City Council Meeting: Farm Exemptions, Water Billing Issues, and Flood Relief

Council discussed whether startup farm businesses should be eligible for development-charge exemptions before obtaining a Farm Business Registration number, reviewed ongoing problems with the city's water-billing transition, and considered audit oversight following the 2024 cyber attack. It also approved compassionate flood-relief grants of up to $2,000, kept stormwater reserves as the funding source for those grants, and directed staff to report back on possible bylaw changes for farm startups.

Topics Discussed

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT-CHARGE EXEMPTIONS

Delegates from new agricultural operations asked council to exempt their projects from development charges even though they do not yet have a Farm Business Registration (FBR) number, which is normally required under the city's bylaw.

Rachel Row said the timing of the provincial registration system is the main barrier: "We can't get our FBR until next year because they only do it once a year." She said staff had told the applicants that "with section 27B that it should be applicable without an FBR if there's an Agricorp exemption for a startup farm business."

Councillors focused on whether changing the policy for startup farms could create broader precedent. Councillor Brad Clark said, "I worry that if we change our policy to we would consider developing charge exemptions on farm businesses that have not received the FBR that we're really going to open ourselves up to a plethora of applications that in the normal process would not be approved." He also said the province has long required applicants to prove they are farming before receiving an FBR number.

Councillor Mark Tadeson asked staff, "what are the risks for us opening this up in light of like other people in rural areas that have similar situations? And um is there a risk to us as a city if we give one exemption?" Council ultimately directed staff to report back in October on possible bylaw options, financial implications, risks and safeguards.

DEVELOPMENT-CHARGE EXEMPTIONS AND AUDIT OVERSIGHT

Council also reviewed a report showing $78 million in development-charge exemptions that supported 3,600 residential units and 1.7 million square feet of non-residential development. Councillor Clark questioned whether the city had measured the public benefit of those exemptions, saying, "$78 million. It's a lot of money."

The external audit planning report was discussed as councillors pressed staff and auditors on delays in the city's financial statements after the cyber attack. Councillor Clark said there is "tremendous trepidation in the public" because the city still does not have audited 2025 statements while moving through audits for earlier years.

Auditors said the 2024 cyber attack expanded the scope of audit work. One auditor said, "2024 was the year of the cyber attack," and that the audit would be "a fully substantive audit," with elevated risks on accounts affected by the incident and additional sampling rather than reliance on internal controls.

Staff said there is now "a pathway forward" on the 2024, 2025 and 2026 statements, but acknowledged public frustration over the delays.

WATER BILLING AND CUSTOMER SERVICE TRANSITION

Councillors reported continued complaints about the city's water-billing transition, including long hold times, repeated calls to resolve issues and billing errors. Councillor Tammy Hwang said residents were still reporting waits "anytime anywhere from between 40 minutes and 4 hours" and said many felt they were not getting the customer service they needed.

Staff apologized for the disruption. One staff member said, "the city does recognize the disruption that this has had on ratepayers and we apologize to ratepayers," adding that city staff had taken on back-office responsibilities so Optima could focus on customer service. Staff also said, "we truly do apologize to all property owners," and noted that if billing errors caused non-sufficient-funds charges, the city would compensate residents for those costs.

Councillors also questioned why the rollout had been so difficult. One councillor said, "I am disappointed that we did not have the automated payment program ready and we had so many issues implementing it."

Staff said they were adding targeted resources, continuing regular meetings with Optima and working on tools to help residents understand their accounts.

FLOOD-RELIEF GRANTS AND STORMWATER FUNDING

Council approved compassionate grants for residents affected by rainstorms on July 21, July 28 and August 2, 2026. Councillor Tadeson's motion set the grant at "the lesser of $2,000, the level of the resident's insurance deductible, or the resident's actual expense and loss incurred as a result of flooding."

There was debate over whether the grants should be funded from stormwater reserves or the tax stabilization reserve. Councillor Alex Wilson said, "I'm not opposed to providing flood relief if that's what we want to do as a council. I am incredibly opposed to funding it from a stormwater funding account that we already know doesn't have fair or stable funding to it." Councillor Clark argued the stormwater reserve was the appropriate source because the damage was caused by stormwater. Council defeated the amendment to switch the funding source and then approved the original motion.

Councillors also discussed the limits of the grant program for uninsured residents. Clark said it would be "heart-wrenchingly disappointing" to tell residents with catastrophic losses that they could not receive more help if they had no deductible to claim against.

PROCUREMENT AND STANDARDIZATION

Council approved a five-year standardization contract with Parklane Systems Inc. at about $67,000 annually and also approved an e-learning authoring software standardization item.

Clark questioned whether standardization was delivering value for residents. He said, "I don't think we're getting the best bang for the dollars for residents if we are not going out to market on these things more frequently than is being proposed."

A separate procurement-process item was deferred to the next AFNA meeting for further discussion.

Motions

Passed / Directed: - Staff directed to report in October on possible bylaw amendments for farm startups without FBR numbers, including financial implications, risks and safeguards - Compassionate grants for residents affected by the July 21, July 28 and August 2, 2026 storms - Stormwater reserve funding for the flood-relief grants - Expansion of stormwater payments to most rural residential properties effective January 1, 2027 - HUR26002 — Parklane Systems Inc. software standardization contract - HUR26010 — E-learning authoring software standardization - FCS260672024 — External Audit Planning Report - CM26017 — Build Community Strong Fund 2026 intake applications - GSC26-003 — Grant subcommittee minutes of August 26, 2026 - July 30, 2026 meeting minutes

Defeated: - Amendment to fund flood-relief grants through the tax stabilization reserve instead of the stormwater reserve

Deferred: - File 10.1 — Improving the City of Hamilton's Procurement Process - LS21042 — Settlement of development-charge complaint was addressed in closed session; no public disposition was specified in the provided notes

Attendees

• Councillor Mark Tadeson
• Councillor Brad Clark
• Councillor Maureen Wilson
• Councillor Alex Wilson
• Councillor Tammy Hwang
• Councillor Rob Cooper
• Councillor Crutch