We will begin in 1 minute. Good evening. I'd like to call to order Ginsby Town Council for Monday, June 15, 2026. Everyone that can please rise for the playing of the national anthem. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Grimby is situated on treaty land. This land is steeped in the rich history of the first nations such as the hatawender, the hodnosoni and the inishab including the missagas of the credit first nation. There are many first nations, matei and inuit people from across turtle island that live and work in Niagara today. The regional municipality of Niagara and the town of Ginsby stand with all indigenous people past and present in promoting the wise stewardship of the lands on which we live. Are there any disclosures of pecuniary or nonpunary interest? Seeing none, I'd like to uh amend the order of the agenda to consider the new brand platform report immediate following the delegation from Scott Thornley and Company incororated. Have a mover and seconder to uh approve the agenda as amended. Moved by councelor Frank, second by councelor Vardy. Resolve that the agenda for June 15th, 2026 council meeting proves is amended. All in favor? That's carried. >> We don't have anyone in your room. >> There's three coming. >> Yeah. Can we just skip to the next one and we'll see if they come later? >> Yeah. >> All right. Uh up um now we have um Scott Thornley and Company Incorporated regarding the Town of Ginsby new brand platform. Uh please come up to the podium. No, it's okay. >> Thank you so much. >> Oh, perfect. >> Hello. We're Scott Thornland Company. >> Hello everyone. Uh my name is Rean O'Connell. I'm a senior designer with STC. >> I'm Ryan Moran. I'm a strategic adviser with STC on supporting on this project. >> And my name is Marsh Thornley. I'm the VP of client services at STC. Um we're very excited to share our creative work with you today. First, in terms of process and uh what you're going to see, we're going to talk to you about the work that was done before we got to the creative stage. As you'll see, we took a very deliberate process with extensive research, stakeholder engagement, community input, and regular client and council updates. Before we can tell the story, we have to listen. Um, and we can go to the next stage as well. STC conducted 11 group and individual engagement sessions, many of them in this room. Our client Christina also conducted uh multiple road show activations engaging community members in this process and in this project. We had also undertaken uh an online survey where we received 233 responses uh from the community. Uh worthwhile to note that of those responses, we saw about 84% uh were homeowners within the community. About 85% represented medium to long-term residents within the community and between the ages of 34 and 65 and also represented all four wards within the community as well. We had also reviewed uh 11 key documents ranging from the economic development action plan uh strategic action plan, Grimby uh downtown Grimby reimagined, the tourism strategy, intensification strategy, parks master plan, and a few others as well to make sure that we were properly mapping out uh where Grimby stands, where it's come from, and where it intends to go. Um, as part of the project, we also reviewed the competitive landscape, other municipal and other relevant organizations, how are they telling their stories? We looked at their logos and the language as well. Based on all of this work, so community engagement, surveys, strategic review, competitors, STC arrived at five different strategic directions uh that are essentially inform the direction of the project. The direction that we came away with was the brand need to be inherently friendly, naturally gifted, historically rooted, genuinely open, and intrinsically innovative. All this brings us to the creative work that we're excited to share with you today. A unique mix of history and innovation, natural features that range from the cliffs of the Niagara Escarment to the rolling waves of Lake Ontario, plus parks, stunning trails, and so much more. It's like, well, there's no place like it actually, like no other. And I am very pleased to present that this is the result of all of our engagement sessions and all of our research. Um this is an example of different ways that we can utilize your brand new logo. Um so as you can see here um ways of utilizing the icon um the Grimby word mark town of and your brand new tagline. Um the piece that I'm the most excited about is the icon. Um, each of these pieces are extremely purposeful and meaningful, and I'm going to unpack that a little bit now. Okay. So, as you can see here, we've created a little chart that kind of delves a little bit deeper into what each of these pieces mean. Nothing was chosen at random. Um, everything came from different pieces of research. Um, speaking with the community, understanding what people really wanted to see in their logo. Um, I'll go through the breakdown a little bit quickly here, but as you can see, there's sort of a canopy of leaves at the top that creates the top of this G. The whole icon comes together in the shape of a G. Um, the leaves at the top are reminiscent of your urban tree canopy. Um, each of the leaves are modeled off of uh different tree species that you have in your very own Carolinian forest. Um, underneath that you can see a stylized representation of the Shag Bark Hickory. Um, a stylized representation of the Grimby waterfront. um the sun, which can be a nod to uh your unique microclimate, could be a sunrise or a sunset, and um most importantly, we've represented the escarment, which is a really strong symbol of Grimby and overwhelmingly um the piece that everyone felt like really represented Grimby. Um and it displays the importance of the escarment without overselling it. Um even the pieces in between each of these elements were considered. The negative space is not even random. Uh the negative space is reminiscent of 40 Mile Creek. Even the little notch in between the tree trunk and the water is reminiscent of the opening between the creek and the lake. Um and overwhelmingly kind of going back to the brand uh direction, this piece around the logo being intrinsically innovative. Creating this logo is intrinsically innovative in itself. Um it's contemporary. It has layered forms. It expresses growth, adaptability, and forward momentum. Okay. And I would just like to uh demonstrate a couple of the logo options. So, as you can see here, this is the icon paired with the Grimby word mark. Uh the icon paired with the Grimby word mark and a variant including town of a variant of the logo including your new tagline like no other. I want to make a quick comment here uh that the crest is not disappearing. Um it will still be there. where it will be used in conjunction with this brand new logo and will be used on any kind of official documentation. Um, I also just want to quickly mention that each of these pieces in the logo down to the spaces between the elements and the spaces between the letter forms themselves, including the letter forms have been very specially considered to be AODA compliant, ensuring that even at really small sizes, it's very clear. Each element will be clear no matter how big it is um to ensure that how special this icon is really always comes through. And speaking of the tagline, uh, a quick little breakdown of the tagline pieces, which were also very strongly considered, um, down to the type face, which is friendly, rounded, it's the same type face used in the Grimby word mark. Um, using sentence case is more approachable than using all uppercase letters. It's friendlier, it's more accessible, it's easier to read. Um, even down to the period, which evokes confidence in the statement. And this is the color palette. So as you can see, we have provided a primary and a secondary color palette. The primary is the colors that you will see within the logo itself. And the secondary color palette is uh just an accent. Um it's very warm rooted. It's organic. It's natural. It's inviting. It's not dull. It's reminiscent of Grimby in a color palette. Um each of these colors and how to use them will be outlined in a very detailed style guide to come. And so how do all these little pieces come to life? I'd like to uh show you how these would look in different brand collateral examples. Um so here we have an example of how it could be translated to a website. The municipal signage, uh Facebook banner or social media, um office collateral, so a um presentation deck and an email signature. a fleet van, a letterhead and business card, and my favorite part, which is the swag. Um, this is kind of how you would carry the brand forward and how it would be presented to the world. Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much for your presentation. We're going to hold all the u questions until the staff report is on the floor for discussion. Can I have a mover and second to receive the delegation? Moved by councelor how second by councelor Devoi. Resolve that the town of Ginsby new brand platform delegation from Scott Thornley and Company Incorporated be received for information. All in favor? It's carried. Can I have a mover and second to get the staff report on the floor? Christina is going to speak on it, but um moved by councelor Devolei, second by councelor DeFlavio. >> She's not speaking to it. Just >> Okay. >> Any questions? >> All right. All right. Christina is not speaking to it. So, um now we can open up the um any questions for council for the consultant. Council DeFlavia. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um I'm going to start with with the positive the you clearly listened uh the the the verbal content of your presentation I agree with. Um the logo though I I have to be honest with you. Uh it's it's difficult to look at like I don't I don't even know how to describe it. Like I I it causes me like there was a I'm an art history fan. I I'm not a great artist, but I but I have taught art history. And the the group of seven's work was famously described as the content of a drunkard's stomach. Uh and like again, I I I don't want to disrespect your work. Um but it's all over the place. It doesn't have a lot of focus in my opinion. uh it doesn't when you try to be everything. So I I completely understand your breakdown and I and I and I respect the way that you've described everything in there, but when you try to be everything, you're not really being anything in my opinion. And um so I neither like the tagline nor the the the logo. Uh I'm a little disappointed that we didn't have more of a chance for feedback in draft form. You know, hey, this is what's coming forward. So, we could give a little bit of feedback along the way. I understand that at some point council has to make a decision on this. I get that. Um I just there's no way that I can vote in favor of this. Like I I there there are so many shapes and so many different I I don't even know where to start. I I I have to tell you that I'm impressed that you were able to unite people from across the spectrum spectrum in Grimby. Unfortunately, it was united against this logo, you know, like I I've I've received nothing but negative feedback from everybody who's seen it over the last few days since the report came out on Friday. So, I won't be voting in favor of it. I again I'm I'm trying not to be disrespectful of people's work because it is your work. Um I just I I don't think that it represents Grimby and I can't vote in favor of this. >> Councelor Shawa >> uh through Mayor Jordan. Um so I'm going to start with the positives and I'm going to give some feedback as well. Um, I would say Scott, I appreciate we had a very wholesome conversation on Grimsby because I wanted to make sure that we really captured what the community believed Grimby was. And I think you did a fabulous job of everything that you wrote. Um, you know, explaining how we are very connected and all of the things that make Grimby special. I would say the logo. Um, we'll start with the slogan. I feel like the slogan is very vague and it doesn't actually it doesn't tell us all those qualities that are special about Grimby. So I I appreciate like it's, you know, it's it's just it's very vague and it doesn't it doesn't represent what we feel is special. And I think everything that you had said there um explaining it was exactly what it is. But we need a slogan that represents that and lets people know exactly what makes us special, why we're like no other. Um and as far as the the logo, love the colors. I think the colors are great and I do like that you've uh you've put those natural features in it, but just the shaping of it on its own. Don't love it. Um it looks like a sea to me and I've heard that from a lot of different people. Um and I don't know if it's cuz there's that white space in between, but you know, I I would love it if we similar to what councelor DeFio said, I wish we had some options. Maybe we could have done a draft and then given a a little bit of feedback like before it kind of came for a final touch. But I don't know if council's in support. I I would love if we could have maybe a second shot at something just because this is going to be out there for a long time and I don't want you know it to be representative like I don't want to hear the feedback from people being negative because I think the work was great. I feel like it can just be improved uh a little bit. So, I I can't vote in favor of it at all as well. So, um I don't know if if council is up for asking for some type of a revision. I I'm going to not be in in favor of this as it is, though. Thank you, >> Councelor Vardy. >> Uh thank you through you, Mr. Mayor. Um, when I first heard of this project being taken on, I thought, well, that's a big challenge and good luck. Because how you take all of these sort of uh discrete elements that are elements of Grimby, how do you tie them all all together in in sort of one one way? And I just thought, good luck with that. Let's see what you you know what what you kind of come up with um in uh I I think the narrative is right on. So what you heard from people bang on. So I think the narrative is really excit excellent and it forms the a great foundation for building what we need to come. I um I like that it will be a G. I like that. And I like the idea of like the um various elements in the G representing something. But for me, when I look at that G, I don't see the G. And but I like the idea of being able to sort of tie in elements. So, if we're talking escarment, maybe that brown color is used on on wayfinding to the escarment or something like that. I understand those tie-ins and I I think that was really good thinking. Um, but the the actual logo I don't care for. So, like I I don't think that we're that we're there yet. And I personally, like some of my colleagues, probably would prefer more of an iterative process, sort of more back and forth, you know, because this is sort of our our first look at it. And and I just don't I just don't think we're there yet. Um, as for type face, me personally, I like the type face that's on the Grimby in front of the Peach King Center because for me, it's just it's clean. It's bold, you know, it like makes a good statement. Ginsby, I like that. So, I in terms of type face, I would go for that kind of type face. Um, the tagline, uh, where I have trouble with the tagline is it says what it isn't, not what it is. And I want the tagline to reflect more sort of who we are as opposed to well we're we're not like anything else but that could be good or that could be bad, you know. Um, so I would just like the tagline to be more reflective of who who we are and you know I like I fully respect that this is a difficult challenge and I feel for you because you know when you're working sort of in the in the area of art it's so personal you know I I I remember doing like going to crits at architecture school and just you know wanting to cry for the people putting their work up and getting so um I I feel for for you, but I I don't think I just don't think we're there yet. So, I think we just need to sort of keep at it a bit more with some of those things in mind. But I think in terms of the consultation you've done, you've hit right on on the foundational elements. >> Council, >> thank you, Chair. Um, I really like how you have brought everything together and the things that are important to the community. I think for me I I just don't see the community in it. Um I see sort of um you know I think it's just missing us and I think that if we can't see ourselves in it there's that disconnect to it and I think that's maybe how the community might feel. Um I do really like um how it's circular and how it's connected and and the things that you identified. I might maybe put something more um more of a community in it like and maybe that's like connected hands or or something like that that represents who we are as a community. I think that would be the one thing that I'd like to see in it. But I think like I'm glad that you you've got the lake, you've got the sunset sunrise, you've got the escarment, um all the things at Tree Canopy which which are important to us as a community. Um, I think we would just like to to see a little bit of ourselves in it as well. >> Any further questions? >> Councelor How? >> Thank you. Through you, chair. Um, I quite like it and the way that you described it and walk through it. Um, it was similar to walking into an art gallery and you're looking at something and then you ask the artists, "What have I got?" So, tell me what and then it comes together. And that to me I the story in it and what it is and the makeup of it. I quite enjoy it. I' I'd be willing to defend it. Uh and I have no problem defending it. It just like any type of uh art and I'm going to call it art. It it's up to perception. There's some people that would just like to have a stick man, you know, uh sort of an idea. Uh there are people that would think beyond it. Um earlier we were talking, you know, when you call a banana stuck to the wall art. Well, I'm sorry. No, that's that's not art or or the way someone perceives it. So, I quite like your work and I think you nailed it. Thank you, >> Councelor Shaw. Uh through Mayor Jordan, I'm just wondering if if we could potentially add a motion um just to ask if we could send it back just for the logo and um slogan. >> So, you're looking for a referral model? >> Yes, please. