Owen Sound Council Meeting - Regular Meeting Transcript — October 6, 2025

00:00:18 Speaker 01: This is the On Sound City Council, and I'm calling the council meeting to order.

00:00:23 Speaker 01: Are there any additional business, Councillor Farmer?

00:00:28 Speaker 02: Thank you, through the Mayor.

00:00:28 Speaker 02: I'll have two items of additional business.

00:00:30 Speaker 02: One pertaining to an upcoming event around municipal engagement, and a second about an upcoming town hall hosted by the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan.

00:00:40 Speaker 03: Those times two.

00:00:43 Speaker 03: Okay, I'll have two things to report on.

00:00:46 Speaker 03: Anyone else?

00:00:48 Speaker 03: Not seeing anyone.

00:00:49 Speaker 03: Okay, declarations of interest, general nature thereof.

00:00:54 Speaker 03: Seeing no one putting their hands up.

00:00:56 Speaker 03: Number four, confirmation of council minutes from September 22, 2025.

00:01:00 Speaker 03: Councillor Merton.

00:01:03 Speaker 04: Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Middlebro', that the minutes of the regular council meeting held on September 22, 2025, be adopted as printed.

00:01:15 Speaker 01: All in favour.

00:01:17 Speaker 01: And that is carried.

00:01:18 Speaker 01: So back to you, Councillor Merton.

00:01:20 Speaker 01: Number five, motion to move council into committee of the whole.

00:01:25 Speaker 04: Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Milborough, 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, consent agenda,

00:01:44 Speaker 04: committee minutes, matters postponed, motions for which notice was previously given, and additional business.

00:01:53 Speaker 03: And all in favour, and that is carried.

00:01:57 Speaker 03: At number six in committee of the whole, we have no public meetings.

00:02:00 Speaker 03: At number seven, we have a deputation from our Senior Managers, Strategic Initiatives and Operational Effectiveness with regard to Future On Sound Vision 2025 Long Term Strategic Plan.

00:02:12 Speaker 03: Michelle, welcome.

00:02:17 Speaker 05: Thank you.

00:02:18 Speaker 05: Just a correction: Future On Sound Vision 2050 Long Term Strategic Plan.

00:02:24 Speaker 05: 2025.

00:02:28 Speaker 05: Right.

00:02:30 Speaker 05: Strategic planning is a systemic process that helps an organisation set priorities, focus energy and resources,

00:02:36 Speaker 05: and ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working towards common goals and assess and adjust the organisation's direction in response to a changing environment.

00:02:45 Speaker 05: But why is it so crucial?

00:02:46 Speaker 05: Over the past few years, the municipal landscape, in terms of challenges and opportunities, has changed dramatically, and Future On Sound Vision 2050 is responding to this new reality.

00:02:58 Speaker 05: Vision 2050 builds on the important work that informed the previous strategic plan refresh in 2021.

00:03:03 Speaker 05: Planning for the future helps us make good decisions today, and more than ever, right now is a time of great change on many fronts: the economy, climate, culture, and public safety,

00:03:12 Speaker 05: to name just a few.

00:03:14 Speaker 05: A strategic plan gives us a roadmap to help us navigate challenges and reveal opportunities.

00:03:19 Speaker 05: It helps us to be proactive rather than reactive to what is happening.

00:03:23 Speaker 05: This strategic plan reflects the priorities of the community and what we want Owen Sound to be a generation from now.

00:03:29 Speaker 05: This helps ensure that our budgets and work plans are all moving forward to achieve our goals.

00:03:35 Speaker 05: Brief overview of the timeline: identified within the service review completed in 2023 was the opportunity of finding a balance between the issue of the day and pursuing a longer-term vision for the city.

00:03:46 Speaker 05: The resulting action was to investigate the notion of striking a committee that could lend to the importance and governance of the creation of the strategic plan.

00:03:54 Speaker 05: The timing aligned as the city prepared to move forward with the creation of the next long-term strategic plan.

00:04:00 Speaker 05: Four members of council and four public members were appointed to the committee.

00:04:04 Speaker 05: Through creative and inclusive engagement, we have built capacity in the community and the municipality.

00:04:09 Speaker 05: Leveraged previous strategic planning work, spurred collabouration across stakeholder groups, and created greater clarity for everyone involved.

00:04:17 Speaker 05: In the summer of 2024, we launched the phase "Tell Us Your Vision," during which a community survey was undertaken with emphasis on reaching community members who are typically underrepresented.

00:04:27 Speaker 05: In addition to the survey, there were in-person and virtual consultations with community stakeholders and representatives from the business community.

00:04:35 Speaker 05: This engagement phase confirmed strong alignment with the previous strategic plan's priorities, but also provided additional definition criteria and two new strategic pillars.

00:04:46 Speaker 05: In the late fall of 2024, visioning sessions were held for each of the priorities, which utilised a co-facilitator approach and were grounded in collective understanding based on briefs which were developed for each priority.

00:04:57 Speaker 05: Also in this phase were two community engagement workshops: one focused on municipal staff, which we held with neighbouring municipalities, and one session for community stakeholders.

00:05:07 Speaker 05: We're comprehensive community engagement, inclusive and creative community engagement principles, and there was followed by examples of community engagement barriers and tangible accommodations for addressing them.

00:05:17 Speaker 05: Throughout the engagement, it was an iterative process that incorporated learnings as it progressed, listening and reaffirming what was shared.

00:05:25 Speaker 05: The city received the 2050 Vision report from the consultant in May and has utilised that report to draft a long-term strategic plan, which has been reviewed and refined by the Strategic Planning Ad Hoc Committee.

00:05:36 Speaker 05: With the committee recommending at the September 2025 meeting that council approve, which will come forward later in the agenda tonight.

00:05:44 Speaker 05: I want to highlight that the principles that ground the 2050 Vision are aligned with the city's values of caring, creativity, integrity, and sustainability.

00:05:52 Speaker 05: Caring is ingrained in our commitment to accessibility and community care, ensuring all citizens have equitable access to services, embodying compassion and support.

00:06:01 Speaker 05: Creativity is the driving force behind resilience, inspiring innovative solutions to future challenges, and embodying the courage to think outside the box.

00:06:11 Speaker 05: Integrity is vital in trust-building and collabouration, fostering transparency and accountability through honest and open governance.

00:06:19 Speaker 05: And sustainability ensures that our actions are responsible and forward-thinking, aligned with accountability and transparency to safeguard for future generations.

00:06:30 Speaker 05: What sets this plan apart, in addition to the significant community engagement that was undertaken to define the priorities, the 2050 Vision document includes a definition, a statement of what Owen Sound will be in 2050,

00:06:42 Speaker 05: and metrics that are grounded in statistically relevant, readily accessible data specific to Owen Sound, and will effectively assess the outcome of each priority.

00:06:51 Speaker 05: It also links to existing plans and potential collabourators related to each priority.

00:06:56 Speaker 05: This alignment and connection to existing plans ensures that the Vision 2050 will not be a document that gathers dust,

00:07:02 Speaker 05: but rather is clear enough to advance the goals while also being flexible enough to respond to emerging circumstances.

00:07:09 Speaker 05: And I'll quickly walk through each of the seven priorities.

00:07:13 Speaker 05: Prosperous City is defined as supporting initiatives that increase competitive economic advantages for current and new businesses and their employees,

00:07:21 Speaker 05: also addressing other aspects of prosperity such as contributing to a good quality of life for all, and recognizing the experience of elders, the potential of youth, and collective community knowledge and precious local resources.

00:07:35 Speaker 05: Green and Resilient City is defined as strengthening the city's environmental, social, and economic ability to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, while also leveraging the city's natural resources and infrastructure to support healthy lifestyles.

00:07:49 Speaker 05: Celebrating and Embracing Cultures is defined as uplifting all aspects of the city's local culture, including Indigenous peoples' cultural histories and practices, the cultural histories and practices of all residents,

00:08:02 Speaker 05: and formal institutional arts and cultural expressions, also contributing to creating an inclusive, welcoming, and prosperous culture that creates the conditions for harmonious demographic and economic growth.

00:08:15 Speaker 05: City Building is defined as enhancing urban development, planning, and place making processes to create places and spaces that contribute to complete communities for existing residents, future residents, and tourists.

00:08:29 Speaker 05: Pardon me.

00:08:30 Speaker 05: A City That Moves is defined as enhancing urban development.

00:08:34 Speaker 05: Oh, and I'm reading the wrong definition.

00:08:35 Speaker 05: I'm sorry, so I'll switch to: By 2050, Owen Sound will be connected by a comprehensive transportation network, accommodating multiple types of sustainable and accessible ways of travelling through the city.

00:08:48 Speaker 05: Safe City: Owen Sound will be regarded as a city that acknowledges multiple factors—physical, psychological, historical, etc.—that impact a sense of security, and where institution and community members are committed to protecting each other's safety.

00:09:01 Speaker 05: And probably my favourite priority: Fostering Mutually Beneficial and Respectful Relationships is defined as establishing, reconciling, and continually nurturing relationships that result in mutual benefit, trust, and shared understanding.

00:09:16 Speaker 05: Moving forward, the report from the consultant identified a mix of specific initial actions, many of which are focused on education, engagement, and communication.

00:09:25 Speaker 05: Stretch actions and actions that will be determined through the initial phases.

00:09:29 Speaker 05: The Strategic Leadership Team reviewed those actions and will include those proposed for 2026 in our organisational operational plan.

00:09:37 Speaker 05: Each immediate action was also assigned a lead within city staff to ensure accountability and was reviewed to determine whether the action would potentially require funding from the reserve set aside.

00:09:47 Speaker 05: As we continue to focus on enhancing communication, we will have a stream for reporting on 2050 Vision as a whole, as well as on the individual actions being undertaken.

00:09:57 Speaker 05: In addition to the overall updates on 2050 Vision, updates on 2050 Vision in its entirety being brought to council each year.

00:10:03 Speaker 05: Staff will provide individual reports to the appropriate standing committees as actions are initiated, outlining timelines, tasks, and reflecting how the funding from the reserve will be utilised, and if applicable, engagement and/or communication plans developed.

00:10:18 Speaker 05: In thinking about how this sets our vision for what the city will be in the next 25 years, this strategic plan is an affirmation.

00:10:24 Speaker 05: It is about reaffirming our commitment to the community and evokes pride, passion, and a sense of belonging.

00:10:30 Speaker 05: It's also about adding clarity—clarity about what matters most, how we will work, and who we will work with to meet the goals and objectives.

00:10:37 Speaker 05: This is a journey that we are at the start of, and having a roadmap for this journey ensures we have a collective vision on where we are headed,

00:10:43 Speaker 05: so that we can work together efficiently towards the shared future state.

00:10:48 Speaker 05: In 2027, following the election in October 2026, a session will be held with council to identify the term of council goals related to the priorities,

00:10:57 Speaker 05: in order to ensure we are allocating resources to the next set of actions and reflecting the learnings from the initial actions as we continue to make progress.

00:11:05 Speaker 05: Those actions will then be incorporated into future work plans and beyond as staff continue to employ the iterative process of planning, implementing, and evaluating.

00:11:14 Speaker 05: And with that, I wait until the minutes come forward from the Strategic Planning Ad Hoc Committee.

00:11:20 Speaker 05: Finally, sorry, I jumped ahead there.

00:11:23 Speaker 05: I added that sentence at the wrong time.

00:11:24 Speaker 05: Sent at the wrong time, as noted within the long-term strategic plan, Future On Sound Vision 2050.

00:11:30 Speaker 05: The city's motto of "Where You Want to Live" is simple and incredibly aspirational.

00:11:34 Speaker 05: Evident in the community participation in the development of the 2050 Vision, this roadmap is the start of the journey where we will collabourate and progress towards the shared vision articulated for each priority.

00:11:45 Speaker 05: And with that, we'll wait until the minutes come forward for the Strategic Planning Ad Hoc Committee.

00:11:55 Speaker 01: If I might, I'd like to move up 12C, which is the minutes of the Street Strategic Planning Ad Hoc Committee meeting that was held on September 24, 2025.

00:12:07 Speaker 01: The main thing that happened in that was the approval of the plan by the committee.

00:12:15 Speaker 01: So I'm going to go to you instead of me moving.

00:12:21 Speaker 06: Okay, and sorry, I had my hand in the air just to check on you vacating the chair.

00:12:26 Speaker 06: If you're going to speak to those minutes at this time, but I don't think I need to.

00:12:31 Speaker 06: I'm not going to be moving it.

00:12:34 Speaker 01: Sorry, I don't think I need to.

00:12:36 Speaker 01: I was going to ask you just to move the minutes, given that we just had the presentation.

00:12:39 Speaker 01: I don't have to really present them because they're all there as the chair.

00:12:43 Speaker 06: So, and I would gladly so move then, as requested.

00:12:49 Speaker 03: Okay, so Scott has moved adoption of the recommendation in the Strategic Planning Ad Hoc Committee meeting, September 24, 2025, and includes the strategic plan as presented by the report that was just presented by Michelle,

00:13:06 Speaker 03: Councillor Farmer.

00:13:08 Speaker 07: Thank you, to the Mayor.

00:13:09 Speaker 07: I have some comments, but I also have some questions.

00:13:12 Speaker 07: If I could start with questions either to yourself or, or the manager, I'm curious.

00:13:17 Speaker 07: The minutes say that those recommendations as laid out in the document, will be included along with suggestions or the note being, as well as comments from the meeting itself.

00:13:30 Speaker 07: Were there any changes to the document or the plan resulting from the comments of committee members at the most recent meeting?

00:13:41 Speaker 08: Through you, Mayor, to Councillor Farmer.

00:13:42 Speaker 08: I don't.

00:13:43 Speaker 08: I know there was conversation and suggestions, but I don't believe there were any changes to the document itself at the committee meeting?

00:13:54 Speaker 07: Thank you.

00:13:56 Speaker 07: I want to say I really appreciate the work of staff and community members on this.

00:14:01 Speaker 07: That this has been a lot of time and was definitely outside of the box of the normal consultation and public engagement practices.

00:14:08 Speaker 07: I think the values are as articulated.

00:14:11 Speaker 07: The seven themes and the vision statements are strong, and that the plan for reporting back and connecting with subsequent councils and appropriate committees makes a lot of sense, but I can't, however,

00:14:21 Speaker 07: support the metrics sections as included in the report.

00:14:23 Speaker 07: And I think the metrics are really important.

00:14:25 Speaker 07: That we've laid out these aspirational goals, and if we don't have clear indications for the public of what we're measuring to know if we're getting towards that,

00:14:34 Speaker 07: then I don't think that we're doing the best that we can for the next six councils that are going to live with this strategic plan.

00:14:42 Speaker 07: There are what would seem to me to be important data points that need to be important data points that are missing, and there's an overreliance on the citizen satisfaction survey,

00:14:49 Speaker 07: which the survey itself isn't bad, and as staff pointed out, does have a reliable methodology.

00:14:54 Speaker 07: But it only determines people's subjective satisfaction, and qualitative measures are really important.

00:14:59 Speaker 07: But a statistically sound measure of a subjective assessment is still a subjective assessment.

00:15:04 Speaker 07: It doesn't tell us what people are actually doing, or measure the factors that would contribute to the quality of life and connection for everybody that the document aspires to.

00:15:13 Speaker 07: Like you could ask me which pizza place I think is best in town, and if I say that place has the best pizza, but it's not the place I call,

00:15:20 Speaker 07: then there's a disconnect between my opinion and actions, and that's really important to know as we're assessing whether or not we're progressing towards those goals.

