Transcript - Fire Bylaw and Election Updates - Corporate Services Committee

Good afternoon everyone. I'd like to bring the corporate services committee meeting to order. It's just past 12. Um Grimby is situated on treaty land. The land is steeped in the rich history of the first nations such as the Haranarang, the harana shani and anash shabi including the missagas of the of the credit first nation. There are many first nations mises and inuit people from across turtle island that live and work in Niagara today. The regional municipality of Niagara and Grimby stands with all indigenous people past and present in prompting the wise stewardship of the lands in which we live. Are there any disclosures of pecunary or non-percunary interest? Seeing none, just before we approve the agenda, I'd like to amend it it to discuss item 8.6 six immediately and also following the delegation as well. We'll defer item 8.5 which is the 2025 fire department accomplishments report till the next meeting. Chief Kay is not feeling well so he can't be here today to speak to it so we'll delay that. Okay. Can I have a mover and second to approve the agenda as amended? Councelor Hower Vardy. All in favor? That's carried. Can I get a mover and second her to receive the previous minutes? Mayor Jordan, Councelor Vardy. Resolve that the following minutes be received. Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee September the 18th, 2025, November the 13th, 2025, and January the 8th, 2026. the Grimby Downtown Improvement Area October the 8th, 2025, December the 10th, 2025, and January 14th, 2026, and the corporate services committee meeting on February the 2nd, 2026. All in favor? That's carried. Okay, we move on to delegations. And I'd like to welcome Adele. Is it Henelwood? get it right. Is here to speak on open air fire bylaw updates report. Adele, please come to the podium. It's all yours. There's a there's a button there to turn on the mic. Henry will show you there. Right there. Sorry. Okay. Um, so I live at 598 Ridge Road West in Ginsby and I am here because I want um it's called sensory receptor registry. So it's going to be referred to as SRR. I want the restrictions um from SRR removed from my property. So next slide. So um I live at 598 Ridge Road West. I operate a vertically integrated farm. I comply with all provincial, federal, uh, NEC, UNESCO protocol and exceeding normal farm practice guidelines. Policy for SRR was introduced in report number FCR 21103 open fires. that policy uh that was formed in that um report became bylaw 2117, a bylaw to prohibit and regulate the setting of open air fires within the town of Grimsby whatever and enacted by Grimsy Council Tuesday, April 6, 2021. The data collected for report FCR 21103 was urban exclusively. Um the full title of bylaw 2117 uses the word within as an identifier of the urban scope of the data collected for the report. And um rural and rural commercial citizens are not represented in bylaw 217. And as a rural commercial citizen myself, bylaw 2117 is counterproductive to normal farm practices and arming neighbors with misdirected SRR foundational ideology. Okay, next slide. So that report that I referenced um so this is directly from that report and if you can see um it just kind of what they were um um their scope of the study and what they were asking the data that they collected is under there what types of questions were asked of Grimby residents. Okay, the it was based on that data for that uh bylaw and as you can see it's highlighted urbanized urbanized urbanized area. Okay, it couldn't be clear it's mentioned four times there. There was also a post um Facebook town of Grimby and I can't read it from here but it says something about within town boundaries or urban something urban. So, so next slide. So, in that report, we're introduced to sensitive receptor. A sensitive receptor is a specific site where a local human population or wildlife habitat may have a greater susceptibility to health effects or environmental impact due to exposure to an air contaminant. that definition that's in quotes was like made or whatever like devised by this minister of the environment in 2016. So um um next slide. So um this is it signed and I've just highlighted the CAO of the per person who uh um conducted the report and also so this is the report being signed. So next slide then when it was turned into a bylaw it was signed by these two people or moved and seconded by those two people. Okay. and it was carried and just as like a cultural perspective that piece of that bylaw that was created and signed into was this is the paper the local paper and it has a lot to say about those three people and I'm not casting inspirations but it it seems like it there was a very a disconnect from the information presented in the report and the bylaw that was written and enacted. Okay, next next thing. So, SRR tob at 598 Ridge Road, my property, I don't have a point po point or anything, but all of that white area. Yeah, my property is that