October 21, 2024, at 1:00 PM

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1.   Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest

That it BE NOTED that no pecuniary interests were disclosed.

2.   Consent

Moved by H. McAlister

Seconded by E. Peloza

That Items 2.2 to 2.4 BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

2.2   Funding and Project Agreement between the City of London and the London District Catholic School Board

2024-10-21 SR Funding and Project Agmt between CoL and London District Catholic School Board

Moved by H. McAlister

Seconded by E. Peloza

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager, Social and Health Development, the following actions be taken with respect to the staff report dated October 21, 2024 related to a Funding and Project Agreement between the City of London and the London District Catholic School Board:

a)    the proposed by-law, as appended to the above-noted staff report, BE INTRODUCED at the Municipal Council meeting to be held on November 5, 2024, to:

i)    approve the Funding and Project Agreement to be entered into between The Corporation of the City of London and London District Catholic School Board, with the funding provided by the City of London pursuant to the Municipal Council endorsed investment in Child Care and Early Years expansion of licensed child care, to renovate a child care centre at John Paul II Catholic Secondary School, substantially in the form as appended to the above-noted by-law;

ii)    authorize the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the above-noted Agreement; and,

iii)    delegate the Director of Child Care and Early Years, or written delegate, the authority to carry out the following:

A)    under subsection 2.02(2), to review, and provide comments to the London District Catholic School Board;

B)    under subsection 2.02(5), to review a tender, and determine if the tender is acceptable, and if acceptable, to provide written notice of such acceptability to the London District Catholic School Board;

C)    under subsection 2.04, to request changes to the Plan, and to advise the Board in writing whether to proceed with such change;

D)    under subsection 2.06, to act as representative (“City’s Project Manager”) for the City;

E)    under subsection 2.02(5)(d), to review and comment upon any reconciliation;

F)    under subsection 2.02(6), to meet with the Board to discuss whether and how the  London District Catholic School Board wishes to proceed with the Project and to reach a resolution; and,

G)    under subsection 3.01, to act as representative for the City; and,

iv)    designate the Manager, Children’s Services as the City’s Project Manager under section 2.06 of the Agreement, and delegate the authority to act pursuant to that section, on the condition that any actions taken by the delegate do not require additional funding or are provided for in the City’s current budget, and that do not increase the

indebtedness or contingent liabilities of The Corporation of the City of London;

b)    the above-noted staff report BE RECEIVED. (2024-S13)

Motion Passed

2.3   RFP 2024-259 Prime Consulting Services for Silverwoods Arena Building Upgrades

2024-10-21 SR RFP-2024-259 Prime Consulting Services for Silverwoods Arena Building Upgrades - Part 1

2024-10-21 SR RFP-2024-259 Prime Consulting Services for Silverwoods Arena Building Upgrades - Part 2

Moved by H. McAlister

Seconded by E. Peloza

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager, Finance Supports and Deputy City Manager, Neighbourhood and Community-Wide Services, the following actions be taken with respect to the staff report dated October 21, 2024 related to Request for Proposal 2024-259 Prime Consulting Services for Silverwoods Arena Building Upgrades:

a)    the proposal submitted by Barry Bryan Associates, 250 Water Street, Suite 201 in Whitby, ON, for the Prime Consultant Services for the Silverwoods Arena Building Upgrades project for a fee of $161,100.00 (excluding HST) BE ACCEPTED; it being noted that the evaluation team determined the proposal submitted by Barry Bryan Associates provided the best technical and financial value to the Corporation, met the City’s requirements in all areas and acceptance is in accordance with section 15.2 of the Procurement of Goods and Services Policy;

b)    the financing for this project BE APPROVED as set out in the Sources of Financing Report as appended to the above-noted staff report;

c)    the Civic Administration BE AUTHORIZED to undertake all administrative acts which are necessary in connection with the project;

d)    the approvals given, herein, BE CONDITIONAL upon the Corporation entering into a formal contract with the consultant for the work; and,

e)    the Mayor and the City Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to execute a contract or any other documents, if required, to give effect to these recommendations. (2024-R05A)

Motion Passed

2.4   Request for Proposal 2024-093 - Thames Park Consulting Services Award

2024-10-21 SR RFP 2024-093 - Thames Park Consulting Services - Part 1

2024-10-21 SR RFP 2024-093 - Thames Park Consulting Services - Part 2

Moved by H. McAlister

Seconded by E. Peloza

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager, Environment and Infrastructure, the following actions be taken with respect to the Request for Proposal 2024-093 for the Award of Thames Park Consulting Services:

a)    the bid submitted by Landscape Planning Ltd.  95 Mural Street, Richmond Hill, On L4B 3G2 for Consulting Services for Thames Park in accordance with RFP2024-093, at its bid price of $353,046.25 (excluding HST) BE ACCEPTED; it being noted that the bid submitted by Landscape Planning Ltd. meets the City’s specifications and requirements in all areas;

b)    the financing for this project BE APPROVED as set out in the Sources of Financing Report as appended to the above-noted staff report;

c)    the Civic Administration BE AUTHORIZED to undertake all the administrative acts that are necessary in connection with this project; and,

d)    the Mayor and City Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to execute any contract or other documents, if required, to give effect to these recommendations. (2024-R04)

Motion Passed

2.1   10th Report of the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee

2024-10-03 - AWCAC Report

Moved by D. Ferreira

Seconded by E. Peloza

That the following actions be taken with respect to the 10th Report of the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee, from the meeting held on October 3, 2024:

a)    the Civic Administration BE REQUESTED to provide resource materials that can be displayed by the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee (AWCAC) at public awareness events related to the AWCAC mandate;

it being noted that the AWCAC held a general discussion, with respect to this matter;

b)    the AWCAC BE REQUESTED to explore alternatives to purchasing a tablecloth for events, such as borrowing from the Communications department or other cost-effective options; and,

c)    clauses 1.1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2 and 5.5 BE RECEIVED.

