Salaries for the positions of Mayor and City Councillor be maintained at the 2026 current rate for the 2026-2030 term of office, subject to annual inflationary increases equal to the Non-Union Municipal Employee (NUME) economic increase approved as part of future Council budget deliberations.

59:47role of a Councillor but about the compensation and I'm going to open I will have our two delegations

59:53this afternoon but I'm going to ask DCAO O'Brien to give some introductory comments about this

59:58agenda item. Thanks. Thank you very much Chair Caron and through you to council I've got my

1:00:04colleagues from HR Mr our general manager Mr Andy and staff will join as Councillor Caron

1:00:11Chair Caron noted we we simply are taking the direction from staff in terms of or from Council

1:00:16sorry in terms of the policy approach that is laid out which is to say a set comparative list

1:00:21and the application of what we call a p-line or a percentage line. We're happy in in a position

1:00:26following delegates to answer any questions you might have in regards to different analyses however

1:00:31I would just caution Council just briefly that depending on the level of the analysis it may be

1:00:36more prudent for direction to come to staff to then report back at a future date in terms of

1:00:40changes to a policy approach. We're certainly willing to entertain that we know the the the

1:00:46nuances and the and the challenges with with this matter that's before council and so we're

1:00:50happy to answer any questions as we we move through the discussion with you. Thanks so much

1:00:54Chair Caron. Thank you DCAO O'Brien. We have had one delegate withdraws we have one delegate

1:01:00remaining this afternoon and it's Alec so if Alec is here come on up. Welcome to the podium

1:01:12as I think you may know there's five minutes on the clock for you to present at about the 32nd

1:01:18mark you'll hear a little ping don't let that panic you you still have another 30 minutes to wrap up

1:01:24thanks so much for coming to share your share your thoughts today and the floor is yours.

1:01:29Okay thank you very much I know this could be a testy issue and my intention is not to do that

1:01:34at all but I just wanted to lay out some basic facts and things that I have a concern with

1:01:39and a lot of people that I've talked with over the last week or so. Before I start I'd like to

1:01:43be able to quote from a French philosopher Walter it says in general the Arctic government consists

1:01:49of taking as much money from one class of citizens to give to another. On this date four years ago

1:01:57is city councilors were making $41,412 on the state four years ago. Today four years later

1:02:07is we're having a discussion about raising the salary to $70,218. That's an increase of four years

1:02:17of 69.56% roughly 70% wage increase in four years time. That's a little bit of a concern.

1:02:28The other thing as well is that regarding as far as today is that four years ago

1:02:35we had the same kind of discussion about a 25% raise and the argument of that is well other

1:02:42municipalities have increased their salaries and so we need to be able to increase ours in order to

1:02:48keep up and be compatible with other municipalities. So what ended up happening other municipalities

1:02:56raised their raises four years ago said okay well we have to increase ours by 25% so that we're

1:03:02compatible and that we're providing fair equity as far as to our counselors. Sounds good but now

1:03:09we're in the same position four years later is that those same municipalities now that we had

1:03:14caught up to them they're saying hey wealth is basically caught up to us we're a bigger municipality

1:03:20whatever we're going to increase our salaries so now we're playing the game again that okay we need

1:03:26to catch up so this time it's 33%. It's a game of cat and mouse and the concerns that I have are

1:03:34basically twofold as first of all it seems to be the mentality of having to keep up with other

1:03:40municipalities not based on the work not based on how much time because I know that with the reports

1:03:46and everything coming in that counselors again the two that I've talked with anyway and just

1:03:53even myself going through a lot of reports is that you are putting in more time. It is you know

1:03:59previously it might have been 12 20-year hours a week now for some it's going between 20, 25

1:04:09it's sometimes it's more than that sometimes less than that but you're putting in more hours

1:04:14and you should be compensated for that but concern that I have again is in four years time from 2022

1:04:22on this date to today discussing the pay raises it's roughly 70% increase. Now the second thing

1:04:31that I would like to say about that is that a couple of different people have suggested okay

1:04:36you're not voting for yourselves you're voting for the future council okay that sounds good but the

1:04:43only concerns I have with that is who is going to be the future council we don't know how do we

1:04:49know that their track record is going to be good that they're going to be most beneficial for city

1:04:54we don't know what's their attendance record we don't know but you're voting a 30% increase

1:05:01for a future council that we don't know the track record usually when you hire somebody

1:05:10is you and you're going to give them a raise it's based on their merit on their performance all these

1:05:15different factors come into it but we have this mentality right now that we're given a 30% raise

1:05:20to a future group of people that have no possible track record or anything that's a concern. Now

1:05:29just the other couple of things as well in closing is the fact that you know we've had rising property

1:05:35taxes food banks are increasing at an enormous amount we had store closures we have a lot of layoffs

1:05:42that are happening now across the city we've had you know you guys struggling with the budget

1:05:47and telling different departments they need to make some cuts you're tightening their belts but you

1:05:52yourselves that's not happening. Just a couple of other things as well is the fact that in closing

1:06:02is that the residents is that you know they're concerned about what's happening in today's economy

1:06:09and you're telling them they need to pay more they need to tighten their belts but the suggestion

1:06:15I would like to make to you guys is that okay lead by example if you guys are able to lead by example

1:06:23tighten your belts and even this matter this would have a huge impact and it would send a

1:06:30positive message you know coming this time. Thanks perfect timing right on the right on the dot.

1:06:38Any questions for the delegate? Councillor Busuttil. Thank you and through you Chair Caron

1:06:49to Mr. Perse. Mr. Perse thanks for your delegation I heard you speak a lot about the role of

1:06:55Councillors and it's not specific about any Councillors it's about the role. You didn't

1:07:01speak at all about the role of the mayor and this report recommends a 10% increase to the role of

1:07:09the mayor which I will speak to when I have an opportunity. Do you have any thoughts on that?

1:07:14Well the mayor we only have one one mayor and 10% to me is above the cost of living but it's not

1:07:24really that unreasonable but as far as council itself is a 25% increase and then a 33% increase

1:07:35that you know that sort of riled me up a little bit when I saw that. The other thing as well is

1:07:41that if you go ahead with this increase in the next four years City Council will be paying

1:07:50it will be our the taxpayer will be paying three million three hundred seventy thousand four hundred

1:07:58sixty four dollars to combine 12 members of council for the next four years the next term

1:08:06that's the amount of money that we're paying. Again council does great work and I know they're

1:08:14putting in more hours now than they have in the past and that's all positive but a 33% increase

1:08:22just give you one picture visualize we're talking 33% increase last week a few feet away

1:08:31we had people in the lobby that were sleeping on the floor and on benches

1:08:37and yet we're here discussing on recommendation of keeping up with other municipalities that

1:08:45I just cannot put the two together I'm struggling with that and I would love you know personally

1:08:52to be able to talk with every one of you individually to sit down discuss and maybe you could give me

1:08:58some insight about why but right now I don't see it. Thank you thank you. Any other questions for the

1:09:05delegation? Okay seeing none thank you so much for coming forward. We have Councillor Allt.

1:09:15Thank you Chair Caron in order to explain this I will be I will put the motion on the floor

1:09:26and make my comments now if I have a seconder. Okay do we have a seconder? We have Councillor Goller

1:09:33seconding that motion and thanks that that moves the process forward so the recommendations on

1:09:38their floor. There are two recommendations so I'm going to open it up for questions to staff

1:09:45and and as we usually do in committee the whole questions and comments so I'll start a speakers

1:09:50list. Councillor Goller and put your hand up if you would like to speak. Who's it to you? Yeah okay

1:09:59floor's yours. Thank you through you Chair Caron. I do have a motion that I sent in advance that I

1:10:05want to move but if you want there to be other questions before we table motions I will defer

1:10:09to you. I think so questions first and the reason for that is that once your motion's on the floor

1:10:16we can only speak to that motion and we I think we need to clear the air on some of the other

1:10:21so I do have Councillor Allt, Councillor Boussatiel. Thank you very much Chair Caron.

