Thread by @LoveWilmot

The Monday, October 5 council meeting will begin at 7pm. Here's the agenda package, which was updated this morning: calendar.wilmot.ca//townshipcalen….

Watch the meeting live on YouTube - youtube.com/channel/UCcA8f… - or follow the live tweets here 👇

Mayor Armstrong gets us started, asking for people to consider local businesses. He asks for a moment's silence to think about the common purpose that brings council together tonight.

Before reading the land acknowledgement, Coun Hallman mentions that Oct 4 is the day when we remember missing and murdered Indigenous women.

No additions to the agenda nor declarations of pecuniary interest.

Coun Gordijk thanks the clerk for the minutes of the last meeting, and for including Mayor Armstrong's anti-racism reading list.

Minutes are carried.

We have a public meeting about a zone change application. There is a staff report on page 13 of the agenda package. Andrew Martin (Manager of Planning/EDO) gives a report on the application.

Coun Fisher asks about the size of the setback. Mr Martin says this will be covered in more detail in a subsequent report.

Coun Gordijk asks if there is an expected timeline for the report to come back to council, mentions the noise report.

Mr Martin says it's due in November. He says that the Region has commented on the noise issue. There will be comments re parking in the subsequent report.

There are a few delegations who want to speak on this application. First up is Craig Nichols; he and his family live beside the property in question. He has concerns about the proposed number of dwellings. "We were dealing with one family, not six."

Mr Nichols says, "I don't want to be dealing with renters peering over our fence...It's a privacy thing with us."

Next is Mark and Gloria Rathbone. Mark says he has a few concerns. He has no problem before, when he was dealing with one family. He mentions the amount of parking.

He thinks there might be 12 cars, with the proposed six family dwellings.

He wonders why the setback is changing, and about the effect on the value of his property. "Is it going to be devalued?" He asks if renters will care as much about the area; will owners be living there?

Ceri Nelmes is the next delegation. Her property backs on to the Hincks St. She shows a short video to "get a feel of what the street looks like." She asks that the application for the severance be rejected.

This slide from Ms Nelmes' presentation summarizes her concerns.

This is the final slide from Ms Nelmes' presentation.

The last delegation is Sam Head, the property's owner. He asks if he can be sent the presentations from the delegations so that he can respond to them. He says that the application fits within the Township's strategic plan. He addresses a few of the points raised earlier.

Coun Fisher asks Mr Head about the height of the homes, and if there will be a fence. He replies that they are expected to be two storeys.

Coun Pfenning thanks the delegations. She asks about the number of dwelling units and inhabitants. Mr Martin says there could be four units on one property, and two on the other.

Coun Fisher asks if these units will be for sale or rent. Mr Head says they will be for sale.

The public meeting is closed. Council votes in favour of receiving the staff report for information.

On to the Procedural By-law Amendment - Electronic Participation of council meetings. Dawn Mittelholtz (Director of Clerk's Services/Director of Information and Legislative Services) gives a report.

Coun Hallman asks about the 48 hr time frame, as it might not be possible to adhere to it if a councillor's family is experiencing illness in a time of the coronavirus. She asks for the 48 hrs to be omitted, and requests a change of wording.

Ms Mittelholtz says that is possible, if council wishes it. Her reason for 48 hrs is because that seems to be the common timeframe referred to in other municipalities.

Coun Gordijk says she was also going to raise the issue of 48 hrs, especially because meetings are on a Mon.

Coun Pfenning says she understands why 48 hrs might be needed for setting up the technical aspects of council meetings. She says that if staff can meet those needs, then she has no problem with removing the time. She suggests that council review the bylaw if needed in future.

Coun Pfenning says she's pleased to see how much community engagement there has been since meetings have been conducted online.

Coun Hallman asks for the addition of recorded votes for electronic meetings.

Patrick Kelly (Director of Finance) says he thinks that staff might be able handle the technical setup for meetings in less than 48 hrs, and would expect council members to be respectful of staff's time.

Coun Pfenning says we have to write policies that are flexible to address a situation, as there might be council members in future who don't respect staff's resources.

Coun Fisher says he's in favour of allowing as much time as possible for IT to do their jobs. Mayor Armstrong agrees.

Report Number ILS 2020-26 is received for information, and By-law Number 2020-36 is endorsed, with the 48 hr timeframe amendment.

Now we're on to a report about the Supplementary Agreement with Createscape Waterloo Region. "This supplementary agreement addresses the legal obligations of the Township and Createscape Waterloo Region concerning 'The Unfortunate Four' statue grouping." *

* Note: When I reviewed the agenda package for this meeting, I noticed that the Supplementary Agreement refers to the Original Agreement, which was signed in May 2016 by Mayor Armstrong, former Township clerk Barb McLeod, and Don Bourgeois (Createscape).

I searched through all the open council meeting minutes for 2016 and couldn't find the Original Agreement mentioned anywhere. The actual Original Agreement document was not available on the Township's website, either.