Motion Passed (3 to 2)

3.   Scheduled Items

3.1   Life*Spin - Property Standards and Tenant Support

2024-09-09 Resolet 4.1 - 11 CPSC

2024-09-09 Sub. Property Standards and Tenant Support - LifeSpin

Moved by S. Trosow

Seconded by D. Ferreira

That the following actions be taken with respect to the communication, as appended to the Agenda, and the verbal delegation from Life*Spin, with respect to Property Standards and Tenant Support:

a)    the Civic administration BE DIRECTED to:

i)    work with Life*Spin and other community organizations to facilitate, coordinate, and fund an annual Tenant Support Fair at City Hall for the purposes of including greater transparency within the Property Standards inspection process, and increasing cooperation and relationship building between landlords, tenants, and the City of London;

ii)    complete a municipal scan of Property Standards By-laws and programs, and report back to a future meeting of the Community and Protective Services Committee by Q2 2025 with recommendations to enhance enforcement protocols within the City’s Property Standards By-law; and, 

iii)    investigate the feasibility of developing and funding a pilot Public Extermination Program, with a focus on providing systematic oversight and resolution of persistent infestations, particularly in London and Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH);

b)    the request for funding the VHA Home HealthCare and its Extreme Clean Program BE REFERRED to the Budget Committee for consideration in the 2025 Budget Update, as per the business case P15 in the 2024-2027 Draft Budget; it being noted that the issue of vermin affects special-risk individuals, including the elderly, the frail, and people with disabilities, who cannot physically prepare their homes for exterminating vermin;

it being noted that the Community and Protective Services Committee received a communication from LifeSpin entitled “Property Standards and Tenant Support,” and heard a delegation from representatives of LifeSpin in support of their recommendations; it being further noted that a communication was received from VHA Home Health Care in support of the Life*Spin’s recommendations.

Additional Votes:

Moved by J. Pribil

Seconded by H. McAlister

That pursuant to section 36.3 of the Council Procedure By-law, the delegate BE PERMITTED to speak an additional 5 minutes with respect to this matter.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

Moved by J. Pribil

Seconded by E. Peloza

That pursuant to section 31.6 of the Council Procedure By-law, Councillor S. Trosow BE PERMITTED to speak an additional 2 minutes with respect to this matter.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

Moved by S. Trosow

Seconded by D. Ferreira

Motion to approve part a) i) of the main motion.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

Moved by S. Trosow

Seconded by D. Ferreira

Motion to approve part a) ii) of the main motion.

Motion Passed (3 to 2)

Moved by S. Trosow

Seconded by D. Ferreira

Motion to approve part a) iii) of the main motion.

Motion Passed (3 to 2)

Moved by S. Trosow

Seconded by D. Ferreira

Motion to approve part b) of the main motion.

Motion Passed (4 to 1)

Moved by S. Trosow

Seconded by D. Ferreira

Motion to approve that:

it being noted that the Community and Protective Services Committee received a communication from Life-Spin entitled “Property Standards and Tenant Support,” and heard a delegation from representatives of LifeSpin in support of their recommendations; it being further noted that a communication was received from VHA Home Health Care in support of the LifeSpin’s recommendations.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

4.   Items for Direction

4.1   Councillor E. Peloza and Deputy Mayor S. Lewis - Concessions at City Facilities

2024-10-21 Sub. Concessions at City Facilities - Peloza

Moved by E. Peloza

Seconded by J. Pribil

The Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to initiate a review of current arena concession operations and report back in Q1 of 2025 on the current operations across city arenas pertaining to food and beverage (including healthy options) concessions including revenue, current vendors and weekly hours of operation. (2024-R05A)

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

5.   Deferred Matters/Additional Business

None.

6.   Confidential (Enclosed for Members only.)

Moved by H. McAlister

Seconded by E. Peloza

That the Community and Protective Services Committee convene In Closed Session for the purpose of considering the following:

6.1    Land Acquisition/Disposition/Solicitor-Client Privilege/Trade Secret, Scientific, Technical, Commercial, Financial Information of the Corporation with Monetary or Potential Monetary Value/Position, Plan, Procedure, Criteria or Instruction for Negotiation

A matter pertaining to the proposed or pending lease of land by the municipality, including communications necessary for that purpose; advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege; commercial and financial information that belongs to the municipality and has monetary value or potential monetary value, and a position, plan, procedure, criteria, or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on, or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

The Community and Protective Services Committee convened In Closed Session from 2:27 PM to 2:44 PM.

7.   Adjournment

Moved by J. Pribil

Seconded by H. McAlister

That the meeting BE ADJOURNED.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

The meeting adjourned at 2:46 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 (1 hour, 51 minutes)

Okay, everybody, I’ll be calling this meeting to order. So we’ll be starting the 13th meeting of the Community and Protective Services Committee. And I’d like to welcome everybody and council chambers staff here and online. Please check the city website for additional meeting detail information.

Meetings can be viewed via live streaming on YouTube and the city website. We’ll begin with the land acknowledgement. The city of London is situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabak, Utnashoni, and Leno Peiwalk, and Adawandran. We honor and respect the history, languages, and culture of 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 of the people of the city of London, we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and live in this territory. 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 C-P-S-C at London.ca or dial 519-661-2489 extension 2425. I’d like to recognize the members of the committee.

I have the vice chair, the Honorable Counselor Elizabeth Palosa to my left, the Honorable Counselor, Hadley McAllister, Ward 1, to my right. I have the Honorable Counselor, Jerry Pribble to my right, and the Honorable Counselor, Sam Trussell to my right. And I don’t believe I have anybody online. So first I’ll start with disclosures of interest.

Anybody have any disclosures of interest? I see none. Okay, I will pull, or first we have consent items on the agenda. I do want to pull item 2.1, and I am looking for any other items to be pulled on the agenda.

None, okay, I’m looking for a motion to move items 2.2 to 2.4 on the consent. That’s moved by Councillor McAllister. I’m looking for a seconder. Councillor Palosa is seconding, right?

I will look to the committee for any comments, and Councillor McAllister. Thank you, and through the chair, I just want to recognize with item 2.3, very excited to see this project come to fruition. I just want to give staff the opportunity to provide some updates in terms of the civil rights arena upgrades. Thank you, Councillor.

I will look to staff item 2.3, Ms. Smith. Thank you, so I understand Ms. Stewart’s online.

Maybe she wants to give a quick update on the report, and the body of the report, and then I’ll have Mr. McGonigal give some updates regarding the community engagement and next steps. Thank you. Okay, Ms.

Stewart, I believe you are online. You are good to go. Yes, thank you through the chair. Thank you for the question.

