Transcript - Civic Square Funding Approved - Committee of the Whole Meeting 2 - Wednesday, April 1, 2026 - 9:30 a.m.

Civic Square Funding Approved - Committee of the Whole Meeting 2 - Wednesday, April 1, 2026 - 9:30 a.m. - City of Richmond Hill

Good afternoon everybody. Um I will call this meeting to order one more time. We are back after our um lunch break and we will continue with our agenda. We have three items that we that we need to deal with um in this particular segment. And the first one is agenda item 11.3 which was pulled from the agenda uh from the consent agenda by deputy mayor Godwin Chan. The floor is yours sir. Thank you. Uh thank you madame chair. Uh welcome back I guess right after lunch. Um I put this item uh not that meaning I have concern about the recommendation. Um as one of the delegates uh this morning as well is always good to um certainly we are being transparent and open that's why we have a star report as well as the item here. But the question arises when oh uh on one hand you might have said to us so much us meaning uh uh everybody out there including ourselves and then now you come back um to ask for more. So I appreciate the report which give the reason for that. Um and I understand it compact and condense the schedule. Um from my end um madame chair uh I would certainly like to move the motion recommending A to C so we can start a conversation. I think Mr. Kirk will appreciate that. Thank you. And sorry um but it might help not just myself maybe uh for everyone who might be looking listening um is that and I kind of touch on uh on page seven it did say the numbers now is moving from class D to class A and so for you madam chair I notice that director uh Lette is here can you help us to understand through you madam chair um with the tables on page seven and require additional funds. I think the situation I want to get some um maybe hard to confirm but uh some indication we don't expect to come back to you again whether this term council or next term oh there may be more um so like to have some sort of assurances to the extent possible that whatever being present on page seven uh representing the best known uh situation at this point in time through you madam chair thank you director Le would like to speak. Thank you. Oh, the commissioner. Sorry, let me go to the commissioner first. My apologies, sir. I just saw him sitting there. Commissioner through the chair, counselor Chan, thank you for the question. Um, the team is very confident uh that what we've outlined in page seven and table one uh is going to be what's needed to bring the uh project to to fruition. It is our best estimates and for clarity uh we did identify that the original work is based on a class D estimate which uh for all projects when they come to us from planning are very conceptual in nature and represent you know between a 20 and 35% delta and it's only through the refinement in detail design that were able to get a lot closer and I think as you articulated the report explains that journey uh and why you see a contingency of half a million dollars uh at the bottom And typically when you get to a class A or B estimate uh you know the final estimate is closer to five and 10 percent which is why generally that half a million dollars represents in the neighborhood of a 15% contingency of a project that's large uh of magnitude in this in the scale and scope and of importance for the city as well. Thank you. Um yeah it's uh thank you for your answer through madam chair to commissioner is yeah roughly about 12% of contingency funds. Hopefully that uh would be uh sufficient but I I'm encouraged by hearing that uh the commissioner saying that assuring uh that's the best estimate u to the extent of knowledge they have. Um now I do noted that part of the u the condensed schedule is due to maybe having a a sooner grand opening event. Uh uh maybe there's something else. Is it taking advantage of maybe the construction cost? Maybe um hopefully it's more competitive now. Is that I'm not as clear. It is mentioned but I'm not as clear. That's one of the number of consideration why compress into a more um uh quicker uh schedule or shorter schedule through Madame Chair. Is that through the chair? through the chair to councelor Chen and correct me if I misunderstood the question. You're inquiring about uh the opening event and to the extent that's budgeted. Is that correct? Well, I I I believe the grand opening event is only one of the drivers that might lead to um lead to a condensed or expedited schedule. Uh are there any other factors which should also be highlighted here? Uh maybe I'm missing the report for you, Madam Chair. Sure. Go ahead. Do the chair to councelor Chan. There's several factors that are driving the increased costs that are outlined in the report. Uh to the extent that the grand opening is included here is because it's a known cost and I think it's recognized that this is one of the jewels in Richmond Hill that uh come that time when we want to highlight uh the groundbreaking uh of this project for the community that as opposed to budgeting for it separately. Uh you'll see within the report it's very clear that the attempt is to consolidate a lot of the park related um elements into one bucket into one budget item and that's why that is there and there are other elements that that are articulated in the report without getting into all the detail that uh highlight you know where the uh additional budget request is being driven from. through madame chair thank you for the answers commissioner I did see that the role number one on page seven I mentioned early on including a number of things uh so uh on that note I just want to um comment which is a good one is on page six they're talking about they'll be coordinating I think a part of the package uh the Wi-Fi connectivity because I uh I often hear from operators at Richmond the indoor sports compact is no Wi-Fi connectivity so that will be a welcome uh addition if that will be there. Uh the other thing is just a comment I don't need the information now because probably we're still working on it is public art and actually it was mentioned earlier on in discussion about something else uh public art was mentioned so that would be certainly welcome you can afford it. So um my time is almost up and as I said I just want to clarify certain things and thank you madame chair for me to seek clarification as well as uh moving for the recommendation A B and C and I think part of the good thing is that all coming from reserve fund which is not going to have any tax rate impact and I think that's important for taxpayers to know. Thank you. Thank you. My next speaker on the list is Councelor Davidson. