July 2023 Council Report
Council met on July 19 th – Committee of the Whole (CoW) and Regular Meetings of Council. All Council were present for both meetings.
Council Meeting July 19 th , 2023
Deputations
Resident Diane Leblovic outlined her concerns that the current Strategic Plan did not include public input or participation. She also addressed the issue of the new municipal building moving forward without any public input. She urged Council to follow the lead of their Tiny Township predecessors and municipal colleagues and adopt a more open, participatory, and consultative approach to major municipal projects and initiatives.
Taxing Places of Worship
At the previous Committee of the Whole meeting in June, Councillor Walma put forward a motion to submit a letter to the Province requesting authority for municipalities to tax places of worship given that such authority was out of any municipality’s hands and under provincial control. Councillor Dave Brunelle was the only one to vote against the motion which passed.
At the July 19 th meeting of Council, open deputations were made on the matter.
Resident Aaron MacDonald pointed out that taxing churches could potentially force closing or sale of those properties.
He pointed out that the revenue to be generated would neither make nor break the municipal budget versus the greater toll it would have on the community. MacDonald added that places of worship provide community and support for those in need and received generous applause from the rather large gallery of attendees.
Councillor Walma attempted to compare this to the Royal Canadian Legion which does not receive the same community support. MacDonald responded that the church was not a business which the Legion is.
Former Tiny council member Gibb Wishart then addressed Council. He fully supported Mc Donalds opinion.
As a Church member he was intimately knowledgeable of their financial situation and pointed out
that their income comes from donations and are not sufficient to carry property taxes let alone a
pastor or a priest.
He noted that Councillor Walma’s out-of-the-box way of thinking was not so great in this instance. Resident Brandon Pickard then made his deputation. He is in support of inclusive taxation, pointing out that further sources of revenue generation were becoming difficult to locate. He requested that council really consider this option even though it is somewhat controversial. He doesn’t believe that any churches are going to close if they had to pay a few extra thousand dollars.
Alcohol In Tiny Parks/Beaches
A discussion took place with respect to Councillor Walma’s motion to have staff explore the feasibility of allowing alcohol consumption in Tiny Township parks and beaches.
An open deputation was made by long time resident Anne-Marie Laliberte-Denis requesting council to reconsider the motion. The deputation received applause from the gallery and was followed by Councillor Helowka stating he agreed with her and thinks the concept is wrong, fully supports her position and will never vote for alcohol in the parks. He too received applause from the gallery.
The following two motions from June 28 th COW were pulled for further discussion:
Taxing Places of Worship
Councillor Brunelle started off the discussion indicating that he does not believe it should proceed due to the lack of public input. He also feels Tiny should not be proceeding to ask on behalf of all municipalities. He also indicated that whether charities pay property taxes or not is not clear at this point. Councillor Brunelle called the action premature, and said he wasn’t sure which information was correct. He would like to see more public input on the issue and clarification of property taxes on charities.
Councillor Walma responded, “I guess from Councillor Brunelle’s perspective, this is a cart-and- horse scenario: Do we ask the residents for their input prior to having the authority to even do it?”
Councillor Helowka supported Councillor Brunelle indicating he would like further clarification on the matter with respect to property tax.
Deputy Mayor Miskimins supported the letter stating that the province had control over property taxation while Councillor Walma was merely asking for municipalities to have that control.
Mayor Evans stated that he was more concerned with the Province taking similar action in the future and would like to pre-empt such a situation. He feels that this is not a question of taxing places of worship, rather taking the responsibility for this from the Province.
Council approved sending the letter to the Ministry of Finance and the Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) requesting that municipalities be delegated authority to decide if and/or how it implements tax policy on places of worship. The motion passed with Councillors Brunelle and Helowka opposed.
There was no explanation as to why Tiny would be initiating this and not the AMO.
Alcohol Use in Beach Parks
Councillor Brunelle started the discussion by indicating that this is a bad idea and waste of staff time. Other municipalities have initiated similar pilot programs and we could learn from them. Councillor Helowka agreed and feels it is the wrong time to be bringing this forward and a bad idea to saddle staff with any further work.
Councillor Walma defended his motion and stated that other pilot projects have taken place supporting this as a benefit. Tiny is unique and he just wants input into what areas will work and what won’t.
Mayor Evans stated he had no problem with the proposal from a legal perspective, his issue was more to do with Tiny Township residents’ acceptance of societal drinking. His main concern is the abuse that’s going on and people flouting the law. He does not support the pilot program as presented.
Councillor Walma made a friendly amendment to the motion to remove the pilot project aspect and directing staff to explore having further bylaw controls to enforce the matter.
Councillor Brunelle feels the cost for enforcement that would be incurred does not justify the program and that it is a bad idea.
