Municipal Council Notes:
December 15, 2021
DELEGATIONS / PRESENTATIONS
Presentation of Staff Service Awards by Mayor Doug Lawrance:
10 Years:
Art Hanke, Airport Operations Technician
Dianna Lorteau, Public Works Administrative Assistant
Jeremy Funk, Volunteer Firefighter (Captain)
Kevin Elliot, Airport Operations Technician
Maurice Bouchard, Early Childhood Educator
Raili Pichlyk, Cook & Childcare Worker
Shayne Kressall, Facilities Caretaker
15 Years:
Brian P. MacKinnon, Manager of Corporate Services/Municipal Clerk
Dave Gall, Recreation and Culture Department Operator
20 Years:
Adam Tilberg, Recreation and Culture Department Operator
Dave Kulchyski, Volunteer Firefighter
Phyllis Dell, Early Childhood Educator
25 Years:
Ken Schultz, Volunteer Firefighter
BY-LAWS:
2022 Interim Tax Levy
Council authorized the passing of By-law No 116-21, Being a Bylaw to Provide for the 2022 Interim Tax Levy and Late Payment Charges; and further Council approved the 2022 Interim Tax Levy to be due in two installments with due dates to be the last working date in February and last working date in April, 2022.
2022 Temporary Borrowing By-law Municipality
Council authorized the passing of By-law No.117-21, Being a Bylaw to Authorize the Temporary Borrowing of Monies to Meet the Current Expenditures of The Corporation of the Municipality of Sioux Lookout.
Victim Support Grant – By-law No. 115-21
Council authorized the passing of By-law No. 115-21, Being a Bylaw to Authorize and Direct the Mayor and the Clerk to Execute a Transfer Payment Agreement Between The Corporation of the Municipality of Sioux Lookout and Her Majesty the Queen, in Right of Ontario, as Represented by the Ministry of the Solicitor General (Victim Support Grant 2021-2023).
The passing of this by-law enabled Council to authorize the Mayor and the Clerk to execute a Transfer Payment Agreement between the Municipality and the Ministry of the Solicitor General for the Victim Support Grant for the Sioux Lookout OPP.
Brian P. MacKinnon, Manager of Corporate Services/Municipal Clerk, explained in his written report to council that, “The Sioux Lookout OPP have applied to the Ministry of the Solicitor General for funding under the Victim Support Grant funding stream for a project entitled, “Trauma Informed Statement Training for Police and Other Service Providers of Victims of Violent Personal Crimes.”
The project is summarized in the Grant Application as follows:
The purpose of the project is to provide a concrete, “hands on” example of the actual implementation of the “trauma-informed” approach with survivors of human trafficking, intimate partner violence and other personal violent crime. This will be achieved by creating three unique professional “trauma informed” police interviews/statements that can be used for police and other agency training that provides services to victims and survivors of personal violent crime. With the assistance of our partners, there will be an emphasis on considerations for Indigenous survivors of these crimes.
Three survivors have bravely and graciously agreed to participate in the completion of the police statements for the videos by providing an account of their trauma as though initially disclosing to police. The videos would then be narrated by Dr. Lori Haskell (world renowned expert on trauma informed principals and theory) as well as Crown Attorneys from the Ministry of the Attorney General’s (MAG) Sexual Violence Advisory Group and MAG’S prosecution expert in the field of Human Trafficking. These videos would be extremely unique as authentic survivor accounts with both the input of a subject matter expert on the trauma informed approach and Crown Attorney subject matter experts literally do not exist. Upon completion, the three videos would be provided to the Ontario Police Video Training Alliance to distribute to their over 90 participating police agencies across Canada. It is anticipated the videos would be used as a “gold standard” in the future for police and other agency training.
Year 2 of the grant proposes to launch the videos at a training conference for police and other providers who work with survivors of personal violence. In addition to the video launch, training sessions would be held with presenters with lived experience in human trafficking, interpersonal violence as well as subject matter experts in the area of the law and human trafficking.
NOHFC Agreement – Hillcrest Development Project
Council authorized the passing of By-law No. 118-21, Being a Bylaw to Authorize and Direct the Mayor and the Clerk to Execute a Contribution Agreement Between The Corporation of the Municipality of Sioux Lookout and Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), for the Hillcrest Development Project.
With the passing of this by-law, Council approved a Northern Ontario Heritage Fund contribution of up to $1,000,000 towards the Hillcrest Development Project.
