Speaker 08: He's also known throughout the region for his effort volunteering with several election campaigns and.

00:10:27 Speaker 08: You may have seen him around the last few weeks.

00:10:31 Speaker 08: Described by his nominator as a selfless volunteer with a willingness to make his skills available to several groups and activities in Owen Sound.

00:10:40 Speaker 08: So please join me in congratulating Dave Barber, Owen Sound's 2025 Volunteer of the Year.

00:10:53 Speaker 08: Congratulations!

00:10:53 Speaker 08: Thanks for all that you do.

00:10:54 Speaker 08: Congratulations, Dave.

00:10:55 Speaker 08: That's a lot of.

00:11:09 Speaker 08: Yeah, yeah.

00:11:11 Speaker 08: I'd like to thank the City of Owen Sound, and it's an honour to accept this award.

00:11:16 Speaker 12: And through volunteering, it gave me the opportunity to give back to the community that gave so much to my family and I, and also by volunteering.

00:11:23 Speaker 12: And also by volunteer, and I have met so many great people and worked with so many, and it's been such an honour.

00:11:30 Speaker 12: So, I just want to thank everybody, and also I want to thank the Silver Seas for nominating me for this award.

00:11:36 Speaker 12: Thanks again, everybody.

00:11:49 Speaker 08: Next, we acknowledge the 2025 Volunteer of the Year, Jeff Nickel, who is nominated on behalf of Owen Sound Minor Basketball.

00:11:56 Speaker 08: Jeff.

00:12:03 Speaker 08: Jeff is an Owen Sound resident and founder and driving force behind Owen Sound Minor Basketball.

00:12:09 Speaker 08: His role includes overseeing all aspects of the league, including programmemememe development, scheduling, coordinating with Junior NBA, managing other volunteers, registrations, and ensuring a positive experience for all participants.

00:12:24 Speaker 08: Jeff also takes an active coaching role, working directly with young people to develop their skills, teamwork, and love for the game.

00:12:31 Speaker 08: Jeff's nominators say Jeff's contributions go beyond simply running the youth basketball programmemememe.

00:12:37 Speaker 08: He has created a thriving, sustainable programmemememe that has positively impacted countless youth in Owen Sound.

00:12:44 Speaker 08: His dedication has provided opportunities for young athletes to develop their skills at court, confidence, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

00:12:53 Speaker 08: They added, "Parents, fellow volunteers, young athletes, and his family and friends all see Jeff as a role model."

00:12:59 Speaker 08: Mr. Nicholls also spent many hours volunteering as a lacrosse coach with Owen Sound Minor Lacrosse.

00:13:05 Speaker 08: Please join us in congratulating Jeff Nickel on Owen Sound's 2025 Volunteer of the Year.

00:13:18 Speaker 08: Way to serve the community through helping the youth.

00:13:21 Speaker 08: Thanks, Jeff, for all you do.

00:13:32 Speaker 08: He's a little taller.

00:13:33 Speaker 08: I said I wasn't going to say anything,

00:13:41 Speaker 08: but first I'd just like to thank my wife because I do put a lot of hours into it and I know it puts a lot of stress on her as well.

00:13:51 Speaker 13: And I'd also like to thank all of the volunteer coaches and people helping with minor basketball because it takes a lot of people to make the programmemememe successful, and without them, it wouldn't be possible.

00:14:04 Speaker 13: Our programmemememe has grown from about sixty youth several years ago to over 240 kids playing basketball in Owen Sound with several rep teams, and the goal is to continue expanding in the future.

00:14:19 Speaker 13: So, thank you.

00:14:21 Speaker 13: Great.

00:14:28 Speaker 08: And finally, we would now like to acknowledge the 2025 Senior of the Year, Evelyn Barnes, whom Katie Glassby nominated on behalf of Scenic City Lions Club of Point Edward.

00:14:41 Speaker 08: She's described by her nominator as a perfect example to all Lions, encouraging members to participate in Lions opportunities.

00:14:53 Speaker 08: Evelyn has been an involved, dedicated Lioness and Lion for 48 years.

00:15:06 Speaker 08: As an 85-year-old who is still quite active in the club, Evelyn is described by others as a mentor.

00:15:13 Speaker 08: She has helped the Order of Good Cheer with their festival in the park for the past ten years.

00:15:18 Speaker 08: Please join us in congratulating Evelyn Barnes, City of Owen Sound's 2025 Senior of the Year.

00:15:33 Speaker 08: We're going to get a picture.

00:15:35 Speaker 08: Thank you for all that you do.

00:15:40 Speaker 08: They're going to take a picture there.

00:15:41 Speaker 08: We're just gonna take a picture.

00:15:50 Speaker 08: Okay.

00:15:50 Speaker 08: One more.

00:15:50 Speaker 08: Do you wish to speak?

00:15:51 Speaker 08: Oh, there is one more.

00:15:52 Speaker 08: Just Katie.

00:15:53 Speaker 08: Is this your husband?

00:15:56 Speaker 08: Do you want to speak?

00:16:10 Speaker 08: Well, as everyone knows, I'm not much of a speaker.

00:16:18 Speaker 08: I am an Owen Sound girl.

00:16:20 Speaker 14: I was born here, raised here, and then I moved to the city where I met my husband and lived there for many years.

00:16:28 Speaker 14: And we returned back here, and I'm so happy to be back.

00:16:35 Speaker 14: And I want to thank everyone for this.

00:16:39 Speaker 14: It's wonderful to receive this award, and yes, I'm going to keep volunteering.

00:16:47 Speaker 14: I enjoy volunteering, and I volunteered at the hospital for eleven years in oncology, and I'll keep going.

00:16:56 Speaker 14: Thank you.

00:16:57 Speaker 11: So once again, on behalf of City Council, I wish to thank everyone who volunteers in our community, sharing your time and expertise to make Owen Sound a better place to live.

00:17:14 Speaker 08: We also thank the nominators who recognized these exceptional volunteers tonight.

00:17:19 Speaker 08: We encourage everyone to pass along your appreciation and say thank you to our honoured guests tonight and to all volunteers.

00:17:26 Speaker 08: With that, I'm going back up to the podium, and I'd ask our newly minted MPP Paul to feel free to say a few words.

00:17:36 Speaker 08: Thanks, Ian, and I like to congratulate all the winners this evening.

00:17:41 Speaker 15: It's great that you've been recognized for all the work that you've done, because really volunteering is really the spirit of the community.

00:17:48 Speaker 15: And quite often, you can tell how good of a spirit a community has is by its volunteers.

00:17:53 Speaker 15: And these four examples are a great example of the great volunteers that are here in Owen Sound.

00:17:59 Speaker 15: So it's something that everybody should do throughout their life.

00:18:02 Speaker 15: And all four of you, and all of you, have a long time ahead of you.

00:18:07 Speaker 15: You'll all be great volunteers, and the City of Owen Sound is lucky to have such great and wonderful people.

00:18:14 Speaker 15: Not only you, but I see a lot of other people over here on the other side.

00:18:17 Speaker 15: All of you are volunteers, and it's great that you give your time to worthy causes.

00:18:23 Speaker 15: So thank you.

00:18:39 Speaker 08: Now, in past years, that's where we ended, and that's why I went back up to sit down.

00:18:44 Speaker 08: But we have OBIAA award recognitions as well, and I'm honoured to recognize another set of groups and individuals whose efforts have made a meaningful impact in our community.

00:18:57 Speaker 08: It can be rare to have multiple volunteer groups working together to accomplish one goal, but in this case, six groups have created and grown the Wheel and Ride Safety Festival in Owen Sound's River District.

00:19:11 Speaker 08: This year's event will be held on Saturday, May 3rd.

00:19:15 Speaker 08: So coming up pretty quickly, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., just outside of City Hall here at the front.

00:19:22 Speaker 08: This is the second award for the Wheel and Ride Safety Festival.

00:19:26 Speaker 08: It received the Innovative Award from the Festival and Events Ontario in 2024.

00:19:33 Speaker 08: Call upon the recognized groups to stand and be recognized.

00:19:40 Speaker 08: Should I say them?

00:19:43 Speaker 08: So please congratulate these groups tonight for the OBIAA Special Events Award of Excellence: Kwanis Club of Owen Sound, Optimist Club of Sydenham and District, Owen Sound and District Junior Optimist,

00:19:59 Speaker 08: Scenic Cycle, and Owen Sound Police Services.

00:20:03 Speaker 08: Thank you all for your contributions and best of luck with this year's event on May 3rd.

00:20:09 Speaker 11: Thank you for the opportunity to present the Wheel and Ride Bike Programmemememe tonight.

00:20:22 Speaker 16: Through you, growing up in Owen Sound, I was one of those kids riding through neighbourhoods only heading home when the porch lights came on—a regular story around here.

00:20:31 Speaker 16: And every summer, Constable Hay, which is a name I know most people recognize, and his team ran bike rodeos at the end of my street, teaching road safety, and it stuck with me.

00:20:43 Speaker 16: When the River District Action Plan identified families with young children as a target demographic, I knew we had an opportunity to create those same lasting memories in the next generation.

00:21:07 Speaker 16: Slide.

00:21:07 Speaker 16: So why Wheel and Ride and not Bike Rodeo?

00:21:10 Speaker 16: Because many kids now rollerblade, skateboard, or scooter, and we wanted everyone to feel welcome.

00:21:15 Speaker 16: And that's how it feels, regardless of how much money is in the bank.

00:21:18 Speaker 16: You are welcome.

00:21:20 Speaker 16: The event began as a partnership between the River District and Owen Sound Police Services; by the second event, we had the Kwanis running the barbecue and Scenic Cycle tuning up bikes.

00:21:31 Speaker 16: It only grew from there.

00:21:33 Speaker 16: Around the same time, the Owen Sound and District Junior Optimist Club, supported by the Optimist Club of Sydenham and District, began collecting and redistributing used bikes—an absolute perfect partnership.

00:21:45 Speaker 16: This came together so organically, a true testament to the community which has united around a common goal.

00:21:56 Speaker 16: Since 2023, over one hundred bikes have been refurbished and given back to the community.

00:22:04 Speaker 16: This Saturday, May 3rd, we'll distribute sixty more bikes to children and families who might not otherwise have.

00:22:11 Speaker 16: I cannot describe the feeling you get when you give a child a bike, many times their first bike, and they give you back the most sincere smile, and you know,

00:22:21 Speaker 16: you've made a difference in someone's life.

00:22:25 Speaker 16: Slide.

00:22:29 Speaker 16: On March 31st, we received the Special Events Award of Excellence at the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association Conference, recognizing the positive impact of this event.

00:22:40 Speaker 16: I want to formally recognize our amazing partners.

00:22:43 Speaker 16: Please note, this is only the surface of what everyone has been working on.

00:22:48 Speaker 16: I assume people want to go home.

00:22:50 Speaker 16: Scenic Cycle, who refurbished every bike; we couldn't have done this without you.

00:22:56 Speaker 16: Kwanis Club of Owen Sound, whose early support helped this event grow, and who generously purchased helmets.

00:23:14 Speaker 16: Owen Sound and District Junior Optimist, whose idea sparked real change.

00:23:19 Speaker 16: Optimist Club of Sydenham and District, who manage the logistics and bike storage behind the scenes—that's a hard one.

00:23:29 Speaker 16: And Owen Sound Police Services, who continue to invest in safety education year over year.

00:23:40 Speaker 16: I am truly humbled and so proud to be part of this project.

00:23:49 Speaker 16: Slide.

00:23:51 Speaker 16: Thank you all.

00:23:52 Speaker 16: I'll now pass this back to the Mayor for any further remarks and the recognition.

00:24:00 Speaker 06: Thank you to you, Vivica, also, and your participation and all of that.

00:24:04 Speaker 06: So thanks to everyone that's made or is making this event special.

00:24:11 Speaker 06: So I think with that, that ends our presentation.

00:24:13 Speaker 06: Ends our presentations, and if you're here just for that, you're welcome to sit through the rest of the council meeting if you wish to.

00:24:21 Speaker 06: But if you don't want to, this is a good time to go.

00:24:24 Speaker 06: Thank you all for volunteering and all you do.

00:25:48 Speaker 06: We'll call it back to order, and we are at item 7C on our agenda, which is a presentation from Mr. Simmonds with regard to the City Manager's update.

00:26:00 Speaker 06: Thank you, Mayor, and to you and Council.

00:26:01 Speaker 17: Glad to be bringing the update, although it's part of the boring part of council, I guess, as we've been told.

00:26:07 Speaker 17: Thank you for staying for the City Manager's update.

00:26:09 Speaker 17: I appreciate it.

00:26:10 Speaker 17: I was hoping for a full house, but pardon.

00:26:14 Speaker 17: Excellent.

00:26:15 Speaker 17: If I could have... oh, you're already at the slide.

00:26:17 Speaker 17: Thank you.

00:26:18 Speaker 17: We begin the City Manager's update with highlights.

00:26:21 Speaker 17: So this weekend is going to be a busy weekend.

00:26:23 Speaker 17: We have the bike event going on.

00:26:25 Speaker 17: We have the Home and Cottage Expo this weekend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Harry Lemley Bayshore Community Centre.

00:26:32 Speaker 17: Spring cleanup is underway.

00:26:34 Speaker 17: That includes street sweeping, pothole repairs, park maintenance, wharf repairs, park maintenance.

00:26:38 Speaker 17: And I bring this up just to be patient with staff.

