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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 03, 2022 - Council - AddendumTHE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BAYHAM COUNCIL MEETING ADDENDUM MUNICIPAL OFFICE – VIRTUAL VIA ZOOM Thursday, February 3, 2022 13.1.2 A. Deb Marlatt, Laura Edwards, and Wendy Carmichael re Reconsideration of Council Resolution to Sell Vienna Community Centre 16.1 C. Confidential Report re Labour Relations; Employee Negotiations (Human Resources) Dear Mayor Ketchabaw and fellow council members, Once again, I am writing to council to ask to refrain from the selling of the VLCC until the Municipal Election in October, at which time the citizens of Bayham can vote on a referendum to sell the VLCC or not. Please, let me remind council about the petition of over 2000 signatures, which speak for the citizen’s as well as the 110 letters that were sent into council which I surely hope council took the time to read on December 06, 2021. There were many other emails sent in with the disapproval to sell the VLCC as well as our delegations. As you may recall, at council’s request, these delegations that were put together included a very well organized Wellness Hub business plan by Wendy Charmichael, standing committees to help take the load off the municipality and to help with fundraising, marketing, and booking, a request to apply and obtain grants to get the VLCC up to code delegation by Laura Edwards, as well as a fifty eight year member of the Lions of Vienna, Bill Gheysen, pleading with all of you their importance to our community. Not just Vienna. ALL of Bayham. I truly feel this magnitude of a decision, should not be left up to five people to decide after the enormous outcry of an entire community of disapproval. Council has turned friends against friends and put a wedge further between communities with a vote that took less than fifteen minutes, when you decided to sell at the January 20, 2022 meeting. In 2015 The Vienna Community Centre was the Community Centre by choice based on the facility audit and public input. In this same year, the cost to upgrade the VLCC was $200,000 and that was including $130,000 for accessibility, again based on the facility audit. The only reason the VLCC was not proceeded with based on the vote, was because the Canada 150 Award grant application was filled out wrong by Bayham staff in the amount of $1,000,000 when the threshold for that grant was $500,000 as per the Mayor and CAO. Why were there no accessibility grants included in the budget in 2019? But in 2020, the budget for the VLCC since 2015, started to include a VLCC assessible figure of $350,000. I’m thinking this was an estimate. One year later, that number jumped to $540,000 based on a conceptional estimate and a 20% buffer as per the treasurer, for accessibility. Port Burwell, Vienna, Straffordville, are villages not Hamlets per Bayham’s official plan and should be treated equally in future developments including 20% low income housing in which Straffordville does not have. Vienna has the largest land inventory as per Bayham’s development map which more and more young families settling in the area. It should not be stripped away of its last remaining municipal owned building. It is needed for weddings, graduations, end of life celebrations, educational programs and not to mention a safe haven from storm and flooding which will all know will only get worse with global warming. A pavilion in the place of a fully functional building is not the answer, nor was it ever addressed with the residence nor is it a reasonable substitute. The VLCC has had no capital expenses since 2015 except for the switching of the Geothermal System to Gas at the end of 2021 for the sole reason to be sold. Though “they say” it was at end of life, there was no reason to remove the system but for that reason. A fiscally responsible council should be maintaining and preserving the Vienna Community Centre and take in consideration the pleas from their constituents not to sell. Again, I am asking for a referendum vote in 2022 when the Municipal elections take place, as I am sure some council members would not like to leave office with the sale of the VLCC hanging over their heads as their last big thing they did in office. This is an extremely important issue which more people have spoken out about that voted in the last election. Please listen to the people with regards to selling the VLCC and wait until next election until which time a referendum vote can take place. Sincerely, Debbie Marlatt From:laura cott To:Ed Ketchabaw; Rainey Weisler; Dan Froese; Valerie Donnell; Thomas Thayer Cc:Mary French; Vecchio, Karen - Riding 1C; Yurek, Jeff Subject:Reconsider resolution to Sell VCC Date:January 31, 2022 9:42:08 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Municipality of Bayham email system. Please use caution when clicking links or opening attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Council I plead to Council to reconsider your recent resolution about selling the Vienna Lions Community Centre (also known as Vienna Community Centre. Is it also possible to create a referendum bylaw and add the selling of the Vienna Community Centre as a referendum item at the next Municipal election? A petition containing over 2000 people in the summer of 2021 (obtained from an online survey, door to door signatures and hard-copy petitions placed at local businesses) , a minimum of 110 letters sent to Council Dec 6 to 31/21, countless emails to council, four delegations presented in their plea to council in 2021 suggesting: standing committees of council to work on saving the hall, to help with marketing, booking, fundraising the request to obtain/apply for grants to get the VCC up to code (like Bayham has for other facilities) a business plan for a wellness hub was presented