L-shaped property there, that little black house. Yeah, right there. That's my house. My my farm is 4 and a half acres and it's a flag shaped property. So I have 200 feet of footage on ridge road and then it goes back and then it goes back and then so because of the SRR it's like a 75 foot or 75 meter or something whatever. So right away this is supposed to be a um the the registrant is supposed to be anonymous like there should and right away this map I know who the who the registrant is because of the what's highlighted there and um this uh and then I highlighted down that so someone someone has a a a sensitivity to an air contaminant, they only have to bring a doctor's note, which is free to get in and it's a province of Ontario. That it is up to the fire chief to I don't know what the metric is. There's no transparency of what the what it is. It's just a doctor's note and that is required to say that they require like you can see that white area of what this person is in entitled to under this SRR registry like this thing. So the requirements are very low and the the metric by which to to judge if someone is actually compromised in a way that requires such extreme protection. We we have no idea what that metric is and there's no way of questioning it. And um number 36 it says that this this person the registrant SRR registrant takes precedence over everything and it's only will be reviewed from time to time. Okay. So this SRR stuff is all new legislation. It's huge. So when you're defining an air contaminant, we have a open air fire which is on the left. That is my actual property. On the right is a picture of the registrant, his tenant farmer um spraying glyophate. Next slide. So we have open air fire versus glyophate. And we have open air fire which has existed forever. And I just want you to know about glyophate. What we know it kills bees. It kills humans. It's a restricted aggrochemical and operator license posting is required. Not that it is used in the example that I just gave, but it and what we know know is that like um that CBC report was from 2022 or something and um it there was 100% bee loss in Niagara and it cost $1 billion and it is directly linked to glyophate. So when we're talking about an air contaminant that is referenced in the SRR legislation, it's like an open air fire is like so like glyovate. We have evidence of it affecting me. Like I live right next to that field that's sprayed all the time. So you know what I mean? Like how how are we going to restrict that? Okay. Next. Next. And so also let's not forget about air contaminant about the world burning down the last past couple of summers. And again these are pictures right from my farm. And um yeah I I have no control over that either. So um so just a comparison of the SRR registrant and um and the affected property me that's me. I'm the affected pro property. So 59A Ridge Road where I live is I'm an O owner operated farm business. I carry membership with the OFA and I have received provincial and federal farm certifications. I was approved by the NEC which is the most strict land governing body in the province to operate a retail farm store which required approval from the Niagara Conservation Authority and the town of Grimby. It was a three-year process. So, all of that detailed information is already on file with the town of Grimby as a um commercial entity. Um I'm a full-time resident of Grimby and my brand positioning is all natural. So, the SRR program is supposed to be anonymous. We're not supposed to know anything about who the registrant is. The mapping shows exactly who that is. Sorry. And um that has been redacted because um not only is the process um not transparent, but it has been very uh very poorly and to the point of like like the word isn't fraud, but it's there's a lot of room for abuse of this. um SRR stuff in the bylaw that that's so I want it removed from my property because it's affecting my farm. And um yeah, that's uh my final thing. Adele, thank you very much for your for your delegation. Are there any questions from the committee? here Jordan. Um maybe just a comment. Uh um I I do see the problem uh being a resident on Ridge Road as well, I do see the problem of um the person who's complaining about this um an open open air burning. Um when done properly, uh really it shouldn't be stopped in my opinion. That's my personal opinion. Uh um and given the fact that we have uh medical marijuana on hallway and quite often you can smell that as well. Sorry. Turn that off there. Um, you can smell that quite often and given the summer we had with the forest fires, uh, the contaminants in the air quite often on many days, you couldn't tell who, if anyone was, uh, burning a fire. It smelt like smoke quite often up on on the escarment. And uh and I do agree they they the overuse of u glyphosphate um both for drying down on soybeans h like it it it really it it does worry me the use of that chemical and the fact that it kills bees and the fact that uh farmers are allowed