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, we have a referral motion on the floor. Moved by councelor Shara, second by councelor Frank, resolved that report DCS26-29 be referred back to staff to work on with consultant to incorporate feedback provided at council and report back to the July council meeting with options. All in favor? That's carried. Yeah. Thank you very much for coming out tonight and um it looks like we're going to see you again. The next delegation is from uh Gustalt uh communications regarding the downtown re-imagined communications update. Uh please come to the podium. Good evening. We can begin. Thank you. There is Okay. Wait. Hello. >> Okay, your honorable mayor and town council, thank you for inviting me here today to present on behalf of the project team. Um, if you go to the next slide. So, every community eventually faces a moment where aging infrastructure has to be renewed. For Ginsby, that moment is now and it's happening right in the heart of your downtown. We understand that for council, this is not just a construction project. This is truly a generational investment that each of you have decided to take on, one that will shape the way Grimby looks, how it feels, how community engages downtown um for decades to come. And so we recognize this and as a project team we we also understand that it's our responsibility uh to make sure that not only is this construction project implemented successfully but the story of your investment as a council is a positive one when we're done this project. We also want to make sure uh that uh we also want to make sure that the business community as we go through this project survives and thrives and that the community stays engaged and ultimately very proud of this project when it's completed. Next slide please. Before I get into uh before I you know actually sorry as a recap of uh what downtown reimagined is it's a project that the council has approved and taken on to renew the underground infrastructure uh but also uh build and transform the downtown core into a vibrant pedestrian-friendly destination. And so before I get into the communications aspect of the project, I'd like to invite my colleague Brandon to speak about the construction aspect and give you an update on the staging schedule and vision. Thank you. >> I got to put it down. Uh thanks for the uh introduction and and thank you for Mr. Mayor and members of council for allowing uh us the opportunity to speak this today. Uh if you can advance two slides, one more. Perfect. Uh so just wanted to give you a quick update uh on the progress of the project to remind you or to remind everyone the project is being completed in two phases. The first phase in 2026 uh on the left here will focus on constructing uh new water main uh on sections Mountain uh Elm Maine and Christy uh as well as Rossmore. The second phase on the right will focus on uh the underground works on Main Street uh and that we skipped in 2026 uh as well as some road reconstruction um uh efforts on uh Main Street in the core area. So this is your sidewalks, lighting, landscaping, etc. And this is where the community's uh vision for a reimagined downtown Grimby will come to reality. Uh next slide, please. Uh so we've reached a few important milestones over the first half of the year. uh design work in phase 1 was completed in February, March, April, May. Uh we progressed through the various stages of our procurement process and to hire a contractor for the phase one construction. Earlier this month, we're able to officially award the project to Alfred Bream, Alfred Beam Excavating. Uh over the last few weeks, uh we've been flushing out the project schedule with Beam. Uh and beginning next week, the contractor will start setting up their site office, staging equipment, uh bringing in supplies and and uh uh erecting some of the uh project signage. Beam is expected to begin the actual construction the week of July 6th uh after the uh Canada Day holiday. Uh and they'll be beginning at the west end of Elm Street near Gibson Street and working their way easterly uh to Main Street over the course of a couple weeks. Uh while the construction uh is progressing, we'll be final working uh to finalize the design of the phase 2 scope uh for next year uh and and have that uh ready uh in the fall uh for uh uh pricing and award similar to what we did for phase one. Next slide. Uh so we thought it'd be nice to share with you some of the initial renderings for the phase 2 work. Uh so with an eye to the future about the downtown could look like and and when all is said and done. uh rendering helps demonstrate how we expect to build on the themes that we heard out of our uh community visioning exercise including improving the overall pedestrian experience. Uh strong support for uh pedestrian crossing midblock between Ontario Mountain Street, enhancing the streetscape while in a uh while at the same time being complimentary of the historic uh character of downtown and also delivering a product that can support uh the long-term health and prosperity of our downtown. Next slide. And just before I hand it back to Ahmed, uh just want to take the moment to mention our project team. Uh re really uh this has been a collective effort by everyone involved to getting us uh where we are today. Um the members from SEMA, our engineering team, our communications team, uh Christina in particular has become an integral part in uh um working on the communications side. with just all's help for the last couple weeks, I'm getting a greater appreciation for what it means uh uh I've said often that uh this is uh as much of an engineering project as it is a communications project or vice versa. So I'm really understanding now what what it takes to be in communications. So I really appreciate that. Uh Amanda Mcdonald, Daniel Verstein, uh Vanderstein, Ben Burns, uh Fiona and Jules from the BAA as well as Rebecca from the Chamber of Commerce. uh they've been providing input uh through the last year or so if not more uh acting as the voice for uh the business uh owners downtown uh and uh Ahmed and his team really appreciate their efforts as well uh and they're helping us deliver on a comprehensive communications and and strategy that uh Ahmed is going to speak more to. Thanks again. >> Okay, thank you Brandon. Um, so we understand that town council plays an important role in making this investment a community success story. And so a big part of our communication strategy uh, you know, includes yourselves uh, in keeping the residents, the business owners and all stakeholders within the town updated and informed. The communication strategy is really designed or built around a hub and spoke model. Meaning as a team, as a project team, as a communications team, we uh will be managing the official content of the project, meaning updates of what's going on and anything that revolves around it. But the reach towards the stakeholders need who need to know about this project is are our trusted voices that amplify what we have what we're sharing. And that includes yourselves. And so um and and as council, you're the most trusted voices in the ward. And so we're not asking you to become our social media managers or uh or write content for us, but we just want you to amplify the content that we push out. And what that uh specifically that means, you know, we'll be issuing weekly project updates through Let's Talk Grimby newsletters. Uh so for you to share that with your your residents, reposting um information if you're on social media, reposting what we issue to to to individuals who follow you. and as you talk to people in the community at events at the doors uh uh at community meetings to update them uh about the project as well. Next slide. The reality of the project is that it will create temporary disruption. It is construction but our objective as a team is to ensure that residents know that downtown remains open and accessible. That is our top objective. Next slide. And there are three guiding principles in how we will do this. Number one, we want to make sure that residents do not forget that we are building for the future. Every message that we issue um all of our messaging as part of our campaign frames disruption is a temporary cost for permanent long-term gain of the town. Modern infrastructure, a walkable, more beautiful downtown and investment that is measured in decades for the families of Grimby. The second priority is supporting local business. Uh we have been the team has met with the BIA and members of the business community several times. We've listened to them. We know that their top concern is uncertainty. They want to know what is happening before it happens and early enough for them to adapt. It's not the noise. It's not the dust. They want to be able to know how to run their business as we go through the construction implementation. So this strategy prioritizes proactive, precise information so businesses can plan and adapt. And the third principle is keeping downtown open and vibrant. Construction should not translate in the minds of residents as avoidance. We want them to know that they can continue to access downtown and um and downtown is worth visiting. Um and so those are our three principles that drive all of our communication. Next slide. In doing that, we're supporting four key partners. You are one of them. You are a key part of this project. We will support you with the information you need to inform your residents, but also the businesses and the residents and of course the visitors who are coming to Grimby need to know how to navigate the town. And so our communication strategy will target all of these stakeholders. Next slide. We went through a very uh we call it a brand refresh uh in order to ensure that the branding of the project can be consistently used across all materials that are important whether it be signs or emails, digital uh you know banners, events, whatever it is, the the the branding can fit well. And and so when residents see this brand, uh they know this is the source of truth for the project. And so going forward, instead of the old brand that you see there on the top left, we now have a new, it's a temporary brand for the two years of the project called Grimby Downtown Re-Imagine. It's simple. It's uh it's uh it's, you know, reflects the project name and you can see it in different formats, different assets here as um are these are examples of how it will be used and executed throughout the project. Next slide. So communications are already underway. We issue updates to the community. Uh we've uh we've just launched social media accounts for the project. This project will will have its own set of Facebook and Instagram accounts uh in order to not be distracted from all the important updates the town is issuing through its own accounts. But the town will be will will amplify uh what we're issuing. Um we you will also see in late June, if you've not heard already, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony, the official start of the construction. Um and then construction will continue through until October 31st. Uh through this through this period, we'll be running a downtown is open campaign, a number of events and digital campaigns to ensure that we keep the community actively involved. Next slide. In terms of the groundbreaking ceremony, this event will set the tone for the entire project. It's our first and most important public moment. We're bringing together the honorable mayor, yourselves as town council, but also federal and provincial and regional partners who are investing in this project. This is obviously it's an it's a media opportunity, but it's also a moment that reinforces our message that this is an investment that we are all very proud of. Next slide. The model of our communication is simple. The Let's Talk Groomsby and its accounts are the center, the source of truth that will be amplified by the town, the BIA, the Chamber of Commerce and other partners. We will also have signage and um be at events and and and media coverage as we go through the project. For instance, at the happening, you will see a booth by a booth for Downtown Re-Imagine with volunteers who will be there uh trained to speak to residents about the project and and build awareness. Next slide. We also want to ensure that we keep downtown active. There will be uh a you know there'll be updates, event promotions, parking information among other approaches to keep people coming downtown. I'll go to the next slide just for time. And we have assigned a strategy. You'll see a number of slides through the assigned through the project being um implemented and uh and placed throughout the town to keep people informed. Next slide. We have two anchor events in 2026 through the summer that you will you will see. Uh one of them is called meet the machines. This uh this event is a familyfriendly event that generates excitement rather than the anxiety that you typically have around construction to encourage families to bring their kids out, see the machines in the downtown area and access the businesses. Sip shop and stroll is another an event that will drive foot traffic and economic activity into the local businesses during the height of the construction period. Next slide. Beyond the anchor events, the BIA, as you know, is very active and very supportive of this project. And so their events will also support in bringing people into the downtown area through May from May through October. A number of events that you're well aware of will be implemented uh to continue to encourage people to come downtown. Next slide. We are we are working towards deploying project ambassadors. This is a concept that will have, you know, individuals who are part of the project on the ground answering questions, supporting businesses and preparing and reporting feedback quickly and immediately back up to the project team so we can modify and implement things or change things as we need to ensure that the concerns of residents and business owners are are considered for. And lastly, the last slide of the presentation, crisis communications. And so as a team, we have a protocol in place. Unexpected road closures, utility interruptions, business access complaints, negative public sentiment. All