Listen To The Music

Posted on by

Bethany D’Alimonte, Musicland owner, delegated at the March 25 council meeting in favour of Open Air. Listen to the audio at the end of this post.

Councillor Pouget was the first to thank D’Alimonte and asked if she was representing the entire core area downtown or just a specific group; D’Alimonte said she was representing all businesses. Pouget asked if she got permission from all the businesses including the hairdressing shops and the barber shops. D’Alimonte said she talked to pretty much everyone downtown and they’re not against Open Air; they’re against the people who are overbearing it.

When Pouget asked what she meant by ‘overbearing, D’Alimonte answered that they are against the people who are trying to come at them saying that they are against open air; that they’re not against open air and words have been twisted.

Pouget relayed that last year there were a large number of businesses that did not feel 14 weeks was a good compromise, that it was going to hurt their businesses and they left in tears.

Councillor Donald McArthur then thanked D’Alimonte and mentioned in the old days if you needed equipment in a pinch to play music you had to go all the way to Windsor; now they can go to downtown Amherstburg; he thinks it’s fantastic. He asked about summer plans, D’Alimonte’s garage door, and if it was her intention to play music and fill the streets with the beautiful music.

D’Alimonte said plans for the summer were to incorporate what they did last year; they added to open air by having live music off their front stage; she mentioned plans to host an open mic night and this year do it from their stage as well as one weekend near the town clock and stage.

Councillor Courtney also thanked D’Alimonte and asked about the spike in revenues she said she noticed. D’Alimonte repeated the 151.9%. Courtney asked if she attributed that strictly to the open air, the closing of the streets for generating that profit? D’Alimonte said she did.

D’Alimonte agreed with Courtney that she was fortunate to be in the footprint of open air and very grateful for the opportunity.

Listen to the audio.

Open Air Questions Linger A Year Later – Undue Hardship?

Posted on by

Last spring, following my delegation to council regarding Open Air, I emailed members of council.

2023

request: a description of the undue hardship the town would endure if all the Open Air barriers were to be removed so everyone could equally participate in the community, on and in publicly owned public spaces, as i explained on Monday, March 13, 2023.

two weeks later: it’s now been two weeks since i asked the question below which hasn’t been answered. if no elected official can provide a description of the undue hardship, maybe someone could find the answer from administration? or if members of administration are receiving emails to council, one could answer? I expect someone would know the answer and await it.

Councillor Pouget answered: I do not know the answer to your question.  Do I have your permission to forward your email to administration for their review and response?

2024

Followup subsequent to my delegation to council regarding Open Air Monday night, I emailed Councillor Pouget: did you ever get an answer to my question that i asked on march 15, 2023? 

march 15, 2023: i’m writing to request a description of the undue hardship the town would endure if all the Open Air barriers were to be removed so everyone could equally participate in the community, on and in publicly owned public spaces, as i explained on Monday, March 13, 2023.

Councillor Pouget answered: Sorry, I did not receive a response.

Email request to CAO Critchley, cc to council:

  1. council’s motion to approve Open Air for 2024.
  2. the cost of open air for 2023.
  3. what undue hardship the town would endure if open air ended.
  4. any documentation that administration included the exclusion of people with disabilities as a risk in an open air risk analysis.

Councillor Pouget answered:

  1. To my knowledge, there was no motion to approve Open Air in 2024.
  2. There is no official cost for Open Air in 2023 because it did not include the cost of our Public Works employees.
  3. I personally don’t believe there would be any undue hardship for the Town if open air ended.
  4. Council has never received any documentation to include the exclusion of people as a risk in an open air risk analysis.

Will Street Signs Meant To Honour Veterans Be Readable?

Posted on by

There were the typical kudos to admin for getting the job done so quickly, to Deputy Mayor Gibb for raising the issue before he was elected, and to the Legion for their ‘sense of community.’

How appropriate is it to honour veterans but not ensure signs are large enough for them or other people with vision disabilities to read? 

I emailed members of council in advance of the February 12 meeting and stated there is no mention in the report of accessible sign design or design standards. I urged members to consider the fact that Highway Gothic typeface is mainly used throughout Canada and Ontario, including on provincial highways and in cities including Windsor; it makes reading signs easier.

