The meeting will begin in one minute. Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order a council meeting of Monday, May 11th, 2026. Everyone that can please rise for the playing of the national anthem. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat up here. Gansby is situated on treaty land. This land is steeped in the rich history of the first nations such as the Hadawender, the Hodnachoni and the Inishab including the Missosagas 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 promoting the wise stewardship of the lands on which we live. Are there any disclosures of pecunary or non-punary interest this evening? Seeing none. Um before we approve the agenda, we have received three delegation requests to speak to the planning and development committee minutes of May 6, 2026. Procedurally, a 2/3 majority vote is required to permit the delegations. Uh is there a mover and seconder? Moved by councelor DeFlavio, second by councelor Shara. Guess there's no deferral. Yeah, >> councelor DeFlavio. >> Thank you, Mayor. I had uh sent the clerk earlier today uh a motion for deferral uh of the of the planning minutes. Um I don't know if if uh now is the time to discuss it prior to >> if you if you have a motion of deferral um you need a seconder to put it on the floor and we'll just vote on it with >> Do you want an explanation for why or is it not >> No. Um the deferral motion has no explanation. No debate. >> Okay. >> So, you have a seconder? >> No second. >> Well, this is a deferral motion. >> So, a seconder. >> No. >> No secondary. So, the deferral motion. >> Can I get an explanation? Well, you you can second it and vote vote it down or you can move on. And uh we have a mover and second there for the uh procedural bylaw being wave. >> I'll I'll second the deferral because I'd like to hear it. >> All right. Um so we have do you have the deferral? We have um councelor DeFlavio as the mover. Councelor Shara seconding it. All right. So moved by councelor DeFlavio, second by councelor Sharwa, resolved that bylaws 26 27 and 2628 be deferred to the next council meeting to allow more time to review staff's detailed responses on parking, cash and loo and underlying parking methodology. Um vote on escribe for the deferral. Councelor Bradzy. Yeah. My vote's a yes if it didn't go through yet. All right, that's defeated. All right. So now we have um moved by councelor Sharwa, second by councelor DeFlavio resolved that sections 8.5 E and F of the procedural bylaw be waved to permit uh Kevin Luchenheisen, Harley Valentine, and Anne Tersk to delegate on the planning and development committee meeting Urkham minutes of May 6, 2026. Uh escribe vote, please. Uh that's approved. >> All right. >> Do you want to just clarify? You'll be allowed to delegate after. >> Yes. So so the delegations will be after um in the portion of our agenda where it's uh where it's pertinent. I would also like to amend the agenda to include OSUM conference updates from councelor Dvoli and how and an update from the on the fresh coast economic corridor conference from councelor Kstani. These updates will come after the discussion report. In addition, I would like to amend the agenda for bylaws 2627 and 2628 to be voted upon immediately after previous minutes. Can I have a mover and second to approve the agenda as amended? Moved by councelor DeFlavio, second by councelor How. Resolve the agenda for May 11th, 2026 council meeting be approved as amended. All in favor? That's carried. >> Another point of clarification, please. >> Sure. Um I just like to know that because we've heard these delegations before um is it correct uh am I correct in assuming that they are to bring new information and have a 5m minute time limit? >> Uh that's correct. >> Thank you. So maybe it would be good to reinforce that with the delegates. >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> Tonight we have Dr. Lesie Rig, president of Brock University providing updates on the Brock strategic plan. Lesie, please come to the podium. >> Just before you go ahead, good evening and I'd just like to congratulate you on your reappoint. I think it came out today. So, >> thank you, mayor. So, good evening everyone. Shall I start? Um, good evening counselors, I should say. I'm pleased to be here to provide an update on Brock University, a little bit on where we're going and um really just to share with you how excited I am, not just to be renewed, but even before I was renewed um at the direction that we're taking and um really I think it's an exciting time, not just for us, but for all of Niagara. And so, do I move the slides? Oh, look. Oh, thank you. Um um so as many of you know more than 60 years ago Niagara residents joined together to advocate for a university to call their own. They knew then what remains true now that a public university intrinsically dedicated to serving the community has a measurable value. Studying locally meant talent could be retained in the region. local industry could count on a highly trained workforce and more innovation would happen right here in Niagara. So that was September 1964 and obviously uh much has changed since our humble beginnings. We now have um if we go to the next slide, do I have it here? Do you want me to push something? No. Okay. Oh, okay. You've got it there. Okay. Thanks. Um, you know, not only are we, uh, proud to be one of Hamilton Niagara's top employers with almost 3,000 employees, um, and a vast majority of them living in Niagara and 50 of them here in Grimby. But we are a small city when everybody shows up on one day. We have almost 20,000 students, those 3,000 employees. And if everybody that's associated with the university showed up on one day, there'd be 26,000 of us on campus. Um so we really are um an anchor in the community. So if you can go to the next slide. Um our economic impact is felt in Niagara and beyond. Uh every year Brock contributes approximately $1.5 billion dollar to Niagara's economy. And if we go out to all of Ontario, we double that. We have almost 124,000 alumni. and in a couple weeks we'll have another 4,000 to add to that as they cross the stage and graduate. And these represent over 110 countries in the world. So one of the things that is always special about bringing or having an institution like uh Brock University or like Niagara College is not only do we act as uh anchors in the in the economy and in the community but we also work as an attractant. So, uh, Brock University, around 28% of our students come from Niagara. I always thought it would be higher, but about 28% do, but of those pled, 43% say they want to stay in Niagara. So, um, Niagara does a really good job of, uh, making people fall in love with this location. Um, in the top left picture is, uh, Paul Zelelesco. from our uh chemistry department, but also the Brock Niagara validation prototyping manufacturing institute, which we call VPMI much easier. It's a 14 million collaboration that brings industry and research together to help Niagara communities test new ideas, problem solve, and develop the technologies that keep our region competitive. And if you go to the next slide, we know that Niagara's future relies on a strong, prepared workforce, and we're especially proud of our experiential learning and co-op offerings. With experiential learning and opportunities in 100% of our academic programs, Brock is a longstanding leader in experiential education. Over the past few years, there have been 32 co-op placements here in Grimby, and we thank you dearly for those experiences. Um, and not only is it our students that benefit, but we know that industry benefits as well. Carrie Staser from John Deere was named the outstanding co-op supervisor of the fall term in 2025. It's an award uh that we are uh that we take very seriously at Brock because the way that when our students work with you, you change their lives. You change the the trajectory of where they go, what they do, and how they see work. um and they see work not just as employment but as their future and so I thank you deeply. If we go to the next slide, our partnership with local municipalities is one that Brock truly values. By working closely together, we're able to connect academic expertise and community needs, supporting workforce development and innovation across Niagara. It's a relationship built on trust and shared purpose that delivers lasting impact. Um there are a number of pictures up here from um the our master of sustainability program alongside a small group of Brock faculty management team that visited uh Escarment Renewables, a bio gas company here in in Grimby. Um, and then there's some pictures uh from our evening of brilliance uh where Mayor Jordan was there along with Sarah Kim. And um in the bottom we have some other pictures when uh Grimby economic economic development toured that institute that I mentioned previously called VPMI and along with our cool climate uh grape and wine institute. And then bottom left, the town of Ginsby partnered with the Goodman Group to deliver leadership development programs focused on strengthening collaboration and team performance. And if we go to the next slide, one of the things that's really important about an institution such as Brock, when you turn 60 years old, you really do have to evaluate um and I say that from personal experience this year, but you do have to really evaluate what you're doing, how you're doing it, and why you're doing it. Um so as Brock looked to the future, we um embarked upon a strategic planning uh session or we created a new strategic plan and we are deeply we are guided by a deep belief that meaningful progress happens when people come together around a common purpose and value um or set of shared values. What we did, we asked the community, we had over uh 3,000 points of reference. We asked everybody both on campus and off campus, what is it that Brock does? Why is Brock unique? What is it that it delivers? And we heard it in different ways, but the the message was the same. Transforming people and reimagining the future is what Brock does here in Niagara. Um and so we are comp we are a comprehensive institution and what that means is we bring research and education together in a comprehensive way and we do it um with accessibility in mind and with uh both the social, economic and environment well-being of this community in the in front of everything that we do. And so in the next slide, these are the four pillars of our strategic plan. Obviously, we're an academic institution. If we didn't have research and discovery um and knowledge in one of the pillars, we would be some other industry. So, we did have to stay true to who we are. And um one of our pillars is advancing research and discovery. Uh building sustainable futures. Now, this is not just our environmental future. This is the future of our students, sustaining the workforce, sustaining our own institution uh financially, which is why we have futures puralized. Uh purali pluralized, that's it. I'll get it. Um and then obviously people are at the heart of what we do. So realizing that you matter is the third pillar. um people, not just our students, but our faculty, staff, our community members. People are the the engine um that keeps us going and bringing the world to Brock and Brock to the world is our commitment um to ensuring that we have and reflect uh the diverse community that is here in Niagara, that we act as an attractant for uh workforce development. Um and so bringing Brock to the world and the world to Brock is not just about bringing people here but ensuring that wherever I go in the world and our alumni are active in the world um Brock University is known and its reputation um is a good one. So every one of these priorities obviously relies on deep collaboration beyond our campus border. And if we go to the next slide, um, these are just some pictures to really highlight our commitment to community focused programming throughout Niagara. B Fit in the Canada Games Park. Does anybody use BFIT? Um, if you haven't, you need to come and check it out. Um, it's an amazing uh exercise facility and wellness facility. um support for our aggra business sector with our grape and wine and also um we have just put out an announcement um on the groundbreaking on our experimental farm that we're building on the Meritville Highway and through partnerships like Willow Arts Community and the Marilyn I Walker School of the Fine and Performing Arts where creativity, expression, and healing bring Niagara voices to the foreground and others. We have manyou partnerships and the one in the picture is our um partner with Bethesda partnership with Bethesda. So um the final slide is my thank you uh thank you for listening this evening. Um thank you for supporting Brock. Thank you for being a part of our community. And um I just wanted to find the last thing I'd like to say is Brock was created to serve Niagara. We collaborate with municipalities like Grimby because it remains central to who we are and how we work. Because of these challenges and opportunities or because of the challenges and opportunities that we continually face, um we know that when we share the solutions together, when we work on the solutions, um they are better, stronger, and they make our community come together. So, thank you so much for the time this evening. And uh mayor, if uh if there is time, I'm happy to take any questions. If not, um you know where to find me. >> Great. Thank you very much for your presentation, Lesie. And uh it's hard to believe