of these are things that we may not have planned for. We plan, you know, we uh or or may be unexpected. So each scenario has a response path and as a team we will assess the situation, understand the impact on residents and business owners and communicate a response publicly to folks so that they can uh so that they understand how the town is responding. We want to ensure that as that we maintain the community's trust in this project when things get hard, but also continue to ensure people are proud and uh people are are are and that downtown remains accessible. Uh uh thank you very much. Thank you for your presentation. Any questions from council? Councelor Frank. >> Uh thank you, Mayor Jordan. Uh thank you for the presentation. >> Uh we all I think are very much aware of how important it is to replace the water main downtown and how much we want to have the reimagine project move forward. Uh, and you mentioned in your presentation there that it wasn't the uncertainty that was or sorry, it wasn't the dust and that type of thing that was going to that the downtown merchants were concerned about. It was the uncertainty. Well, I can assure you from my communication and meetings with merchants downtown, they are very much concerned about the dust, especially the uh merchants downtown that have outside uh patios and restaurants and so on so forth. They will not be able to operate those parts of their business during the time of this because people don't want people don't want to be eaten dust. I mean, as simple as that. And it's really important. And there's one particular merchant downtown and and Brandon knows who I'm talking about. He fears he will have to close his facility, close down his business completely because his patio, the revenue he gets from his patio represents 60% of his yearly profits. So I fear we will probably lose that really important merchant downtown and few of the others. So I'm I'm I'm just I'm the question I'm going to ask you is that can they said they the months in which you're closed which is April to August are the the busiest months when people are outside eating on the patios. So can this time frame be moved backwards or forwards by at least up to 3 months? I know it's going to go into the winter but it's so so important if we want some of those merchants to survive and I can assure you some of them will not survive. And uh myself and Mr. Millie went to visit I think it was Port Hope. Port Hope and they had a they had a downtown replacement of their of their u of their water man. And that downtown was absolute chaos and a lot of the businesses did close down as a result of it. I don't know if they reopened later on or whatever the case might be. But I I'm just asking can we move that time frame and I'm looking at Brandon is probably going to kill me, but I I because if I ask a question, I keep asking it. Can we not move that time frame 3 months forward or 3 months backwards to help these businesses to survive? >> I'll just make a quick >> Everything else, by the way, you're doing a great job. The communication is great. I'm hearing all positive things about that. That is working very very well and and I appreciate that. And I think it's not about just the residents. If the merchants don't survive, the residents have nowhere to go downtown. So, um I'll let you respond to that. >> Sure. I'll I'll just make a quick comment and then defer to Brandon. Uh first, thank you for that and it's a point well taken and I think in no way is the project team or myself uh under underestimate these types of disruptions around noise and dust. And uh I think uh I my point was that business just they they need to know when and how and you know and and how to work with with the town on the construction approach. But those things we heard them very clearly as well at the BIA event. Those were concerns that were raised and I I just want to make a note of that as well. So thank you for allowing me to clarify. Uh I'll then defer to Brandon on the project schedule. >> Yeah. Thank you uh through you Mr. Mayor. Um so just to clarify if we're talking a specific business the phase one work shouldn't affect that business other than uh the traffic around uh because that that business is located in the core area and that's will be scheduled for phase 2. I think the concerns you are bringing forward which are are valid concerns about the phase 2 work uh will be uh again more of a challenge to deal with um in terms of uh moving up the construction date. Again, I think I've communicated to yourself and and that business owner that uh the team will be looking at that as as as we move into the tendering phase for phase two. Um the challenge with uh and I think I've communicated this to you before is the challenge with uh trying to do construction work in the winter is it becomes slow. Uh you're more subject to the challenges of of the winter uh of weather. Um, so, uh, what I'm what I again and and and not that this decision has made been made, but I just want to, uh, communicate kind of, you know, some of the concerns we have with trying to, uh, advance the schedule is if if the thought is, hey, we can start in January or December and we're going to finish earlier. Um I think it's we're going to start in January or December and we're going to finish at the same time because I don't think the work is again as productive in the winter. Um with all that being said and I've communicated this previously that we will be looking at originally I think in the schedule we show like a uh a March or sorry uh April June start of next year. we're looking at with the team when we get to that point is how is there how how soon or how uh how quickly or how how for how much forward can we advance that construction into uh March or February kind of thing. So, uh, the answer is, uh, I know it's long-winded, but, uh, we we are hearing the concerns and we are looking at whether there's an opportunity to in, uh, advance the schedule, but again, I just want to be clear that, uh, I don't think the end result is going to be what, uh, some people are expecting. So, I just want to be open and clear uh, in providing that response. >> I'll I'll take that as a positive, Brandon. Councelor Vardy. >> Uh thank you through you, Mr. Mayor. Uh first of all, I didn't get your name. >> Ahmed Atia. >> Okay, Ahmed. Um uh I I guess that my my first question has to do with um and maybe it's Brandon's going to have to answer this. With the construction of the Wolverton, which would start fairly soon after this, will the the sort of heavy trucks and stuff coming in um to do that work wreck the brand new roads? Is Is there a Is there an issue there or am I just imagining a potential issue? Sorry, I can't see you cuz the light behind you. I don't know if you're making if you're making a face at me as usual, Brandon, or um it's just a concern the same way we had concerns when we um we had trucks coming uh up on uh towards the bio old biodigtor. Yeah. So that's my one question. Do you want to answer now or? >> Yeah. Through you, Mr. Mayor. So in terms of the Wolverton uh construction, uh my understanding is they're in the site plan phase now. uh as you know development uh can be um the timing of the development is out of the town's control. So we are monitoring that project closely as it progresses. Uh what I can say is they're in the phasing of the work, the first phase of the construction project. We're not putting the final touches if you want to call it on the restoration. Uh so when we're doing things like trench restoration, we're preparing it or we're doing the replacement with a um a quick fix ashalt rather than the the okay a nice smooth ashalt afterwards. >> Okay. >> Uh if uh that being said, the the phase 2 works next year uh will provide the financing final touches on it. we will need to be cognizant of construction vehicles moving into that area and we do want to be careful of uh you know making sure that our investment isn't getting beat up. So we'll take the appropriate means to direct that traffic accordingly and ensure that we have the necessary securities in place that uh if there is damage then we have the ability to recoup those costs. >> Okay. Uh my next question is well I I got two more. Uh the ground baking groundbreaking date when is that when we're having this media event. Has that been determined? >> Yeah. Sorry through you, Mr. Mayor. So, we're it's up in the air. Uh was supposed to be scheduled for the 22nd. We're hearing that there may be some conflicts uh with that date. So, it's uh we're working with the province and the federal representatives to see if we can uh find a date that works for everyone. Um so, it's likely going to be the week of uh uh June 22nd. Uh so as soon as we have that information available, we'll communicate it to council. >> Okay. Uh next question is you showed some visuals of signage and you said it's not going to be like the one on the left, but the one on the right. The one on the right looked like a beach to me, at least from this distance. So um I kind of preferred the one on the left. >> No, no. The uh Sorry, I apologize. >> No, no, that that's it. I just >> you Mr. Mayor. Um the slide the slide that had signage examples, those were just ideas like to give you an idea of how we're going to put signage around like you know but it's not the brand at all. That is not you know uh um but it's the the >> Yeah. So >> no problem. This is the branding. >> Okay. But the one on the right to me when I look at the upper right it I just think it looks like they're at the beach. So >> Oh, when you see it uh >> when you see it up close, these are community members walking the downtown street. >> Okay. All right. Well, I didn't get that. So, >> yeah. So, it's uh to reflect community. Um the uh >> might want to take another shot at >> point taken. >> Okay. Just out there for you. Thank you. And um I I guess the last thing and I don't know if this would involve you Brandon as well but in terms of some of the concerns of people with shops and restaurants um can we look at particularly restaurants that have sort of outdoor areas? Can we give them part of our parking lots in behind and then use where we have lots of parking possible possible uh shuttle transfers, you know, and I'm just throwing that out there for something to think about because you won't get quite the dust that you will uh on the main drag. So, just a thought. >> I can, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Uh really good question and I actually wanted to speak to that one from the previous question. So, we have talked to uh at least one business owner about the potential of using uh their their back property during the phase 2 construction. Uh whether that would be more uh helpful to them, keeping them away from the dust and the and the construction noise. So, I think we're totally open to that. Uh I think that's an opportunity. Will that bring challenges with parking? Yes. But uh if if there's success there and we can find alternate locations to provide that parking, we'll certainly work with the businesses to to help uh to help uh make that make that a reality. >> Councelor Devoli. >> Thank you, Mayor Jordan. Um it's exciting to actually see us getting this close uh because we've been talking about it for so long. Um, so pardon me if I um ask some more detailed questions and I'm not sure it may be Mr. Wartman who really my questions are directed to. Um, so we're talking about doing Elm Street, I'm going to say from the TD curving around. Um, and of course on the south side of our main street businesses is where there is extensive parking, both private and public parking as in owned by our town. Um and yet that's where all the construction is going to be initially in phase one. Correct. Um so are how much of that parking will you be able to keep active during phase one or or is it going to be taken over by you know construction um work sites uh by construction management trailers um that sort of thing. So just a very general question if you could to sort of walk us through what the site is going to look like. >> Yeah, thank you three Mr. Mayor. So terms of parking uh both during phase one and phase two the parking lots downtown on both the north and south south side will be very important for us to maintain. uh keeping access to uh um the customers flowing in the employees who uh have to work there uh and and ensuring that uh uh they can not only get to the parking lots uh but also get from the parking lots to the actual building. So uh in terms of the second part was um can you repeat it? Sorry. >> How much will be accessible still? >> Oh, so yeah. So it will all be accessible during the construction. Uh yes uh we are working on Elm Street but during that phase uh they will be maintaining two lanes of traffic. So the way Elm Street is wide enough that we feel that we can accommodate a lane of construction and two lanes of traffic both way. Um so they they should be able to still access those parking lots whether it's off of Elm. There will be some challenges when Mountain Street uh there will be a closure on Mountain Street for a section, but they will have access on the other side of Elm. So hopefully I answered everything. I think there was a second part that I missed, but Councelor Flavio, >> thank you, Mayor Do and Brandon. So when we were at that uh the meeting for the downtown uh businesses, I think the concern that uh councelor Frank brought up was kind of a misunderstanding of that it that it would be closed for two se two seasons. And I think Brandon's done a good job of clarifying that because we're doing it in phases. One section will be closed for one season, not completely closed, but you know, with with with access, and the other section, the the downtown core section is 2027. Um, I think that we have an opportunity this year while the Elm Street work is being done to, and I've mentioned this before, to help those businesses in the core activate their alternative entrances. Uh, you know, some of those businesses have already done that. Uh, if you go to Teddy's, their patio, they have the large patio in the back. You can enter that way. Uh, it's that they've used that back parking lot very well. Um, I think that this is an excellent opportunity for us to reach out to those businesses. I would actually be okay with us uh offering grants to those businesses to help them do that honestly because I think in the long run it would cost us less than the the alternative. and that is the loss of businesses, the impact on the downtown. Um I the questions that I I had were uh you talked about the communication strategy. I think it's phenomenal. I uh I love the multi-tered approach. I love the fact that there's different types of social media, the fact that there's traditional media. Um do we have an email uh and a hotline kind of a phone number in place for people who have concerns? You talked about an ambassador, which is great, but you know, something happens on a on a Thursday afternoon and there's not somebody to to speak to. Is there is how are we dealing with that specific type of issue >> through Mr. Mayor? Um, we have an email and the email is being monitored regularly. Um, we don't have a phone number, do we? Correct. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, >> if I can speak to that just to uh support um through you, Mr. Mayor. So, uh, typically on construction projects, the contractor has a foreman and the foreman has an emergency contact number that we have the ability to get a hold of them 24 hours a day. So, uh, as part of our communication strategy, we'll need to ensure that uh that uh that number is available to the members of the public and staff uh if an issue comes up. But uh so we haven't I guess made that public yet, but it will be coming as we uh get get more in in uh in in into the details with our contractor. >> Thank you, Brandon. I'll just add I was thinking town phone number, but thank you for Yeah. Um I I'll just also add is we're also monitoring social media accounts that you know many community members are active on to see what the discussion is that so that we can actually as a team more proactively respond to kind of concerns or misinformation that's being spread. So I just wanted to add that as well. >> That's great to hear. And I counselor Frank brought up uh Port Hope which I visited while that construction was happening. I'd visited before and I visited it since. Um, I hope that we like Port Hope win a communication award. Port Port Hope, I don't know. I I attended a presentation where they talked about Port Hope's communication strategy. Uh, Port Hope won u community relations campaign of the year at the public relations society. Um, Toronto chapter ACE awards. They they you talked about an ambassador. They had a junior ambassador because there was a kid that went there regularly to see the construction. So they, you know, put a hard hat on him, put on a a refle and and had him be the project ambassador. I'd love to see something like that in Grimby. We got to go with what happens obviously, but um there are lots of great ideas out there and and so I I I would like for this to be a positive in the long run. You know, I think that you you're coming out with guns of blazing, which is terrific. I you've got really good strategies in place. Um, I wish even though I think you've got some terrific strategies, I really wish I could hit the fast forward button to the end of the project because like everybody else, like the businesses downtown, I think we all have a little bit of anxiety about it, you know, because we want it to turn out. We also are excited to see what it's going to look like when it's done. So, thank you for your communication. Um, let's see where we can go with this because I think there's some great stuff that can happen and and really positive things that can happen with Grimby as a result of this. So, uh, and I really liked, uh, councelor Vard's parking lot use idea. It goes with the using the the rear entrances of of businesses and and enhancing those. So, whatever we could do to make that happen in the short term so that we can when we get to 2027, those core businesses are ready to go. Let's make that happen. >> Thank you, Councelor Shaw. >> Thank you, Mayor Jordan. Thank you. I'm going to make this really quick. Uh, just two comments. Um, the one to do with Port Hope. I was at that presentation as well. they had a really really great uh communications. So, if you could somehow track some of those suggestions and bring that forward, that'd be great. Um, and I I just I love the fact that we're going to have a tool now for all of council to use in order to um provide information to residents because sometimes it's difficult communicating the backstory and the dates and everything. So, now it's all synced and we can just pass it on. So the easier you can make that into one kind of link that we can we can add that would be great. So thank you. >> Noted. Thank you. >> All right. Uh seeing no further questions. Thank you very much for your presentation, AGMA. And um can I have a mover and second to receive the delegation? Moved by councelor DeFlavio. Second by councelor Frank. resolve the downtown reimagined communications update from Gustalt Communications be received for information. All in favor? That's carried. Up next, we have um Sarah Sweeney. He's going to introduce uh um our representative from my Hannah. Welcome. Thanks for coming out. >> Good evening, members of council. It's my pleasure to introduce Hannah who is the chair of our current MYAK committee. Uh MAK has the four-year term like many of our committees, but it does function a little bit differently because it is based on the school year. So, you might hear her talk a little bit more about the year. Um but they do have the term throughout the entire four years. The current committee has nine dedicated members uh doing lots of great work for Grimby and being a really great resource and advocates for youth. And Hannah's going to walk you through some of their accomplishments. Before I turn it over to Hannah, I just want to let you know many years ago and I won't say how many. Um, I was very involved in the MYAK and it's great to just see that it continues on uh doing the great work it does. So Hannah, I'll turn it over to you. >> Okay. Um, my has had a very successful year and I want to personally thank Melissa for allowing this to happen as well as uh, Vice President James, Secretary Emerson, and um, Mayor Jeff Jordan for their uh, dedication and assistance with this matter. I also want to thank all my members for ensuring events ran smoothly. Uh, next slide. Okay. So, a quick overview includes um growing our social med media presence, um the Moonnight market and movie, um mayor's near levy, um mayor refrigeration or major refrigeration, um Peach King Center grand opening, and uh community safety day and then our up andcoming study cafe. Next slide. Um so this year as a committee we decided to start a social media platform. This helped us to uh gain more MYAK members, have more of a uh more community members learn about the MAK program, allowed for more people to come out to town events u through promotion and helped uh the committee gain marketing skills for us to we created videos um to appeal to Grimby's youth. Next slide. Um so the during October we participated in the Moonnight market and movie. Mach was able to helped help assist um the vendors to their spots and helped serve uh food and drink and we assisted like vendors with their setting up and um tear down and assisted with uh setting up for the movie night and made positive communication um with community members and promoted our committee. Next slide. Um, we were a big part of the major refrigeration Peach King Center grand opening. Some members consider this our most successful event. Um, with it having the most community impact and engagement. We helped design the new youth room in the updated building. Um, we had the opportunity to help create a scavenger hunt for the youth to participate in which allowed them to see the new building um, in an engaging way. And uh with this uh we with the scavenger hunt, we had a giveaway and uh handed out snacks. Um we led parents and youth through the room and welcomed everyone into our new space. Um that picture is just like us with the giver the w the giveaway winner. Um and then we just have our members handing out the candy and snacks. So yeah, uh community safety day. So, we handed out traffic light uh shaped stress toys to community members promoting road safety in a fun and engaging way to kids. We spent valuable time with Grimsby's youth leading them through um lawn uh games and a giant connect four building blocks and bouncy castles. Um we assisted with community activities, answered and asked safety questions and created a welcoming and enjoyable atmosphere. Uh next slide. Uh >> okay. >> Uh yeah, that one. Um so our up andcoming we have uh our uh study cafe. Um where we are going to provide high school students with a welcoming space where they can study for exams. Um and we we created a safe space for students to socialize and belong and allowed students to feel connected to their town. We offering we're offering food and drinks um for purchase and gave students a new place to study and get work done while promoting um the new major refrigeration Peach King Center. Next slide. Um some other events that we participated in include the tree lighting ceremony. We did food service and art activity. Uh the Grimby Santa Claus parade where we handed out candy and walked the parade course um behind the mayor and counselors. Next slide. Um, MAK has been a great opportunity for students to feel a sense of connection and belonging in their community. It can help students such as myself voice and utilize their uh leadership qualities. It can also help foster future career paths such as business, marketing or even being on council as we are engaging um in the events and with community members. uh it has helped me build my interpersonal skills and it can also be a great resume builder to help push our community me or members uh further. The committee gives our town a competitive edge and makes it unique and interactive compared to other towns that may not have this opportunity. Therefore, on behalf of all MAK members, I'd like to thank esteemed leaders such as Jeff Jordan and all current council members for making our committee possible. It's because of people like you, Grimsby's youth, can feel pride and have a place to belong. So, thank you. >> Thank you very much for your presentation, Hannah. Great job. >> Any questions from council? Councelor Shawwa. >> Um, I just wanted to thank Hannah. Wanted to thank Hannah and the committee. You guys, you left too quick. Um, it's, you know, I know you guys are really busy with school and when you step up like this, it really helps us because, uh, you know, when we're trying to make decisions, we're just kind of guessing at what you guys actually want. Um, so when you tell us and you come up with these great ideas like the study cafe, I thought that was a great idea. Thank you. um so many things that you you've come up with that I thought were um really articulated well and and it's really helpful for our younger community members to get connected like you said. So, thank you for that. Um and I know when I was a student, uh when I was a a kid growing up, there were not a lot of things to do and that was the thing we always heard that there wasn't a lot to do. So, the fact that you guys are bringing ideas forward, it's great. So, thanks again. >> Oh, thank you. Um yeah, our idea for the study cafe came from like the library being overcrowded. So we decided to utilize our new youth room to um uh help with that overcrowding. So >> that was a great idea and I did check with the uh library and they appreciate that too. Thank you, >> Councelor DeFlavio. >> Thank you, Mayor Through. Uh thanks Hannah. I same uh when we started the mayor's youth advisory committee, Sarah didn't want to say how long ago it was, but I think it was 22 years ago that we started it. Uh Mayor Jordan was the chair of recreation, I think back then. And um when we started it, the whole point of it was to get people like you to become the future leaders of Grimsby. So I hope that your experience seems like a positive one >> will lead you and your friends that were part of the committee to think about being involved in the community in different ways going forward. This is just the start. So I know that it come feels like you're coming to an end, but from my perspective, we all hope that it's the start of all of you being more involved in the community and maybe taking our seats up here at some point or maybe right away. I don't know. You guys are have did a terrific job. And I I think I speak for all of us when I say when I looked from the down from the parade float or walked beside you guys or looked into the community, the kids, the the teen room at the the Peach King Center, it was it made me really happy to see people involved and to see the youth involved there. So, thank you to you and your friends for for all of that because that was the whole point when we started it back in the day. And I'm really happy that you brought it back, Mayor. It's it's it's a really positive uh part of this term of council. So, thanks Hannah to you and all your friends. >> Thank you. Thank you, >> Councelor Frank. >> Thank you, Mayor Jordan. >> Hannah, thank you so so much. I I got to say that I got to commend you because it's not easy to get up there and speak. And you've you've done a great job doing that, by the way. And you you certainly have have explained everything very very well. Um, I think it's so important that we keep our youth involved in what happens municipal in municipal politics because, you know, um, it's it's you're our future leaders. You're our future business people and so on and so forth. So, I hope that this is as as Nick said, this is not maybe this is not the ending. This is every ending has a beginning. So, maybe this is the end of something, but hopefully we'll see something even better next year. Yeah, >> and I hope we'll see you up there again telling us how well you did this year and this the next term. So, thank you so so much for all your work and please re relate to your uh to your colleagues. >> Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh seeing no further questions. Again, thank you Hannah for coming out tonight and speaking. >> Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you. >> You're very welcome. Have a mover and seconder to uh receive the delegation. Moved by councelor DeFlavio, second by councelor Frank. Resolve that the end of term presentation from mayor's youth advisory committee be received for information. All in favor? That's carried. All right. Where are we now? All right. Now we move to uh chair's reports. Uh councelor Shawa, can you please give your chair's reports? >> Uh through Mayor Jordan. Thank you. Community services committee received two end of term presentations from advisory committees recognizing their accomplishments over the current term. The first presentation was provided by George Bodner on behalf of the Grimsby Green Advisory Committee. George highlighted a number of achievements in natural stewardship, including updates to the town's website related to tree planting and canopy education, review of the public tree bylaw, the planting of more than 4,300 park trees, and nearly 400 street trees since 2022, completion of a heat map study, tree canopy study, and tree inventory mapping, as well as a partnership with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to plate uh to plant native trees along 40 mil Creek. The presentation also outlined progress in climate action, environmental protection, and community advocacy. The committee also provided suggestions uh for future opportunities and improvements. And councelor DeFlavio and I uh requested that these um the feedback be emailed and shared with the committee members for future consideration. The second presentation was provided by Leanne Wallace and Diane Lzinski with an introduction from uh chair Olga McNeel on behalf of the age friendly advisory committee. Highlights included the growth and development of the committee, participation in regional agefriendly initiatives, hosting the annual Grimsby active living fair and seniors month celebrations, completion of two community surveys, identifying key priorities for older adults as community support and health services, transportation and housing, and initiatives such as the social prescribing program, accessibility improvements at Centennial Park, and the installation of a wind phone. The committee also established strong partnerships with organizations including the 55 plus active living club, McNal House Bayest Academy for Research and Education, the Niagara Older Adults Alliance, and the Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee. Their work was recognized through Grimby's receipt of the Ontario Age Friendly Community Recognition Award. The committee also identified um several future opportunities including the identification of naturally occurring retirement communities, a stronger focus on socialization and combining isolation among older adults, the continued formal pursuit of and reporting on the World Health Organization age friendly community designation and volunteer development initiatives includ including formalizing a 55 plus volunteer recruitment and retention program and continued support for social prescribing program. I also like to echo the acknowledgement made by Leanne Wallace during the presentation regarding the passing of committee member uh Karine Wilson in 2025. Karine was a valued member of the age friendly advisory committee and active member of the 55 plus active living committee uh active living club and a founding member of the Niagara Council of Age Friendly Communities. She dedicated countless hours to improving the lives of older adults and strengthening our community. On behalf of uh the committee, we'd like to thank all members of both advisory committees for their dedication, hard work, and contributions to our uh community through this term. The community services committee also received an update from Janet Oaks on behalf of the Grimby Museum. Janet highlighted upcoming museum events, ongoing efforts to digitize the museum's collection with nearly 4,000 artifacts now available online, and advised that foundation repairs are underway and the museum will remain closed until completion, which uh is expected to be the end of June, or at least it was at the uh the meeting. The committee also received a brief community services department information update including roof works at the major refrigeration Peach King Center, a summer youth room pilot program, MYAK study cafe, River Lions community programming, a successful tree giveaway, ongoing sight and park updates, summer events programming, and continued growth of the major refrigeration Peach King Center as a regional sport and recreation venue. Our next meeting is scheduled for June 23rd. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councelor Shawa. I just wanted to add with the age friendly committee. Uh it's been a pleasure serving on it and that committee in three years has done so much for the community and and operated so many events. Uh they really um operate well um younger than their years show. So it's really proud to be on that committee. Councelor DeFlavio um please give your chair's report. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh the public works committee meeting for May 27th, 2026. Uh the committee received a delegation from Alex White and Lauren Gretzinger regarding neighborhood traffic safety concerns on Lake Street. Um they expressed some concerns about the speed of traffic, uh some accidents that had occurred there. There was an excellent discussion and following the de the delegation, the committee recommended that staff report back on the concerns raised and received the delegation for information. Um the committee also considered report DPW2614 regarding the town's 2026 quality management systems the QM operational plans uh the committee recommended council endorse the updated drinking water road water sorry not road water hopefully not too much water roads wastewater and storm water QM operation plans and the associated policy statements just to refresh people's memory the QM uh is a structured framework work of policies, processes and procedures that uh we use as an organization to make sure that our products and services consistently meet quality uh customer expectations and regulatory requirements. We put it in place for certain systems to start off with like water, but we've expanded that to all of our systems. Um and we want to make sure that we meet the service delivery obligations. And under correspondence and department updates, staff gave us a downtown reimagined project update. We received a further update today, so I don't need to get into that too in too much detail. Um, the TMP was discussed briefly uh which had been recently presented to council and the city committee received for information a memorandum regarding revenue generated through the automatic speed enforcement red light camera programs. Um, as much as people hated those red those uh speed enforcement programs, they were a non-voluntary tax and they did raise money for the municipalities, those that money, of course, is no longer coming into the municipalities because the programs are no longer in place. There is a minimal amount of money from red light camera programs. Brandon's here to answer any further questions if people have them about the uh the contents of those minutes. Thanks, Mayor. Uh, seeing no questions um from council, up next is councelor Dvoli with your chair's report. >> Thank you, Mayor Jordan. The finance committee met on May 28th and there are really four key reports that we dealt with and I'm going to go quickly for through the first three because it's that fourth one that I think is so very important for all members of council and the public to actually um read and be aware of. Um so the first report was on our portfolio investments. It was our I'll call it the standard report on how well our portfolio investments did. It's a required report. Um but the summary of it basically for everyone is um that our investments earned on average 4.39%. Um that sounds like a fairly low number when you think of what happened in the stock market in the last year, but we are a very conservative organization. We invest mostly in bonds, uh, GIC's and things like that. We only have the one investment, and I mean that's the name of it, the one investment which, um, we have put $5 million into and is in the equity market. All the rest are very very conservative. The principle is basically, um, as secure as can possibly be. So that's um, the good news. And that number in terms of how we did is even better than we did last year too. The second report that we dealt with um has to do with another standard report that comes to us. That's our building permit fee report. I won't go into it in detail. You can see it attached in um to the agenda. But basically we had um greater number of building permits that we issued and therefore revenue that came with that than we were expecting. Uh so amazingly enough good news on that count too. Uh the third report that is mandated is the development charge reserve fund and that is I just want to point out a few highlights from it. We started the year with $ 8.5 million. We ended the year with $10 million. Uh so we certainly took in some DC collections of almost $1.3 million. Um had some spending from it as well. We're still funding the last second last um principal and interest payments on fire station 2 that is due to end by 2027. Um and some other small capital funding that could come out of there. work is um beginning on our development charges background study will continue into 2026. Um now here's the part I will just share with you my personal observations and concerns. If you look at appendix A and this one I think is important to think about in light of some further discussions we're going to have tonight. But under our DC reserve funds, highway and related infrastructure, we have slightly over $4 million at the end of the year from that. We are hoping still to fund Casablanca, Go Central, Marlo, Peach. Um, sorry, Park. Um, and so, please recognize how small that number is related to the projects ahead of us. And if you'd like to see an even smaller number, when we're talking about our next fire station and how we do that, in our DC reserve fund for fire protection services, we don't even have 3/4 of a million dollars there. And you sure can't build anything for 738,000. So I leave those highlights from that. um to really u now get into more detail on finance report 26-18 our key performance indicators and this is such an important report um I I consider it sort of the two bookends of our long-term financial report that we did and then this one this is especially important though and I want to give a real big shout out to our finance department another municipality did something similar U to those two reports. They hired consultants for it. We did all the work internally. And so I think that is just a tremendous statement of the talent and capabilities of what we can do internally too. Now that's not to say and I'm pretty sure Mr. Del Monaco would say councelor Dvoli at the front of that last report it did say we borrowed some information from the town of Fort and we did because this is a comparative report and rather than going through the ministry of municipal affairs FIR website you know we did use the work that they did already but um this report talks extensively about sustainability our flexibility where we stand in relation to other municipalities and mayor Jordan, if I could have just a few minutes to highlight some of these things for you. So, under sustainability, we rank in the lowrisk category. Even things like our taxes receivable of what we're able to collect in 2024, we're at 5.2%. Most other municipalities much higher than that. And especially when we compare ourselves to our sisters and brothers in the Nagra region, they're at 7.8 and 7.9. And for 2025, we are still in that low category. So, thank you to all the taxpayers who are keeping us well funded here and paying their property taxes. When it comes to things like um statistics like our net financial assets or our net debt as a percentage of our revenues, again, we anything above a negative 50% is considered low risk. Guess what? We're at a positive 153%. So way way way beyond our comparators which are in the 70% range. Um when we look at things like um you know our reserves and our discretionary reserve funds you know anything greater than 20% is considered low risk. We are at almost 118%. So um our other neighboring municipalities are all in the 60 to 70% range. So again, we are coming out so well compared to our sisters and brothers. That's not to say we're not all under financial pressures, but we have um truly um been very careful in these areas. Even areas as uh things like how much cash we have compared to the liabilities um we are so solidly within the low risk range, we're actually at 153%. meaning we have cash more than our liabilities, 150% more. So, you know, $150 of financial assets and $100 of liabilities. There are certainly a number of municipalities in the Niagara region who are nowhere close to that unfortunately. Um, so even things like debt and where we stand in in all of that, we are very very low risk. Now, um, most of the analysis that I'm referring to in this report use 2024 data because 2025, those reports that are going to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs um are not complete and have not been submitted. So, I'm really sharing with you 2024 information. Um, so when we talk about low debt um even with the issuance of the debenture for the Peach King Center, we are still very much in that low category. A and two last areas that I would just like to point out. Um one has to do with our assets and their life expectancy. So the lower the number um and the lower the value I'll say the better. So we are um at 33%. What what does this actually mean? It means that our assets we've consumed about a third of them. About 2/3 are still left to be used for the remaining of their life. And that is a very good metric because that means most of our assets are fairly young and they're in their early years and you know like your car if you know with you're within the first couple years that's better than driving a 25year-old car right so these are good good good indicators that we wanted to share with you tonight but there are a few that are still of concern and that always happens when we get into our asset management and our debt comparators. That's appendix B. And I have to say we rank only slightly ahead of our neighboring municipality in terms of how much we are setting aside into our reserves to pay for those. Um almost I will say many many more municipalities are contributing more into those reserves than we are. Um and for some very solid reasons why. Um and the report does go on about how much more we need to actually contribute in order to sort of get ourselves out of that position so that we will have enough to pay for those projects when they come due. Um again just to repeat we have the second lowest debt in the region. Um the only one that is lower is the city of Thorald and I think in 2025 they have zero debt. So, it's hard to beat zero, but um would be nice to be there. A couple just a few more >> to foli. We're going to have to wrap it up. >> If I could just have two more uh two things to point out that Grimy has the second highest average household income in the region and when it and we have the second lowest residential tax rate and um with that note, I am happy to wrap up. >> All right. and uh the planning and development um year end report. I'm going to move that to the July 13th meeting. We'll hear from me then. Um can I have a mover and seconder to approve the previous minutes? Moved by councelor Vardy. Second by councelor Frank. Resolve that the following minutes be approved. Council May 25th, 2026. Community services committee May 26, 2026. Public works committee May 27th, 2026. Uh, finance committee May 28th, 2026, special counsel June 1st, 2026, and special counsel June 2nd, 2026. All in favor? That's carried. Can I have a mover and second to receive the board minutes? Moved by councelor Kstani, second by councelor How. Resolve that the Ginsby Public Library board meeting minutes of May 13, 2026 be received. All in favor? And that's carried. Up next, we have regional counselor Seaburn to provide her update. Uh, come on up to the podium. Would have thought I had figured that out before. Now, thank you, Mayor Jordan and reach or and council. Nice to be with you tonight. If I may, I'm just going to point out to our our mayor that the last name is Seabour, not Seurn. But uh we'll just leave it at that. I have probably one of my last reports for this uh for this season. As we approach summer months and meeting schedules, I wanted to update some of the projects planned for the balance of this year. Milk and things that came up actually at the DIA meeting recently. Um, it's proved to be a bit more complicated than originally expected. Due to the nature of the demolition, there are problems with the retaining a consultant uh to design the building's demolition. The exess existing building is attached to the building to the west and therefore the demolition requires a design so that the other building doesn't get damaged in the meantime. It's a bit of a surgical demolition that's required. Designers from the region uh faculties or facilities roster have shown no interest in the project. The transportation department has reached out to other companies with some interest shown. It's expected bids will come in in the next couple of weeks and they'll move thereafter. Casablanca Boulevard reconstruction. Uh it has issued tenders that will close on July 7th. The project will start as soon as physically possible thereafter. The work includes reconstruction and widening of Casablanca Boulevard between the North Service Road and Livingston. Reconstruction and widening of Livingston Avenue from Casablanca to about 350 m west of Casablanca. That's to allow for the uh GO station. Reconstruction of the South Service Road from Indust Industrial Drive to approximately 170 m east of Casablanca. new traffic signals at Industrial Drive, uh the South Service Road, Toronto bound and the Niagara bound QW ramps and link Livingston Avenue at Casablanca Boulevard. Upgraded traffic signals north of uh pardon me at the North Service Road and South Service Road at Livingston as well. active transportation on Grim on Casablanca, South Service Road and Livingston. Currently undertaking a procurement for preliminary road construction for the Livingston extension to provide access to the GO station property which should be completed in mid July of this year. Note that the extension is only planned to extend to the wood lot to provide for frontage to the GO station. Main Street from Oaks to Casablanca has been determined to be too poor of condition to last another winter. I'm sure there's a few residents that will agree with that one. The current plan is a full resurfacing in this year's ashvault resurfacing program with an expected completion date of late fall prior to the winter operations which are becoming very difficult. The Grimby go station update. An environmental assessment notice has been completed as and has been filed and a review period of today. So June 15th was the last day for the review. The next steps will be the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister approval, which needs to be completed within the next 35 days. The Niagara region has submitted its 10% uh design. Metroinks has awarded the contract for completing the design to 100%. And on Friday, June 12th, Metroinks issued a report stating site clearing and early works will begin on June 22nd and is expected to continue until late August. Construction activities will require fencing, environmental protections, top soil stripping, and stockpiling, and the region of Niagara will be extending uh the Livingston uh site at that time. As with many construction projects, area neighbors and businesses may experience some uh potential noise, some vibration and dust impacts from the construction. Work is expected to take place on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. weekends if necessary. Critical safety work on this uh rail corridor will have to be completed overnight during the week and on some weekends from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. On street parking will be prohibited in the deadend area of Livingston and property owners in the immediate area are asked not to park in that area. More information is available and concerns can