County Council Highlights for Nov. 17, 2021

Warden Calls for Support of Affordable Housing and Local Businesses

Essex County Warden Gary McNamara urged residents to support local businesses during his opening address to council Wednesday.

He also called for the region to find ways to increase affordable housing and “double down” on reducing the number of households facing chronic homelessness.

The new Windsor Essex Regional Community Safety and Well-Being Plan provides an additional roadmap for addressing such challenges, McNamara said. “While Windsor-Essex is a great place to live, I hope this plan will inspire us to do even better.”

He noted that county council will review the 2022 Proposed Budget on Dec. 1 and encouraged residents to “tune in and weigh in” by providing submissions by the Nov. 25 deadline. The budget document is available on the County of Essex website Budget page as of today.

In closing, McNamara encouraged residents to support the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Shop, Ship and Dine YQG campaign during the holiday season.

Many local businesses have incurred extra costs and lost revenue during the pandemic while continuing to provide high-quality goods and services, he said. “So, let’s support them the way they have always supported us and spread the word about all things made in Windsor-Essex.”

Regional Community Safety and Well-Being Plan Approved and Supported

County Council approved the Windsor Essex Regional Community Safety and Well-Being Plan for submission to the Ministry of the Solicitor General and is championing it to encourage its implementation by all sectors, residents and communities across the region.

The plan for 2022-2026 sets out a proactive approach to address local crime and complex social issues through preventative and collective action. It was developed by a committee headed by: Mary Birch, Director of Council and Community Services/Clerk for the County of Essex; Jelena Payne, Commissioner of Human and Health Services for the City of Windsor; and Windsor Police Chief Pam Mizuno. Area municipalities and community stakeholders provided guidance. All seven municipalities in Essex County delegated their approval authority to county council.

Project manager Leonardo Gil presented council with the highlights of the plan, which was created over the past two years, with an interruption due to the pandemic. A total of 1,915 residents and representatives of stakeholder organizations provided input at meetings and by completing surveys.

The plan focuses on four areas: good governance and data; engaged and safe communities; mental health and substance use supports; and financial security and economic equity. It sets eight goals, and outlines 17 initiatives and 47 activities for meeting those goals. It also contains community profiles of each municipality.

The city and county will share the cost of developing the provincially-mandated plan, which was $261,000 as of Sept. 31.

It “will provide a foundation for strong systems and mechanisms of collaboration between sectors and services that will support initiatives and priorities well past the scope of the specific goals and initiatives presented” in the plan, says a report to council by Birch.

Housing and Homelessness Annual Report Presented

The number of Windsor and Essex County households experiencing chronic homelessness decreased by four per cent between 2019 and 2020.

The Windsor Essex Housing and Homelessness Master Plan 2020 Annual Report also shows the average number of days single women, single men and families spent in emergency shelters decreased at all locations in Windsor, except the Salvation Army. There the average number of days single men spent at the shelter increased by 24.5 per cent.

The pandemic added significant challenges in 2020, and the City of Windsor received $12.8 million in additional funding from the provincial and federal governments to assist vulnerable populations. The money allowed emergency shelters and supportive housing facilities to adhere to new public health guidelines, such as enhanced cleaning and COVID-19 screening. It also provided food for families, and funded the new Homelessness and Housing Help Hub and a COVID-19 isolation and recovery centre for people experiencing homelessness. The additional programs provided services to approximately 3,500 people in 2020.

The report was presented to county council by city employees Kelly Goz, coordinator of social housing administration and development, and Diane Wilson, coordinator housing administration and development. The city is responsible for social housing services in Windsor and Essex County.

In addition, county council received a letter from the city responding to its request for a regional housing strategy and review of its social housing cost sharing agreement with the city. City council plans to consider the issue during a strategic, closed session in which it will review a comprehensive list of services and items it shares the cost of with the county.

Contract for Geographic Information System Service Extended

Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) has been granted a three-year extension to its contract for providing geographic information system software, web and database management applications to the county and its seven municipalities.

ESRI has provided the services under contract since 2010, and the total cost of the three-year extension approved by county council on Wednesday is $590,000 plus taxes. The county will pay $80,000 a year, which covers its share and a subsidy to make the cost more affordable for municipalities.

Council agreed not to put the contract out to tender because changing suppliers isn’t feasible for economic and technical reasons.

County Approves Investment for Potential Affordable Housing Development

After an in-camera meeting, council approved the following resolution:

“That Essex County Council receive the request from the City of Windsor and approve an investment to an upper limit of $1,160,039 for land acquisition and servicing costs for an affordable housing development in the Town of Essex, subject to the terms of the final agreement(s) being acceptable to the County of Essex;

“That the funding be drawn from the Corporation’s Rate Stabilization Reserve; and further,

“That County Administration be directed to develop an agreement setting out the terms and conditions for the investment in this affordable housing development, from the County of Essex to the City of Windsor and/or the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation, agreeable to the County Solicitor and Chief Administrative Officer.”

No further details are being released at this time.

DiCarlo Encourages All to Attend Truth and Reconciliation Event

Amherstburg Mayor Aldo DiCarlo, at the request of the Windsor and District Labour Council, encouraged the public to attend a virtual event featuring Murray Sinclair, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The Can-Am Indian Friendship Centre of Windsor and the labour council are hosting the free community Zoom event – The Truth is hard. Reconciliation is harder. – on Dec. 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Details and registration information are available on the event web page and the labour council Facebook page.