So the report is outlining the first step in the redevelopment of the Silverwoods project, and it’s transitioned from a traditional arena to a dry ice, sorry, dry pad facility without ice and a community facility. From facilities point of view, what we’re working to do is to improve the air tightness of that facility and reduce heating and cooling demands, and put in a more energy efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. And by doing so, we’re also creating community space that can be used there. So this is the first step, and we will use the development of the design by this consultant to support our applications for funding under various streams federally, provincially and through FCM.

Thank you, Councillor. Sorry, Mr. McGonigal. Thank you for the question.

And through the chair, this is a project that we’re incredibly excited about. This project goes all the way back to 2015. And in 2015, Council provided direction to replace the single ice pads at Glen Caron Arena and Silverwoods Arena. And those were ultimately replaced by the Bostwick Arena, which is a double pad, more energy efficient facility.

And so we’re really excited as per the Parks and Recreation Master Plan to repurpose this to better support recreation and sport needs in the community. And right now, Silverwoods needs that work. It doesn’t have HVAC in many portions of the building that are important. It lacks accessibility.

The roof needs to be replaced. And so we’re looking to accomplish all of those with this project and also introducing multi-purpose and community space in there as well. And we’ll keep the dry pad, but with the HVAC, we’ll be able to better support a wide range of community activities. And that design and construction work will begin and while the design will start shortly and the construction will start in 2025.

And then there is also a park redevelopment component that will start in 2026. And the total budget is about $5 million. And we are seeking out other levels of government funding as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor. Thank you, through the chair. I appreciate the updates. And I do just wanna make sure in terms of within the report, it did say limited, but not clear, including, but not limited to.

But I do just wanna make sure the aquatics portion is accounted for ‘cause it wasn’t explicitly called out, but I just wanna ensure that that’s there. Thank you, Councilor. Looking for any other members of the committee that would like to. That was a question to staff, sorry, Councilor, to staff.

Yeah, thank you very much. Already lots of improvements that have taken place at that outdoor aquatic facility, including the filling in of a diving well that hasn’t been operational for about a decade. The introduction of stairs from an accessibility perspective into the pool. And most importantly, what we’ve heard about is heat.

And we know that we’re working on that to try and deliver it in the spring of 2025 so that it’s ready for the outdoor season in 2025 as well. Thank you. Thank you, Councilor. Thank you, through the chair.

I do just wanna end with a few thoughts on this. I’m very excited to see this. It means a lot to the community. A lot of these facilities around Hamilton Road, they’ve needed some investment for a while.

So I’m incredibly grateful for the work that’s gone into this. I had the pleasure of going to our community engagement sessions. I also held one during the Silverwoods Festival in the summer. It’s a facility that really pulls at the heartstrings of the community.

It means a lot to them. And they’re all very excited to see it come back to life. So thank you for the work that’s gone into this. And I look forward to seeing it in the future.

Thanks. Thank you, Councilor, Councilor Perble. Thank you, I would like to make a comment. And as a fellow Councilor said, so we’re very excited about it.

I’m also excited about the Thames Park. I think there is a fantastic, great opportunity. And when I talk to a lot of people downtown, they always say that they would love to have more recreational facilities, sports athletic nearby downtown. And I think Thames Park is a perfect fit.

And if there is any, so thank you for that for bringing forward. And if there is any comments that staff would like to make in terms of the Thames Park, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you, Councilor, Mr. yeoman.

Thank you, through you, Mr. Chair. So we’re quite excited for the next item on the agenda, which is a consulting award for the reimagining of Thames Park. As the Councilor alluded, we’ve had some really great public engagement, good conversations to date.

This works really gonna be taking it to the next level for next year, where we’ll be bringing in the consultants to work on a lot of technical studies to make sure that what is inserted into the park will fit, given the site conditions, but also really looking at conceptual designs and alternatives to engage with the community, working then to detail alternatives to share with the community and really get people excited about the new future there. So we’re looking at construction in 2026, and this is gonna be a great next step. Thank you, Councilor. Thank you very much for that update.

No more questions. Thank you, Councilor looking to committee for any comments or requests, questions for the consent. Okay, I will, as Chair, just look into item 2.2, the funding and project agreement between the City of London and the London District Catholic School Board. I was wondering if we could go to Mr.

Dickens or Ms. Glover to give us any updates. Thank you to you, through you, Chair. So the agreement with John Paul, too, will add 45 childcare spaces to our directed growth strategy.

The Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement between the federal government and the provincial government has the City of London adding 2,889 new spaces by the end of 2026. We are on target to those directed growth targets. We currently have a directed growth call out happening right now, which is closing November 1st. It is exclusively for not-for-profit operators.

We have hit the cap on our for-profits. So this agreement with John Paul, too, to bring back online, this childcare center, increase the number of spaces from 30 to 45, will be attributed to our 2024 growth targets. And an incredible win for City of London. While it may be small, we know that there’s childcare in need out there.

So we’re happy about this opportunity with the school board. Thank you, appreciate that. I did see in the report that the London Middlesex Community or London Middlesex Child Care and Early Service System Plan for 2024-28 include a growth strategy to establish 2,889 new childcare spaces by 2026. I just want to know if we get an update of what is our status on achieving that?

Yeah, so we’re on track to achieve our targets. For 2024, we had targets of 645 and a half spaces. We’ve approved 561, so 87%. I think of our 2024 target.

We have 84 and a half spaces to achieve by the end of the year, which again, the John Paul II agreement will do more than half of those. And the fall call out that we have going on right now, we should certainly hit those targets. 2025, we have growth targets of 694 and a half spaces. We currently have approved 609, which is 88% and the other 85 and a half we expect to achieve through the fall call out as well.

And then in 2026, we have 503 new spaces to put online. And we will achieve that. I’m sure through this current call out and future call outs as well. Thank you.

The committee just indulged me just to make some brief comments from the chair. I read this item with intense interest, just built because I’m familiar with John Paul II. I was a student there in my high school career and I am also familiar with the need for childcare spaces just from my personal life. So I am very appreciative to see this come to committee and I’m very appreciative to see that we’re doing some work and we’re gonna expand on the spaces that was there from 30 to 45 and that we’re reusing space that was allocated for that originally.

So it’s very good work. I’ll look to committee for any other comments and I would recognize the deputy mayor has joined us. So just looking to committee first. Okay, visiting members.