to spray because there and I don't I am a farmer and as as are you I understand that they have a business to run and everything, but because so many of these farmers rent literally 2 to 3,000 acres, they tend to have to spray in a set timeline. So some a lot of times now they're spraying when when the wind is too high, so you're getting uh chemical drift. And so I think that bylaw just open air burning isn't is is is too constrictive. But um I'll leave it at that. Councelor How? Go ahead. I got to learn how to do this. There. That's step one. Thank you. That was very well said. You you spoke eloquently and and and from the heart and from the head. Thank you very much for your delegation. Any other questions or comments from the committee? None. Okay. Yeah. Sorry, Council Vardy. Council Vardy, go ahead. Um, can I propose that the bylaw be reviewed and that her situation be reviewed? Council, that is on the That is on the agenda. That's next coming up. Oh, okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. I see no other questions. Uh, can I have a mover and a seconder to receive the delegation? Councelor How, Mayor Jordan, resolve that the delegation from Adele Henchelwood be received. All in favor? And that's carried. I'm feeling like councelor have over here. Okay. Mover and seconded to get the open air fire bylaw updates report on the floor for discussion. Moved by councelor Vardy, seconded by councelor How. Deputy chief, are you around? Are you able? Yes, I am. It's your turn. Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon to you and the committee and the delegation. My name is Don Sharon. I'm the deputy chief and I'm here representing Fire Chief Kay who's not able to be here today. This afternoon, we are presenting a proposed update to the town's open air burning bylaw. I'm here with Jennifer Delaney, who's the chief fire prevention officer and the officer of this report and instrumental in the development revisions of this bylaw. These are changes are not a major policy shift. Instead, they are practical, up-to-date to make the bylaw cleaner, easier to apply, and easier to enforce. Since the bylaw was approved in 2021, staff had identified areas where more clarity is needed. In particular, we have seen confusion around permit requirements, setback distances, and the sensitive receptor registry and the complaint process. The update in the bylaw improves the clarity in several important ways. The first, it clearly outlines permit types, eligibility rules, and documentation requirements. This will reduce confusion for the residents and make the application process more efficient. Second, it strengths strengthens the sensitive receptor registry. This amendment introduced an annual renew process clearly documentation required and clearly linking the registry properties to the permit issued within 75 m. It also provides clear rules on how distances are measured that supports fairness, transparency, and consistent decision making. Third, the compliant enforcement process is clarified. The updated bylaw defines how complaints are accepted and ensures that enforcement actions are tied directly to the violations of the bylaw. Existing enforcement tools remain in place, including orders to extinguish fire, administration uh penalties, and cost recovery. However, the revised wording makes these tools cleaner and more defensible. Overall, these amendments approve how we assess compliance, maintain public safety, apply the bylaw consistently across the community, and update maintains are in alignment with the neighboring municipalities. There is no direct financial impact. Existing fees and enforcement tools remain unchanged, and improved clarity is expected to reduce the staff time spent managing the disputes. In summary, these changes modernize the bylaw, strengthen public safety protections, and provide clear expectations for the residents and staff. We are recommending approval of the update of the open air bylaw. Thank you. We're happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Deputy Chief Sharon. I'll open the floor for discussion or comments starting with starting with going once, going twice. No. Thank you very much for the for the update. And I think that'll probably be favorable to our our delegation. So, um, resolve that report FCR26-02 open air fire bylaw updates dated March 9, 2026 be received and one that the corporate services committee recommend council approve the draft bylaw to regulate the setting of open air fires attached to this report as appendix A. All in favor? and that's carried. Thank you very much for your input. There are no consent reports. However, can I get a mover and second to get the 2026 municipal elections update report on the floor for discussion? Mayor Jordan, Council How, I'm going to turn it over to our clerk Tori to take us through it. I just have a quick uh statement to read just before we get into this. I know there's many governance discussions underway across the region right now. So, until we