it's 60 years and uh we certainly um really uh enjoy working together with Brock and our collaboration is uh um something that that we hope to even uh expand on over the years. So questions from council. Councelor Shaw. Thank you, Mayor Jordan. Thank you. Uh just a question on if you have any ideas for future programs where we might be able to entice you to come here to Grimby specifically. I think those are great conversations for us to have. Um you know the the community-based programming we have our professional continuing studies um and that working with the good Goodman group was an example of that. Um I know that uh as we develop the aggra sector and the notions of food food security um obviously we have healthcare education um and sports management just to name a few but um it depends on the needs it depends on the kind of programming um but uh I think the way that we operate right now is we are very well incor very nicely I would say incorporated into all the municipalities in Niagara. Um and so those partnerships to us are important and so developing them um has to be something that's responsive to the needs of someone like Grim Grimby. So um sorry through Mayor um just as an aside I've I've often mentioned Brock University for the sport management program and uh I'm a grad so I have a deeper respect for that program. Um, and I feel we could use your assistance even more so on the sponsorship front for a lot of these programs. So, I would like to see uh more more sport management grads here. I think you guys would be a an asset for sure. So, thank you. >> They're the grads that I have to take my ring off my left hand when my right hand when they come across because they grip their their handshake is so hard. >> Councelor DeFlavia. >> Thank you, Mayor. Through you to Dr. Rig. Um yeah, I the when you said Brock was created to serve Niagara, I'm a teacher during the day and uh have we all know that having a local university and college is uh really important for the local economy obviously for the entire region. Um education costs have gone up exponentially since I graduated from high school. I don't want to talk about how long ago that was, but it was a long time ago. uh and I know students that come from all over the province, all over the country and all over the world to come to Brock. But I think that one of the most important things that you do is offering a local university for students because that means because I teach at risk youth during the day and and it makes university despite the fact that it's not affordable anymore. Not like when you and I graduated from university, but uh >> more affordable and more accessible because the ability to stay at home and and go to university is an important thing. So all those other great things that you do aside having a local UN and a lot of universities do those great things within their community but it's very important for us to have one within our community. Uh and and so thank you for providing that. I my first year of teaching was working with teachers who were in the first graduating classes of the university of the teachers college at Brock. So, you know, 60 years later, some of those people are still I still see them around town and see them around the community and it's it's incredible that that's still happening this year. So, not a question, but thank you, Mayor, through you to Dr. Rick. >> Thank you for those words. >> All right, seeing no further questions, thank you again very much for >> I tried to keep it to five minutes, but I may have gone long. Thanks. >> That's fine. Can I have a mover and second to receive the delegation? Moved by councelor Vardy, second by councelor Frank rece receive that the deleg or resolve that the delegation from Dr. Lesley Rig be received. All in favor? That's carried. All right. Um can I have a mover and second to receive the remaining delegations? Then we'll go up. >> Oh well yes. Sorry. Never mind. I have to call them up first. So, we'll go with uh Kevin Luchenheisen to come up to the podium first. >> Respectfully, can I go later on? I'm still working on things and I'd like to hear Harley's first. >> The clerk the clerk says uh clerk says you're up first. Is this on? Can everybody hear me? Through you, the mayor. My name is Kevin Lecher Heisen. I'm the owner of Harmony Jewelers now in our 51st year downtown Grimby. I also own several other properties and businesses and have invested heavily in this community because I care deeply about the long-term future of our town. First of all, I'm not opposed to growth. I'm not opposed to intensification. And I'm not here tonight asking council to stop development. What I'm asking is that council carefully consider whether the necessary planning framework, heritage protection, parking strategy, and broader public interest safeguards are truly in place before irreversible precedents are established at the base of the Niagara excess established they become extremely difficult to reverse. Planning FRA frameworks are supposed to guide development. Development approvals should not effectively establish the framework before the underlying policy work is completed. From the beginning, two of my biggest concerns with this proposal have been parking height and massing. The current official plan generally generally contemplated fourstory built form along the base of the excer visual, cultural, and historic relationship between downtown Grimby and the Niagara exc. The excarment is not simply a backdrop to our town. It's one of the defining characters of Grimby's identity, its character, its sense of place. In my opinion, previous councils understood the importance when those lower height permissions were originally established. I'm also deeply concerned about the long-term parking burden this proposal that this proposal may create for downtown businesses and the community as a whole. This development is simply far too large for the level of parking being provided. We are already discussing the loss of additional on street parking through downtown re-imagined while simultaneously approving expanded cash and loo agreements and reduced parking standards before the town's broader parking framework has even been completed. Those are not theoretical parking pressures. Those vehicles will need to go somewhere. And I respect respectfully ask council to con care carefully consider the position now being taken by a coalition of 36 downtown businesses and merchants who have formally expressed concern regarding the long-term parking and business impacts associated with this proposal. These are not anti-development voices. These are businesses that form the economic backbone of our downtown core. Council should also carefully consider the removal of the originally proposed community hub public amenity within the historic Wolverton Hall structure. That publicly accessible heritage component formed part of the original public-f facing justification for the project and its removal materially changed the public benefit balance of this proposal. It is also important to recognize that if stronger parking policies, cultural heritage, landscape protections, excarment planning considerations, and broader public interest safeguards had already been fully completed and implemented before this application came forward. The review and recommendation process may have unfolded very differently. Town staff can only evaluate and defend applications based on the planning framework and policies that exist at the time the decisions are made. That is pres precisely why the sequencing of this work matters. Planning policies are intended to guide development decisions before major applications are approved, not after major precedents have already been established. As someone who participated in the previous OOLT proceedings, one of the strongest impressions I left with was how heavily the process ultimately relied on the position and the support of town staff based on the policy framework currently in place. On once staff support exists, approvals become significantly more difficult to challenge. I also understand there are concerns regarding the potential cost of OOLT proceedings if this matter is delayed or revisited. However, while those costs may amount to tens of thousands of dollars, I respectfully ask council to also consider the long-term economic and cultural cost to downtown businesses and the broader community if the wrong planning decisions are made before proper framework is in place. And this is why I would strongly urge council to seriously consider the implementation of an intern control bylaw under section 38 of the planning act. An interm control bylaw would not permanently stop development. It would simply allow the town additional time to complete the necessary parking, heritage, landscape, excering framework before irreversible precedents are established. I'm just about done. Importantly, interimm control bylaws are recognized planning tools specifically intended to allow municipalities time to complete policy work, planning studies, and framework developed before major land use decisions proceed. This propos proposal has also evolved significantly from the development concept originally considered through the earlier proceedings particular particularly with the respect to parking public benefit components the loss of the the heritage hub as well as many other things. Given the magnitude of those changes and the broader planning work still underway, I believe council has a legitimate basis to pause, complete complete the necessary framework, and ensure these decisions are made with the fully established planning context before permanent precedents are set. My concern tonight is not simply about one building. It's about a cumulative long-term change and ensuring that proper planning framework is in place before decisions like this may permanently alter the character and the function of downtown Grimby at the base of the exc. >> Thank you. Um Harley will come to the podium please. I was confused. I don't think that round of applause was for my was for my entrance to the podium. Uh thank you, Kevin. Uh uh mayor, members of council. Um uh we're back. Uh and I'm excited to be here. Um I'm going to try to keep it fresh and new. uh and put the building aside and talk about people. Um talk about how when we started this journey 8 years ago in assembling um 13 Mountain Street and 19 Elm Street uh and subsequently 21 and 23 Elm Street. Uh we were looking to bring something new and fresh uh to downtown Grimby. We were looking to build a new form of housing uh to invite new types of residents to create new type of lifestyles. Um understanding that um that downtown Grimy was a very special place to be. And um when I think about people, I think about collaboration and collaboration that has got us here today. And it really has been um a partnership with working with this community, the engagement that we've done and with staff in tailoring this development for this site. And when I say tailoring, I mean drawing a building that responds appropriately and that is going to reach a um very viable product. Delivering housing is very difficult. The town relies on the private sector to deliver housing. And as we go forward as a town, it's going to become more and more difficult as there's less and less land available. And we are left with what's called infill development. infield development um is um can be highly um valuable in its ability to deliver housing in key nodes but very challenged in its ability to um practically be delivered. Um I think when I go back and I know um about collaboration, it's about leadership and we have been on a journey where we have worked with staff. We have worked with the Naira government commission. We have worked with heritage to receive the green light to move forward on this project. We have also consulted the community in three different engagement sessions. Um this is not atypical. Back in 2022, we saw a highly reactive response after staff approved um that report and I think we're back there today. And we also find us ourselves in an election cycle where leadership is very important. And uh I don't think we're going to have the last word on this project tonight and I'm okay with that. But the one thing that I want to acknowledge is that as we move forward and aspirational individuals step forward and speak about leadership for this town, how are we thinking about growing? How are we thinking about growth that fits? How are we thinking about responsible area to build new homes for this town? Because I think we have one of the best ones in Grimby and we're very proud of that. and to the council members and to the mayor tonight. I think we find ourselves in a very awkward situation where it now sits with you. Staff who are experts in this field have vetted this project have worked with us over the course of the last year. Urban design, heritage, transportation, we have a parking study that's been peer reviewed. Um we have Niger Scarment Commission that has given us the green light. So when Kevin talks about what's the next steps under the planning act, we have a very strong case. We have a very strong project that holds up to the test of good planning that is supported by experts, the town's own staff and that has been a um that has been a mountain to climb on our side and that has been a challenge. But the bigger challenge is delivering this pro this project and council will play a big role in that tonight and I look forward to their leadership as we push this forward. But