Okay, let’s call the question. Supposing the vote, the motion carries five to zero. There is no delegations for these items on the consent, I apologize. Okay, so now we are on to scheduled items.

I have one and I have a delegation request. We don’t need a motion to receive or to approve the delegation ‘cause we did approve that at the last meeting but I have been informed that the delegates require an extra five minutes. So I would be looking to committee to expand if the delegation from five minutes to 10 moved by councilor Pribble, seconded by councilor McAllister. Let’s call the question for that.

Supposing the vote, the motion carries five to zero. Have your 10. So I do believe there’s two of you. So I’ll just give you the 10 and then just switch out when you’re ready.

So please first state your name. Hi, my name’s Megan Chufo. Hello, Megan, thank you and you have 10 minutes starting now. Okay, thank you.

Dear members of the community and protective services committee, thank you for this opportunity to speak but a very important issue facing frail and disabled tenants in London. Again, my name is Megan Chufo and I am the program coordinator at Lifespin. I’m happy to introduce one of our placement students, Andrea Smith from the social justice and peace studies program. Last semester, Andrea helped plan and run the first tenant support fair on March 22nd, 2024 here at City Hall where we had more than 100 attendees bring forward urgent needs such as pest infestations, inadequate maintenance and a lack of support for vulnerable populations.

I would now like to pass the floor to Andrea who would like to share our four recommendations to this committee, thank you. My name is Andrea Smith and the first recommendation is that the city of London adopt, coordinate and host the annual tenant support fair. The approved business case number 25, proactive municipal compliance, has introduced scheduled inspection blitzes by municipal law enforcement officers. Although proactive by nature, tenants still need additional support and a way to communicate with MLEOs in a transparent and consensual manner if they wish.

The event will also open the doors to tenants who have difficulties navigating how to properly report their complaints to enforcement, potentially increasing the awareness of buildings that should be of interest. With strong support from VHA home health care, the second recommendation is that business case P-15 hoarding extreme clean program be reconsidered for funding. It is evident that this is a vital program for a city’s most vulnerable. Suffering from a hoarding disorder or diogeny syndrome, also known as senior squalor syndrome should not be a ticket to homelessness.

This program helps people keep their housing. Additionally, to be free from vermin is covered in the property standards by law and at-risk tenants need treatment preparation support. Londoners who suffer from illnesses, economic hardship, seniors, people with disabilities and the frail who cannot physically prepare their units for vermin extermination need this service to turn to. Without the service, we risk increasing pest infestations, increase risk of house fires, negative health implications and homelessness.

This service does not only help those who are indirectly receiving it, but also protects their neighbors and surrounding properties. The third recommendation is that London’s property standards by law be strengthened and wording and transparency. This can be done by the addition of the requirement to seal the entry points between rental units and clearly defining what is considered an infestation. Further, adding an enforcement section that clearly outlines the systems of powers of entry, orders, appeals, failure to comply with an order, enforcement and offenses and penalties can increase transparency and compliance for both property owners and tenants.

It is also crucial for the online form to report a concern with your rental unit or building, be accessible and easy to find on the City of London website. This can be done by including it on the quick links on the main page. The fourth and final recommendation is that the City of London take a more proactive approach to dealing with pest infestations by implementing a public city-run pest control service. Infestations have been proven to negatively impact one’s mental health, confidence and quality of life.

Therefore, for vermin infestation should be viewed as a public health threat and addressed as such. The non-systemic approach of vermin treatment led by privately owned companies does not consider the circumstances of the tenant as financially draining, as ensures failure. A systemic city-run approach would improve the effectiveness of treatment through record keeping and accountability. Other municipalities such as Hamilton have taken steps towards this.

City Housing Hamilton has an internal pest control team that is qualified to identify and treat pest infestations within their housing units. London Middlesex Community Housing would benefit from a similar system. An example and a much needed component of this would be making the dryers free to use for those who are living in a London Community Housing Unit that is undergoing extermination treatment. As a pilot project, the London pest control service can be offered to low-income individuals, people with disabilities and London Middlesex Community Housing Residence.

At Lifespin, we recognize that poverty and its effects are systemic and must be treated as such. The reality for low-income tenants is that they face many barriers that prevent them from being able to reach their goals and desired quality of life. The continued abandonment of funding to people in vulnerable positions is a disservice to all. As more and more Londoners fall into poverty, we respectfully request these recommendations be taken into thoughtful consideration to protect those who need it most.

Thank you. Okay, thank you. I believe that is the end of the delegation just to confirm. Okay, you’re well within your extra five minutes.

Okay, I will look to committee. I do know that we have a motion on the floor, so I’m gonna look to Councillor Trussell. Sorry, there was a motion submitted, so I’m gonna look to Councillor Trussell. Yes, thank you very much to the chair.

A motion was submitted that addresses the four points that you raised. It was sent to the clerk this morning and it was sent to members of the committee. May I ask that it be brought up into eScribe? We can do that, just give us a second.

And Councillor, are you moving this motion? Yes, I am moving this motion, and I’m looking for a second. Okay, I can second that motion. Okay, the motion’s on eScribe for committee members.

Yes, chair like me to make my main argument now, perhaps reserving a moment. Yeah, Councillor, you can. Okay, well, first of all, I wanna thank Lifespin for the work that you’ve done on this. Not only the work that you’ve done on this, but the outstanding work that you’ve done over the last year in particular, especially the support fair.

This was a very successful program, and I think it bears repeating on an annual basis. And I think it does the city a lot of good when we open up City Hall and have our co-compliance officers there or available, along with other community partners, it’s really good. So the first part of my motion is to direct civic administration to work with you, Lifespin, and other organizations to facilitate, coordinate, and fund the support fair on an annual basis. Now, the second part of my motion responds to your discussion of community property standards.

I would like to get a report back to this committee. I’ve suggested the second quarter of 2025, but that’s certainly open to discussion with staff. But I would like to see some specific recommendations to enhance enforcement protocols within the city’s property standards, in particular, I would like to see, I’m calling for a municipal scan on property standards bylaws. In your report, you mentioned a few things in terms of cracks and holes between units.

I think these are routine things that could be looked at. If it’s not already in the property standards bylaw, it certainly should be put there. More problematic though, and I think where we have to have a broader discussion is we need to make it easier for tenants to access this service. There have been a lot of reports, and this came up quite a bit at the event, that there is some confusion in terms of how to access this.