There was overwhelming public response from Bayham residents in opposition to council choosing to sell the centre. In 2015, the cost to update the Vienna Lions Community Centre was identified to be $200,000 - including $130,000 for accessibility requirements based on a recent facility audit. It was also chosen by Bayham residents and council in the 2015 to use the VLCC as the hall of choice based on public input from meetings and correspondence and the facility audit results. The only reason the hall renovations did NOT occur was that the Canada 150 grant application in 2015 was filled out in an amount that exceeded the grant threshold - in the amount of $1,000,000 when the threshold was $500,000. Therefore, it was rejected. In 2019 - no amounts were included in the Operating Budget for Vienna Community Centre (**please note in Sept 2019, Council, after reviewing four choices, had chosen Straffordville for another Grant – the $2,000,000 ICIP grant. This is also the same time that the 2020 CAPITAL budget was being finalized) In 2020, the Operating Budget was created with expenditures for the VLCC – one of them being an accessibility amount of $350,000 . ( an amount that was $130,000 in 2015). This was surprising being that no capital expenditures had taken place on this community centre since 2015. In 2021, the budget for the VLCC included an accessibility amount of now $540,000 ( an amount that was $350,000 in the prior year budget) . Vienna, like Straffordville and Port Burwell, is a village (not a hamlet) per Bayham's official plan and should be treated equally in regards to future development as it does have the largest developable land inventory for future growth and is on full services. It should not be stripped of its last remaining municipal building. It is needed as an emergency shelter in a known flood area and for the community to have for events, fundraisers, celebrations and programs. Vienna should not be left as a ghost town. To be offered a pavillion (pending a grant) to replace the community centre is not reasonable nor will it serve the needs of our community. A fiscal responsibility of Council should be maintaining and preserving the Vienna Community Centre - a building that has NO capital expenses since prior to 2015. (with the exception of the Geo Thermal Furnace that council chose to change to Gas at the end of 2021 so the building and parking lot could be sold) For the sake of reflecting on what the public wants based on recent input to council, please refrain from selling this community centre. Laura Edwards From:carmichael@start.ca To:Thomas Thayer Cc:carmichael@start.ca Subject:Letter for Action Date:January 31, 2022 11:42:45 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Municipality of Bayham email system. Please use caution when clicking links or opening attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. I am submitting this letter to formally advise that the decision reached regarding surplussing the Vienna Community Centre and selling it is in contravention of the A) Fundamental Rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedom "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice." B) Emergency Management and Civil Protections Act "Hazard and risk assessment and infrastructure identification." "(3) In developing its emergency management program, every municipality shall identify and assess the various hazards and risks to public safety that could give rise to emergencies and identify the facilities and other elements of the infrastructure that are at risk of being affected by emergencies. 2002, c. 14, s. 4." Good faith, reasonableness and the courts" C)The Ontario Municipal Councillor's Guide, Exercising Municipal Powers-"Generally, municipal decisions must not be based on fraud, oppression or improper motive. Courts may decide to quash a by-law based on bad faith. The courts decide about good faith and other legal issues on a case by case basis. For example, while generally a by-law passed by council in good faith cannot be quashed or reviewed by the courts because of claims of unreasonableness of the by-law (see section 272 of the Municipal Act, 2001), the courts have held that unreasonableness might be evidence of bad faith." Council in their decision has not addressed the risk related to potential environmental crises and the subsequent lack of ensuring a secure place to harbour until the crises passes, an emergency management plan and education to the community and visitors. For the most part council has not acted in good faith supporting the development of a centre that does not contribute to the well being one the entire municipality and promoting wellness for all ages throughout the year. The vision of the council is myopic focusing on building a structure that will provide a commercial kitchen, auditorium that may or may not in structure support team sports such as basketball and a budget that does not provide for programs for residents of Bayham. There is no evidence that this expense supports an identified need since such research data has not been gathered. The council is not supporting the Elgin, Aylmer and St Thomas Community Wellness and Safety Plan which is evidence based and reflects the needs of the county of Elgin in which our municipality is a part of. As a resident of the Municipality I and other concerned citizens are placing the council on notice that failure to halt the sale of the Vienna Community Centre will result in further engagement in legal and political involvement to ensure that the rights of all residents of Bayham are met by the current elected council. An alternate option considered would be the move to a referendum and the fate of the Vienna Community Centre being a vote for the people in the upcoming 2022 electoral process. This has been submitted as a letter for action. Thank you Wendy Carmichael.