00:26:40 Speaker 17: We, you know, we have winter maintenance, but with spring cleaning, there's more people on the streets, close to the streets, on sidewalks.

00:26:46 Speaker 17: So just be careful of all the city workers out there trying to get the city looking its best as it can be for the spring and summer months.

00:26:54 Speaker 17: Some more exciting free events for people this summer: midweek music begins June 18th.

00:27:00 Speaker 17: That's Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at various accessible locations throughout the city.

00:27:06 Speaker 17: And then TD Harbour Knights returns Sundays, June 1st through August 10th, and again both of those concert series and music events are free to attend for everybody.

00:27:17 Speaker 17: We have a major capital project going on at the Bayshore Community Centre at the Harry Lemley Bayshore Community Centre at the JD MacArthur Arena.

00:27:25 Speaker 17: It's the floor and boards project.

00:27:27 Speaker 17: It's now underway.

00:27:29 Speaker 17: They've started to remove the boards and stuff, getting ready for the floor to come out.

00:27:35 Speaker 17: That's expected to be completed in early September.

00:27:38 Speaker 17: And also of note, I bring this up because we talk a lot about buying Canadian.

00:27:41 Speaker 17: I believe Councillor Hamley talked about that a few weeks ago.

00:27:46 Speaker 17: All of the rink boards are fully manufactured in Waterloo, and the majority of the piping components and equipment are also manufactured here in Canada.

00:27:52 Speaker 17: So it's quite an expensive undertaking, but it's almost all Canadian-made, and so that's a proud moment for the city.

00:28:00 Speaker 17: Tourism is launching a new Owen Sound tourism app.

00:28:01 Speaker 17: The One Sound Tourism app.

00:28:02 Speaker 17: The app features an interactive map of the city with pins for attractions, restaurants, parks, and other services.

00:28:09 Speaker 17: It's going to be perfect for helping out visitors find what they need quickly.

00:28:12 Speaker 17: The app uses GPS to guide users to trails, lookout points, and even public washrooms and parking lots throughout the city.

00:28:21 Speaker 17: I'm going to go into our upcoming committee meeting report titles, and we'll start with Corporate Services Committee.

00:28:30 Speaker 17: It's the second Thursday of each month at five thirty.

00:28:33 Speaker 17: The next meeting's May eighth, and we have the 2025 fees and charges update, the 2026 to 2030 multi-year capital plan, the 2025 T1 financial report, and then the 2024 animal control year in review,

00:28:49 Speaker 17: and then on June 12th the Certi bonds report.

00:28:53 Speaker 17: I want to make note also each of the committee meetings will have the first two items: the 2025 fees and charges update and the 2026 to 2030 multi-year capital plan on every committee agenda.

00:29:04 Speaker 17: So again, something we're doing a little differently.

00:29:06 Speaker 17: We started last year with budgets, but this year it'll be pertained to that sort of division of service.

00:29:12 Speaker 17: So it gives the committee members more in-depth knowledge and a look into what's happening with those capital plans.

00:29:20 Speaker 17: Slide, please.

00:29:24 Speaker 17: Operations Committee meets the third Thursday of each month at five thirty.

00:29:28 Speaker 17: The next meeting's May 15th.

00:29:30 Speaker 17: Again, as I stated, the first two reports: the first one is the 2025 fees and charges update.

00:29:35 Speaker 17: The second is the 2026 to 2030 multi-year capital plan.

00:29:40 Speaker 17: We have a report on our annual transit update.

00:29:44 Speaker 17: We have a green bin project public engagement update and communications.

00:29:48 Speaker 17: And the director will be going all the different areas and ways they've reached out to the community about that road condition update and a winter maintenance overview from this past 2024-2025 season.

00:30:00 Speaker 17: The June meeting is June 26th.

00:30:01 Speaker 17: We have a waste management bylaw update and also collection of non-eligible sources post-blue box transition report.

00:30:09 Speaker 17: Slide.

00:30:11 Speaker 17: Community Services Committee.

00:30:12 Speaker 17: The next meeting is a full agenda, May 21st.

00:30:16 Speaker 17: We have our fees and charges update and also the multi-year capital plan update.

00:30:21 Speaker 17: We have a report from MHBC Planning regarding OPN zoning bylaw updates and urban design guidelines, an agreement regarding the City of Owen Sound and Owen Sound Minor Soccer Association respecting the Kawanee Soccer Complex.

00:30:35 Speaker 17: We have a Q1 2025 Community and Business Development update.

00:30:39 Speaker 17: We have an amended lease agreement with Experience Grey Bruce for the operation of the East and West Side Boat Launches.

00:30:45 Speaker 17: We have an update fee guide for Harrison Park Pool, and then also the monthly Building Services update for June.

00:30:51 Speaker 17: Right now, we just have a Building Services update report planned.

00:30:55 Speaker 17: Slide other committee meetings just for your calendars.

00:30:58 Speaker 17: We have a strategic planning in just a couple days, April 30th at nine a.m. and then the final strategic planning meeting, I believe, where the report will be presented, is June 18th at nine a.m.

00:31:09 Speaker 17: Our next service review meeting is June 11th at nine a.m. and then we also have the Tom Thomson Advisory Committee meeting, May 7th at two p.m.

00:31:18 Speaker 17: Slide green bin is here beginning June 1st.

00:31:21 Speaker 17: June 1st, so I know this has been talked about for a while now.

00:31:24 Speaker 17: But beginning in mid-May, every eligible residential property will be receiving a curbside green bin, a kitchen catcher pail, and an information package delivered, and all of that's free of charge.

00:31:36 Speaker 17: Weekly collection begins in June on the same day as your garbage collection, and with green bin, even though garbage collection, solid waste, the black bags you put out is every other week like normal.

00:31:47 Speaker 17: Green bin will be every week.

00:31:49 Speaker 17: For more information and what we say FAQs or frequently asked questions regarding green bins, visit owensound.ca/greenbins.

00:32:01 Speaker 17: We also have the water metre replacement programmemememe underway.

00:32:04 Speaker 17: The majority of our water metres here in the city, installed at residential properties, are at the end of their lifespan,

00:32:10 Speaker 17: so we're undertaking a mass replacement project to replace the old metres with new ones and upgrade the technology as we do that.

00:32:17 Speaker 17: So that will speed up our billing cycle and allow the metre reader to simply drive by and be able to pick up that information without having to stop and look at every resident.

00:32:27 Speaker 17: If you want more information about this project, again, there and about now, visit ourcity.owensound.ca/watermetre.

00:32:33 Speaker 17: The in case you missed it slide we added a little while ago.

00:32:37 Speaker 17: These are all the media advisories that were issued.

00:32:43 Speaker 17: This should be a correction from March 21st to April.

00:32:47 Speaker 17: We've had fifteen different news media releases sent out.

00:32:52 Speaker 17: This is just a quick collection of them.

00:32:53 Speaker 17: If you see something that you're missing, you can go to the city's website, click on news, you'll find the full media release about what that is.

00:33:01 Speaker 17: And then finally, if I could have a slide, staying connected here with the city, these are our major websites: Owensound.ca is the city's corporate site,

00:33:10 Speaker 17: ourcity.owensound.ca you'll find project management work such as the water metre reports that I just spoke about.

00:33:16 Speaker 17: It's also our main engagement site, and then owensound.ca/reportaconcern.

00:33:19 Speaker 17: Again, coming out of the winter months into spring, if you notice potholes, storm catch basins that need to be cleaned, repairs that need to be done because of sidewalk winter maintenance, go to owensound.ca/reportaconcern.

00:33:37 Speaker 17: It's your best place to go.

00:33:38 Speaker 17: You can take pictures if you need them and upload them there.

00:33:41 Speaker 17: But it gets into the system.

00:33:42 Speaker 17: It gets cycled.

00:33:43 Speaker 17: It gets a ticket number, and then gets actual actions through the staff process, and then for all things going on around the city, I invite you to OwensoundRiverDistrict.ca and OwensoundTourism.ca.

00:33:55 Speaker 17: Both have an immense amount of activities planned around the city, and those are just two great information sources.

00:34:02 Speaker 17: And with that, we're available for any questions.

00:34:05 Speaker 17: Thank you, Alderman Councillor Koepke.

00:34:07 Speaker 17: There are questions.

00:34:08 Speaker 17: Go ahead.

00:34:09 Speaker 17: Thank you, Worship.

00:34:11 Speaker 17: Through you to the manager.

00:34:13 Speaker 04: When you talk about the green bins being dropped off, can you explain to me is that just happening in the driveway?

00:34:22 Speaker 04: What if people are away or the house is empty?

00:34:26 Speaker 04: What about apartments, etc. Just so the public knows.

00:34:32 Speaker 18: Through your Worship to Councillor Koepke, yeah, we're expecting that they'll be delivered in the driveway, and if somebody is expecting that they're not going to be home during their delivery timeframe.

00:34:46 Speaker 18: That they should probably arrange with a neighbour to maybe bring it closer to the house for them if they can.

00:34:52 Speaker 18: With multi-unit properties, same thing.

00:34:55 Speaker 18: It would probably be delivered more so in the sort of parking area.

00:35:00 Speaker 18: We wouldn't expect them to deliver them right to the door of each unit.

00:35:05 Speaker 18: So, I'm not sure if that would be each individual tenant would come and get theirs, or if there's an overall property manager, they would have to sort of figure that out amongst themselves.

00:35:18 Speaker 04: Okay, so are people going to be notified when these bins will be delivered in their neighbourhood?

00:35:24 Speaker 04: And I had another one, but it's escaped me.

00:35:33 Speaker 18: Through the Mayor to Councillor Koepke, I'm not sure if they're going to be given an actual date or if it's going to be a range, so we can confirm that and give that information out.

00:35:47 Speaker 18: Good.

00:35:47 Speaker 18: Any other questions?

00:35:49 Speaker 18: Go ahead.

00:35:52 Speaker 07: Just I noticed that the official plan and zoning bylaws going to community services, but that's going to come to council as well, is it not?

00:36:01 Speaker 07: Through you, Your Worship.

00:36:02 Speaker 07: Yes, absolutely.

00:36:03 Speaker 19: There'll be a mandatory or required public meeting, and the decision on that.

00:36:08 Speaker 19: Both of those items will be with council.

00:36:14 Speaker 07: So, but like it's coming as like a final product with the public, or is it?

00:36:22 Speaker 19: Through you, Your Worship, there is a work plan, but we can certainly make sure that those agendas and those reports are shared with all of council in advance,

00:36:33 Speaker 19: so that all of council can stay up to date as that project sort of proceeds through the process.

00:36:44 Speaker 19: Okay, we're good.

00:36:47 Speaker 06: Okay, thanks, Tim and staff for presentation, answering those questions.

00:36:52 Speaker 06: Number eight, public forum.

00:36:55 Speaker 06: There's anybody that wishes to speak to council, they can come to the microphone.

00:36:58 Speaker 06: And doesn't look like there's anyone participating.

00:37:03 Speaker 06: Number nine, we have no correspondence items being presented for consideration.

00:37:07 Speaker 06: At number ten, we have reports of city staff.

00:37:11 Speaker 06: Starting off with 10A, report from Ms. Widdifield, the Director of Public Works and Engineering, with regard to the intersection improvements at Ninth Avenue East and Sixth Street East.

00:37:24 Speaker 06: Through you, Mayor, to Council.

00:37:25 Speaker 17: I'd like to make a request that we postpone this report to May 12th council meeting.

00:37:31 Speaker 17: Do we need a motion?

00:37:33 Speaker 17: Yep.

00:37:36 Speaker 17: I'll make that motion.

00:37:37 Speaker 05: Staff are continuing to work on this refinement, so no problem.

00:37:43 Speaker 05: Okay, call the question.

00:37:45 Speaker 05: All in favour?

00:37:46 Speaker 05: That is carried.

00:37:48 Speaker 05: Thank you.

00:37:49 Speaker 08: 10B is report from Manager of Corporate Services with regard to approval of non-standard procurement budgeting software.

00:37:56 Speaker 08: Kate.

00:37:59 Speaker 08: Thank you, Your Worship.

00:38:00 Speaker 20: The moving forward with the procurement of budgeting software was just introduced a few weeks ago as part of our service review committee.

00:38:07 Speaker 20: One of those reports, and that's actually on the minute.

00:38:09 Speaker 20: The minutes are on tonight's agenda as well.

00:38:12 Speaker 20: Following these staff reports, the recommendation to proceed with the procurement of budgeting software is directly aligned with the city's ongoing implementation of Service Review Action 5A: develop a cost allocation policy,

00:38:24 Speaker 20: as detailed in the related report received by the Service Review Ad Hoc Committee.

00:38:29 Speaker 20: The city has committed to improving financial transparency and service level costing through the application of structured allocation methodologies.

00:38:37 Speaker 20: A critical enabler of this initiative is the transition to a robust budgeting platform that supports integrated cost tracking, auditability, and overhead allocation based on best practices recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association or GFOA.

00:38:52 Speaker 20: The proposed software from Aunosolutions will fulfil this requirement by supporting automated cost allocations, developing service level reports, and creating tools that enhance council's ability to make informed data-driven decisions.

00:39:05 Speaker 20: That I'll leave it for any questions.

00:39:09 Speaker 20: Thank you, Councillor Farmer.

00:39:11 Speaker 20: Through the mayor, I'm just curious.

00:39:14 Speaker 21: My understanding is that the headquarters of that company is in the States.

00:39:18 Speaker 21: I'm wondering how this procurement aligns with Councillor Hamley's previous request for a bi-Canadian policy, and what I understand to be new procurement advice from the province.