1:10:29First thing I will make my comments now and I think that we are in a rather challenging

1:10:35position as a consequence of this not being determined by a nonpartisan citizens committee

1:10:42and I do believe that was a mistake. I think that this creates a significant change in optics

1:10:48that it looks like council is indeed creating a raise for themselves or ourselves or however you

1:10:54wish to put it. As much as I say that I would also like to ask staff we are here we heard numbers

1:11:06of about three and a half million dollars I believe and I was wondering if we could please

1:11:11identify what this raise would do to the annual budget and really what is the increase

1:11:21from currently to next year in terms of a number of a dollar value as well.

1:11:33Perhaps I'll start and through you Chair Caron the the tax impact has been calculated and we've

1:11:39noted it that it's about 0.08% based on the recommendations that are before council the

1:11:45the actual quantum and dollar amount of that 0.0% I might defer to my HR colleagues

1:11:52but in the report we did note it's 0.08% for the impact on the on the tax rate.

1:12:03Thank you and if one of your colleagues could provide the actual dollar value of that increase

1:12:09that would be appreciated. So it's to the chair through the chair to Councillor Allt

1:12:16the cost inclusive of the benefits for the upcoming year will be 271,133.

1:12:25And that is inclusive of mayor and councillors is that correct? That's correct.

1:12:32Thank you I have no further questions at this point Councillor Caron. I think my comments speak

1:12:38for themselves I think we acted in error last year by removing the citizens committee determinants.

1:12:45Great thank you I have Councillor Boussetteel next.

1:12:48Thank you Chair Caron and I'd like to just speak to the first recommendation which is the 10.1%

1:12:57for the mayor. I also want to say very clearly I'm not interested in becoming a mayor and this

1:13:04isn't about our current mayor I'm not speaking about Mayor Guthrie but I do want to I do want to

1:13:11support this and when it comes to a vote if we can separate the two motions I do want to support

1:13:17this in my previous kind of public education school board experience executive compensation.

1:13:25I do think that this amount of increase is really quite reasonable and I had the opportunity to

1:13:32look at you know secondary elementary principles with pay raises of our pays of 169,000 to 182,000

1:13:42and when I was reflecting this again not speaking about Mayor Guthrie but my experience through

1:13:48the Association of Municipalities Federation of Canadian Municipalities locally I just feel that

1:13:55the complexity of the role of mayor since we were sworn in the day after has just just exploded.

1:14:04Services are complex dealing with mental health homelessness we heard from the delegation

1:14:10and dealing with issues at local provincial even things like economic development tariffs and so on

1:14:15local provincial national and even international and so you know politicians speak to politicians

1:14:23and so I will be supporting recommendation number one.

1:14:29Okay thank you Councillor Bousatiel so any further questions put your hands up I don't see any other

1:14:34questions. Councillor Caton sorry all yours Councillor Caton.

1:14:42Thank you through you chair, Karan to staff I don't know if you're gonna have this information

1:14:48off hand but I know it happened at least once last year or last term. How many times has the

1:14:55recommendation come up and council voted to decrease the amount for councillors and for the

1:15:04mayor like when the suggested amount was higher and then council voted for a lower amount.

1:15:12Through you chair Caron yeah and appreciate the the precursor there Councillor Caton about

1:15:19not having that detail exactly at our fingertips I think it's an acknowledgement that council does

1:15:24it's a challenging spot to be in for council and staff we certainly empathize so we've seen

1:15:28moments where for example members of council have asked for like a pause or a freeze on on

1:15:33council increases we've seen instances in the past where council has decided or has received

1:15:40recommendations from staff and that you know have instead intended or decided to take a lesser amount

1:15:48than than what was recommended through the the application of the policies that the council

1:15:52sets and so it can vary Councillor Caton it can really depends on really term of council

1:15:59and and perhaps also the the nuances that you're considering now further to Councillor

1:16:02Bucell to this point the the complexity of the issues before you and and such so

1:16:07it has varied over time Councillor Caton to answer your question.

1:16:11Thank you I just it just makes me think that we're kind of in the salary equivalent of an

1:16:16Emma to Earl Street Bridge situation where if the ones in the past had been initiated then it

1:16:22wouldn't be such a big jump but because it's been going such a long time the jump looks large thanks.

1:16:32Yeah I mean in answer to your question I believe the last ever council in 2022 the recommendation

1:16:36was higher and council lowered it for obviously for community input and other reasons so

1:16:43any other questions on the current motion because I believe Councillor Goller you are going to bring

1:16:49forward a different motion if it is contrary to the main motion we may need to put a hold on that

1:16:57and vote on the motion that's on the floor and have that fail before you we can table your motion

1:17:02but I'm not sure of the exact wording so you go ahead.

1:17:05Thank you and through you Chair Caron I have reached out to the clerks and I will ask them if we can

1:17:13do a motion by substitution to introduce the motion that that would substitute number one

1:17:19and two or if we have to vote down the motions on the floor so if and just as a precursor what I

1:17:27intend to do the motion is to to to acknowledge that that we have a policy I think the policy

1:17:33that we have in place does not strike a correct balance for the recommendation of the increase

1:17:40I think it works perfectly well for our management team because we are competing against other GTA

1:17:46municipalities but when we look at that list of municipalities I feel that that it doesn't provide

1:17:52an accurate comparator for the workload and the responsibility that we have here at the

1:17:58City of Welf as council members so my my intention is to not give direction to not have any increase

1:18:08apart from the inflationary cost of living increase that we would see on a year to year

1:18:13so I'll ask the clerk can I table this a substitution or do we have to vote down what's on the floor

1:18:21thank you sorry I will defer to the clerk for an opinion and I think I know the answer but it's

1:18:27always good to have a device from our clerks yeah and thank you chair Cronin through you to to

1:18:32council um it would be my recommendation to deal with the current motion that's already moved and

1:18:37seconded it is the the motion that we have from Councillor Goller is contradictory to that so

1:18:42we could table that as a subsequent motion if this motion were to fail thank you and I concur

1:18:47that unless it's a deferral or a referral back to staff it is contrary to what is on the floor so

1:18:53we would need to fail the current motion first and then we will table table your motion

1:18:58so any discussion on the motions that are on the floor we've had a request to uh to separate them

1:19:07Councillor Caitlin you had your hand up any other comments okay Councillor Caitlin

1:19:14thank you just a moment I got notes all right um so I feel that this is not a part-time job

1:19:23if you show up to every meeting answer every email we get all the posted material have

1:19:28side staff discussions trying to get motions improvements together sit on outside boards and

1:19:32side boards reply on social media go to community events and immerse yourself actively in the

1:19:37community engagement counselors who do the less are paid the same as counselors who do it all

1:19:42and so I can imagine that to the public it would seem like we're overpaid depending on their experience

1:19:47this term we've had way more daytime meetings through equity decisions to respect religious

1:19:52timelines for fasting and prayer we've had a dramatic increase in special meetings additional

1:19:56budget meetings because the provincial changes to that process plus surprise meetings to deal

1:20:01with constant turn of provincial legislation we've only had one august without meetings despite that

1:20:06having been the expectation if we're going to go based on previous community uh committee meetings

1:20:12on how many hours this job requires to do properly then it needs to be revised to fit the new reality

1:20:19as one of the counselors who does this job to the max capacity I can say that it's not sustainable

1:20:24at the current pay I don't even think that the staff suggested pay is adequate because it's not

1:20:28really a part-time job the benefits package for council has a yearly cap of 500 for physical