be addressed through the Hamilton Niagara community engagement team at Niagara at metroanks.com. One last minute item, just a reminder that the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority public engagement uh session is being held here tomorrow. It'll be between 6:00 and 8 and it'll be over at the major refrigeration Peach King Center. That's my report for tonight. Thank you, councelor Seabour. Questions? Councelor DeFlavio. >> Thank you, Mayor Through. Um I'm going to start with the positive and that is uh the Casablanca reconstruction. I'm I'm happy to I mean it's been so long. I I'm going to be a bit of a doubting Thomas here and say I'll believe it when I see it. But um the we saw various proposals for the overpass portion of that because as you know the the sidewalk is somewhat narrow. Um the connection between the GO station and Grimby on the lake is an important connection that's going to need to be required. Do we have a final design plan for that cross-section? If you don't have it and you can send it to us via email. Uh because we tal we've talked about things like um the bike path the uh two-way bike path on one side for example. Um we've talked about things like widening of the sidewalk over on the overpass. Uh you know there are other things that need to happen which are not going to happen now and I think Brandon spoken to this before. Um the the highway exits coming to a tea. I don't think that's happening in this part of the plan. Right. Or is it Brandon's nodding? Yes. Okay. So that I'll hopefully somebody could answer that. But uh as you know now and I've walked down there many times as a pedestrian you have to make eye contact with people coming off the highway because in their defense it's a yield. It's not a stop. So um if you don't make eye contact it's not a very safe situation there. So uh that T if that's what h is happening will uh go a long distance in making that uh safer for pedestrians and bikes. The other thing that I wanted to mention was the Milk and Things project that you're talk well another positive Main Street West between Oaks Road and Casablanca looks like it's post-war right now. So any improvement would be great. Uh the Milk and Things project is a bit of a frustration for me because anybody who looked at that building and the region must have looked at it prior to purchasing it could see that it was attached on one side of the building. And again, this is not a criticism of you. just a criticism of the process. You know, I I know that you're not involved in the purchasing of the building, so please don't misunderstand me. I'm not being critical of you. I'm expressing my frustration over the process because it's not difficult to look at that building and understand that it's going to be a surgical demolition, as you put it, which means that the cost of that demolition is going to be significantly greater and and the process of demolition is going to be significantly more difficult. So again, I'm looking to that forward to that coming down because it's an eyesore the way that it is now. We shouldn't have boarded up buildings in downtown. Uh so the sooner that can come down, the better. Um but if somebody wants to speak to the way that that overpass is going to look, I don't know if Brandon wants to speak to it or if >> uh yes, sorry through you, Mr. Chair. Um so in terms of the question about the uh interchanges themselves um the they are moving the intersections or interchanges offramps I guess is maybe the best way to say it closer and and together and creating a signalized intersection rather than the looped ramps or uh what do you call channelized intersections that they have now. So uh and on the active uh transportation uh uh perspective uh the they are uh providing a um multi-use pathway on the west side of the highway or the west side of the overpass uh with a sidewalk I believe beside it. So uh the focus there is again providing uh like you had mentioned in enhancing the pedestrian safety across the bridge. Uh so um those measures should help uh improve that with the uh the uh pathways, the sidewalks and the illumination or the signalized intersection should really help to improve things through there. >> Quick followup, mayor, through you. So uh the the reconstruction Brandon, you probably again this is through through you, mayor. Um thank you for that. This is really important to me because it's been something that's been a concern of mine for years. Can I assume that there will be sidewalks on both sides of Casablanca to Livingston now because there's a I can't remember what the term is, but there's a you know a pathway that of ped pedestrians on the west side because people walk on that west side even though there's no sidewalk. So, and you talked about the multi-use pathway being on the west side. So, are we going to see sidewalks on both sides of Casalanka now? Uh because that is where the GO station's going to be is on the west side. it would make sense for sidewalks to be there. And if you don't have that answer, again, if you can send it to us, uh, that would be great. But it would make sense because that's where people are crossing, kids going to work at the at at the um welcome center, all those types of things. You can see the the pathway in the in the grass there from where people walk because they don't want to cross the street >> through you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, there is will be sidewalks on both sides of Casablanca. Um the in addition to obviously there's an existing sidewalk on the east side. Now the west side will be added. Um I I'll explain letter I I I can get into technical details about the storm water management uh approach but the sidewalk on the west side will be delayed until the phase 2 works happen. So I can walk you through the details uh what do you call it? uh the engineering aspects of why that's happening, but uh there will be a sidewalk eventually as well as on uh both ends of Livingston or both sides of Livingston as well. >> Yeah. And I don't want to belabor it, mayor, but there I I get it. There's a 12oot ditch there and a huge water course that goes through there. The the the crossing, the reason why I ask is because there's another uh train railway crossing there and we know that CN has notoriously uh difficult to deal with when it comes to railway crossings. and there's a crossing on the east side already. So I was surprised by your response because that would mean a secondary crossing which in my experience is not something that they're going they go for. So >> and through you Mr. Mayor, just quickly um so yes, the re um as part of the design process, the region has been working with the CN uh in terms of uh uh working out a design that uh functions to allow um the new width of the road and as well as the two uh sidewalk crossings. So uh as my understanding is the uh road construction will happen first uh and then CN will come in later and do the u level crossing afterwards. So there'll be a period of time where uh the crossing isn't done but the road is done but uh that'll be sorted out as well. >> If I can add about milk and things they've always known the buildings were connected. It's that's why we're having so much trouble finding a contractor to surgically remove it. >> Councelor Vardy, >> excuse me. Thank you through you, Mr. Mayor. Um, on the subject of milk and things, seeing as they don't seem to be in any kind of hurry, can I suggest that we maybe put some lipstick on this uh on this lady before we put her to bed because it doesn't look good to have a vacant building boarded up in our downtown area. So, why don't we pretty her up until we have to send her on her way? Um, that's a suggestion, please. and um not so much a question but a suggestion for you to take back to the region. That's a day's work. Um they could probably work that in. Uh the other thing I wanted to ask you now you're a regional counselor and uh come October 22nd there won't be regional counselors and there are a lot of regional committees. Are the current regional counselors um looking at all to being able to provide advice on how best to accomplish the work of the committees so that they could pass on their knowledge and advice to the next regional council that will be made up of mayors. >> That is an excellent question. um they're working on it and I'm going to leave it at that and it's the truth because there there is absolutely no way you're going to get the number of standing committees and all the advisory committees, boards ex and other things all taken care of. They've relied very heavily on the 19 counselors that were there to get the work done and working with community members as well. What the final plan is counselor I really can't tell you because I really don't know but they are working on it. They realize that the next year and a half are going to be critical. >> Okay. Thank you >> councelor Shawa through Mayor Jordan. Thank you. I'm just wondering with the Grimby go station if there's any uh update if there's any potential cost to the Grimsby taxpayers if like an extra tax or an extra cost. I'm wondering if you have any information about that or if we're going to get information about that. >> Thank you, councelor. I don't know what the Grimby cost is. I know that the region has put $30 million towards the project, but I have no uh I have no understanding or idea of what the Grimby portion is or if there is one. >> Thank you very much, Councelor Seabour. Um have a good evening. >> Thank you. Good night. Can I get a mover and second for the consent report? Moved by councelor DeFlavio, second by councelor Vardy, resolved that the council hereby approves the following item and that the consent item be approved and the recommendation is contained therein. PA26-07 one that council proceed with the passing of the amending bylaw for the property located at 133 Main Street East. All in favor? That's carried. Uh, can I have a mover and seconded to get the DCP uh report on the floor for discussion? Tony, uh, please go ahead. Uh, thank you. Good evening. In an effort to jumpst start home building, the federal and provincial governments have announced a grant program open to municipalities that reduce development charges by at least 30% for a 3-year period. Uh the application window is very short. Applications must be submitted by this Friday at 10:00 a.m. Uh the province is then expecting uh successful applicants to enter into transfer payment agreements by mid August at which point any DC reductions would also have to be committed to and in effect. The grants are based on the growth related component of housing enabling shovel ready projects. In exchange for the reduced DC rates, the grants would provide up to 90% of the growth related project funding, the town would be required to fund at least 10% of the growth related share, which would have to be funded from non-development charge sources and this would be in addition to any other town related project costs. So, as I mentioned, the DC reduction would have to be in place for 3 years to March 30th, 2029. However, with the frozen rate legislation that's in effect, we believe the reduction period would be extended to September 30th, 2030 for developments that have submitted a completed site plan application within that 3-year window. So, in terms of the impact this would have on our DC revenues, uh there are currently 2,800 units at various stages of the development process. If they were to all take advantage of the DC reduction window, our estimates of foregone DC revenue is in the range of 17 million to $27 million. Now, there are a couple large developments that have a big impact on that projection. If we assume that they do not proceed during the reduction window, then our foregone DC revenue is only estimated to be between 5 and 8 million. I'd also like to point out that no GO station area developments have been factored into the development assumptions. If those go station area developments proceed within that reduction window, then our foregone DC revenue may be higher than what's estimated in the report. I I realize there's a large range of foregone DC estimates and that's influenced by the fact that we are in the middle of updating our DC background study and bylaw uh with estimated new rates likely in effect for next year in 2027. Now, we don't know what those new rates will be, but there is a high probability that they will be higher than our current rates given the increase in construction cost inflation we've seen since our last bylaw update in 2020 and the growth related infrastructure requirements that'll come out of our updated official plan and master planning documents. Now, as for how much grant funding we'll be requesting, uh the total funding request will be approximately 26 million. The amount of grant funding received will be dependent on which of our applications get approved. Uh the potential projects are outlined in the report. Uh each one has challenges that may prevent us from qualifying or meeting the required construction timelines. For example, as it relates to the North Service road reconstruction, um based on preliminary information from the MTO, the QEW widening EA may impact the project timing due to the anticipated scope and design requirements. Uh the need for any additional property will be determined through the ongoing EA and preliminary design process once a preferred alternative and its associated footprint have been established. So, uh, just to conclude, um, applying for the grant doesn't commit us to anything. Uh, so what we're recommending is, um, apply and then once more information is known about in terms of the funding we can expect to receive, then we can make a more informed decision about moving forward. Thank you. >> Thank you for your presentation, Tony. Questions from council. Councelor Shawwa. >> Uh, through Mayor Jordan, uh, to Tony. I'm just I I don't quite get this whole um program right now and I know it's new. So, have you heard of like any municipalities that are not going this way and why? I'm just trying to understand if if this is something everybody is trying to access or if there are any downsides that you've heard. >> Yeah. So, through the mayor. Yeah. I'm not aware of which municipalities plan on accessing it or not. I know that um you know some municipalities have already reduced their development charges for uh for for various reasons and so they they may be in better position to take advantage of of the program. Um so and the fact that we're in the middle of our DC bylaw update certainly is um makes it a little more difficult for us to be able to recoup what we would forego. Thank you, >> Councelor Devo. >> Thank you, Mayor Jordan. I guess I'm just going to summarize what I think this report is saying to me. Um, there are no guarantees that the reduction in our development charges, especially because we have to use the development charges we are currently under, not the ones we're studying to move to. But there's no guarantee I find in any of this that our reductions will be offset exactly by money from the province. At the end of the day, we still have a fair bit of skin in the game. And by that I mean using our own dollars and it's my understanding we can't even use our DC dollars, but we'll be drawing on our reserves. Would you say that's a correct statement, Mr. Delmar, if I understood it correctly? through the mayor. Yes, that's accurate. >> Thank you. The second um comment I I think is important to remember is that the town of Gusby has really done some significant housing starts in the last number of years. And and I'm going to refer to the report that the finance committee got just um you know a few weeks ago, a few short weeks ago about how our building department did and the number of permits and so on. So I look at this and say we have done more than our fair share of contributing to housing starts. The other part um that I think really bothers me about this new program that they are announcing is that I would dearly love to be able to help people find housing whether it's owning or renting. Um but this program in no way guarantees that the money we will reduce our development charges by that will then be less money paid to us by developers. There is no guarantee that that is going to find its way into the hands of the home buyers. Our governments have had other programs