00:15:28 Speaker 07: I think it would be helpful for the plan to make a distinction between the metrics that we're measuring as signs of health and progress versus the targets that we're trying to meet,

00:15:36 Speaker 07: and the metrics that reference the citizen satisfaction survey do already have both of these.

00:15:40 Speaker 07: We're measuring satisfaction and we want it to be at X percent on a given topic.

00:15:46 Speaker 07: But for several of the themes, the report I think unnecessarily omits potential metrics or measurements of our movements towards our goals, while ignoring readily available data that is specific to Owen Sound.

00:15:57 Speaker 07: And I think there's room for improvement in the metrics across all seven themes.

00:16:02 Speaker 07: Prosper City is proposing to measure only the number of businesses and square footage expansion for commercial and industrial spaces, assuming that those indicate general prosperity,

00:16:13 Speaker 07: without assessing whether the income or quality of life of people in Owen Sound are improved by that.

00:16:17 Speaker 07: There are resources to use as metrics of a more inclusive prosperity that I think could include the census, which tracks income bracket distribution and employment-related income.

00:16:26 Speaker 07: We could be tracking meals provided by OSHaRE or the number of people accessing Safe and Sound.

00:16:31 Speaker 07: Under Green and Resilient City, the document claims that we're leveraging natural assets to support healthy lifestyles, but we're not measuring engagement with those assets,

00:16:39 Speaker 07: when we could be including things like use of city parks and trails, and I'll let staff correct me if the trail counters for Harrison Park, for example, are currently active or not.

00:16:48 Speaker 07: They've been referenced in the past.

00:16:49 Speaker 07: I think we could be measuring things like the number of community gardens or the number of rentals at park facilities, and that's all data that the city itself collects.

00:16:58 Speaker 07: There are also resources and partner organisations that can calculate things like tree canopy cover and biodiversity.

00:17:04 Speaker 07: Under Celebrating Arts and Culture, we have totally omitted the impact of sports and athletics on our local culture,

00:17:10 Speaker 07: and if we have a Sports Hall of Fame and if we're investing millions of dollars into sports infrastructure, I think we should name that as a priority.

00:17:17 Speaker 07: For so many people, sports are the cultural sphere that define their communities here most strongly, and I think that should be here as a metric somewhere.

00:17:25 Speaker 07: I'm also concerned that we're only looking at culture through an economic lens in the metrics and not considering the benefit of participation as volunteers or audience members.

00:17:33 Speaker 07: Those metrics might need to be developed,

00:17:34 Speaker 07: but the Special Events and Activation Team that the city already has has data for how many events they're meeting with people about and what the expected audience is at those events.

00:17:45 Speaker 07: They also have the relationships to ask the largest arts presenters about their volunteer bases.

00:17:51 Speaker 07: And most nonprofits will be reporting volunteer numbers in annual reports and grant reports anyway.

00:17:57 Speaker 07: Under City Building, the document says that we aspire to a city with housing stock that are well maintained, accessible, and responsive to community needs.

00:18:04 Speaker 07: But we're not proposing to reference any of the data that the census reports about housing affordability, suitability, and adequacy, or the percentage of people spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

00:18:15 Speaker 07: CMHC also reports average rents on what looked to be an annual basis, and the city counts the number of affordable housing units that are constructed.

00:18:24 Speaker 07: But we're not mentioning that in the metrics that we're handing down to future councils here.

00:18:29 Speaker 07: Under A City That Moves, we're aspiring to a comprehensive multimodal transportation network, but we're not proposing to measure how many people are travelling, and by which means.

00:18:41 Speaker 07: I 100 percent love that Walk Score is referenced, but the same website Walk Score includes a Bike Score for communities, and we're not referencing Bike Score.

00:18:49 Speaker 07: The census also reports unemployed labour force by form of commuting, and we don't have that.

00:18:57 Speaker 07: And Owen Sound reports publicly on our public transit every year, and that ridership number is also not in the report, which I think is a really easy,

00:19:05 Speaker 07: reliable number to get because we make it ourselves.

00:19:08 Speaker 07: I've been told that we have in the past pedestrian counters in the River District, and at the last meeting we heard about getting new counting devices that would also count cyclists and pedestrians,

00:19:20 Speaker 07: but we're also not referencing that data, even though we're presumably collecting it for a purpose.

00:19:26 Speaker 07: Safe City is only reporting on citizen satisfaction, but ignores metrics like the Crime Severity Index, or as a member brought up at the committee, the number of drug poisonings,

00:19:35 Speaker 07: which are indications of safety for people.

00:19:37 Speaker 07: And under Fostering Mutually Beneficial and Respectful Relationships, that's admittedly hard to measure.

00:19:44 Speaker 07: But if a person was assessing this personally, they might count the number of friends or neighbours that they interact with or work with regularly, which, in the case of Owen Sound,

00:19:54 Speaker 07: could look like the number of partnerships that we have with organisations from minor sports to the Y to any of the folks that donate money for infrastructure.

00:20:06 Speaker 07: This plan is a big deal, and I think it's that we need to make it as useful as it can be for the community.

00:20:12 Speaker 07: And I don't think that the metrics that we've laid out are there yet.

00:20:16 Speaker 07: So procedurally, this is awkward to adjust without warning for folks or kind of time for careful thought.

00:20:23 Speaker 07: I'm hesitant to move changes to metrics one by one without time for more thought and conversation at this table, so instead, I'd like to move an amendment to accept the plan and recommendations,

00:20:35 Speaker 07: save and accept the metrics, and to further request

00:20:52 Speaker 07: I need to take a drink.

00:20:53 Speaker 07: My mouth is really dry.

00:20:54 Speaker 07: Thank you.

00:20:57 Speaker 07: Deputy Mayor Greig.

00:21:00 Speaker 07: Since I believe you moved an amendment, I'm going to speak to that.

00:21:05 Speaker 07: Correct.

00:21:05 Speaker 07: Just to be clear, that's all we're speaking to.

00:21:07 Speaker 07: Brianna, you were.

00:21:08 Speaker 07: Can you hold on just for a second?

00:21:11 Speaker 07: You were.

00:21:29 Speaker 09: Through your Worship, just some clarification around the amendment.

00:21:32 Speaker 09: As an amendment is to add or remove something from that motion, but that to me sounded quite different from what was on the floor.

00:21:41 Speaker 09: So, if we could just get some clarification.

00:21:45 Speaker 09: Councillor.

00:21:47 Speaker 02: Thank you.

00:21:48 Speaker 02: Through the Mayor, I would look to the clerks whether rephrasing that as: the recommendations included in the report, save and accept the metrics.

00:22:02 Speaker 02: If that makes that procedurally clear, my intention is to say this is a great plan, but we need better numbers.

00:22:08 Speaker 02: But whatever that needs to translate to for the clerks.

00:22:14 Speaker 02: You're you're good.

00:22:16 Speaker 02: Yes, I am.

00:22:17 Speaker 02: Thank you, Your Worship.

00:22:19 Speaker 02: And everybody understands the motion.

00:22:25 Speaker 02: Okay, now I'll go back to you.

00:22:26 Speaker 02: Sorry.

00:22:28 Speaker 06: Well, Council should not support an amendment or a future report back, and here's why.

00:22:33 Speaker 06: If you had concerns with any of the KPIs, you had an opportunity a couple months ago when the report came forward to Council, and there were concerns expressed or discussion had at that time,

00:22:45 Speaker 06: and it was tabled and sent back for another working copy.

00:22:49 Speaker 06: This is the draft that was approved, in fully supportive by committee.

00:22:54 Speaker 06: While I may agree with some of your metrics, this is a strategic plan.

00:22:58 Speaker 06: It's up here.

00:23:00 Speaker 06: You are like there's not you.

00:23:02 Speaker 06: There's comments there that are down into literally the weeds or in measurables that are contained in subsequent plans that develop over the years,

00:23:13 Speaker 06: such as the Master Transportation Plan comes to mind right off the bat when you're talking about a city that moves,

00:23:20 Speaker 06: and that's you know these are projects that we are undertaking on a continuum by municipalities.

00:23:26 Speaker 06: I'm looking at the City of Barrie right here.

00:23:28 Speaker 06: Their plan under Thriving Community KPIs and current data, economic impact of hotel stays from Tourism Barrie in terms of development square metre squared of new employment investment one hundred and seven thousand metre squared.

00:23:45 Speaker 06: The strategic plan is high level.

00:23:47 Speaker 06: It's not to get down into if you had a theoretical company and their motto was just do it that you're going to incorporate egglets on shoelaces in your strategic plan.

00:24:00 Speaker 06: This is stuff that's way down river, I think, from where we are tonight.

00:24:05 Speaker 06: The strategic plan sets the direction for Council for staff.

00:24:09 Speaker 06: This is a really good document where it's presented tonight.

00:24:13 Speaker 06: But we don't need staff to come back with any more measurables to that extent, because those are measurables that just, frankly, don't belong in a strategic plan.

00:24:23 Speaker 06: It's way, way beyond where a strategic plan is positioned in the hierarchy of documents that guide the city.

00:24:35 Speaker 10: Others comment.

00:24:37 Speaker 10: No, Councillor Farmer, you can wrap it up, and I'll call the questions.

00:24:42 Speaker 10: Carol, through your Worship, just to point.

00:24:42 Speaker 11: Your Worship, just a point of clarification.

00:24:46 Speaker 11: If I could go back to the presenter of our initial deputation, you had mentioned that the goals would be coming forward with the new Council.

00:24:58 Speaker 11: That the new Council, after the election, would be working towards this, and this has to do around planning and visioning.

00:25:08 Speaker 11: However, all of us have participated in one way or another through this exercise, we have understood the development.

00:25:17 Speaker 11: We've had the opportunity to engage with people.

00:25:21 Speaker 11: Is there or could there be an opportunity as we move forward to be able to assist in laying the framework so that a Council that comes in is not starting again at the beginning?

00:25:36 Speaker 11: We want to move this forward.

00:25:38 Speaker 11: This is time now for action.

00:25:41 Speaker 11: We've got the vision, we've got the KPIs, we've got where we're moving.

00:25:46 Speaker 11: But how can we, as a Council here, who's been through this exercise, lay the framework to help the new Council so that the public is not waiting?

00:25:56 Speaker 11: That they can we can say we're going to hit the ground running and we're going to move it forward, because there are cycles in the elections for sure.

00:26:04 Speaker 11: Dear Mayor Boddy, so.

00:26:08 Speaker 05: Through your body, so I'll try and capture that.

00:26:10 Speaker 05: I believe what you're asking me is, are we redoing this again with the new Council?

00:26:13 Speaker 05: And the answer is, we're not.

00:26:15 Speaker 05: This is a vision until Vision Two Thousand and Fifty, meant to be a twenty-five year plan, and those priorities aim to stand,

00:26:20 Speaker 05: and those will be statements are intended to be what we want to be in Two Thousand and Fifty.

00:26:25 Speaker 05: We're implementing initial actions, beginning going forward into the Two Thousand and Twenty-Six operational work plan.

00:26:32 Speaker 05: When we have an election and a new Council starts.

00:26:36 Speaker 05: New Council starting after that election in Two Thousand and Twenty-Seven.

00:26:39 Speaker 05: Our intent is that, as part of the orientation, we do a workshop with them on the strategic plan as a whole.

00:26:44 Speaker 05: But we also have that opportunity to have that discussion with them.

00:26:47 Speaker 05: So, if there are specific goals within each of those priority areas, we're finding out about that at that time, so that we can build those into those longer-term work plans.

00:26:56 Speaker 05: It's not about changing the priorities or the metrics at that point.

00:26:59 Speaker 05: That's about more of the actions, or if there are specific goals within there that they'd like to see achieved.

00:27:06 Speaker 03: Okay, there's no one else.

00:27:08 Speaker 03: Councillor Farmer, you hold your hand up and wrap it up, and then we'll call the question.

00:27:12 Speaker 03: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

00:27:13 Speaker 03: I appreciate the additional information.

00:27:16 Speaker 07: I appreciate the Deputy Mayor's comments.

00:27:19 Speaker 07: My understanding of the distinction between the committee structures and Council is that those of us who are on Council get to receive those recommendations and reports,

00:27:31 Speaker 07: and that suggesting that comments would be based on already knowing what a future report coming through a committee would be,

00:27:41 Speaker 07: isn't I don't think fair to the role that we have on Council for folks who are not on a specific committee.

00:27:48 Speaker 07: These, my understanding of why we are including metrics, and why we're approving this tonight is that it's not like it's not over till it's over, and that we're improving.

00:27:57 Speaker 07: We're including metrics here so that although we've said generally what kind of a city we want to have, and how we want people to be able to live here.

00:28:07 Speaker 07: That it's up to us to say if we're including metrics to say how will we know when we've gotten there to that end state,

00:28:16 Speaker 07: and how will we know as we're going along whether we're making improvements there, which a number of these metrics include.

00:28:24 Speaker 07: But relying only or primarily, I think nine out of sixteen, what's that for citizen satisfaction surveys, relying on that while omitting statistically significant, strong, like strongly researched and just clear data,

00:28:40 Speaker 07: like how many people are riding transit and how many people are walking and getting to work by something other than their own vehicle,

00:28:47 Speaker 07: these are clear metrics that will let us know if we've gotten to that particular goal.

00:28:53 Speaker 07: And if we're not including those metrics now, we're closing the book, and then it sits for 25 years because Twenty-five years, because, like we heard, we're not changing metrics or visions after that.

00:29:02 Speaker 07: And this is our opportunity as a Council to either pass that down as is, or to say we're not in a rush.

00:29:12 Speaker 07: We can make this clearer, and I think we should make it clearer so that we know whether we're on the right track.

00:29:23 Speaker 03: So I'm not seeing any other hands going up.

00:29:25 Speaker 03: So I'm going to call the question, which was on the amendment made by Councillor Farmer.

00:29:35 Speaker 03: Call the question.

00:29:36 Speaker 03: All in favour?

00:29:38 Speaker 03: One opposed.

00:29:40 Speaker 03: Everyone else.

00:29:41 Speaker 03: So that's defeated.

00:29:42 Speaker 03: So that takes us back to the original motion, which was Deputy Mayor Greig's motion to adopt the minutes and approve the recommendation made therein.

00:29:54 Speaker 03: Any further discussion?

00:29:56 Speaker 03: Go ahead.

00:29:58 Speaker 12: Thank you, Worshiper, and I'm hoping Michelle will be able to come back just for a couple questions.

00:30:03 Speaker 12: You know, I just made you walk up for no reason.

00:30:17 Speaker 12: I want to be fair.

00:30:20 Speaker 12: So to kind of go back into so now we have this plan.

00:30:23 Speaker 12: You have the metric systems in there, and then within the wording.

00:30:24 Speaker 12: And then within the wordings of how you're going to do that metric, we see the world's like the survey cycle and and what we're going to like we'd like to achieve.

00:30:33 Speaker 12: So I guess I'm looking for is what's the next step after this?

00:30:36 Speaker 12: This is obviously the plan.

00:30:38 Speaker 12: I'm assuming there's an actionable plan that's going to come forward in the near future that's going to say, okay,

00:30:44 Speaker 12: we're trying to do green and resilient city by reducing our you know carbon emissions or whatever by 2026.

00:30:51 Speaker 12: These are the steps that we're going to take to get that space.

00:30:53 Speaker 12: Is that?

00:30:53 Speaker 12: To get to that space, is that correct?

00:30:54 Speaker 12: That's the next step.

00:30:55 Speaker 12: Is how we're going to create actionable items to achieve some of these positions.

00:30:59 Speaker 12: Can you just provide that answer first?

00:31:02 Speaker 05: Sure.

00:31:02 Speaker 05: Through your body.