1:20:33therapy 500 for massage 500 for osteopathy and 500 for psychotherapy with a disability like mine

1:20:42that'll get you maybe two months tops if we vote for keeping the pay at the current level

1:20:49we're voting for it to be austerity pay it's only economically feasible if to hold this job if you're

1:20:56retired with savings or a pension if you're single with limited expenses or the secondary

1:21:01income in a family with my constellation of equity labels I'm a frequent target for

1:21:06for misinformation campaigns and expected to pay for personal lawyers I am the head of my household

1:21:13and I was a single mom for most of my term all of my family members have disabilities

1:21:18it's unaffordable without financial privilege we tell people their lived experiences are not worth

1:21:25a 0.8 percent increase and they either need to pretzelin more jobs to make ends meet or have a

1:21:31full time on job a full-time job on top phone it in show up to one out of three meetings and call it

1:21:37a day I don't think that's acceptable representation for our residents or sustainable for those who

1:21:43have to work twice as hard to participate in democracy it does not stand up to our commitment

1:21:49to equity as a council so I hope you all support the pay increase thank you thanks you councillor

1:21:57kate any further commentary um councillor goller uh thank you and three short chron I I do not

1:22:04disagree with councillor Kate's comments I do believe that that there is room to to look at

1:22:11the equity lens I think unfortunately our policy simply looks at the 55th percentile without looking

1:22:18at those other issues I think something that we will need to do is revisit the the compensation

1:22:25four years ago in 2021 there was a recommendation from consultants with a lot of community feedback

1:22:31that recommended that we go to eight full-time councillors unfortunately the council of the

1:22:36time voted against it with with with me being the the sole member still on council that that

1:22:42voted against keeping the two councillors per word and 12 councillors I think we need to revisit

1:22:49that decision I think it is a full-time job for for for those of us that that put in the time

1:22:55um but I think that we need to do that properly not because the 55th percentile came with this

1:23:01number because we're intentionally working to make this position more accessible to members from

1:23:08all economic classes in our community so I would be looking for the the next room of council to

1:23:14have a another council composition review to make that decision so I will ask my council

1:23:20colleagues to vote against what is effectively a 33 percent pay increase for this position between

1:23:27this term of council and the next term of council and then the next term of council can can get staff

1:23:33to do the work and we can have another review and and maybe reshape how the the positions are are made

1:23:40up thank you uh councillor downer I just I have a can I have a question for staff sort of this

1:23:48has come up so through you chair I remember in our last time that we looked at this that actually

1:23:54the municipal act doesn't say whether it's full-time or part-time it just talks about the role of a

1:24:00councillor it's us that put that construct on it as a full-time or part-time it's the roles of what

1:24:07the duties are in in the job description is that not right through you chair Caron yeah councillor

1:24:12your spot on the act does spell out sort of broad based I would even say like thematic

1:24:18responsibilities for members of council it does not delineate between a full-time or a part-time

1:24:24we know that members of council on this council and indeed across the province some have

1:24:28occupations outside of their role as a as a member of council some of those occupations would

1:24:33require 35 or 40 hour work weeks and the the the reality is is I believe in as you've all experienced

1:24:39more so than I have is that you make this role as you see fit and quite frankly I would I would

1:24:44argue that as your constituents deem appropriate of you and and that's that's evaluated on a

1:24:49four-year cycle when elections come up but to your question councillor downer no delineation

1:24:54in the municipal act with respect to full-time versus part-time and in fact even our delineation

1:25:00in the staff report is is an estimation we attempted to do that to offer a little bit more

1:25:04granularity of the data for council as you consider this this matter

1:25:10so for me like and this is always a a controversial one and I can't think of a time

1:25:19when we haven't all said oh we don't like this response so we don't like what the committee

1:25:23said are we and the last time okay we don't want the committee doing it because every time we get

1:25:27a recommendations from these committees we we change them and we've done that the last two

1:25:33times and so we said okay well let's have staff been forward to recommendation and let's look up

1:25:39you know at this way and so we do that and again we're sort of saying oh no no no let's not do that

1:25:44so I'm I'm just um you know the role has significantly changed and it to me it's it's not

1:25:53even so much the time as much as the responsibility and the uh the and and how in order to be accountable

1:26:05how much more educated you have to be to be in this role around the issues that you're debating

1:26:11and talking about that it just doesn't come from staff reports but you have to be aware

1:26:15and in so many other ways and how we become more involved in provincial matters more than just

1:26:23municipal matters um so I I've sort of been back and forth on this but I think I'm gonna I'm gonna

1:26:29support the recommendation just just on principle I I just think the role it's not full-time or part-time

1:26:35it is how much we all decide to put into it but those demands and those expectations and those

1:26:42accountability the accountability has significantly increased over the last five to six years uh in

1:26:48my estimation and you know it's it's very difficult for those with other full-time jobs to do the

1:26:56job that you know the same the justice and I know many do that do have full-time jobs they they

1:27:02they work on it as hard as they they can but I think it's I think I think you know listening to

1:27:08to what Councillor Caton says if we want to change and and have more equity around and equitable

1:27:16representation in the community I think we have to you know be real about what the job really is

1:27:22because I I don't think I don't think we do I think and I think um unfortunately I think

1:27:29even some in the community still think that it should be a kind of a volunteer job or something

1:27:33that and don't really understand the role as well and and we buy into that if you keep doing this

1:27:38every time this comes up every four years under underestimating the value of the position

1:27:46okay thank you Councillor Downer um I think we've had all comments and questions so I'm going to

1:27:51oh we've got Councillor Busatel yes thank you uh Chair Caron I would agree with uh Councillor

1:27:58Downer about the changed roles much more complex much more involved in not only provincial but

1:28:04federal level of uh decisions and advocacy and so on again thank you for separating the mayor

1:28:12versus Councillor I'm struggling more with the Councillors and it's that 33 percent I absolutely

1:28:18agree with Councillor uh um Kate and and equity I'm struggling with how to get there and I do

1:28:25appreciate that this is Committee of the Whole and so how I decide now may change before the you

1:28:32know the end of the month with some additional information and so on but I would like to support

1:28:39recommendation number one and then um you know I need a little bit more time with recommendation

1:28:45number two but I may keep it active okay thank you Councillor Busatel okay we've been around a few

1:28:51times oh we've got Councillor Billings is there anyone else who wants to speak to that on this

1:28:55matter uh Councillor Billings them so I totally agree Madam Mayor we um sorry Madam Chair with

1:29:02Councillor Goller um we definitely need a policy change uh looking at the comparative list there

1:29:09there are areas that to me should should not be part of what we're looking at for analysis

1:29:17and so I'll just speak to the mayor's position when you take a look at our neighboring municipalities

1:29:25the mayor's pay is in line with those in fact it's not in the report but even if you take a look at

1:29:32the City of London it's a large very large city and that mayor is making less than the Mayor of the

1:29:39City of Guelph so I will not be supporting to increase the mayor's pay and as far as the same

1:29:47thing for members of council if you take a look at other single-tier municipalities like Barrie

1:29:53and Bramford um those councillors are making far less than the City of Guelph councillors so again

1:30:00look at our neighboring municipalities and and we are again in in line so at this time and and also

1:30:09because of the economics of the day um I agree with Councillor Goller and will not be supporting

1:30:15the pay increases okay thank you Councillor Billings um Mayor Guthrie did you say you do

1:30:20want to speak to it okay we are finally going to get to call the vote we have had Councillor

1:30:27Boussatil ask for separation uh so the first recommendation is regarding the salary for the

1:30:33mayor so I'll ask for anyone who is opposed one two three four five six seven eight nine

1:30:45so we have nine so that recommendation fails and we will ask for recommendation number two which