00:39:33 Speaker 20: Through you, Your Worship, I anticipated this question, so I have a written response that I will read for Council.

00:39:40 Speaker 20: Thank you, Councillor Farmer, for your question regarding how the recommendation to proceed with Questica or Euna Solutions budgeting software aligns with the city's support for Canadian goods and services,

00:39:49 Speaker 20: as well as the province's new procurement restriction policy.

00:39:54 Speaker 20: I recognize and share council's commitment to supporting Canadian companies where possible, particularly in a climate of heightened trade tensions and tariffs.

00:40:01 Speaker 20: In this case, I want to assure you that significant consideration was given to these principles.

00:40:05 Speaker 20: Questica, the budgeting solution we are recommending, was founded in Burlington, Ontario, in 1998, with the City of Burlington as its first customer, a relationship that continues today.

00:40:15 Speaker 20: Questica is now part of Unisolutions, operating under Unisolutions Canada, which is a Canadian corporation with its head office in Oakville, Ontario.

00:40:24 Speaker 20: Today, Unisolutions/Euna Solutions Canada employs 314 Canadians, including a full budget development and support team based in Oakville, and it serves just under 400 Canadian public sector clients.

00:40:34 Speaker 20: All Canadian customer data is securely hosted on Microsoft Azure servers in Toronto and Montreal.

00:40:40 Speaker 20: The procurement of Questica through the LAS Canoe Procurement Group's vendor of record arrangement is fully compliant with the province's policy.

00:40:48 Speaker 20: The policy specifically states that procurements through existing vendor of record programmemememes are exempt from its restrictions, as is the case here.

00:40:54 Speaker 20: Accordingly, the procurement method, as well as the strong Canadian presence and corporate status of Unisolutions, have been carefully considered and aligned with both the spirit and technical requirements of the policy.

00:41:05 Speaker 20: Council's motion from Councillor Hamley asked staff to bring back a feasibility report regarding restricting American-made goods and services for council's future consideration with the updated 2025 procurement policy.

00:41:16 Speaker 20: That work is still underway, and staff continue to monitor evolving provincial guidance carefully.

00:41:22 Speaker 20: However, at this time, there is no formal bi-Canadian mandate that has been adopted by the city.

00:41:27 Speaker 20: And finally, Questica was identified after investigation due to its proven track record, its seamless integration with our Microsoft-based financial systems, and its long-standing service to Ontario municipalities.

00:41:38 Speaker 20: Selecting a stable, municipally focused, Canadian-based solution minimizes operational risks and ensures long-term value for the city.

00:41:49 Speaker 20: Go ahead.

00:41:50 Speaker 20: Thank you, through the mayor.

00:41:50 Speaker 20: I'm...

00:41:51 Speaker 20: I think that I might just be behind the times.

00:41:53 Speaker 09: But every time that I see software as a service as a procurement, I think of it.

00:41:58 Speaker 09: All the people I know who started using Photoshop when you could buy Photoshop and pay for it once, and now they have to edit their photos with monthly fees all the time.

00:42:06 Speaker 09: Is there any, like, am I just living in the past to think that software as a service is more expensive and not the best, or are there options that we, yeah,

00:42:20 Speaker 09: are there other options for things like this that don't loop us into regular annual payments?

00:42:28 Speaker 20: I'm not an expert, but in my experience, this is a common model for all of our software application solutions.

00:42:36 Speaker 07: Councillor Hamley, just kind of off of that, I'm kind of having a real hard time contemplating spending three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars on budgeting software,

00:42:48 Speaker 07: so can you kind of explain to me at a high level about how this is done right now and how the software can make our lives easier and better?

00:42:59 Speaker 07: Certainly, although it won't be a prepared answer.

00:43:01 Speaker 20: So currently, for our budget development, we rely on Microsoft Excel.

00:43:06 Speaker 20: That means I prepare an Excel workbook with multiple tabs, one for each division.

00:43:11 Speaker 20: I manually input historical information and I manually input current year estimates for budget.

00:43:18 Speaker 20: Those end up going out to departments.

00:43:20 Speaker 20: They return their Excel documents back to me, and then I manually input their documents into a master template.

00:43:26 Speaker 20: So as you can imagine, there are different versions floating around all over the place.

00:43:31 Speaker 20: Trying to capture everything in one document and make sure that it's up to date is an extremely onerous task.

00:43:39 Speaker 20: The other thing that we alluded to here is specifically the concept of allocating costs and tying them.

00:43:47 Speaker 20: Tying what we have now is a very departmental org structure, budget set up on our chart of accounts, being able to present that information in a service-based budget, tying it directly to our strategic plan,

00:43:59 Speaker 20: being able to allocate costs to the services we provide as opposed to the department that has oversight over them, with software that becomes dynamic.

00:44:13 Speaker 20: We can change it.

00:44:14 Speaker 20: We can change one number, and the software will allow it to flow out to all of the individual departments.

00:44:19 Speaker 20: Currently, right now, we do some cost allocation, but it's extremely manual.

00:44:24 Speaker 20: Again, it's an Excel spreadsheet that I have to update.

00:44:26 Speaker 20: So if we hire someone new, I have to go in and change that staff person's time, and then go in and change every single cell that their time might be allocated to.

00:44:35 Speaker 20: The three hundred thousand is not just for the procurement of the software, although as Councillor Farmer pointed out, it is software as a service.

00:44:43 Speaker 20: So roughly one hundred thousand of that is the procurement of the software and the implementation, including support from the staff at Questica.

00:44:51 Speaker 20: The ongoing, the remaining amount is an ongoing annual fee of approximately fifty thousand dollars a year.

00:44:57 Speaker 20: That's in line with what we pay for other financial softwares.

00:45:00 Speaker 20: I wouldn't say that's significantly higher than what we would pay for things like our citywide financial reporting, which we may be able to move away from,

00:45:11 Speaker 20: and then looking at what the future is for our financial information system is certainly something else we have to decide in the next five years or so.

00:45:22 Speaker 20: Okay, Deputy Mayor Greig.

00:45:26 Speaker 20: Thank you, and through you, Mayor.

00:45:28 Speaker 05: I heard a lot of eyes in that response, and anytime you hear a lot of eyes, and someone individually is owning a process, there's a lot more risk.

00:45:40 Speaker 05: Can you just speak to what kind of training will occur with other employees in the corporation that complements onboarding the new service, as opposed to having it owned by a specific person, a specific department,

00:45:56 Speaker 05: and our ability to reduce that risk subsequent to that?

00:46:00 Speaker 05: And I guess also your staffing resources in terms of what how you can achieve this onboarding this year?

00:46:08 Speaker 05: Is that coming at the cost of any other initiatives that we have undertaken or we are hoping to do?

00:46:16 Speaker 20: Through your worship, there absolutely is a lot of eye in that process currently, and with the new software,

00:46:21 Speaker 20: we do have enough licences that every person in the corporation will be able to have access to the software in order to update their own budgets, provide support for their estimates,

00:46:32 Speaker 20: as well as see how we're doing as far as ongoing actuals to budget go, and be able to provide feedback that way.

00:46:39 Speaker 20: Excuse me.

00:46:41 Speaker 20: As far as the implementation of the software, we hope to do that with our current staff over the course of this summer, with support from Questica.

00:46:50 Speaker 20: So there would be no additional cost besides what is quoted here in this report.

00:46:55 Speaker 20: Going forward, I think this does spread out that accountability and responsibility for budget development away from my seat, and although I'll continue to have oversight,

00:47:05 Speaker 20: it will not be me that is hand-holding budgets into Excel documents and making sure that everything balances and checks each time we do an update to the current year estimates.

00:47:21 Speaker 20: Carol, do you have your hand up?

00:47:23 Speaker 20: That was my question.

00:47:24 Speaker 20: That was the question.

00:47:24 Speaker 20: Oh, go ahead, Suneet.

00:47:27 Speaker 20: To you, Mr. Chair.

00:47:28 Speaker 22: Just a quick question, and that about the director had mentioned that you guys are currently using Excel-based sheets, and a lot of work is done through the Excel sheets.

00:47:39 Speaker 22: And there's consultations with the other municipalities.

00:47:42 Speaker 22: Do we have any examples of other municipalities using this particular software, or are there any other options that fit our size?

00:47:55 Speaker 22: Certainly.

00:47:55 Speaker 22: Sorry, I closed the actual report.

00:47:57 Speaker 20: I'm not sure if it references that, but for certain Grey County.

00:48:00 Speaker 20: is using the software.

00:48:01 Speaker 20: And although this has been on our radar, we've been looking at this product for quite some time, knowing that Grey County was going to transition to it.

00:48:11 Speaker 20: We allowed them to act a little bit like our guinea pig, and I waited until they had it in place for at least a year before we took action to move forward with it.

00:48:19 Speaker 20: Also, the municipality of Mefford is using Questica budgeting software.

00:48:25 Speaker 20: Staff member that I work closely with was formerly at Mefford and spoke highly of the product, and has also been involved in the implementation.

00:48:32 Speaker 20: So we'll be able to leverage his experience as well.

00:48:38 Speaker 22: I guess the last question, just for my understanding.

00:48:41 Speaker 22: So the amount that we are budgeting for includes the user fee as well as the purchase of the database.

00:48:49 Speaker 22: So the user fee of fifty thousand would take us for how many years?

00:48:54 Speaker 22: And then do we see an increase in the fee?

00:48:57 Speaker 20: Like that's an annual fee, and it's a five-year agreement.

00:49:03 Speaker 20: So outside of that agreement, I do anticipate that there'll be regular indexing to the annual software maintenance fee as we move forward outside of this agreement.

00:49:13 Speaker 22: And does it include unlimited users, or each time we add a user, is there extra?

00:49:20 Speaker 20: The agreement is set up to have unlimited users, so every user in the city will be able to have a licence and use the software for the cost that's quoted here.

00:49:30 Speaker 20: Okay, I don't think it's been moved yet, has it?

00:49:32 Speaker 20: No. Okay, can someone move it and put it?

00:49:35 Speaker 20: Deputy Mayor Greig's moving it.

00:49:38 Speaker 23: I will move the recommendation that, in consideration of staff report CR 25047 respecting approval of non-standard procurement budgeting software,

00:49:46 Speaker 23: City Council One approves the purchase of budgeting software from Aunus Solutions Incorporated for three hundred twenty-five thousand two hundred ninety-two and forty-six cents,

00:49:55 Speaker 23: including the city's non-refundable allocation of HST and two direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to authorise the mayor and clerk to execute the agreement.

00:50:05 Speaker 23: So good.

00:50:05 Speaker 23: I can call the vote.

00:50:07 Speaker 23: Yep.

00:50:07 Speaker 23: All in favour.

00:50:09 Speaker 24: One, two, three, four, five, six, Travis is seven.

00:50:13 Speaker 24: So I think there is one opposed.

00:50:14 Speaker 24: Oh, you're in.

00:50:15 Speaker 24: Okay.

00:50:15 Speaker 24: So that is carried.

00:50:18 Speaker 24: Next at ten C is a verbal report from Deputy Mayor Graham.

00:50:21 Speaker 24: Verbal report from Deputy Mayor Greig from Grey County Council.

00:50:26 Speaker 24: Thank you, Mayor.

00:50:27 Speaker 24: County Council met last week.

00:50:29 Speaker 23: Warden Matrasovs and Council acknowledged Mayor Boddy for the receiving of the Municipal Stewardship Award presented to him from the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council at the Canadian Nuclear Association conference two weeks ago.

00:50:41 Speaker 23: We wondered where you were that night.

00:50:44 Speaker 23: Had good reason to miss the meeting.

00:50:47 Speaker 23: Council will attend virtually.

00:50:50 Speaker 23: Council approved the purchase of three small parcels of land, providing site triangles to facilitate the intersection improvements at Grey Road One and Fourteenth Street West, at an approximate cost of twenty-one thousand five hundred dollars.

00:51:03 Speaker 23: Council approved the transfers to reserves resulting from a four point four million dollar surplus in two thousand twenty-four, which equates to five point nine five percent of the levy amount.

00:51:16 Speaker 23: Larger contributing items were higher supplemental taxes and lower write-offs, an unbudgeted sale of land, and the long-term care surplus, primarily resulting from increased investments from the province, higher interest income on investments,

00:51:29 Speaker 23: more than offset a deficit in the self-insured WSB budget.

00:51:34 Speaker 23: Council supported the forty-five thousand dollar expenditure from Affordable Housing Reserve to support Owen Sound Partnership with Owen Sound Municipal Nonprofit Housing, securing three vacant parcels of land on Eighth Avenue East, Owen.

00:51:47 Speaker 23: The City had committed two hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.

00:51:50 Speaker 23: However, the purchase price was revised to two hundred and sixty thousand dollars to cover and payout liens on the property.

00:51:57 Speaker 23: And three upcoming public meetings and open houses are: May sixth, regarding updates to the forest management bylaw; May eight, regarding the beaver and coyote bylaw; and also on May sixth at the county building,

00:52:08 Speaker 23: from six until eight, regarding the Legion Corner intersection upgrades, which I just spoke about earlier, and the procurement of.

00:52:15 Speaker 23: And the securing of land that was done, as well as the urban road transfers within Owen Sound.

00:52:24 Speaker 23: Welcome any questions and ask for Council's adoption of the verbal report.

00:52:28 Speaker 23: Any questions, Deputy Mayor?