00:31:03 Speaker 05: So, one of the initial things in the original draft of the report was that we actions were embedded with it,

00:31:09 Speaker 05: and we found that that caused confusion for people because it's meant to be a high-level vision of where we want to get to,

00:31:15 Speaker 05: and having the actions intermingled really confused people about what we were trying to do.

00:31:20 Speaker 05: So, we've separated those out.

00:31:21 Speaker 05: We haven't got rid of those actions.

00:31:22 Speaker 05: We still have those actions.

00:31:24 Speaker 05: Really, the next body of work is to include everything that we have planned for going forward.

00:31:29 Speaker 05: Does it align with one of these priorities?

00:31:31 Speaker 05: How does it align?

00:31:32 Speaker 05: And then putting that together for council and the community in one overarching—I'm calling it the organisational operational plan—because I haven't come up with a better name yet—that will tie all of the projects that we're

00:31:46 Speaker 05: going to undertake in the next year and how those tie back to each of the priorities.

00:31:49 Speaker 05: So that's really the next steps of what would come forward.

00:31:55 Speaker 12: So just so Rick, you know, I'm getting old, so I need this to just repeat here.

00:32:02 Speaker 12: So this is just the first step.

00:32:03 Speaker 12: Second step will be coming with an operational and actionable plan of saying how we're going to do or what the city municipality is going to do to put forward to get to these goals.

00:32:13 Speaker 12: Okay, perfect.

00:32:14 Speaker 12: So that second question that would just comes from that is like how will that progress be provided back to council and the public.

00:32:21 Speaker 12: I know there was a discussion about potentially being an annual.

00:32:25 Speaker 12: I may have seen that annually.

00:32:27 Speaker 12: I don't know if annual.

00:32:28 Speaker 12: In my own personal opinion, I don't know if annual response or annual feedback is.

00:32:32 Speaker 12: I think that's too long.

00:32:35 Speaker 12: We get quarterly updates on what a T one is or how much council staff has spent that quarter.

00:32:41 Speaker 12: That's underneath our allowable limits or below our allowable limits.

00:32:47 Speaker 12: So so I just find that for waiting a year to get this information back for council, that puts us in a position of saying, "Whoa,

00:32:54 Speaker 12: maybe we could have done something different," or maybe at that capital budget where Travis was saying, "I'm going to go after garbage cans," Travis shouldn't have gone after garbage cans.

00:33:02 Speaker 12: I think the more information that is provided to council on a more steady basis, I think is going to benefit the process, especially when we're talking about how that fits into a funding cycle.

00:33:12 Speaker 12: So I'm not sure exactly where you're going there, but I would suggest whether it comes through the consent agenda, comes through committees as it's appropriate.

00:33:21 Speaker 12: But I don't know if me personally, I think annually is almost too long the wait, and I'm not sure if you have a response to that or not.

00:33:30 Speaker 05: Hearing our body, so I think the important distinction for me is as individual information on individual specific projects or actions that we're taking, which will come through in committee reports.

00:33:41 Speaker 05: And one of the things that we've talked about doing, and actually this is I think from Service Review.

00:33:45 Speaker 05: Is changing the report templates to really beef out those sections.

00:33:48 Speaker 05: One of them is around strategic plan alignment, and one is to really beef out what is the plan, project, or action being taken,

00:33:55 Speaker 05: and what are the impacts that we think will be to that priority because of that action being taken.

00:33:59 Speaker 05: So those will be ongoing as actions and projects are coming forward to the various committees.

00:34:04 Speaker 05: When I think of an annual operational plan, I really need a better name for that.

00:34:08 Speaker 05: But the annual operation plan is really a summary because we have those in.

00:34:12 Speaker 05: Because we have those individual projects or reports going to different committees, we want to be able to pull all that together into one piece and say, "Okay, here's all the projects and initiatives,

00:34:22 Speaker 05: and here how they've impacted."

00:34:24 Speaker 05: So that's what I kind of see in my head is that annual plan.

00:34:26 Speaker 05: Doing can we update it more than once a year, potentially?

00:34:31 Speaker 05: And for those of you who are on Service Review Ad hoc Committee, we are in the midst of implementing a project management system right now.

00:34:38 Speaker 05: We are in the midst of training staff with a go live date set for November.

00:34:40 Speaker 05: Except for November, we are really one of the pieces we've tied into that system is being able to tie to the strategic plan priorities,

00:34:48 Speaker 05: so that we can pull reporting out of that system on status of initiatives aligned to those priorities.

00:34:55 Speaker 05: So, I just don't want to overcommit and say yes we can do that every quarter or every four months.

00:35:02 Speaker 05: If until we get that system running and we can get reports, it's good reporting out of that system to bring those forward on a more frequent basis.

00:35:09 Speaker 12: So that's a fantastic answer, and I appreciate that and the honesty behind it.

00:35:12 Speaker 12: Because I will, I will say, committee reports come through, and that might say yes, that's going to get closer to this goal.

00:35:19 Speaker 12: I'll be honest; we see a lot of reports.

00:35:20 Speaker 12: How many two hundred and something reports in a year?

00:35:23 Speaker 12: This old ticker isn't going to remember every single how close we are on that projection.

00:35:28 Speaker 12: So I think as a council to stay informed on are we continuing to do that, and again to make some to help with some of the decision making, to ensure that we're staying in line.

00:35:37 Speaker 12: I do think that whether that's a dashboard or however you come along with it, would be important to hear.

00:35:43 Speaker 12: Sure.

00:35:45 Speaker 05: Sorry, three-member body.

00:35:46 Speaker 05: I should have added in my previous one of the things we've been the city manager and I have been kicking around this idea for feels like four years now.

00:35:54 Speaker 05: A dashboard that will let us track and give instant results on the strategic plan priorities and the initiatives rolling up into those initiatives.

00:36:03 Speaker 05: The problem one is cost.

00:36:05 Speaker 05: It's a cost to have a dashboard that that's interactive with, and we want to be able to integrate it with things like the project management system and budget.

00:36:12 Speaker 05: Until we have the budget system fully implemented, until we have the project management system fully implemented, I think it's premature to go.

00:36:19 Speaker 05: Tim might not like this answer.

00:36:20 Speaker 05: I think it's premature to go ahead with the dashboard until we get those other systems up and running and fully in place,

00:36:26 Speaker 05: and see what we can pull out of those cleanly before we look at doing another system.

00:36:29 Speaker 05: So I'm going to use the word dashboard as a way of we will showcase the information in that annual operational update of what's happened,

00:36:39 Speaker 05: but we are looking at going to a more digital version down the road.

00:36:44 Speaker 12: That's great.

00:36:44 Speaker 12: I understand that you need to have your CRMs actually speak with each other, and when they don't, that's a lot of physical work.

00:36:50 Speaker 12: That's what our office goes through every single day.

00:36:53 Speaker 12: Committee restructure.

00:36:54 Speaker 12: We've had this conversation multiple times about that there's a potential that committee restructure is going to occur, and maybe not so much for you, Michelle, but maybe looking to Tim.

00:37:03 Speaker 12: What are the plans of looking at committee restructure, and is the two thousand and fifty vision this process in consideration of being part of one of the new committees,

00:37:11 Speaker 12: if that is how we're still moving forward?

00:37:15 Speaker 08: Through the mayor to Councillor Dodd, absolutely.

00:37:18 Speaker 08: I'm working with the clerk on a committee restructuring or committee structure report that'll be coming to council in November.

00:37:27 Speaker 08: So that sounds like a long way away, but in about another six weeks, and the two thousand and fifty vision is sort of.

00:37:31 Speaker 08: And the 2050 vision is sort of a cornerstone of one of the options that will be presented within that.

00:37:38 Speaker 12: Thank you.

00:37:38 Speaker 12: And just one more, that's okay, Your Worship.

00:37:41 Speaker 12: The last one was we talk about.

00:37:43 Speaker 12: I just saw that in there a couple times.

00:37:44 Speaker 12: And again, just so my own clarity, survey cycles.

00:37:47 Speaker 12: What's the time frame, or what's what are you planning to use as a time frame for these survey cycles?

00:37:53 Speaker 12: How many months, or what's your plan for it?

00:37:58 Speaker 05: Your mere body, budget dependent.

00:38:01 Speaker 05: The last the survey was originally planned to do in two thousand and twenty-six.

00:38:05 Speaker 05: I believe at the last budget, it was moved to two thousand and twenty-seven.

00:38:08 Speaker 05: I actually think that's better because it gives us actually a year of implementing actions related to the strategic priorities before we start to pull data on those.

00:38:16 Speaker 05: Our original plan for how often we would do citizen satisfaction surveys was every three years.

00:38:21 Speaker 05: So this will be a longer stretch in between that original first one and when we do the one again in two thousand and twenty-seven.

00:38:27 Speaker 05: But after that, I would like us ideally to be on a three-year cycle.

00:38:32 Speaker 05: Councillor Merton.

00:38:34 Speaker 11: Through your worship, one, Shelk.

00:38:37 Speaker 11: Sorry, you can't get away that fast.

00:38:42 Speaker 11: Even in the discussion tonight, one of the things that I'm hearing is that the challenge of operational versus governance and oversight, as we move forward with this and the actionable items, it would be very,

00:38:58 Speaker 11: very helpful as a learning opportunity to clearly define the role of council in governance and oversight, and the role of staff in the operationalization, so that we're able to work together to move forward.

00:39:14 Speaker 11: Sometimes we are accountable, no doubt, but to be able to move a visioning activity forward, it's really, really critical.

00:39:24 Speaker 11: We all understand our roles and that we are able to support each other in moving this forward.

00:39:31 Speaker 11: So whether it's within this council or the next council, I'd like to put that suggestion forward that we have a training exercise so that we can assess this visioning.

00:39:43 Speaker 11: Councillor Farmer, you had your hand up.

00:39:46 Speaker 02: Thank you, through the mayor.

00:39:48 Speaker 02: I'd like to move a series of other amendments.

00:39:52 Speaker 02: For specifically, the first being that we add under the city that builds metrics reference to the census around housing affordability, suitability, adequacy, and percentage of people spending more than thirty percent of their housing.

00:40:11 Speaker 02: You know and sound.

00:40:15 Speaker 02: That was it.

00:40:16 Speaker 02: Yep.

00:40:19 Speaker 02: Through the mayor.

00:40:19 Speaker 02: Sorry, I have four.

00:40:20 Speaker 02: I think one at a time makes more sense than throwing four out all at once.

00:40:24 Speaker 02: Good.

00:40:24 Speaker 02: No, you've got one motion there.

00:40:26 Speaker 02: Any discussion?

00:40:30 Speaker 02: Call the question.

00:40:31 Speaker 02: All in favour?

00:40:33 Speaker 02: One, two.

00:40:34 Speaker 02: Opposed?

00:40:36 Speaker 02: So that's defeated.

00:40:37 Speaker 02: Go ahead.

00:40:38 Speaker 02: Two to four.

00:40:39 Speaker 02: Under the city that moves, I move that we amend the metrics to include bike score, which is already available on the website that generates the walk score that we're referencing, as well as annual.

00:40:50 Speaker 02: All those annual transit ridership numbers, with the justification that if we're just measuring satisfaction with that infrastructure, and a subsequent council gets rid of transit,

00:41:03 Speaker 02: then we can't measure satisfaction with something that we don't have, and it also removes something that's an important part of a multimodal transportation network.

00:41:13 Speaker 03: I haven't gone through the two thousand and fourteen election.

00:41:15 Speaker 03: I would challenge any councillor to remove transit, but anyway, okay, motion's on the floor.

00:41:21 Speaker 03: Discussion.

00:41:21 Speaker 03: Go ahead.

00:41:23 Speaker 06: Again, there's components in that amendment which will be responded to when the city undertakes something like the master transportation plan.

00:41:32 Speaker 06: Census information, usage, a whole plethora of information is always wrapped up in the executive summary of such a document,

00:41:40 Speaker 06: and then there's appendices at the back that delve deep into all the actual numbers and the nitty-gritty.

00:41:47 Speaker 06: So I wouldn't be in support of that.

00:41:50 Speaker 06: Anyone else?

00:41:51 Speaker 06: Seeing no hands go up.

00:41:55 Speaker 02: Through the mayor, if if we're relying on every future activity to tell us whether we're getting there, then I don't know why we have metrics at all.

00:42:02 Speaker 02: And if the data is already there and it's reliable, I don't know why we would not use it.

00:42:09 Speaker 02: Any other comments?

00:42:11 Speaker 02: Call the question.

00:42:12 Speaker 02: All in favour?

00:42:15 Speaker 03: Two opposed.

00:42:17 Speaker 03: Everyone else.

00:42:17 Speaker 03: That's defeated.

00:42:20 Speaker 02: Similarly, I move that we amend the report recommendations to include under the Prosperous City Census information on income brackets and employment-related income.

00:42:32 Speaker 02: Any further discussion?

00:42:35 Speaker 03: Seeing no hands go up, I'll call the question.

00:42:36 Speaker 03: All in favour?

00:42:38 Speaker 03: One, two.

00:42:39 Speaker 03: Opposed?

00:42:41 Speaker 03: Everybody else that's defeated.

00:42:43 Speaker 03: And you've got a fourth one.

00:42:45 Speaker 02: Number four.

00:42:47 Speaker 02: I propose that we amend the report to include the metric under Safe City of the Crime Severity Index.

00:42:55 Speaker 02: Any further comments?

00:42:58 Speaker 02: Seeing none.

00:42:58 Speaker 02: Yep.

00:43:01 Speaker 13: I think that report is always available.

00:43:03 Speaker 13: Those stats are available in the Owen Sound Police Services Board, and they've recently updated their stats, and they're working on that.

00:43:12 Speaker 13: We do have right from the number of homicides, deaths, collisions, crime severity index—it's—it's an ongoing process.

00:43:20 Speaker 13: It's already available.

00:43:26 Speaker 13: Go ahead.

00:43:30 Speaker 07: Oh, one last time, through the mayor, all of the information that we're talking about is going to be available.

00:43:38 Speaker 07: It's whether or not this document points to it to say this is one of the ways that we're assessing whether or not we're being successful, and if the subjective safety of people in our community,

00:43:48 Speaker 07: as we've seen in North America over the last thirty years, crime rates have gone down, but the sense of security has not necessarily fallen.

00:43:56 Speaker 07: And those are two separate things.

00:43:57 Speaker 07: The crime severity index tells us what's actually happening.

00:44:01 Speaker 07: The citizen satisfaction survey lets us know how people feel, and I think those two things should inform each other.

00:44:08 Speaker 03: Okay, I'm going to call the question on favour.

00:44:11 Speaker 03: One opposed.

00:44:13 Speaker 03: Everyone else, that's defeated.

00:44:14 Speaker 03: Any others?

00:44:17 Speaker 03: Thank you.

00:44:20 Speaker 03: I'm back to the main motion.

00:44:21 Speaker 03: Okay, which was to adopt the minutes and approve the recommendation therein.

00:44:29 Speaker 03: Calling the question.

00:44:30 Speaker 03: All in favour?

00:44:32 Speaker 03: And that is carried.

00:44:34 Speaker 03: This has been a process getting here.

00:44:37 Speaker 03: I want to thank J. Pitter Placemakers who really helped us get here, Michelle Palmer and staff, committee members, and I just closed it.

00:44:47 Speaker 03: Councillor McFarland, Trish Meekins, Jen Smith, and Steve Low—that were public members.

00:44:54 Speaker 03: The different councillors that sat on it, and all the citizens that came out, participated online, answering surveys, attending the different sessions that were held, and and participated and gave their input.

00:45:08 Speaker 03: And participate and gather input.

