by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative
Essex adopts new Energy Consumption and Demand Management Plan
With the Province of Ontario requiring municipalities to create an Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan by July 1, Essex Council approved allotting $8,344.32 from the Town’s Green Fund Reserve to allow a Local Authority Services (LAS) to finalize a five-year Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan.
Council had to approve the funding from the reserve as it fell outside the 2024 Budget. This document will replace the Town’s previous plan, “2019 Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan.”
The Town of Essex is required to provide an Energy Consumption and Demand Management Plan to develop projects to formally address energy management initiatives, Director of Community Services, Jake Morassut, stated in his report on the matter.
“The Town of Essex has been committed to energy conservation for many years in order to reduce energy consumption, decrease operating costs, and to set an example for the community as to why energy conservation is important,” Morassut continues in the report.
“It is the intention of the municipality to further develop the Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan and enhance the Municipality’s commitments toward green projects, as well as upgrades to the Town’s aging infrastructure, which requires rehabilitation and/or replacement.”
Some of the items detailed in the plan, Morassut told Council, include the Town’s facilities, where it can get cost-savings in the future, and what methods the Town has undertaken to create cost-savings.
As per Provincial requirements, the Town will post the document on the essex.ca once it is available, so residents can view the material.
In 2029, another review will be required for a subsequent five-year plan.
Mayor Sherry Bondy spoke of running into a similar issue with multiple facilities on the different Boards she is a part of. Previously, there was a ‘turn off the baseboard heat’ practice around the end-of-May. Perhaps with the warmer climate, the Town should take a look at some of its facilities and turn down the heat earlier, she suggested.
Many of the Town’s facilities have Building Automation Systems, and staff ensures they are calibrated properly, Morassut noted.
“It is a tricky time of year, because some nights we will have very cool nights and some very hot days. So, sometimes the systems are running because the external temperature is different from the internal temperature, there are a lot of contributing factors for that,” Morassut noted. “But [the plan] is a way for us to look operationally where we can save money.”
Councillor Kim Verbeek added if the Mayor’s point is not mentioned in the plan, perhaps during those times of year where the weather is inconsistent, the Town should look at regulating facility temperatures manually.
Town of Essex Community Neighbourhood
Clean-Up Program launched
If individuals or groups are looking to host their own community clean-up, that initiative can now be registered on essex.ca, allowing organizers to pick-up gloves and garbage bags, and further arrange for Town staff to pick-up the filled garbage bags left at a designated location.
The idea of creating the new Town of Essex Community Neighbourhood Clean-up Program sprouted from many garbage-type clean-up initiatives being hosted throughout the community, Jake Morassut, Director of Community Services, told Council during the May 6 meeting.
The Town of Essex Community Clean-Up Program is being coordinated through the Parks and Facilities division.
It will take place from April 1 until October 31 each year.
Essex Council approved the distribution of resources – like gloves and garbage bags - and will allow for Town staff to pick-up the waste materials collected during community clean-up initiatives.
“The Town of Essex Community Clean-up Program encourages neighbours to come together for a common cause of removing litter from our municipality,” Morassut noted in his Report to Council. “It is a great way for residents to get to know their neighbours and provide an opportunity for people to get involved in keeping their neighbourhood safe, clean, and litter-free.”
The clean-up kits will be available at the Essex Centre Sports Complex or the Harrow & Colchester South Community Centre.
Pre-registration is required to take advantage of the program.
This initiative does follow one of the focus points outlined in Council’s Strategic Plan, adopted last-year as a roadmap for this Term of Council; to care for the natural environment.
“We want to make sure we are providing access to residents looking to [coordinate a clean-up],” Morassut said. “Having a clean community is great for everybody.”
Three organizations approved for grants through the Essex Tourism Events Fund
Members of Essex Council approved providing funding to three local events through the Essex Tourism Events Fund.
The McGregor Music Festival, an annual fundraiser for cancer, and Heritage Colchester’s Colchester Village Country Market were each approved to receive $1000, in addition $2,000 was awarded to the Colchester South & Harrow Agricultural Society for the Harrow Fair.
These funds will go towards event promotion.
In 2024, the Essex Tourism Events Fund has a total budget of $10,000. With this approval, $6,000 remains in the fund.
Fibromyalgia Awareness Day
to be recognized on May 12
Essex Council proclaimed May 12, 2024 as Fibromyalgia Awareness Day in the Town of Essex.
Fibromyalgia Awareness Day aims to raise awareness and end the stigma and discrimination that accompany this chronic illness.
Information sent to Council noted Fibromyalgia affects about five-percent of Canada’s population – over 2,000,000 men, women, and children of all ages and races.