in the past and I'll use the HST rebate program as an example on new homes where at the end of the day when the calculation is done between the purchaser and the developer/builder I'll say the builder there they sign over the HST rebate to them as part of how they pay for it. Um but this doesn't even allow for that. So we actually you know by reducing the development charges have absolutely no guarantee that that is this reduction is going to make its way into the hands of the new homeowners. How I see all this kind of panning out much as I wish I could help in this is that at the end of the day we will be contributing more and Mr. Del Monaco has outlined various scenarios and it's quite a range because obviously the assumptions are um that we're doing this analysis under are are so far out that we're not even sure on the costs of some of these projects let alone what we're going to be foregoing but you know he has estimated anywhere from 5 to 8 million um and it could be as high as 27 million and I look at that and say that would then have to be funded by our residents That's a number that I find. I'll use a term um that it's not a very um elegant term, but I'll say, you know, those numbers just they go smack me. It's like really like think of it. That would mean that future councils going forward are going to have to raise the levy by that much in order to be able to undertake some of the essential things we still have to do. And so I can only say that I don't find this project to be well thought out by Ontario and I will leave it at that. Seeing no further questions from Councelor Vardy. >> Um, so I'm just wondering here, let's say we don't take part in this program. We raise our development charges after we do our review. Um, is it possible that this could be a disincentive to build because builders will want to build somewhere else where they get a better deal. Is that is that am I >> am I seeing this correctly? >> Yeah, through the mayor. So, you know, development charges are one factor in in that building decision. There's going to be other market factors that that come into play, and I guess that will have to be weighed by by the development community to see where where it makes sense for them to build. say it seems like it seems like a big financial risk to take on given councelor Dvoli's um accurate interpretation. Uh it also seems like a risk for growth although you know we we've often the community's often felt that slowing down growth a little bit would not be a bad thing. So, um, yeah, it's it leaves me feeling a little bit uncomfortable. I guess I would feel comfortable enough to apply, but not comfortable enough to commit until so many other factors were understood, confirmed, and confirmed in writing because we've been, you know, we we've we've had promises made to us before. And I'm thinking about money when we did a I can't remember um Nick the green belt and there was $76,000 that was promised and never came. So I'm um just a bit apprehensive. I'll kind of leave it at that. >> Councelor DeFlavia. >> Thank you mayor. Through you just for clarification through you to Mr. Del Monaco. Um Tony, so just to be clear, this is only money that we would put out if we received a grant is the way that I understand it. So we would fund it and based on the receing that we're receiving the grant. The the money that comes out of reserves is only temporary until the grant money is received and will be replenished by that grant money. Am I misunderstanding that? because it seems like we all we apply for grants all the time. This seems like just a procedural question that we're answer that we're going through tonight to give you permission to apply for the grant and kind of create the columns that would allow for that grant to be implemented. Uh the only I I understand that the cost of the tax I agree with everything my colleagues have said here that there is a cost to the taxpayers from the federal level. There is no guarantee that that money is going to go through. But from a town's perspective, which is what we're dealing with here there, it doesn't seem like there's a risk to the town. It's we're applying for a grant. If we get that grant, we take money out of this column and put that money back in. Is am I understanding that correctly? >> So, yeah, through the mayor. So, the idea of the program is that the grant money received through the program would offset the foregone DC revenues. That's that's the idea. But of course there's a risk that it won't pan out that way. We could forego more in DC revenue than um than we get in the grant. Um I guess in theory it could work out the other way. We could get more from the grant then we forgo in DC revenue, but my understanding is that there's clauses that could be in the contract that would allow the province to claw back some of that funding if we don't see the development realized to the extent that we thought it might. So there's certainly risks. There's certainly risks to the municipality. It's it's kind of hard to weigh when we don't know what grant funding we could be eligible for. So that's why we're thinking of taking that first step. >> And just a clarification, are we able to opt out at any time? >> Yes. The just because we apply does not mean we're committing to to anything. >> Councelor Frank. Thank you, Mayor Jordan. So there's nothing I'm talking to Tony. So there's we have nothing to lose by applying for this grant. Number one, right? And I I agree with councily. We we're kind of between a rock and a hard place. But I think that we need to sometimes we have to take risk to to make to grow the town. So if we don't uh we could we could lose out on a lot of the development we're actually under um commitment to do. I mean we have we have quotas out there and and the price of housing has come down tremendously. They're now back to about 2016 2017 levels. I'm talking about condos more than anything else. So, so there there there's a lower level of of um of of of marketing prices now as well. So, I think we have to be very careful here and I think we should air on on the side. We might have to take a little bit of a risk, but I think we should approve the application of the grant and answer this. So, if we if we put up DC charges, uh, can we stop it at some like if we we start to go across the line where we're in the red, can we stop doing that? I mean, can we can we call a halt to it or just like when we're breaking even, can we pull out? Can we do that? >> Yeah. Through the mayor. No, my understanding is that um requirement of the agreement should we enter into it would be to keep the development charges at um 30% less than where they are now for that three-year period up until March 30th, 2029. And like I mentioned that 3-year period, I believe this kind of an open question, but I think it may actually be 4 and 1/2 years because of that rate freeze that's in effect under current legislation. So it might be four, more than four rather than three. I I just suggest we we just we apply for the grant and just find out where it goes from there. I I think you need to do that and come back to council with uh with another report if that's if I might say that if someone can second that. Thank you. >> Your mic. >> All right. So, the mayor asked if we can pull sort of pull out at any time. Um, that's before we sign, but once we sign, we're in, right, for the duration, right? >> That's correct. Yes. I I'd really like to see this pan out because and see um so so sure we apply but um I think things will change the way this is rolling out along the way. But I'm extremely leerary of any taxpayers, existing residents paying for growth because that's not the way it was ever supposed to be and that's not the way it should be and it should be growth paying for growth and not on the taxpayer base. the taxpayer base is already maxed out right now and and uh I really worry um that uh the provincial government could definitely be giving us a pig and a poke. Uh we've seen it before. Councelor Sharwa >> uh through Mayor Jordan. Thank you. I'm a concern that this was such a fast roll out and that it was one of those sign right now get into this right now. It was like two weeks right. Is there a reason that they did this so quickly so that we don't have a whole lot of information? Like you would think that they would have come forward with something more concrete. Do you have any any ideas? >> Yeah, through the mayor. Um my understanding is it's tied to the HST relief that's currently in place. They're trying to I guess maximize the the impact to the to home buyers and home building uh so that uh the DC reduction can coincide with the HST relief. >> Okay. And just a a a quick very layman's kind of um question. So we're at 30,000 roughly population. We're expected to go to 51,000 based on development charges, all of the infrastructure that we're going to need. Um, is the extra $20,000 um helping the Grimby taxpayer or is it hurting the Grimby taxpayer? So, is it is it going to cost us more for the extra 20,000? Because, you know, you do hear people say, "Well, it's more taxes, but is all the infrastructure that is now going to be on the existing taxpayers going to be more than we bring in?" >> Yeah. I mean it's an it's an interesting question. I I think that um while it would bring in more and increase our tax base, it does come with uh increased costs of infrastructure, not only for initial capital costs, which in theory should be paid for through development charges, but then the ongoing maintenance of that infrastructure. that's going to require um you know continued increases to our asset management reserves so that we can sustain and replace those assets in the future as they come up. So um I don't think it's an easy question to answer but um it it um it isn't definitely it's not one-sided. I wouldn't say one way in favor. >> Thank you Tony. Um I would I just when we're approaching these I I think we have to get away from incentivizing the building all the time because we're you know we're an area where people do well here and you know the more we make this a giveaway of development charges left right and center the more they're going to keep coming here and uh and it's costing us dearly. So, um I am will support this only it looks as though council is is in support. Um the only reason that I will support this is because we can opt out. Um that is the absolute only reason. But if if this ends up being a scam of some sort, uh you're going to hear about it from me. Thank you, >> Councelor Debulli. >> Thank you. Um, yeah, I certainly share my fellow counselor's um concern about how quickly this is all coming together. Um, a couple other facts I just want to make sure I'm clear on. This would apply to our current DC rates and we would basically be locked in at these rates for the next four years, I'll say roughly. Um that's um but at the same time we're now doing a DC study which probably would be increasing our rate substantially because the last time we did the study was six which which year 20 >> 2020 >> 2020 so in all likelihood our DC rates are going to be going up considerably and that's what we built some of our financial planning long-term strategy um and all our numbers and forecasts in that we would have higher DC rates. So um I guess what's coming out of this if I have understand this correctly is our DC rates will be locked in at today's rates. We'll be taking a hit under these numbers and we won't even be moving to the new DC rates that we'll be coming up with in I'll say 26 27. Do I have that correct? We have to fund the gap. >> Yeah. >> Yes, that's that's correct. Uh we would have to remain at the current rate. We can't make it 30% of the new rate, for example. We would have to stay at the current reduction. >> And so much of our forecast was done on the assumption that we would be getting an increase in DC rates going forward too. So this has very real implications to um our cash and what we can actually do for our projects. Um but my second question then is so we currently are underway with our DC analysis. Do we just stop it? I mean what's the point of doing it? Do we come up with the number that we can't use? Where do we go with our current project then? >> Yeah. Through the mayor. That's a fair question. Um we're we are continuing the process right now. Um this would only apply to residential development charges. So, we could go through the process and and um it uh adjust the non-residential development charges, for example. But um if we were to enter into some sort of agreement like this, that might be something we'd want to revisit. >> And then my last question is we're all talking about sort of an off-ramp and dates and so on. Um but this off-ramp, if I understand it, that the deadline for the off-ramp or basically not to proceed would be August. And I guess now my question is more to our town manager and our clerk. Um but council's last meeting is going to be the beginning of August. So how do we how do we manage this if we decide we want to take an offramp on all of this? Where do we go? How do we do it? >> See you Mr. Mayor. So the application evaluation and funding decisions from the province will be around they said uh late July to August. So hopefully we get something before our August uh council meeting. Um but yes uh the TPA's the agreement is supposed to be executed by August 21st before the nomination date. So hopefully we can time that in. If not we might have to look at a special council meeting or otherwise. Councelor DeFlavia. >> Thank you, Mayor Thu. Uh, I misunderstood the the original uh your original report when I read it. Um, I'm reluctant to say yes to this based on what you've what you've told us, Tony, because um I'm I understand everybody's concerned about the market and but I also believe that 3 years it's the the risk could be too great for the municipality from a financial perspective without a guarantee. um the the delays that we know are going to be put in place by things like the the South Service Road and and other things where in our GO station uh growth area probably will keep that construction from happening in the next 3 years. But if it does happen in the next three years at the scale that has been discussed in the official plan and in the the region's official plan, there is a significant risk of loss there that I I misunderstood. I I I when when I read your report, I I thought we were applying for a grant. That GL grant would be used, you know, uh dollar fordoll to replace the development charges that we're cutting. If that's not the program, then there's really no incentive for the town of Grimsby to do that there. I mean it the the incentive would be from a developer's perspective they would be it would reduce their development charges but from the town's perspective I don't see any incentive to do that because we would be cut the the risk far outweighs the the the reward in this case the the reward potentially is more construction if you see that as a reward the risk is the rest of the Grimby taxpayers as the mayor mentioned We've always had a policy of growth paying for growth. And if if we take this risk and and then the growth doesn't pay for growth, that means the rest of the Grimsby taxpayers pay for it. So based on the new information that you've given me, it's not new information. My final understanding, because I was an idiot and didn't understand your original report, and thank you for the clarification, um I I won't be voting in favor of this. Thanks, Tony. Seeing no further questions. Oh, councelor Vardy. >> I'm just wondering if our CEO has talked to any other municipalities to sort of gauge their reaction. And I also wonder I mean I think um generally speaking, okay, you can look at this program but from a very unique Gunby perspective where we've got so much coming on the books. We are the gateway to NI to Niagara and there's a big push to build in Niagara. Um, and we got the GO train and all these other things. Do we have too many things in play to to even take a chance on this? Cuz we're not your typical committee or community from that from from the perspective of maybe where this program was envisioned. So >> through you, Mr. Mayor. Yes. I did talk to all the CEOs in the region. I think everyone did take it to council. I think they contemplated uh between the 30% or the 50% reduction and the 10% upfront cost. So