Mayor Prue did ask council to consider making the signs larger and mentioned that it didn’t cost any more money, but he could have made the motion himself especially since he passed the gavel.

Amid the claims that we are an inclusive community, possibly striving to become a designated ‘age friendly’ community, it was deplorable to hear a question about the cost of bigger signs and an answer that there is an assumption there will be some additional costs. Given the budget approval, how does anyone justify limiting funds for this expenditure? Besides, if the signs will slowly be replaced council could have directed administration to bring back a report on the cost with actual figures for larger and more readable signs. 

When the town applied for a $100,000. grant for wayfinding signs, one of the project priorities it listed was ‘accessible, diverse, equitable and inclusive: The sign design will take into consideration AODA requirements, MTO roadway recommendations and eligibility standards.’ Did the town create a wayfinding plan? Consult the Ontario Traffic Manual? Consult the CNIB?

Why were those priorities not incorporated for the poppy street sign designs? I have asked that the town’s procurement policy be updated to include more than the consideration of AODA training. The AODA Integrated Accessibility Standard Regulation states designated public sector organizations shall incorporate accessibility design, criteria and features when procuring or acquiring goods, services or facilities. 

Council needs to make a stronger and more consistent commitment to removing barriers in our community. Still, council’s motion will result in a celebration that will be a great photo op and a reminder to pay tribute to veterans even if the signs are too small for some to read. 

ABLEISM

Posted on by

Ableism is a view or attitude that treats people without disabilities as “normal” and those with disabilities as “abnormal,” “inferior,” or “other.” Ableism can be both intentional and unintentional.

Intentional ableism might involve things like:

  • bullying and ridicule (such as the use of slurs or insults)
  • using a person’s disability to take advantage or cause harm (such as by putting items in inaccessible places)
  • treating a person with a disability as if they are incapable or unintelligent

Unintentional ableism can be just as harmful. It might involve things like:

  • creating documents or other materials that look nice but are inaccessible to persons with seeing disabilities
  • planning events where some persons with disabilities cannot participate comfortably or safely
  • using words or phrases without thinking about how they can affect persons with disabilities

When you consult persons with disabilities, consider how both intentional and unintentional ableism may be involved in your ideas, plans, and actions. Keep this in mind throughout all of your efforts to identify, remove, and prevent barriers.

learn more.

Request For Routine Disclosure Policy Now Four Years Old

Posted on by

It’s been four years since I requested council create a protocol for requests for information and former CAO Miceli advised that the Town of Amherstburg was in the process of creating a Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy.

In April 2021, I repeated my request and former clerk Paula Parker advised a draft policy was in progress.

January 2022, I asked interim CAO Tony Haddad about the status of the Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy that former CAO Miceli advised the town was in the process of creating in February 2020. I received no answer.

July 2022 I reminded Critchley and council that council has disregarded my repeated requests for a Routine Disclosure policy,

In April 2022, I reminded council that it was over two years.

In January 2023, I requested that status of the routine disclosure policy and in February CAO Critchley advised the town continues to investigate a number of policies but has not adopted a specific policy.

In June, 2023, council carried Councillor Pouget’s motion to direct administration to bring back a report regarding the policy following Nancy Atkinson’s delegation on behalf of the Amherstburg Residents Forum.

December 2023, I emailed council requesting the status of, and report on, the routine disclosure policy and Critchley advised they continue to work on the Routine Disclosure issue and expect it will move forward in the new year.

A Year Later, No Town Policy Re Routine Requests For Information

Amherstburg Needs Routine Disclosure Policy

Amherstburg Clerk And Mayor Respond to Routine Disclosure Policy Request

Councillor Prue Supports Routine Disclosure Policy

Request For Routine Disclosure Policy Now Two Years Old

No New Town Hall Yet

Posted on by

One of then-candidate Michael Prue’s 2022 campaign website priorities was, ‘Ensure all town buildings are accessible to facilitate an open and inclusive municipality.’

The JS Held Facility Condition Assessment Report stated, The building is non AODA compliant for, it is not possible to convert this building to make accessible due to the general construction of the building. This building was designed as a multilevel building with provision for accessibility in mind. Council considered the report in 2023 that also stated ‘the cost to convert the town hall to AODA compliant is $291,117.78.’