00:45:10 Speaker 03: It's good to get this far, and I think it's going to be good for future councillors to be able to work through these.

00:45:17 Speaker 03: So, thanks to everybody.

00:45:18 Speaker 03: So, with that, that gets us through seven and whatever it was, twelve C's.

00:45:28 Speaker 03: We're leaving that and then coming back to number eight on our agenda, which is public forum.

00:45:34 Speaker 03: There's anyone that wishes to speak.

00:45:37 Speaker 03: We'll get you to state your name, what community you live in—not your address—and and state what you want to state.

00:45:46 Speaker 14: Hello, my name is Eloise Mosier, and I'm a resident of Owen Sound.

00:45:50 Speaker 14: My grandma, Pat Kelly, asked me to thank you for loving this city, and I trust your judgment to do what's right tonight.

00:45:57 Speaker 14: Let's move from talk to delivery.

00:46:08 Speaker 14: Okay.

00:46:08 Speaker 14: Anyone else wish to speak?

00:46:13 Speaker 01: It's public forums.

00:46:15 Speaker 01: Or anyone else wish to?

00:46:18 Speaker 01: No. Ken Jones does.

00:46:21 Speaker 01: Go ahead.

00:46:28 Speaker 01: Good evening.

00:46:28 Speaker 01: My name is Ken Jones.

00:46:29 Speaker 15: I live on Sixth Avenue East here in Sound.

00:46:34 Speaker 15: I previously stood at this podium to discuss the high taxes in North Sound.

00:46:39 Speaker 15: That appearance was quite the negative experience.

00:46:43 Speaker 15: I was interrupted several times during my presentation, starting at the two-minute mark.

00:46:50 Speaker 15: The interruptions consumed nearly one half of the five minutes of time allowed.

00:46:55 Speaker 15: The actions of the chair were such that a number of local residents contacted me and expressed their serious concerns.

00:47:01 Speaker 15: Expressed serious concerns about what had taken place.

00:47:06 Speaker 15: One resident even took upon themselves to file a formal written complaint.

00:47:14 Speaker 15: During that meeting, our mayor made a presentation that was scheduled for 10 minutes.

00:47:23 Speaker 15: The presentation took 30 minutes.

00:47:29 Speaker 15: That clearly shows that the chair of meetings can be lenient when it is convenient.

00:47:36 Speaker 15: If you review city council, committee meetings, and council meetings, there are many examples where the time limits have been extended.

00:47:49 Speaker 15: Let me put all that aside.

00:47:51 Speaker 15: I am hopeful that today's interaction will be more respectful.

00:47:56 Speaker 15: I trust our mayor will exercise some leniency if I go over the time limit today.

00:48:09 Speaker 15: The concerns regarding the lack of professional dealings with C representatives is not unique to me.

00:48:18 Speaker 15: The lack of communications, and the lack of accountability, the lack of transparency, and the resistance to accept public input that has been discussed on the streets alone.

00:48:30 Speaker 15: It has been mentioned in radio talk shows, has been reported in local press, and lately discovered in the Vision Two Zero Five Zero report.

00:48:42 Speaker 15: I encourage everyone to read the material in the Owen Sound Currents, which includes information obtained through a Freedom of Information process.

00:48:54 Speaker 15: The in-depth reporting is very revealing.

00:49:03 Speaker 15: I had planned to discuss a number of topics today, but I'm going to lower that to maybe one or two.

00:49:12 Speaker 15: They are involving millions, well, hundreds of thousands, and in some cases, millions of dollars of taxpayers' money being spent.

00:49:24 Speaker 15: They involve the fire services provided by the Owen Sound Fire Departments, but I want to make it abundantly clear.

00:49:36 Speaker 15: I want to make it abundantly clear, my comments in no way reflect the dedication, and the efforts of the rank and file members of the Owen Sound Fire Departments,

00:49:47 Speaker 15: but they do reflect the actions and non-actions of elected officials and some senior staff members.

00:49:58 Speaker 15: I will base my comments on my proud membership in the fire service for nearly four decades, with much of that time as an advisor.

00:50:09 Speaker 15: Sorry, sorry, point of order.

00:50:11 Speaker 15: Go ahead.

00:50:12 Speaker 12: Thank you, Worship.

00:50:13 Speaker 12: Again, I appreciate what we're doing here.

00:50:16 Speaker 12: You asked for leniency.

00:50:18 Speaker 12: We've already gone through three minutes, and you haven't got to a point of where you want to bring up yet, so I know you said you had multiple things to talk about.

00:50:26 Speaker 12: So I think sure.

00:50:28 Speaker 12: So I think those two should be the most important things you want to get addressed to council, right?

00:50:32 Speaker 12: Right.

00:50:33 Speaker 12: So you never had ten minutes.

00:50:41 Speaker 12: Ten minutes was for a deputation.

00:50:43 Speaker 12: Just to be clear.

00:50:43 Speaker 12: Okay.

00:50:47 Speaker 12: So I. Thanks, Ken.

00:50:50 Speaker 12: So I will.

00:50:51 Speaker 12: I moved a point of order.

00:50:53 Speaker 12: So we have a three-minute allotment, which we have gone through.

00:50:57 Speaker 12: And all I'm saying, as to you, is if you want council to hear what you have to say, I'd probably highlight on those points.

00:51:09 Speaker 03: So, given that point of order, given that council approved a bylaw to allow people to speak in the public meeting for three minutes.

00:51:21 Speaker 03: You're over that three minutes.

00:51:23 Speaker 03: I'm going to start the timer now.

00:51:24 Speaker 03: I'm going to give you two more because you're already no sorry Ken.

00:51:28 Speaker 03: I'm ten Ken.

00:51:30 Speaker 03: I'm chairing this meeting.

00:51:31 Speaker 03: Thank you.

00:51:33 Speaker 03: Okay, I'm going to give you two more minutes to make your points.

00:51:38 Speaker 03: You've already been one full minute over your three minutes.

00:51:40 Speaker 03: So those are bylaws set by council.

00:51:43 Speaker 03: Go ahead.

00:51:55 Speaker 03: I couldn't get over the interruption.

00:51:57 Speaker 03: Sorry.

00:51:59 Speaker 15: I have to tell you before I make my one point that I've corresponded with the mayor, the city manager, and the fire chief.

00:52:11 Speaker 15: I have the letter in front of me.

00:52:13 Speaker 15: I've asked them to respond by a certain date.

00:52:15 Speaker 15: They never responded to any of my concerns.

00:52:19 Speaker 15: I even sent them an email, which said, "You have a concern with public inputs.

00:52:26 Speaker 15: Yes or no?

00:52:27 Speaker 15: Are you going to respond to my letter?"

00:52:30 Speaker 15: Nobody sent a reply.

00:52:33 Speaker 15: Okay, and I'll gladly give those correspondence out to anybody.

00:52:39 Speaker 15: Okay, I'm going to go to one matter: the purchase.

00:52:41 Speaker 15: As the purchase of a backup aerial, the support of material tax taxpayers should be reminded that the city spent two million dollars on a new aerial just a few years ago.

00:52:57 Speaker 15: The city, for some reason, purchased a second aerial as a backup eighteen months ago by the way of an auction in the United States of America.

00:53:06 Speaker 15: Other municipal fire departments, who are larger and busier than Owen Sound, such as Collingwood, Orangeville, and Arvilla, do not have backup aerials.

00:53:14 Speaker 15: The justification for the new or the backup aerial was insurance rates and evolving wear and tear on apparatus.

00:53:25 Speaker 15: I'll cut that short.

00:53:28 Speaker 15: The departments, those departments who do not have a backup aerial, have rescue units in the service.

00:53:34 Speaker 15: Owen Sound does not have a rescue unit, but the fire chief has indicated that funds will be required for a purchase of such a unit in the near future.

00:53:46 Speaker 15: We're in the 2025, 2026 model year of vehicles.

00:53:51 Speaker 15: The unit purchased was a 2007 model unit.

00:53:56 Speaker 15: Yes, an 18-year-old model fire truck, and remarkably, remarkably, the city purchased the unit without knowing even the final cost.

00:54:08 Speaker 15: That kind of a purchase without a final cost being known, it is now on record that in addition to the original price, the successful bid on the auction,

00:54:21 Speaker 15: additional costs will include total factory refurbishment in the United States of America, Canadian adaptation, import/export broker fees, sales taxes applicable in Ohio and in Ontario,

00:54:36 Speaker 15: with additional expenses for two members of Owen Sound staff to travel to Ohio to negotiate a refurbish agreement.

00:54:47 Speaker 15: So the question: Has the purchase of 2007 backup aerial been finalized?

00:54:53 Speaker 15: Question: There was a maximum expenditure listed at four hundred thousand dollars.

00:55:02 Speaker 15: So what is the final cost to taxpayers?

00:55:06 Speaker 15: And what happens if the total cost has been maximized?

00:55:10 Speaker 15: I was told by a council member that if that happens, the city would simply sell it to someone else.

00:55:17 Speaker 15: I think that would be a problem.

00:55:18 Speaker 15: So, can Miss, Miss, Miss, Mr. Jones?

00:55:24 Speaker 03: No, I gave you an extra three minutes, so you've now had six or seven minutes out of the three that you're supposed to get.

00:55:29 Speaker 03: Thank you very much, Councillor Farmer.

00:55:35 Speaker 02: Through the mayor.

00:55:36 Speaker 02: I just wonder if, for clarity and for fairness for folks, I get the sense that the bylaw new change of bylaw for speaking allotment time was news to Mr. Jones,

00:55:46 Speaker 02: and that the clock might not have been as obvious as a timer.

00:55:52 Speaker 02: Could we adjust the preamble going forward, just to avoid frustration in the future?

00:55:58 Speaker 02: Good.

00:55:59 Speaker 02: Thank you.

00:56:06 Speaker 03: This question was: Have we finished the purchase of the most recent fire truck, and do we know what the price is?

00:56:14 Speaker 08: We probably don't know that, but if there's anything through you, Mayor to Council, it's my understanding that the refurbished truck should be ready for pickup in approximately a week and a half.

00:56:25 Speaker 08: So, no, we do not have the final purchase price.

00:56:28 Speaker 08: But as you recall, when this went through committee and council, both approved the purchase through the auction site.

00:56:35 Speaker 08: There was an upset limit, as Mr. Jones had said, of four hundred thousand dollars.

00:56:40 Speaker 08: And thank you.

00:56:43 Speaker 08: Thank you very much for that information.

00:56:46 Speaker 08: So the truck was originally set to be delivered by December of last year.

00:56:52 Speaker 01: So, Mr. Jones, thank you very much.

00:56:55 Speaker 01: We're moving ahead with the meeting.

00:56:58 Speaker 01: At number nine, we have no correspondence items.

00:57:01 Speaker 01: At number ten, we have reports from city staff, starting at 10 a with report from the city manager with regard to fostering a vibrant river district.

00:57:11 Speaker 01: Report number two.

00:57:20 Speaker 08: Thank you, Mayor, members of council.

00:57:21 Speaker 08: Good evening, tonight I'm pleased to present the second in a series of reports focused on fostering a vibrant river district here in Owen Sound.

00:57:28 Speaker 08: Huron-Ontario Sound, and as many of you know, this is a priority area for our city, economically, culturally, and socially.

00:57:36 Speaker 08: The river district is the heart of our community, and revitalizing it is essential for our long-term prosperity.

00:57:42 Speaker 08: I want to begin by referencing the previous update report, which followed the July 28th community stakeholder discussion.

00:57:50 Speaker 08: At that meeting, it brought together a diverse group of over 100 stakeholders: business owners, social service agencies, residents, and elected officials.

00:58:00 Speaker 08: The session generated more than 60 ideas, and perhaps most importantly, fostered a new spirit of collabouration and open dialogueueue amongst all involved.

00:58:09 Speaker 08: And from that meeting, several key themes emerged.

00:58:12 Speaker 08: The first being there's a strong desire for improved communication and coordination between stakeholders.

00:58:18 Speaker 08: There's an expectation for concrete, visible actions, things like public washrooms, beautification, and safety enhancements.

00:58:24 Speaker 08: And there's a recognition that revitalizing the river district will require sustained leadership and commitment, not only from the stakeholders but from the city.

00:58:33 Speaker 08: I do want to acknowledge something that I know many are looking for with this report, and that's a list of concrete actions.

00:58:39 Speaker 08: While this report does not yet provide that detailed action plan, it is an important step in putting the right process and management practices in place.

00:58:49 Speaker 08: We're really building the foundation for meaningful change, and that starts with coordinated leadership, clear roles, and a commitment to accountability.

00:58:57 Speaker 08: Some of the key steps outlined in this report include the appointment of a dedicated river district project lead who will serve as a single point of contact and oversee projects, partnerships,

00:59:06 Speaker 08: and initiatives in the district.

00:59:08 Speaker 08: The development of a comprehensive river district revitalization plan that will have short, medium, and long-term strategies to enhance our public spaces, infrastructure, and programmememing.

00:59:19 Speaker 08: The establishment of service level standards and updates to bylaw enforcement to ensure consistent law enforcement to ensure consistent maintenance, safety, and public amenities, and continued collabouration with our police services and social service agencies,

00:59:31 Speaker 08: including the launch of a social navigator programmememe to support vulnerable populations and enhance perceptions of safety.

00:59:39 Speaker 08: I'd also like to thank the council, the county, sorry county, for providing the funding through a federal grant for the social navigator programmememe that should launch in about two weeks' time.

00:59:51 Speaker 08: It's important to note that this is report two, as noted in the title, and that signals to you and those in the public that these updates will be coming more often and with greater consistency.

01:00:02 Speaker 08: We are committed as staff to keep council and the public informed as we move forward.

01:00:07 Speaker 08: Looking ahead, the next report is scheduled for October 27th and will focus specifically on options for public washrooms in the River District, including associated capital and the associated operating costs.

01:00:19 Speaker 08: As of this afternoon, we have just finished putting together a survey that we'll be launching on our city engagement platform.

01:00:26 Speaker 08: The survey is intended to bring a greater amount of engagement regarding public washrooms and hopefully provide some input on what problem we are trying to solve as we explore a host of different options.

01:00:37 Speaker 08: I encourage everyone, business owners, residents, and visitors, to take a few minutes to share your thoughts.

01:00:42 Speaker 08: Your feedback will be invaluable as we shape the next steps, and that's going to be available on our city platform beginning tomorrow.

01:00:49 Speaker 08: As we consider the financial recommendation in this report, I want to highlight that the proposed addition of fifty thousand dollars to the capital budget is specifically intended to take advantage of a provincial grant opportunity,

01:01:01 Speaker 08: the Rural Ontario Development Programmememe, that will provide fifty cent dollars.

01:01:05 Speaker 08: So, for every dollar we put in, we'll get matching dollars.

01:01:07 Speaker 08: And that grant opportunity closed a week ago.

01:01:11 Speaker 08: These funds are needed to hire outside assistance to help us assess the deficiency list, as mentioned in the report, and create a detailed pricing menu for the work that needs to be done.

01:01:21 Speaker 08: While we do have the expertise in-house, we simply do not have the capacity to advance this work as quickly as we would like.

01:01:27 Speaker 08: By bringing in external support, our goal is to return to council with a clear menu of pricing and options.

01:01:33 Speaker 08: And if all goes well, potentially create a work surge in 2026 to undertake as much of the revitalization as possible with our infrastructure, rather than spreading it out over numerous years.

01:01:44 Speaker 08: In closing, I just want to emphasize that revitalizing the river district is a journey.

01:01:48 Speaker 08: It's not the single event.