VON Week 2024 proclaimed
for May 19 to May 25
Council proclaimed May 19 to May 25, 2024 as VON Week in the Town of Essex.
The Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada is a charitable, community-based healthcare organization that has addressed community health and social needs for 12- years.
Information sent to Council notes VON Windsor-Essex nurses, home support workers, community service coordinators, and many other staff and volunteers have been caring for the lives and well-being of residents of the Town of Essex since 1927, and that VON’s nursing, health promotion, and support services make a contribution to the healthcare system in Ontario.
Administration to prepare a report on merits of creating a voluntary resident check-in list
Administration for the Town of Essex was directed to return with a report regarding the merits of creating a voluntary list of Town of Essex residents who would like or need the Town to check on them at a time of prolonged power-outages, severe weather events, or disasters.
The report will also look into whether or not the Town should provide such services.
Councillor Kim Verbeek brought this matter forward as a Notice of Motion at the April 15 meeting. Council approved her motion to have administration look into the matter at the May 6 meeting.
“We know our population is growing in this municipality, but I think now is the time to start this list as we grow,” Verbeek told Council.
“We don’t want any of our residents to fall between the cracks. We learned last year, the hard way, when we had the three major [weather] events. We know now we do have vulnerable individuals living alone in the community.”
Some of those individuals are not linked to others through tech devices or cell phones.
Verbeek hopes the number of individuals on this list will be small.
She envisions this program – if it were to be adopted in the future – would be for individuals, who would like a check-in and do not have support close by, during extended power-outages or extreme weather events.
Creating such a list was an action item attached to Essex’s Climate Adaptation Plan, adopted in 2021. In addition, one of the key focuses of Council’s Strategic Plan for the term was to be a welcoming and caring community.
“We want to be a community that is caring. To do that, we have to look out for one another,” Verbeek added. “I think this would be a good way.”
She hoped suggestions would come from the Town’s staff as to who would follow-up on the check-ins.
Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley did have concerns with Town staff taking on the check-in project, but noted he was sure many questions will be brought up and answered in the report.
He wasn’t sure the Town needed to step in to fill this role, as typically churches, families, and neighbours would do so. He was also not sure the Town shouldn’t.
Councillor Katie McGuire-Blais spoke of other towns that have similar programs to this one, but are run by a committee overseen by the municipality. Councillor Joe Garon was also going to suggest a committee, perhaps piggybacking off the program that shovels driveways after a snowfall for vulnerable individuals.
Staff will come back with a report detailing possible options, CAO Doug Sweet said. Staff will also re-look at the regional Community Safety and Well-Being Plan that mandated looking at these types of initiatives.
Mayor Sherry Bondy added that this could potentially be a county-wide program.
Report to detail recommendations regarding Town-owned banners
Administration will return with a report detailing recommendations regarding the use of Town-owned banners within the municipality of the Town of Essex.
Councillor Katie McGuire-Blais brought the matter forward at the April 15 meeting as a Notice of Motion. Council approved it at the May 6 meeting.
McGuire-Blais explained this concerns the banners going on the new light posts. The reason for her request was to have a report outlining their use, if organizations will be able to utilize the program – and what kind of organizations and events would be permitted, and costs associated, before the Town gets flooded with requests.
Report to detail information regarding lead pipes
Council directed Administration to prepare a report for information regarding lead pipes in the Town of Essex.
Mayor Sherry Bondy brought forward this matter first as a Notice of Motion. Council approved the motion at the April 15 meeting.
Bondy sits on the Union Water Board and on the Ontario Municipal Water Association. She is learning a lot about water and wants to make sure the Town knows what is in its pipes and is doing everything possible in case there are some lead pipes out there.
“We really should have a zero-lead tolerance,” Bondy said.
Kevin Girard, Director of Infrastructure, believes it is a good idea to go forward with the report.
Bondy also thought about older Town-owned facilities and testing them, if they have not been done in some time.
Notices of Motion to be presented at May 21 Regular Council Meeting:
• Mayor Sherry Bondy will ask Council to consider directing Administration to come back with a report by the next Regular Council Meeting with ideas to support businesses impacted by the Tom Wright Drain Culvert closure.
• Mayor Sherry Bondy will ask Council to consider directing Administration to come back with a report discussing the inflow and infiltration to the Town’s storm and sanitary sewers, and potential solutions to help reduce flooding. The report should speak to the ability to create an inspection program to identify and repair cross-connections and sources of inflow and infiltration.
• Councillor Kim Verbeek will ask Council to consider directing Administration to send a letter to the Provincial government regarding the rising costs of leased land at mobile home parks and land-lease communities.