Dog Park = $165,000.
Libro Trail Over expenditure = $170,000
Total spent on two projects = $335,000.

Pickleball courts $450,000.

In the meantime, all goods and services provided to the public at Town Hall are able to be accommodated based upon the current design.’

CAO CRITCHLEY

According to Councillor Allaire, CAO Critchley advised her:

“The Corporation of the Town of Amherstburg is committed to fulfilling the requirements set out in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, and all regulations under that Act which require the Town of Amherstburg to establish policies, procedures and practices governing the provision of its goods and services to persons with disabilities.

To meet the goal of a fully accessible Town of Amherstburg on or before January 1, 2025, the establishment, implementation, maintenance and documentation of a Multi-Year Accessibility Plan outlines the Town of Amherstburg’s strategy to prevent and remove barriers.”

It should be further noted that the AODA requires that all newly built or significantly renovated structures from the date of adoption (2005) must comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and Ontario Building Code requirements. Buildings which were constructed prior to that date are not required to conform to those standards when determining whether the Town is in compliance with the standards.

That said, the Town of Amherstburg has adopted the Facility Accessibility Design Standards (FADS) of the City of Windsor, which are utilized to provide guidance on projects that involve the redevelopment of, or construction of, new facilities, with higher than legislated standards for the built environment. The Town has also recently embarked on a Facility Condition Needs Assessment Study and will be completing a Space Needs Analysis, with the findings to be presented to Council on what should be done with aging facilities. 

Should a recommendation involve the significant renovation of, or construction of, a new Town Hall building, then the building would be required to comply with the AODA, and the design would also entail suggested areas of improvement based upon the Facility Accessibility Design Guidelines for Council’s consideration.

January 29 Council Meeting RECAP And Awards

Posted on by

I don’t usually do recaps since the media reports on what happened at council meetings, but occasionally I feel compelled to share my opinion about inefficient meetings and the lack of decorum.

There were rationales for using reserves for pickle ball, a want, comparisons to other municipalities, blaming past councils, claims they did their best, blaming upper levels of government, a debate over the $28 million cost of the new fire hall, personal anecdotes, long winded speeches, three members spending time on their computers and some checking their watches.

Erroneous Minutes

‘Deputy Mayor Pouget’ moved or seconded four motions in the special council budget meeting minutes on the agenda; that should have read Councillor Pouget. (pages 35 and 36).

Delegation Dialogues

Mayor Prue said it can’t be a dialogue when Deputy Mayor Gibb addressed Dorothy Thrasher’s comments about an am800 interview with him. Prue then allowed plenty of dialogue for the delegates that spoke about the effect of the 6.44% budget increase and even participated. Prue asked the treasurer about figures, following Donna and Geoffrey Hibbert’s delegation.

Members of council use to full advantage the lack of specificity and time limits in the procedural by-law to drone on when they should be limited to asking questions of the delegate only for clarification. After all, the procedural by-law is a by-law ‘to govern the proceedings of Council, the conduct of its members and the calling of meetings.’

AWARDS

The Most Representative Award goes to Councillor Pouget

Pouget isn’t primarily motivated by self-interest; she cites emails and phone calls from constituents and consistently acts on their behalf on a wide range of issues.

The Tough Love Award goes to Deputy Mayor Gibb

Toward the end of one of Gibb’s speeches, he said he wasn’t going to apologize for the budget, and said he believed this is what Amherstburg needs. He pointed to the audience and said what it wants is sitting there, what it needs is sitting here, pointing to council’s horseshoe. Noise could be heard from the audience and at that point, Prue used the gavel to call the meeting to order instead of his usual passing of the gavel just to speak.

The Melodramatic Moment Award goes to Prue

Following Sue and Roger Hudson’s delegation, Prue passed the gavel because he wanted to acknowledge that something was said that no one else said today and this is really important. The levels of money coming from senior government to this town has declined and declined enormously. Nobody is factoring this in. Just as an example OCIF funding has gone down and it’s gone down the last two years enormously and in fact, the local MPP was so proud he put out this ad, which Prue held up to display and read, two weeks in a row saying that in 2022 our OCIF funding was $3,194,879. In 2023 it went down to $3,007,975 and in 2024, it went down to 2,556,779, which just in the last year was about $450,000 dollars which is just a little bit under 2%. So that’s 2% we have to pay before we do anything else. Then to compound that they set up an asset management that they have to do. But that is new funds that they have to pay for approximately 1.6% of the budget. So they have to add that 1.6 before they get into anything, and then they took away development charges for new apartment buildings and condos. And that is approximately 1.6% as well for a total of about 5%. So before they even look at the budget they have to make a 5% cut from the Ontario government and if they use that 5% and the 5%, which you are saying is the average between the two indexes, then that’s 10% and then everybody’s angry that we come in at 6.44. Everybody’s angry. What do you expect the council to do?