01:01:50 Speaker 08: By putting the right processes and management practices in place now, we're setting ourselves up for greater success.

01:01:55 Speaker 08: Ensuring that the future actions are coordinated, sustainable, accountable, and responsive to the needs of the community.

01:02:02 Speaker 08: I'd also like to note that with this project lead creation, we will be speaking with the chair and the river district board on this project lead going forward as it deals with that individual.

01:02:14 Speaker 08: Therefore, the staff recommendation before council is as follows: that, in consideration of staff report CM 25-032 respecting fostering a vibrant river district report two,

01:02:25 Speaker 08: city council directs staff to include fifty thousand in the December capital update to the 2026 capital plan to support the preparation of a river district revitalization plan, outlining short, medium,

01:02:37 Speaker 08: and long term actions to revitalize the streetscape elements and upgrade infrastructure of the river district.

01:02:43 Speaker 08: With that, I'm open for any questions.

01:02:46 Speaker 08: Council questions?

01:02:50 Speaker 16: Yeah, I just first I'll maybe ask just kind of what sort of timeline because I noted in the report there's not really a timeline associated with it.

01:03:00 Speaker 16: So I was kind of just wondering what your vision for that is.

01:03:07 Speaker 08: Timeline for well, I guess there's a couple different timelines we could look at through you, Mayor, to Councillor Hamley, the consistency of the report.

01:03:16 Speaker 08: So again, as I mentioned, we have the report on public washrooms coming October 27th.

01:03:20 Speaker 08: We hope to tie in updates regarding operating and capital budgets in November and December,

01:03:25 Speaker 08: and then the project plan attached to this report has high-level timelines also associated with reporting back on specific actions related to the revitalization.

01:03:36 Speaker 08: So Q1 of 2026 and Q2 of 2026 next year.

01:03:38 Speaker 08: Two of 2026 next year have a lot of items coming back to council for consideration.

01:03:44 Speaker 08: We're trying to condense and move the work with a sense of urgency as quickly as we can.

01:03:49 Speaker 08: So I'd say a majority of the reporting structure will be back before in the next three to four months.

01:03:57 Speaker 16: Yeah, I'll move the recommendation, Your Worship.

01:04:00 Speaker 16: But first, I kind of wanted to talk about you know the fundamentals of the Downtown River Precinct.

01:04:05 Speaker 16: You know, last time I checked, vacancies were nine percent, which is the lowest it's been in a very very long time.

01:04:14 Speaker 16: Daily pedestrian counts were up.

01:04:16 Speaker 16: Social media and website traffic both up.

01:04:19 Speaker 16: The underlying indicators are positive, but it's clear we have a real perception problem, and you know perception is reality, and we need to fix that.

01:04:31 Speaker 16: You know I'm really thrilled with the plan of attack here to change that perception.

01:04:36 Speaker 16: The potential for updates in infrastructure not touched since 2000 is a pretty big deal.

01:04:43 Speaker 16: But the thing for me, in particular, that I think really stands out is reevaluating the frequency and service level of waste removal and street and sidewalk cleaning.

01:04:54 Speaker 16: That could be a huge, huge improvement, especially this time of year when our summer students are gone and we're caught between summer and winter.

01:05:02 Speaker 16: So that's a big key point for me, and I'm really looking forward to getting this started.

01:05:10 Speaker 16: Thank you, Councillor Koepke.

01:05:13 Speaker 17: Thank you, Your Worship.

01:05:14 Speaker 17: Through you to the City Manager, did you identify that these would be coming from a grant opportunity, a government grant?

01:05:26 Speaker 08: I'm sorry, Councillor Koepke.

01:05:27 Speaker 08: If you could ask the question one more time, I didn't follow.

01:05:31 Speaker 17: Did you identify when you were speaking that the funds are part of a grant opportunity?

01:05:38 Speaker 08: In my verbal comments, yes, the Regional Ontario Development Grant.

01:05:43 Speaker 17: Okay, then I wonder, does that not affect Councillor Hamley if it's a government grant?

01:05:52 Speaker 08: No. Through the Mayor, we've submitted for the grant.

01:06:00 Speaker 08: We have not heard back if the grant application has been successful.

01:06:05 Speaker 08: It is $500.

01:06:06 Speaker 08: It will affect some of the timing,

01:06:08 Speaker 08: but should hopefully affect the work associated with whatever external help we need to have come in and help menu price and put together our infrastructure costing for Council's consideration.

01:06:21 Speaker 17: I guess I just am confused at times when you do disclose an interest and others you don't when it's a government grant.

01:06:28 Speaker 17: That's just my curiosity.

01:06:30 Speaker 17: That's not really a topic for the Council table to start off with.

01:06:34 Speaker 01: It's up to each individual member to recognize their own issues and consult with the Integrity Commissioner.

01:06:42 Speaker 01: If we were signing a contract with the province, that might be different.

01:06:46 Speaker 01: But moving this, we're way out, John.

01:06:52 Speaker 02: If I could return to the report at hand, I think we suffer from a brand confusion problem around the River District as a like Business Improvement Area, and River District as neighbourhood,

01:07:03 Speaker 02: and people aren't always clear on where those lines are, or what that is, and it's unclear to me whether the expansion of responsibilities for the staff member as a single point of contact for businesses,

01:07:14 Speaker 02: organisations, and landlords, as the River District's coordinator role has historically been, in the structure of a BIA,

01:07:21 Speaker 02: or if the intention of this expansion is for River District advocacy and outreach and point of contact work, more in contact work more inclusive of River District residents as well,

01:07:32 Speaker 02: and I'm hoping staff could clarify that for me.

01:07:38 Speaker 08: Through the Mayor to Councillor Farmer, our interpretation of the River District is it's a neighbourhood, and that includes the people that live there and the businesses.

01:07:45 Speaker 08: Without the businesses, you don't have much of a neighbourhood.

01:07:48 Speaker 08: Without a vitally economic, sustainable main street, we don't have a neighbourhood.

01:07:54 Speaker 08: So, the expansion of this role is from an internal perspective from a project lead.

01:08:01 Speaker 08: So, if there were questions coming in from whether it's a business or a resident,

01:08:05 Speaker 08: we have now one point of contact within the City who will be looking at that and then addressing that to the appropriate group within the City.

01:08:12 Speaker 08: It may not be that individual's proactive, like single point of response, and have to respond to everything, but they'll make sure that that response gets handled in the appropriate way by the appropriate group.

01:08:27 Speaker 08: Go ahead.

01:08:28 Speaker 07: Thank you, through the Mayor and the City Manager may have addressed this in the comment that there are other reports coming with more detail.

01:08:35 Speaker 07: But as we talk about building those relationships more generally, the Facilitators' report also recommended more frequent meetings and kind of more flexible conversations.

01:08:46 Speaker 07: In that, is that being considered yet, or is that a subsequent report?

01:08:55 Speaker 08: Through the Mayor to Councillor Farmer, it is being considered.

01:08:58 Speaker 08: I think staff moving forward with a survey on public washrooms is just one indication of we want to seek more engagement, more input.

01:09:07 Speaker 08: The July 28th report from our facilitator, we did note in the staff report that we will use that as a foundational document moving forward.

01:09:14 Speaker 08: So when there's opportunities to look at engagement and conversation, we will build that into the plans.

01:09:20 Speaker 08: But it's not, we don't have a specific element today.

01:09:24 Speaker 07: Quickly, through the Mayor, I at least,

01:09:27 Speaker 07: and I think some other folks have maybe gotten emails from members of the community wondering if there's a way for us to create a disincentive for landlords to leave commercial space vacant on the main

01:09:37 Speaker 07: street.

01:09:37 Speaker 07: I know a number of municipal councillors across Ontario have been advocating for the province to extend powers for like empty storefront taxes, and I'm wondering if that's being included in consideration so far,

01:09:51 Speaker 07: or if that would be a subsequent suggestion?

01:09:56 Speaker 08: Staff will look at.

01:09:57 Speaker 08: Sorry, through you, Mayor to Councillor Farmer.

01:09:59 Speaker 08: Staff have heard that, and we'll be looking at that in future reports.

01:10:08 Speaker 08: Go ahead, through you, Mayor.

01:10:13 Speaker 11: Great step forward, desperately needed, and I'm sure it just can't happen fast enough.

01:10:20 Speaker 11: There are a couple of questions regarding incorporation of other groups.

01:10:27 Speaker 11: So Public Health.

01:10:29 Speaker 11: I'm not sure that I've seen them listed, but I'm wondering if there's been consideration for Public Health, even for consult role.

01:10:38 Speaker 11: I may have missed that.

01:10:40 Speaker 11: And second of all, you have referenced the role of other social services.

01:10:46 Speaker 11: We now have a variety of services that are offering a concept or a framework around navigation, connection,

01:10:54 Speaker 11: and I'm wondering if there's an opportunity in this project to bring together the individuals who are offering those navigation roles or coming forward, so there's a clear understanding,

01:11:08 Speaker 11: and we're maximizing the dollars put into that role, and making sure there's no wrong door for people.

01:11:16 Speaker 11: So just a question about Public Health and then a suggestion around the navigator coordinating for more cohesion amongst the group that are providing that kind of service.

01:11:31 Speaker 08: Through Mayor to Councillor Merton, no, thank you for noting the Public Health.

01:11:35 Speaker 08: You know, we generally put social services and those groups together as stakeholders, and that's a broad term that can include many different folks.

01:11:43 Speaker 08: So Public Health is part of that stakeholders group.

01:11:46 Speaker 08: As far as social services, navigator programmememes, we'll take that under advisement, and as we move forward with projects, we'll take a look at that.

01:11:56 Speaker 08: Councillor Middlebro'.

01:11:58 Speaker 18: Thank you, through your Worship.

01:12:00 Speaker 18: Just as part of this, I'm fully in favour of the recommendation.

01:12:04 Speaker 18: As the council member on the MAT committee, just reminding staff to kind of keep that in mind as well.

01:12:12 Speaker 18: That there's a big pot of money sitting with the entity that we've been collecting and haven't had the chance to spend yet because we've been getting things up and running: the website,

01:12:24 Speaker 18: the applications—but there's nothing stopping the City from applying through the same process.

01:12:31 Speaker 18: There is the money there that's to do with tourism-related initiatives.

01:12:35 Speaker 18: We've already partnered with the City on the Nature Gateway campaign so that was a huge success.

01:12:41 Speaker 18: So please keep that in mind when you're going through those processes.

01:12:46 Speaker 18: Thank you.

01:12:47 Speaker 18: Go ahead.

01:12:50 Speaker 06: I guess I do have one question for staff.

01:12:52 Speaker 06: You want the inclusion of fifty thousand dollars in the December update, and you talked about fifty-cent dollars.

01:12:56 Speaker 06: So is the capital budget increase going to be a hundred thousand dollars, realizing or recognizing that fifty percent of that will be a grant, or is it fifty thousand dollars increase,

01:13:08 Speaker 06: and twenty-five thousand dollars will be the real increase?

01:13:11 Speaker 06: This first, I'll leave that for an answer before I make some comments.

01:13:19 Speaker 08: Through the Mayor to Deputy Mayor Greig: Yeah.

01:13:22 Speaker 08: So the grant itself is requested in the amount of just shy of a hundred thousand dollars.

01:13:28 Speaker 08: So we're seeking the fifty thousand dollar input from the City.

01:13:33 Speaker 08: Okay, thank you.

01:13:34 Speaker 08: I'm just...

01:13:36 Speaker 19: I am hesitant to think that just by doing more of this work, we're going to improve it.

01:13:45 Speaker 19: We, in the last few years, have spent four point five million dollars, approximately, on beautifying downtown through two avenues, and we're back here tonight with this report in front of us.

01:13:58 Speaker 19: And I will be the first to admit, there's tree pods, for instance, from just a straight accessibility perspective, that have got to be replaced in this City to make it more walkable and the streetscape.

01:14:11 Speaker 19: Their age... their liabilities.

01:14:13 Speaker 19: They're not safe for people.

01:14:17 Speaker 19: Through communications with many people through the Town, or through my workplace day to day, people make comments: "Our downtown is really nice, comparative to a lot of places."

01:14:33 Speaker 19: Like, these are comments I frequently hear in my store.

01:14:36 Speaker 19: And we do talk about perception, and we're victims of crime by three individuals that are non-resident, perhaps.

01:14:44 Speaker 19: But of course, this all mounts upon itself.

01:14:49 Speaker 19: We are here tonight, resultant of a motion like this meeting was conducted, resulting from a motion from the Police Services Board,

01:14:58 Speaker 19: and there are certain behaviours which have been identified as being a reason people are not coming downtown.

01:15:11 Speaker 19: Beautifying is something that we have been doing and spending a lot of money on for several years.

01:15:18 Speaker 19: There's a lot of money that needs to be done.

01:15:20 Speaker 19: I'm in support of fifty thousand dollars.

01:15:22 Speaker 19: That's great news.

01:15:23 Speaker 19: I guess what I'm also wanting to advocate for from myself when we get to the December update, I'm going to be looking for cost savings somewhere else in the City.

01:15:32 Speaker 19: Savings somewhere else in the capital plan to offset that because for me it's a matter of priorities.

01:15:37 Speaker 19: So if we want to reprioritize, and it sounds like we all want to reprioritize beautifying downtown even more tonight, to the tune of a hundred thousand dollars, that's great.

01:15:48 Speaker 19: But when we get to December, I'm going to be looking for fifty thousand dollars somewhere that we can carve out because year after year we go through budgets,

01:15:54 Speaker 19: and whether it's ballards at the back of Harrison Park that were once upon a time in a capital budget, and the same ballers are still there today, or waste receptacles, or lighting,

01:16:06 Speaker 19: etc. I wonder what our capacity is internally to get it done.

01:16:12 Speaker 19: And I always wonder if we're not getting every job done, then we're putting too much in the capital plan.

01:16:18 Speaker 19: And it's an item like this tonight that, when we get to December, I hope that Council agrees:

01:16:24 Speaker 19: let's roll up the sleeves and look for fifty thousand dollars to come back out because it's not spending more money downtown.

01:16:30 Speaker 19: That's the problem.

01:16:30 Speaker 19: We've spent four point five million dollars, and if you go to a retirement home in East Hill and ask people why they're not coming downtown,

01:16:39 Speaker 19: I hesitate to think that this is identifying the exact reason why they're going to tell you is why they're not coming downtown.

01:16:53 Speaker 19: Councillor Hamley's hand has gone up.

01:16:55 Speaker 19: Go ahead.

01:16:59 Speaker 19: I don't disagree with you.

01:17:01 Speaker 19: I think that's completely fair.

01:17:02 Speaker 16: But I think what this is for me is saying it's accepting the way that we're operating right now.

01:17:07 Speaker 16: Maybe isn't the optimal way to operate, and we're going to figure out what the optimal operation is for our downtown river precinct, and we're going to go out and we're going to do it.

01:17:16 Speaker 16: So that's what I think it is.

01:17:19 Speaker 03: Okay.

01:17:19 Speaker 03: So I think we probably beat that one to death enough.

01:17:21 Speaker 03: We've...

01:17:22 Speaker 03: Oh, sorry, Sydney.

01:17:23 Speaker 03: My fault.

01:17:25 Speaker 13: Not to you.

01:17:25 Speaker 13: Through you, through you, Mayor.

01:17:28 Speaker 13: Just a quick question to the City Manager.

01:17:31 Speaker 13: You mentioned in the report that there is a River District project team.

01:17:36 Speaker 13: So, who would be a part of that River District project team?

01:17:43 Speaker 08: Through the Mayor to Councillor Kukreja: It's a great question.

01:17:48 Speaker 08: And attached to the report is a project charter.