the work is not over. I don't think we'll have the last word tonight. But irregardless we will continue to invest, continue to grow our aspirations in the town of Grimby and continue to build build for people who are not here today. By the way, this building may not be for anyone in the audience or anyone here on council, but you know, as I walked through the Peach King Center earlier today and saw the families and the opportunity that the amenity that this town has to offer, it continues to drive me in my mission to deliver new forms of housing. And I know I'm on trend. I know this will reach the audience. I know this will be an incredible success. But it's with town staff uh sorry it's not it's with council to show the leadership to say we are open for business. We do not need an interimm control bylaw and we do acknowledge an affordability issue and affordable housing is important to us. So you have that power tonight to vote. You have the power to get us one step closer to getting shovels in the ground. We've already had our precon on as far as site plan application and I'm willing to commit to this council that we will engage in what's called an urban design cheret with the community and stakeholders on the final look and feel of this building. We're talking about a massing uh of a building that's already approved at seven stories. The final material and color will be decided at site plan. And I'm willing to continue to invest and engage with this community to push this project forward. And let's call it what it is. This is a once in a generation opportunity to deliver 150 new units, rental units, including 10% affordable, 15 affordable units downtown Grimby. Or do we pause? I'll leave it with you. Thank you. Thank you for your presentation, Harley. Uh, and now we have Anne Turk. Ann, come on up. Uh, good evening council residents. My name is Anne Tersk. As a resident and business owner in Grimby, I'm here today because I care deeply about our town and the future we are shaping together. Grimsby is not just a place on a map. It's our home. It's a community defined by its character, its scale, and its connection to the escarment that frames our daily lives. A seven-story building in the center of this town is not thoughtful growth. It's overreach. It does not belong here. It will tower over our streets, block the escarment that defines our landscape, and permanently alter the character of a town people chose specifically because it isn't a city like that. Once it's built, that's it. There's no going back. We keep hearing the words growth, but growth without respect for place, scale, and reality isn't progress. It's carelessness. Let's talk about reality. Families today are not downsizing their lives. They're doubling up. Multigenerational living is increasing because people can't afford to live any other way. That means more cars per household. More demand, not less. And yet, we're being told that.7 parking spaces per unit is enough. It's not. No one owns half a car. What that actually means is overflow parking, packed streets, frustrated residents, local businesses, losing access for their customers. It's not a minor inconvenience. It's a permanent problem we are choosing to create. And for what? A building that ignores the scale of this town. A design that blocks what makes Grimby Grimby. A plan that shifts the burden onto the people who already live here and the ones who have already invested. We're not against growth. We are against getting it wrong. Because if we get this wrong, we don't just feel it for a few years. We live with this for generations. The reduced parking standards already permitted on Grimsby on the Lake have created years of ongoing conflict, frustration, and division within the community. These issues have affected residents, businesses, condo boards, employees, and customers alike. Responsible growth means learning from past mistakes, not repeating them on an even larger scale. I speak from direct experience. I own five commercial properties on Winston Road and purchased nine commercial parking spaces. The commercial units came with zero parking. Many people may not realize that once these developments are completed and occupied, the town does not actively enforce or ensure that parking arrangements originally approved through the site plan are actually maintained. What was promised on paper is not upheld in reality. Entire sections of visitor parking that are originally designated for customers and shared use are taken away by condo boards. Parking passes have been distributed. Visitor spaces become restricted and many spots were even rented out on a monthly basis. Vehicles were routinely were were routinely towed even when customers had valid permits. decisions often came down to the discretion of a small number of individ individuals with unchecked control over parking enforcement, creating unhealthy hostility and tension throughout the community. Quite simply, an abuse of power by multiple board members. Snow removal becomes another issue. Visitor spaces were blocked for months at a time with snow banks reducing already limited parking. Businesses and property owners continued paying for these spaces even without the access. When these concerns were raised with the town, I was told that they were out of their control. That response was deeply concerning. Surely, there should be policies and procedures in place requiring builders, condo corporations, and property managers to uphold the parking plans exactly as they were approved and presented to purchasers, residents, and business owners. Instead, once projects are completed, the control appears to shift entirely away from the town, leaving residents and businesses to deal with the consequences themselves. At another one of my properties, virtually all the customer parking was occupied daily by staff of a single business, leaving no customer parking for any of the surrounding businesses. Again, this creates ongoing conflict between businesses, frustration for customers trying to support local establishments. This is why parking matters. Parking is not just a number on a planning document. It directly affects businesses, residents, emergency access, quality of life, long-term health of our community. The reality today is that more families are living in multigenerational generational households because housing costs are unaffordable. Vehicle ownership is increasing, not decreasing. Pretending otherwise does not create sustainable growth. It creates permanent infrastructure problems that future residents and businesses will be forced to live with. Since when is less than the legal bylaw requirement considered acceptable planning? And where do we draw the line? If we continue to normalize approvals that fall below established standards, what comes next? Less than adequate infrastructure, less than adequate services, less than adequate building quality. We can and should expect better. do not approve this development as it stands. The town of Grimby deserves responsible growth that protects our community, supports local businesses, respects residents, and learns from the very real problems created by previously reduced parking developments. Thank you. >> Thank you for your presentation. >> Can I have a mover and seconder to uh receive the remaining delegations? It's moved by councelor DeFlabio, second by councelor Kstani. Resolved that the delegations from Kevin Luton Heisen, Harley Valentine, and Anne Tersk be received. All in favor? That's carried. Up next, we have chairs reports. Councelor Shwah, can you please give your chair report? Uh through Mayor Jordan. Thank you. At the April 28th, 2026 meeting of community services standing committee, the committee received several information reports and considered a significant climate action initiative for recommendation to council. The committee received the Grimby Museum information report for April. Staff highlighted a number of upcoming public programs and workshops, including crossstitch, calligraphy, canvas, pouch printing, and the museum talk series. Recent events included presentations by Alan Cross and Jodie Campbell as well as Easter programming and curator talks. The committee also received updates on the traveling cipher decipher exhibition from the Canada Science and Technology Museum and a forthcoming community exhibition with the Grimby Photography Club. Museum staff also reported on the launch of a new youth volunteer program for students aged 9 to 17 as part of May's Museum Month. Progress was also noted on the museum's digitization strategy with more than 1,450 collection records now uploaded online through Past Perfect. Additional updates included educational programming in schools, museum foundation repairs, collection, cleaning work, and successful grant applications through Celebrate Canada and Young Canada Works. The committee also heard a presentation from Elatico Consulting, Inc. regarding the town's corporate climate action plan and recommended that council approve the plan and its associated actions. The plan establishes a framework to reduce the town's 2023 greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2035. Staff advised the town's largest sources of emissions are facilities, transportation, waste, and street lighting. The plan outlines a number of recommended actions including procurement policy updates, a climate lens for corporate decision-making, energy efficiency, improvements in town facilities, fleet electrification, waste reduction measures, and adaptive street lighting um dimming pilots. Staff noted that if fully implemented, the measures could achieve a 30 to 40% reduction in corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. The report also identified potential funding opportunities from operational savings and collaboration opportunities with Niagara region. Um staff also mentioned and I just want to highlight that this is a living document. The committee also received the community services department information update for April 2026. Staff provide updates on five playground renewal projects scheduled for the spring and summer at Gwoods Park, Leewood Park, Lakewood Gardens Park, Dorchester Park, and Roco Park. Additional improvements will include tree planting, pathways, and seating areas. The committee also heard updates regarding environmental partnerships and stewardship initiatives, uh, including ongoing work at Grand Old Oak Park, support for the Grimby Garden Club's Elm Street Pollinator Gardens, and the upcoming community tree giveaway through the Grimby Rain Committee. Staff al also reported on the Niagara River Lions mesh refresh program which included a community basketball event at Evergreens Park and an upcoming open practice uh event at the Peach King Center in June. Other operational updates included new downtown and Grizzby on Lake Street banners, soundproofing measures planned for Peach King Center West Pad ventilation system, recent building demolitions, delays related to the tennis club replacement project, progress on the fire station one storage garage, and ongoing work toward the library washroom renovation project. The committee also received information regarding the successful hosting of the Niagara Older Adult Alliance Spring Forum in Grimby, plans for community safety day on May 9th at Southward Community Park, which just happened, and the renewal of the memorandum of understanding with District School Board of Niagara for continued share use uh shared use of the Smith Public School soccer fields beginning uh through 2031. The next community services committee meeting is scheduled for May 26th. Thank you. Thank you, councelor Shawa. Um, up next was, uh, planning. Uh, our last planning meeting was May 6th, uh, 2026. Uh, uh, we had one item on the agenda, uh, the same item that was just here tonight, uh, the Wolverton. Uh, we heard from Kevin Luchenheisen and, uh, Harley Valentine, and, um, we heard from, uh, staff as well. Uh our next planning meeting is uh May 18, 2026. Uh councelor DeFlavio, can you uh give your chair's report, please? >> Thank you, mayor through you. Uh the public works committee meeting was on May 7th, 2026. Uh the first major item that we dealt with was assumption of municipal services for 314 Main Street East. The committee considered a report recommending the assumption of municipal services there. Spencer did a very eloquent job of explaining uh what assumption municipal services means. For those who are new to this idea, uh developers are responsible for building all infrastructure in new subdivisions. That means roads, sewers, water lines, sidewalks, everything above and below ground. And they have to make sure that they meet municipal standards. And then once staff determines they've met all those requirements and they've passed a a series of tests, the town assumes those and they become the town's responsibility. So that's where we are now. This is a regular thing that we do after a subdivision is built. Um so staff confirmed that the developers completed all obligations under the subdivision agreement uh including both primary and secondary services and all deficiencies have been addressed uh following the maintenance period. I really enjoyed the fact that we continue to learn at the public works committee. I think it's an important part of the committee system. Uh and of course once approved by council, the town assumes the responsibility for subdivision, roads, sidewalks, water and sanit sanitary and storm systems, street lights, driveway aprons, like everything