Deputy Mayor Miskimins suggested that by-law staff be given authority to enforce the liquor licence act in this instance, rather than calling the OPP.
Councillor Helowka indicated that he had a real problem with giving bylaw any extra powers as he has little faith in them. Pointing out that they couldn’t even enforce a zero-tolerance noise bylaw that was put in place years ago that has caused us a lot of grief over the short-term rental situation. He indicated that he wants trained police officers to deal with Liquor Licence Act infractions and does not want to give any more power to untrained, young, inexperienced bylaw officers.
Mayor Evans seriously objected to his comments about bylaw staff in Tiny Township. He was aghast that Councillor Helowka would come out and say that bylaw staff are not able to take on additional responsibilities and act in the best interest of the people of Tiny. He stated that if they can’t do the job, Council is at fault for not giving staff the ability to train to do the job.
Councillor Helowka defended his statements. The motion was approved, directing staff to look at what is permitted in the township under the Ontario Liquor Licence and Control Act and related enforcement, with a report due later in the year. Councillors Helowka and Brunelle voted against.
Ballpark Lighting in Wyevale
Councillor Walma brought forward a notice of motion supporting a cost share arrangement with the Wyevale Recreation Association. They have approached the Township to do a 50-50 cost share on lighting for their ballpark and have the Township set up a special account to accept donations and issue tax receipts. The project is estimated to be around $100 K. and be completed in the Spring of 2024. Council unanimously supported moving forward.
Committee of the Whole July 19 th , 2023
Scheduled Deputations
Rogers Cell Towers
Jay Lewis of Forbes Bros. Ltd., on behalf of Rogers, presented a request for two new cell towers that could service the northern parts of the township Cedar Point and Thunder Beach. A 50-metre self-support tower (SST) telecommunication site was proposed for 1445 Cedar Point Rd., as well as a 60-metre lattice tri-pole (LTP) tower proposed for 1369 Chemin du Loup Rd. He advised that the sites will provide both cellular and mobile broadband internet, as well as fixed wireless internet services to the community. These new towers would reduce the strain on other towers hosting an overburden of connections, which was the cause of many dropped calls and poor connectivity throughout the region.
The Committee agreed to have Rogers proceed to the public consultation phase. The Rogers
Presentation can be viewed within the agenda page located on the Tiny Township website.
Dave Sparrock Deputation – Tiny Island
Representing the Wahnekewening Community Association, Mr. Sparrock advised Committee members of the history of the manmade causeway that was installed by the owner linking Tiny island with the shoreline. He requested Council’s assistance in having the causeway removed due to the fact that it was originally intended as a temporary measure under a permit from MNRF over twelve to 15 years ago. This has caused negative environmental ripple effects up and down the shoreline. Council requested Public Works and SSEA to investigate the options available to assist in resolving this issue.
Mario Galluzzo Deputation – Zoning By-laws
After reviewing content of the deputation made at the Committee of the Whole on June 28 the committee moved “that no further action be taken”.
LASHA Deputation- Speed Control and Community Safety Zone
Council reviewed the content of the deputation by John Jamieson and Chuck Stradling of LASHA on June 28 and received comments from the Director of Public Works who was very complimentary on the content of the letter presented.
Council moved that Public Works staff review and present a detailed report on the implementation of the speed radar signs and community safety zone. Staff are to advise LASHA that the Township budgets for 2-3 of these speed radar signs each year.
Councillor Walma suggested that further to the decision on the Wyevale Ballpark Lighting proposal, if LASHA were to come up with 50% of the costs it could happen much faster.
Asset Management
As a part of the Township of Tiny’s Asset Management (AMP) program development and data refinement, they had budgeted for a vendor to complete facility condition assessments (FCA’s) to improve the historical data for the Township’s facility and building profiles.
Facility condition assessments are the next phase of the AMP implementation requirement under O. Reg 588/17. The approved vendor will complete FCA’s on all Township buildings and facilities and provide a componentized portfolio using Uniformat II coding, as well as a Facility Condition Index (FCI).
The Uniformat II coding will provide a detailed, asset-level view of major building components, with accurate replacement values for each component. This will allow for precise tagging of assets to build in maintenance activities, which will allow for eventual trend analysis and improved lifecycle budgeting.
The FCI values will serve as a metrics to compare similar facilities conditions and allow the level of service to be set for our facilities.
Completing FCA’s and componentizing using Uniformat II code is also endorsed by Recommendation 11 in the 2022 Corporate Asset Management Strategy.
The scope of the project will include offices, halls, emergency service facilities, washrooms, park facilities, and PW complex facilities.
Water department facilities are assessed separately.
Departmental staff associated with each of these facilities will be part of the review process to ensure the vendor has a full understanding of the facility.