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for the report. Um, I'm going to propose a deferral of this item to allow council to make this decision with the most current and complete information available. On Monday, the federal and provincial governments announced a significant new partnership that will directly impact how municipal municipalities plan, fund, and prioritize infrastructure and housing. This includes potential changes to development charges, funding streams, and how projects are approved and sequenced. For a city like Richmond Hill, this is not a minor update. This it could materially affect our capital plan, our infrastructure priorities, and how we fund growth. At the same time, we're operating in a per period of real economic uncertainty, global instability, including the conflict in Iran is already contributing to rising energy prices, inflationary pressures, and volatility in construction costs. Those factors directly affect what it costs us to deliver infrastructure products and services. Giving th given those two realities, I think it is both prudent and responsible for council to pause, receive a focused staff analysis of these new federal and provincial initiatives, and ensure that any decision we make aligns with the most up-to-date financial and policy environment. This is not about delaying the work. It's about allowing us to make the right decision with the right information. I'm all for this square. I'm excited about it, but I really feel like so much is changing about the financial prospects for the city and also uh federal and provincial, as I said, initiatives. I would like to defer this till we know more about what Monday's announcement means to us. What date would that be, counselor? Uh I would leave it to staff. I know we're wrapping up this. We need a date. We Well, that would be up to staff to decide, but I'm I'm not putting a date on how long we defer it because we need the right information. Okay, one moment. Sorry, counselor. Go ahead, sir. Thank you. So, if I might, it sounds, and correct me if I'm wrong, um, that what you would really like to do is refer this report back to staff for a further report that includes an analysis of the impact of the recent Government of Canada Government Ontario announcements related to infrastructure and development charges. You say referral. I say deferral. Yes, you're right. I do want a referral. My apologies for not getting the right terminology. A and you don't want a particular date on it. It's whatever staff report back whenever we can have a thorough assessment of where we're headed financially with regards to new policy decisions. Okay. So, we'll just let um our clerk type that up. Uh we have a referral motion on the floor. So, that takes precedence. Moved by Councelor Davidson. Just give us a moment. It is now on the screen. And so Davidson, if you could just read that and let us know that that is the wording you require. Mr. Clerk, do we have discussion on a referral motion? Thank you. Yes. Thanks. Thank you. Um I I I can't think of a time when financially things have shifted as drastically as they have in the last month and I see so much uncertainty. It's not that I don't want to see this build. I do. We need a center. We need a place to gather. But rather than ignore that things have changed, including announcements on Monday. I just want a little more information. I know this money is reserve funds. I know it's not about tax dollars, but I just feel like we need a complete financial picture before we start approving um in my opinion large funds like large amounts like this. So, thank you. Okay, so speaking uh to the referral only, my next speaker is Mayor West. Uh thank you. So, I I I don't I I'm pretty sure I'm not going to well, actually, I'm very sure I'm not going to be able to support this. And as much as the the situation that was uh is going on right now with this recent uncertainty uh with the the federal and provincial announcement about development charges, um I this is not any more of a a level of uncertainty than we've dealt with pretty much from the very beginning of this um term of council. In fact, I would argue that Bill 23 when it first dropped was probably far worse than this. Um, but what I would would say is I think this information, if there questions about this, I quite I'm fairly certain that this information could be gathered uh from the counselor and possibly to the rest of council if it's a concern uh from our service financial services staff by next Wednesday. Um, but we've been waiting for this for a really long time. And if if the level of uncertainty that we're we've got with this most recent announcement is the threshold for when we stop building things, we would have not built anything for the last at least at least four or five years. And and I think, you know, our uh residents count on us to get things done. And we've been moving this along. Um it is a very exciting project. It's incredibly well needed by the community both in the short term and the long term. It isn't actually a very expensive project compared to some of the other park projects, but the bang for the buck that we'll be getting from this particular project is enormous and I don't think that the level of uncertainty that's that we've got recently is adequate enough for us to stop in our tracks. But I I guess what I would ask is um from staff, I mean is what what what is is the level of uncertainty that you see or the threat here that would would stop us from moving forward in in any different way than we normally would. Commissioner or Madame City Manager? Are you uh Madame Chair? Um right now all we have is an announcement that was made uh by uh the premier uh and the prime minister. We have absolutely no logistics or details about how that's going to be implemented. Um if municipalities are going to be reducing uh development charges, how we are eligible for funding to come in its place. um what that application process looks like uh and how we go about identifying projects uh within that. So the decisions in my opinion are not imminent. They're certainly not going to be here by next Wednesday. Um we are meeting uh with the OBCM group uh this week, tomorrow actually uh to formulate a response to the announcement that was made. Um and there will be a lot of fallout that will come from that but we're doing a um coordinated joint effort uh towards advocating on this behalf um for council's consideration funding um as the mayor has stated funding for this project we have identified uh funding sources uh that are not tax rate uh there's no implications for tax rate on this whatever the decision ision are made down the road uh by the government. Um you know there'll be a process to uh monies that uh we may have spent in the interimm but delaying this motion or this recommendation in front of you delays the project and potentially means it will not be under construction uh this year for sure. Uh and we'll see what the impact is for 2027. that staff are right in the middle of they're at the middle of the design process at a point where they had to stop to say the additional funding is required with the class A estimate. I'll defer over to our treasurer uh if she wants to add to my comments. Go ahead, Treasury Lee. through Madame Chair, to councelor Davidson. Um I do agree with the city manager's remarks at this time. There's no official information um for us to be able to analyze financially what that impact may be. Thank you, Mayor West. So I I mean thank you for more eloquently um stating that but but I mean that those are that's the facts on the ground and and the problem is that you know delaying this this or any other project every time something as unfortunately normal as the uncertainty around this announcement comes up like honestly we would never get anything done