that you can think of that is owned by the town. That's all built by the developers and then taken over by the town once the construction is completed and it's assumed. uh there's a letter of credit that the that the developer has to file with their from their bank that makes sure that there's money put aside in case there are deficiencies and they don't follow through on those things and that's what is given back to the developer or released once this is completed. So that's where we are now. Uh next thing was the regional courts intermunicipal agreement amendment three. The committee received correspondence regarding the proposed extension of the Niagara Regional Court's intermunicipal agreement. For some reason, for the region to be able to give out tickets uh in this case, it used to be the the speeding tickets at the um with the cameras. Those don't exist anymore, but we still have a traffic light camera, a red light camera uh on Christy Street. In order for us to give out in order for the region to give out tickets under the the uh vision zero road safety initiative, they need our permission. That's all this is is an agreement between the town and the region in order for for to do that. Um next was municipal road construction standard consultation. That's pretty straightforward. So, I'll just skip over to new business. The director of public works provided updates on the downtown reimagined project. That's really important. Um, the tender's closed. I don't know, Brandon, I'm going to look at you. Uh, is have we, if you want to speak to it, uh, where that tender process is. Um, but the the downtown project is on schedule as of the last meeting to start at the end of June based on all of the information that we've received. the Casablanca Boulevard and GO station area work. We received an update on as well the Kit Avenue traffic calming and there's an end of term tra uh presentation that's going to come at all these committee meetings talking about all the things that have happened to all these committees, the things that have gone well, the things that we probably need to work on so that the next committee could take off from where we left off. And the next meeting is June 24th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. That's incorrect. Actually, the next meeting is at the end of May. Uh uh May 27th. I I have the wrong date on there. I apologize. >> You stand corrected. >> Um that's the chair's reports. Uh and um first I'd like to request a mover and secondary to approve all the previous minutes except resolution PD26-017 13 Mountain Street 19 to 23 Elm Street from the May 6 planning and development minutes. Move and second please. Moved by councelor DeFlavio, seconded councelor Charw. moved by councelor DeFlavio. Second by councelor Shara. Resolved that the following minutes be approved. Council April 27th, 2026. Community services committee April 28th, 2026. Planning and development committee May 6, 2026. Accept resolution PD26-017 and Public Works Committee May 7th, 2026. All in favor? That's carried. Councelor Sharwa has requested to lift resolution PD6017 from the planning and development committee minutes of May 6. And councelor DeFlavio is seconding the motion. Councelor Shaw, please go ahead with your resolution. >> Um, thank you. And I just want to clarify how this is done procedurally. So, I was told that it's an amendment um that I'm I'm putting forward to defeat the planning and development committee minutes. Is that correct? >> All right. So, we and we just need to verify that you have a second for this, >> councelor Via. >> Yeah. Uh through Mayor. So, to be clear, I traditionally as a member of council, uh, and I've used this story before, but when on my first term of council, the first time uh, somebody brought forward a a motion like this, uh, I voted against seconding it. And, uh, then Alderman Anderchuk and, uh, another alderman took me aside and kind of gave me heck for it because seconding a motion doesn't mean that you support it. It means that you think it's worthy of discussion. And I think that this is worthy of discussion. So, I'm not going to vote in favor of it because of one part of it, but I do think that this is a a topic that's worthy of discussion, and that's why I'm seconding the motion. So, I just wanted to make it clear that seconding doesn't mean that you support the motion as written. It means that you support a discussion on the motion, and that's what I very very strongly support here. >> Yes. And I'll echo that that the true meaning of a seconder is just putting a resolution on the floor for discussion. It's as simple as that. All right. Go ahead, councelor Sharwa. >> Thank you. Whereas through the Ontario Land Tribunal settlement process, the town accepted a significant planning compromise for 13 Mountain Street and 19 to 21 Elm Street, OOLT20003541, including an expansion of the development concept from the original application. And whereas the previously approved Ontario land tribunal settlement concept should be treated as the approved development concept for the subject lands and not as a basis for further expansion of the development envelope. And whereas the applicant remains able to pursue the previously approved Ontario land tribunal settlement concept subject to any required site plan permitting uh permitting heritage servicesing and implementation approvals. And whereas the current application seeks additional permissions beyond the previously approved settlement concept, including the further incorporation of 23 Elm site uh street into the development site. And whereas council is not satisfied that the further expansion of the development envelope to include 23 Elm Street is appropriate or necessary to achieve the planning objectives for this site and surrounding context. And whereas council considers 23 Elm Street to be more appropriately appropriately considered for municipal parking or related downtown public purposes than for incorporation into the principal development envelope. Now therefore, be it resolved that report PA2612 regarding the proposed official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment for 13 Mountain Street and 19 to23 Elm Street be received and that council not approve the proposed official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment in their current form and that staff be directed to advise the applicant that council would support proceeding with the previously approved Ontario Land Tribunal settlement concept for 13 Mountain Street and 19 to21 Elm Street without incorporating 23 Elm Street into the principal development envelope. And further that this direction includes exploring with the applicant the potential acquisition at of 23 Elm Street by the town for municipal parking having regard to acquisition terms, the previous transaction value, available reserves and any other funding sources. >> Thank you councelor Shara. Uh discussion from council councelor DeFlavio. >> Thanks mayor. Is this are we discussing just this or the entire just this? Uh I so I can't support the acquisition of land portion of this motion. Um I don't support taxpayers dollars being used to to buy land downtown without the for the same reason I'm not going to support the the the building uh as proposed. I don't think that we have a parking strategy in place downtown that shows us that this is necessary, tells us what money we're going to put aside to to buy this land. So, I I'm going to speak further to that when we get to the to the minutes uh to the actual proposal. But the reason why I'm voting against it is because of that specific clause. I am I think it should be deferred. That's why I brought it forward previously and I still think that this should be deferred for because we received significant information today that I don't think everybody's really had a chance to filter through. So, uh that was why I moved for the deferral earlier in the meeting. Anyway, I'll leave the rest of my comments for later on. >> Councelor Shaw. >> Sir, can we get clarification on any of the new the new information from today? Unless I've missed something. >> Yeah. Through Do you want me to answer, mayor? Uh like I we we received a a >> Okay. Yeah. >> Uh thank you for the question and through you, Mr. Mary. Uh we did receive a number of questions and emails over the weekend. Um so staff did send out um a document, a compiled Q&A document responding to those questions to all of council at 3 o'clock today. >> Okay. I didn't check it off uh that time. So, I'll read that later. Okay. Um All right. So, I I'm just going to I guess discuss why I'm going with this. So, and I bear with me because I'm going to have to take some steps back. Um I feel very strongly that this proposal right now is a completely different proposal than what was approved at the OOLT. So, and and there are some steps that I'm not sure everybody even realized had had kind of snuck into the document and the the to the process. Um, so this is completely different. So, if we were to actually look at what has been approved right now, the approval is for 13 Mountain Street, 19, and 21 Elm Street. That is it. That is all the developer is allowed to um to build right now. Um, so we are making an assumption that this is first of all an extension, which it is not. We've lost the community hub. We've lost more parking if this goes along. This is a completely new application. So, um, I'd like to see it be dealt with as a brand new application because it is. Um, and I would go as far as to say that this how did we get to this point? We got this parcel based on 13 Mountain in 19 and 21 based on a decision by council not from the OOLT that settled it at the OOLT. So again, um if the developer chooses to fight this at the OOLT, it doesn't necessarily mean he's going to get the same response because we were the ones that offered to settle. Um so that's a completely different thing. So I'm going to go over the timeline just to make sure that everybody is clear and I've looked through open documents not closed session material just to make sure that everybody is aware. So one part of the planning um or PA 2612 it actually says from the previous applications when explaining this it says in 2021 applications were made for 13 Mountain Street and 19 and 21 Elm Street. Uh I'm hoping this was an error because that's incorrect. In 2021, the applications were made for 13 Mountain Street and 19, not 21 Elm Street. So, going back to the timeline, on May 20th, uh, or sorry, May 2021 was when the original application came forward. It was for 13 Mountain Street and 19 Elm Street, and it included 74 units. in um March 2022 came before council again for 19 Elm Street and 13 Mountain Street, not 21 Elm Street. On March 21st, 2022, council defeated um the staff supported OPA ZB uh ZBA motion for those lands. So August 30th, 2022, um the developer had appealed, went to the OOLT for the first case management conference. The OOLT described the appeal as redevelopment of 13 Mountain Street and 19 Elm Street for a sevenstory mixeduse building. Notice that again this is now for 72 units. Um there's no inclusion of 21 Elm Street. On November 13th, council had a special council meeting close session for and I I'm referring back to the um published council minutes um available to the public. It was for 13 and 19 Elm Street OOLT settlement discussion settlement happened. A week later the um the developer went back to the OOLT um and the OOLT states that the applications originally related to 13 Mountain Street and 19 Mountain uh Elm Street and that oh I should actually I've written it right here. Um, referring back to the OOLT documents, it says at the CMC, the applicants council advised that lands at 21 Elm Street are now included and the revised development now encompasses 13 Mountain Street and 19 and 21 Elm Street. So again, rewinding back, the original application was for 13 Mountain Street and 19 Elm Street. There was a settlement offer. after the settlement offer by council a week later we go back applicant went to the OLT included 21 Elm Street um from that the OOLT um heard the settlement and then the OOLT finalized the decision um which included an expanded now application to 21 Mountain uh 21 Elm Street and it approved a sevenstory proposal with 120 units. So, we went from um council looking at 13 Mountain Street and 19 Elm Street with 74 units to somehow having 21 Elm Street approved. Um and it just goes on and on from there. So, and that was for 120 uh units. And now we've we're faced with another um parcel of land at 23 Elm Street, which which has been um acquired by the developer. And again, this is a completely different application than the one that was approved. So, are we going to continue to let the applicant purchase land and then come back to us and keep maximizing this property? Because if that's the case, then we need the applicant to go um and come to council with an actual new development application. And if he'd like to take a chance at the OOLT, then I'm game for that because I I cannot approve this. Kirst Kirsten, do you want any have any clarification or addition to that that you'd like to add? >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, um, staff did review the the history of the file. Um, we did look at the 2024 OOLT decision. Um, I would have to go back to staff to to get additional information uh prior to the 2024 decision. Um, so I can't speak to that at this this point in time. >> Thank you. >> Uh, seeing no further questions, uh, the resolution has been read. Uh we'll vote on escribe, >> right? >> And if it doesn't, then we go back to the original motion. Additionally, >> right? So, so if this motion's approved, everything else is defeated. Um if this motion's defeated, we move back to the original discussion. Councelor How? >> Sure. You chair. Just one question just so I understand. Um Castle Point and I'm assuming it's Castle Point. Uh who bought 23 Elm Street in good faith. Uh, but we're telling them now that they shouldn't buy it or I'm not I'm a little twisted when we start telling somebody that they can't do something without if there's a process. But >> councelor How I think Kirstston can answer that for us. >> Okay, good. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, so the application before us is 13 Mountain and 19 to 23 Elm. Um staff have reviewed the application in full and have made a recommendation on all all four parcels. Um so it is in private ownership. 23 Elm is in private ownership um and is part of this application before you this evening. >> Thank you. Uh so uh we if ever if council's clear right now um we can vote on this resolution on escribe please. All right, that's defeated. All right, now can I have a mover and second uh for bylaw number 20 through through the chair. So, we're back to the original motion as written in the planning and development committee meeting minutes, which is uh that the uh staff memorandum be received and that bylaws 26 and 2627 and bylaw 2628 be forwarded to council for approval. So, council can either vote to approve the minutes as written, uh vote to amend them in some way, or um vote to to defeat them in some way. Those are the options available to council right now. >> All right. So, um, you heard the clerk. So, is there any discussion on this? Councelor DeFlavio. >> Thank you, Mayor Through. So, I I think that there are some misconceptions out there that have kind of been addressed tonight, but um haven't fully been addressed. Uh, so this is not starting from zero. Well, you know, I I our our planner made that very clear and and so some people have the misconception that we're talking about seven stories, but seven stories were already approved. Uh there they already have permission through the OOLT settlement for seven stories. I didn't vote in favor of it and that doesn't matter. It was approved. Uh the decision established like sight specific zoning rules for for the properties. So this proposal is building on that framework uh rather than reopening the entire height question. I think that I also so I'm torn because I think increasing our rental property uh inventory is important. I think that the 10% of of the affordable housing portion is very important. I just don't think we have it right yet. That's the only reason I'm voting against it. Um in in c in simple terms the site's already been approved has has an approved planning foundation. So what's changed in this proposal? Some of the things have been discussed. The application expands to 23 elm which is a pretty significant but not I mean from a massing perspective I don't know how significant it is. It maintains most of the existing site specific zoning provisions. It introduces updates um like details especially for the parking contribution. So council's reviewing and expanding the site within an existing approved context is is what's important. We're not starting from scratch. I'm not comfortable with the parking policy. That's why I'm going to vote against it. Uh the the strategic parking management study is still ongoing. The formal cash and ll framework has not yet been completed as a standalone policy. I'm not comfortable with it the way that it's written so far. The current approach is based on comparative on comparative research and consultant input. Yes. Um but we're kind of applying an emergency policy here uh approach that still has to be finalized and I'm not comfortable with that. The the cash and loo valuation I'm not comfortable with. I don't think $25,000 per space is an adequate amount. I I again ironically the developer's own purchase of property downtown has kind of established the value of property downtown and gives us a framework from which to build our valuation of of parking spots. And that purchase has shown us that land is very expensive in the downtown. It's finite. There's not a lot of land downtown. And that land has a lot of value and therefore that parking has a lot of value. So, a $25,000 parking spot is not adequate to replace the parking that's being used up. In my opinion, again, uh this is all in my opinion. Um structured parking costs are not being used because the study doesn't identify an immediate need for parking structure. The study that was done so far doesn't identify an immediate need. It doesn't look into the future yet because it's not complete. The so the qu key question for council tonight is not whether the parking is needed today, but whether the valuation approach that we're looking at is the right long-term standard for a constrained downtown. And the downtown is clearly constrained. What we're not doing tonight, we're not reit relitigating the OLT decision because that's already a decision that's been made. We're not reopening the approval of hype permissions because seven stories has already been approved. We're not debating whether cash and loo should exist as a tool because we've already said that cash and loo is acceptable. Now, and when I say we, I'm not saying me. I'm saying we as a council have already established that cash cash and loo is an accepted policy. So, we we already said it's okay. We cannot go back on that. Um, we're not deciding whether downtown parking is currently adequate because our staff has has in their report said there's adequate supply right now. The matters are already based on previous decisions. What we're actually considering is whether the expanded site and updated elements align with existing approvals. Whether the emerging cash and l valuation framework is sufficient sufficiently complete and defensible to become a long-term standard. I don't think it is. I don't think it's adequate to become a long-term standard. Whether council is comfortable applying that framework before the broader parking policy is frame is finalized. The policy framework is not completed. Are we comfortable with making a decision before that policy is completed? I am not. That's why I'm voting against this. Um, this is a large, it's largely a governance and policy timing question, not a yes or no question because I think the answer is kind of already yes, unfortunately. Okay. So, that ship has sailed. So, we need to consider is the valuation approach intended as a permanent downtown standard or an interim step. Would finalizing the parking strategy first provide clear or long-term consistency? I'm almost done, I swear. Uh, does council have sufficient time and information to establish what could become a precedent? I don't believe in the word precedent, but I think that when we say $25,000 for a parking spot, that's a pretty clear number that we're establishing as a precedent. And I don't think that we have adequate information, and I'm not comfortable with what we've received so far to vote in favor of it based on that. And that's why I'm going to be voting against this tonight. Not because I think that we're going to overturn this. Not because I think that there's g that seven stories is too high because all that is true. I think seven stories is too high. But that ship has sailed. What we're talking about now is are we ready to move forward? And I don't think we are. So that's why I'm voting against it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councelor DeFlavio. >> Councelor Cenagi. >> Thank you through chair. So, I was reading the parking study done by the consultant and it uh recommended cash inlue and the old official plan I think says cash and ll too. But what I wanted to ask Brandon just verify um one of the recommendations to increase the parking was the reconfiguration of the town parking lots. And it does say 30 additional spaces in the Balsam lot, 20 additional spaces in Elizabeth lot, and 20 additional spaces in the Lions pool parking. So that's 70 additional spaces. Is the cash in loo going to be used towards that to create 70 additional spaces that will actually increase the parking in the community? >> Uh through you Mr. Mayor. So I yeah I think that's correct. Um basically the study had identified uh we're currently in the third phase of the study. Through that study we've uh created some preliminary concept plans um which have identified somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 parking spaces in the downtown area. That's Elizabeth Street parking lot. That's the north south north lot, the south lot, the lion's pool. Alto together we can uh accommodate an additional 100 parking spaces. Um so that those the idea behind the cash in lie of is that value that we're collecting from the developer would be then used to help fund that uh that work. >> Thank you. And that pretty much is something that is being directed for us to do regardless. So um it would be at the taxpayer expense without or completely at the taxpayer expense without the cash in L. >> Uh through you Mr. Mayor. I think uh it's preliminary to say what the funding mechanisms will be. I think it is fair to say uh this money that is being received cash in lie of will help offset those costs uh from whatever sources. Uh but you're right uh a potential source is is revenue from from taxes. Councelor Sha through Mayor Jordan. Thank you. Um when I had seen this when it first came through the planning and development committee um there were a number of concerns um even in relation to height with the um mechanical penthouse um was over what it was supposed to be. But I'm not going to I'm not going to get into any of that because I I I don't see that really going anywhere today. So, I'm just going to focus on the parking. Um, $25,000 parking space is obviously way too little for Cash and Lou. We don't even know where these these spaces are going to be. Um, so that's it. It's It's still not It's still not finalized. We still don't necessarily know. Um when when I was looking through this planning study as well or the um some of the defense points by the applicant, it had said that uh there was justifica justification for the um visitor parking spaces based on and I'm going off the top of my head right now because I I do remember it. Um it was based on five different developments that the um the applicant had chosen. Four of them were in Grimby. One of them was in Beamsville. I don't know why there was a Beamsville one even um included. Um so first of all, first problem I saw um the four in Grimsby were fine. The um the fifth one that was a Dantis condo in um Beamsville that was really irrelevant skewed the numbers um completely because there was uh quite a bit more um parking than there should have been. the dates for the um that were collected for the parking had uh fell on the um family day weekend. It was the um the the sorry the weekend before that. It was one of the first uh weeks that it was um quite extreme temperatures in Grimby. Um so that could have affected the parking. The the week after that that was also collected was the family day long weekend. Um kids were off of school on Friday. Um as you know a lot of families are out of town on those days which had could have also um changed the um the ratios um used to justify the parking um which I think is significant because this is a a massive impact on the businesses on the residents that choose to use the downtown um on a regular basis. Um, and another thing that is is constantly brought up is that this is going to be a walkable community. Uh, which I agree people will walk, but that doesn't mean that for every apartment, people aren't going to own more than one car. If you park a car and it sits there for a month, it doesn't matter. You're still taking up a parking space. It doesn't matter if you are moving from here to Toronto to commute for a job. You still are taking up that parking spot. who are still making it unavailable for people that would frequent the area. So, I am adamantly opposed to this. Um I have as a as a resident before I was on council, I do not believe that this is um the same application extended because it is not the same application. The last application um you know it absorbed parking um at this point now we're we're moving into taking uh municipal parking which I 100% am opposed to. So, um, that's just my two cents. It's unfortunate that council had chosen to, um, decline my motion to potentially, um, acquire that 23 elm, but anyhow, um, I'm opposed. >> Councelor How? >> Thank you, Mayor. Um just a clarification and probably curs probably from yourself at site plan. Can any of these issues be brought up and and uh massaged and uh clarified or or changed slightly at site plan as opposed to going back over the whole birth of the the thing. Um but you see what I'm saying or is it possible or can it be done as site plan? >> Uh thank you for the question through you Mr. Mayor. Uh yes. So the site plan process would follow uh a zoning uh bylaw amendment and official plan amendments. So the land use permissions would be in place. However, at the site plan stage we would be looking at uh more detailed technical analysis of um of the site. So, um details regarding entrance permits, the the materials being used for the building, landscaping, um the parking arrangements within the the parking um area would