REPORT ON COUNCIL:
February 10, 2014
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:00 am –12:38 pm
Confidential Closed Session: na
Regular Meeting: 1:20 pm – 1:34 pm
Mayor Millar, Deputy Mayor Lawrence, Councillors Warren, Wishart, Claire
Announcements
Mayor Millar announced that the Huronia Economic Alliance will be unveiling the Huronia Area Tourism Action Plan on February 20 from 8:30 am to noon at Ste. Marie Among the Hurons in Tay Township.
Letter to Premier/Proposed OPP Billing Model
Councillor Warren requested a discussion of the delivery of the Township’s concerns to the appropriate agency regarding the proposed OPP billing model. The increase in costs seems somewhat unfair given the high percentage of seasonal residents who are already paying for these services where they are permanent residents. Consideration should also be given to a transitional fund to avoid a big hit the first year.
Staff was instructed to bring forward a draft resolution at the Regular Meeting of Council to direct staff to forward a letter to AMO Steering Committee with copies to the OPP Working Group and the Premier of Ontario outlining the Township’s concerns as it relates to the potential financial impact and the current inclusion of seasonal residents on a base household costing calculation.
Joint Compliance Audit Committee
Section 81.1 (1) of the Municipal Elections Act states that a council or local board shall, before October 1 of an election year, establish a Compliance Audit Committee. The current Joint Compliance Audit Committee under By-law 10-057 will expire on November 30, 2014.
Staff from Midland, Penetanguishene,Tay and Tiny have been discussing a Joint Compliance Audit Committee for the next term of Council similar to the 2010 joint committee. The structure of the joint committee would consist of five members with two (2) representatives from Midland and one (1) representative each from Penetanguishene, Tay and Tiny. Each committee member will receive $75/meeting which will be paid by the member municipality requiring the service or from where the complaint(s) originate. In some cases, the municipal auditors may be required to investigate complaints as determined by the Joint Compliance Audit Committee. Staff brought forward a draft resolution at the Regular meeting to authorize the creation of a Joint Compliance Audit Committee with Midland, Penetanguishene and Tay for the next term of Council in order to comply with Section 81.1 of the Municipal Elections Act.
By-law 4 th Quarter Activity Report for 2013 (October 1- December 31) Staff analyzed the decrease in quarterly complaints from last year and drew the following conclusions.
1. Roadside Debris: Staff felt the marked decrease in roadside debris occurrences is due to the transference of the roadside debris program back to Public Works. By-law Officers placed the County of Simcoe yellow warning stickers on non-collectable waste items during their regular patrols with a 72 hour deadline for debris removal. Each address was recorded and then shared with the Public Works Department.
2. Littering: From 2012 to 2013 the littering complaints decreased by seven (7) or 50%. Staff noted a decrease in the number of complaints relating to the dumping of leaves and the dumping of garbage on the roadside. Staff thought that the early arrival of winter this year, compared to last year, may explain the decrease in complaints.
3. Zoning: From 2012 to 2013 the Zoning complaints increased by six (6) occurrences. Staff did not see any patterns or trends to explain the increase.
Draft Property Standards By-law
At the October 28th, 2013 Committee of the Whole meeting Council reviewed Clerks Department Report CR-032-13 regarding the DRAFT Property Standards Bylaw. Council reviewed the By-law & Committee Terms of Reference Appointment By-law. Staff was directed to advertise for Property Standards Committee members. The committee member applications were received and the two by-laws are to be brought forward at a future Committee of the Whole meeting for consideration and approval.
b) Court
On October 17, 2013, the By-law Department had eleven (11) items on the Court Docket:
• One Open Burning By-law infraction to which the defendant pleaded guilty & received a $150 fine.
• One Noise By-law infraction was withdrawn as the witness passed away.
• One Zoning By-law infraction was adjourned to December 5th,, 2013 to set a trial date.
• In the matter of the two Clean Yards infractions, the first defendant pleaded guilty & received a $100 fine. The second case was adjourned for personal service on February 6, 2014.
• In the matter of six Parking infractions, a conviction was registered in three cases, two were withdrawn and one returned for personal service.
• A total of $425.00 in fines was imposed for the October 17th 2013 Court Date.
On December 5, 2013, the By-law Department had twenty one (21) items on the Court Docket:
• Two Open Burning By-law infractions to which the defendants pleaded guilty & fines totaling $200 were imposed.
• Two Zoning By-law infractions which were both adjourned to a future court date.
• Two Noise By-law infractions. The first matter was withdrawn as the witness did not appear. In the second matter the defendant pleaded guilty & received a $75.00 fine.