and and I get that there's a lot going on in the world right now which you know I mean everything has an impact on the ground in cities like this. But at the end of the day, uh this project is going to be very important for us now and also as we grow as a community, as is the the Richmond Green master plan. And you know, these are the expectations that our community has that they're going to have places like this to recreate and not just this, but many others. And I think we need to, you know, we need to get carry on. I mean, we have the money in the account ready to be spent if we choose to to do that. And um my my vote would be to get on with it and get the project done. We've waited decades in this area. Uh and I'm I'm frankly not uh going to be willing to wait any longer. I think this needs to get done and it needs to get done right away so that the community can start really enjoying um this what will become one of the jewels of our uh park system and and a place for the community to really come together and gather. Um and so I I I won't be able to support this. Um however having said that um all one of the reasons that we have committee the whole we've reinstated committee the whole is to have conversations just like this to talk about things that maybe I wasn't expecting to talk about at the beginning of the meeting but but you know here we are talking about it it's a good good point and um staff are here to talk about it to uh help us to explain things for us to hear to give them input and we do ha have seven days after this if any member of council felt that there was significant risk involved in this um we would have 7 days to figure that out or to defer it actually in 7 days. But I've done my due diligence on this in a big way and and I don't see that that there's any real reason to uh to delay uh this project. Thank you, Mayor West. Next person on my list is Deputy Mayor Godwin Chen. Um thank you uh madame chair um I can see where the mover for the referral motion coming from. Uh but I I honestly see that there's no reason the two cannot par be proceeding in parallel because number one is that our city manager already mentioned uh it might be quite a while before we can uh even know what the details of the announcement never mind the analysis without information how to analyze. Um and it just so happened before we assumed the meeting I was just uh talking with a mayor who issue a statement about the announcement and I remember premier Ford uh said in no unambiguous term you 444 committee mayor pay attention right like that is a development charge however this project is based on Identifying reserve fund and looks well unless the staff advises me otherwise they are like the earlier on about the other one is meant for this kind of purpose cash renew of land uh development charge so the impact quite honestly we don't know yet u but if we are not uh proceeding with the complex well that's why I'm trying to ask early on try to understand why it compress but maybe through you madame chair um maybe ask a direct question to staff what would be the the the risk in particular in terms of um in your judgment um that either it might need let's say we come back two months three months from now assuming referral motion get adopted um would that potentially shift all the numbers on page seven I was asking about a bit differently in particular construction cost maybe through you madam chair any estimate who would who wants to take that madam city manager through you madam chair the biggest risk in my opinion uh will be delaying the project because the work that staff are doing will halt without this being adopted with all those additional um components of the park that require the additional funding. So we will stop. Um so that's the highest risk in my opinion from a financial perspective. Uh a more maybe lower risk is the reduction in development charges. But the I watched his announcement like five or six times and he says if there's a reduction in the development charges, they will make us whole through some sort of an application process. We don't know what that process is. We don't know the details to it. We don't know if it's dollar to dollar. We don't have those details. But I will defer to Commissioner Mero um if I've missed anything in the risk of uh deferring or referring this. Commissioner, thank you through the chair to councelor Chen. To build on city manager's points, uh the additional implication is that if we tender later, you can anticipate the costs to increase so that it will become more expensive. And that's why we always attempt for all projects to tender early for all the obvious reasons to get the the most preferable pricing for work. So uh that tender is uh imminent in the spring in order to affect a uh Septemberish start date for construction. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. Um it always has been my uh operating philosophy. we can only control the things that we have control of so to speak and I I I respect um the mover for the referral but uh this is is only announcement has been said many times uh but it's beyond our control when the content the details will be coming in and only then we'll be in a position to analyze um my respectful uh uh uh uh uh view is that um yeah uh have an uh another uh motion down the line somewhere to uh have staff review the impact when we get the information um then it makes sense on the other hand uh based on the responses I'm hearing from both city manager as well as commissioner uh I think we are running into potential risk of higher cost uh if we being done in the future and also we the is that uncertainty of how long that I have to say um make it very difficult for me to support referral motion I mean ideally would be here in May so that we can be there in the CFix square uh watching the uh World Cup soccer but I know it's only dreaming um so I stated the reason uh why I cannot support u uh this referral motion. Thank you deputy mayor appreciate it. Uh my next speaker is councelor Thompson. Um, thank you very much and I uh through the chair I I have to I have to echo what uh my colleagues have have said here. Um this is something where we brought ourselves to this point in the first place. So when we decided back in January that we wanted to uh expand our vision for this project and to um accelerate the timelines, we put staff in this position to come forward today with this uh funding request. So, uh, unless we're thinking about going back and and revisiting the decision we made in January, I don't see this as anything other than reviewing a funding, you know, that we're looking at here. So, um, and particularly when we don't know what future impacts could have, we can only make decisions based on what we know to be true today. So, I won't be able to re uh to to support that referral motion. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Is there anybody else on the first round who wishes to speak? Seeing none. Okay. Um, I will put my my comments through. Um, I echo what my colleagues have said here. Um, I I thank Councelor Davidson for putting in this this motion and I understand uh from her perspective. Um, unfortunately I I wish I could comment better because I didn't know about this coming forward. If I had known, I would have been able to perhaps amass um uh any information that that that was needed. But but I I don't have that in front of me. What I have in front of me is the comments that have come from our professional staff. And for me, um that that that suffices. There's no question. We we run risks here. And um as as my colleagues have said, this project has been in the making literally for decades. staff have now brought us to this position from our asking them to do that and we are at a critical time and um I I I agree with what the city manager was saying that we don't know anything here and if we put a hold in my opinion if we put a hold on this now which is exactly what would be happening uh there we we run some very very grave grave risks the As mayor West said, the Dave Barrow Civic Square is very very important to our residents. It's very important to this municipality and um I I do believe that um what is in this report, what has been stated here to today um is is sufficient and um I I unfortunately could not support um the referral the referral motion. So, um, is there any, um, body on the second round who would like to speak? Oh, there's no second round. Excuse me. That's right. There's no second round. Not a wrap-up from councelor Davidson. No. Okay. So, uh, just making absolutely sure we've everybody's spoken. Okay. So, we have in front of us a motion to refer moved by councelor Davidson. Do you councelor Davidson, do you want to do you want to am I allowed to say anything? Do you want to record the vote or do you No, no, no. I'll just put my lonely hand up and I just thought you maybe wanted to record the Thank you. Okay. So, that's the motion uh before us moved by councelor Davidson. All those in favor? Seeing one all those opposed. Uh we have uh eight opposed. That motion fails. Thank you. We go back to the main motion. Okay. So main motion um and the next speaker on my list is Mayor West. Thank you. Um so I'm I'm very excited to see this uh motion coming forward. It it's um I've advocated for this since the beginning of this term of council and I really appreciate uh the the help with uh council and with staff to get this job done. I really believe this this land has been in our possession for many many years. We've gone through many many different ideas and things that didn't end up working out. But we're finally at a point where we're ready to make this land really really work and leverage it well for the city. We're a growing city. We're a worldclass city and that uh particular park will be one of the anchor points. And you know, we talked about the Richmond Green master plan today. And as great as the Richmond Green is going to be, it won't be big enough or um it'll be too busy unless we have another space like this to leverage. And this will be the Melaspman Square or the the Nathan Phillips Square of Richmond Hill, so to speak. It'll be the Dave Barrow Square. And so I'm really excited about this because, you know, the more I think about this square, the more things I think that we could put in that area to for our our residents really to enjoy and benefit from. I I see this as we're building a stage for the community. It's going to be different than any other park. It is a stage for the community to come and put on the play. And this is really one thing that we don't have in Richmond Hill right now, but great cities do. And uh this will really uh move us forward to the level that I I know we're at and we're going to continue to be at in terms of the costs that were in front of us today. The way I look at this is a lot of the costs that are there today are costs due to the refinement of the plan, but also due to the realization that this square needs to be more than just good. It's got to be really good. And some of the things that are that we're investing in additionally in this park are the things that are going to make this a really great place for our our residents to come and to enjoy. Um, so I'm really just happy to see us here. I'm happy, you know, I will be more than happy to get the digging started. I do own a shovel at home, so if if at any point in time you need help digging, I I can. And I have a wheelbarrow, too, so I'm good. But I really want to get this job done and I want to get it job the job done quickly because more than ever I think we need a place to gather and come together as a community for so many reasons. And um as I've always said, you know, someday maybe if the Toronto Maple Leafs ever win the Stanley Cup, we will we will celebrate there. So uh anyway, thank you for this and I look forward to having it uh get started. Thank you, Mayor West. Yeah, we second that one. Um, okay. Next person on my speakers list is is Councelor Thompson. Well, thank you very much uh through you the chair and I do want to thank uh uh Deputy Mayor Godwin Chan for actually uh bringing this forward for more discussion. Um because I I believe that um those watching or the public, you know, should be able to get a good understanding and clarification. So the question regarding class D estimate versus class A I think was a a a good thing to uh make sure that that was well understood by everybody because when you look at that that particular line on the table uh where it says other and that's grouped in there um that represents about 28% of the entire amount that we're talking about. So I I think people would say, "Wow, how can you have an other amount that's that uh amount uh in percentage?" So So I think that was good to uh bring that up. Um and and also what staff have already answered about if we were to delay this project, uh what we could also be looking at uh down the road. So I think that was good information to get out there. one question that I think um you know and and I'm not sure this may be something that is uh standard but it just seemed odd to me so I I don't know and that is that uh I noticed that the the programming uh supplies and the grand opening are included in the capital budget and I was wondering how those were determined to be capital versus operating and and again maybe that's not uncommon for something like this, but it just seemed odd to me. So, if uh someone could answer that, that would be appreciated. Who would like to take that? Commissioner Bill, our commissioner has left the room on the very good timing on uh on the program. Okay. Then it's your manager to defer. However, um I think uh typically, correct me, I think these elements are supported by community services and we work together and collaborate. So, um we're happy to help coordinate. However, you know, to my colleague, commissioner, through you, Madam Chair, I I I think that is a a very good question. In fact, we did discuss this. What you're what we're talking about here are what we we sometimes call furnishings, fixtures, and equipment. And there is some level of debate about whether they are capital or operating. But when we have a large capital project, we try to encompass everything allin-one. So we know the total cost of that project. That makes sense. It's also a very big amount to be putting in operating. Usually the operating amounts for this kind of stuff are much smaller. No, thank you for that response because it it it does sound like this is something that you would look at in and maybe it could be on a case-byase basis, but uh uh that that's really I just wanted to make sure that that was shared with everybody. Okay, thank you. Thank you, councelor. Next person on my speakers list is councelor Leu. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Um just very quick question um in regards to the uh stage and LED equipment. Um is it all season? Is it going to be like a band shell permanent stage? And how big is the LED screen? Do you madam chair? Share to councelor Luke. Yeah, I'll approach that at a high level. It is intended to be all year round part of the discussions and collaboration with um key stakeholders including community services that they want in order to make it uh more programmable for a variety of things that the stage A needed to be bigger. It needed to have storage to allow for all the audio visual type scenarios. Off the top of my head, I don't believe unless director LeC is aware exactly what size that TV is. I'm pretty confident it's larger than your typical, you know, 72 in LCD screen at home. It's intended uh to um accommodate the vision to host events that would allow projection of sporting events uh to the mayor's wishes of hopefully we're doing some sort of celebration in the near future for a Stanley Cup. Those types of things. So don't know uh exactly what the size is, but the intent is to meet that objective. Thank you. If that helps. Oh yeah, that definitely. I'm just just curious about you know the size and and and make sure that the LED screen can survive the winter. Um I'm pretty sure it will, right? Okay. Thank you. Um I really like this uh project because uh you know um I think in the morning we talk about the Richmond Green um project um the revitalization plan. I which I really like and I I think we're coming to a point that you know Richmond Green is almost over capacity that you know we can shift some events and recreation thing to um the um the the Dave Barrow square. So it helps a really alleviate um some of the the pressure that uh Richmond Green is going to bear. Um I think this is this is great because you know the North Lley um secondary plan is almost fully developed and there are lots of residents are living around Richmond Green. Um being a recreation and sports focused uh park um that's a good idea and and and you know so far we only have one choice. If you want a big gathering go to Richmond Green anything is going to be Richmond Green. So now you know we can have another option which is date barrel square which is I think a brilliant idea and you know go parallel handinhand with with the Richmond green revitalization plan. So I'm I'm in favor of this. Thank you. Thank you councelor. Anybody councelor tree go ahead. Yeah I fully support this motion as well. Remember uh this is the at age o the border of war four and war five. We do have a ba in that corner along the young and magic area. uh this definitely going to bring more business visitor to bring the business to our core village core as well. So um this not only for culture uh center but meantime it's going to be a very boost for our local business too. So on behalf of BIA member I see this is really good opportunities and we are seeing more opportunity for local business for visitors for more people join here and celebrate and also uh boosting our local economics I think. Thank you councelor we're still on the first round here does anybody else wish to wish to speak on the first round? No. Okay. So, my comments would be um I fully support this. Um, as we've stated, um, this this has been this has been in the works for decades and, um, I for one am thrilled to see this coming forward in in such a clear way and the Dave Barrow Civic Square is going to be very very important to um to the city to the municipality and uh, the iteration that we see in front of us now as the Dave Barrow Civic Square I think is is outstanding. staff has done an excellent job. I'm satisfied with everything that I've heard that um whatever is in this what is in this motion and BNC that that uh this is absolutely appropriate and you know just just to add a point that as as councelor Leu was saying it was it becomes another space. We have, you know, our three destination parks. We have the DDO, we have Richmond Green, we have Oak Ridges, we have all those parks that are spread out. This one brings it into the center of our city. And I believe that that is also very very important. Also taking into consideration the amount of um uh intensification development that's coming up Young Street. This is going to be everybody's backyard. Not only the DDO, but this is going to be everybody's backyard who are going to be living high living in highrises. So, um I I we're not putting the cart before the horse. I'm absolutely satisfied with that and um I I really look forward uh to seeing shovels in the ground and I I have one too that I can I can I can give you. Um so, um anybody else? No. No followup? Yeah. You want to say? Oh, go ahead. Just I have shovels also. You have? Okay. I have a I have hard hats as well. Yes. Okay. So, um that's that completes all of that. So, we have in front of us a motion moved by uh Deputy Mayor Godwin Chan. Agenda item 11.3 SRE S 260005 request for in-ear budget increase for the Dave Barrow Civic Square project and that is A through C. All those in favor? Any opposed? Seeing none, that passes unanimously. Thank you very much. Okay. So the the next two agenda items we have are two motions. So the first one uh 12.1 is mine and u Mr. Clerk, with your permission, I would like to hand not your permission. Uh with your with your understanding, I would like to hand the chair over to our deputy chair um councelor tree uh so that I can present this uh this member motion. Councelor. Okay. Thank you much. Due to process perspective, I'll be in charge of this committee meeting now. So uh the motion is 11 uh 113 right 12.1 12 okay so uh I do have a more work here so can I have more to discuss and bring this motions on the on the floor please thank you counselor yes it's it's um it's my honor to move this forward um lots of discussion has has taken place on many levels and in many spaces um to bring this motion forward. I believe it's absolutely necessary and um I'll be very interested to hear the discussion at council level and um for some for some background if if any is needed. It's there there can be no question that the Jewish population of Canada if not worldwide is under threat. That has been identified. We need to do whatever we can to ensure that the rise of anti-semitic hate and violence is appropriately dealt with at the right levels. And that is why this asks this motion which very closely mirrors one that was two that were passed um one in Aurora and one in East Williambury um to have a multi-level task force through government look into look into the problems and see how best we can move forward to combat uh what is happening and protect those who need to be protected. Canada is home to approximately 400,000 Jewish people. It's the world's fourth largest Jewish population. In total global Jewish population, the total global Jewish population is 15.7 million, which is 0.02% of the total global population of 8 billion. In early 2026 through a through data it was stated that