01:17:51 Speaker 08: And in the project charter, we do highlight the project team members.

01:17:56 Speaker 13: Okay, it did mention the Police Services there, so that's why I was asking that.

01:18:01 Speaker 13: And my other question is, I do remember that we were in Phase Two of implementing cameras downtown.

01:18:08 Speaker 13: Do you have an update on where that is?

01:18:11 Speaker 08: Thank you, Mayor, Councillor Kukreja.

01:18:14 Speaker 08: Again, the cameras have been arrived, and they have an installation date in the next six weeks or so.

01:18:22 Speaker 08: Sorry, the Clerk has just updated me: October thirteenth.

01:18:25 Speaker 08: So, in the next week, the second phase of the cameras will be installed.

01:18:32 Speaker 08: Hope that's not a Friday.

01:18:36 Speaker 03: Good.

01:18:36 Speaker 03: Okay.

01:18:37 Speaker 03: Sorry, Sunitha, I forgot to come back to you.

01:18:39 Speaker 03: Okay, now can I call the question?

01:18:40 Speaker 03: All in favour?

01:18:42 Speaker 03: That's carried unanimously.

01:18:45 Speaker 03: So, what's next?

01:18:46 Speaker 03: Director of Community Services, Court Security Agreement with Grey County.

01:18:53 Speaker 20: Thank you, Worship.

01:18:55 Speaker 20: Under the Community Safety and Policing Act, police services are responsible for courthouse security.

01:19:00 Speaker 20: The Owen Sound Courthouse serves a broader region, and the City of Owen Sound has been faced with a funding shortfall related to the responsibilities under the legislation.

01:19:12 Speaker 20: In 2012, there was the Provincial Municipal Fiscal Service Delivery Review that uploaded a certain amount of those costs to the Province, but there remained a deficit.

01:19:23 Speaker 20: In April of 2024, the Service Review Implementation Ad Hoc Committee recommended, among other actions, that the City approach Grey County regarding this funding shortfall.

01:19:35 Speaker 20: Grey County Council approved moving forward to develop an agreement to cover the City's court security funding gap starting in 2025.

01:19:42 Speaker 20: The City's Director of Corporate Services worked with Grey County Finance staff to negotiate the agreement.

01:19:50 Speaker 20: The agreement is for an indefinite term.

01:19:53 Speaker 20: It has a 45-day cancellation period.

01:19:56 Speaker 20: It has financial reporting that aligns with the provincial reporting around court security costs,

01:20:03 Speaker 20: and each year it sees the County paying the difference between what the City is able to recover through the provincial upload and the actual amount reported through the Province.

01:20:16 Speaker 20: The agreement also provides that we'll continue to work with Grey County to close that funding gap.

01:20:23 Speaker 20: So, just this past August, there was a directive that will increase costs again related to court security.

01:20:30 Speaker 20: So, the work that was anticipated in that original recommendation report through Service Review Committee and those other avenues of advocacy and action remain really important.

01:20:42 Speaker 20: I would mention that on October ninth, there will be a report, probably a bit like this one, that will be considered by Grey County Council.

01:20:52 Speaker 20: The recommendation, Your Worship, is that Council would direct staff to bring forward a bylaw to authorise the Mayor and Clerk to execute the agreement with the County of Grey respecting court security.

01:21:04 Speaker 20: Okay, Councillor Kepk.

01:21:06 Speaker 17: Thank you, Worship.

01:21:07 Speaker 17: Through you, I certainly am pleased to see this step forward and appreciate the County as well for recognizing the shortfall that the City has been undertaking for several years,

01:21:19 Speaker 17: so I'm happy to move the recommendation.

01:21:23 Speaker 17: Thank you.

01:21:24 Speaker 17: Other comments?

01:21:25 Speaker 03: Seeing none.

01:21:25 Speaker 03: Call the question.

01:21:26 Speaker 03: All in favour?

01:21:28 Speaker 03: And that is carried.

01:21:30 Speaker 03: At 10:00, Deputy Mayor Gray.

01:21:32 Speaker 03: Again, I think to report from Grey County Council.

01:21:34 Speaker 03: Thank you, and through you, Mayor Boddy.

01:21:36 Speaker 19: I'd like to report to Council that at the last County Council meeting, the County supported utilising one hundred and thirty thousand dollars to fund site preparations for two County-owned properties in Markdale and Durham,

01:21:48 Speaker 19: which could be used for future housing development.

01:21:51 Speaker 19: County Council supported funding from anticipated 2025 surplus.

01:21:54 Speaker 19: The shortfall from the budgeted court security cost continuing its support as a regional service benefiting all County taxpayers.

01:22:03 Speaker 19: The County continues to advance future regional transit with partners Bruce, Dufferin, Wellington, and Smart Mobility on a five-year plan initiated with a study reporting back to Council early 2026.

01:22:15 Speaker 19: And a week ago, Grey County cut the ribbon on a new ambulance base in Durham, as it continues to try to grow to meet the increasing call volumes,

01:22:22 Speaker 19: which Council heard about in my last County report.

01:22:25 Speaker 19: I welcome any questions and ask for Council's endorsement of the verbal report.

01:22:31 Speaker 03: Not seeing any hands go up for questions, so I will call that question, which is to receive the...

01:22:41 Speaker 03: Verbal report.

01:22:42 Speaker 03: All in favour?

01:22:43 Speaker 03: That's carried.

01:22:44 Speaker 03: So we're down to number eleven.

01:22:47 Speaker 03: The consent agenda.

01:22:48 Speaker 03: Brianna.

01:22:50 Speaker 09: Through your worship, on the consent agenda this evening is a report on a bus stop agreement at 1555 Eighteenth Avenue East.

01:22:56 Speaker 09: A report respecting approval of non-standard procurement for Owen Heights and Comerat Park playground equipment.

01:23:02 Speaker 09: There are minutes for receipt from the Police Board and Grey Albert Conservation Authority.

01:23:06 Speaker 09: The last item on the consent agenda is the information package.

01:23:09 Speaker 09: A full listing is available at 11E.

01:23:11 Speaker 09: Good, thank you.

01:23:15 Speaker 03: Is there anything in there that anyone wants to pull and vote on separately?

01:23:18 Speaker 03: Seeing none, go ahead, Carol.

01:23:21 Speaker 04: Move by myself that, in consideration of the items listed on the October 6, 2025, consent agenda, City Council receives items 11A to 11E, and approves the recommendation contained in items 11A and 11B.

01:23:39 Speaker 04: Thank you.

01:23:39 Speaker 04: I'm going to call the question.

01:23:40 Speaker 04: All in favour?

01:23:42 Speaker 01: That is carried.

01:23:44 Speaker 01: Contained within there, I see Owen Sound Police Services Board held on June 25, 2025.

01:23:50 Speaker 01: You going to do those?

01:23:52 Speaker 01: Through your worship.

01:23:56 Speaker 11: In addition to the minutes of the June 25, 2025, Owen Sound Police Service Board meeting, that is included in the council agenda package.

01:24:04 Speaker 11: I wish to highlight the following.

01:24:07 Speaker 11: Jake Brockman from Uber presented the challenges and opportunities of ride sharing in Ontario.

01:24:14 Speaker 11: While ride sharing is regulated at the municipal level, the lack of a standardized provincial framework creates significant barriers to expanding services into rural and northern communities.

01:24:28 Speaker 11: The time to negotiate individual municipality-specific arrangements would be an administrative burden for ride-sharing companies like Uber, and he emphasized the need for Ontario to adopt provincial regulations to support safe and consistent ride-sharing services,

01:24:48 Speaker 11: to improve access to reliable transportation, enhance safety, and support economic growth in underserved areas.

01:24:57 Speaker 11: Chair Thompson and Police Chief Ambrose have met with United Way and various social service agencies, including those involved in community safety and well-being, and planning, and the Canadian Mental Health Association;

01:25:13 Speaker 11: information was shared with the purpose of the meetings to begin to share additional information and begin a broader conversation around the multi-sector approach to addressing community issues.

01:25:27 Speaker 11: A message was sent to the city to help initiate these discussions and to explore how each sector can contribute.

01:25:35 Speaker 11: No single social service agency is solely responsible for addressing addictions, and addressing these challenges requires collective effort from all sectors.

01:25:48 Speaker 11: The police chief presented the 2024 annual report, highlighting a year of increasing demands for service, and the changes introduced by the new Community Safety and Policing Act.

01:26:00 Speaker 11: A major milestone was the relocation and expansion of the Owen Sound Emergency Communication Centre, enhancing emergency response across 28 municipalities and two Indigenous communities and 48 different locations.

01:26:18 Speaker 11: This was completed without funding by the city.

01:26:21 Speaker 11: The Emergency Community Communication Centre will help to continue to offset the costs of policing for our city taxpayers into the future.

01:26:32 Speaker 11: The Owen Sound Police Service successfully welcomed a record number of new hires, despite ongoing recruitment challenges faced across the sector.

01:26:43 Speaker 11: And the full 2024 annual report is available on the Owen Sound Police Service website.

01:26:49 Speaker 11: And I present that report for information.

01:26:53 Speaker 11: Any questions?

01:26:54 Speaker 11: Yep.

01:26:54 Speaker 11: Go ahead.

01:26:56 Speaker 18: Thank you.

01:26:56 Speaker 18: Through your worship, with regard to Uber: So, where do we go from here?

01:27:02 Speaker 18: And does the police board have any advocacy going to the province with the comments that you received from the Uber person?

01:27:10 Speaker 18: And I thought that the county was working on some sort of regional.

01:27:17 Speaker 18: Was that talked about in that meeting?

01:27:23 Speaker 18: Through your worship, thank you for the question.

01:27:24 Speaker 18: Now look to.

01:27:25 Speaker 11: Thank you for the question.

01:27:25 Speaker 11: I'll look to the county reps to be able to answer if any of that had been addressed.

01:27:30 Speaker 11: I do believe that there is.

01:27:32 Speaker 11: We've had questions asked of us as council, and the understanding is that we have a transportation bylaw that allows ride sharing and Uber.

01:27:44 Speaker 11: That's in place.

01:27:46 Speaker 11: The city is not the barrier to that.

01:27:48 Speaker 11: The issue is how do we advocate?

01:27:52 Speaker 11: And there's a couple of options.

01:27:54 Speaker 11: I certainly, Councillor Koepke and I both sit together on the Police Services Board.

01:27:59 Speaker 11: If the council wished, we could take back to the next meeting a request that a letter of advocacy be sent to support Uber for province-wide regulation.

01:28:11 Speaker 11: Certainly, if that was council's direction, I believe that we could take that forward for a conversation.

01:28:16 Speaker 11: I think it benefits all of our municipalities here in rural Ontario to be able to have this, and certainly I think it is a possibility.

01:28:27 Speaker 11: And I'd be open to hearing what the rest of council would like for your reps on Police Services Board to do.

01:28:36 Speaker 01: Under the Police Services Act, we really can't give you directions as the rep.

01:28:40 Speaker 01: However, you've heard some ideas that you can take back yourself and deliver them.

01:28:46 Speaker 01: I think that is the best way to leave it, because then we get to do one thing and not others.

01:28:55 Speaker 01: Go ahead.

01:28:56 Speaker 18: Thank you.

01:28:57 Speaker 18: It was also in the report.

01:28:59 Speaker 18: There was a letter from the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards saying that our local board was the sponsor of the spring conference, offsetting expenses to deliver the event, compensation for speakers, entertainment,

01:29:19 Speaker 18: a whole whack of things.

01:29:20 Speaker 18: Do you have any idea how much that costed, through your worship?

01:29:28 Speaker 11: I stand to be corrected, but I think it was approximately $1,000.

01:29:32 Speaker 11: But I could certainly make sure our board chair communicates to all of us to confirm that number.

01:29:41 Speaker 11: Was it more than that, Miriam?

01:29:42 Speaker 11: Do you have an idea, Councillor Koepke?

01:29:46 Speaker 17: The only thing that I recall is that annually, the Owen Sound Police Service Board contributes to the conference, as do other police service boards.

01:29:57 Speaker 17: So it's an annual contribution.

01:30:00 Speaker 03: My recollection was that it was just $1,000 each year, but I could be wrong.

01:30:06 Speaker 18: Just wanted to make sure we weren't the only sponsor, and it was like thirty thousand dollars.

01:30:10 Speaker 18: The other thing I wanted to just confirm: when the Chief says that the Comms Centre was done with the relocation and expansion with no city funding, is that accurate?

01:30:28 Speaker 11: Through your Worship, are you suggesting that we need to clarify for accuracy?

01:30:35 Speaker 11: That's what's in the minutes and that's what was said.

01:30:38 Speaker 11: So, are you?

01:30:40 Speaker 11: Do you have a concern, Ms. Allan?

01:30:45 Speaker 11: You can answer that question.

01:30:57 Speaker 11: I'm not sure I'm prepared to answer it.

01:31:00 Speaker 21: I would suggest that what's written there is correct.

01:31:04 Speaker 21: The project was managed by the Police Services Board and the staff at Police Services.

01:31:09 Speaker 21: My understanding is that they did receive some grant funding, and in addition, they use the Police Board revenue, which is mostly related to third-party record check revenue that they retain,

01:31:23 Speaker 21: and a significant amount of that was put towards the Comms Centre, is my understanding.

01:31:31 Speaker 21: Good.

01:31:32 Speaker 18: Yeah, I just remember a whole whack of capital projects in our capital, and I just wanted to make sure that we weren't contributing and not getting recognition.

01:31:40 Speaker 18: Is all?

01:31:41 Speaker 18: Thank you, Mayor Gregg.

01:31:44 Speaker 22: Thank you.

01:31:46 Speaker 22: And the Councillor had asked about the County's discussions or participation in that subject matter.

01:31:53 Speaker 22: I would say there are two separate discussions.

01:31:55 Speaker 22: It's not part of that study that I just spoke about in terms of like a regional transit service.

01:32:00 Speaker 22: But I do recall a year and a half ago the County and staff could certainly expand upon this.

01:32:06 Speaker 22: But the County was working alongside and streamlining any of that bureaucracy out, so that any rules that were prohibiting that—I don't want to use Uber, but rideshare—because there's a myriad of different companies.

01:32:23 Speaker 22: We wanted to ensure that across the County, we have a system or a framework that is all receptive to ridesharing occurring.

01:32:35 Speaker 22: So that was the only discussion I can think was occurring, but I think was occurring about a year and a half ago.

01:32:45 Speaker 12: Thank you, Worship.

01:32:46 Speaker 12: My only comment, going back to that Uber discussion, and I would just take it back to: you know,

01:32:49 Speaker 12: the Council made a comment saying that the Board or this Council could send or request an endorsement for the Police Board to go and send to the Province to go look at Uber.

01:33:02 Speaker 12: The one thing I would just hope for, when we know that we have Council members sitting on that Board, and you see that Uber has been a discussion that's been brought up here,

01:33:11 Speaker 12: is that it doesn't have to come back from Council to provide you direction to do that.

01:33:16 Speaker 12: I would kind of hope that the Police Board would take that upon themselves in their own initiative and say, "We've heard the complaints, we've got the letters from members of the public,

01:33:24 Speaker 12: and we are going to act on that ourselves."

01:33:27 Speaker 12: But there's been a couple times we've heard discussions come back and say, "Well, if you want to do that, Council can ask the Police Board."

01:33:34 Speaker 12: Well, we can't ask the Police Board.

01:33:36 Speaker 12: So, if those situations where our members are understanding that there is a concern in the public about ride sharing, I would hope that's something that happens in the discussion that you take that forward.

01:33:48 Speaker 12: You know, with your own Board, rather than relying on Council to provide you direction on that.