• In the matter of three Parks By-law infractions relating to motorized machines on the beach, the first two defendants pleaded guilty and fines totaling $190 were imposed and the third defendant pleaded guilty & received a suspended sentence.
• In the matter of four Parks By-law infractions relating to BBQ’s on the beach, all defendants pleaded guilty and fines totaling $300 were issued.
• In the case of seven dog at large infractions, six of the defendants pleaded guilty and fines totaling $475 were imposed and the remaining case was withdrawn at the end of the afternoon as there was insufficient court time for a trial.
• One charge for failing to license a dog for the current year, which the defendant pleaded guilty to and received a S50.00 fine.
• Total fines imposed for the December 5th 2013 Court Date were $1,290.00
Short Form Wording
On December 9, 2013 the Township received Short Form Wording approval for the Clean Yards By-law #13-032 and for the Open Air Burning By-law #13-057
Huronia Economic Alliance-Economic Development Strategic Action Plan 2
This plan represents a first step in building an inter-municipal organization to support and foster regional economic development by working collaboratively and pooling resources. This type of collaborative effort is rare among municipalities but HEA believes that economic prosperity is a shared responsibility between jurisdictions and that a group is stronger and can accomplish more.
The intent of the HEA since its conception was to create a welcoming and open environment that would encourage innovation, investment and economic sustainability for the region. The HEA action plan provides a blueprint/road map toward that end. The plan recommends, as a first step, that a new arms length regional development agency/corporation (Huronia Economic Development Corporation – HEDC) be put in place to ensure: that all stakeholders within the community are represented; outside expertise and a broad range of interests are recognized; effective advocacy for economic prosperity happens; organizational autonomy and reduced bureaucracy, good governance and reporting occurs.
Once established, this new agency/corporation would be charged with identifying priorities and developing a multi-year action/project plan. Once the priorities have been identified, it will be necessary to assign specific metrics and measurements to each priority so that meaningful results and accomplishments can be tracked and reported.
It is anticipated that funding from the County of Simcoe ($400,000 over two years) would permit this new body to recruit and hire an Economic Development Officer to implement many, if not all, of the contained recommendations. A formal reporting structure to Council would be established to ensure Council is kept apprised of the initiative’s progress.
The next steps would be to receive all four Council’s support, in principle, for the Action Plan and the Terms of Reference; begin legal and administrative work to establish the HEDC including the recruitment process for Board Members-HEDC and an Economic Development Officer.
Once established the HEDC would review HEA-EDSAP and set priorities and multi-year project plan(s) (including specific metrics and targets). It would provide regular reports back to Councils on its progress.
It is anticipated that the HEDC could be in place by May 2014. Staff brought forward a draft resolution at the Regular Meeting to support the plan in principle; to approve the terms of reference and that the Huronia Economic Alliance be delegated the responsibility in conducting all legal and administrative work required to establish the Huronia Economic Development Corporation. In addition, that all funding provided by the County of Simcoe be transferred to the North Simcoe Community Futures Development Corporation to be held in trust for the use by the Huronia Economic Development Corporation. The consulting group has identified tourism and agriculture as a focus for Tiny. The Economic Development Officer is expected to engage the local community but agriculture has to step up and move forward. They can’t wait for Council to do something. Business beyond Huronia needs to be recruited.
Group Benefits: Age Restrictions Analysis
The Committee reviewed Treasury Report TR-005-14 from Doug Taylor, Manager of Administrative Services/Treasurer, regarding an analysis of age restrictions for group benefits. The total costs of group benefits declined over the year. Drug and dental costs are the biggest drivers. The Councillors felt that they should be covered for benefits over the age of 70 years. Mayor Millar felt it was unfair to extend this only to Councillors and that Councillors should buy benefit coverage once they reach the age of 70 years. If Councillors need out of country coverage to attend municipal affairs then they should be reimbursed for that small cost. He felt that this extension may have a significant impact on group rates. He added that he had made a suggestion with the previous Council that a group be formed to study compensation and benefits and put forward their reecommendations. That would take this issue out of the hands of Council.
Staff was directed to research and report back to Council on the estimated costs associated with extending the Major Medical Benefits; Professional Services Benefit; Vision Care Benefit; Hospital Care Benefit and the Dental Insurance Benefit beyond the age of 70 for both Staff and Council; and that staff report back on the 2014 Budgeted group benefit cost allocation to individual members of Council.
Stephen R. Ogden/County Site 66
Correspondence dated January 19, 2014 from Stephen R. Ogden regarding County Site 66, was received; and Council directed staff to release Pages 6 and 7 of the Dixon Hydrogeology Limited Report dated December 8, 1995 with a covering letter indicating the history of the vesting of the site in error to the County of Simcoe.