those conversations are being held across the region. Um most of the municipalities that did pass it to date are proceeding with the application and they will see before finalizing the TPA whether they want to opt in or not or not. So they are taking this first step which is what we're recommending tonight. >> Councelor Frank, >> uh, as I said, I think that we have nothing to lose by by applying for this grant, but let's also remember this doesn't only apply DC charges doesn't only apply to residential, it also applies to industrial commercial. And we don't want to turn off that tab either. Uh, and you know, let's also look at the long game as well. that development whether it be residential or industrial commercial is where we get our revenue. Our taxes come from those come from those those particular projects. That's where we get our revenue from as a town. So, you know, there's that, too. So, we have to we have to factor all these things into our decision. I think we should go ahead with this grant and and maybe Tony can come back with a more full report when he has more information. >> And we have nothing to lose by doing that. Councelor Frank, I believe it's just residential only. Is that correct? >> Yeah. >> Yes, that's correct. The 30% reduction would just apply to residential development charges. My apologies. >> All right. Seeing no more discussions, move by councelor Frank, second by councelor Vardy. Resolved that report FIN 26-18, Canada Ontario Development Charge Reduction Program DCP dated June 15, 2026 be received and that council authorized staff to apply for grant funding under Canada Ontario development charge reduction program and endorsed in principle residential development charge rate reduction of 30% contingent on expecting expected funding being at least as much as we are expecting to forgo in DC revenue and the other required application costs and that council endorsed the town's 10% funding share to be funded from the road storm and fire facilities asset management reserves. And three, that staff circulate to council an update from the province on funding commitments and that fi any financial impacts associated with the DCP be subject to future council consideration through the annual budget process or subsequent report as necessary. All in favor or councelor house. >> Okay. Just >> me through you, mayor. Um, but we've kind of talked about there being an emergency exit or or the rip cord for the parachute sort of an idea, but maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see, you know, wording as such in there, you know, for our direction. Um, unless I'm missing it, but um, without that parachute, >> it's bullet point three on that resolution. >> It's three three in the resolution. It says that staff circulate to council an update from the province on funding commitments and that any financial impacts associated with the DCP be subject to future council consideration through the annual budget process or subsequent report as necessary. But there but that's past well past any type of date that they're giving us in my mind. You know, if we're into budget process, that's that sure as heck misses June or July or whatever these dates are that >> through the through the chair staff are committing to reporting back if they get a transfer payment agreement. That's what that's saying. Yeah. >> So, we will report back if with the TPA. >> All right. So, I read the resolution. Um, why don't we just councelor Devo? >> Sorry. I guess I just want to be sure I understand before I vote. Um so recommendation number two again talks about the rate reduction of 30% contingent on expected funding being at least as much we as we are expecting to forego in DC revenue and other required application costs and that we will know we are hoping late July or early August is have am I understanding that correctly to our town manager Yes, that's correct. >> But we also know at the moment that the way it's designed is not meant to be on a break even basis. So why why do we think it'll be different? >> Yeah. Through the mayor. Um the uh we were originally thinking we could use development charge funding to pay for our 10% share. The fact that we can't does does make it less attractive. Um but again, we would want to apply and see what we're eligible for, see if there's any opportunity to negotiate and then we'll see what that that'll give us the opportunity to weigh whether it actually makes sense or not. So, it's like a a soft application with hopefully some more information that will come to us before the end of July, beginning of August, and then we will meet again to re-evaluate whether we really want to sign the agreement. Is that a a correct interpretation? >> That's correct. All right. So, I read the resolution. I'll just get a show of hands in favor. Well, why don't we just do um why don't we just do escribe then? Make it easier. Uh, councelor Bradzy, can you vote, please? >> Merit vote. Didn't did it go through? >> Yes, it went through. All right, that's carried and All right, up next is Frank. Uh, Frank, welcome to the podium. >> Mr. Mayor, u just wanted to give you a quick update on the um 2025 economic development annual report. It won't be long because I'm sure you've already seen it. I want to highlight, however, a few very key points on page um nine in the uh in the report. the um we continually talk about a lot of our local businesses expand their operation locally and about 80 to 90% of all the new jobs created in a community come from the existing businesses. So it's imperative that our concierge program is often uh focused upon uh I guess most of my time is spent on looking after our local businesses. We actually did 47 corporate visits um this past year. The top of page nine um identifies what we perceive um to take place in um from an industrial perspective in our community in the next five four years. Uh we anticipate 1.1 million square ft of new industrial development, $370 million of total investment. uh 1.4 million per year in terms of property taxes and about 2,000 direct indirect and induced jobs. I think that tells us the story of what's happening from an industrial perspect industrial commercial perspective hopefully in the next five years. uh the only negative that I would uh look at is that um uncertainty index uh and a lot of the businesses are are very concerned about the economy growing in the next two or three years and maybe 1.3% or less. That's the only concern that we have from our perspective. The business ambassador program on page 10 shows that we have 10 business ambassadors. there are all doing something for to bring uh Grimsby forward. Uh and if you wish to know a little bit more about each one of them and what they're doing for us, uh I'd be more than pleased to u to provide you a little bit of information on that. Last year, we also did the tourism strategy. We did finally receive $30,000 grant from TPN and $8,000 from the region. So uh we finalized the uh tourism strategy and and and uh I believe on the last page of uh the book on page 26 it identifies the tourism strategy phases that we're doing on phase one uh there's about four or five um lowhanging fruit if you for lack a better word for tourism development for this year with no money and things that we could do internally. So that's what we're doing right now. Um we also participated in quite a few um uh events. Uh also on page um 16 and 17 you'll see some of the industrial buildings that we were able to attract here. ATCO is a large manufacturing firm that we attracted 122,000 square ft about 120 employees. We're actually going to visit it as you'll receive uh an invitation shortly uh on um I believe it's this Wednesday at four o'clock. Um this is a multinational company located in our backyard. Uh and it is the Ontario headquarters. The Mont trailers of course have purchased sunset spa I think it's called um 45,000 square feet and uh they're running out of room. They're looking for additional space in our community. They want to expand. They are employing 75 people there. These are manufacturing jobs by the way. Um Jones U neon signs from Burlington has also located here on 270 Hunter Road. They are approximately 30,000 or so square feet or 22,000 ft. And AP Auto Parts they are Ontario headquarters from Burnaby BC also located here. And just recently, I just found out that Howie uh hockey tape headquarters in Canada is located in uh Grimby in the same building. We had several events also taking place as the mayor's business breakfast, um the Grimsby Energy Summit, the Grimby Economic Gala. So, we were doing quite a few things this past year. Uh we also did um uh several advertising for free. We haven't paid one dime in terms of advertising and uh to promote our our businesses in particular. And what else can I Yeah, that's about it. Are there any questions? >> Oh, this is sort of a marketing tool, Mr. Mayor. I'm sorry. >> Thank you very much for your presentation and it's excellent marketing uh brochure. Councelor DeFlavio. Thank you, mayor. Through you, uh Frank, first of all, well done on the presentation and on on the uh the report. Um, I'm going to be I think it's important to admit when we're wrong and when I was first reelected to council. Um, I was very critical of our economic development strategies because and in your defense, we're coming out of uh the pandemic and it was a tough time and I think you've done a really good job in um building from year to year. Uh, and you've done a really good job here of showing us where we're going. Uh we are limited by our geographic area of course and and there are hopefully things that we can do to expand that. Uh the only question I have for you is the Anatolia project which is in my ward uh on the south service road. You didn't I don't think you mentioned it in your presentation. Is there any update because I originally it said 2025 for uh shovel in the ground. Um it's 2026. We still haven't seen any kind of construction. I understand what what you talked about, you know, the people being afraid to to start these kinds of of projects, but it's, you know, a 35 acre site in on in a very uh v visible part of Grimby, which I was really excited about when when you brought it forward. So, just the question, I guess, is there any progress on that? Any any news about what's happening with that site? >> Yeah, good good question. It is part of the 1.1 million square ft of industrial. They do have finalized. We do we do have the the um site plan agreement. They haven't signed it yet um uh for variety of other reasons but um MTO has basically told them that they cannot build uh the first building along the self-service road because they're thinking well the EA process of the expansion of the highway. So that's delaying the that opportunity. But you know uh our director of planning and development and our staff have been talking to MTO. They had about 10 or 12 people on on the call. Um we're trying to hopefully um surgically analyze that particular development and maybe it will go forward depending on what they say. So hopefully in the next couple of months we'll we'll get that resolved and move forward. But yes, you're talking about 650,000 square feet, 500 new jobs, and a lot of taxes coming into this town. And so we're that's our that's our next boom time in our community. >> Through you, mayor. Uh, and we've talked previously in this meeting about new home construction, but new home construction means more parks needed, more recreation facilities needed, more fire stations, new industrial offsets the taxes for the for the rest of the taxpayers. So, uh, I'm hoping to see this come forward. I'm happy to hear what the news that you're giving us tonight, but the sooner the better. So, whatever we can do from a council perspective, let us know, Frank, because I'm happy to hear this coming through. Councelor Devo. >> Thank you, Mayor Jordan. Um, councelor DeFlavio asked that last question, which was actually going to be my question. Um, so I'll move on to my second question. And um, I when you drive down the uh, South Service Road, you know, what used to be the NRB property there uh, now says major refrigeration on it. Um, and NRB is completely gone. Is that correct? And and how many jobs left when they closed down their operations? >> 60 jobs, but it's not actually closed. What happened was is that NRB was purchased by ATCO consolidating a company in um um Cambridge and we brought that company here in Grimby. So it is now the Ontario headquarters of ATCO uh the 122,000 square ft. The >> So the old NRB really is was absorbed into ATCO. >> Correct. >> And the jobs that were there before the people who worked for NRB before are still working there but working for ATCO. Thank you for clarifying that. >> Correct. And and as you know um next uh in the next u next week I believe it is I've sent you an invitation to for the 150,000 square ft of industrial space multiple industrial space which u Mr. Fior is uh expanding in the same site. So that's I think one of the last industrial building that we will see for a while until >> Anatolia >> Anatolia All right, seeing no further questions. Thank you very much for your presentation, Frank. You've certainly been busy. >> Moved by Moved by Councelor Frank, second by councelor Bradzy, resolved that report CAO26-06, economic development annual report 2025, dated June 15, 2026, including the 2025 annual report attached as appendix A, be received. All in favor? That's carried. >> Mayor Jordan, could I just ask a question on process? Um maybe the question is to our clerk. Um so tonight we were fortunate enough to have a presentation by the mayor's advisory committee. Uh which was great. Um now by our economic um advisory committee, but we have two more committees, our age friendly and our green one. Will we be hearing from them at the next meeting >> through the chair? They presented to community services. All advisory committees present to the standing committees and the standing committees are presenting to um council in July. So their presentations are available online and on YouTube as well through the live stream >> and and I think councelor Shara and her um update summed sum both presentations up quite well. >> All right. Can I have a mover and seconded to receive the memo regarding disbandment of advisory committees? Moved by councelor Corsi. Second by councelor how resolved that the memorandum regarding this disbandment of advisory committees be received for information. All in favor that's carried. Can I have a mover and seconded to receive the integrity commissioner 2025 2026 annual report? Moved by councelor Kstani, second by councelor Vardy. Resolved that the integrity commissioner's 2025 2026 annual report would receive for information. All in favor? That's carried. Can I have a mover and second to approve the bylaws? Moved by councelor Frank. Second by councelor how resolved that leave be given to introduce bylaw 26-39 and that same be read a first time considered and passed. All in favor that's carried. Uh next council meeting is scheduled for July 13, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. Um we are now moving into close. Can I have a mover and seconder to move into close session to discuss a biodigtor update? Moved by councelor Vardy. Can you mention the open house? >> Oh yeah. And seconded by councelor Dvoli. Uh just before we go into close session, I just want to mentioned that the Niagara Riverhawks are having an open practice at uh the major refrigeration Peachkin Community Center uh tomorrow night at from 6:15 to 6 or 8:15. So uh if you want to see some pro basketball players, that's the place to go. Yeah, we're going to take a a fivem minute break uh to get uh moved into close All right. Uh, welcome back. We are now in open session. Can I have a mover and secondary for the close session direction? Moved by councelor Frank, second by councelor Devoi resolved that direction provided in close session regarding the biodigester update be approved. All in favor? And that's carried. Can I have a move and seconder for the confirming bylaw? Moved by councelor how second by councelor Gstani resolved that leave be given to introduce bylaws 26-40 and that same be read a first time considered and passed. All in favor that's carried. Meeting is adjourned. Good night everyone. >> Go another 15 minutes. Don't >> let's get to four. No.