File photo showing the Omstead Bldg (DOC)

Central Elgin Council decided at their meeting of January 28, 2013 to share Lloyd Perrin's report on the Dominion of Canada Building (a.k.a. the Omstead Building) with the Port Stanley BIA and the Port Stanley Village Association, to gather their input, prior to making any budget decisions about the building.

Report PW 08-13: Dominion of Canada Building - PSVA request for renovations
While the PSVA and BIA should be commended on their interest in seeing the DOC building improved and better utilized, staff would respectfully suggest that some of the items being proposed given the uncertainty of the building and the potential for some of the Items being funded by a lease under the premise of lease hold improvements.

Painting: Staff would recommend that the colours for the painting be the same as the lift bridge towers with cream coloured walls and green trim to provide the visual appearance of aged copper. Staff recommends painting exterior walls after concrete repair, but not painting a mural on them.

Windows, Doors, & Awnings: The PSVA is recommending that windows and doors be replaced and window Awnings be installed. While they are suggesting this could be done through donation and at no cost to the municipality this may be premature given the long term vision of the harbour and whether the DOC building will be part of that vision. Staff would suggest that even if the materials and labour are donated for these types of improvements these investments could be lost in the future if the building is removed or extensively renovated.

Public Washrooms: The existing building is no longer serviced with municipal water. The water service to this building was not reconnected at the time of area water mains being replaced given the future of the building and/or the use of the building was not known. We would also note that the cost to reinstate the existing washrooms and have them conform to the building code and meet the new criteria for built environment to accommodate those living with a disability would be extensive. Staff would see the order of magnitude costs to reinstate these washrooms would be in an order of magnitude cost of approximately $75,000. Similar to the mural proposal, staff have some reservation with recommending this work to Council until the long term vision for the building has been determined.

We would note that all of the items described qualify to be funded from the contribution from the Federal government as it relates to maintaining the DOC Building which is considered Harbour Infrastructure under the terms of the agreement. Given the foregoing, staff are seeking direction from Council as to which items it wishes to consider as part of the 2013 Harbour budget.

Mayor Walters was the first to suggest this report be shared with the BIA and PSVA ahead of the upcoming Community Input meeting, so that Council can get feedback from them ahead of this coming up in the budget meetings.

Councillor McNeil concurred with the mayor, saying the report needs further discussion from these two groups at both the Community Input and the Harbour Visioning Committee meetings. He noted that the groups do have some available expertise as an accredited designer has come forward; combined with the offer of labour and money from these groups, "community involvement is good for the community," McNeil stated.

Deputy Mayor Marr questioned Perrin as to the current condition of the roof of the building and Perrin said the building has a structural concrete roof that does have a few cracks and some minimal leaking. If the municipality intends to keep the building, his department would recommend putting a metal roof overtop.

Council agreed to send a copy of this report, with a covering letter, to the Port Stanley BIA and PSVA, and wait until budget discussions to make any decisions on it.

Correspondence (Action)

1. Kettle Creek Conservation Authority - 2013 Budget: Notice of Meeting for Conservation Authority Levy Approval.
Central Elgin 2013 levy amount will be $55,963.56, an increase of $1,880.11 over 2012. The KCCA budget will get approved at their February 20, 2013 meeting. In the interim and to reduce our borrowing costs, we would appreciate your provision of one-half of the total levy apportioned to your municipality in 2013, at your earliest opportunity.

Councillor Martyn said she would like to see a breakdown of what comprises the budget, and not just the total amounts. Mayor Walters, who has missed the last two KCCA meetings, said the budget increase was due to a campground expansion and some hydro upgrades. Council approved the apportionment.

Correspondence (for Council's Information)

• Received as information without discussion
• 1. YMCA Grant: Correspondence received from YMCA thanking Council for 2012 Community Grant monies.
• 2. Elgin Group Police Services Board: Copy of minutes from Elgin Group Police Services Board Meeting dated December 12, 2012.
• 3. County of Elgin Land Division Committee - Decisions: Copy of Notice of Decision from County of Elgin Land Division Committee respecting Applications E 82/12 and E83/12 - Prespa Construction Ltd., 140 St. George Street.
• 4. Port Stanley BIA Board of Management: Copy of minutes from Port Stanley BIA Board of Management meetings dated December 5th and December 28th, 2012.
• 5. Heritage Central Elgin: Copy of minutes from Heritage Central Elgin Meeting dated January 23, 2013.
• 6. OGRA Board of Directors: Copy of Notice of Poll received from OGRA Board of Directors.
• 7. Port Stanley BIA Annual General Meeting: Notice of Port Stanley BIA Annual General Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, February 20th, 2013 @ 5:30 pm at Port Stanley Arena.