all be determined through the site plan process. Um within the memo that was provided to uh planning and development committee, there is a list of site plan matters that would be reviewed um based on both the official plan and staff's review of the applications. Um so that includes green infrastructure, heritage matters, um that's also reviewed through a heritage permit process that would come um through the site plan process, site servicing, entrance permits, right ofway design, and finalizing the parking configuration. >> Clarify, mayor, can you just clarify through you? Sorry. Uh that site plan is staff only though and not and this is the last opportunity for council to deal with this if it's voted on and approved tonight. Exactly. And and to further to that um uh I do agree with councelor Sharwa that that this isn't the same as what the previous council approved in 2022. Um I and I it's a site plan issue, but I would much rather see a building that was more step back like we have down at Griny on the lake uh um Aquazul is a step back building. I think that would be a lot more compatible at the escarment and I realize these are sight plan issues, but the definitely the massing of that building as a straight wall um just does anything but blend into the escarment and it's just not the same issue uh or not the same building that was there that we approved in 2022. And there was an actual application in 2017 that the previous council then actually accepted for six stories. So historically uh that sevenstory with 72 units in 2022 is in my opinion a completely different iteration than we see today here in 2026. >> Don wasn't >> Oh sorry Don I interrupted you. Um but just so to be clear and uh Nick you suggested that that's a staff site plans a staff but if staff have the marching orders to deal with that site plan that's you know this is what we want as the council. We're not sitting on the meetings to to have those instructions, you know, with the the massing and the soft and the coloring and and all that. I get that. But is that a possibility, you know, to to get at it again at the site plan, but with the marching orders very clearly? >> Kirsten, go ahead. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh so through the the changes that uh were made to the planning act through bill 109 um site plan is delegated to staff for approval. Um as mentioned earlier and also within um some of the the comments that were made through the delegation uh we have encouraged the applicants to go through a design cheret. So that would be an opportunity to um invite the public invite um the experts to provide input on the design of the building. Um so that is that could come up or that could be a a process through the site plan um application. Um staff could also share information via information reports to uh council and the heritage permit process would be coming also before council uh through the heritage committee. >> Go ahead councelor >> to to follow. Um, so the shred I'm thinking of what we had a couple of years ago uh downtown and and we had it in all the old hardware store and it was all laid out on the floor and everybody was very happy with the whole process. Anybody that was involved in it and went to it and commented and the comments that came from it uh were were certainly well thought. Is that like the shred? Is that what you're describing or what we did before or is that called a PIC or something? >> Uh through you, Mr. Mayor. So, I believe that was for the official plan. Um so, I think it was a bit bigger of a project that we're um looking for input, but um we can uh determine what the details of that shred are and report back to council at a at a later date. Um I don't have the details of what we would be looking at for that process at this time. Councelor Canchi. >> Thank you through you, Chair. Um, so I know this isn't going to be popular and this is not what anybody wants to hear, but um I I'm voting in favor of this development and I'll and I'll explain why to the community and to my co my colleagues here is uh like it was mentioned, seven stories and 120 units is already approved. That's happening. Um, as a as a born and raised resident, do I want to see seven stories in downtown? No, absolutely not. But this is the reality that we're at right now. Um, the new official plan is going to allow up to 12 as it stands right now. I don't want to see that either. Um, this to me is an extension of what's already approved onto another property. It's going to add um 30 more units, 15 residential and 15 affordable units. That is a desperate need in our community. And I can tell you that I canvased at every single door in Ward 3. And we need rental and we need uh affordable rental and we need housing for our seniors as they age in our community. The 2021 census had 43% of our community over 50 years old. We need to be prepared for what's coming at our door. If this goes to the OOLT and a higher height will be asked for the data which we hear from staff and consultants that we paid and we hired support this. They support the parking they support the process of it. So we jeopardize minimizing it at seven. So I know that you know people will say this is political suicide. You're not going to get elected again. So be it. You know what? I'm going to do what's in the best interest of our community. I'll sacrifice my own personal goals for that. That's okay. But I honestly believe that this is the right thing to do at this point given the data that we have, everything that's been provided. Um I believe that this is the right decision. >> Councelor Vardy, >> uh thank you. Um, I've been listening to all of this and I look at we're getting a 100 new spots paid for. We're getting 15 low income units that don't exist anywhere. Um, there's been no rental housing built in the last 40 years. Um, and there are a lot of seniors and you know, you say over 50. I looked at over 55. Over a third of our population is over 55. Not everybody wants to live in a house. Some people as they age want to stay in the community, but be able to to have a place they can just shut the door and go and not worry about it. Um, and we need to be able to provide that kind of accommodation for seniors. We also have young people starting out who don't have enough money for a down payment on a home. They want to stay in the community. They want to be maybe near their families, yet there there's nowhere for them to go. I mean there there's just nothing out there. And um over the past four years, the province has has brought in a number of changers changes and I I don't know how many of you realize but municipalities are are a function of the province like we serve at the pleasure of the province. So we don't have the flexibility to say okay province you're saying we have to have so many more people come here we need to have so many new building starts we we can't say then you know oh take it elsewhere we we can't like we don't have that flexibility it's it's not a possibility for us and you know what what we have here is a a developer who's from the community wants to work with community is bend over backwards to work with the community is willing to have another sharet uh which is you know bringing people in for their comments to see you know what they think of this like there there's a whole other piece of this project that hasn't even started yet and I know people say well it's seven stories well it's going to be seven stories unless we send them back to OOLT and they'll the the OOLT is a is a provincial body and they'll they'll tell they'll tell them, "Please don't stop at 7:00. We need the housing. You can go up to 8 9 10. You started at 10. He came down to 7." Um, a a lot of how how this building is going to look will depend on the materiality of of how he builds this building, you know, and the things that we see now. It it's a massing. It's it's just a like a blot and it doesn't tell us what it's going to look like, you know, like cuz we can make something we have the opportunity to make something really fantastic and a place for people to live in Greensby lowincome housing, you know, so that some some people can find their way in and maybe out to out of low-income housing. Um, you know, if if we send this back, like we just need to be pragmatic here. If we send this back, you know, we run the risk of getting less than what we have now, you know, and um, you know, so far we we've had a developer who's trying to work with us and so much of this project is already approved. the OOLT will, you know, we'll we'll never say, "Oh, sorry, you know, forget seven, no more than four." Not going to happen. We're living in a different reality now. It's completely different. And the levers, you know, what levers we have now is to work with the developer and get the developer to build a beautiful building. That's the levers that we've that we have now. So, you know, we can either alienate the developer and have them go off and to OOLT because they, you know, OOLT the the developers win 98% of the time. Okay. Only and and we have everything going against us if we took this to OLT because staff say this is all in the line with all provincial policy and our policies. So, let's let's just be pragmatic here. recognize that there is a huge need for this kind of housing. The world is changing. You know, my husband says to me, I used to come down from, you know, camp road driving my grandfather on the tractor to pick him up in the tractor when he had too much to drink in the bar. Like, you know, those days are gone and it's just the reality. So, um, for all of these reasons, I am voting in favor of this project. >> Councelor F. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Kosardi. I was going to stay out of this debate, but I'm not. And I don't want to be a hypocrite by staying out of it. Uh I'm really in favor of this development. I think it's got a lot to offer this town, this town. Uh I look at it from Let me look at it from an economic development perspective. >> Excuse me. >> Just want to say something. No, I just you know we're not >> Yeah, we're not taking questions and can please just maintain decorum in the audience. >> So we in the next 3 to four years are going to attract up to a thousand jobs into this community. They're new jobs and that doesn't count the jobs that are going to be created while they build some of these industrial and commercial buildings across uh the the service road. Those people who come here to work in those facilities are going to need a place to live. They're going to be young people. Young people come from the universities, from Hamilton, from further a field, and they will probably eventually want to live where they work and work where they live. That's that's not too much to ask. I spoke to a number of senior citizens in the last week or two, some of them in this audience, and they have kids living at home that can't afford to buy a house. So they want to sell their house and move into a rental so that their kids can have their house or maybe even get a rental which they which right now they can't get. So this is council is right. This is a whole new world we live in. We're either going to adapt to it or we'll just get left behind >> or the town will die. this particular mass of people who are going to be living downtown along with Century Condos are going to be supporting the businesses downtown, not the other way around. They're going to walk out their door, walk over to Teddy's, and walk over to Harmony Jewelers, and they're going to walk over to all the other places, not take their car, which will be parked in their designated parking space, and buy things and add an ad to the economy of downtown. Don't you get that? Does anyone get that? And then we got these affordable housing units which we badly badly need. We fought through the last term of office to get rental units built in this in this in this community and they're finally coming and we're now we're saying no to them. And we got this specific group that just dug their heels in and just can't see the big picture and can't see the future picture for Grimby. Grimby has got to grow up. We got to expand. We got to move. Otherwise, we just become another town with tumble weeds blowing through it. Come on, let's move on. Let's move on to the next generation cuz it's coming. The gold train is coming. That's going to bring people here eventually. We're going to have conventional transit across across the region. That's going to be here. We need this type of accommodations and we need them now, not even three or four years. We need them now. So hopefully we can get enough support to get this through and because we spent a lot of time on it. Staff have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours looking at this particular project talking to all the different agencies outside of outside of Grimby from the NEC to the fire to the heritage and everyone else. And they have gone through it three and four and five times and they still come up with the same answers. This is good for Grimby. All those agencies I've approved it. They're okay with it. So, let's be okay with it. Let's move on. We need it. So, let's let's move on to the next step. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Can I call the question? >> Um, >> everyone's had uh one. >> Some people have had two. Some people have only had one. >> I've only had one. >> Uh, really? >> Really? >> No. >> Councelor DeFlavio has his hand up right now. >> Thank you, Mayor. I'll keep it brief, I promise. Um, so I'm not opposed to development. Uh but Grimby was fine before this development came through and it'll be fine if this development doesn't come through. So it's important that we get this right. Um the discussion of the sharet has occurred multiple times. It's important to for people to understand that neither the develop developer or nor our planner is bound by anything that comes out of that sheret. Uh the shred is part it's a it's a really good tool for planning, but this is our last chance to inform this process as a council. This is it. If we decide in favor of this tonight, this is our last decision on this project as it stands as a council. So it doesn't need to consider just this project. It needs to the the argument that I made on about this repeatedly is if we had three projects all with deficiencies in parking here tonight at the same time, not just one. Would we make the same decision? Because the 30 additional spots that I've heard about in the downtown don't matter. They really don't. Those are 30 spots that we could create and we probably need anyway. They they only matter if they if they're going to be there for every development that comes after this and they will not they will cover what's deficient in this development. So I think that we have to vote no tonight. Again I think a deferral is the more appropriate way to do this. Not voting no. I think a deferral is a more appropriate way of doing this because I think we need more information. I think we need to have clearer policies before making the decision. Not that we're gonna say no to this because I think in the end we're gonna have to say yes. That's that's it. Sorry I said I'd keep it brief. I don't think I did. I apologize. >> Councelor Shaw Mayor Jordan. Thank you. Um a few questions to planning first. Um first I'll just talk about the sharet. So shred is lovely. However, I will say as a resident before I was on council and as a council counselor, this has received the most push back from residents and by our businesses than any other u any other development by far. Um I think it's an insult when counselors say that, you know, this is some kind of a nimism type thing because it is absolutely not. Anyhow, um there there doesn't seem to be any issue as far as building in um by the GO train that we don't necessarily even have. >> There's been a point of order raised. I'm going to let count councelor Shawa continue. >> Thank you. Um so there hasn't been any issues. >> I just denied it. So she's moving on. >> Okay. So, um, there hasn't been any issues as far as building near, you know, Casablanca or more densified areas. There has been some resistance to the downtown, which I support as well. I agree. I think it's way too dense in that area, and this is specific to this development. We've seen this development start on two plots of land at 13 Mountain and 19 Elm Street for 74 units. That was the first time. And then he came back, purchased one other um acquired another parcel of land at 21 elm and it became 120 and then he came back again at 23 elm and is now asking for 150. So this is the third time. Will we and I'm going to ask you Kirsten if you can clarify. Is there anything that will stop this so that the the developer can't purchase another plot of land and come back and and push for an even bigger parcel? So that's my first question. The second question is if if the developer sells the property, how do we have it in writing for affordable housing um or if if another developer purchases this property? Is that basically a a handshake and just a an informal agreement? >> Uh thank you for the questions and through you Mr. Mayor. Uh so the uh I guess the first uh response uh to your question about whether or not uh that he can come in with another application. The town is required to accept planning applications. Uh so those applications have to be um accompanied by studies that support the the proposal um before you and we go through typically a pre-conultation process that would outline those studies that would be needed. Um and we would provide some preliminary feedback on a proposal um based on policy uh provincial and local policy. Um so we we can't deny an application uh or like receiving an application I should say. We do have to accept it and process it and um bring it forward for public meeting through the regular planning process. Um the second question uh the official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment stays with the land. Uh it doesn't um it's not uh changed when it change if a property changes hands. The affordable parking rate um is solidified by um the zoning with a definition for affordable units. So that rate is only applied if there is affordable units um proposed within the de development. Um there is the subsequent site plan process. Um staff have reviewed all of the documentation based on the uh proposal before you. Um there would have to be subsequent review if uh the proposal changed. So sorry last question Kirsten. How how did this come through this process and not through a a totally separate new application? How how did this evolve to an extension considering the original application was for 74 units on two parcels of land and now we're at four and really it it was it was that first application that this all came from and now we're on the fourth lot uh through you Mr. Mayor. So the this is a new application before you this evening um but it does not remove the fact that there is an OOLT decision for three of the four parcels. So that decision amended the official plan to allow for seven stories on 13 mountain and 19 to 21 Elm and provided that sight specific zoning. So that is approved through the Ontario land tribunal that is now within our official plan and within our zoning bylaw. Um the application before you this evening does include that fourth parcel at 23 Elm. Um so it is a new application. It is uh up to council. However, that does not change the fact that they already have an OOLT decision on those parcels. >> I'm going to have to call the question. I I think it's ridiculous. You're welcome. >> Does anyone else want to speak before we call the question? >> So, this is what you're reading. >> Yeah, I think we >> All right. Uh, >> do we need clarification? >> No. Moved by councelor Shawwa, second by councelor DeFlavio. Resolve that the balance of the minutes from planning and development committee May 6, 2026 be approved. Ecribe vote please. >> It's the one item that was lifted. for >> right now >> through the chair. You are voting on approving the minutes and planning and development as written. >> If if it gets approved, we move on and we approve the bylaws. If this gets defeated, uh we move on to a different motion that would then need to defeat the bylaws. >> Thank you. Sorry. Can you ask counselor um Bradzi as well? >> All right, that's approved. So then just there. >> Can I have a mover and seconder uh for the bylaw number 2627 and 2628? Moved by councelor Costani, second by councelor Frank. Resolve that leave be given introduce bylaws 2627 and 2628. And that same be read a first time considered and passed. >> Sorry. Sorry. Which is this for the amendments? Okay. Can I get Can we get a recorded vote as well? This is for Mountain Street. >> Yeah. A recorded vote. >> Recorded votes been asked for. All right, that's approved. All right, now we move to uh a mover and seconder for the rightway bylaw report on the floor for discussion. Moved by councelor Gstani, second by councelor How Henry. Go ahead. Thank you through you, Mr. Chair. Uh so the report in front of you today uh report BL26-03 uh covers uh the ask for council uh through a resolution on October 20th, 2025 um asking for um a possible rate of wave bylaw. Uh so contained within the report itself attached as appendix A is the draft right of way bylaw. So staff across multiple departments reviewed the needs for the town of Grimby and reviewed other municipalities within the region and outside of the region itself um on what the best possible solution was for the town of Grimby on for our possible right-of-way bylaw. Uh so the bylaw goes into detail about uh potential prohibitions for activities that occur on the right of way or a any actions that um occur within the right of way that also require permit from the uh director of public works. Um with that uh bylaw we also have an an amendment attached as appendix B. Uh that is an amendment to our administrative monetary penalty system making a making set fines for this bylaw itself. A tiered penalty system um that would encompass um town staff utilizing education first and giving and giving um uh orders to comply or verbal direction prior to any fines or any work or removal of items. Uh the bylaw does go in detail about the need to remove items prior to any of those if those items may pose a hazard to public safety and or safety to public safety to the public itself. In conclusion, town staff recommend the approval of bylaw 2630 which is the right of way bylaw and bylaw 2631 which is the amen which is the amendment to the administrative monetary penalty system bylaw. If council has any questions I'm willing to take them at this time. Thank you very much, Henry. Questions from council. I think we're all questioned out. >> Councelor, >> thank you. Through you, Mr. Mayor. Um, does this refer to uh various obstructions like uh hockey nets on the road and uh uh basketball nets, those kinds of things? >> Three, Mr. Mayor. That is correct. Anything that is placed within the right of way that is not permitted to be there uh would essentially be covered under this bylaw and then would would involve the same process to either remove or order the individuals who own it to remove it from the road or the boulevard uh which is inclusive of the apron and the grassy boulevards going from the edge of the roadway to the property lines. Seeing no further questions, uh moved by councelor Christi, second by councelor how resolve the report by L26-03 right away bylaw dated May 11th, 2026 be received and that council approved bylaw number 26-30 right away and bylaw number 26-31 AMS amendment attached to this report is appendix A and appendix B. All in favor? That's carried. All right. Up next, we have uh conference updates. Uh councelor Devoli. Uh do you want to go first? Uh then we'll have councelor How and Councelor Gangi. >> Thank you, Mayor Jordan. Councelor How, a senior member of our staff and myself had the opportunity to attend the Ontario Small Urban Municipal Conference that goes by the acronym of OSUM in Perry Sound at the end of April. We thought it would be beneficial to share with our fellow counselors and residents what we heard and learned at the conference. And in that way, the benefits of attending would be multiplied beyond just the three of us. We had an opportunity to walk the waterfront and downtown and hear from their planning and ecdev staff about what they've done and are hoping to do. A downtown that has been revitalized and goes through a tremendous eb and flow when the cottagers return each year. They too have brown fields that are now under development and will create a hotel, more residential housing. Lesson learned, they too are grappling with change and are learning to welcome it. The town of Perry Sound has a number of First Nations around it. They have and continue to develop a very strong relationship with them, especially in the area of social services. Our lesson learned from this relationships matter with each other with the land and with the water. Talking to each other and often in an informal setting. We heard from both the District of Perry Sound Social Services as well as St. Thomas Elgen Social Services which is in a different part of our province and they're expecting to have eliminated homelessness by 2027. AMO has prepared a very full report on homelessness in this province and it's available on their website. We do encourage you to go and read it. Our lesson learned from this data driven. You have to be kind and show people respect and it takes time to build trust. The president of AMO and a number of their staff spoke and shared a list of current and hot topics they're working on as they represent the municipalities of Ontario. You wouldn't even have to guess at them as we too face many of them every day. Building homes, homelessness, infrastructure, development charges, electricity and power needs, trades and tariffs, conservation, codes of conduct. Our takeaway, local leadership matters, and we are not alone in this. Their website has so much on it, including webinars about running in municipal elections, too. A topic that one might think isn't ours, and yet it is, and that's public health. Downloading of provincial responsibilities, provincial funding not keeping up with inflation, and thus pushing more of the costs onto local municipalities. Sound familiar? the role of our public libraries and how they play a quiet and complimentary role in our health. Lessons learned from this good public health initiatives quietly prevent problems. Efforts to reduce smoking have taken years and yet have yielded tremendous benefits. As an example, building physical activity into each day, providing access to healthier foods, vaccinations, and making our libraries public and civic spaces. Public libraries are now much more than a building full of books. New approaches to pay for growth infrastructure. In Ontario, we are facing a number that is between 250 and $290 billion in infrastructure over the next decade. Municipalities have implemented infrastructures just as we have done to build up the reserves. And as an example, Perry Sound's infrastructure levy is 1.8% annually. But they're investigating other ways as well. So using a concept called delivery service charges for water and wastewater rather than traditional development charges, financing projects through the building Ontario fund, which I had not heard of till we were there, rather than traditional debentures, and even using private financing. And last but not least, as there were so many good topics and speakers that we haven't even shared with you this evening, but this one is particularly near and dear to us. Municipal governance and leadership, leading with respect, strong mayor powers. The speaker took us from the beginning of the premier's thinking with quotes from his and I from the premier's book uh published in 2016 that is called Ford Nations two brothers one vision and I had to go and get it after I heard the speaker to quote it to quote from the book and this is an accurate quote if I ever get to the provincial level of politics municipal affairs is the first thing I would want to change. I think mayors across the province deserve stronger powers. One person in charge with veto power. In the book, he goes on to say, similar to the city of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and so on, through to his reason, and some may call it his excuse of putting strong mayor powers in to address the housing shortage. Was he just looking for an excuse? And then the speaker took us through a series of legislative changes in this area. Lessons learned. Ontario has 444 municipalities. 