County Council Highlights for Oct. 4, 2023

Warden Highlights Truth and Reconciliation Day

Warden Hilda MacDonald highlighted weekend events held to mark Truth and Reconciliation Day and heralded the election this week in Manitoba of Wab Kinew, who will become the first First Nations premier of a province in Canada.

“We have much to learn and much to do as we continue to address the legacy of our residential school system, but we are making progress,” said MacDonald. “I know this Council is committed to maintaining that momentum.”

MacDonald also wished her colleagues and Essex County residents a healthy and happy Thanksgiving Weekend.

ProsperUs Calls for Regional Physician Recruitment and Retention Support

Representatives from ProsperUs called on Essex County Council to support advocacy efforts for the recruitment and retention of physicians.

More than 32,000 people in Windsor and Essex County, including nearly 7,000 children, are not attached to a primary care provider and about 45 per cent of that group live in neighbourhoods with the lowest average incomes, representatives from ProsperUs told Council.

The physician shortage is expected to worsen considering one in five local physicians was over the age of 65 and approaching retirement in 2019, ProsperUs said in a letter to Council. Physicians over the age of 65 in Windsor have a total of 28,986 patients and in Leamington the number is 4,992. As well, there are only 31 pediatricians in our region, serving a population of 36,640 children under 15.

“The pressure on our healthcare system was reflected in 2022, when Windsor Regional Hospital had the longest emergency room wait times in Ontario as too many people used hospitals for primary care,” said the letter. “Delayed access to healthcare services has life-long consequences and increases costs to the healthcare system. Increasing early prevention, and easing the pressure on healthcare workers and services requires the involvement of all levels of government.”

Actions ProsperUs asked Council to consider include:

• Advocate for increased funding and capacity for primary care teams
• Strike a regional steering committee to examine the issue and propose solutions
• Activate municipal resources to support the expansion of care
• Lobby the province for the expansion of medical residency spaces in partnership with our local school of medicine

ProsperUs is a cross-sector, collective impact partnership comprised of more than 45 non-profit, government, health care, education, labour, business, and inspired community members and residents with a shared vision of a prosperous Windsor-Essex County where every young person has the opportunity and support to succeed from cradle to career.

Accessibility Forum Highlighted

Councillor Kimberly DeYong, Council’s representative on the Essex County Accessibility Advisory Committee, encouraged her colleagues and members of the community to sign up for a forum on invisible disabilities set for Oct. 19^th.

Invisible No More – An Accessibility Forum will feature keynote speaker Julie Sawchuk and include presentations by the Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor Essex and Community Living Essex County. The focus of the forum is learning about invisible disabilities and ways to be more inclusive of those who have them.

Sawchuk is an accessibility strategist and storyteller who turned from teaching high school science to educating people about the importance of accessible spaces after sustaining a spinal cord injury in 2015. She is the best-selling author of books on accessible spaces, was consulted on the development of the National Building Code and was appointed chair of the Standards Development Committee leading Ontario’s review of accessibility standards for outdoor spaces.

The forum is being held Thursday, Oct. 19, from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at Heritage Park Alliance, 2501 Concession Road 6, in LaSalle. Tickets are $70 per person and lunch will be provided.

Register online at countyofessex.ca/accessibility-forum. Today, Oct. 5, is the last day to register.

Council Receives Update on Hedging Strategy

County Council received an update on the corporation’s electricity and natural gas hedging strategy and its continued participation with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario/Local Authority Services Ltd. Procurement Program to procure, in bulk, electricity and natural gas in the open market.

“The goal of the commodity price hedging policy is to allow the Treasurer to enter into fixed prices agreements for the future delivery of all or any portion of a commodity when deemed advantageous to do so,” said a report to council by Director of Financial Services/Treasurer Melissa Ryan. “A hedge is a financial agreement that fixes the price to be paid by the municipality for future delivery of a commodity. A hedge is typically used to reduce cost fluctuations and provide cost certainty.”

In terms of electricity, the hedge program returned net savings of approximately $3,171 over time of use rates. For natural gas, the County received a rebate payment in the amount of $5,262 for savings earned in 2021.

“The program provides protection against unpredictable market conditions and is expected to support gradually rising prices in the second half of 2023,” said the report. “Administration will continue to monitor the benefit of rate stability compared to lower spot market prices.”

Council Approves Hiring of IT Project Coordinator/Manager

Council approved the hiring of an IT Project Coordinator/Manager to deal with an ever increasing demand for IT services.

Staffing levels in the department have not changed since 2017 despite exponential increases in the demand for services, according to a report to Council. The number of help desk tickets has increased 60 per cent from 2020 to 2022 and the number of projects has increased 78 per cent over the same period.

A service delivery review concluded the department was smaller than departments in comparator municipalities, most of which had dedicated project management resources.

“Technology permeates all aspects of our service delivery and projects have grown in both size and complexity,” said the report to Council. “At present, due to the volume of IT related projects and lack of sufficient IT staff, consultation and implementation are routinely delayed.”

The 2023 Budget included funding for this position, assuming a July 1^st hire date. It is expected the position will be filled by November so there will be a budget savings in 2023. The annualized cost of the position will be included in the 2024 budget.

Library Board Member Appointed

County Council appointed Terry Burns as the representative for LaSalle on the Essex County Library Board. Burns was put forward by LaSalle Council to fill a vacancy on the board.

Council Requests Traffic Control Study for Intersection of County Roads 10 and 9

Council directed staff to conduct a traffic control study examining the intersection of County Road 10/Middle Side Road and County Road 9/Howard Avenue in Amherstburg.

A Notice of Motion was introduced by Councillor Chris Gibb, the deputy mayor for Amherstburg, who said traffic in the area “seems to be getting heavier and heavier” with more development on the horizon.

Council Supports Motion on Civic Centre Tours

Council supported Councillor Sherry Bondy’s Notice of Motion to provide members of Council with a tour of the Essex County Civic Centre ahead of 2024 Budget deliberations. Bondy’s motion said the tours would help ensure councillors “were educated and informed for making budgetary decisions for any future building improvement requests from administration.”

Council Requests Breakdown of Third-Party Funding Agreements

Council supported Councillor Sherry Bondy’s Notice of Motion requesting a report breaking down the cost-sharing agreements between the City and County and third-party agencies like Invest WindsorEssex.