00:52:30 Speaker 23: Or sorry, the other way around, Councillor Farmer.

00:52:33 Speaker 23: Thank you, through the Mayor.

00:52:33 Speaker 09: Just for those public meetings related to roads and intersections in Owen Sound.

00:52:39 Speaker 09: Just to clarify, anyone can go to those, or like is focused specifically to neighbourhoods?

00:52:43 Speaker 09: Focus specifically to neighbourhoods in the surrounding area, or should we encourage everyone to come ask questions and learn more?

00:52:52 Speaker 23: It's open to any members of the community who wish to participate in the public meeting.

00:52:58 Speaker 23: In while in the open house, the public forums informational forums being done from six till eight o'clock.

00:53:07 Speaker 23: Okay, I call the question.

00:53:09 Speaker 23: All in favour?

00:53:10 Speaker 23: That is carried.

00:53:11 Speaker 06: Just good work of the City and the County of grabbing those pieces of property because you can never have enough vacant land,

00:53:21 Speaker 06: and when you can grab it and be able to use it for housing, we've got property there that's ready when funding comes, and there's a plan in place.

00:53:30 Speaker 06: Also, it's pretty special to be recognized for the work done with the Southwestern Ontario Isotope Coalition by the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council,

00:53:39 Speaker 06: and there's a whole bunch of really neat people that night that were recognized, and it was nice to be part of it.

00:53:48 Speaker 06: So next, we're down to consent agenda.

00:53:52 Speaker 25: To your worship, on the consent agenda this evening is a report on a development charges exemption agreement for SkyDev Bayshore Rental Housing, a report respecting a housing enabling water system grant transfer payment agreement,

00:54:05 Speaker 25: a report on the award of a replacement of water main cathodic protection phase nine, and a report on an extension request for draft plan of subdivision for one thousand,

00:54:13 Speaker 25: nine hundred and five Eighteenth Street or Eighth Street East.

00:54:16 Speaker 25: There are minutes for receipt from the Bruce Gray Poverty Task Force and business licences were issued to Diamond Baseball and Fitness at two thousand and forty-five Twenty-Third Ave East,

00:54:24 Speaker 25: Kim Stewart and Associates at nine forty-five Third Ave East, and a Hawker and Pether licence was issued to the River District for two thousand and twenty-five special events.

00:54:32 Speaker 25: The last item on the consent agenda is the information package.

00:54:35 Speaker 25: A full listing is available at 11 G. Good.

00:54:38 Speaker 25: Thank you.

00:54:39 Speaker 06: Is there anything in there that needs to be polled and voted on separately?

00:54:43 Speaker 06: Not seeing anything, you've got the motions.

00:54:47 Speaker 06: Yeah, I'll read the motions.

00:54:48 Speaker 09: I will have questions to item 11A, but not that would change my vote on that.

00:54:52 Speaker 09: Moved by myself that, in consideration of the items listed on the April twenty-eighth, two thousand twenty-five consent agenda, City Council receives items eleven A to eleven G,

00:55:02 Speaker 09: and approves the recommendations contained in items eleven A to eleven D. All in favour?

00:55:10 Speaker 09: That is carried.

00:55:11 Speaker 08: If I can go to 11E, which is minutes of the boards from Bruce Gray Poverty Task Force.

00:55:21 Speaker 08: There's nothing to report from Barclay, from Brockley, from Councillor Hamley.

00:55:27 Speaker 08: First.

00:55:29 Speaker 08: Thanks for that, Your Worship.

00:55:31 Speaker 08: Haven't been called that since grade school.

00:55:34 Speaker 07: He kind of threw me off there.

00:55:39 Speaker 07: Now, I was actually so I had a conflict, and I was attending the County of Grey planning proposal, so I was not able to attend this meeting.

00:55:49 Speaker 07: So I don't have anything to report.

00:55:53 Speaker 07: Thank you.

00:55:53 Speaker 06: I'm glad you recognized me as being a classmate of yours in public school, Councillor Farmer.

00:56:00 Speaker 06: There's something you wanted to discuss?

00:56:02 Speaker 06: Yeah.

00:56:02 Speaker 06: Thank you to the Mayor.

00:56:03 Speaker 26: Just going back up to 11A, which is the waiving of development charges for the SkyDev development.

00:56:10 Speaker 26: Like that, clearly isn't in alignment with our policies, and we all know that we need more rental housing.

00:56:16 Speaker 26: But I'm sure that there are folks who are going to be watching or reading the news and see the waiving of millions of dollars for rental housing and ask questions about why these aren't affordable

00:56:26 Speaker 26: units,

00:56:26 Speaker 26: why there's no stipulation for us to include like a portion of that in exchange for waiving those fees.

00:56:31 Speaker 26: And I was hoping staff could briefly speak to what factors limit the City from waiving fees on only affordable units,

00:56:38 Speaker 26: or what prevents us from requiring that some of these units be affordable when we are waiving fees like that.

00:56:46 Speaker 26: Kate, you got any answer?

00:56:48 Speaker 26: Thank you, Worship.

00:56:49 Speaker 26: I also anticipated this question.

00:56:51 Speaker 26: Thank you, John.

00:56:52 Speaker 20: With respect to your question about the relationship between rental housing and affordability, and why these exemptions are not limited only to affordable units, the exemption for purpose-built rental development is not new.

00:57:02 Speaker 20: Before council today, the City's previous development charges bylaw provided a full exemption for all rental housing that met the definition of rental, without regard for affordability.

00:57:14 Speaker 20: It was recognized at that time and has been discussed since that this broad exemption may not have fully aligned with council's ultimate goal to specifically encourage affordable rental development.

00:57:24 Speaker 20: Since then, the Province of Ontario, through the More Homes Built Faster Act, amended the Development Charges Act to require mandatory exemptions for developments meeting certain affordability and attainability thresholds, as determined by the province.

00:57:38 Speaker 20: They also introduced mandatory discounts for rental housing developments based on the number of bedrooms, regardless of whether the units are affordable.

00:57:46 Speaker 20: To align with these new legislative requirements, the City repealed and replaced its Development Charges Bylaw, adopting a new background study and provisions consistent with the Province's framework.

00:57:56 Speaker 20: However, recognizing that several developments, including SkyDev, had already spent years planning and preparing based on the previous bylaw exemption and had built their financial performance accordingly,

00:58:08 Speaker 20: council specifically added a transition clause to the new bylaw.

00:58:11 Speaker 20: This clause provides that any development which received final site plan approval before March 2026 and pulls building permits within two years of that approval would continue to be eligible for the rental exemption under the

00:58:22 Speaker 20: previous terms.

00:58:24 Speaker 20: SkyDev's project satisfies these conditions; they have submitted building permits for three of their eight planned buildings within the required timeframe.

00:58:32 Speaker 20: The matter before council today is not whether SkyDev qualifies for the exemption; that eligibility has been established under the City's bylaw and the timelines they have met.

00:58:41 Speaker 20: Rather, the report presented today seeks council's approval for the term of the development completion,

00:58:46 Speaker 20: recognizing that a seven hundred twelve unit multi-phase buildout reasonably requires a ten-year horizon rather than the shorter term normally permitted through delegated authority.

00:58:56 Speaker 20: So, in summary, compliance is secured through registration on title.

00:59:00 Speaker 20: That referenced other question that you had.

00:59:03 Speaker 20: Eligibility is already established under our transitional rules, and the decision before council is simply to approve the term for completion, ensuring that this large-scale rental development can proceed as planned,

00:59:14 Speaker 20: contributing meaningfully to Owen Sound's much-needed rental supply.

00:59:18 Speaker 20: And since we are discussing it, I will note in the report itself an error under the analysis section; I referenced that the final site plan approval was received on February 25th,

00:59:30 Speaker 20: but the building permit applications were submitted for the first three buildings on March 31st, 2025.

00:59:35 Speaker 20: The report referenced a December date, and unfortunately, that was some confusion around another development that's happening around the same time.

00:59:48 Speaker 05: Further, I just wonder if staff can speak to item 11B.

00:59:52 Speaker 05: This is an amazing opportunity here for the City to leverage provincial funding.

00:59:59 Speaker 05: Well, I'm not certain this is fully provincial, but in $4.6 million in previously unanticipated funding, we are well aware of the significant long-term funding gap that we have on our books,

01:00:15 Speaker 05: and this extensive report outlines just how much further development could be unlocked on the northern terminus, kind of a Ninth Avenue East.

01:00:25 Speaker 05: So I think it'd be good for the community here to hear more about the future plans within the report.

01:00:35 Speaker 27: Through your Worship, this grant application, the project that's being proposed is essentially to strengthen the transportation network,

01:00:47 Speaker 27: both vehicular and active transportation in that north-south corridor along Ninth Avenue East between Twentieth Street and Twenty-Third Street.

01:01:00 Speaker 27: Currently, the road cross-section on Ninth Avenue is almost a rural standard at this point in time.

01:01:09 Speaker 27: It's two lanes.

01:01:10 Speaker 27: It's fairly narrow.

01:01:11 Speaker 27: There's no sidewalk in vast chunks of it.

01:01:19 Speaker 27: So it's underdeveloped for road for vehicular travel, but it's also definitely underdeveloped for sidewalk from the sidewalk and bike lane perspective, and there are three elementary schools in very close succession.

01:01:37 Speaker 27: No, three, yeah, three schools.

01:01:41 Speaker 27: One of them is a high school, I guess, but three schools in very close succession in that area of town, and there's a lot of student walking commuting traffic, I guess, if you will.

01:01:54 Speaker 27: So we have had concerns raised from the public about the safety of students' routes to school and that type of thing.

01:02:04 Speaker 27: So the other part of this project is to finish off some of the missing links of sidewalk along Eighth Avenue to create a more robust transportation network for both walking students and active transportation and

01:02:22 Speaker 27: vehicular travel along the roadway.

01:02:25 Speaker 27: So, in doing so, it'll improve traffic flow and improve access for 1,100 or so units of development land in various stages of the development approval process.

01:02:41 Speaker 27: Some of them are just sitting back and waiting for the economy to be at a point where their business case makes sense.

01:02:47 Speaker 27: Others are a little bit earlier in the process, but we have by our tally, 1,130 or so units that are ready to go.

01:02:58 Speaker 27: Basically, so we're doing that.

01:03:01 Speaker 27: If you build it, they will come.

01:03:08 Speaker 27: Good.

01:03:09 Speaker 27: Good.

01:03:09 Speaker 27: Okay.

01:03:12 Speaker 27: We voted on those.

01:03:13 Speaker 27: Covered everything off.

01:03:14 Speaker 27: In good shape.

01:03:16 Speaker 08: We're down to twelve in the agenda, and twelve A is minutes.

01:03:21 Speaker 08: The Service Review Implementation Ad Hoc Committee that I chair.

01:03:25 Speaker 08: So I'll pass the magic hammer to Deputy Mayor Greig.

01:03:34 Speaker 08: Thank you, Mayor Boddy.

01:03:35 Speaker 23: First item, twelve A. I will pass it back to you as chair of the committee to speak to those minutes.

01:03:41 Speaker 23: Thank you.

01:03:42 Speaker 08: I present highlights from the Service Review Implementation Ad Hoc Committee meeting held on April 9th, two thousand and twenty-five.

01:03:49 Speaker 08: Save and accept report ten A contained therein, which is a review of the short-term rental licence programmemememe, which I'll present separately.

01:03:58 Speaker 08: This being the first meeting the year, or the term, I guess the year, I was elected, reelected as chair, and Councillor Capkey was elected as vice chair.

01:04:09 Speaker 08: With regard to civil marriage services, the committee recommends that City Council continue to offer civil marriage services, direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to update fees and charges,

01:04:21 Speaker 08: bylaw to change the civil marriage fees as outlined in the staff recommendation number two of the report, authorise the increase of payments for after-hour weddings from 125 to 150.

01:04:35 Speaker 08: Twenty-five to one hundred and fifty dollars, and for direct staff to provide notice of the update to the fees and charges bylaws required by the city's notice bylaw.

01:04:45 Speaker 08: With regard to a mobile device policy, the committee recommends that City Council direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to adopt the proposed policy AF zero one four mobile devices,

01:05:01 Speaker 08: and commit to a two-year phased approach to implementation, as outlined in the report, beginning in 2026.

01:05:10 Speaker 08: With regard to staff report respecting an agreement catalogueueueue, Service Review Implementation Ad Hoc Committee recommends that City Council receive the report for information purposes.

01:05:23 Speaker 08: With regard to developing an allocation policy, the budgeting software implementation will begin with a mirrored process to ensure consistency with the existing budgeting process,

01:05:37 Speaker 08: and that full implementation is expected in the next term of council.

01:05:43 Speaker 08: The committee recommends that City Council receive the report for information purposes.

01:05:52 Speaker 08: We also discuss that future updates to the fees and charges bylaw include a note respecting which changes are resultant from previous decisions of council and which changes will be recommended by staff for the first

01:06:07 Speaker 08: time.

01:06:08 Speaker 08: I move approval of the recommendations contained in the minutes of the Service Review Implementation Ad Hoc Committee, save and accept staff report ten A regarding the review of short-term rentals licensing.

01:06:23 Speaker 08: And can answer any maybe answer any questions.

01:06:27 Speaker 08: Thank you, Mayor Boddy.

01:06:28 Speaker 08: Any questions to those items?

01:06:34 Speaker 08: Not seeing any on screen.

01:06:36 Speaker 08: All those in favour.