Reports

CAO 04-13: 2012 Municipal Study - BMA Management Consulting

• Central Elgin has the third highest (best) operating surplus ratio of all surveyed municipalities.
• Property taxes payable on a detached bungalow in Central Elgin are considered to be in the "mid" range for the 86 municipalities, just below the survey average and median
• Property taxes payable on a senior executive house in Central Elgin are considered to be in the "high" range for the 86 municipalities, above the survey average and median
• Property taxes payable on commercial properties (office building) in Central Elgin are considered "low" for the 86 municipalities, below the survey average and median
• Property taxes payable on commercial properties (neighbourhood shopping) in Central Elgin are considered "low" for the 86 municipalities, below the survey average and median
• Property taxes payable on standard industrial properties in Central Elgin are considered "low" for the 86 municipalities, below the survey average and median.
• Combined water and wastewater rates are identified in the high range.
• In 2011, the percentage of taxes receivable for Central Elgin was 9.1 %., above the average of 6.0% for southwestern Ontario municipalities participating in the survey.

This report was received as information. There are over 400 municipalities in Ontario but only 86 of them participate in this comparative study.

VIEW 2012 MUNICIPAL STUDY (click link and then scroll down left side of screen to find link to download this 431 page report)

CAO 06-13: Survey Results - Our Budget 2013, Citizen Input Survey
Staff collected 58 surveys in comparison to the 71 surveys that were submitted respecting the proposed Strategic Plan. The survey results cannot be considered statistically accurate as participation was completely voluntary. Like the earlier Strategic Plan survey, participation does not reflect the overall demographic makeup of the municipality as there was greater participation by persons over 55 than actually reside in Central Elgin with less participation by younger residents.

The vast majority of respondents seem to be late middle age couples without young children, and judging from the comments, most of the respondents live in Port Stanley.

By-law enforcement, though it ranks well on the list of priorities, ranks lowest on the level of satisfaction. Building inspection also ranks low on the satisfaction scale, as does winter sidewalk plowing and sanding.

Satisfaction with Parks, Beaches and Recreation Areas has room for improvement, as does Land Use Planning. The only two areas that really ranked high on the satisfaction scale with no one saying they were completely dissatisfied were Drinking Water and Fire Protection/Prevention.

Council received this report as information, noting the vast array of comments from individuals that had been included in it.

DFS 03-13: Establish Interim Tax Installment Dates and Formats
In previous years, Central Elgin has produced two separate tax bills for one municipal address if the property had both capped and non-capped assessment These bills would be due on separate dates requiring a ratepayer to make two payments and possibly two visits to the municipal office for each due date.

For the current year, staff have modified the format of the Central Elgin tax bill to eliminate the need for two bills and produce one comprehensive bill per municipal address. The bill will clearly identify the breakdown between capped and non-capped taxes. The bill will be printed on standard legal sized paper (8.5x14) with tear off stubs that include a bar code for each installment. The bar code font will help to expedite payment processing and is available for use as part of the existing tax system technology at no additional cost to the municipality.

Historically, ratepayers who have chosen to pay their taxes and utilities in person at the Central Elgin office have had to make multiple trips and payments on various dates. In an effort to streamline the billing and payment processes for all ratepayers, staff is proposing interim tax installment dates of March 15th and May 15th for 2013. These dates coincide with the due dates for the bi-monthly utility bills and will allow ratepayers to make one combined trip to address both their taxes and utilities with one payment. Staff will then ensure that the installment dates for the final tax billing also coincide with the due dates of the utility bills in late summer and early fall to ensure consistency for all ratepayers.