1:30:54is the salary for the position of city council uh any opposed five six seven eight opposed so that

1:31:09also fails so I'm going to turn to you Councillor Goller I believe you had a recommendation of no

1:31:15action which leaves it at a zero percent change from the current um yes to to you chair Caron

1:31:24if I could ask the clerks to please pull up the the motion uh the salaries for the position of

1:31:30mayor and council be maintained at the 2026 current rate for the 2026 to 2030 term of office

1:31:37subject to the annual inflationary increases equal to the non-union municipal employee

1:31:42economic increase approved as part of future council budget deliberations and I believe that

1:31:47Mayor Guthrie said that he wanted to second uh this motion and just check it in if he's still

1:31:54interested. Mayor Guthrie you're being asked if you'd like to second that okay okay sorry I'll just

1:32:01convert um thank you and just uh through through clarity if I if I could ask from from our HR team

1:32:09the the non-union municipal employee that does that work out to be about what three percent per

1:32:14year is that historically what we'd be looking at so through the chair to Councillor Goller

1:32:19it's been between two and three percent typically speaking okay thank you very much I really appreciate

1:32:26uh the the support and I'm happy to answer any questions about this okay so put your hands up

1:32:32members of council if you'd like to speak to this uh Councillor Gibson okay yeah thank you

1:32:42through chair I um I apologize of all things I was had this conflict with my regular

1:32:48employee job because the time start for this for this meeting today so I didn't get a really

1:32:52talk that chance to speak to the last motion but I knew how I was voting when I arrived today

1:32:57in terms of this motion I thank Councillor Goller for bringing it forward with the economic

1:33:04the economic place that our community is in I really feel that we should be holding the line

1:33:11on our own salaries the way I've always felt about the position is that it's a service position

1:33:16that should be a sacrifice of time and effort and energy for those who want to serve you serve

1:33:21with the privilege of your of your constituents and only at the pleasure of your constituents

1:33:27and they hold you accountable every four years so the the idea of sacrificing something of yourself

1:33:33to serve in the role is something that is still an honorable sort of characteristic of a councillor

1:33:40and so with that the pay is always secondary it should never be a position of privilege

1:33:45when it comes to salaries to serve on council that's my position that's how I've always felt

1:33:50about the position so I thank Councillor Goller for bringing it forward I also thank

1:33:55Mayor Guthrie for seconding I had volunteered to second but I was glad to hear there was already

1:33:58a seconder thanks very much we have Councillor Allt thank you very much chair crown as with

1:34:07perspective the first motion I won't be supporting this one because this is a governance issue for

1:34:12me I think that the way that we have brought this forward is problematic I believe that we

1:34:18should reconsider a citizens committee and further I think that there there might be other parameters

1:34:25that we need to provide which is it's either take it or leave it and no amendment coming from that

1:34:31particular committee I do remember that there was a great deal of upset from that committee last

1:34:37year when we played with the numbers or last third last term I think it's problematic for

1:34:44anybody on council to be looking like they are giving him her or their selves raises

1:34:52and so consequently because it's a governance issue for me I cannot support this I would point out

1:34:58that yes we do serve at the at the behest of the constituents but so does our member of parliament

1:35:06prime minister and our member of provincial parliament councillor Klassen yes thank you

1:35:17for your chair perhaps this is not the appropriate time but councillor Goller made mention of another

1:35:23review potentially with the next term of council to look at the process in which

1:35:33councillors are both compensated and also the composition of council I know that there was a

1:35:38report prior to I think it was the previous term of council that looked at it at the composition of

1:35:43council I just want to go back to something that councillor downer said with regard to

1:35:50the position of of counts of what a councillor is from my perspective and in line with the

1:35:56municipal act the role of a councillor is a role it's not really part-time or full-time

1:36:02and so I think when looking at how to best serve the community I think that we need to look in

1:36:07depth at at the role itself and perhaps how how how it's being served and so I think and and perhaps

1:36:17if it's in in I'm not sure but based on my colleagues councillor all I might not support the

1:36:26motion because I prefer to see a review done in the next term of council where where everything is

1:36:35considered holistically rather than looking at at you know kind of at parts of of what of what is

1:36:44happening you know is is a cost of living increase good enough or not and so if perhaps if you would

1:36:56maybe I would either make an amendment or perhaps at a secondary emotion I I'm not sure about timing

1:37:04I can maybe quickly type something out yeah let's okay if you've got something in mind that's an

1:37:11amendment to to zero take no action um by all means if it's contrary to the motion again we're back

1:37:20to where we were before is it was all now we're at a motion of nothing so if we would have to fail

1:37:26the motion of nothing to put a motion of something on the floor does that make sense to everyone we

1:37:31have to fail the zero uh motion and then propose another alternative not knowing what your potential

1:37:38is so if this perhaps fails then I will no uh give me one moment let me let me uh think it through

1:37:47for a second I'm with that okay would everyone like a five minute bathroom break while the wording

1:37:53I mean or alternative staff um we're doing a motion of all and a that failed and now a motion of

1:38:00nothing that failed if there is a moment for councillor classon to bring forward an amendment

1:38:06that is not contrary then we can give her a moment I was seeing. Chair Cronnell defer to you in terms

1:38:12of like a recess but as we've observed so council has defeated them the staff recommended motions

1:38:18you've now got councillor Gallar's motion on the floor which is effectively uh akin economic

1:38:23increases for member of count members of council across the the future term there's certainly

1:38:28an option to councillor classon's question in regards to is there a natural junction point

1:38:33coming in the future where we might evaluate um quite a quite a broad range of factors but

1:38:41uh the council ward bound review is something that we did commit to coming back to uh as part of a

1:38:47touch point in this coming term of council that would be in place for 2030's term of council

1:38:53that could include and if there was a wish at this point you could direct staff to not only

1:38:58complete that ward bound review but also roll in similar to what we saw to councillor Gallar's

1:39:04commentary in 2020 when we presented a sort of a council composition and ward bound review

1:39:10that type of review could be again ward boundary the composition of council which is to say

1:39:15as best in articulation as possible on full time versus part time that review could also

1:39:20carry with it an analysis and we would work I would foresee that the city clerk's office working

1:39:24with the HR team to ensure that there's also an analysis of compensation remuneration for members

1:39:29of council at that time as well and so we do have that docketed as a work plan item in the 2026 to

1:39:362030 term in order to set up a process but if you wanted to give us very specific additional direction

1:39:42to say in addition to simply a ward bound review also revisit that council composition consideration

1:39:49and as part of that contemplate full time part time remuneration etc that could also be done and I

1:39:55think that might be getting at what you're looking to do councillor classon. Okay so councillor

1:39:59classon still has the floor I did have hands go up from uh Kate and Chu and Boussatil but you still

1:40:07have the floor um right now the motion is regarding compensation if your amendment is about that it's

1:40:15in order if it's an amendment about that might be supplementary giving direction to staff following

1:40:23the compensation decision I'll leave that to you to put on the floor and then we can determine where

1:40:28the motion bests lands in terms of our governance process have the floor. Thank you um may I ask

1:40:39a question of clarity um with regard to the 2026 2030 review process um when what is that just a

1:40:48rough timeline it's just for the next term of council to to review. Through uh Chair Caron yes so

1:40:55we would embark upon that I would suggest at some point in the midpoint of this next term

1:40:59so that the work can be done because it is an expansive piece of work we did embark on a pretty

1:41:04expansive project that started in 2020 as an example and then in about 2022 now we did have a

1:41:12significant global event that slowed some things down during that time um but yeah it would it would

1:41:17be a project we would embark on through the sort of the midpoint of this next term so that

1:41:21council would be set to make a decision upon that which would then impact and influence 2030 to 2034

1:41:29as term of council. Thank you and one more um as far as the composition and salary component

1:41:38was that something that I would we would need to provide direction on to include in the boundary

1:41:42review? Through you Chair Caron at this point that level of clarity is certainly appreciated it gives

1:41:48us a good scope and a good understanding of what council's intentions at this point for for that next

1:41:53term's body of work yes. And just as as an aside if if the motion is related to that we also have

1:42:00a motion that was emailed to us by Councillor Caton as an excess as a supplementary motion

1:42:07once the compensation um a vote has occurred. And through you Chair that maybe the may perhaps

1:42:14Councillor Caton's motion is is sort of addresses what Councillor Klassen is looking to to speak to

1:42:19as well. So again Councillor Klassen the floor is still yours did you want me to move to questions

1:42:26or did you have an amendment? No I think this um I I just might I guess then my question I'm so sorry

1:42:32a process question with regard to this specific motion it can pass and this other motion that

1:42:41Caten has brought forward they can exist at the same time. Correct okay thank you okay.