An RFP was issued, and bids were received from the following two companies.
Gordian pricing = $38,700.00 plus HST
Roth IAMS pricing = $65,418.00 plus HST
Council approved moving forward with the Gordian proposal. Completion of assessments is targeted to be completed in 2023.
Perkinsfield Water Meters
In 2021 the Township of Tiny installed water meters on all services on the Wyevale water system as well as all commercial/industrial/institutional services throughout the municipality. From staff’s perspective, this has been a success:
• Water usage in the Wyevale system has dropped 26% when comparing the first five months of 2023, when billing based on usage was implemented, vs 2022, when services were on a flat fee.
This is despite this spring being dryer than last.
• Many properties with leaks were identified.
• Capacity for fire fighting has been maintained in the Wyevale reservoir throughout 2023.
• Based on the 2022 consumption data, when residents’ usage habits would not have changed, 52% of services will see a reduction in their billing versus the previous flat rate.
The 2023 Capital budget includes funds for the expansion of the water metering program to the Perkinsfield water system and the completion of the difficult installations in Wyevale. Due to ongoing plumbing supply chain issues, the current lead time for meters is approximately 6 months. Therefore, staff have secured the required meters and transmitters for the Perkinsfield system from Evans Utility and Municipal Supply. They are the exclusive Canadian supplier of Neptune products. The cost of the 210 meters is $84,840 + HST. This purchase would also allow companies other than Neptune to submit proposals for the metering program.
Staff issued a Request for Proposal for the Perkinsfield meter installation program on Bids & Tenders. This included project management, public communication, documentation, and meter installations. At the time the RFP closed on July 6th 2023, the following two submissions had been received, both of which met the minimum specifications included in the RFP:
• ARC Plumbing & Heating for $98,920.25 + HST
• Neptune Technology Group for $126,665.00 + HST
Mayor Evans commented that the reduction in water consumption was quite notable and a good sign of success in the program.
Councillor Walma asked why staff would not proceed with full Township wide implementation. Director of Public Works, T. Leitch explained the rationale for the phased in approach. It would be a major project to roll out at one time and beyond the capacity of staff.
After much discussion it was agreed to move forward with the phased in approach and staff recommendation to proceed with the proposal from ARC Plumbing & Heating and the purchase of the meters from Evans Utility and Municipal Supply.
Modifications to the Noise By-law and Nuisance Calls
Deputy Mayor Sean Miskimins requested that consideration be given to relaxing the by-law when it comes to family gatherings on private property as the sounds of music emanated through an amplifier were less intrusive than leaf blowers, chainsaws or woodchippers which are currently excluded.
Suggestions included establishing a reasonable decibel level so that enforcement staff had a measure to work with rather than using their own discretion, as well as looking at what other municipalities do. It was also suggested special event permits could be employed.
Councillor Walma suggested having a special occasion permit posted wherever you’re having the event. Deputy Mayor Miskimins countered that for chainsaws, woodchippers and leaf blowers, you don’t need to provide notice to your neighbours.
The committee of the whole agreed to have staff to determine variance options.
The issue of nuisance calls to the OPP was also addressed. Deputy Mayor Miskimins feels that the number of nuisance calls is costing the taxpayers unnecessarily.
Mayor Evans suggested that the motion be split, and that each subject be addressed separately.
A motion was presented that requested staff to report on options allowing for variances to allow residents to have some level of reasonable noise and to look at what other municipalities are implementing control measures (eg. Decibel meters) and that the Police Services Board be asked to provide options for dealing with nuisance calls.
Recycle Everywhere Program
Council received correspondence from Colin Mahovlich, the Municipal Relations Coordinator for the new Recycle Everywhere program, launching in Ontario this summer. They are aware that Simcoe County does not manage public space recycling, and that it is managed by the lower-tier municipalities.
He was reaching out for an opportunity to partner with the Township of Tiny to make it familiar with Recycle Everywhere and its role in helping beverage producers meet their obligations under Ontario’s new Blue Box Regulation.
The Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA) is a not-for profit, industry-funded organization whose membership includes beverage brand owners and distributors. The organization is committed to reaching the mandated goal of recovering 80% of beverage containers sold in Ontario by 2030. To accomplish this goal, they would like to partner with Tiny to offer free recycling bins (or cost-shared multi-stream bins) in municipal facilities (pools, arenas, libraries, etc.). In addition, they can help further by subsidizing collection costs for beverage containers from these facilities. They feel there would be value in a potential partnership that would provide the town with targeted free waste and beverage recycling bins. They would appreciate the opportunity to connewith Tiny Township staff in the near future.
Although it was felt that the township does not have the facilities that would generate the volume to make this viable, staff were directed by Council to follow up and report.