approximately half 7.7 million people Jews live in Israel and the other half forms a diaspora across many many western countries and Europe. I have been um booied by the work that our that York Regional Police has has done in order to intensify uh patrols and surveillance um in front of places of worship, Jewish places of worship and community centers. Um their their being there is of the utmost importance because not only does it show strength, but it also shows support. In March of 2026, so just passed, Canada's Integrated Threat Assessment Center, known as ITAC, based on reports that were emerging, warned that a violent extremist attack against the Canadian Jewish community is a realistic possibility within the next six months on Canadian soil. I I don't think one has to be Jewish to find that terrifying report from Sie, which is the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Over the past two and a half years, anti-semitism in Canada has surged to historic levels. Synagogues have been targeted at alarming rates. Jewish Canadians are now 25 times more likely to experience a hate crime than any other Canadian demographic. Jesse Brown wrote in the Atlantic that there's also something less vis visible here at play and that is what they what he calls a polite porr with a quiet exclusion of Jewish Canadians from public life and civil society because we are afraid to leave our houses. Jewish Canadians have contributed deeply to this country for generations. The fight today is not only for the safety and belonging of the Jewish community, but for the kind of Canada that we all live in and all wish to live in. So, um that's all I need to say. Um the the motion I believe speaks for itself and um I I hope that um should this pass we can actually get this uh get this task force moving along because it would be very very important in the safety and protection of an identified group in Canada that um that absolutely requires that extra protection and attention. Thank you uh counselor. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Now, next one. Yeah. Next one is our mayor DZ. Uh, thank you very much and thank you councelor Silvitz for bringing this forward. Uh, I've appreciated being able to work with you on this and and I think it is something that's important. I mean, just for context, we this is not the first motion that we put forward asking the the upper levels of government to do something. And, you know, the last motion uh was not heated. Um, but that doesn't mean that we're going to quit. Um I think the it's pretty obvious and you you've outlined some of the statistics um that the the rise in anti-semitism in in our community but across Canada and the world has risen alarmingly in the last little while and the result is um the the the Jewish population and I've spoken to many people friends colleagues neighbors people live here um that are Jewish that are they're increasingly feeling unsafe doing everyday tasks just living in the community and that that's not acceptable no matter who you are and um and if that doesn't raise alarm bells I don't know what does. So there's no question. Uh I've spent quite a bit of time uh talking to YRP, making sure that they're, you know, they're doing everything that they can to um to protect the the Jewish population and and everybody else, obviously. But um and they and they've been doing a great job. The actions that they're taking are are good and they are um I I I presume that they are working. They are are helping. But but despite that, we're still seeing alarming situations in other parts of York Region, uh like the shooting up of uh Jewish institutions, which is is horrifying. I mean, there's there's just no question about it. Um and I I think that at the end of the day, despite the fact that YRP is doing a great job at this and many other things that they do, keeping our community safe, um they they can't do it by themselves. And this is a worldwide phenomenon and it's going to take a much greater concerted effort than than anything that we can do at in any city in in Ontario, including here in Richmond Hill. So, this motion basically directs for um a task force that's uh wider than just Richmond Hill, wider than just Ontario um and and is asking for um a more coordinated effort than than what's happening now to, you know, respond to uh the types of things that are happening right here in our community. So, um you know, I I I again I appreciate uh being able to have an opportunity to talk about this. You know, we can't solve all the world's problems always in a local council like this, but the ones that we can't solve, we can certainly advocate for solutions that are both, you know, things we can do here on the ground and we need to do everything that we can do, but also things that we can do on a wider scale to make the the the life on the ground here in communities like Richmond Hill better. So, um I'll be more than happy to enthusiastically support this uh this motion. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. Next one will be our uh regional councelor Joe Paulo. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um yes, I just want to add my comments. I I wholeheartedly support this motion. I I I think it's extremely important that uh that a task force be set up and what whatever configuration that takes I volunteer my own um involvement with the task force if it's uh you know local level and regional level and um it's just it's just amazing to me in over 30 years of community activism I've never seen um the sentiment out there as extreme as it is. Um there unfortunately always been some degree of anti-semitism, but in the last 6 months I I've I've never seen anything like it. I I cannot believe and I'm really discouraged the way in many arenas it's not countered. Uh and that's what we have to do. We have to uh stamp it out at every turn, every time it it rears its ugly head. But um the prevention of of um um you know preventative measures to anything ever happening in York region. I I I I would be so so remiss uh what what happened in Australia, what's happening around the world. It's it's just amazing. I would never want it to happen here. We have to do everything possible so it doesn't uh you know extreme violence hasn't happened here in in York Region and it's just astounding. Uh the mover mentioned some statistics. There's there's more people in the in the province of Ontario has a bigger population than all of the Jewish people worldwide. U that is how small a community it is worldwide. and and um what what members of uh um you know what what Jewish people have to face uh is is is just astounding and they shouldn't live in fear and they shouldn't definitely have to to live in fear here in Richmond Hill and in York Region. So um I I like to help in any way I can. I 100% wholeheartedly support this this motion and um you know I hope I hope it's doesn't fall on deaf ears the province and other levels. Um but I think even if it does we can we can do something uh right here or at the regional level or with cooperation with YRP. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much. Next one will be councelor Davidson. Thank you and through you Mr. Chair. I I do want to begin by acknowledging the very real and tr troubling rise in anti-semitism that the Jewish communities across Canada and here in York Region have ex have experienced. Anti-semitism has no place in Richmond Hill and Jewish res residents deserve to feel safe, respected, and supported in our community. I appreciate the intent of this motion and I support it. I believe that when we stand firmly against anti anti-semitism, we also reaffirm the principle that hatred directed at any community has no place here and that our responsibility as a council is to do whatever we can to ensure that every resident knows that they are safe, respected and valued in this city. Um so I will be supporting this and thank you for bringing it forward. Thank you so much. Next one, Deputy Mayor God. Oh, thank you uh Mr. chair and I'd like to thank um councelor Crisis for bringing forward this motion and also hearing Mayor West has been uh working together on this one is no doubt uh the statistics speak on its own um is certainly sharing my colleagues that is certainly hate in any form against any group is certainly not to in your region in fact uh that um has been in a wear statement in York region. We also have inclusion charter and also resolution that uh um hey is not acceptable against any group and there's no um um well when we when we look at the incidents that um and numbers there's no denial that the anti-mitism has been really rising and unfortunate and regrettable u and it's also happening at university campuses, public places and all that. So, um I would support this motion in particular that has been mentioned where it's not the first time uh I think two years ago it was indicated it was that call for the national summit of all levels and I remember hearing uh actually just over the weekend uh the Ontario solicitor general who uh speaking very passionately and adoquently about that need to stand up and be counted and so any efforts In particular, I want to well, the police officers are here, the York General Regional Police and other um uh polices forces in Canada generally speaking uh are very very um um uh how I put it uh helping the field that the Jewish community and all faith places and places for learning um that be protected. So I hope that I I am supporting this. I hope that uh all three levels including region actually four levels in that sense. Uh particular I know that the police and perhaps um I'm sure the police would let the Ontario association or Canadian association or police chiefs be aware of this. Uh I I think collectively uh we as Canadians uh we need to take a stand in firm stand and uh a summit or symposium these things would certainly shows that we all together are standing in solidarity and against hate against uh in this case Jewish community and in fact against all groups and I wholeheartedly support the motion. Thank you councelor civil for bringing it forward and this time um for pass over and then it's actually um something that I I'm sure the Jewish committee are also paying attention to what's the outcome today. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much. Any anyone else for the round one? Okay. I'm going to wrap up for the round one. Oh, sure. Okay. Thank you so much. So, yeah, go ahead. Just to wrap up, thank you. Um I want to express my sincere thanks to my colleagues um who spoke out here today and to those who have spoken to me personally. I also want to thank um our community, our community at large who have contacted me um since I've put this motion in and became p it became public knowledge and the support that I have um that I have received and the Jewish community has received has has been remarkable. So um I I want to make sure that I make that public statement as well. Um, last week, Mayor West and I met with a group of uh, Jewish leaders here in the the mayor and council boardroom and we had an excellent discussion for two hours speaking about exactly this and what can we do to uh to protect um, the Jewish community better and to make them feel safe and to make them feel that this is this is their home. It was a remarkable discussion and I want to thank everybody who attended that. Um, as we as we as we move forward, this is one of the steps. Um, as Hillary Clinton so iconically said, it takes a village. Takes a village for everything. And in this particular case, it takes a village to protect those in the minority. And the Jewish population is an extreme minority with an extreme hatred from certain sectors of society push towards it and as we have to do whatever we can to to protect the Jewish community and I believe even if I wasn't Jewish I would be saying that um and as deputy mayor Chan said there's no and and I believe uh councelor Davidson there's no place for hate anywhere anywhere most specifically we want to protect Richmond Hill and York Region in Ontario in Canada so um I I thank you all for your attention to this matter and and as Deputy Mayor Chan said Passover begins tonight for the next 8 days if you have Jewish family if you have Jewish friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Check in on them. Not only to wish them a happy Passover, but check in on them and make sure that they're okay, cuz we're not okay. We are at a very heightened sense of danger. So, those are my closing statements. Thank you very much, everybody. Okay. Thank you so much. So, the motion is on the floor. Everybody's in favor. Okay. All in favor? So, the motion passed. Now, I'm going to pass the chair to back to our uh madame uh sy. Thank you, councelor. Yeah. I I could I make sure that the the record shows it passed unanimously. Yeah, Mr. Chair. Yeah, the motion passed unanimously. Thank you very much. Okay. Uh we have one last item on the menu and that is councelor Thompson's member motion item 12.2 um submitted by W to councelor Scott Thompson exploring disc golf opportunities in Richmond Hill parks. Um so I will hand this over to you councelor Thompson as the mover. Well, thank you very much and through you the chair, I just want to say that uh this motion is fairly straightforward and it's intended to explore an additional recreational opportunity for our residents. Over the past year, I've had the opportunity to engage with residents and community groups about ways we can continue to activate our park spaces and encourage more people to get outdoors and stay active. One concept that has been raised um and we had the opportunity to actually showcase this at our eco family fest is disc golf which is sometimes referred to as frisbee golf. Uh what makes this activity particularly interesting from a municipal perspective is that it is lowcost, accessible and low impact. It encourages walking, social interaction and outdoor activity and can be enjoyed by a wide range of age groups. Uh we also took the opportunity to survey residents at my eco family event and the feedback was quite clear that there was strong interest in exploring disc golf opportunities within Richmond Hill. uh albeit that was a pretty small sample size that uh I had from my opinion. So I I got to be upfront and honest but again that was the indication. Uh but on top of that we're seeing other municipalities begin to explore this concept including in Toronto where a seasonal course has recently introduced at Woodbine Park. And these types of seasonal