On Sun eve, I emailed the Township to request that they add the Original Agreement to today's agenda package, which would make it available to the public, and also give context to the Supplementary Agreement that is before council today. It was added this morning. Here it is.

Coun Gordijk asks if the Township has any input into the commissioning process. Mittelholtz defers to Tracy Loch (Castle Kilbride Curator/Director) as she has served longer on the design committee. She says the committee has some input.

Coun Gordijk: What's the process for the overseeing the educational programme? Where can it be found? And how is it funded?

Ms Mittelholtz says that Nipissing University does the work, and they come to the committee meetings. School groups are directed to the relevant website.

Ms Loch gives some more information about the resource material. Says it follows the curriculum, and it's balanced.

Coun Gordijk asks about the makeup of the design committee, refers to numbers, and asks about potential dispute resolutions, as referred to in the Original Agreement. Ms Mittelholtz says in her experience, the committee has always come to a consensus.

Coun Pfenning says that the Supplementary Agreement looks reasonable to her.

Coun Hallman thanks staff for including references to Truth and Reconciliation in the report. She asks about the curriculum aspect of the education program.

Ms Loch says that the website can be accessed by anyone.

John Bailey is speaking as a delegation. He's a music engineer, and he says that if he produced a song that hurt a group of people, he would seek to make amends. He feels that local residents have been side-lined.

He asks why Wilmot taxpayers should take over the burden of storage from Createscape.

Mr Bailey mentions that PM Path co-founder is on the record as saying that the educational program needs work, and Wilmot is a small town that might not be able to accommodate it.

Sorry, that should be PM Path co-founder Mr Rodger.

Mr Bailey comments that the PM Path committee doesn't post agendas or minutes. If Township staff are part of the committee, then resources are being used. This comes at a cost, so that doesn't meet with the Township's claim of zero costs.

Coun Pfenning says that she's concerned with some missing text in the Original Agreement that has been provided, a point that was also raised by Mr Bailey. Ms Mittelholtz says she can reach out to Createscape to find out what the missing text says.

Coun Gordijk says she's not comfortable voting on this Supplementary Agreement until the missing portion of the Original Agreement is clarified. She says that the motion from a few meetings ago already says that the Unfortunate Four would be going into storage.

Ms Mittelholtz says she would prefer not to speak any further on this until she's consulted the Township's solicitor.

Coun Hallman and Ms Mittelholtz are discussing whether or not the costs of storing the Unfortunate Four has already been passed by council. The dispute seems to be because the staff report was rejected by council.

Coun Hallman says she's concerned about the Township's responsibility with regards to overseeing the development of educational resources. She asks if the Township has a formal agreement with Nipising University. Ms Mittelholtz says she doesn't know.

Coun Pfenning says this discussion shows that there are too many unknowns. Even though council is voting on the Supplementary, rather than the Original Agreement, she expects that Createscape would have an original copy of the agreement.

Like Coun Gordijk, Coun Pfenning mentions that council members are legally liable for their decisions for 10 years after they leave council, so this is a concern.

Coun Fisher asks if there is a timeline when council has to approve the Supplementary Agreement or accept the Unfortunate Four statues. Ms Mittelholtz says she doesn't know if the statues are complete.

Coun Gerber says he agrees that the Supplementary Agreement is reasonable. He says that the statue needs to be paid for by Createscape, which can only happen after the Township takes possession of the Unfortunate Four, as per the Original Agreement.

Mayor Armstrong asks for clarification of the will of council. Coun Pfenning says that she moves that council defers the Supplementary Agreement; Coun Fisher seconds the motion. Council votes to defer.

Sandy Jackson (Director of Facilities & Recreation Services) is giving a report on the RFP Award Constitution Park Playground (additional equipment). The recommendation is to award the contract to Play Power LT Canada, for the amount of $47,336.

Coun Hallman asks if there was any consultation with the community. Ms Jackson describes how the additional equipment addresses comments from residents. Coun Hallman thanks Ms Jackson for meeting those requests.

Ms Jackson answers Coun Gordijk that the new equipment will be in place by Nov 11.

Coun Gerber thanks Ms Jackson and Ms Schenk for their work.

Council votes to award the contract to Play Power LTD Canada.

Ms Jackson has another report, RFP Award Youth Optimist Park Playground. Council votes to award the contract to Open Space Solutions, at a cost of $98,168.

Correspondence: Letter from Robert Roth. The earlier delegation, John Bailey, says that Mr Roth is not a Township resident or taxpayer. The letter is received for information.

No Notices of Motion.

Announcements: Coun Fisher says he's pleased to see that Rotary Wilmot and ICC have a 2021 calendar fundraiser.

Coun Hallman talks about #NationalTeachersDay. She also mentions following the province's guidelines about smaller gatherings for Thanksgiving.

Coun Pfenning says she accepts Chair Karen Redman's food bank challenge. She urges residents visit the Wilmot Stronger Together Facebook page and our local Sobeys for details of their support for the local food bank.

We're adjourned at 9:07pm.