01:06:40 Speaker 08: And that is carried.

01:06:41 Speaker 08: Thank you.

01:06:42 Speaker 23: And back to you, Mayor Boddy, for the remaining item.

01:06:49 Speaker 23: Okay.

01:06:50 Speaker 06: So with regard to 10A, which is report from City Clerk review of short-term rental licence programmemememe.

01:06:58 Speaker 06: If I pulled this for—I've pulled this for separate consideration because there is a part of it that wasn't approved, and it's this committee isn't made up of public members,

01:07:11 Speaker 06: so we're not kind of jumping decisions made.

01:07:16 Speaker 06: It's myself and the three committee chairs, so that's four council members.

01:07:21 Speaker 06: It was a tie two-two, so it didn't pass, but basically wasn't approved on a tie.

01:07:30 Speaker 06: Recommendations that the committee approve—that the committee did approve.

01:07:35 Speaker 06: Committee recommends that City Council continue the STR licensing programmemememe.

01:07:40 Speaker 06: The committee recommends that City Council direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to amend the STR bylaw to include housekeeping amendments, as outlined in the report.

01:07:51 Speaker 06: Committee recommends that City Council direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to amend the STR bylaw to include the posting of human trafficking information sheets while the STR is being rented,

01:08:04 Speaker 06: and the committee recommends that City Council direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to amend the STR bylaw to increase the rental cap from 180 days to 240 days.

01:08:15 Speaker 06: So all of those carried, but we got down to one,

01:08:19 Speaker 06: which was the committee recommends that City Council direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to amend the STR bylaw to remove the principal residence and rental cap requirements in the C-1 and MC zones as

01:08:34 Speaker 06: outlined in this report,

01:08:36 Speaker 06: with the inclusion of any insurance requirements provided by the city's insure to those zones.

01:08:43 Speaker 06: So that was defeated on a tie two-two and open to discussions.

01:08:54 Speaker 05: Okay, Councillor Dodd, then Councillor Farmer, next.

01:09:01 Speaker 28: Thank you, Mayor, and I appreciate that this section of the report was pulled for secondary discussion.

01:09:10 Speaker 28: When I reviewed this and became aware of this report coming through, I'll be honest; I was kind of surprised that it was coming through the Service Review Committee opposed to Corporate Services.

01:09:20 Speaker 28: Now, mind you, that's not a staff issue; that was a council direction that it was to come back to Service Review.

01:09:27 Speaker 28: I just don't know if we probably fully anticipated some of the changes that could potentially be recommended at that time.

01:09:34 Speaker 28: When I look at what we're seeing, and you know, you're addressing one of the recommendations was regarding mixed commercial and C-1 zoning designations.

01:09:45 Speaker 28: And when you do pull up the map, it's a big portion of the city.

01:09:50 Speaker 28: There's a lot of aspects that would be included in that new piece.

01:09:53 Speaker 28: The one thought that did cross my mind, however, considering that there was no public members present on that committee or to provide feedback, whether for or against or different ideas, I felt that's something,

01:10:07 Speaker 28: especially when we look at the River District Board,

01:10:10 Speaker 28: who represents the River District area and the C-1 section that would fall under that would be about almost—I would say has to be almost eighty percent of the C-1 section is in River District.

01:10:27 Speaker 28: So from my perspective, I'm not—I know I think it's appropriate to have the River District Board at least provide comment on what they see as an to move forward.

01:10:39 Speaker 28: Obviously, the end decision is always left with Council, but I think it's appropriate when we do have a representation of other members that would be affected by this decision,

01:10:50 Speaker 28: that they should be included in the discussion.

01:10:52 Speaker 28: I have a motion that I would read and would put on the table, but it's a motion to postpone.

01:10:59 Speaker 28: And I know if I put it now, then it would limit comment.

01:11:03 Speaker 28: So I'd love to still hear from any brief comments from other members of council.

01:11:08 Speaker 28: But my personal opinion, as this has not seen public discussion, there was a lot of survey results that came in.

01:11:16 Speaker 28: There was a lot of internal data that was obviously considered by members of the service review committee, which is important.

01:11:23 Speaker 28: I just we always try to push for the transparency and accountability of using public members and having their feedback.

01:11:30 Speaker 28: And I feel this one circumstance it may be to the credit or to the benefit of our decision making process if we did postpone this decision until after the River District Board was able to

01:11:43 Speaker 28: make a comment on the report,

01:11:46 Speaker 28: and especially that section.

01:11:48 Speaker 28: And that river district actually meets in two weeks, so it wouldn't prolong this decision on council.

01:11:55 Speaker 28: But that's just my initial comments, Your Worship.

01:11:59 Speaker 28: And like I said, I do have a motion to postpone shortly.

01:12:08 Speaker 05: Okay, well, we have a motion on the floor right now, so no, you haven't moved them.

01:12:14 Speaker 05: Okay.

01:12:15 Speaker 05: Well, we should formally have the recommendations moved.

01:12:21 Speaker 05: Of of of the motion that we have to put the motion on the floor, the recommendations coming out of committee on the floor before we can postpone anything.

01:12:34 Speaker 05: But there was a question there, Councillor Dodd.

01:12:37 Speaker 05: You seem to be aware of why the reporting back went through service review, but I should just provide that opportunity as staff to respond to that somewhat indirect question that you led with.

01:12:49 Speaker 05: So perhaps the clerk or city manager would like to speak to just why that pathway.

01:13:01 Speaker 05: Sorry, through you, Deputy Mayor Greig.

01:13:04 Speaker 05: Thank you for that.

01:13:06 Speaker 25: When this first came forward through the M and P report, quite a while ago, now it was recommended that this come back to service review, looking at it sort of simultaneously with civil marriages.

01:13:18 Speaker 25: So that's why it went that route, and there is no timing concern to this.

01:13:25 Speaker 25: So if it is council's wish to bring it forward to River District, there isn't a timing issue with it.

01:13:33 Speaker 25: Okay, Councillor Farmer, next.

01:13:35 Speaker 25: Thank you, through the chair.

01:13:37 Speaker 25: I would.

01:13:40 Speaker 25: I've got.

01:13:44 Speaker 25: I've.

01:13:44 Speaker 25: I've got a motion.

01:13:45 Speaker 25: I think I'd like to add something here.

01:13:47 Speaker 09: As, as we're updating this and fine-tuning this, this whole thing is an experiment.

01:13:52 Speaker 09: And I think that as we look at increasing the number of days that folks are allowed to rent their STRs, that we should also look,

01:14:01 Speaker 09: assuming that these are going to continue to be reviewed on a regular basis, that we should also look at an experiment of expanding the maximum occupancy by one bedroom to a total of ten people.

01:14:12 Speaker 09: We've had no complaints in the first year, which, to me, says that the regulation framework is addressing the needs that were so vocal before we were licensing STRs at all.

01:14:23 Speaker 09: There are many houses in Owen Sound that would, and possibly even some of the STRs that we have that would have registered now that would have enough bedrooms to accommodate that number of people.

01:14:34 Speaker 09: And I think I used this example when we were first talking about this.

01:14:38 Speaker 09: But if we cap it at eight, then for instance, my sister's family and I could not come to Owen Sound.

01:14:46 Speaker 09: She's got three kids.

01:14:48 Speaker 09: I've got two kids.

01:14:49 Speaker 09: That takes us to nine people.

01:14:52 Speaker 09: We couldn't rent an STR in Owen Sound that would accommodate our family.

01:14:56 Speaker 09: Let alone if we were travelling with grandparents.

01:14:58 Speaker 09: And I don't think that that number of people is more than what we would see for holidays in places,

01:15:05 Speaker 09: and that there's a potential financial benefit in having folks who are renting their STRs be able to use the entire building if that's appropriate,

01:15:18 Speaker 09: and also the benefit that we then see through the mat tax, recognizing that there are still limits on a change like this.

01:15:25 Speaker 09: So, I'd like to move that be added procedurally.

01:15:31 Speaker 09: I would I would like guidance on whether that should come back with a postponed motion or whether I should move an amendment to, like, have the mayor move the motion, me making an amendment,

01:15:44 Speaker 09: and then and then we follow with Councillor Dodds' motion afterwards.

01:15:49 Speaker 09: But I look to the chair or the clerk.

01:15:53 Speaker 09: I also have a question about the as we talk about the River District.

01:15:57 Speaker 09: The report notes that there were two former STRs converted to long-term rent.

01:15:59 Speaker 09: STRs converted to long-term rentals, and also that there were two corporately owned STRs in the River District.

01:16:04 Speaker 09: I'd love to know if those were the same places, but that's tangential to my question about the motions.

01:16:15 Speaker 09: Thank you, Councillor Farmer.

01:16:18 Speaker 23: Procedurally, right now we have nothing on the floor, so I'm going to need someone to move a recommendation and put something on the floor before we can entertain any amendments or any postponement.

01:16:34 Speaker 23: We've got nothing but air in front of us right now.

01:16:40 Speaker 08: Mayor Boddy, Miss Bloomfield, it makes sense to me to move 10A report.

01:16:48 Speaker 08: So I will move approval of the recommendations contained in the 10A report being review of short-term rentals licensing programmemememe.

01:17:04 Speaker 29: Okay, thank you, and I'll go back to Councillor Farmer and Councillor Dodd.

01:17:08 Speaker 29: I believe wanted an opportunity to speak to it.

01:17:12 Speaker 26: Motion to amend that we include an expansion of the maximum occupancy by one bedroom, so adding two people with one bedroom to a total of ten people.

01:17:27 Speaker 05: And I'm looking at the clerk for comment.

01:17:31 Speaker 25: Through your worship or Deputy Mayor Greig, I wonder if perhaps that should be a subsequent motion rather than an amendment because it wasn't a motion that was specifically addressed within those minutes.

01:17:43 Speaker 25: Okay, so I will circle back to that.

01:17:45 Speaker 25: Then we've got.

01:17:47 Speaker 25: Okay, we will revisit.

01:17:50 Speaker 25: Councillor Dodd, you wish to speak again?

01:17:52 Speaker 25: Go ahead.

01:17:55 Speaker 25: Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

01:17:56 Speaker 28: Yes, and thank you for coming back to me on this.

01:17:59 Speaker 28: I will make that motion at this point, at this time, that we postpone the decision on the STR report contained within the service review minutes until after the River District Board provides comment,

01:18:11 Speaker 28: and the River District to be sent to the River District Board for the May Fourteenth meeting.

01:18:18 Speaker 23: Okay, so that motion is on the floor, meaning the only part of the motion debatable is regarding the date to which has been determined or stated in the motion.

01:18:30 Speaker 23: Are there any questions to that, Councillor Farmer?

01:18:36 Speaker 03: Point of clarification to the chair: My previous question about the SDRs mentioned in the report was not answered.

01:18:43 Speaker 03: Can that be answered now, or would that be answered in May when we come back to this?

01:18:53 Speaker 05: Well, it's external to the motion that's on the floor right now, so technically you could still raise it after we vote on the postponement of the motion that's on the floor.

01:19:06 Speaker 05: So I'll come back to you, Mayor Boddy.

01:19:10 Speaker 05: Go ahead.

01:19:12 Speaker 05: Then does that mean it's outside the postponement?

01:19:18 Speaker 05: Through Deputy Mayor Greig, Deputy Mayor Greig, he.

01:19:19 Speaker 25: Deputy Mayor Greig, he could also make a motion that the River District Board be requested to also consider that other item at their meeting as well.

01:19:35 Speaker 05: I think we'd better vote on the postponement first, and then evaluate because you are alluding to conversation that is outside of the zones,

01:19:46 Speaker 05: which is what Councillor Dodd is more or less referring to as part of the motion.

01:19:52 Speaker 05: You're you're now speaking to something that's city wide, so let me come back to you after calling the vote on postponement.

01:20:00 Speaker 05: Not seeing any further questions.

01:20:02 Speaker 05: Those in favour of postponing, and that's carried unanimously.

01:20:08 Speaker 05: Councillor Farmer, back to you.

01:20:14 Speaker 05: Thank you, through the deputy mayor as chair.

01:20:17 Speaker 26: I think that if that, as you've just recognized, that if the changes I'm proposing are outside of the scope of that, we're going to see this again at the end of May anyway.

01:20:28 Speaker 26: That I'll save subsequent changes with the heads up that I'm going to bring that change.

01:20:34 Speaker 26: I appreciate that.

01:20:38 Speaker 26: I think it's important.

01:20:39 Speaker 05: There is a very large amount of survey data that was contained within those minutes and at least the heads up allows other committee members the opportunity to have very good familiarity with the data that

01:20:57 Speaker 05: we collected from the community as part of the survey engagement.

01:21:02 Speaker 05: Councillor Koepke, thank you.

01:21:05 Speaker 04: Just a question to the clerk: When the River District has considered this, will there be a separate report?

01:21:11 Speaker 04: And if so, at that time, will there also be statistics and consideration of the additional of up to ten people?

01:21:25 Speaker 25: Through you, Deputy Mayor Greig, my thought was this would just basically be presented to the board as written, with the minutes as well attached,

01:21:35 Speaker 25: so that they can see what the direction of council or of the service review committee was at the time.

01:21:43 Speaker 04: So the comments from River District will come through their minutes, then.

01:21:49 Speaker 04: Through you, Deputy Mayor Greig, to Councillor Koepke.

01:21:51 Speaker 25: I have spoken with the Clerk of the River District Board, and our suggestion is that it would come back through to Council at the meeting following,

01:22:02 Speaker 25: with an overview memo from her included in the agenda.