or temporary installations are particularly appealing because they allow municipalities to test recreational uses without permanent infrastructure or long-term commitments. So this motion it it's specifically asking staff to consider whether a seasonal or pilot approach might be appropriate which would allow us to evaluate the concept in a measured and responsible way. So ultimately uh this is about exploring another way to encourage active living, make use of under utilized park space and provide residents with additional recreational options. I'd also like to acknowledge that we did receive uh a comment from uh from a resident uh a written comment and they wanted to make sure that uh their um concerns in regards to financial commitments uh would be a part of uh that study or or you know for staff to come back with. I'm sure they are going to do that. Um, but maybe I should just ask the question just to make sure that that will be something that will be part of uh a report back to council. Uh, who do I am I directing at you, Commissioner Galanis? Through you, Madam Chair. Yes. Uh, that will be reviewed as part of the analysis that you've directed staff to undertake. Much appreciated. Thank you. That's what we would like to have. Um, so that all being said, I believe this is a low-risk, high potential opportunity and I look forward to the support of my colleagues. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Um, first person on our speakers list is Councelor Davidson. Thank you. I'm not moving anything, right? We're just talking about it. It's his motion. It's his motion. Okay. Thank you. Um, I wanted to thank you, councelor, for bringing it forward. I I wanted to ask I if the city has ever asked the public if they are interested in Frisbee golf because I I can't I can't say anyone's ever asked me about it but that doesn't mean others aren't into it. Commissioner uh through you madam chair to the counselor uh to the best of our knowledge no that hasn't uh been uh undertaken. Um and through you madam last a few last meeting we heard from somebody who wants to do archery and um I've got a broader question as to when someone has a sort of a one-off or an orphan type of sport they want to introduce like this that's not part of the parks planning how do people get it considered aside from having a counselor a motion a specific motion like are there opportunities to consider things like this and archery and whatever else people would like us to explore outside of a a motion and council commissioner through you madam chair. Yes. Uh when that individual did confform uh come forward at the last meeting that was something that was taken in by staff as part of of our regular review of of parks planning and uh it's something that we would look into. Thank you. And uh just from a practical standpoint, is a study of frisbee golf a large undertaking or expensive or at all a huge inconvenience to staff and the work they're already doing? You madam chair to the counselor. Um we've looked at this and uh in conjunction with the current uh work that the staff is doing. It's something that can be delivered in the timeline that the counselor has requested. Okay. Thank you. Thank you counselor. Anybody else? Coun uh Mayor Mayor West. Oh, thank you. You know, it's this is something that has been growing in popularity over the last little while. And um you know, we as a board member on the Toronto Region Conservation Authority, I was there when we opened up a a disc golf course at Bruce's Mill in Stoville. And and you know, it's it's well loved. I mean, maybe not by everybody in the population, but it it certainly is a an interesting sport. Um, I'm happy to see this happen and I'm sure it can be, you know, it can be looked at with other, you know, sports that maybe are not um currently as popular as pickle ball, for example. But um but you know there there certainly uh sports that I I do like the the point about uh disc golf that you know we we it may be able to fit into into places that are underutilized um and even in a in a seasonal way perhaps um that give people opportunities they wouldn't already have and the cost is not very high for the types of infrastructure that we're talking about. So anyway, I'm happy to see this being looked at and uh you know we'll see what comes back. I I'm not sure exactly what facts we'll get, but that's why we ask for a staff report in a in a situation like this. So, thank you, sir. There anybody else who would like to speak here on the first round? Okay, seeing none, I'll just uh just my my two cents. I I support this. I think it's a great idea. First time I was ever I ever came across Frisbee golf was decades ago. I think I was 21 down at the just arrived in this country and we went down to the islands and they have a frisbee well they had I don't know if it's still there they do they had they have a frisbee golf golf course there and it is it's such fun it is such fun so um we need to make sure that everybody gets out more and this is this is a way to do it if it's if it's feasible if it's possible um I think it would be um it would be so welll liked by by our residents. And it's it's um it it's something that is community. This is something that is done with your children, with your with your parents, with your friends, with your family, and um this is fun. So, I look forward to getting that um to getting that that report back. Uh so, I do support this. Thank you, Council Thompson. Any wrap-up? Uh sure. Thank you. Um yeah, just to just to wrap up, I mean the the focus is on underutilized park spaces. That's that was my main focus here. Um and particularly during the shoulder seasons and and winter months because this is a sport that can actually as a matter of fact at Woodbine Park that's is what's happening. They it's popped up for the winter and uh and and it helps get people out there and being active. So, so I just wanted to make sure that that's understood and that uh other municipalities have already gotten into it and and some of them with permanent structures and I'm I'm not suggesting that that would be the case here in Richmond Hill. I'm just suggesting let's take a look at what uh opportunities we might be able to provide for our residents here. So, um thank you. Those are all my comments. Thank you, sir. So we have the the motion the motion on the floor is a member motion by councelor Thompson exploring disc golf opportunities in Richmond Hill Parks. All those in favor? Any oppose? Seeing none, that passes unanimously. Thank you. That brings us to the end of our agenda items. The next agenda item is emergency time sensitive matters of which we have none. And the final agenda item is adjournment. Just before we go to uh councelor regional councelor Chen, which I know he's going to jump in um for adjournment for adjournment. Again, on behalf of uh this council, I wish everybody um a happy Passover and a happy Easter. Enjoy enjoy the long weekend, everybody. No, we're about to No, we haven't got there yet. Nope. Nope. No. So um deputy mayor Chan adjournment celebr Thank you sir. So we have a motion on the floor for adjournment. All those in favor? Any oppose? Seeing none that carries unanimously. Thank you very much.

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