And I think that we can very easily make this easier for tenants to understand what their rights are under the bylaws and file reports. The third point deals with the public extermination program. I’m not suggesting to the committee today that we enact this, but I am asking for a staff report. I want to investigate the feasibility of developing and funding a public extermination program with a focus on providing systematic oversight and resolution of persistent infestations, particularly in LMHC.

Now, we’ve received a number of complaints, a number of reports, press reports, that this is a persistent problem, and the idea of maybe stepping it up to have a public agency deal with this, at least merit some attention. I’ve not been any more directive in terms of trying to draft what that would look like, but I would like to see civic administration report back to us. And finally, the VHA Home Health Care and Extreme Clean Program be referred to the 2025 budget update. And I know that the issue of vermin affects special risks individuals, including the elderly, frail, people with disabilities who can’t physically prepare their homes for exterminating vermin.

It does no good to hire a pest control firm to come in and prepare the area if the tenants need help in order to do that. And along with that, we might want to consider making the dryers free for the period right before it, because it’s really important that people use that. I’m running out of time, so I think I’m just going to put that on the table, thank life spin again, and see what other members of this committee have to say. Thank you, Councillor.

Thank you for reading my mind. You were running out of time. Before I go to Councillor Pribble who’s next on the list, I wanted to know if I could go to the vice chair to take over the chair position, ‘cause I would like to make some remarks as well. So Pribble and then myself is on the list.

Hey, I’m presiding officer at the moment. I will recognize Councillor Pribble next, and then Councillor Ferra, and I am timing to your five minutes as always. Please proceed. Actually, I’ll give it to the chair to Councillor Ferra because he second this motion, so please go ahead, I’ll follow him after, thank you.

Granted, Councillor Ferra. Thank you, presiding officer. Well, first, I am the seconder of this motion, and I was happy to do that. I first wanna say the letter from Lifespin was very, very well written, very well thought out.

I like clear and concise writing, so I don’t have to thank too much while I’m reading it. The information is just present to me, so I do wanna call you out on that. And I can relate on my end on a council who receives a steady flow of cases that make this letter and this issue very relevant to me. I appreciate the constructive analysis, always, and a constructive analysis of city operations is always something that we’re looking to do.

And it’s accompanied by suggestions on what path we can bring forward, and it kind of just gives us a little more ease on how we can start, so I do appreciate that. The engagement at the tenant support fair reaffirms what I know for my day-to-day work, and that there are persistent issues that we have. And they are posing health risks, and they are affecting the quality of life. I hear that a lot, and mostly affecting people who, as the letter correctly stated, people who are on low income, elderly, and frail, living with disabilities, single parents, and children.

So all those individuals I have had communication with in my time sitting as a counselor in the last two years. And the special category individuals, when it comes to policymaking, is very important to me. And these are the people who showed up at the fair, so I’m not surprised. And what they’re asking for has several answers in this letter and these recommendations.

So, again, my thanks to you. When it comes to funding to be returned to the VHA Home Health Care and its Extreme Clean program, like I recognize that we need that, and that was something that I have in the past supported as well. So, you know, I recognize that people who cannot prepare the units themselves, they need that support. And not providing funding to services like this has an effect and impact on people beyond the unit as well.

So, this is a holistic thing. It has holistic consequences and not just from the individual unit by unit. For the property review standards and by-law to find ways to strengthen an improvement. Like I said, I think there’s always ways that individuals, that householders, that municipalities can do to enhance how we do things.

And if there are other municipalities, like, you know, what I saw in the letter by-laws from Waterloo that have, you know, as you suggested, sealing entry points for units or filling in vents or holes or cracks or anything like that, I think that’s a good move and it’s a good thing to look into. I think it would be worthwhile to do a municipal scan to see other options that may be available and see if we can apply that, if they apply here in the city. Which leads me to the extermination department. So, in my role, when it comes to requests for assistance with extermination, like I can only work case by case.

I can only work unit by unit, individual by individual. And I feel like, you know, I’m usually playing a whack-a-mole here. And I believe we have issues like this because we don’t have a systematic holistic approach, a proactive approach. So this is why you see me and have my name on this as a seconder because I do believe that maybe we can do better.

And, you know, people, in my experience, they reach out, they look for assistance, we send out the requests for cleaning or spraying, or sorry, spraying. And LMCH is very helpful on giving us that assistance. But, you know, we still have people coming back, the same people who are asking for the same thing again and again. So, it’s a matter of, you know, maybe we can look into, to just kind of refine things.

So, in addition to that and the quality of life and health issues that are associated with the issue, I feel like the administrative burden that also comes with that with a case-by-case look and a case-by-case action that we do it, may be, it’s a possibility it could be more expensive than if we had that progressive or that, you know, that enforcement approach or so that approach that can just kind of get ahead of things rather than catching up to them. So that’s why you see me— 30 seconds. As a seconder for this motion. So, I look forward to the committee’s discussion and I hope that this can be a recommendation that goes to council.

Mr. Chair, would you prefer getting chair back or for me to proceed with the speaker’s list? I can take it back. Okay, perfect.

It’s all yours and you have Councilor Pribble next, followed by Councilor McAllister then myself and then Deputy Mayor Lewis. Okay, hold on. Let me just write those extra ones down. So, I got Pribble, Councilor Pribble, Councillor Elosa.

Hadley’s next, so you got Councilor Pribble, McAllister, me, Deputy Mayor Lewis. And I have no idea who’s online. Okay, thank you. I’ll go to Councilor Pribble first.

Thank you and thank you Lifespin for your report and as well as all your involvement in the tenant support fair. I do believe it was beneficial. I attended myself and certainly it was beneficial for me. So thank you for doing that.

And I do hope that we will continue with such fairs and involvement in the future. I do have a few questions and I’m gonna start through the chair to the staff on page 39, which is the second page of the report at the bottom. It states it is difficult to navigate the path to report their concerns and with the drop down options and it has been requested for more than a year. Can you please comment on this request?

Thank you, Councillor. I’ll go to Mr. Colic. Yes, thank you for the question.

Through the chair, when we did the last on Nimbus review of the property standards by-law with the last council, one of the recommendations was to create a tenant landlord task force which Lifespin is a member of and a number of other agencies are also members. So we moved forward with the annual fair which we would support next year and moving forward. With respect to the placing plates through the internet, that was an issue that was brought up a couple of years ago. And so when we heard that it was difficult for the public to make complaints, we improved the portal.