216 of them now have strong mayor powers. Nowhere else in Canada. We no longer need a bylaw to enact a budget. But what if council doesn't pass the levy bylaw? then no power to tax as in we cannot send out the property tax bills. So even sometimes what seems the most boring of bylaws now has significant reasons. How much further the province has taken the strong mayor powers than dealing only with housing. It's a big list that he shared with us. And by the way, the AMCTO, which is the Association of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, has published a good timeline um on the budget process. If anyone is interested in looking at the details, the evidence to date, a study was done by Alena Delg Greco, who now works for the AMCTO and published, and to quote from her study, looking at Ontario's housing supply tracker, there is no evidence to suggest that the use of strong mayor powers is helping to build housing. End of quote. Last thought before I turn it over to councelor how to just add a few additional thoughts but the information and the speaker's thoughts were so powerful and blunt that the slide deck is not available on the OSUM conference website you had to be there thank you >> thank you councelor dully councelor how >> uh thank you chair um osome conference 2026 notes Uh on the opening day, I attended uh the planning Canada's second deep geological repository for a 2-hour workshop presented by the nuclear waste management organization. The first repository that they had picked uh excuse me I'm was selected in 2024 after a sighting process that started in 2010. So 14 years to get from start to finish and that is located in Sign Nace and Wabagon Lake Ajiway Nation in northwest Ontario. The other community considered was here in Kinlos which is Wingham in southwestern Ontario. Sighting process involves an informed and willing host promotes reconciliation safety to manage Canada's nuclear waste which includes the equipment and parts involved in the generation of electricity isotopes think medical spend rods. Make no mistake that this process is important to small urban municipalities as the sites being considered are not going to be cities. The presentation community innovators, builders, and municipal partners was about libraries and being on library board was one I anticipated in attending. It reinforced my thoughts about our library. Some terms used were the library is a core civic infrastructure, an everyday civil space, cornerstone of community well-being and support. And a quote from Albert Einstein, the only thing you need to know is the location of the library. The conference allows the opportunity to have direct conversations with counselors and mayors of municipalities that are not that different from our Grimby. My main takeaway from those conversations from the attendees strong mayor's powers are wrong and an assault on democracy. Thank you. >> Thank you councelor how councelor corani. >> Thank you chair. Uh so I was honored to attend the 2026 annual conference of the great lakes and St. Lawrence C's initiative in Hamilton alongside municipal indigenous industry and environmental leaders committed to protecting one of our region's most valuable resources, our freshwater. Uh this year's discussions around the fresh coast economic corridor reinforce an important message. The future of our communities depend on safeguarding the Great Lakes while building sustainable economic growth. Fresh water is not only essential to our environment and quality of life, but also to long-term health, prosperity, and resilience of communities across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region. Key conversations focused on protecting and restoring our freshwater ecosystems, strengthening regional collaboration on water stewardship, building resilient economy connected to the Great Lakes, ensuring future generations continue to benefit from clean, accessible water. So, as municipalities, we all share a responsibility to advocate for policies and partnerships that protect our freshwater resources while supporting strong, sustainable communities. Um, you know, I'm grateful for the opportunity to bring these conversations back to our community and, uh, you know, a few, uh, you know, from the smallest little thing, uh, that we that we spoke about was invasive species and and the importance of having a boat wash u because invasive species are spread through the boats and once you have an invasive species, you're forever dealing with it. Um, so prevention is really the key. And it seems like such a small thing, but it's absolutely something that we can do to prevent that. So you're not there's no way to get rid of it once you once you have it. It's a constant uh drain on your resources. Uh right up to the ports and tourism and and it was really great uh because there were uh representation from uh you know a lot of the states and Quebec and uh you know our indigenous communities and stuff like that. So it was it was really interesting and very informative and you know one of the things I would suggest is we look into the membership being part of this initiative because a lot of conversations are having uh are being had and we're not at the table for them and I think it's important for us um being on the shoreline of Lake Ontario to uh become a member of the initiative and there are also lots of grants and opportunities and data available to you if you are a membership Thank you very much for attending, uh, Councelor Costi. And, uh, yeah, the Great Lakes, um, partnership alliance is is something that I've certainly looked into over years. Uh, um, actually uh, in the, uh, 18 to 2022 U council term. That was something that was tried to be brought forward. Um, and, uh, probably lost a 54 vote on moving that any further. Um and it's something then it was derailed by the um pandemic but it is something that Ginsby being on one of the great lakes that um Canada US alliance and partnership is huge and it's it's um uh over a trillion dollar uh um economic engine that runs through the Great Lakes and I think it's several trillion dollars actually. So, it is something that's very important. So, I thank you for attending. Can I have a mover and second for the menstrual health day proclamation? >> Oh, sure. Absolutely. >> I didn't want to have to. Thank you. If if you're willing to second it, I'd like to put a motion forward that staff come back with a report on the details of membership for us so then we can make an educated decision. >> Yes. >> Yeah. staff can take it as direction because I I it's something that's very important. All right, a move and second move by councelor Frank, second by councelor DeFlabio. Whereas on May 28th, we recognize that one in six Canadian menrators are affected by period poverty, a reality experienced in our community in every corner of the province and across Canada. And whereas menstrual health day, MH day, is a global day of action that was initiated by German nonprofit Wash United in 2014 to raise awareness and change how the world perceives menration. And whereas the period purse, a federally registered charity, works nationally to achieve menstrual equity by removing stigma and breaking down barriers to education and access to period supplies in communities across Canada. And whereas periodfriendly Canada is a Canada where everyone can access the products, education, and infrastructure they need to achieve menstrual health. Working together, we can end the root causes of period poverty in our community. Therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor Jeff Jordan, do hereby proclaim May 28th, 2026 as menstrual health day in the town of Grimby and encourage residents to recognize the importance of menstrual health, dignity, and equity in our community. All in favor? That's carried. Have a mover and seconder for the epoxia awareness day proclamation. Move by councelor Kstani, second by councelor How. Whereas May 14th, 2026 marks childhood aroxia of speech day during which awareness will be raised throughout Ginsby, Ontario, Canada about childhood aroxia of speech, an extremely challenging speech disorder that affects one in 1,000 children. And whereas childhood aroxy of speech CIS causes children to have significant develop difficulty learning to speak and is among the most severe speech deficits in children and whereas the active learning to speak comes effortlessly to most children. Those with arraia require early appropriate and intensive speech therapy often for many years to learn to speak. And whereas without appropriate speech therapy intervention, children with araxia will have diminished communication skills but are also placed at high risk for secondary impacts in reading, writing, spelling and other school related skills. And whereas what such primary and secondary impacts disinish diminish future independence and employment opportunities and challenge the ability to become productive contributing citizens if not resolved or improved. And whereas public awareness about childhood aroxia of speech in Ginsby, Ontario, Canada is essential for families of children with its neurological disorder and the professionals who support them to achieve the needed services for those learning to use their own voice. And whereas our highest respect goes to these children as well as their families for the effort, determination, and resilience to face in the face of such obstacles. Therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor Jeff Jordan, do hereby proclaim May 14th, 2026 as arraius aroxia awareness day in the town of Ginsby and encourage citizens of Ginsby and surrounding areas to work within their communities to increase awareness and understanding of childhood aroxia of speech. Araxia Kids is the leading nonprofit that strengthens the support systems of the lives of children in the lives of children with aroxia of speech. Please visit ww.apraiakids.org for more information. All in favor? That's carried. I have a mover and seconder for the museum month proclamation. Moved by councelor Frank, second by councelor DeFlavio. Whereas the 700 plus museums, art galleries, and heritage sites and the over 8,000 museum workers and 35,000 volunteers contribute to Ontario's 26 billion cultural sector. And whereas museums as trusted local organizations create healthy and connected communities and by ensuring all Ontarians have access to cultural and heritage, inspire lifelong learning, and whereas museums promote growth and build local economies by welcoming tourists in every community across the province. Whereas this month provides an opportunity to raise awareness for the vital role of museums, museum workers, and volunteers have in their community and celebrate their contributions to community well-being, tourism, education, and learning. And whereas May 18th, 2026 is International Museum Day to highlight museums as centers of education, innovation, and cultural understanding in our communities. Therefore, be it resolved that I, Mayor Jeff Jordan, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as May is museum month in Grenby and encourage all residents and tourists to visit our local museums in May. All in favor? That's carried. Can I have mover and seconder for the remaining bylaws? Moved by councelor How, second by councelor Corani. Resolve the leave be given to introduce bylaws 26-30 to 26-32 inclusive and that same be read a first time and considered and passed. All in favor? That's carried. Next meeting of council is scheduled for May 25th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. Confirming bylaw. Can I have a mover and second for the confirming bylaw? Moved by councelor DeFlavio. Second by councelor Kstani. Resolve that leave be given to introduce bylaw 26-33 and that same be read a first time considered and passed. All in favor? That's carried. Good night everyone. Meeting is adjourned. >> Go Habs go. >> I second that.