1:42:45So the motion on the floor right now is related to take no action on the increase that's the

1:42:52motion that's on the floor. So I have um Councillor Caton and Councillor Chew with their hands up

1:42:58speaking only to this motion. Councillor Caton. I was just going to be talking about point of

1:43:07order but the last situation because I had my motion on the books already so I'm good. Okay Councillor

1:43:14Chu. Okay through you Madam Chair I guess for me like the issue isn't so much whether we should

1:43:24further compensate ourselves because I I do believe in the principle that pays kind of signal

1:43:30of the responsibility that we have and we do carry a huge fiduciary responsibility of millions of

1:43:36dollars worth of city assets and like I think it's a huge responsibility that comes with the

1:43:42position of being you know like the member and I think the pay is kind of the signal of that

1:43:49and it kind of eliminates any idea of an ethical behavior and misconduct as well and I think the

1:43:57pay is it's symbolic to that. For me the issue really comes down to the the timing and it seems

1:44:04like historically it's always been in the last quarter of the term of council and I understand

1:44:10the principle of that as well that we're setting the pay for the next council but I just wonder if

1:44:15it's possible for us to get staff to do the work to look at the pay increase but have the next council

1:44:23actually decide on it and that way because it's an election year you know it could be settled

1:44:30you know at the doorstep and then further the next council can decide whether to take action or

1:44:36not based on their convictions but I think this decision by nature is always going to be very

1:44:42polarizing so it's just not appropriate to have it during an election year but I wonder if it could

1:44:48be it could happen during the beginning of the term of the next council and but the work the

1:44:53leg of work is already undertaken by staff from this direction that will pass so I just wonder if

1:45:01staff can maybe speak to that if it's logistically even possible to conceive something of this

1:45:07sort of direction I'll let staff address that I believe the timing that we currently use is in

1:45:14policy so again we would have to change the policy I believe the policy says in the year proceeding

1:45:20the the new term of council and in your commentary Councillor Chew you talked about

1:45:27making a decision about ourselves so just want to correct that whatever we decide today will not

1:45:32impact this council it will impact the next council um whoever that maybe maybe some of us

1:45:40maybe none of us capital and staff address the timing through you Councillor Caron to

1:45:45Councillor Chew's questions and I think your commentary was spot on in terms of the policy

1:45:50it's also I would suggest best practice to your point Councillor Caron that that no one term of

1:45:55council is determining their own compensation it is from a previous term of council that then sets

1:46:00that for a future state it's in the same keeping with the decision that or the recommendation and

1:46:06motion that's on the floor under Councillor Gallagher's motion is for the future term of council

1:46:10being 2026 to 2030 and then we would carry out the work of a more broader body of work subject to

1:46:18I believe Councillor Cain's motion that might come forward to then inform what would be in place for

1:46:22the 2030 to 2034 term. Thank you and that's really where my commentary to end would have been is that

1:46:29that if we make the decision now to set the base rate at at zero increase it will not we will not

1:46:36have another opportunity not we even the next term of council won't have another opportunity to review

1:46:41it until about four years approximately four years from now so this is setting the rate for the next

1:46:47four years until that review is is potentially done so any further comments and we'll call the vote on

1:46:55on the I saw Councillor Chew did your hand go back up again yeah just to yeah I think thank you

1:47:03through you Madam Chair um yeah I guess maybe I can take this so I just want to stay on the record

1:47:08too I'd like to kind of take it away and with staff to discuss some options because I really do think

1:47:15that the principle of us setting the the rate for the next term of council is only it's only

1:47:20going to continue to push this conversation further back because I think we have to acknowledge the

1:47:26politics around this and the optics and the optics in my opinion is too hard to overcome some of the

1:47:32practical realities of the evolving role of mayor and council so I think there's a so like I'd like

1:47:38to take it away and kind of take a look but in principle I just don't think it's appropriate

1:47:44right now that we set the set the pay increase so that's just my conflict in my mind I thought I'd

1:47:51just share with all of us so that we can maybe further spell self-reflect as a working group so

1:47:58yeah that's all I have to say thank you thanks so we will don't see any other hands we're going to

1:48:05call the vote on Councillor Goller's motion which is to take no action and keep the base pay at zero

1:48:12for the next term of council is there anyone opposed to that motion

1:48:18Councillor Allt, Councillor Klassen, Councillor Downer, Councillor Hauser

1:48:24so that and and Councillor Cate so that is five five so that passes yeah okay we have supplementary

1:48:40motions that have come forward via email so I will give Councillor Cate in the floor I believe your

1:48:46motion is lined up for our consideration thank you so just very much like Councillor Klassen

1:49:00was bringing up and I kind of touched upon when I was referring to Councillor Goller's motion

1:49:08um we've we've had a lot of changes in the last year and that includes increased growth

1:49:15mandated by the province changes in density in a lot of different areas different zoning and

1:49:22Guelph as it was in the last council composition review and board review is not out how it is

1:49:28and how it's going to be so I think it's warranted that we do another review of that

1:49:36and so my motion is that the city clerk be directed in advance of the 2030 municipal election

1:49:41to conduct a ward boundary and council composition review including a review of pay and benefits for

1:49:48elected officials subject to the provision of funding in the 2028 budget and you have a seconder

1:49:55yes that's Councillor Hauser okay um and uh questions or comments Councillor Gibson

1:50:03Councillor Klassen yeah thank you um I remember this conversation from I think my first term of

1:50:08council and I don't think it's wrong to put a placeholder um in the 2028 budget as a decision

1:50:14point to fund this type of study so I'm happy to support um my only my only creeping thought in my

1:50:22own head is that things haven't changed that much in the last four years at the rate at which we're

1:50:25getting homeless built and started in this city I would argue that the the council composite the

1:50:31council composition and the the dynamics of our growth as the city have uh sped to a halt uh by

1:50:38by and large so I'm not sure the council if it was happening next year I'm not sure the

1:50:42ward boundary review would be something I support but um I'm not going to try and crystal ball out

1:50:46to 2028 at this point so I'm happy to put a placeholder in for a recommendation budget to consider it

1:50:54thanks um and Councillor Klassen uh yes and thank you to um Councillor Caighton for bringing

1:51:03this forward and I apologize that I I hadn't seen the email in advance and so I just wanted to thank

1:51:09you for bringing this forward because I think this is the way to look at at this type of um

1:51:16issue for lack of a better word um I didn't make my this comment earlier but I think that I'll make

1:51:23it now I just wanted to appreciate uh Councillor Caighton's vulnerabilities uh when when speaking

1:51:29about councillor compensation it is difficult to to be vulnerable in this space it is exceptionally

1:51:37challenging and when I think about the types of people that I hope will be around the horseshoe

1:51:43in the future I think about um I think about students who are graduating and who may not