So now it takes one click to get to the portal to make a complaint through to Service London. Simply, when you get on the city’s internet site, simply type in the word tenants. It takes you to the tenant information page and right on that page with one click, you can get into the portal. Thank you, Councillor Pripple.

Thank you, sir, the chair again to the staff. What is the proper process addressing operational issues currently in place? Thank you, Councillor. Mr.

Colic. Through the chair, as I mentioned, the tenant landlord task force, which was set up a few years back, is the proper location to bring up operational issues. In my professional opinion, we are always doing municipal scans, not only in Ontario, but throughout North America, if not globally, on how to do things differently, how to do things better. And currently within our property standards by-law, the issue of pests is addressed in four different sections.

But if there are any operational suggestions, then that would come through the tenant landlord task force. Thank you, Councillor. Thank you. As a councilor, if I do feel or sort of feedback from the residents that there is a certain issue, specific issue, and I relate it to our staff to you, what are the actions that you can take based on my feedback that I received from the residents?

Through the chair, we could always review our operational policies and procedures. Every complaint is unique, but specific to pest complaints, they represent approximately 1% of all complaints that we investigate. And we currently have two extermination companies that we work with. And these companies are at no cost to the taxpayer, because the cost when we use these extermination companies are forwarded to the property owner and landlord through our authority through the Building Code Act.

Thank you, Councillor. When I asked a similar question in the past, I was told that based on the request from the Councillors that we can also organize specific blitzes through a specific neighbourhood, specific area to address. And as far as I know, they have been successful. Can you please comment on that?

Yes, and through the chair, to implement Council’s strategic plan, we are taking a more proactive approach to property standard inspections. We are doing blitzes, particularly on Saturdays for multi-unit buildings. We did one approximately a month ago. We’re doing three this Saturday.

And this year we’ve done 19 of these blitzes so far. Thank you, Councillor. Thank you, and when I saw this motion come forward, I know when we discussed this before, there was a deadline December of this year, January next year, that our staff is actually gonna come back with proposals in terms of the bylaws addressing such issues. And when I saw this motion, I was surprised because actually this gives it a longer time than what we said originally.

Can you please explain to me if there’s any difference in the asks now and in the ask what we did ask before? Thank you. Thank you, Councillor, Mr. Catolic.

Yes, through the chair, the draft motion is under Roman numeral two, has a date of Q2 2025. We’re actually gonna be responding back to changes in the building code with respect to housing occupancy. And we have tentately looked at a report back of December this year or January next year because new regulations come into place in Q1 of 2025. So we’re coming back in those times.

Thank you, Councillor Permute. Thank you for that. And based on all the, thank you for all the answers based on what I heard. I will not be supporting this motion or I will wanna have it split certainly into the four different parts because what I’m hearing is that actually, I do wanna wait till December, January what our staff comes back with because potentially it will be already addressed and we are actually giving you a longer deadline.

So I don’t wanna do that. I will stick to the original one and I will not be supporting this motion. Thank you for all the answers. Thank you, Councillor.

I just spoke with the clerk. She can split the vote. And also if you can, everybody can refresh their screens ‘cause the numbering has changed a little bit. No material changes to the motion, just the numbering.

I have Councillor McCallister next. Thank you through the chair. Appreciate the delegation from Lifespin. I’ve heard this from a lot of my constituents.

I also sit on the board of London Middlesex Community Housing with the Deputy Mayor. So I hear these concerns a lot. Appreciate the motion in terms of what it’s asking for. These are things I also hear are a fair bit.

And I just do wanna call attention to the last component I think is incredibly important during the multi-year budget process. I supported the extreme clean program. I think it’s something that’s an invaluable resource for our tenants who need this added assistance. I know some of my colleagues disagreed with me on that.

Unfortunately that didn’t pass. But I wanna reiterate my support for that because personally without that last component, I think the difficulty, especially with looking at the extermination component of this, especially with the public extermination program is we need those added resources in terms of helping our residents be able to prepare their units for extermination and just to provide some context in terms of community housing, what we hear a lot. It’s just unfortunate that we don’t have those resources to be able to prepare all these units. We do have pest problems, 100%.

That’s not being contested at all. It’s brought up a fair bit. It’s something we struggle with all the time. And I see it from the board perspective.

It is something we have devoted a lot of time and effort to. So I want everyone to be aware that this is not something that we brush aside. We take it very seriously and we have taken steps to deal with it. But what we’re seeing, it’s not unlike what you see elsewhere.

Like someone who has been attended myself and dealt with infestations. What ends up happening is, you know, I’d spend the time, I’d prepare my unit and unfortunately it just returns because you don’t necessarily have the best extermination program implemented. Typically you’ll have a few units that weren’t prepared and then essentially all of your efforts were for nothing. And that’s really what I see a lot of the frustration come from is that we don’t do a building wide approach.

It’s typically we target a few units and really it doesn’t create the long lasting impact we want where it’s eradication and not just a band-aid solution. So I think a lot of what this motion is asking for are things that I’m very supportive of. I’d like to see the report as well. I think the pilot project’s interesting but one of the things I would say, please work with community housing.

We are aware of this problem. It’s something that we deal with and we’re more than happy to work with the city on this. But I just want everyone to be aware, committee, when this goes to council, I’ll reiterate this. But this is not something that has come out of the blue.

We spend a lot of time on this and I take it very seriously. But I do think we need those added resources. I think the deputy mayor, I’m just from recalling what he said when we have these budget deliberations is probably gonna say that we shouldn’t backfill for the province, which I entirely agree with. But we are in a situation where we do need to do something.

So I’m comfortable with that. I think some of my colleagues might disagree but I think we need these added supports to help the tenants to be able to live comfortably and safely in their units. So I’m willing to support this. I’m sure we’ll have a discussion here and I’m sure at council there’ll be a larger discussion about this but I think these are vitally important things that we need and so I’m willing to support this.

Thank you, Councillor. I have Councillor Palosa next. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

And as this was a delegation today, are they still available and procedurally in order to answer a question? It might be a determination of the chair. So I will allow— Well, through you, if you don’t like my question, feel free to stop me. But if Megan was willing to answer, just, and A1, it was great that you had such a great turnout at City Hall last time and this motion specifically says a site of City Hall going forward, looking to see if that’s your preference or another site might be more indicative of getting a better turnout or being closer and more accessible.