01:22:07 Speaker 25: You're good, Councillor Koepke.

01:22:10 Speaker 25: Okay.

01:22:10 Speaker 25: Your good, Councillor Koepke.

01:22:11 Speaker 25: Okay, Councillor Merton, go ahead.

01:22:14 Speaker 25: Through you, Deputy Mayor Greig.

01:22:17 Speaker 30: Originally, when this came before us, there was quite a significant amount of public feedback regarding numbers, and we have an evaluation of the status as it has been.

01:22:31 Speaker 30: However, if we are going to entertain changing the occupancy limits, in addition to the zones,

01:22:41 Speaker 30: where or how can we go back to the public and make sure that we have given them the opportunity as well to provide input,

01:22:51 Speaker 30: recognizing how significant that input was in us moving forward with this and designing it in the first place.

01:23:00 Speaker 23: And I think those are excellent comments, and those are comments that will be that consideration will be having when that comes back to Council.

01:23:08 Speaker 23: Good comments.

01:23:10 Speaker 23: At this time, we are complete with that item.

01:23:12 Speaker 23: So complete with the item, back to item 12B, and back to Mayor Boddy.

01:23:24 Speaker 23: 12B.

01:23:25 Speaker 08: Minutes of the Corporate Services Committee held on April 10th.

01:23:29 Speaker 08: Councillor Mitterbauer.

01:23:30 Speaker 08: Thank you, through you, Chair.

01:23:36 Speaker 31: The Corporate Services Committee met on April 10th, 2025.

01:23:41 Speaker 31: It was a very short meeting.

01:23:42 Speaker 31: We only had two reports.

01:23:43 Speaker 31: The first of which was from the Communications Advisor regarding corporate website analytics and overview.

01:23:50 Speaker 31: Highlights from the report are that the City's website had 230,000 online visits last year, 61% of which were from a mobile device.

01:24:00 Speaker 31: The website and online City news subscribers serve as the main communications channel for sharing information with Owen Sound residents and visitors.

01:24:08 Speaker 31: Some new enhancements available online are cloud permit, DocuPet, and virtual City Hall.

01:24:13 Speaker 31: The most visited pages on the site are the homepage, the Grey Bruce Transit page, job career page, waste collection, and waterfront camera.

01:24:23 Speaker 31: A new improved content management system, platform, and online accessibility module have improved the website and made sure it is accessibility compliant.

01:24:31 Speaker 31: And the report was received for information purposes.

01:24:34 Speaker 31: The next report was from the Manager of Legislative Services regarding Policy Review Project 2025 Annual Update.

01:24:42 Speaker 31: The Policy Review Project began in 2023, aiming to review all existing City policies and create a framework for long-term policy management and development.

01:24:52 Speaker 31: So, first there is an analysis by department, and then policies are scheduled into a five-year rolling cycle for review.

01:24:58 Speaker 31: And those that are obsolete, redundant, or deemed to be procedural are scheduled for repeal.

01:25:04 Speaker 31: From the 2024 policy analysis, approximately 65 policies relating to the City Manager, Communications, and Community Development and Marketing departments are recommended for repeal due to either being redundant, obsolete, or procedural.

01:25:19 Speaker 31: In 2025, all Public Works and Engineering policies will be analysed, and 45 other policies will be reviewed by staff.

01:25:27 Speaker 31: There was a recommendation in the report that, in consideration of staff reports, C. of Staff Report CR-25036 respecting the 2025 Policy Review Project update,

01:25:37 Speaker 31: the Corporate Services Committee recommends that City Council direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to repeal certain policies as outlined in the report, and that was carried.

01:25:46 Speaker 31: And with that, I remove receipt of the minutes and approval of the recommendations contained within, and can take any questions.

01:25:52 Speaker 31: Thank you.

01:25:52 Speaker 31: Any questions?

01:25:55 Speaker 31: Seeing none.

01:25:58 Speaker 31: Still seeing none.

01:25:58 Speaker 06: To call the question on favour, and that is carried.

01:26:02 Speaker 06: Thank you.

01:26:03 Speaker 06: Next is minutes of Community Services from April 16th, Councillor Koepke.

01:26:09 Speaker 06: Thank you, Your Worship.

01:26:11 Speaker 04: Community Services Committee of April 16th, 2025.

01:26:15 Speaker 04: Members approved a report regarding extended Derby parking/camping and the framework required to update regulatory bylaws, along with changes to the fees and charges for such activity and appointment of enforcement officers.

01:26:31 Speaker 04: The fee of $150 includes 36 hours in advance of the Derby, the 10 days of the Derby, and 24 hours following the Derby for parking/camping in the designated areas specified in the bylaw.

01:26:45 Speaker 04: It was noted online applications are anticipated to open on June 17th.

01:26:51 Speaker 04: A review of the first year of implementation of the Derby parking/camping activity will follow the 2025 fall fishing derbies.

01:27:00 Speaker 04: Members directed that the Mayor and Clerk be authorised to enter into a five-year memorandum of understanding with the Bluewater District School Board to permit public use of the Owen Sound Secondary School multi-use courts for

01:27:15 Speaker 04: tennis,

01:27:15 Speaker 04: pickleball, and basketball.

01:27:17 Speaker 04: This has been a long-standing partnership between the City and the board and supports the City's recreation parks and facilitates Parks and Facilities Master Plan;

01:27:27 Speaker 04: an increase in the operating budget of this partnership for the maintenance of the courts will be considered during the 2026 budget deliberations.

01:27:36 Speaker 04: Staff presented the City's new community profile, which takes an innovative web-first approach and is supplemented with premium print materials designed to invite the viewer to spend time getting to know the City.

01:27:50 Speaker 04: Many local collabourators were involved in the development of the new profile during the Vision 2025 process;

01:27:59 Speaker 04: anyone interested in receiving a copy of the new community profile can visit the City's website or contact City Hall, where copies can be provided.

01:28:09 Speaker 04: Members were provided with a review of the 2025 events to take place around the City, including the Home and Cottage Expo, Midweek Music Concerts, TD Harbor Nights Concert, Door Concert, Doors Open Owen Sound,

01:28:23 Speaker 04: Canada Day celebrations, outdoor family movie nights, and the New Year's family celebration.

01:28:30 Speaker 04: For more information on these events, visit the City website at owsound.ca.

01:28:35 Speaker 04: Staff provided a presentation on the 2024 Community Improvement Plan applications, which facilitated the approval of 11 grants, including accessibility improvement grants, two startup leasehold improvement grants, and seven facade and structural improvement grants,

01:28:55 Speaker 04: with a total project value of just under $365,000, with a granting amount of just over $67,000.

01:29:05 Speaker 04: It was explained that for every one dollar that is invested by the City, $5.43 is invested by the grant applicant.

01:29:14 Speaker 04: It was also noted that the grant can be applied for by a tenant or the property owner.

01:29:18 Speaker 04: The next report received was a development update, which included 2024 approved draft plans of subdivision, site plan approvals, zoning bylaw amendments, pre-consultation summaries, Committee of Adjustment applications,

01:29:36 Speaker 04: and 2025 anticipated applications. 2024 has seen a significant increase in all applications and processes, and the development of a number of new residential units that fit all categories;

01:29:50 Speaker 04: it was reported that just over 3,000 residential units are currently or conditionally approved for Owen Sound.

01:29:57 Speaker 04: However, the actual number of units anticipated to be built in the next four years depends on the wide range of factors, including both national and international economic factors.

01:30:10 Speaker 04: The start of construction is subject to the developer's decision-making.

01:30:14 Speaker 04: It was stressed that the pre-construction processes enable both the developer and staff to generally comply with timelines required by the Planning Act.

01:30:25 Speaker 04: The development update identified 21 building permits have been issued for the month of March, with a construction value of just under $14 million.

01:30:35 Speaker 04: It was also noted that a total of 128 building inspections took place during March.

01:30:42 Speaker 04: The other item of correspondence was site plan approval to permit a 94-unit residential development on land at the eastern end of the terminus of 10th Avenue East, consisting of both townhouses and apartment units.

01:30:59 Speaker 04: That concludes the summary of the minutes.

01:31:03 Speaker 04: And with that, Your Worship, I move the approval of the minutes of the Community Services meeting held on April 16, 2025, and the recommendations contained therein.

01:31:12 Speaker 04: Thank you.

01:31:15 Speaker 04: Any questions for Councillor Koepke?

01:31:18 Speaker 04: Seeing none, I will call the question.

01:31:19 Speaker 04: All in favour?

01:31:21 Speaker 04: That is carried.

01:31:23 Speaker 06: Last under 12 is 12D minutes of the Operations Committee meeting held on April 17, 2025.

01:31:29 Speaker 06: Deputy Mayor Greig.

01:31:32 Speaker 23: Thank you, and through your Mayor Boddy, from the April Operations Committee meeting, I'd like to show that committee received two deputations.

01:31:40 Speaker 23: The first was from GSSN.

01:31:40 Speaker 23: The first was from GSS Engineering regarding the Thirty-Second Street water main replacement.

01:31:45 Speaker 23: Council is aware of this project from budget.

01:31:48 Speaker 23: The construction project replacing 580 metres of water main is scheduled to take place during July and August this summer.

01:31:55 Speaker 23: The upgrade, sorry, the water main upgrades maintain servicing to Leith during the phase project, and will include the installation of a new pressure reducing valve to connect the municipal pressure zone and industrial pressure zone.

01:32:09 Speaker 23: The project, which benefits from provincial housing enabling water system funding, will provide servicing for the proposed SkyDev housing development.

01:32:20 Speaker 23: A second deputation was from Hemson Consulting regarding the water and wastewater study.

01:32:25 Speaker 23: The updated study incorporates increasing costs, a revised asset management plan, and an enhanced capital plan to maintain system operations.

01:32:38 Speaker 23: The city currently recovers system costs at a 52% fixed, 48% variable ratio.

01:32:45 Speaker 23: The asset replacement value is $972 million, between $502 million in water and $470 million in sewer investment.

01:32:52 Speaker 23: Annually, that appears as $18 million for water and $11 million for sewer.

01:32:59 Speaker 23: The calculations account for a build consumption increase of 1% in 2026 and in 2027 to reflect anticipated increased billing from new metres.

01:33:12 Speaker 23: The calculations consider higher annual operating budget increases in water than in wastewater.

01:33:18 Speaker 23: The rate study shows over 10 years increasing cumulative capital investment to 30% of the total asset management needs from the current 24%.

01:33:27 Speaker 23: The study indicates that to do that is an annual 5% increase in water fixed and variable rates, alongside a 124% surcharge for sewer, which is forecasted to see slight reductions beginning in 2027.

01:33:41 Speaker 23: Owen Sound's rates would position us in a tight grouping of middle comparators, just slightly at the high end.

01:33:48 Speaker 23: The subsequent recommendation from committee in the following report is to amend the fees and charges bylaw to include a 5% increase to water rates effective July 1st and maintain the sewer surcharge of 124%.

01:34:05 Speaker 23: A following report informed committee of funding from circular materials to continue promoting recycling.

01:34:12 Speaker 23: The agreement extends a contract ending at the end of 2025, and will fund the city 35 cents per household to offset costs of creating waste calendars for 2026.

01:34:22 Speaker 23: One Sound will also receive an extra 15 cents per household to support the Recycling Coach app, which will launch as part of the Green Bin programmemememe in May.

01:34:32 Speaker 23: The app will provide residents with guidance on waste disposal, covering green bin materials, garbage, hazardous waste, recycling, and yard waste.

01:34:41 Speaker 23: Committee is recommending to bring forward a bylaw for a services agreement with Product Care Association of Canada.

01:34:47 Speaker 23: This agreement, effective January 1, 2025, has automatic one-year renewals and updated pricing.

01:34:57 Speaker 23: Revised pricing increases subtly.

01:34:59 Speaker 23: The reimbursement for paints and coatings, pesticides, and solvents, and committee received a report regarding our responsibilities within the drinking water standard of care.

01:35:10 Speaker 23: I welcome any questions and ask for committee's endorsement of the recommendations contained within.

01:35:16 Speaker 23: Any questions?

01:35:18 Speaker 23: Seeing none.

01:35:19 Speaker 06: I'll call the question on favour, and that is carried.

01:35:22 Speaker 06: So that gets us.

01:35:27 Speaker 05: And if I could just correct a slight error I made at the last council meeting.

01:35:32 Speaker 05: I had a question from Councillor Farmer regarding intersections, and I mistakenly spoke to Twentieth Street East and Ninth Avenue as being reconstructed.

01:35:45 Speaker 05: However, in the moment, I reported incorrectly.

01:35:50 Speaker 05: The intersection of concern in the report was actually Twentieth Street and Sixteenth Avenue, where there had been collisions and more injuries, but I had mentioned to committee that it was 20th Street and Ninth Avenue,

01:36:07 Speaker 05: which is being reconstructed in the future.

01:36:09 Speaker 05: But that was not the correct intersection.

01:36:15 Speaker 06: Okay, so with that, that gets us through the minutes of the four committees.

01:36:19 Speaker 06: So all of 12 fixes the report from last committee, last council meeting, so on to 13A.

01:36:29 Speaker 06: We have correspondence from Grey County with regard to centralized planning model request for support in principle.

01:36:39 Speaker 06: I note that its correspondence is sent to each member municipality in Grey County,

01:36:45 Speaker 06: requesting any interested municipality to indicate its support in principle for a hybrid planning service delivery model by no later than May 9, 2022.