Councillor McFarlan wanted to know if the bills could be sent out electronically, through Canada E-Post, and paid on-line. DePrest said the municipality's current software has no where to put the email addresses and no way to integrate them into the system. She is trying to get all the bills integrated to coincide with times people normally have pre-authorized payments and payroll deposits go through their bank accounts, so it's one trip or one envelope, one cheque or debit card payment. Council received this report as information.

FS 01-13: Monthly Alarm Activities Report: Council received this report as information.

FS 02-13: Life Span of Tires on Emergency Service Vehicles
It has been brought to our attention by the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs that under N.F.P.A., National Fire Code 1911, tires shall be replaced on emergency service vehicles at least every 7 years

This matter has been brought forward, as there have been issues in Ontario where tire failures have occurred on front line emergency services vehicles. In particular, the most recent occurrence was a part-time volunteer department in Perth County.

It should be noted that these tires can be utilized on other non-emergency style vehicles, such as dump trucks, on rear wheel locations. It would be our Intent to pass on any tires that have been replaced to the Physical Services Dept. for their use.

Currently, we only change the tires on our emergency vehicles as needed; however, it has been our experience that on a typical truck, the tires will be changed out once in its life cycle of 20 years.

Councillor Matthews said that in his own investigation only the Ontario Fire Marshall's office had heard of this NFPA regulation 1911 to replace tires on emergency vehicles that are in excess of seven years old. He said the MTO never heard of the NFPA regulation and are concerned only with their own annual inspection of the trucks - which includes their tires. Matthews did not find anybody who was changing their tires every 7 years.

Crocker said the municipality might be opening itself up to liability if Council chose not to act after being informed and something were to happen.

Noting there are some 400 NFPA regulations, Matthews wants a subcommittee formed to look at any Crocker might want to bring before Council before they come to Council, so that Council is not forced to deal with all 400 regulations and their associated costs simply because they have been brought to Council's attention.

Mayor Walters said he has spoken with other mayors and they are aware of this issue, but the trend is to be changing only the front tires. Prior to budget meetings, Walters wants Crocker to bring back a report on how many trucks this will affect and how many tires he's talking about, and he wants Council to set up a protocol regarding the frequency of changing truck tires on emergency vehicles so there will be a clear process to follow before any tires are replaced.

FS 03-13: Alternate County Fire Co-ordinator
Council approved the appointment of Fire Chief Don Crocker, Director of Fire Rescue Services, as an Alternate County Fire Co-ordinator, by the Ontario Fire Marshal.

As the Alternate, the sole function would be to act In the absence of the County Fire Co-ordinator, who is St Thomas Fire Chief Rob Broadbent, to co-ordinate large scale fire events in the County where Mutual Aid was called for.

While in Lambton County as the Fire Chief for Moore Township, I was the Fire Co-ordinator for the County of Lambton. With this experience, the County Chiefs felt that I was the only fit for the appointment, Crocker states in his report.

Councillor Martyn wanted to know how many hours this would take and if it would overload Crocker "when you already feel overloaded?" she asked. Crocker thought it would not take more than an hour or two in a month.

By-laws
Taken and passed collectively:
By-law 1555: 2013 Interim Tax Levy
By-law 1556: ZBA - St. Thomas Cemetery Company, 42696 Southdale Line
By-law 1557: Confirmatory By-law

New Business: In response to an email complaint received earlier in the day regarding inappropriate behaviour by some fans at the Port Stanley Arena during a hockey game, Mayor Walters said he had instructed Lloyd Perrin to advise staff to expel people from the arena if they engage in inappropriate behaviour and to call in the OPP if necessary and have them charged. Perrin said he has a meeting scheduled with staff tomorrow to find out if they witnessed anything, "to get the other side of the story" as Perrin put it, and to instruct them as Walters has stated should they see this type of behaviour at any future events at the arena.

Unfinished Business
1. Year Round Depot: staff report to come forward

Closed Session
CS1: Labour Relations or Employee Negotiations (s.239(2)(d)) - Hiring of Firefighters
CS2: A Proposed or Pending Acquisition or Disposition of Land (s.239(2)(c)) - Private Roads
CS3: Educational or Training Session (s.239(3.1)) - Central Elgin Fire Rescue - PowerPoint Presentation