You just don’t want to put it at City Hall and legislate that if that’s not actually what’s best for the residents. Thank you, Councillor. I will look to the delegate to respond. Okay, thank you for the question.

I think we would prefer City Hall. We think it’s great to get and see it as an accessible place where they can come with concern. So if possible, here would be great. Thank you.

Perfect, thank you. That was my only badgering question for you. So thank you for that. My next question, or I guess really a comment on A2, I won’t be supporting that as I prefer the reports sooner than later.

So through you, Mr. Chair, I am going to ask that all items of this motion be called individually. I think that helps break it up as well too for Council that it’s already separated in the easier to follow for the mayor when he chairs that. In regards to A3, as it specifically says LMCH, I’m assuming that LMCH has past control services contracted, just through you to maybe the lucky Mr.

Mathers or whichever staff person’s adequate just to speak to that. Thank you, Councillor. I will look to staff to respond. Mr.

Catolek, I believe. Through the Chair, I can speak for municipal compliance. We do have two extermination companies on contract, but these are to enforce the property standards by law not specific to public housing. Thank you.

And I will go back to Councillor Posa. My question was specifically about LMCH if they have past control services. If it’s no one, if not, I would like to know that information for Council. Okay, I’ll look to Mr.

Mathers. Yep, through the Chair. So I’m absolutely happy to provide that for Council. We’ll call contact LMCH and get some bad information.

Thank you, Councillor. As they’ve waived and indicated, and Deputy Mayor Lewis is on that board, he indicated he might have an answer. If that’s okay through you. Thank you, Councillor, it is.

Deputy Mayor. Yes, Mr. Chair, so I’ll reserve my commentary on the pilot suggestion itself to my turn to speak, but I will say absolutely not only does LMCH have pest control on contract, it is actually a new contract with a new pest control service provider that was tendered through an RFP process and approved by the board earlier this year. And actually increases the amount of pest control treatments available to LMCH sites.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor, Councillor. Thank you for that information as it pertains to our delegation today. My final one is on part B in regards to this extreme clean program being referred to the budget cycle as the City of London’s budget chair, would just be a suggestion that you put the business case number in. PU 15 just helps Councillors follow along, realizing it was a close vote through the MYB.

And looking at the timeline, just through you to staff if I could, just for everyone’s on the same page as is a different process, that today this committee will make a recommendation one way or another, but the mayor’s budget comes out on the 29th and this doesn’t go to council until November 5th. And there’s a public participation meeting on the 19th prior to our deliberations on November 21st. So through you to staff, if this passes and goes to council, would we see it as an item for direction on the agenda at the PPM on the 19th? Just wondering where that would hit.

Thank you, Councillor. I will look to staff, Mr. Mathers. Through the chair.

So we’ll add to our 2D list to get back to you so that we’ll get you some information from finance just to provide the direction on where this would go and that appropriate manner to do that. Thank you, Mr. Mathers. And also I heard from the council, you were wondering about the business case number.

So I would assume it would be the same business case, but I can look to committee or staff to see if we can answer that question. Your mover nodded that he’d be okay just putting in P15 just helps tie it back ‘cause staff would really need to attach the original MYB case to this, just administratively everyone’s on the same page. Thank you, Councillor. So for the business case number, the clerk is just inquiring so she can craft the motion correctly.

That’s for part B only. Yeah, just, sir. I just wanted to say some suggested wording. So what the clerk is indicating is that we could change part B and I will look to the mover before anything, but before we do that, part B, the request for funding for the VHA home health care and its extreme clean program be referred to the budget committee for consideration in the 2025 budget update as per business case, P15 in the 2024 to 2027 multi-year budget.

Councillor Trussell, as a mover, are you okay with that language? Okay, I’ll ask you to recycle your eScribe in just a second. Okay, that should be up now. Councillor Palosa, just to get to confirmation for me on the language.

Thank you, Budget Chair, okay. I have Deputy Mayor Lewis next on the list. Thank you, Chair, and so through you, I guess I’ll startle. Sorry, Deputy Mayor, Councillor Palosa, my apologies.

Okay, sorry, just one more thing, just Ms. Barbara and the City Treasurer’s writing, that just for committee knows that even it could be referred to the budget process that someone at the committee would still need to move that we do it, that it’s not automatically on the floor that you’re gonna need to be prepared and just for our presenters today, as it is a different process with budget and how it goes that come the public participation meeting regardless of council’s consideration on November 5th, you are still welcome to show up or send letters to say why this matters and go through that public process as someone on council could still move that at any time that we go back and revisit this conversation, just for everyone. There’s many different doors when it comes to budget. Thank you.

Appreciate that very much. Thank you, Budget Chair and Councillor Palosa, apologies, Deputy Mayor Lewis. You have five minutes starting now. No problem, Mr.

Chair, always happy to allow the Budget Chair to speak a little bit more about the budget process and that’s going to be where I’m gonna pick off or pick up from is at this point, frankly, in my opinion, it’s too late for committees to be referring things to the budget process. Individual Councillors need to do the legwork to bring forward budget business cases that they wanna put on the floor, but I will not be supporting the Extreme Clean Program to begin with and Councillor McAllister already touched on it. We provided some funding extension when the province ended the funding for this and I think it is disingenuous for individuals in the community to continue to refer to this as a City Council budget cut. It was not a cut.

The province ended the program. The city chose not to backfill a provincial cut and I will not support backfilling any more provincial cuts period. So I will not be supporting that. It is time for our local MPPs to put motions on the floor to lobby for this at Queens Park and for folks to stop asking the city to do our MPPs jobs.

When it comes to the service fair, I can fully support that. I’m glad to hear that staff already anticipated participating in that. I think it’s helpful to get good information to people. Like Councillor Per beau, I can absolutely not support an extension and doing yet another municipal scan.

As Mr. Catullick said, first of all, that process should come through the task force of which lifespan is a member. We shouldn’t be reacting to one member’s request. There are multiple members of this task force and to simply provide a direction that has not come from the task force because one member organization wants it is not only not something I will support, but this is what happens when we also don’t take the time to cross reference with our staff in that there is already a report coming back either in December or in January to changes that are going to be recommended to address occupancy standards in the property standards by-law.