01:33:54 Speaker 12: If I, through your Worship, if I may respond, I hear what you're saying.

01:34:01 Speaker 12: Let me clarify.

01:34:05 Speaker 11: Ride sharing is important to our citizens.

01:34:09 Speaker 11: If Council has an interest in also advocating to the Province to consider a province-wide regulation, so I'd like to clarify if Council is keen.

01:34:24 Speaker 11: I certainly have no problem communicating that it came up and it's important.

01:34:29 Speaker 11: That does not preclude one or the other.

01:34:32 Speaker 11: It's in addition to, and I believe that there are some distinct advantages to protecting our residents by having a standardized regulatory framework,

01:34:44 Speaker 11: making sure that common standards for insurance coverage and common pricing schedules and clarification of pricing in advance benefits our residents.

01:34:56 Speaker 11: So, as a Council, we also could advocate by sending a letter of support for a provincial regulation around rideshare standards, and perhaps that is more of a clarification.

01:35:10 Speaker 11: For sure, I would—I will communicate to the Board Chair around the issue about the Board advocating as well, or sending a letter of support should the Board decide to do so.

01:35:23 Speaker 11: But that doesn't preclude Council either.

01:35:26 Speaker 11: But thank you for that, Marian.

01:35:29 Speaker 11: Marine.

01:35:30 Speaker 17: Just one final comment.

01:35:33 Speaker 17: Uber is a private company, and just because Uber started ride sharing, everybody thinks Uber is the only rideshare programmememe.

01:35:42 Speaker 17: Rideshare regulation is getting to be like taxi regulating, so it's a different concept.

01:35:48 Speaker 17: And I grant it, regulations need to be established.

01:35:53 Speaker 17: It's just that Uber is the spokesperson for this particular advocacy.

01:35:59 Speaker 03: So, just to clarify, we're back to perception is reality, and I'm worried that we've perhaps just left the wrong message.

01:36:09 Speaker 03: The Police Board several years ago redid the bylaw on taxis, etc., to make sure that rideshare was allowed.

01:36:19 Speaker 03: Our Police Board has put together a pretty good bylaw over the years about the quality of the cars and the safety of the cars and the insurance and the quality of the drivers and all

01:36:29 Speaker 03: those things that have to have a licence and have to be approved.

01:36:33 Speaker 03: So, within our bylaw, we've got a really good—I think—for the safety of the citizens of Owen Sound.

01:36:40 Speaker 03: And again, anybody that's providing a rideshare is a private company.

01:36:44 Speaker 03: So we could say that we want a merry-go-round in town, but the merry-go-round isn't coming to town because it's not a good business decision.

01:36:51 Speaker 03: It's much the same.

01:36:52 Speaker 03: So it's really hard to.

01:36:53 Speaker 03: We've met with the Chamber of Commerce a couple of years ago.

01:36:57 Speaker 03: Tim had several meetings.

01:36:58 Speaker 03: Has been in contact with different rideshare companies that we're looking at, but they're not here.

01:37:04 Speaker 03: But it's them that has to make the decision, and we can set the table.

01:37:07 Speaker 03: But you know, unless you want to start funding them, which I don't think anybody at this table wants to start picking winners and losers, then it's a process that just needs to happen.

01:37:20 Speaker 03: There isn't running for there wasn't active rideshare.

01:37:24 Speaker 03: Yes, and there was one active rideshare already running here in town.

01:37:31 Speaker 03: So, okay, next I think.

01:37:35 Speaker 03: Graceville Conservation Authority.

01:37:39 Speaker 07: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

01:37:40 Speaker 07: Neither the Deputy Mayor nor myself were at the August meeting.

01:37:44 Speaker 07: That was during my leave.

01:37:45 Speaker 07: But the two things that stand out from those minutes are the strategic plan for 2025 to 2030.

01:37:52 Speaker 07: The final plan for 2035 was approved.

01:37:55 Speaker 07: If you haven't seen that yet, go find it on the website.

01:37:57 Speaker 07: And there was also an update about the Admin Centre renovation, which is going along.

01:38:03 Speaker 07: The roof is going to look different because skylights are hard to keep dry.

01:38:07 Speaker 07: Other questions?

01:38:10 Speaker 07: They're in the minutes.

01:38:11 Speaker 07: Anyone else?

01:38:12 Speaker 07: Any questions?

01:38:14 Speaker 07: No. Good.

01:38:14 Speaker 07: Thank you.

01:38:17 Speaker 03: Correspondence: anything in the correspondence, Brad?

01:38:19 Speaker 03: No. Okay.

01:38:21 Speaker 03: Twelve A committee minutes from Community Services Committee held on September 17, 2025.

01:38:28 Speaker 03: Thank you, Your Worship.

01:38:31 Speaker 17: Members received a presentation from staff regarding the Salmon Tour, which took place October 4, 2025, along the Sydenham River in the River District, where the new tourism apps and event marketing were highlighted.

01:38:45 Speaker 17: A report from the Manager of Parks and Open Spaces regarding the Harrison Park Master Plan and a request for ecological restoration and cultural recognition was approved.

01:38:56 Speaker 17: A request was received from the Saugye Nujibwe Nation respecting recognition of a marker tree at Harrison Park.

01:39:04 Speaker 17: This specific tree was used as a vital navigational and cultural signpost for Anishinaabe, marking trails, water sources, and important sites.

01:39:16 Speaker 17: This unique tree has shown stress during human and vehicular activity around its location.

01:39:24 Speaker 17: Restoration will include a protective zone, watering during dry periods, altering slightly the traffic routes and educational signage.

01:39:33 Speaker 17: This initiative reflects the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, offering educational opportunities on cultural significance, promoting Indigenous stewardship, and reconciliation, and fostering sustainable practices.

01:39:49 Speaker 17: The funds in the amount of ten thousand dollars, which are associated with the installation of a plaque, will be taken from the Parkland Reserve, to ensure the associated ecological protection takes place.

01:40:03 Speaker 17: A report from the Director of Community Services respecting an agreement with the Festival of Northern Lights was approved by committee.

01:40:11 Speaker 17: The Festival of Northern Lights was incorporated in 2011 as a nonprofit or volunteer-run organisation, to which the City provides in-kind support through park staff for setup and teardown.

01:40:24 Speaker 17: Currently, the storage of displays is at Greenwood Cemetrey and is inadequate due to the size and number of displays that are kept.

01:40:32 Speaker 17: An updated agreement was approved by committee, where the City will provide new storage space with a $20,000 annual contribution,

01:40:41 Speaker 17: along with a one-time contribution of $65,000 from the City's Festival Reserve account for replacement of the large artificial tree, which is currently not operational.

01:40:52 Speaker 17: The agreement recognizes greater festival independence, recognizes key City personnel, and emphasizes ongoing communications for effective collabouration between the Northern Lights organisation and the City.

01:41:10 Speaker 17: The development update was provided to committee, highlighting the months of July and August, with nearly one hundred and five million in construction value, ninety-seven building permits being issued,

01:41:21 Speaker 17: and over five hundred and fifty thousand in building permit fees being collected.

01:41:26 Speaker 17: Year to date, five hundred and fifty-three new residential units have been approved.

01:41:31 Speaker 17: These are outstanding numbers for the City of Owen Sound.

01:41:35 Speaker 17: Site plans were provided in the information package for an accessory building at Bridge, for an accessory building at Braidford's Health Services System, the development of an Amazon warehouse in the industrial park,

01:41:47 Speaker 17: an accessory building at the Owen Sound Murray McDonald Works Department Building, parking lot reconstruction at the TD Bank, and an 11-unit cluster townhouse at 843 Ninth Avenue East.

01:42:00 Speaker 17: A member of Council has asked that I separate out item 8A1, so my motion is as follows: I move approval of these minutes and the recommendations, the minutes of September 17, 2025,

01:42:17 Speaker 17: and the recommendations contained therein, save and except item 11A1, respecting the marker tree, being dealt with separately.

01:42:28 Speaker 17: There we go.

01:42:29 Speaker 17: Any questions?

01:42:30 Speaker 17: For go ahead.

01:42:33 Speaker 11: Through your Worship, I watched the Community Services Committee discussion about the artificial tree, and the suggestion that came forward for a natural tree.

01:42:45 Speaker 11: It's a lot of money for an artificial tree, and I'm wondering at this point in time.

01:42:54 Speaker 11: And I know there will be further exploration through the Director of Community Services, but if the concept of the artificial tree purchase could be a last resort,

01:43:08 Speaker 11: and that we move forward exploring how to support our climate, develop our natural beautification and revitalizing downtown, and consider the option of a live tree, which becomes then a community gathering place.

01:43:28 Speaker 11: So, my request is, as we move forward exploring this concept, that we consider bringing back nature to downtown as part of the vitality of the downtown area.

01:43:47 Speaker 11: Oh, sorry, Mary.

01:43:48 Speaker 11: Go ahead.

01:43:49 Speaker 17: Thank you for your comments and question.

01:43:52 Speaker 17: I believe there were some comments around that at the meeting.

01:43:57 Speaker 17: I will defer to the Director.

01:43:59 Speaker 17: However, I did want to highlight that the money being used to purchase the tree is out of a reserve on the Festival of Northern Lights, so it's earmarked for purposes like that.

01:44:11 Speaker 17: So I'll ask the Director to comment.

01:44:15 Speaker 20: Thank you, Worship.

01:44:16 Speaker 20: I had the benefit of sitting last week in with the parks manager with the festival volunteers as they talked about sort of the plan for the upcoming season and setup starts next week,

01:44:28 Speaker 20: if you can believe it.

01:44:30 Speaker 20: We talked about the replacement tree, and there was some discussion whether or not the tree would be safe this year to put up,

01:44:38 Speaker 20: both for the people who would be around the tree and also for staff.

01:44:42 Speaker 20: We talked about a natural tree and the logistics of getting a natural tree in sort of the hardscaped environment where we would want it in the River District.

01:44:52 Speaker 20: There's lots of natural trees in places like Harrison Park, and staff have just finished or are finishing this year's tree planting: over 200 trees that are being added to the community.

01:45:04 Speaker 20: But having a natural tree in a place in the River District—that's the right place—is tricky.

01:45:12 Speaker 20: The recommendation asks that we bring a report back with options, and certainly we can explore that option and maybe look at where there are natural trees that we can, you know, utilise and celebrate.

01:45:28 Speaker 20: in within that report.

01:45:35 Speaker 03: So I think at this point I'm calling the question, which is Marion's motion on everything but eight A. Correct?

01:45:42 Speaker 03: Okay.

01:45:44 Speaker 03: One, all in favour?

01:45:46 Speaker 03: That's carried.

01:45:47 Speaker 03: Then I'm going back to Marion.

01:45:51 Speaker 17: I'll move a recommendation that City Council approve in the September 17, 2025 Community Services Meeting Minutes, Item Eight C One, respecting the marker tree.

01:46:09 Speaker 17: Deputy Mayor Greig, sorry, you just said Eight A One, so that we're good.

01:46:17 Speaker 17: I do have concerns with the expenditure here.

01:46:22 Speaker 19: We talk all the time about high taxes and et cetera, et cetera, and most people.

01:46:26 Speaker 19: Well, we had a gentleman at the podium tonight, and when they talk about high taxes and the ones on, they're generally right because we are right up there in terms of our tax rate.

01:46:36 Speaker 19: It's wonderful, and I'm the first to applaud the growth that's coming.

01:46:40 Speaker 19: But I'm reluctant to spend money that we don't have.

01:46:43 Speaker 19: I understand it's coming from a reserve, but reserves get replenished with taxpayers' dollars.

01:46:50 Speaker 19: 1856, I think, is when Pearson-Harrison Park kind of became within Owen Sound and the Harrison family's name synonymous with it.

01:47:02 Speaker 19: A hundred and fifty years ago, I think at 1875, there you know right within we haven't fixed the Weaver Creek boardwalk.

01:47:17 Speaker 19: It's been sitting there derelict, not functioning for the public for a couple years now.

01:47:22 Speaker 19: Tree fell on it.

01:47:24 Speaker 19: I've been concerned about the slope stability at the back of Harrison Park beyond the campground, where erosion is contributing to root exposure and subsequent tree damage, and the slope becoming compromised.

01:47:38 Speaker 19: And Indigenous environmental concerns first and foremost when it comes to the environment.

01:47:48 Speaker 19: Yet we haven't been able to find funds to remediate items such as that.

01:47:52 Speaker 19: The tree.

01:47:53 Speaker 19: This is a really cool tree, but these are found naturally in nature.

01:47:59 Speaker 19: They always have been.

01:48:01 Speaker 19: There is a.

01:48:01 Speaker 19: I forget the actual name of it.

01:48:03 Speaker 19: It's called.

01:48:03 Speaker 19: It's.

01:48:04 Speaker 19: I'm just.

01:48:05 Speaker 19: It's in Poland.

01:48:06 Speaker 19: I'm calling it the Polish forest, but that's a disservice to it because it's full of trees that lean on their sides, go horizontal and up.

01:48:13 Speaker 19: And there's natural things occur, and always have and always will.

01:48:17 Speaker 19: And there's a huge ash tree when you go in.

01:48:18 Speaker 19: Huge ash tree.

01:48:18 Speaker 19: When you go into Harrison Park on the fitness trail, on the west side, there's a huge ash tree, literally at 30 degrees,

01:48:29 Speaker 19: and it's a tree like that's a natural impediment to growth when it falls, and it hampers saplings' growth patterns, and they go sideways, and then they go up to find the sunlight.

01:48:42 Speaker 19: That's Mother Nature working her best to continue the growth cycle.

01:48:48 Speaker 19: So I'm concerned with the expenditure of ten thousand dollars.

01:48:53 Speaker 19: Whether it comes from an operating fund, a reserve, because reserves get replenished.

01:48:59 Speaker 19: Hey, it'd be great if we could find some.

01:49:01 Speaker 19: There's not sawdust, but I think there's like a dump site on the other side, clippings, wood chips, and so forth.

01:49:15 Speaker 19: I think when you go across the bridge, that might shelter the tree to some extent.

01:49:22 Speaker 19: I don't know if staff are able to do something just in terms of low cost, well, or just natural course of operating operationally, just covering the tree's root system,

01:49:36 Speaker 19: no different than you would with a tree at your own property.

01:49:41 Speaker 19: The one of the cool things about Grey Gallery or Gray Roots, the new gallery, is there is when you're talking about informing the public of marker trees,

01:49:52 Speaker 19: that tree is showcased alongside one from Cape Croker as part of the display, so it is recognized within the community,

01:50:02 Speaker 19: and the opportunity is there for the community to go see what the marker trees have meant to Indigenous First Nations, but marker trees and other geological events or features have existed all for millennia,

01:50:23 Speaker 19: where it forms us of turning left at the big elm tree or the fork in the river.

01:50:28 Speaker 19: So, I'm just opposed to expending $10,000 on a tree that you know we could spend $10,000 and a lightning bolt hits it that night.

01:50:40 Speaker 19: Frankly.

01:50:41 Speaker 19: And these trees—these trees, while uncommon, these trees are common around the planet.

01:50:47 Speaker 19: Have been always so.

01:50:49 Speaker 19: I'm just opposed to that expenditure.

01:50:50 Speaker 19: Thanks, Councillor Merton.

01:50:55 Speaker 11: Through your Worship, I just would like a clarification, and then I'd like to make some comments.

01:51:03 Speaker 11: My understanding is that we received a request from our Indigenous neighbours, our community, because of the cultural significance of this specific tree, do I have that right?