Most Positive Spin Award goes to Councillor McArthur

Bill Seagris, Greater Amherstburg Tennis League stated they’ve organized events and tournaments for seven years. McArthur explained why he voted in favour of pickle ball courts. There’s tennis courts in CoAn, which is an Amherstburg jewel, there’s tennis courts in Anderdon; capacity is going to be freed up on those courts as soon as there’s courts built at the Libro. The selling point for him, why he voted in favor of pickle ball courts is that in order for them to have tournaments, to host tournaments, which they really want to do for economic tourism, to bring people to Amherstburg is they needed eight dedicated pickle ball courts and for folks listening at home, eight dedicated pickle ball courts is not eight tennis courts. It’s just two hard court surfaces. It’s not eight it’s just two. Pickleball takes up a smaller space. And when they made a motion to dedicate it for pickle ball his reasoning was a) they’re going to fund raise, they actually have a GoFundMe, they raised $750 just on the weekend, and they’re going to continue raising money for it so it will help pay going forward. And they can host tournaments.

Admin’s Biggest Fan Award goes to Councillor Linden Crain

Following Dorothy Thrasher’s delegation, Crain asked for her thoughts on admin’s recommendations; administration can definitely chime in when they feel necessary; and he spoke on the ‘From Vision to Results 2023 Municipal Accomplishments Report.’ Reading through this comprehensive list, it’s very, very clear that they have a lot to be proud of. There are really too many accolades to list out but they accomplished a lot in 2023 and he believed they’re delivering on each of those categories set out in the community strategic plan. Really, Council directs but it’s administration that executes and delivers and he thinks they have a great number of staff, all staff, to be proud of. He’s energized by where our municipality is going and he’s really grateful to be working with every member of council and every staff member. He just wanted to give an immense thank you to staff for their passion and hard work.

The Curiosity Award goes to Councillor Molly Allaire

Prefacing questions with just out of curiosity is a regular occurrence. This meeting Allaire was just curious about what the Golden Age Club does with the dues collected, was just curious about the water and waste water rate increase, just out of curiosity when the fire hall tender is coming back, just curiosity about the boat ramp and was just curious if anyone on council had the appetite to sit down with administration before next budget.

The Longest Answer Award goes to Fire Chief Montone.

Montone spoke for almost 7 minutes in answer to Prue’s question when one word would’ve sufficed. Prue asked when the report would be forthcoming. Montone did say April twice: once in the middle and again at the end.

What’s More Important – Planters Or People?

Posted on by

Although I predicted the answer, I asked council members anyway due to a report to council for the January 29 meeting regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs. Also predictable was that only Councillor Pouget answered she would definitely question this issue and she did. More on that later.

email to council: I urge you to embrace the spirit of the AODA and consult the public regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs even though the report to council does not mention public consultation in accordance with the AODA’s Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation regarding exterior paths of travel, rest areas:

‘Designated public sectors when constructing new or redeveloping existing exterior paths of travel that they intend to maintain, shall consult on the design and placement of rest areas along the exterior path of travel and shall do so in the following manner: 

  1. the public and persons with disabilities.
  2. a municipal accessibility advisory committee if one exits.’

The report to council concludes with Financial Matters and admin’s recommendation to use Accessibility Compliance Reserve Funds that are ‘intended for repairs and improvements designed to reduce or remove barriers and promote greater access to public spaces, goods and services.’ 

Planters may create barriers for people with disabilities who rely on visual cues and space to travel along the sidewalks. Another concern is that there is no mention of what standards will be specified in the tender. 

Some of you voted to keep the loading/unloading zone on Dalhousie Street for accessibility reasons, so why not commit to accessibility and persons with disabilities in this instance and hold public consultations?