May 2, 2023, at 4:00 PM

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The meeting was called to order at 4:00 PM; it being noted that Councillor C. Rahman was in remote attendance.

1.   Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest

That it BE NOTED that no pecuniary interests were disclosed.

2.   Consent

Moved by D. Ferreira

Seconded by J. Pribil

That Items 2.1 to 2.4 BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (4 to 0)

2.1   4th Report of the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee

2023-04-06 - AWCAC Report

Moved by D. Ferreira

Seconded by J. Pribil

That the following actions be taken with respect to the 4th Report of the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee, from the meeting held on April 6, 2023:

a)    B. Samuels, Chair of the Environmental Stewardship and Action Community Advisory Committee BE REQUESTED to attend the next Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee (AWCAC) meeting to provide more information on library programs that are being undertaken with respect to bird friendly initiatives; it being noted that the AWCAC held a general discussion with respect to this matter;

b)    a member of the Environmental Stewardship and Action Community Advisory Committee (ESACAC) BE REQUESTED to attend the next Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee (AWCAC) meeting to receive comments and questions from the AWCAC in regards to the ESACAC Goldfish Brochure; it being noted that the AWCAC held a general discussion with respect to this matter; and,

c)    clauses 1.1, 3.1 and 5.2 to 5.4 BE RECEIVED.

Motion Passed

2.2   Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre and McMahen Park Engagement Results

2023-05-02 SR Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre and McMahen Park - Full

Moved by D. Ferreira

Seconded by J. Pribil

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager of Neighbourhood and Community-Wide Services, the following actions be taken with respect to the staff reported, dated May 2, 2023, related to the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre and McMahen Park Engagement Results:

a)    the short-term project, multi use pad/outdoor ice rink, identified through resident engagement near the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre Assessment Centre BE ENDORSED;

b)    the budget for the short-term project, multi use pad/outdoor ice rink on the current basketball court beside the community centre, BE APPROVED, in accordance with the Sources of Financing Report, as appended to the above-noted staff report; and,

c)    the Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to proceed with implementation of the multi use pad/outdoor ice rink, it being noted that this work will be undertaken in accordance with the Procurement of Goods and Services Policy.  (2023-R05B)

Motion Passed

2.3   2023-2024 Long-Term Care Home Service Accountability Agreement between The Corporation of the City of London (Dearness Home) and Ontario Health

Moved by D. Ferreira

Seconded by J. Pribil

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager, Social and Health Development, the proposed by-law, as appended to the staff report dated May 2, 2023, BE INTRODUCED at the at the Municipal Council meeting to be held on May 16, 2023, to:

a)    approve the Long-Term Care Home Service Accountability Agreement, as appended to the above-noted by-law, for the period April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, to be entered into with Ontario Health with respect to the Dearness Home; and,

b)    authorize the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the above-noted Agreement. (2023-S03)

Motion Passed

2.4   (ADDED) Housing Collaborative Initiative (HCI) - Update

2023-05-02 SR Housing Collaborative Initiative - Update

Moved by D. Ferreira

Seconded by J. Pribil

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager, Planning and Economic Development the following actions be taken with respect to the staff report, dated May 2, 2023, related to the Housing Collaborative Initiative (HCI) Update:

a)    the Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to bring London’s implementation of the Housing Collaborative Initiative Project into alignment with City of London technology and project management best practices;

b)    the project Governance Group BE REQUESTED to approve a strategy outlining how future legislative changes will be addressed and communicated to the project governance team and back to City Council;

c)    the Governance Group BE REQUESTED to approve a revised set of project requirements to be used as the basis of all future project activity;

d)    that Governance Group BE REQUESTED to provide quarterly updates to City Council until the completion of the project; and,

e)    the above-noted staff report BE RECEIVED. (2023-S11)

Motion Passed

3.   Scheduled Items

None.

4.   Items for Direction

None.

5.   Deferred Matters/Additional Business

None.

