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County of Essex Council notes for Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Writer's picture: ESSEX FREE PRESSESSEX FREE PRESS

by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative  

Tri-Party Emergency Response Services Agreement authorized

Essex County Council authorized the Clerk and the Warden to execute the Tri-Party Emergency Response Services Agreement.

This is between the County, the City of Windsor, and the Canadian Red Cross.

Information provided by administration notes The Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act requires every municipality to develop and implement an emergency management program, and formulate an emergency plan governing the provision of necessary services during an emergency. Also, the procedures under, and the manner in which, employees of the municipality and other persons will respond to the emergency.

Council has to adopt the emergency management program and emergency plan via by-law.

This will meet that obligation.

Under the agreement, the County will have to pay $21,888 per year to have the Red Cross on standby to assist in the event of an emergency. The report noted the County is obligated to pay 45.6% of the annual $48,000 cost.

It adds that continuing to pay the Red Cross to be on standby to provide the Services in the event of an Emergency is more cost-effective than the County acquiring all the various supplies required to provide the services itself.

Update on delegation application for upcoming ROMA Conference

County Council was provided information regarding the delegation application for the upcoming Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) Conference, which was to be held in Toronto, Ontario from January 19 to January 21, 2025.

County CAO Sandra Zwiers explained in late November, Administration applied to delegate to three Ministries: The Ministry of Transportation (MTO), Ministry of Infrastructure (MOI), and Ministry of Health (MOH).

Confirmation has been received from all three Ministries.

To the MTO, the County will request provincial support for urgent infrastructure upgrades to accommodate the transformative growth occurring in the Windsor-Essex region. Essex County is prepared to contribute $45 million towards the estimated $105 million cost of each interchange project (County Road 22 at County Road 19 and Lesperance Road) and is ready to begin preparatory work in 2025.

The delegation to the MOI will be held with the Town of Tecumseh to advocate for funding support through the Housing-Enabling Core Servicing Stream (HECS). This funding would enable critical transportation infrastructure improvements along Manning Road, which is vital to unlocking new housing, the report adds.

Essex-Windsor EMS will request the Ministry of Health transfer the operational responsibility for the Windsor Central Ambulance Communications Centre (CACC) to the County of Essex, allowing Essex-Windsor EMS to manage day-to-day decision-making under a performance agreement with the Ministry. The report notes this move would enable more agile and responsive dispatching, leveraging the region's successful community paramedicine programs to improve patient care and outcomes.

Following the conference, County Council will be provided with a summary of delegation efforts, including issues raised and materials shared, to publicly report on the County’s advocacy at ROMA, the Report to County Council notes.

Additional funds received through Canada Community Building Fund surplus

Essex County Council directed administration to distribute the County’s surplus Canada Community Building Fund (CCBF) dollars, using the County’s established cost-sharing method for this program. It also authorized By-Law 2025-01 to redistribute administrative surplus funds received through the Canada Community Building Fund.

Melissa Ryan, Director of Financial Services/Treasurer, explained the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) administers this program. Every five-years, its administrative costs are reconciled. Any surplus is redistributed to the municipalities that receive the regular annual funds.

AMO announced it had $10.5 million in administration funds to distribute.

For 2024, a surplus of $179, 381 was identified for the County of Essex.

The County has an 80 (local municipalities)/20 (County) cost-share with the seven local municipalities. Meaning, $143,505 would be redistributed to local municipalities. $35,876 will remain with the County, Ryan added.

The County’s portion, as it was not anticipated, will be placed in reserves in 2024 and applied to eligible projects in 2025.

County to create contact form on website, so residents can email all 14 Councillors at once

Council for the County of Essex unanimously voted to direct administration to set-up a contact Council web base form, which will allow residents the ability to email all 14 members of County Council, the CAO, and Clerk, at once.

At the January 15 meeting, this option was presented as the preferred way of five potential methods to achieve a group email, as it was seen as the best way to meet legislative and security needs.

Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy brought the idea of creating a joint email forward as an opportunity for residents to share opinions and provide feedback to County Council as a whole back in November.

At the time, Essex County Council voted to direct administration to create a report on the feasibility of creating a distribution list for all members of County Council that aligns with the County’s Strategic Plan in working together as a team for residents.  

Some Councillors voiced support for the idea, while others shared a variety of concerns.

Eight were in support, with five opposed to the motion.

At last week’s meeting, Darrel Laurendeau, Director of Information Technology Services, outlined five options County Council could take to create a joint email: (one) status quo (residents are able to email any combination of members of Council by completing the recipient field of the email), (two) distribution list to local municipality email addresses, (three) distribution list to County of Essex email addresses, (four) contact County Council - website form, and (five) email the Clerk.

Laurendeau said each option has variable levels of risk in both legislative and data security.

The status quo option would require members of the public to copy and paste the email addresses of all 14 County Councillors.

Options two and three are distribution lists, but point to different email distributions. Both run the risk of rapidly disseminating malicious content through email systems.

Options One-three also pose a legislative risk as it relates to potentially having unofficial meetings.

Option four would create a form on the County of Essex website. Communications would be received and quarantined for threats. Communications would then be reported to members of Council, the Clerk, and CAO. The Clerk would then provide the communications to Council.

In terms of ease of use and lowering security risks, Laurendeau and County Clerk Katherine Hebert recommended option four as it was the most balanced approach.

For Kingsville Deputy Mayor Kim DeYong, the option to create a form on the County of Essex website seemed to meet the objective of allowing the public to reach all members of County Council easily and will prevent accidental Council meetings.

LaSalle Mayor Crystal Meloche spoke to the part of the Report to County Council that stated the Warden, as the head of Council, is the one who properly should reply to any emails to all of Council. The exception to this is if the Warden delegates a response to another member of Council or Administration.

As Councillors for the County, they would be able to read the correspondence, but are not to respond, Meloche confirmed.

Laurendeau noted that when taking a look at the protocols, that would be the most appropriate response.

Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy thinks it is a step forward to County Council being more accessible to residents.

“If residents want to reach us, it should be quick, it should be easy, it should be convenient,” Bondy said.

Notice of Motion to be discussed

at the February 5 meeting

Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy will ask County Council to support asking a representative of the new mega hospital committee to attend County Council and explain where they are in the stage of construction and share the healthcare services that will be offered. She would like that to take place in the first or second quarter of 2025.

For additional County of Essex Council news, see the article “County of Essex to commence procurement process for Intensive Supportive Housing Program” in this edition of the Essex Free Press.

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