My opinion on two noticeable behaviours during this meeting is: 1. it’s a bad habit for members of council to ask admin, ‘is this true?’ because there are more appropriate ways to inquire about a topic or seek clarification without potentially raising doubt about the authenticity of a delegate’s statements; and 2. even if she was exasperated, it’s unprofessional to gesture, as Councillor Allaire did, when she shook her head side to side and twice, within a few minutes, lowered her head on the table for several seconds.

To summarize, there was confusion about motions, clarifications, revisiting revisions of the on again off again business licencing by-law, which lasted almost two hours, and complaints about the lack of consultations, which was a theme among the three delegates.

Following the in-camera meeting, Mayor Prue read aloud a prepared public statement regarding the Boblo Island ferry service, highlighting the town’s concerns about the developer’s legal obligations and the need for reliable ferry service.

Prue welcomed guests Essex County Warden MacDonald, the CAO and clerk. I reached out to Warden MacDonald who said that she, County CAO Sandra Zwiers and their clerk Katherine Hebert are touring all of the county municipalities to see how they run their meetings, to see what they can learn to improve or change their own processes at the county. MacDonald explained that part of the intent was also to meet local councillors who may not cross paths with them and it was a nice opportunity to meet staff as well.

Just before they left Prue’s comment was, wow. I’ll bet you probably saw us at our worst here tonight, Madam Clerk down there. (it was bad, but I’ve seen worse).

Prue thanked Fire Chief Mio and the fire department staff for their efforts during a recent nuclear incident exercise.

Delegate 1. Drew Coulson, addressing infrastructure policy changes, expressed concerns about the impact on current developments and the lack of communication with developers. Councillor Pouget questioned Coulson about his awareness of the manual changes and the lack of communication with developers. Councillor Courtney questioned the urgency of the manual updates and the impact on current developments. Clarification was sought from staff and Councillor Crain stated, based on the numerous emails they’ve been receiving from builders, developers, he thought it would be best if they have that consultation piece in place so he was happy to defer this item to a future meeting so they can have consultation with local developers or the Home Builders Association. Councillor McArthur stated he just wanted to make sure that they can have the consultation required and the date by which they could do it. Following more discussion on the date of a report back to council and the content, motion carried to defer.

Delegate 2. Jen DeLuca, Waterfront Ice Cream owner, spoke against the proposed business licensing bylaw, citing redundant inspections and additional costs for businesses. She stated, as all of you know, all food service and hospitality businesses are regularly inspected by the health unit. Contrary to what was stated at the Economic Development meeting this past January, it is not up to an existing business owner to contact the health unit for routine inspection. Once you obtain your initial business license, you are on the business directory, and the health unit comes religiously, on their own schedule, unannounced, and they do a thorough inspection. She concluded by stating, the way the by-law is written really does highlight that business owners were not consulted in the decision making process. We became tasked to have to send emails in and delegate after the fact. I know at least 17 businesses who have written in to express their disapproval of this by law: LA Hairstyles, Specks, Naples Pizza, Amherstburg Community Services, Gumballs and Overalls. Lavender Hair Lounge, Country Bliss, Plumbing Now, Ambience Hair, Caffeine and Co, Wolf Head, The Barber Shop, Just Cork It, the Sportsman’s Club, Knights of the Columbus and the Legion. DeLuca asked council to not approve this proposed business licensing by law.

Delegate 3. Prue called on “Sarah Bush” from Specks Restaurant but then correctly called on Sarah Brush who also opposed the bylaw, highlighting the redundancy of inspections and the financial burden on businesses. Brush stated that she’s struggling to understand the necessity of this licensing by law, especially since her business is already regulated by the Windsor Essex County health unit and the provincial government to operate; she’s already subject to several inspections by the Windsor Essex County Health Unit, the Amherstburg Fire Department, the town of Amherstburg for back flow inspection the fire extinguisher and fire suppression system inspections by Georgia Bay fire and all which come it with significant cost. $170 to the town of Amherstburg for back flow, $60 for the provincial business licensing. $225 for fire safety inspections by Georgian Bay and $565 for cleaning and maintaining kitchen air systems by a company called Hoods. Brush concluded by stating that It seems that only businesses which are already inspected thoroughly are being targeted and this feels completely redundant. As business owners, they are committed to serving you, providing jobs to the community and strengthening our community, but we need stability to continue to do so. She urged council to listen to the concerns of businesses like hers, and suspend this by-law. I want council to reject this bylaw and to respectfully and carefully consider the potential consequences this by-law will have on our community.

A report to council provided a background of the business licencing by-law, including council motions to repeal the 2009 by-law in December 2023, suspend it in March 2024 to conduct public consultations, and get a report back on the consultations, which was on the agenda for this meeting.

Councillor Allaire commented that one delegate stated that staff has the right to regulate and restrict hours and asked is this true? Bill Tetler’s answer was that section comes from the Municipal Act and grants authority to a municipality to enact a by-law which part of those could be part of a schedule so they would have a right to potentially look at their records based on a complaint or a crime that may have been committed. Pouget questioned the necessity of the bylaw and the impact on businesses, particularly those already inspected by the health unit. Deputy Fire Chief Monk explained the need for a registry to track businesses and ensure compliance with fire safety regulations. Councillor Courtney suggested a registry system to maintain a list of businesses and ensure ongoing compliance and Prue emphasized the importance of having some form of business licensing to address potential issues and maintain public safety; he also stated that the absence of a bylaw could pose risks to the town, including the inability to regulate businesses like food trucks. Finally, the merry-go-round stopped and the motion that carried was to reinstate the 2009 business licensing by-law, establish a business registry and direction to bring back an amendment of the by-law for consideration, and any business which was previously enrolled would not be required to pay the fees.

Other Motions:

Council voted in favour of motions to:

• approve the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning Bylaw Amendment for 300 Victoria Street
• receive the Short-Term Rental By-law report
• receive the Windsor Police activities report
• receive the building activity report
• proclaim April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day 2025 and raise a flag
• resubmit the application for the golf cart pilot project
• not have a presentation during budget from the Audit and Finance Committee and just receive the committee’s minutes. (the reasoning seemed to be that they haven’t had a presentation during this term of council, despite being advised that there was a history of the committee making a presentation in previous years)
• receive minutes of meetings

New Business

1. Allaire raised concerns about the removal of trees and the panic it causes among residents and a motion carries to motion to direct staff to notify residents before tree removals.
2. McArthur mentioned the WEBC’s fundraising success for Phase Three Trails, the need for vegetative maintenance and they seek council’s approval to proceed with maintenance. His motion carried, and the group is allowed to proceed with maintenance pending a formal report.
3. Prue announced the federal election date of April 28 and suggested rescheduling the council meeting to April 29. Motion carried.

Notice of Motion to Relocate Library Branch

Allaire presented a Notice of Motion to explore relocating the Amherstburg branch of the Essex County Library and direct administration to request funding for fit-up costs for a new Amherstburg library branch. That motion will be debated on April 14, 2025.

Housekeeping Bylaw on Encroachments

Crain moved a housekeeping by-law to address encroachments on public lands which was carried unanimously; the old bylaw is replaced with the new one, which addresses encroachments on Seymour and George Street.

The meeting adjourned.