receive clear direction from the province, we're going to continue preparing and planning for a municipal election as scheduled. Um we're going to be ready to alter our approach when needed and when more information is available. Uh and we'll report back. Uh but at this time, we're going to proceed. There's a lot of reports on the agenda today about the election. So, we're going to just keep going uh until we get told otherwise. So, um, I just don't want to confuse governance in the elections. Uh, we're going to sort of operate in our elections bubble today if the committee's agreeable and we're happy to answer questions about the reports. So, uh, I just wanted to say that before I turn it over to Katie for an explanation on the report. All right, Katie, your turn. Thank you through your chair. Um, so this report provides an update on the 2026 municipal and school board elections. Um, including information on internet voting assistance, advanced poll dates and times, and election day voting hours. Um, so internet voting will begin on October 5th at 12:00 p.m. and end on voting day, which is October 26th at 8:00 p.m. Both the library and town hall will be used as internet voting assistance centers to aid electors during regular business hours, which is helpful um for the library, too, just because um they're open on in like evenings and weekends as well. So, you've got greater um um inclusivity there. Uh advanced polls will be offered on Wednesday, October 14th from 10 to 8 and Saturday, October 17th from 10:00 to 6:00. Both polls will be held at the major refrigeration Peach King Center. On excuse me, on election day, the polls will be open from 10 to 8 on October 26th. So the Ward 1 poll will be held at Niagara West uh YMCA. That is the same as the 2022 election. Ward two will be held at Central French Immersion School, which is formerly Grimby Secondary School. Ward three will be held at the major refrigeration Peach King Center and Ward four will be held at uh Leona Training Center. Um in addition, Grimby's four retirement homes will be each be visited in advance of vote uh a voting day for up to two hours on one of the following days, October 13th, October 16th, or October 19th. Um it's a lot of dates and times thrown at you, but I'm happy to take any questions if you do have any. Thanks. Resolve the report TC26-05 2026 municipal elections update dated March 9, 2026 be received. All in favor? And that is carried. Okay. Hey, can I have a mover and second to get the elections recount policy and bylaw report on the floor for discussion? Council Vardy, Mayor Jordan, over to you again, Katie. Go ahead. Thank you through your chair. Um, so this report presents administrative updates to the town's election recount policy in preparation for the 2026 election. Um, so very they're very minor changes. the um old policy, we wanted to change it into the current corporate policy template. So, we've um the look of the policy overall looks different, but the content of it is very much uh the same for the most part. Um other than things like reference to alderman was replaced with counselor. Um regional chair recount procedures were removed and there were some legislative updates um uh just to be in line with the municipal act there. So while no substantive changes were required to the existing policy, conducting the review and update in advance of the election is considered good good practice. So happy to take any questions. Sorry. Thank you Katie. Any questions, comments from the committee. Seeing none, resolve that report TC26-06, election recount policy and bylaw dated March 9, 2026, be received and that one, the corporate services committee recommend council approve the election recount policy and bylaw attached as appendix A and appendix B. All in favor and that's carried. Can I get a mover and second to get the 2026 restricted acts bylaw report on the floor for discussion? Council how mayor Jordan Katie go ahead. Thank you through you chair. Um so the purpose of this report is again to present administrative updates to the town's current bylaw um to delegate certain duties and acts during restricted periods after nomination day or the election of a new council. Um so section 275 of the municipal act does um provide that the council of a municipality shall not take any action described in subsection 3 after the first day during the election for a new council on which it can be determined that one of the following applies to the new council that will be taking office. Um so the act does go into some confusing wording but just to make it simple um for our council a council of nine if seven eight or nine counselors run again we do not go into a restricted period as there is enough continuity if six or less run we do enter a restricted period and this rule reply uh applies twice so after August 21st which is nomination day and after election day. Um and just to provide some background the restricted actions are as follows. The appointment or removal from office of any