01:36:54 Speaker 06: Than May ninth, twenty twenty-two.

01:36:56 Speaker 06: So, what do we want to do with that, Councillor Capkey?

01:37:04 Speaker 06: Thank you, Worship.

01:37:04 Speaker 04: I'm very confident that planning processes in Owen Sound are well in place, and we process applications within in accordance with the Planning Act in an efficient and effective manner.

01:37:19 Speaker 04: And with that, I'd like to move receipt of the correspondence for information from Greg.

01:37:22 Speaker 04: Information from Grey County dated March 21, 2025, respecting a hybrid planning service delivery model.

01:37:32 Speaker 06: And I note further in that letter that it said if we don't reply to them, then it's an indication that we're not proceeding forward.

01:37:39 Speaker 06: Did that answer your question?

01:37:45 Speaker 04: I'm only moving that we receive it for information purposes.

01:37:48 Speaker 04: Councillor Hamlin.

01:37:51 Speaker 04: Councillor Hamley, well, I was only going to ask.

01:37:53 Speaker 07: Do we maybe even want to be a little more clear that we're opting out?

01:37:56 Speaker 07: Because you know, I look at this and I have so many concerns, and one of the concerns that I have is if we are opting out,

01:38:07 Speaker 07: how are we not certain that whatever financial model that they dream up with, that come up with, doesn't cost you know Owen Sound taxpayers paying for everybody else's planning.

01:38:19 Speaker 07: Is planning, so that's really one big outstanding question that that I would have, and I would support the motion though.

01:38:30 Speaker 04: Councillor Keck, I'm happy to take that as a friendly amendment that we include opting out.

01:38:40 Speaker 28: Councillor Dodd, thank you, Worship, and I would echo the comments of my fellow councillors here.

01:38:48 Speaker 28: I think we've got well, we've sat through two presentations with the county and reviewed some of the ideas that they had regarding this model.

01:39:00 Speaker 28: And I think what it came out with, it really in the end was you know, I think the county has some positives to it with their plan.

01:39:10 Speaker 28: I think it would be able to help provide planners in some other municipalities within the county that would see a huge positive to it, right?

01:39:19 Speaker 28: And we do know that employee retention is challenging in those professional sectors.

01:39:25 Speaker 28: So, seeing you know, if the county chooses to do a hybrid model for some of the other smaller municipalities to assist them, you know, all the best to them.

01:39:35 Speaker 28: But I would echo the comments of saying, you know, I think we have a great planning staff here within the City of Owen Sound.

01:39:41 Speaker 28: I think we were able to kind of recognize that there was no guarantee that we would be completely cost neutral on this.

01:39:49 Speaker 28: There could still be some costs, even if we chose to go to the county model.

01:39:54 Speaker 28: There could still be some lower tier planning costs that would still be applied.

01:39:59 Speaker 28: I agree with Councillor Hamley.

01:40:01 Speaker 28: I think we need to ensure that as this moves forward, that we're not paying for double planning.

01:40:08 Speaker 28: We have a great planning department in the City of Owen Sound that we're paying for.

01:40:12 Speaker 28: I don't think we should be contributing to or should be contributing towards the hybrid model if that's the way the county chooses to go.

01:40:18 Speaker 28: For other municipalities, I would say to Grey County and the CAO's there.

01:40:26 Speaker 28: I do appreciate the fact that they kind of went and did what we have asked on many times of looking at a regional approach to service levels.

01:40:35 Speaker 28: So, making sure that we do give them credit that they have answered some of our calls to try to find some efficiencies.

01:40:44 Speaker 28: with the regionalized services.

01:40:46 Speaker 28: I think that's fantastic.

01:40:47 Speaker 28: I'm glad to hear that they were able to do that.

01:40:50 Speaker 28: It doesn't work for us in this circumstance, but I hope Grey County continues to keep that open mind as we move forward to not just stop here.

01:40:59 Speaker 28: I hope they continue with different levels of service where they may be able to find some more efficiencies by going to a regional level.

01:41:09 Speaker 28: Councillor Farmer, thank you through the Mayor.

01:41:12 Speaker 28: I won't support the motion.

01:41:14 Speaker 28: I think that we should keep the conversation going.

01:41:16 Speaker 26: We heard at the most recent all-county meeting that this is not the final point in the process of service design to opt in or out, and I don't think that we have enough information.

01:41:25 Speaker 26: Acknowledging that other councillors have cited long-standing or I guess persistent questions around the specifics and the devil is in the details.

01:41:33 Speaker 26: We don't know those answers yet around how all of this would work or how One Sound fits a potential plan.

01:41:39 Speaker 26: And during this term of council, we've seen the staffing contingent of planners fluctuate as a result of personal leaves and folks leaving to take other professional advancement opportunities elsewhere.

01:41:49 Speaker 26: The city has also regularly engaged planning consultants to take on aspects of our planning work, including the ongoing zoning bylaw and official plan updates, which are hugely consequential for how the city works.

01:42:01 Speaker 26: And if we've expressed concern that the working relationship between staff and various departments is one reason to keep planning in-house at Owen Sound,

01:42:07 Speaker 26: I struggle to understand how continuing to contract external consultants to cover the department workload preserves those relationships more than a model that shares planners across our immediate county.

01:42:19 Speaker 26: We've also celebrated other opportunities to share services with neighbours and have advocated actively at the county, as Councillor Dodd mentioned, to explore shared services more widely.

01:42:28 Speaker 26: And I think Owen Sound should refrain from opting out until we have a clear understanding of what the proposal and working arrangements would look like.

01:42:35 Speaker 26: And that as we consider this, I think that there's maybe a kind of an emotional trap to say if we opt into this, are we denigrating the work of our planning staff and that department?

01:42:46 Speaker 26: And I think very clearly the answer that needs to be no—that they've done great work, shorthanded, exceeded the shortening mandated timeframes.

01:42:56 Speaker 26: And also, there is the potential that what we have right now is not the best possible model that could be dreamed up.

01:43:04 Speaker 26: And personally, I don't feel like I've seen enough detail from the county to be able to weigh that question.

01:43:09 Speaker 26: And I'd like us to stay as part of that conversation to actually see what that would look like as they iron out those details.

01:43:18 Speaker 26: Thank you.

01:43:18 Speaker 26: Others, go ahead, Cindi.

01:43:21 Speaker 22: Through you, Your Worship, I would be in support of this motion because I personally feel that over the past years of my term on council, we have very good planning staff.

01:43:33 Speaker 22: We have a very good planning staff, and I think Owen Sound is one of the urban hubs for all the municipalities.

01:43:39 Speaker 22: And given all the county interactions or the meetings that we've had regarding this centralized planning models, I think there were enough opportunities where all our questions should have been answered by now.

01:43:52 Speaker 22: But I am still unclear, and I think one size would not fit all.

01:43:57 Speaker 22: Owen Sound needs are completely different from some of the needs of our neighbouring municipalities.

01:44:03 Speaker 22: The population is different.

01:44:04 Speaker 22: Dynamics is different, so I don't feel comfortable.

01:44:08 Speaker 22: I don't have a lot of questions that are answered, so I'll be supporting Councillor Koepke's motion.

01:44:17 Speaker 22: I'm going this way.

01:44:18 Speaker 22: Go ahead.

01:44:20 Speaker 22: Thank you, through your chair.

01:44:22 Speaker 32: I'm hesitant to support the motion because we don't have all the questions answered.

01:44:29 Speaker 32: Like we have no financial information up to this point, and they have given us the safety net of being able to opt in.

01:44:38 Speaker 32: We're going to get all of the information that we need, and then we do have the final chance to opt out when we do have all the information.

01:44:45 Speaker 32: I have been a huge proponent of shared services amongst the municipalities of Grey, and I think to shut it down and say not interested at this point is going against where we want to go.

01:45:00 Speaker 32: I think as a council, we've been pushing for more and more shared services with our neighbours.

01:45:05 Speaker 32: I think that we should keep the conversation going until we have the final information.

01:45:10 Speaker 32: I also worry, like Councillor Hamley here, that if we say no, we're going to keep our own department,

01:45:16 Speaker 32: and then we're going to be paying double because we're going to be paying Grey County fees that are paying for an enhanced planning division.

01:45:22 Speaker 32: So I think we need to find out all of that information and be sitting at the table and have our say before we make our final decision.

01:45:30 Speaker 32: So I will not be supporting the motion.

01:45:34 Speaker 32: Anyone else that way?

01:45:36 Speaker 32: Yep, through you, Mayor.

01:45:39 Speaker 30: Earlier today, we had an education session around strong mayor powers.

01:45:45 Speaker 30: We're currently in the middle of shifting sands, where we really don't know the impact after May 1st on planning decisions and any other decisions that may impact our particular community.

01:45:58 Speaker 30: I see two parts to the request from the County, and I stand to be corrected if I don't have it right.

01:46:05 Speaker 30: But the first request: Do we support them proceeding with investigating and developing further a hybrid model approach?

01:46:14 Speaker 30: That was the first request.

01:46:16 Speaker 30: The other decision for us is: Is that part of an approach that we want to participate in at this time?

01:46:25 Speaker 30: I think learning more about a hybrid approach may have spinoff benefits for us as we review processes, and it is important not to close the door to information and education, especially as it's being developed,

01:46:38 Speaker 30: because there may be things that would benefit us in the long run.

01:46:42 Speaker 30: I also believe that we still have the option to say, not at this time, in other words, not now, but not to close the door out.

01:46:52 Speaker 30: But not to close the door absolutely, because we just cannot predict what may happen.

01:46:59 Speaker 30: I see this as an unfolding process, that perhaps to make a definitive yes or no decision to opting in or out might be a bit premature.

01:47:10 Speaker 30: Agreeing for them to proceed with a hybrid model, where the information continues to be shared with us, would have a spinoff advantage, I believe, to us learning about this opportunity.

01:47:20 Speaker 30: Thank you.

01:47:23 Speaker 30: Deputy McGregor.

01:47:24 Speaker 30: Thank you.

01:47:27 Speaker 05: I just like to comment that I'll vote against the motion.

01:47:32 Speaker 05: I see no harm in still continuing to get more information in terms of the different service levels between urban and rural neighbours.

01:47:41 Speaker 05: Right off the bat, I immediately think of Oxford County, which contains Woodstock, which is a much higher growth centre, being located in the 401 than currently.

01:47:51 Speaker 05: On Sound is we have lots of great activity perhaps going on if we can just get some shovels in the ground—great news—but there is an urban centre that's demonstrated that the shared service does work,

01:48:05 Speaker 05: and I mean it's not speaking against staff at all.

01:48:09 Speaker 05: I mean we know we've got great staff but we have a service to provide to the community so at this time I'm still in favour of furthering the process and just entertaining more accurate information

01:48:21 Speaker 05: in terms of the best decisions that we should be making down the road.

01:48:25 Speaker 33: Yet, Councillor Capkey, I would request a recorded vote, please.

01:48:34 Speaker 33: I think we're ready to call the vote.

01:48:40 Speaker 33: Councillor Dodd, in favour.

01:48:45 Speaker 33: Councillor Farmer, opposed.

01:48:49 Speaker 33: Councillor Hamley, in favour.

01:48:53 Speaker 33: Councillor Koepke, in favour.

01:48:56 Speaker 33: Councillor Kukreja, in favour.

01:49:00 Speaker 33: Councillor Merton, opposed.

01:49:04 Speaker 33: Councillor Middlebro', opposed.

01:49:08 Speaker 33: Deputy Mayor Greig, opposed.

01:49:17 Speaker 33: Mayor Boddy, I didn't make any in favour.

01:49:25 Speaker 33: No, sorry, opposed, opposed, opposed.

01:49:28 Speaker 33: In favour to keep it going for now.

01:49:33 Speaker 33: Opposed.

01:49:35 Speaker 25: So the resolution was defeated with four in favour and five opposed.

01:49:40 Speaker 02: I didn't speak to it because I didn't think it was going to end up being a tie.

01:49:47 Speaker 02: The reason why it is voted that way is John just twigged on something.

01:49:50 Speaker 02: We brought a motion up at Grey County that was passed unanimously to look at shared services and keep looking at shared services.

01:49:58 Speaker 02: We want to pull together that committee, so I don't want to send two different messages.

01:50:10 Speaker 02: Go ahead.

01:50:12 Speaker 09: I move that we respond to the County's correspondence, indicating support for the hybrid model and our intention to continue to participate until more information about the details are known.

01:50:31 Speaker 09: In principle, if I may.

01:50:34 Speaker 09: Okay.

01:50:35 Speaker 09: So we're clarifying that.

01:50:38 Speaker 09: Go ahead.

01:50:39 Speaker 09: I would request a recorded vote.

01:50:43 Speaker 06: Councillor Dodd, did you have your hand up?

01:50:47 Speaker 06: I did, but I'll put it down for now.

01:50:53 Speaker 06: Okay, so I'll pass it to Brianna.

01:50:58 Speaker 06: Councillor Dodd, opposed.

01:51:03 Speaker 06: Councillor Farmer, in favour.

01:51:06 Speaker 06: Councillor Hamley, opposed.

01:51:11 Speaker 06: Councillor Koepke, opposed.

01:51:15 Speaker 06: Councillor Kukreja, opposed.

01:51:19 Speaker 06: Councillor Merton, opposed.

01:51:24 Speaker 06: Councillor Middlebro', in favour.

01:51:29 Speaker 06: Deputy Mayor Greig, in favour.