1:51:50have the same socioeconomic backgrounds or privileges as many of the people who sit around

1:51:55this horseshoe and I hope that when we're looking at things like this we're sort of removing our

1:52:00own biases and thinking about those potential humans who would like to be here making changes

1:52:06because their ideas are also valuable and super important um and they may not be able to secure

1:52:12a seat around this table um because they do have to think about financial compensation

1:52:17in order to grow and um build their lives and so when I when I'm thinking through these decisions

1:52:24I I have to think about you know future candidates and um and folks who want to make changes who

1:52:31who don't have the means um and who who need who need to be paid uh so that they can support their

1:52:38families um and so I am grateful for for councillor Caton for being brave and bringing this forward

1:52:46and also for that opportunity for the next council um to think to think more in depth about who they

1:52:51want sitting around the horseshoe thank you councillor claus and any further further comments

1:52:58and just to summarize um uh agreement with those comments that we've talked a lot here about

1:53:04compensation and uh we are policymakers first uh in our role as policymakers if we're politicizing

1:53:12or personalizing compensation when it truly is in in most organizations an HR matter and a very

1:53:18formulaic HR matter you take the job description you assign compensation to to the level of the job

1:53:26we've brought it into the public realm so it's very uncomfortable uh which is which is I can see

1:53:31from the commentary today um we have to think of the future councillors who will hold this role

1:53:36and I think this review is a way to get there so I'm glad that you your thoughts on that were

1:53:40aligned with councillor Caton's initiative as well I have a question before we call the vote

1:53:48just about process to the clerks because we've given an um a motion of no direction this does

1:53:55not come back to council at the end of the month is that correct uh thank you uh to you and through

1:54:05you uh check around these motions um we'll have to come back at council at the end of the month

1:54:11for final approval they're not just receipt motions we have to confirm these at council

1:54:15at the end of the month so uh the motion that was previously passed um by councillor Goller uh

1:54:22related to the new me increase only will come back at the end of the month if the current

1:54:26motion passes that one will also come back at the end of the month okay thanks for that clarification

1:54:30so we'll call the vote on councillor Caton's motion with respect to moving forward on the policy

1:54:34matters related to this issue one clarity question thank you madam chair and through you

1:54:40does does that review also include the number of councillors uh through you chair coronda to

1:54:49mayor guthrie what I first see happening is we will very likely uh bring a report scoping the work

1:54:55um you know initially a thought that I would have is it should absolutely include obviously

1:55:00the ward boundary piece because there is a the want to make sure that that each of you are

1:55:03representing relatively equal electoral populations it it absolutely can include again the size of

1:55:10scouts of the the the scale of council the number of councillors per ward etc similar to what we

1:55:14did before but I would foresee us in in achieving uh the the direction that is sought by councillor

1:55:20caten's motion is we would come back with a report that would sort of scope that body of work

1:55:25then we could include that and incorporate that into budget as as noted in in 2028 and then we

1:55:31would actually carry out that project through again the middle point of of this next term this

1:55:35next coming term of council so that it's in place before council well before uh the sort of the tail

1:55:42end of next term and and with enough runway for the 2030 term thank you and thank you

1:55:49madam chair just a quick comment then before the vote if you don't mind uh so

1:55:54definitely agree with with this thank you councillor Caton for for tabling it and second

1:55:59to councillor hauser um I know that the motion I believe kind of triggers into 2028 but sometimes

1:56:08this scope of work is quite large in financial impact so it could be 150 000 or 200 000 I I

1:56:16don't know but it could be quite a bit so as much as it the motion which I'm going to approve today

1:56:22or support today is for 2028 it might be good for the new council to know what that scope of work

1:56:29might be if they want to start putting the money away in a reserve like a year in advance so it's

1:56:35not a bigger hit to the budget in 2028 so maybe it's a maybe it's a $50 000 line item in 2027

1:56:41and a $50 000 line item and going into 2028 instead of a bigger hit just in one year just to kind of

1:56:47smooth out the the the property tax impact could you at least if this passes inform that next

1:56:55term of council going into 2027 like approximate costs for this scope of work so that they have

1:57:01the choice of putting some money into 2027 even though the work might not occur until 2028 2029

1:57:09through you um Chair Caronta Mayor Guthrie yet certainly we can explore that we would we sort

1:57:17of will factor that in as well and and we can contemplate potential use of reserve funding

1:57:22to support that so incremental amounts we know that the 2020 work that was done was it was in

1:57:29and around 200 to 225 000 for that comprehensive review again that's in 2020 we would be revisiting

1:57:36this as I said again in 2028 dollars so yeah we'll be mindful of that that that that nuance

1:57:44great thank you especially if it's a multi-year budget it can be placed out appropriately for

1:57:49the next term of council to know what that impact would be so thank you thanks ma'am Chair thanks

1:57:55okay we're down to the vote then is anyone opposed to the recommendation to the motion on the floor

1:58:01I see no one opposed that passes unanimously so thanks to council for this very difficult

1:58:09and uncomfortable conversation and we will move forward accordingly I'm going to while I still

1:58:14have the chair before I pass it on to Councillor Klassen I think we're at the two hour mark so

1:58:19we're going to take a quick break while we change chairs over to you Councillor Klassen

1:58:23we'll reconvene in five minutes good evening we are in the infrastructure development

2:08:59environment component of the committee of the whole meeting our first item we're going to work

2:09:06we've got two agenda items and we're going to work through both of them and and I think that we should

2:09:15we should be good so I'm going to hand things over to staff Nectar I see you up there

2:09:22we have our water and wastewater servicing allocation policy which is is a very timely

2:09:29discussion based on what I've heard from staff and and the media about what's happening with the

2:09:34city of Waterloo so I'm really looking forward to the presentation and the discussion so over to you

2:09:40thank you very much so good afternoon Chair Klassen and committee of the whole

2:09:44my name is Nectar Tampacopoulos and I'm the general manager of environmental services

2:09:49uh today we're going to be presenting on the water wastewater proposed service allocation

2:09:55policy for your consideration and review uh with me today to provide a short presentation

2:10:01are Ms. Christo Walki general manager of planning and building and Mr. Wayne Gallower general manager

2:10:07sorry divisional manager of water services great thank you very much Nectar and good afternoon

2:10:24Chair Klassen and members of committee to begin in sharing some background on the report before

2:10:30you today my first slide here essentially bill 185 the cutting red tape and building more homes act

2:10:39was essentially released by the province in 2024 and received royal assent in the Ontario

2:10:43legislature in June 2024 this act aimed to fast-tracked housing development by streamlining

2:10:49approvals cutting bureaucracy and amending 15 Ontario statutes to meet the goal of building

2:10:551.5 million homes by 2031 through the statutes revised by the act use it or lose it servicing

2:11:02provisions were introduced under the municipal act to encourage more housing sooner and provide

2:11:06municipalities with tools for added water and wastewater servicing capacity management should

2:11:11approve developments not proceed to construction in a timely fashion specifically the ability to

2:11:16reclaim capacity holdings of aged approved development and reallocate these service the

2:11:21servicing capacity to shovel ready development furthermore change to the acts identified that

2:11:27local servicing decisions made under council approved servicing bylaws including use it or

2:11:32lose it provisions would not be appealable to the Ontario land tribunal these revisions introduced

2:11:38through bill 185 are in alignment with the city's official plan specifically section 6.1 6.14 and

2:11:466.15 which speak to the needs for adequate servicing or to permit development defining a

2:11:52process for servicing allocation and the land types that allocation would be applicable for

2:11:58I'll now invite Christa walkie our GM of planning and building services to speak to our next slide

2:12:07thanks Wayne so managing growth approvals and servicing needs are becoming more complex