01:51:19 Speaker 20: Through you, Your Worship, the Councillors correct in that correspondence was attached to the report that was presented to committee September 17th.

01:51:28 Speaker 11: Through your Worship, many times we sit around the table and we talk about reconciliation and how do we make real actions towards reconciliation?

01:51:43 Speaker 11: This is an opportunity for us to make real our intention to move along the path of reconciliation.

01:51:52 Speaker 11: We have been asked specifically to culturally respect and honour the tree.

01:51:58 Speaker 11: We have been asked to protect a natural, cultural tree by providing supports around it.

01:52:06 Speaker 11: In addition, it would be appropriate to even have an unveiling ceremony should Council decide to pursue that.

01:52:14 Speaker 11: We're together.

01:52:15 Speaker 11: We work together to symbolize an actual act towards reconciliation.

01:52:23 Speaker 11: I do support protecting this tree for the cultural significance it has, and because we were asked specifically to do this.

01:52:32 Speaker 11: Councillor Farmer had his hand up next.

01:52:34 Speaker 11: Thank you, through the Mayor.

01:52:34 Speaker 11: I think it's important that we are clear on, respectfully, the facts around the difference between trees growing strangely and culturally modified trees, which is the word for something like this.

01:52:53 Speaker 07: So someone intentionally, and yes, these trees are found throughout Eastern North America because the cultures that were and are here use them.

01:53:05 Speaker 07: They there are.

01:53:06 Speaker 07: It's well documented.

01:53:07 Speaker 07: Anyone can search culturally modified tree, and unlike some of the built assets that have also been are also in need of support across Owen Sound, this tree is alive, and if we it is there,

01:53:27 Speaker 07: it's only there because it's alive.

01:53:29 Speaker 07: We can't replace it.

01:53:29 Speaker 07: We can't repair it.

01:53:30 Speaker 07: We can only protect it.

01:53:32 Speaker 07: We've been asked to do so, and especially in the, I think, the shadow of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at the end of September,

01:53:41 Speaker 07: it's important that we literally put our money where our mouths are and honour this request.

01:53:48 Speaker 07: Councillor Madelon, thank you, through your Worship.

01:53:54 Speaker 18: In the letter that we received from San, it says we propose the following simple, cost-effective measures, in collabouration with city staff, to preserve and revitalize the tree.

01:54:08 Speaker 18: So my question is, when I first read the report, I was thinking, if they want to do this, they can absolutely go ahead and do it.

01:54:16 Speaker 18: Like there's nothing like we happily will let them do this.

01:54:21 Speaker 18: I also question if they're saying in collabouration with city, are they contributing anything towards the cost of this?

01:54:28 Speaker 18: Through you, Your Worship, I guess their contribution to this is the effort they did following the report, going to committee.

01:54:45 Speaker 20: They did hire, I think, an ecological expert and an arborist who made some recommendations around exactly how best to protect this tree in terms of the existing environment.

01:55:00 Speaker 20: It's unfortunate that the road and a pedestrian route to a washroom sort of cuts right by the base of that tree, so that needs to be modified, which is it represents those costs.

01:55:14 Speaker 20: It may be less than ten thousand dollars, but we wanted to make sure there was enough of an allocation to do that,

01:55:21 Speaker 20: and that also includes the interpretive signage that would be placed there to tell.

01:55:26 Speaker 20: Okay, I can call the question.

01:55:36 Speaker 03: And Marion moved it.

01:55:39 Speaker 03: Scott was opposing it.

01:55:40 Speaker 03: Okay, so Marion's moved it just as if it had been in the committee report.

01:55:43 Speaker 03: So that's the motion.

01:55:45 Speaker 03: Again, I'll call the question.

01:55:46 Speaker 03: All in favour?

01:55:47 Speaker 03: One, two, three, four, five.

01:55:50 Speaker 03: So that carries.

01:55:53 Speaker 03: Next, I think we have minutes from the operating committee.

01:55:54 Speaker 03: Next, I think we have minutes from the Operations Committee held on September 18, 2025.

01:56:06 Speaker 19: Thank you, and through your Worship, from the September Operations Committee minutes, Council had an update regarding the filter improvement at the water treatment plant.

01:56:14 Speaker 19: This upgrade will assist in decreasing the volume of backwash processes, which currently deplete storage and increase treatment costs, and replace many filter components which were at end of life.

01:56:25 Speaker 19: The bulk of the heavy electrical and mechanical has been completed, which includes backwash blowers installed, piping, HVAC ductwork, electrical, and filter under drain installation as well as instrumentation.

01:56:39 Speaker 19: The first filter should be commissioned very soon.

01:56:41 Speaker 19: The project has seen several challenges, some of which are limited redundancy for backwash pumps and performance, availability of construction site inspectors, lack of in-house project management support and staff overtime.

01:56:55 Speaker 19: The current schedule shows substantial completion of this project being April 2026, and if I might, right now I'll just mention Bryce.

01:57:04 Speaker 19: If any members of Council have questions about that project, Bryce is joining us this evening to answer those questions.

01:57:11 Speaker 19: This project is a big one.

01:57:13 Speaker 19: It's inside.

01:57:14 Speaker 19: No one in the public has really been seeing what's been undertaken by staff by over a couple years.

01:57:21 Speaker 19: This was something as part of our Council orientation.

01:57:24 Speaker 19: I think we were introduced to the scale of this project.

01:57:26 Speaker 19: So, Bryce is here this evening, and Committee asked Council to endorse an amending agreement with Automotive Materials Stewardship for the collection of used oil filters, empty oil containers, and used antifreeze,

01:57:37 Speaker 19: which will provide four thousand dollars annually, supporting the household hazardous waste event shared with participating municipalities.

01:57:45 Speaker 19: Welcome any questions and ask for Council's endorsement of the recommendation.

01:57:51 Speaker 19: Any questions?

01:57:53 Speaker 03: I am seeing none, so I'll call the question.

01:57:56 Speaker 03: All in favour?

01:57:57 Speaker 03: That is carried.

01:58:00 Speaker 03: Strategic plan we looked after.

01:58:02 Speaker 03: Number 13, we have no postponed matters.

01:58:05 Speaker 03: Number 14, we have no motor.

01:58:07 Speaker 03: Slow down.

01:58:09 Speaker 03: No motions for which notice was previously given.

01:58:12 Speaker 03: Discussion of additional business, Councillor Farmer.

01:58:17 Speaker 02: Thank you.

01:58:18 Speaker 02: Two items, just to let folks know about upcoming events, and I conveniently dropped my notes there as I looked for the notes from Community Services.

01:58:27 Speaker 02: So the first coming up on the third Thursday in October is another We Vote Local event at the Rumpus Room in Owen Sound, and everyone is invited.

01:58:36 Speaker 02: The topic for this second session is how to decide if you want to run, and there will be, I believe, folks there again from municipalities across Grey County who have,

01:58:47 Speaker 02: are or have been elected in the past to share perspectives.

01:58:51 Speaker 02: Also, sending the invite out to all of Council here just to amplify that.

01:58:55 Speaker 02: Organisers are keen to have elected officials there to share information with people who might be Council curious, and folks can RSVP at the WeVoteLocal.ca website.

01:59:04 Speaker 02: Coming up at the end of October, so all through this month, the second item, Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan is hosting a series of town halls on the topic of human trafficking,

01:59:13 Speaker 02: something that not enough people have good information about, and so they're hosting a handful of town halls across Grey and Bruce, and at the end of the month there will be one in Owen Sound,

01:59:26 Speaker 02: and folks can learn more about the issues, hear both from helping sectors, police services, as well as survivors who can talk about what that is,

01:59:37 Speaker 02: to dispel some of the stigma and welcome folks into the community of folks trying to prevent and address the issue.

01:59:45 Speaker 02: Specific dates available through the Community Safety and Well-being website.

01:59:55 Speaker 03: Good, thank you.

01:59:55 Speaker 03: I think I was the only other one.

01:59:58 Speaker 03: Three events back on September 30th, we had a really nice event of the Truth and National Truth and Reconciliation Day at the Gitchi Nami Wicidong Reconciliation Garden with several staff members,

02:00:15 Speaker 03: which was nice to see, and students.

02:00:18 Speaker 03: It was a very big crowd and a very very nice opportunity to listen, learn, and gain knowledge of some of the past.

02:00:30 Speaker 03: Last Saturday night, among other things, at seven o'clock, I've heard that I was supposed to be somewhere else at seven o'clock, but had no idea.

02:00:39 Speaker 03: But I was with Councillor Kukreja at the Southeast Asia cultural celebration that was really special at the arena.

02:00:47 Speaker 03: The traditional clothing is amazing.

02:00:52 Speaker 03: The dancing, the food, everything was pretty special, and I was glad I was able to go to that.

02:00:59 Speaker 03: Then today, some of staff and some of councillors were on board the HMCS Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Margaret Brooke out sailing around the bay, and had a pretty amazing experience with the Canadian Navy.

02:01:17 Speaker 03: The ship is named after Margaret Brooke, who was a nurse on a boat called the Caribou that was torpedoed not far from Halifax by a German U-boat in the Second World War.

02:01:29 Speaker 03: She was instrumental in getting other nurses and other people into lifeboats and keeping them alive and getting them back to shore, and was considered a hero.

02:01:38 Speaker 03: As a result, the HMCS Margaret Brooke in the last year since Christmas time was to Antarctica, and there's one little porthole that is painted.

02:01:54 Speaker 03: So it was yellow because it's crossed the equator.

02:01:58 Speaker 03: It had red because it's been to Antarctica, and it had blue because it's been to the Arctic.

02:02:05 Speaker 03: So quite a year that they've had on that boat from the top of the world to the bottom of the world, and great hospitality, great technology, and using four diesel engines,

02:02:18 Speaker 03: which is fascinating to me, to turn two electric turbine motors that are turning the propellers.

02:02:27 Speaker 03: So, generating electricity, turning the electricity, and using that to run the motors.

02:02:35 Speaker 03: We're travelling at about 17 knots today, at times, which look that up a nautical mile.

02:02:43 Speaker 03: It maybe doesn't seem quick in a road, but it's pretty 30 kilometres an hour.

02:02:48 Speaker 03: And when you're in the water and you're looking at the back, it's really moving.

02:02:52 Speaker 03: A couple of the tenders, one of them was hitting 40 kilometres when it went past it, so it was clearly showing off and hitting 40.

02:02:58 Speaker 03: So it's pretty impressive.

02:03:00 Speaker 03: We had a man overboard drill that was using a.

02:03:10 Speaker 03: I don't want to use the word dummy because you're still going to think that they're throwing a councillor or somebody overboard.

02:03:17 Speaker 03: Some might think that, but a mannequin.

02:03:20 Speaker 03: There we go.

02:03:21 Speaker 03: And how they go back to retrieve that.

02:03:24 Speaker 03: We in the middle of lunch had a fire drill that was a result of an alarm going off, and it was a real exercise, but wasn't a real fire.

02:03:35 Speaker 03: And then we had another man overboard.

02:03:38 Speaker 03: That each sailor wears something on their uniform that, when it hits the water, it signals.

02:03:44 Speaker 03: And somehow it signaled.

02:03:46 Speaker 03: And I heard a little rumor that sometimes when they put their stuff into the laundry and they don't take it out, it will signal that a man's overboard.

02:03:53 Speaker 03: So we stopped, and they went looking, looking all over the place.

02:03:57 Speaker 03: And I think the person was found by name.

02:04:01 Speaker 03: But fascinating to be on the boat and see how quickly they move for emergency duties.

02:04:06 Speaker 03: And of course, emergency duties not necessarily here for them.

02:04:10 Speaker 03: They'll be at Halifax or Newfoundland.

02:04:13 Speaker 03: But our Georgian College is a big programmememe for marine emergency duties.

02:04:19 Speaker 03: So it was a pretty cool day.

02:04:23 Speaker 03: Some of us got sunburned.

02:04:28 Speaker 03: Little sunburnt foreheads.

02:04:29 Speaker 03: I don't know who.

02:04:31 Speaker 03: Okay, so we're down to number 16.

02:04:33 Speaker 03: Motion that the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

02:04:37 Speaker 23: Moved by myself that the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

02:04:42 Speaker 23: All in favour.

02:04:43 Speaker 23: And that is carried.

02:04:44 Speaker 23: So we're back into the formal session.

02:04:46 Speaker 23: Motion to adjourn proceedings in Committee of the Whole.

02:04:50 Speaker 04: Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Middlebro, 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,

02:05:08 Speaker 04: committee minutes, matters postponed, motions for which notice was previously given, and additional business, be confirmed by this Council.

02:05:18 Speaker 04: All in favour.

02:05:20 Speaker 04: That is carried.

02:05:21 Speaker 04: Number 18.

02:05:22 Speaker 03: Does anyone have any notices of motion to give?

02:05:26 Speaker 03: Seeing no hands going up.

02:05:30 Speaker 03: At 19, motion to move into the closed session.

02:05:36 Speaker 04: Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Middlebro, that City Council now move into closed session to consider minutes of the closed session of the regular Council meeting held on September 8, 2025,

02:05:49 Speaker 04: and one matter regarding a position plan procedure criteria, or instruction to be applied to negotiations respecting building services.

02:06:01 Speaker 01: Just before I call the question on that, because I can't really do it after technically.

02:06:05 Speaker 01: Before we move into closed session, I'd like to note that if you're watching this meeting on Rogers Cable TV or the Rogers TV website,

02:06:13 Speaker 01: 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.

02:06:21 Speaker 01: If you would like to view the remainder of the open session, you can watch live stream on the City Council's and Committee's web page at www.Owen Sound.ca/meetings.

02:06:30 Speaker 01: The video recording of the meeting will also be posted on this website following the meeting.

02:06:40 Speaker 01: So now I'll call the question.

02:06:41 Speaker 01: All in favour?

02:06:43 Speaker 01: And that is carried.

02:06:44 Speaker 01: So we are now going into closed.

02:16:45 Speaker 01: Okay, it is 7:46 p.m.

02:16:49 Speaker 01: City Council is returning to the open session.

02:16:52 Speaker 01: During the closed session, City Council reviewed minutes of the closed session of the regular Council meeting held on September 8, 2025, and discussed one matter regarding a position, plan, procedure, criteria,

02:17:06 Speaker 01: or instruction to be applied to negotiations respecting building services, and direction was provided to staff.

02:17:16 Speaker 01: It's now 21 bylaws.

02:17:19 Speaker 09: Through your Worship, the bylaws listed for approval on tonight's agenda include the confirmatory bylaw,

02:17:24 Speaker 09: a bylaw to execute a cash in lieu of parking agreement with Penlim Investments Limited for property at 901 Second Ave East, a bylaw to amend the election sign bylaw for housekeeping purposes,

02:17:34 Speaker 09: a bylaw to execute a development charges deferral agreement with Bayshore Terracing for property at 297 18th Street East,

02:17:41 Speaker 09: a bylaw to execute an amending agreement with Automotive Materials Stewardship Inc. respecting automotive hazardous and special products,

02:17:48 Speaker 09: and a bylaw to execute a licence extension and amendment agreement with Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. respecting a transit stop.

02:17:57 Speaker 09: Thank you, Councillor Merton.

02:17:59 Speaker 04: Moved by myself, seconded by Councillor Middlebro, that bylaw numbers 2025-110 through 2, and including 2025-115, be passed and enacted.

02:18:13 Speaker 04: Call the question.

02:18:14 Speaker 04: All in favour?

02:18:15 Speaker 01: And that is carried.

02:18:17 Speaker 01: So that completes our business for tonight.

02:18:20 Speaker 01: It is now 7:48.

02:18:22 Speaker 01: Hope everyone enjoys the full moon tonight out there.