01:51:36 Speaker 06: Mayor Boddy, in favour.

01:51:45 Speaker 25: The resolution is defeated with four in favour and five opposed.

01:51:49 Speaker 06: So the result is that we are not sending the County a notice to continue in principle.

01:51:59 Speaker 06: So we're clear.

01:52:07 Speaker 06: Clarification of the two motions.

01:52:12 Speaker 30: The second motion was that we would participate.

01:52:15 Speaker 30: We agree that they should move forward with the hybrid model, but we did not say that we would be someone that opted into a hybrid model.

01:52:26 Speaker 30: That we wanted them to continue with the process, so that we could learn.

01:52:31 Speaker 30: And that was my understanding of the difference between the motions.

01:52:37 Speaker 30: So if you could go back through that, that would be helpful.

01:52:43 Speaker 30: Thank you.

01:52:43 Speaker 30: I mean, we voted on them; they're done, but the difference was there were two options: that they continue with the hybrid, and that we wanted to learn,

01:52:54 Speaker 30: and we also then could opt in or opt out, and ask for that direction, and that's where the confusion, I think, certainly for Council.

01:53:04 Speaker 30: Maybe we could take a five-minute break here.

01:53:09 Speaker 30: I need a break.

02:00:34 Speaker 30: Okay, Council.

02:00:35 Speaker 30: It's 7:30.

02:00:36 Speaker 30: If we can call the meeting back to order, Councillor Merton, through you, Mayor Boddy, I would request a reconsideration for the vote recently taken before the break.

02:00:48 Speaker 06: So that's a motion to reconsider, and she indicated yes.

02:00:55 Speaker 06: So I will call the question.

02:00:57 Speaker 06: We need two-thirds for this to pass.

02:01:01 Speaker 06: Marion, requested recorded vote, please.

02:01:14 Speaker 06: Councillor Dodd, opposed.

02:01:20 Speaker 06: Councillor Farmer, in favour.

02:01:24 Speaker 06: Councillor Hamley, opposed.

02:01:28 Speaker 06: Councillor Koepke, opposed.

02:01:32 Speaker 06: Councillor Kukreja, opposed.

02:01:36 Speaker 06: Councillor Merton, in favour.

02:01:39 Speaker 06: Councillor Middlebro', in favour.

02:01:43 Speaker 06: Deputy Mayor Greig, in favour.

02:01:49 Speaker 06: Mayor Boddy, oh, it doesn't matter, in favour.

02:02:04 Speaker 25: The resolution is defeated with five in favour and four opposed because we needed six for the two-thirds majority.

02:02:11 Speaker 06: So that leaves it that we defeated a motion to not move forward, or in other words, stopped out.

02:02:21 Speaker 06: Then we defeated a motion to advise them that we were opting in in principle.

02:02:25 Speaker 06: So that leaves us in a position that we've opted out.

02:02:31 Speaker 06: In fact, because there's no direction, so I will move to number fourteen.

02:02:39 Speaker 06: We have no motions, which notice was previously given.

02:02:44 Speaker 06: Sorry.

02:02:48 Speaker 04: Just curious, Your Worship, we don't need to reply at all by not indicating that means that we're not interested.

02:02:54 Speaker 04: Is that correct?

02:02:58 Speaker 06: Consider we just had a vote that we did not pass to reconsider.

02:03:01 Speaker 06: There's nothing to reconsider.

02:03:01 Speaker 06: Consider.

02:03:02 Speaker 06: There's nothing to reconsider.

02:03:05 Speaker 06: We have no motions; notice was previously given.

02:03:08 Speaker 06: Discussion of additional business, I believe, was Councillor Farmer first.

02:03:15 Speaker 06: Thank you, through the Mayor.

02:03:16 Speaker 09: I just wanted to highlight a couple of events coming up.

02:03:21 Speaker 09: Yeah, the start of May is really busy.

02:03:22 Speaker 09: So we mentioned the bike rodeo already, but just wanted to highlight for folks that Sunday, May the fourth, from seven a.m. to five p.m.,

02:03:30 Speaker 09: is Owen Sound Partner Day at the Y. So residents of Owen Sound get access to the YMCA health, fitness, and aquatic facilities for free.

02:03:37 Speaker 09: And you can check out their website for the schedule of classes and activities.

02:03:41 Speaker 09: And on Monday, May the fifth, at the Gitchi Nami Wicwadong Reconciliation Garden, there's an event called Gimik Wendamin.

02:03:48 Speaker 09: I'm sure I said that wrong, but it's to mark the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People.

02:03:56 Speaker 09: They're having a ceremony from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the community is invited.

02:04:05 Speaker 09: Thank you, Councillor Koepke.

02:04:08 Speaker 09: Thank you, Worship.

02:04:09 Speaker 04: A question to staff on when the garbage cans will be returning to community parks, particularly Comrade Park.

02:04:23 Speaker 34: Thank you for that question, and through your Worship, spring was slightly delayed this year, and we were a bit late getting the Festival of Northern Lights out.

02:04:31 Speaker 34: Many of you will still see the tree back here in the Market Square, and that will go down this week.

02:04:36 Speaker 34: Parks garbage cans will be back out by mid-May.

02:04:40 Speaker 34: So our apologies to people that are out there, but staff are working hard to get those cans back into neighbourhood parks.

02:04:52 Speaker 34: I've got you down for three.

02:04:55 Speaker 34: Oh, that was Deputy Mayor Greig.

02:04:57 Speaker 34: Okay.

02:05:01 Speaker 34: Three items tonight.

02:05:02 Speaker 23: The very first one is this Saturday is the annual tree sale, Grey County or Grey Sauble Conservation Authority, and it's held Saturday morning.

02:05:12 Speaker 23: Some people get there very early, and some people get there before that.

02:05:19 Speaker 23: But it's essentially eight to eleven.

02:05:21 Speaker 23: The great time to pick up some various tree plantings to complement your properties, friends and family.

02:05:32 Speaker 23: You know, show some great environmental stewardship while supporting the conservation authority and in many of its activities, benefiting the environment around us.

02:05:42 Speaker 23: Secondly, is the eighth annual film festival coming up: The Earth Film Festival.

02:05:49 Speaker 23: It's being held at the Roxy Theatre on May the eighth, and is featuring a dramatic film, All Too Clear this year,

02:05:57 Speaker 23: which is an award-winning film produced by local filmmakers Yvonne Dreber and Zach Melnick of Inspired Planet Productions.

02:06:05 Speaker 23: So, tickets are available at the Roxy to support, again, the Conservation Authority Foundation initiative that puts on the Earth Film Festival.

02:06:17 Speaker 23: Always a great evening with interesting films on that night, and again, supporting initiatives in place from the Grey Sauble Conservation Foundation, complementing activities of the conservation authority in the environment.

02:06:34 Speaker 23: And third is a question to staff.

02:06:38 Speaker 23: If I could just have an image put on the screen.

02:06:42 Speaker 23: This image was from this Saturday, and I'm going to refer to rules for flying the national flag: Flag policy and etiquette.

02:06:57 Speaker 23: On the Canada.ca website, the national flag will always be flown on its own flagpole.

02:07:07 Speaker 23: It is improper to fly the national flag with another flag, of any type, on the same flagpole.

02:07:17 Speaker 23: So I do know that we are entertaining an update, some maybe revisions to our own flag flying policy at this time.

02:07:29 Speaker 23: However, instances of this are in contravention to what we have as Canadians established: a national standard, a national etiquette, a national policy essentially that we all follow.

02:07:46 Speaker 23: That's equal and applied across the board for everyone.

02:07:50 Speaker 23: It doesn't initiate or precipitate any signs of ownership or occupation or any threatening behaviour.

02:07:59 Speaker 23: But I'm wondering a question.

02:08:00 Speaker 23: Then the staff has follow-up to: Should an instance like this arise again in the future,

02:08:08 Speaker 23: are police services an adequate resource to be able to intervene with such a contravention to ensure intervention to ensure that the Canadian flag does indeed stand alone?

02:08:21 Speaker 23: As well, we have our city flagpole beside there, but also in terms of open—you know, I don't want to use public spaces as the term "open spaces," perhaps corporate or community spaces.

02:08:36 Speaker 23: I have tremendous regard for different individuals that I see out there in front of City Hall at different times, and they may be protesting a certain cause or informing the community of a certain item.

02:08:48 Speaker 23: I think it is wonderful, but images like that are of concern, and we shouldn't have threatening behaviour potentially on our city property, such as City Hall.

02:09:01 Speaker 23: So I'm just wondering, when we're updating our flag policy, can consideration be given to spaces such as this in front of City Hall as well,

02:09:12 Speaker 23: ensuring that it's a safe space and not having threatening behaviour?

02:09:19 Speaker 23: Mr. Simmons, through Mayor to Deputy Mayor Greig.

02:09:23 Speaker 17: Yeah, looking at this image, I think it probably touches on a few different policies.

02:09:29 Speaker 17: I think from what I hear, you're wanting us to look at, and I just ask for Council if we could report back.

02:09:36 Speaker 17: We'll review, Clerks.

02:09:38 Speaker 17: I know we'd want to consult with Owen Sound Police Services also and some other services also, and some others that generally give input on use of space and flags and our communications group.

02:09:48 Speaker 17: But if we could have just a little bit of time and consult internally as staff, and then bring something back for Council to take a look at, that would be helpful.

02:09:58 Speaker 17: Good.

02:09:59 Speaker 17: Okay.

02:10:01 Speaker 08: So next is a sixteen motion that the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

02:10:07 Speaker 08: Moved by myself that the Committee of the Whole rise and report: Committee of the Whole, Horizon Report.

02:10:11 Speaker 08: All in favour?

02:10:13 Speaker 08: That's carried.

02:10:13 Speaker 08: Councillor Dadas voted for it.

02:10:15 Speaker 08: Number seventeen.

02:10:16 Speaker 08: Motion to adopt proceedings in Committee of the Whole.

02:10:20 Speaker 09: Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greig, that the action taken in Committee of the Whole in considering public meetings, deputations and presentations, public forum, matters arising from correspondence, reports of city staff, consent agenda,

02:10:33 Speaker 09: committee minutes, matters postponed, motions for which notice was previously given, and additional business be confirmed by this Council.

02:10:41 Speaker 09: All in favour.

02:10:43 Speaker 09: And that is carried.

02:10:45 Speaker 09: Number eighteen.

02:10:46 Speaker 02: Are there any notices of motion being given tonight?

02:10:50 Speaker 02: Seeing none.

02:10:51 Speaker 02: Next is a motion to move into closed session.

02:10:55 Speaker 09: Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greig, that City Council now move into closed session to consider minutes of the closed session of the regular council meeting held on April fourteenth, two thousand and twenty-five,

02:11:07 Speaker 09: and one matter regarding personal matters about identifiable individuals respecting Boarding Committee public appointments.

02:11:15 Speaker 09: And all in favour?

02:11:16 Speaker 09: That's carried.

02:11:17 Speaker 06: So just before we move into the closed session, I'd like to note that if you're watching this meeting on Rogers Cable TV or the Rogers TV website,

02:11:25 Speaker 06: their feed will not reconnect to this meeting when we return to the open session to report out of the closed session and review the bylaws.

02:11:33 Speaker 06: If you would like to view the remainder of the open session, you can watch the live stream on City's Council and Committees web page at www.Owen Sound.ca/meetings.

02:11:44 Speaker 06: The video recording of the meeting will also be posted on this website following the meeting.

02:24:39 Speaker 06: Okay.

02:24:41 Speaker 06: It is now seven fifty-four p.m.

02:24:43 Speaker 06: City Council is returning to the open session.

02:24:45 Speaker 06: During the closed session, City Council reviewed minutes of the closed session of the regular council meeting held on April fourteenth, two thousand and twenty-five, and discussed one matter regarding personal matters about identifiable individuals,

02:25:02 Speaker 06: respecting board and committee public appointments, and direction was provided to staff.

02:25:10 Speaker 06: So, bylaws.

02:25:13 Speaker 25: Through your Worship, the bylaws listed for approval on tonight's agenda include the confirmatory bylaw, a bylaw to execute a contribution agreement with Scenic City Order of Good Cheer, respecting the place of good cheer,

02:25:22 Speaker 25: respecting the playground and splash pad at Kelsey Beach at Neawash Park; a Viola Texe executed an amending agreement with Flex Bus Inc. respecting access and use of the Owen Sound Transit terminal;

02:25:31 Speaker 25: a Viola Texe executed a second lease amending agreement with the Community Waterfront Heritage Centre respecting access and use of the front entrance area at an office at the Canadian National Railroad Building;

02:25:41 Speaker 25: a Viola Texe executed an agreement with 1406973 Ontario Limited, operating as CP Systems, respecting the replacement of water main cathodic protection phase nine; and a biotech Seahut agreement with Unisolutions respecting budgeting software.

02:25:58 Speaker 25: Councillor Farmer.

02:26:01 Speaker 09: Moved by myself, seconded by Deputy Mayor Greig, that Bylaw Numbers twenty twenty-five dash zero three six through two and including twenty twenty-five dash zero four one be passed and enacted.

02:26:13 Speaker 09: And all in favour.

02:26:16 Speaker 06: That is carried, including Councillor Dodd on screen.

02:26:18 Speaker 06: So it is 7:56.

02:26:20 Speaker 06: That completes our business for tonight.

02:26:22 Speaker 06: We're adjourned.

02:26:23 Speaker 06: Thanks, everybody.