Mayor's Report for February 1, 2022
January 18th
I presided over our regular Council Meeting.
January 19th
I participated in the bi-weekly meeting of the Hastings Prince Edward Board of Health and Hastings County.
January 20th
At 10:00 a.m., I participated in the Crowe Valley Conservation Authority Board Meeting. I was elected as Chair of the Board for 2022, Jan MacKillican, Limerick Township, was re-elected Vice Chair and Suzanne Partridge was elected as member of the CVCA Executive Committee. A Municipal Brief will be included in the next agenda. At the last Council Meeting, Tim Pidduck, CEO, attended council and responded to some concerns on the CVCA Budget.
Corrections were made to the calculations and the method of estimating revenue was explained. The 2022 budget was passed.
At 1:00 p.m., I participated in a conference call with Premier Ford, and several ministers and mayors from across Ontario. Steve Clarke, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing emphasized the need for affordable housing and funding being made available through the government.
You will notice in the Agenda that we were successful in our application to the third intake of the Municipal Modernization Program;
$81,408 towards M & L Budget Review; and
$77,923 towards M & L Digital Improvement Solutions.
I want to take this time to thank staff for preparation and submission of the grant applications. Applications are somewhat complex and the information provided must accurately reflect the terms set out in the application.
At 4:00 p.m., I participated in the weekly meeting with Dr. Toumishey, the Medical Officer of Health and Chair Albert. The topic of discussion was the groups of protesters at public buildings during council meetings, at the Board of Health, hospitals, schools, etc., but also at the homes of medical administrators and medical officers of health. Threats have been made to their family members. The OPP were contacted on several occasions, and it is my understanding that charges have been laid in locations where threats were made.
January 21st
At 10:00 a.m., I presided over a Special Meeting of Council and a Closed Session of Council.
At 1:00 p.m., as part of the hiring committee appointed to select the new medical officer of health, a special meeting of the Board of Health was convened to review the Offer of Employment and contract to be presented to the successful candidate for the position of Medical Officer of Health.
At 2:00 p.m., I had a telephone meeting with Mayor Jim Martin, Havelock Belmont Methuen.
January 24th & 25th - I attended the ROMA (Rural Ontario Municipal Association) Conference on behalf of Hastings County. This was a virtual conference. I viewed a number of the program educational and information presentations. Some of the programs were:
Homelessness
Cyber Insurance
COVI D Recovery
Broadband Connectivity
Climate Change
Paramedicine
Hastings County Council made a delegation to Solicitor General advocating for change to the Joint and Several Liability Insurance legislations. The delegation was well received. AMO has been advocating to the provincial government for a long time so hopefully this delegation will achieve results.
Judicial System on Fines and Enforcement
I was particularly interested in this concurrent session as it spoke directly to the need for improvement in the administration process and Provincial Offences Court and opportunities for modernization such as proposed in the AMPS Program which is included in this Agenda. The session also promoted the use of automated speed enforcement. There are two circumstances for implementing this system: i) there must be a designated "Community Safety Zone" or a "School Safety Zone". The facilitators/speakers emphasized the need to change the process in dealing with provincial offences and enforcement of local bylaws. There is currently a large backlog in court cases and a severe lack of judges/justices of the peace to conduct hearings. By implementing these more simplified enforcement proceedings, it reduces the backlog of minor issues in the courts and allows more control at the local level including cost recovery as opposed to legal and court costs assessed to the taxpayers.
January 25th
I chaired the meeting of the Economic Development Committee. The Committee is considering a program in conjunction with the Library to include technical assistance to seniors. Since COVID, many services can be accessed online but without computer equipment and training, it can be challenging and frustrating. More information will be available.
Some members of the Economic Development Committee are also leading the planning of events for the 200th celebrations.
January 27th
I participated in the regular meeting of Hastings County Council. Dan Cardinal, Skills Ontario (Canada) was a delegation. Skills Ontario is promoting skilled trades and technology primarily to students from Grade 6, through high school, colleges, large and small businesses, labour groups. There is a significant demand for skilled trades throughout the province and the country. Skills Ontario is working with school boards and has conducted virtual events in adjoining counties/regions with positive outcomes. They are asking for support from Hastings County. This was referred to the Planning and Development Department to prepare a report to the Finance Committee for February with a recommendation. Dan focused on the change in public perception as it relates to careers in skilled trades. County Council considered a report from Jim Pine, CAO, that a full organizational review be completed. He cited a human resource crisis within the public administration field and in order to attract and retain good, qualified staff, competitive salaries and working conditions are necessary.
At 1:30, the Emergency Control Group met. It was decided that the Town Hall would remain closed to the public but staff would return to regular work hours at the office.
The arena will be open to the public on Monday, January 30, 2022, with enforced COVID protocol.
The Emergency Control Group will meet in two weeks and reassess the provinces regulations and determine if it is appropriate to reopen the facilities to the public.
January 30th
I met with the CAO to review the reports on the agenda in preparation for the Planning and Council Meeting.
February 1st
I participated in the regular meeting of the HPEPH. Jo Anne Albert, was re-elected as Board Chair and I was re-elected as Vice Chair. Dr. Ethan Toumishey was unanimously appointed by the Board as Medical Officer of Health and CEO of Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.
It was reported that hospital admittance is slowly declining but he emphasized the extreme importance of following all safety precautions.