officer of the municipality, the hiring or dismissal of any employee, the disposition of any real or personal property of the municipality that has a value exceeding $50,000 at the time of disposal, and making any expenditures or incurring any other liability which exceeds $50,000. Um, so if we do enter a restricted acts period, the CEO will report to council on any actions that were taken in the first quarter of 2027 um, regarding any exercise of this delegated authority. Um, but overall the bylaw simply updates the 2022 bylaw with 2026 information. Nothing has changed. Happy to take any questions. Thank you, Katie. Any questions or comments from the committee? Things haven't changed really a lot from last time, right? No. Okay. You're just kind of more up informing us. Yeah. Okay. Resolve that report TC26-07 2026 election restricted acts bylaw dated March 9, 2026 be received and that the corporate services committee recommend council approved the revised restricted acts bylaw attached as appendix A. All in favor? That's carried. Okay. Can I get a mover and second to get the delegation of council authority bylaw report on the floor for discussion? Jordan, councelor, how you're a busy gal today, Katie, you're back on. Thank you. Go ahead. Last one, I promise. Um, so this one's pivoting uh pivoting from the election for a moment. So, the purpose of this report is to present a revised and consolidated delegation of council authority bylaw. Um, so the municipal act does require us to pass a policy respecting the delegation of council's powers and duties. The town's current bylaw was adopted in 2007 and has not undergone a comprehensive review since that time. Um, over the years, council has enacted numerous standalone or one-off delegation bylaws to address specific matters. Um, and as a result, delegations are fragmented uh across multiple bylaws and certain authorities are out outdated or inconsistent. The newly proposed bylaw does set out the nature and scope of delegations um the appointment of signing officers and repeals previously enacted delegations by consolidating them all into one full um comprehensive bylaw. It is important to note that while this proposed bylaw delegates certain administrative powers and duties to designated staff um such delegation does not impede council's jurisdiction to exercise any power that it currently retains. The delegation framework is intended to authorize staff to act within defined administrative parameters for efficiency and clarity, not remove council's direction over or sorry, discretion over those matters. Um, the bylaw has been reviewed by legal council and is structured to comply with the municipal act. Um, ensuring that no powers reserved exclusively to council are delegated and all statutory limits are respected. Happy to take any questions. Thank you, Katie. Once again, are there any questions or comments from the committee? Councelor Hower, go ahead. I can't hear you. Katie, um, is with the strong mayor powers that were enacted, does that impact any of what we're talking about right now, like in the delegation of authority? Um, through you, chair. No, it does not. That was a pretty direct answer. Any other questions or comments? All right. Seeing none, resolve that report TC-26-08 delegation of council authority bylaw dated March 9, 2026 be received and that the corporate services committee recommends council approve the revised delegation of council authority bylaw attached to this report as appendix B. All in favor? And that is carried. Okay. Can I get a mover and seconder to get the updating dispute processes report on the floor for discussion? Council Vardy, Mayor Jordan. I'm going to turn it over to Henry. Henry, do you get a chance? Go ahead. Thank you, chair. So the report in front of you today uh BY26-02 is just to provide um the committee with with information about updating the town's dispute processes. So um when an individual receives a penalty notice within the town of Grimsby under the AMP filer, they have the ability to dispute that through the screening process. Uh this part of this report is to notify uh the committee that uh the phone screenings um have been removed just due to some inconsistencies with being able to verify the identity of the individual on the other lines. So but we are offering uh the dispute process to be held uh either in person where they can come in and speak to the screening officer directly and or by written defense and uh submitting the evidence and then the screening officer can can uh review that information. And both those allow the individual to be heard. Um and then also gives that individual the opportunity to be in front of the screening officer and explain it in person uh directly to the screening officer. Uh the other part of this report is to update our uh hearing officer contract um as we did amend the animal care and control bylaw uh to have dangerous dog orders um appeals be heard by the hearing officer directly. Uh so that is that is um a vital step in