2:12:13from bill 185 60 17 we could go on and other recently regulatory changes that were implemented

2:12:21by the province as well as provincial density changes to our official plan which is our growth

2:12:26management document examples of these include allowing three or four units as a right on properties

2:12:33to allow more housing on an individual property basis this was not planned in our servicing

2:12:40systems and has not been accounted for so we need to ensure that we are accounting for that

2:12:45and tracking it in our systems changes by the province to our density in specific areas of

2:12:51the city such as GID as well an additional units that come forward to this council on individual

2:12:59planning applications for more density that is proposed that is proposed by individual

2:13:04proponents on applications as well as more recent changes to development charges and

2:13:09collection requirements delaying payment and timing of two from building permit to building

2:13:16occupancy thus delaying revenues needed to construct new servicing infrastructure to support

2:13:22future community growth taking into account all of these challenges it's important for the city to

2:13:28maintain a proactive approach to tracking servicing capacity and its existing servicing commitments

2:13:34to best manage our available servicing capacity further continued tracking of our servicing system

2:13:40flows and understanding the pace of development best informs the city of infrastructure timing

2:13:46investments not only to the the larger playlists but to our linear infrastructure as well making

2:13:53the most of our available servicing capacity also includes allocating capacity to those who are

2:13:59shovel ready and as you'll see in the last bullet point we have 176 units that are in

2:14:05registered plans of subdivision that have been there for more than 10 years no permit pulled yet

2:14:11we have 1158 units that are in draft approved plans for more than 10 years and again not

2:14:19advanced to the next step we also know we have 6000 units that are short-term supply so by tracking

2:14:25this better and ensuring we have allocation for those who are shovel ready will better position

2:14:30us to bring housing on quicker and faster back to me great thank you so much christa

2:14:43as discussed with members of council during the may 2025 water and wastewater servicing

2:14:48capacity council workshop the amount of the city's water and wastewater servicing capacity is approved

2:14:53by the ontario ministry the environment conservation and parks and is defined in the form of

2:14:59certificates of approvals or permit to take water amongst other regulatory tools and defines

2:15:05what is a finite volume of servicing in 2025 environmental services and planning and building

2:15:12services staff undertook a project to develop a detailed water and wastewater tracking model

2:15:17to account for servicing capacity allocation on a plant basis through the comparison of current

2:15:22system servicing demands versus what are planned planning and building approvals

2:15:29that we expect to join our system in time through ongoing planning work

2:15:34looking to the city's permitted water supply wells and wastewater treatment processes the model as of

2:15:39year end 2024 identified 16,474 meters cube per day in water servicing capacity and 4,805 meters

2:15:48cube per day in wastewater servicing capacity specifically for in water and the number that's

2:15:54stated there is to note that essentially this does include what is an operational contingency

2:16:01as recommended through the waters there the council approved 2022 water supply master plan

2:16:07which comes to account for what our resiliency needs and our operations when wells may need to be

2:16:11taken offline for what is required maintenance or shut unplanned critical failure of infrastructure

2:16:17occur to support the anticipated growth of our city's water services and wastewater services

2:16:22capital project managers continue to pursue new permits to take water as well as design and construct

2:16:27new servicing capacity in accordance with both the 2022 water supply master plan update and wastewater

2:16:33services master plan or wastewater and biosolids master plan plant capacity based projects of

2:16:41significance that council may recognize from ongoing reporting are the clife water treatment

2:16:46plant again starting construction in 2027 the water resource recovery expansion phase one

2:16:54starting in 2026 as well as the Guelph test well environmental assessment and northeast

2:17:00northeast Guelph test well environmental assessment it's important to note that at this time no

2:17:11council approved water and wastewater servicing policy exists to direct the city's servicing

2:17:16allocation processes in absence of this policy staff see risk to both proponents in the city alike

2:17:22for proponents significant financial and time investments are made to gain planning approvals

2:17:27but serving out servicing allocation is not currently formalized until the time of development

2:17:31agreement approval uh under past processes this could mean that servicing allocation is still at

2:17:37a risk until the time in which a development agreement is executed and creates um you know let

2:17:43that potential risk of execution for the proponent for the city the lack of a robust capacity

2:17:48management system could lead to overallocation of servicing capacity creating the need to halt

2:17:53development allocation approvals and may even introduce level of service impacts to existing

2:17:58customers further servicing capacity and commitment tracking is essential to understand

2:18:03future servicing needs and ensure ensuring the timely budgeting for construction of new

2:18:09infrastructure both on the plant and linear basis in looking to our process to develop the policy

2:18:20here before you today essentially we employed what was a two-phase process through the first

2:18:26phase in May 2025 staff released through the have your say engagement platform a 30-day survey

2:18:33essentially seeking from community stakeholders interest and support for common terms of municipal

2:18:39servicing capacity bylaws as well as seeking suggestions as to what would be best in class

2:18:44municipal policies to consider when forming our own local policy based on stakeholder requests

2:18:51through uh phase one uh from there an interdepartmental staff team with representatives of economic

2:18:57development and tourism engineering and transportation services planning and building

2:19:01services and environmental services worked to develop what was a plain language policy which

2:19:06was then released on september the 22nd for a 30-day public review through have your say

2:19:11which ended on october the 23rd coming from phase two feedback revisions to the policy were completed

2:19:19and a follow-up meeting held with grant highlands home builders association to discuss their comments

2:19:25share revisions completed to the policy since that that was shared through public engagement

2:19:29as well as share the revised policy that would be coming to council through our reporting

2:19:35similarly at this time following the initial engagement in 2025 staff had brought forward

2:19:39the draft servicing allocation policy and report to the economic development and tourism advisory

2:19:44committee of council and planning environment and water advisory committee of council in january

2:19:492026 to discuss changes from the policy coming from phase two of the engagement and plan next

2:19:55steps and bringing this policy to council coming from this both respective council advisory committees

2:20:00received the report and provided endorsement of the draft water and wastewater servicing

2:20:04allocation policy at their respective meetings of january 12th and 13th as far as what we heard

2:20:15through the engagement process request to clarify the scope of capacity checks in the past we may

2:20:21have looked at individual services but through the new process we're looking to validate both on

2:20:26the plant from a water and wastewater standpoint as well as in the system from a water and wastewater

2:20:30standpoint that capacity works in all those circumstances costs or questions of cost of

2:20:37capacity check i would note that more simplistic capacity checks can essentially be completed in

2:20:43house under limited costs whereas higher volume or more complex checks may involve engagements of

2:20:50external engineering consultants who oversee management of our detailed water and wastewater

2:20:54services linear models to complete the checks and those costs would essentially flow through to

2:20:58proponents as far as the work needed to complete those requests in support of their applications

2:21:04the first draft of our policy came to mention the need for independent servicing agreements

2:21:09however through further discussion with legal services on this matter and looking at feedback

2:21:13received through the engagement it was determined that ascension independent servicing agreements

2:21:18would not be needed and that essentially through the modernization of some of our development

2:21:23agreements looking at site plan and subdivision that the lapsing provisions and the capacity

2:21:29holds would be noted through those respective processes through this in turn we were well

2:21:35questions around the lapsing period lengths proposed through the policy and when the clock

2:21:39would start on these respective processes looking to planning applications versus approved

2:21:45applications that are moving head to construction and suggestions were provided as well on the

2:21:51process criteria and future instruction to proponents as far as supporting making those

2:21:56extensions lastly we also received some feedback from the builders association

2:22:03associated just with the narrative around capacity at the city itself and again reflecting that you

2:22:10know the city is open for business although our capacity holdings may be finite for council's

2:22:22awareness just to overview some key terms under the policy itself key to the whole policy itself

2:22:28is early engagement we want to speak to proponents early understand what their the project is what

2:22:32their servicing needs are and provide an early indication that we're in a place to support the