6.   Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 4:10 PM.

Full Transcript

Transcript provided by Lillian Skinner’s London Council Archive. Note: This is an automated speech-to-text transcript and may contain errors. Speaker names are not identified.

View full transcript (26 minutes)

audio test. Hi there. Can you hear me? Yeah, I can hear you.

Do I sound okay? You do. Thank you. Thanks.

Good afternoon. This is the 8th me in the community of services committee. The City of London is situated on the traditional lands of the Natasha back. Haudenosaunee and Amakwok and Adwondron.

We honor and respect the history and languages and cultures, the diverse indigenous people who call this territory home. The City of London is currently home to many First Nations, Métis and Inuit today. As representatives, the people of the City of London, we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and live in this territory. For everyone’s information, I’m joined in chambers by Councillor Pribble and Ferrera.

Councillor ramen has joined us virtually online and Councillor Stevenson has sent her regrets as she’s at a special training course for the police in Toronto. The City of London is committed to making every effort to provide alternate formats and communication supports for meetings upon request to make a request specific to this meeting. Please contact cpsc@london.ca or 519-661-2489 extension 2425. I now look to the committee for disclosures of pecuniary interest.

Seeing none, there are four items realizing we have an added on our consent. So please just make sure that you’re following the agenda, including added. Looking to committee to see if anyone would like anything pulled separate of those four items. Seeing none.

Looking for a mover and a seconder of consent items. Looking for a mover and a seconder of consent items 2.1 through to 2.4. Moved by Councillor Ferrera, seconded by Councillor Pribble. Those items are all now on the floor and staff in regards to 2.4 there as it wasn’t added.

There is a brief present verbal presentation from staff and an overview of this report. And then I will take questions on all of items 2.1 through to 2.4. Mr. Felberg, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So as noted in what you have before you this evening, there has not been an update to Council on this project since 2015. And the current leadership has recently learned of the complexity of the project. We have before you today as an immediate and preliminary update on a project with a long history and a changing regulatory environment.

The housing collaborative initiative or HCI was confirmed in 2014 when London and seven other service managers cite an agreement to design, procure, develop and implement a housing software to move from local Excel based and paper based tracking systems to one that consolidates the business information related to wait lists, rent supplement and housing providers in the consistent format. At that time, delegation was provided to the managing director in order to improve the experience of reporting relationship to the multi municipal governance group of the HCI. All of the procurement was undertaken with the guidance and oversight of the HCI governance group including the selection of software, vendor and project coordinator. In fact, the HCI agreement included language on how to assess the vendor’s submissions in response to the RFP.

As it relates to the project costs, each of the eight service managers service manager municipalities is responsible for share of the cost based on their total number of community housing units under management in 2011. The purpose of our report today is to update committee and council on the project given that the last one was in 2015. And this report outlines our path forward along with specific administration’s commitment to reporting out on this project in the near term. For subsequent Q3 report, we plan on addressing a few items specifically.

First, the four recommendations in the report, bringing in bringing the project into alignment with the city’s current technology and project management practices along with an assessment of how any future legislative changes will impact the scope of the project, an update of project requirements with the HCI governance group and determining and establishing quarterly updates from the HCI governance group to council. Additionally, we’ll undertake an accounting of every payment that was made by the city to date. We’ll also assess the advantages and disadvantages of carrying on with the relationship with LNCH and the HCI. And we’ll do an assessment of the software and the various modules for use here in London.

And that’ll be focused on the business, not from an IT perspective. And once that’s complete, we’ll work with our IT folks to bring forward a technology and project management plan. I’m sure there’s many questions and many details the committee would like to understand. Happy to answer any questions based on the information we have at this time with our commitment to report back based on the recommendations in the report.

With that, I’ll turn it back to you, Madam Chair. Thank you for that. And item 2.3 also had an added staff report in regards to Dearness Home. Mr.