animal care and control within the town of Grimby. Um as when when a dog is deemed to be dangerous, an animal control officer has the ability to uh put restrictions on that dog and or the owner to ensure and prevent any future incidents from occurring. I can take any questions if you have them at this time. I think we do. Thank you, Henry. Uh Mayor Jordan, go ahead. uh through you uh chair to um Henry. Uh I don't know if this is the the right time, but I think it is. How do we deal with um someone who who makes basically makes calls against the same person and um and just keeps repeating repeating complaints? I know cuz because our bylaws are on a complaint basis. How do we find out whether these con complaints are actually happening or frivolous in nature or because of whether they be because of the personal views of the complaintant. So for sure through you Mr. chair. Uh from the animal control side, uh with our with our contract with the Humane Society of Greater Niagara, animal control officers do go out pretty fast to complaints. Uh so this is where we can learn tendencies of an individual or a complainant to ensure that um we're either uh reviewing the matter immediately detailing the information and or even having uh that those individuals that are providing those extra uh complaints and they may be um excess in nature providing a bit more information a bit more evidence to ensure the accuracy of the complaint. And then from the bylaw side specifically, um we learn the tendencies inhouse of those complainants and then we follow that same process to ensure that complainants provide a bit more information. Um if we've gone out a few times where there's no relevant uh violations or information just to ensure that um we're holding the complaintants accountable in this case as well. Thank you. I can't see. She's No, she's good. Uh, thank you, Henry. Just a quick question or u some It's great that we're bringing everything back to Grimby and we're kind of doing things locally here, which is fantastic. I'm sure it serves a lot saves a lot of cost and helps to the constituents and residents better as well. Um so when when someone has a um uh wants to defend their position on whatever infraction they have uh in the case of I guess part I guess parking tickets or those types of things. So they come in here. Do they have to I guess they have to make an appointment. What's the process like? What how do they get to you to is it you they come to to uh to plead their case? I'll put it that way. So through Mr. Chair, the screening officer is not myself. So, the screen officer is another town employee that is separate from municipal law enforcement to ensure that they provide that third party review of the situation. Kind of have that have that um have that regular and prudent person's test is what they kind of call it in the legal world. Um but uh it's a pretty simple process. It's a two p sorry a three-page application where they just need to provide some information uh from themselves uh the penalty notice information and then they can provide their position along with a signature on there. Uh so the form is a online fillable form along with having them in house here if they want to handw write them. Uh so essentially that would then be submitted to municipal law enforcement where I would then schedule time with the screening officer and then they would come in and speak to the screening officer directly. Uh so that would remove municipal law enforcement from that process. All that we do is provide the relevant evidence that the officer had collected during that investigation and then it's up to the screening officer to make that judgment call. at that time. It removes municipal law enforcement to ensure that that proper review of that penalty notice is done to to ensure that it's fair and accurate uh to to the defendants themselves. Thank you. So, you know, it's so it's a two-step process basically. That's correct. And then and then essentially if if the individual then disagrees with the screen officer, they can then go to our hearing officer on contract which is a third party uh contractor altogether. So, um, we currently utilize Rutherford Prosecutions as our hearing officer. U, the owner of that business is a former prosecutor out of the city of Hamilton. So, we are very confident in their position to review these matters and the hearing officer's decision would be final and binding in these matters. We thank you for that. Any further questions or comments? Thank you, Henry. Appreciate that. Resolve that report BY26-02 updating dispute processes dated March 9, 2026 be received for information. All in favor? That's carried. There's no correspondence. Are there any other business pertaining to this committee? Councelor H. Councel Vardy. Mayor Jordan. No. Seeing none, next meeting will be held on the 13th of April of 2026. Same time, 12:00 p.m. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much. Thank you.

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