Carly Collins, Municipal Treasurer, shared in her written report to council that, “This funding will be used for the following:
- Road Reconstruction to the site
- Watermain Extension to the site
- Storm & Sanitary Sewer to the site
- Mascotto’s Lift Station Upgrade
- Project Management Engineering”
The funding breakdown for the Hillcrest Development Project is: NOHFC - $1,000,000, FedNor - $664,015 Municipal - $3,656,096 – Long Term Debt, Private Sector - $932,500, for a total project cost of $6,252,611.
Asked about the scope and scale of the project, MacKinnon shared, “The project involves bringing water and sewer services to the property as well as improvements to the road. In addition, the property will be serviced with linear infrastructure to support various commercial
development.”
Health and Safety Policies and Procedures
Council authorized the passing of By-law No. 95-21 Being a Bylaw to amend By-law No. 54-20, Being a By-law to Establish a Health and Safety Policy Manual for The Corporation of the Municipality of Sioux Lookout and to Adopt Certain Health and Safety Policies.
MacKinnon explained, “This is a new Policy, which is being added to the existing Health and Safety Policy Manual. Many aspects of this Policy were implemented several months ago; but the Policy continued to undergo revisions as the Province’s direction on its roadmap to reopening continued to evolve. The Policy that was passed last night will be reflective of the most recent updates to the Province’s guidelines respecting recreational facilities.”
COVID-19 Workplace Vaccination Policy
Council directed staff to include Members of Council, and members of Council’s Boards, Commissions and Committees in the Municipal COVID-19 Vaccination Policy; and further Council authorized the passing of By-law No. 122-21, Being a By-law to amend By-law No. 54-20, Being a By-law to Establish a Health and Safety Policy Manual for The Corporation of the Municipality of Sioux Lookout, and to Adopt Certain Health and Safety Policies, as amended (COVID-19 Vaccination Policy).
A recorded vote was called on this item. Councillors Joe Cassidy and Cory Lago voted against the passing of this by-law. Mayor Doug Lawrance and Councillors John Bath, Connor Howie, Joyce Timpson, and Don Fenelon voted in favour of passing the by-law.
Under this by-law, all municipal staff are required to be vaccinated or provide negative antigen testing every 72 hours as of January 14.
Asked if the Municipality anticipated any disruption to its services as a result of staff, council, members of boards, committees having to be vaccinated or supply negative antigen tests every 72 hours, Municipal CAO Michelle Larose commented, “We do not anticipate any significant service disruptions as a result of the approval of this Policy by Council. Based on aggregate data of our daily self-screening system, it appears that the majority of our staff are already fully vaccinated.”
MacKinnon further informed, “All Council Meetings, and Meetings of Council’s Boards and Committees are being held virtually, and have been for quite some time. It is expected that this practice will continue into the foreseeable future, depending on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, Members of Council and Committee volunteers are meeting virtually, from their homes, and not entering Municipal facilities. I do not anticipate any negative impacts on the ability of Council, or its Committees, to continue meeting.”
NOTICE OF MOTION:
Cedar Bay
Councillor Joe Cassidy submitted the following Notice of Motion regarding a Cedar Bay Development Plan and direction was provided to municipal staff.
The Notice of Motion states:
Given that the Municipality is the current owner of the only two parcels of land that make up the outdoor recreational facility known locally as Cedar Bay.
Given that the cabins and infrastructure in this area have fallen into a state of disrepair over the years, especially after the recent wind events this year in Sioux Lookout.
Given that in 2012 Council approved the Cedar Bay development plan that provided direction for the development of the facilities of Cedar Bay. Also, taking into the fact that in recent Municipal guiding documents (Strategic Plan, Sports Tourism Strategy, Municipal Services Delivery Review, and Community Safety and Well Being Plan) Cedar Bay was a common discussion item that members of the public felt had much potential to be a premier outdoor recreation space, among other possibilities.
Given that over the past decade the dynamic of organizations in Sioux Lookout has changed, along with the needs of these organizations and the community
I would ask Council consider providing the following direction to staff: THAT Council directs staff to create an Ad Hoc committee of Council for the purpose of updating the Cedar Bay Development plan through Input from community organizations and the public.
REPORT FROM CLOSED SESSION
Boards, Commissions and Committees
Council approved amending Schedule “A” to By-law No. 92-18, Being a By-law to Make Appointments to Various Boards, Commissions and Committees, by deleting:
- Jamie MacLeod from the Environment Committee
- Candice Carter-Cecchetto from the Sioux Lookout Public Library Board