Dickens, you want to give a really brief overview of your staff report. Thank you, Chair. And for you, I believe Mr. Hancock is actually joining us online for confirmation of that.

No, okay. Through the Chair, I’d be happy to provide an overview of our reports here. Sorry, as I just go to it. So this before you is our standard accountability agreement with the province as it relates to the operations of Dearness Home.

So the long-term care home accountability agreement or the ELSA, as it’s referred to, just sort of maps out our compliance under the legislation and under the Act. So within it, we bring this forward to Council, it gets reviewed and endorsed, and then we enact that and sign that back to the province. So it’s something that we’re looking for the mayor and the clerk to endorse and sign, and then we work through the province to bring it to life. Thank you.

Great. Thank you in realizing that the Dearness Home is the city of London’s mutually operated long-term care home, of which I’m currently Chair as well, and happy to see this report coming forward. In regards to item 2.1, it’s the before-throughport of the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee. Just for this committee’s information, there’s two items contained within it, and they’re just looking for permission to do inter-committee work, and that’s why it’s on the consent item agenda.

Looking to committee to see if there’s any questions in regards to any of the items of 2.1 through to 2.4, and Councillor Raman, if you have a question, just raise your virtual hand or come on screen, and I recognize that Councillor Hillyer is also with us virtually as well, so happy to take questions from any Councillor of the committee or visiting Councillor. Are you a question? Sorry, I didn’t realize my mic was on. Councillor Breville, please proceed.

So to turn to the staff regarding 2.4, the two municipalities that are continuing, or seems to be, is Hamilton and Waterloo region, are they progressing kind of what has been already established, or are they kind of letting it go and starting from scratch, and is there an opportunity, if they are going ahead with it, for us to stay on potentially to develop it faster, more convenient and more efficient? Thank you, Mr. Felberg. Through you, Madam Chair.

So those two municipalities, they’ve actually implemented the software thus far, and they’ve actually offered to help us with some of the findings they’ve had and lessons learned. They’ve had them what they’ve implemented, so we’ll be able to take those learnings through the HCI that we have. So all eight member municipalities, we’re able to use that to help inform some of the business process work that we need to do, and then work with our IT folks. And then that, with the intention, if we’re able to implement faster, that would absolutely be an intention.

Councillor Breville. Thank you, just to fill up. I know you were saying that it would be a quarterly, we would be quarterly updated, and I’m sorry if I missed that, then we’ll be the first then update. Are we on the calendar basis?

Are we kind of starting now? Thank you. Mr. Felberg.

Through you, Madam Chair. So we said Q3, so we’ll need to do some work. We’ll need to get into all of the payment information. We need to establish the project management.

We need to work with the governance group. So in my expectation, be later in Q3, but start essentially starting now. Councillor? Thank you.

No more questions? Mr. Ferrer is okay. Councillor ramen, I don’t see any hands, so just checking, as I have no one else currently on my speaker’s list.

Thank you. All good. Thank you. Wonderful.

So it’s already been moved and seconded, seeing our speaker’s list is exhausted, calling the question in eScribe. Did I vote by hand and vote yes? Yeah, the clerk has heard you. I’m in yes as well.

Closing the vote, the motion carries 4 to 0. Thank you. We have no scheduled items, no items for direction. We’re on to deferred matters, additional business, looking to committee to see if anyone had anything, and no in chambers, Councillor ramen, if anything online, please let me know.

Dang, none. The only thing I’ll mention is a happy birthday to Mr. Dickens’ daughter, Councillor Hayley, her son, and to me. So thank you for a wonderful gift of a short meeting, and I will need someone to move adjournment.

Moved by Councillor ramen, seconded by Councillor Ferrer, a hand vote of all in favour of adjoining my birthday party, and this meeting of the 8th of the community between service committee. Hey, the clerk has confirmed its past. Thank you, everyone, and have a wonderful evening. Happy birthday.

Thank you.