2:22:36project under the policy there are two different types of checks both an informal and a formal check

2:22:45the formal check process is a is essentially a application put forward by the proponent

2:22:51looking at support again of what is a planning application once we've completed that check

2:22:57that would hold the capacity as required for the planning development for 48 months within our

2:23:01model as they progress towards what is an approved application uh spoken to previously capacity

2:23:08checks do have costs and it is based on the scope of those respective capacity checks under the policy

2:23:14you'll also note what is a community economic development investment proposal hold this is

2:23:20looking at our our competitive process between us and other jurisdictions and looking looking to approve

2:23:25or attract new business locally and ensuring that while we're having those discussions that

2:23:31there is a respective hold around the servicing needs for those business again to ensure we can

2:23:36facilitate that from a reputational perspective and continuing those discussions as part of

2:23:42approval of a site plan subdivision or building permit again the capacity hold would be put against

2:23:48that project reaching that milestone for what is a 36 month lapsing term to be defined through the

2:23:53respective agreement those who are reaching the end of a lapsing term either under what is you know

2:24:04development of a planning application or an approved application have the ability to request

2:24:09extensions again if they're unable to deliver within either that 36 or 48 month window through

2:24:18these extensions requests these would come to the gm of planning and building services again the

2:24:24circumstances would be that the lapsing period would have been met for either process without

2:24:30seeking an extension that would be the circumstance under which we'd seek to potentially reclaim that

2:24:35capacity beyond the extension request there is also an appeal mechanism under the policy

2:24:41and through the report today we are seeking council support to delegate authority to the deputy

2:24:46ceo of infrastructure development and enterprise to essentially administer that appeal process

2:24:51furthermore under monitoring and reporting under the policy shared there would be an annual report

2:24:56to council embedded within the existing growth management report to share with council what is

2:25:02our unallocated servicing capacity to inform you in your decisions okay so just looking to next steps

2:25:22beyond the terms of the policies next steps to enact and support administration will be as follows

2:25:28procedurally we'll be seeking approval of the enacting bylaw which will be completed at a

2:25:33future meeting of council and the copy of that bylaws included as an attachment to your report

2:25:37today as discussed within the report following bylaw approval planning and building services will

2:25:43be working to notify stakeholders with age planning approvals over 10 years in age of the lapsing

2:25:48periods requirements of the policy and use it or lose it policy provisions with the intent of

2:25:52looking to reclaim or reallocate servicing capacity holds associated with these projects

2:25:57if not reaching substantial performance in 36 months from the time of notice

2:26:02instruction is being developed to support stakeholders in developing and submitting

2:26:06extension requests and appeals as defined are the policy staff are working to put these in

2:26:11place currently and hope to have them on the web for future instruction and proponents by the end

2:26:15of q1 lastly staff are working to update the initial version of our plant tracking model

2:26:22with most recent customer demands as well as approval and commitment information coming from

2:26:28planning approvals within 2025 I'll now pass thing back to Krista for the final slides great thank

2:26:39you aene so before closing today I just wanted to provide some focus to a continuous improvement

2:26:44in our development process coming from this policy so it is customer focused engaging customers

2:26:50early on their servicing needs and conforming our ability to service and support their project

2:26:56is key to our project throughout the life cycle of an application from pre consultation meeting

2:27:01through to development approvals and then again when a development is ready to move into site

2:27:06plan approval and is getting ready for shovels in the ground we have embedded in the policy notice

2:27:11requirements for an app when an applicant is meeting the end of their hold on allocation

2:27:18so that we can have further discussions on timing of construction and potential extensions of that

2:27:23allocation hold if they're working towards getting toward a permit in the ground capacity

2:27:29tracking for decision makers we're ensuring that our tracking systems are robust to maintain where

2:27:34we stand at capacity holdings so we can inform available capacity decisions and making timing

2:27:41for budgets for infrastructure upgrades and to bring forward more servicing capacity when it's

2:27:46needed transparency this process is transparent it provides stakeholders with a transparent and

2:27:54consistent approach by which capacity allocation is administered maintaining our service resiliency

2:28:01maintaining throughout our capacity tracking and management systems the need needed surplus capacity

2:28:06for routine operational asset management as well as emergency events which may occur

2:28:12and best management of capacity so this allocation tool will give us a tool in which

2:28:17capacity can be reclaimed from those age developments and relocate reallocated to shovel ready developments

2:28:24who are prepared to advance a project or a housing related project today so in the in the council the

2:28:36staff report you'll see resolutions that we are asking council to support today first that they

2:28:43approve the water and wastewater servicing allocation policy as in attachment number one to

2:28:48this report and that the city of gulf council delegate authority to the administration of the

2:28:53water and wastewater servicing allocation policy to the deputy CEO of IDE currently mr. gayman at

2:29:01the end of the end of the table and that the city of gulf approve our water and wastewater servicing

2:29:08bylaw and that is an attachment too and with that i will turn it back to mr. tampa tampa coplas to

2:29:15wrap us up so thank you very much for the presentation i think it's important to also thank the staff

2:29:29that were working on this it was very challenging it was a long road to get here so thank you to them

2:29:33and i think we also need to acknowledge as we did the external stakeholders who are willing to

2:29:38engage us in our outreach and engage us in our engagement and for the feedback they provided

2:29:44those were good discussions they were fruitful discussions and as was mentioned those will continue

2:29:50just to close it out wealth is a groundwater community and we all know that and there are

2:29:56challenges with groundwater communities that other communities with large great you know lake surface

2:30:01based water don't have and when we looked at putting these three recommendations together

2:30:08around allocation policy whether it's water that's needed to maintain our current max level demands

2:30:16whether it's allocated water that's already been allocated to developments whether it's future

2:30:21and allocated water whether it's water that we require as a buffer to ensure we do our operations

2:30:26and maintenance to ensure that we're able to meet our emergency repairs and requirements as needed

2:30:31it's important to track those and the way i kind of look at it there are business decisions that are

2:30:36made and the way we create allocation or we create capacity in the system is through capital budgets

2:30:45so the capital budget that's been approved for water wastewater for this year and beyond is really

2:30:51meant to increase that capacity for future development for future growth for future investment in the

2:30:57city and in order to be able to make those decisions we need to provide you with the data

2:31:03that you need to be able to make those decisions and how you allocate those budget dollars for capital

2:31:09facilities and upgrades and improvements with that when we look at the recommendations again

2:31:19we we kind of look at

2:31:23where's the positive coming out of this what's a good story because there's a good new story coming

2:31:27out of this it isn't about whether or not someone loses capacity if it's 10 years or more the good

2:31:34news is the council has approved budget the good news is there is capacity out there and we have

2:31:39capacity going forward for the next 10 years what we're building to bring business into

2:31:43gulf to bring development into gulf to allow the community to flourish the good new story i think

2:31:49is and when we're looking at our external stakeholders and mr galler mentioned it the city

2:31:55is open for business i think what the what we're showing putting these recommendations together

2:32:02is that uh external developers external business owners want to bring business to gulf

2:32:09want to help develop and grow the community want to revitalize and vitalize the community further

2:32:15they can trust in gulf because we are working together as a business partner they can trust in

2:32:21gulf because we're looking at data that can allow us to create intelligent business decisions

2:32:29i think they can trust in gulf that they can come and invest in development invest in business

2:32:36invest in industry have all those secondary impacts that employment and that kind of investment has

2:32:42in the city and we can ensure that the capacity that they are looking for the capacity that we've

2:32:49allocated the future capacity that's unallocated that when they're shovel ready when they're ready

2:32:54to dig when they need that capacity it will absolutely be there for them and that's what

2:32:59these recommendations allow us to do so on that note i will close it out and open the florida questions