County Council Highlights for June 5, 2024

Warden Encourages Embracing Accessibility, Inclusion and Diversity

Essex County residents can help ensure trails and pathways are accessible to all by participating in WE Check the Trails, Warden Hilda MacDonald said in her opening remarks to council Wednesday.

WE Check the Trails is an initiative of the Essex County Accessibility Advisory Committee. Each year since it was launched, the committee has identified a section of a trail or multi-use path and urged the public to provide feedback about how to make it more accessible.

Users can go to countyofessex.ca/WECheckTheTrails to find the feedback form and learn more about the project. During National AccessAbility Week (May 26-June 1), the committee launched Phase 3 of WE Check the Trails, which focuses on the County Road 2 multi-use pathway.

The warden noted that with National AccessAbility Week just ended, Pride Season beginning June 1 and the Carrousel of the Nations festival taking place later this month, the region is in the midst of celebrating and supporting inclusion and diversity.

“Diversity is one of our greatest strengths, and we harness it by learning about our differences and embracing the uniqueness of each of our fellow citizens,” MacDonald said.

The warden also congratulated Katherine Hebert on being name Essex County Clerk. Hebert was previously deputy clerk and manager of records and accessibility for four years.

Lease Agreement for Waste Authority Land Approved

Council approved an agreement allowing Christopher Malott Farming Enterprises Inc. to continue leasing 813 acres of property around the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority-operated Regional Landfill.

The rental rate is increasing from $276 per acre to $425 per acre following a competitive request for tenders for which the Malott enterprise was the highest bidder. The farming enterprise has been leasing the land since 2011. The term of the new agreement is for five years, from Nov. 1 this year to Oct. 31, 2029, with three optional one-year extensions.

While the land was purchased with funds from the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority, which also collects the rental revenue, the County of Essex holds the title and therefore must be included in lease agreements, says a report to council.

Rural Households to be Included in Green Bin Program

Rural and urban residences in Essex County will be part of a Green Bin program being launched in 2025 by the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority. Council directed the authority to include rural households in the organic waste collection program, which is scheduled to begin in late 2025.

Council also voted to have the user cost of the Green Bin program appear as an Essex County levy on the municipal tax bills of residents who receive the service. A report providing council’s rationale for the funding model will be sent to the Essex-Windsor Solid Waster Authority board for consideration.

Collecting source-separated organic waste from both rural and urban areas of Essex County would be the most cost-efficient and straightforward to communicate to residents, says a report to council by Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority General Manager Michelle Bishop. Collection in urban areas was previously approved by Essex County Council.

The authority board has awarded the contract for processing organic waste to Seacliff Energy in Leamington. It has also awarded a contract for the collection of source-separated organic waste in Essex County urban settlement areas to Miller Waste Systems Inc., with the option of adding rural areas.

Sun Parlor Home Maintains 100% Overall Satisfaction Rating

Sun Parlor Home residents, their families and their caregivers surveyed in 2023 agreed unanimously that it is a good place to live and they would recommend it to others. The results of the annual survey were summarized for council in a report.

Funding Sought for Road Upgrades Needed to Accommodate Growth

Essex County officials have urged Ontario’s minister of transportation to provide funding for road improvements needed to accommodate business expansion and population growth.

County representatives at the Ontario Good Roads Association annual conference held in April told the minister grade-separated interchanges with overpasses are needed at four intersections: County Road 22 and County Road 19; County Road 19 and the Canadian Pacific Railway; County Road 43 and the Canadian Pacific Railway; and County Road 22 and Lesperance Road.

New Formula and By-law for Council Remuneration Adopted

A new method for establishing remuneration for Essex County Council members based on what comparable municipalities pay has been adopted retroactive to Jan. 1 this year.

Council voted to replace the previous formula used since 2008 and enact a new by-law governing council and committee remuneration. It also requested a report from administration on how alternate members of council, who represent their municipalities on behalf of a mayor or deputy mayor who is absent, be compensated at a proportionate share of the regular council pay. More details are contained in a report to council.

County Assets are in Generally Good Condition

The County of Essex’s $1.12 billion in assets are in generally good condition, but a $27.3-million annual funding deficit needs to be addressed to prevent a deterioration, says a report to council. Council voted to support administration’s intention to begin addressing the shortfall in replacement costs in 2025 Budget preparations.

The county’s assets include its road and stormwater networks, as well as bridges and culverts. They also include buildings and other assets belonging to Sun Parlor Home, the Essex County Library, Essex-Windsor EMS, the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority and other county departments.

Read the 2024 Asset Management Report.

Ways to Improve Safety on County Road 20 to be Investigated

Essex County staff will investigate speed reduction and other traffic calming measures that could improve safety for vehicular and pedestrian traffic on County Road 20 from Texas Road to County Road 3. Council supported a motion by Amherstburg Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb asking for the study.

D-Day Veteran to be Invited to Council

Essex County Council acknowledged the debt owed to local veterans who participated in the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, and the battles in the months that followed that led to the end of the Second World War. Members supported a motion by LaSalle Deputy Mayor Michael Akpata to invite Charles Davis, a local veteran who participated in the invasion, to attend a council meeting later this year. Davis, who is 101 years old, returned to France for the 80^th anniversary commemoration of D-Day.