I am more than happy to receive that report from staff when they bring it forward at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. I don’t need further direction for them to go forward and actually extend the cycle out even further. But the most problematic item for me in this motion, and again, with all due respect, because an organization brings forward a concern that doesn’t put it incumbent upon us to accept and react to it. Finding a public extermination program pilot.

First of all, let’s be honest about the fact that we do not have in-house expertise, nor do we have the resources to expand to an in-house expertise to have all of the, that goes along with having a unionized workforce, occupational health and safety standards, WSIB standards, women’s training, all of those things that go into managing the pest control sprays that are required. There is a reason that organizations contract this workout to professionals who are accredited and trained in this work and do it every single day. And I’ve already alluded to in Councillor Palazzo’s question with respect to the motion, particularly singling out London and Middlesex Community Housing, London Community Middlesex Housing. And I want to emphasize the Middlesex, because the city is not the only partner in this, so is Middlesex County.

And zero discussion happened between LMCH and members of this committee, or zero discussion between LMCH and Lifespin, with regard to the changes that we’ve most recently made to the contracts for pest control management and how we do that. And in May, this council was advised by Councillor McAllister and myself, not only through a communication on the public agenda, that we shared through the public reporting of the LMCH Board on the Integrated Pest Management Updates, including the challenges we are facing with non-compliance. And I know that there are individuals who like to say you’re blaming the tenant, but when a tenant refuses entry to us to complete a pest spray, that is a compliance issue. So if we want to pursue this route, I will tell you that my initial reaction is that LMCH is going to have to start looking more seriously at more N5 eviction notices for failure to comply with proper behavioral codes.

So for me, this is absolutely a non-starter. Read the board reports from LMCH, you’ll see the work that is going on. As Councillor McAllister has indicated, we are taking this seriously, we are taking action, but going to a public unionized new division of the city is not the way we’re going to solve this problem. Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

And I will point out the clerk mentioned to me that she has broken out the vote into not only A, B, and C and D, I believe, but we’ve also broken it to AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, AI, N, B, and then the being noted. So everything is broken down for your vote. Councillor Trussell, you have 30 seconds left. Well, I’ll try to use my 30 seconds, but I’m going to ask for an extension because I think there are a couple of points I need to respond to.

I don’t know if I can do that in 30 seconds. First of all, we’re also asking for looking at enforcement protocols. And if that’s included in the December report, that’s fine. We can also remove Q2.

But I think the bigger question here is, we can’t evict their way out of this problem. And we can’t blame individual tenants if they don’t have the ability physically, physically, as a matter of their health, to be able to do this. May I ask for another two minutes? I’ll look to committee to grant another two minutes.

Moved by Councillor Pribble, seconded by Councillor Palosa. Let’s go to the vote. Let’s see the vote, the motion carries, five to zero. Councillor Trussell, you have two minutes.

May I ask staff if the report that’s coming back in December includes enforcement protocols? Thank you, Councillor, to Mr. Kacolek. Through the chair, no.

The focus is on housing occupancy and new regulations under the building code. Thank you, Councillor. Thank you very much, in which case I maintain that the motion as we drafted is not redundant and does that a new element. And I’m certainly fine to take out Q2 and escalate that if we can do that.

But I don’t think it’s grounds to defeat this because of the new language in there about enforcement protocols, which is really a big problem. But I think fundamentally, we’re gonna have a robust discussion at City Council about whether or not to revisit P15. And that’s gonna happen. And I’m prepared to move that.

And I know that members of the public are gonna wanna come and address that. I think giving people advance notice right now that we wanna refer this to that is fine. There’s nothing wrong with doing that. So I’m gonna ask members of this committee to support this motion in its entirety.

And I will be asking Council to do the same. Thank you very much. Thank you, Councillor. Looking to committee, most of you have eaten up most of your time, but I will look, one last look to committee for the comments.

Councillor McAllister, you have a minute 28. Thank you. Through the chair, I always hold on to a bit of time, just to wrap over a conversation. For me, I also wanna see the enforcement side of it.

I think it is material different, so I’m happy to see that. Also happy if we wanna take out Q2, it’s fine. In terms of the portion about the public extermination program, what I’ve witnessed through being on the board, community housing is whether it’s public or private, you do typically run into the same issues with just the units themselves. And that’s why I do think we need that last part of this motion, ‘cause without that budget case, it does make the challenge even greater.

So I just wanna remind everyone of that. So whether it is a public or a private exterminator, that the real challenge is the kind of quality of the work itself. And so I want it to be clear that I personally am interested in seeing a feasibility study because I would like a comparative analysis between what the public and the private sector can actually provide. So that’s what I’m looking for in a report like that.

We’re not agreeing to go forward with anything right now, but I personally would like to see a comparative analysis between what we could provide and what the private sector can because we have had a number of contracts, like I’ll be clear, like this is not a one and done kind of operation when it comes to pest control. There are a number of providers out there and some of them do better work than others, right? So I personally wanna see that report. I think it’s important to have LMCH at the table.

So again, I wanna reiterate, this is a conversation we need to have with them. I’m happy to bring that to the board, but I’m curious to see what these reports would be. Thanks. Thank you, Councillor.

I’ll let you go over about 10 seconds on that one. I will look to Deputy Mayor Lewis. You ran out of time, so I’m gonna look to committee for an extension, how much do you— So I just wanna provide a point of order, I think, because it was stated that and if I misheard, I will withdraw that, but I heard it stated that LMCH tenants cannot prepare their units without the extreme clean program. But in fact, LMCH continues to provide tenant prep support services.

We match the tenants up depending on senior person with a mobility challenge, other things like that. With an appropriate prep service provider, the extreme clean program is not prohibiting LMCH from providing tenants with prep support for their units. I believe that would be a point of privilege. Okay, are you looking for me to look to committee or are you good with the statement?

Okay. So I am just looking one last time to members of committee, non-visiting members, none. All right, let’s call the question. And we’ll be calling that piece by piece.

So the first that’s coming up would be AI. Closing the vote, the motion carries. Okay, thank you, next would be AI. Closing the vote, the motion carries three to two.

Okay, next step, AI, AI. Closing the vote, the motion carries three to two. Next up is B. Closing the vote, the motion carries four to one.

Okay, last is the it being noted clause. The last portion was the it being noted that the community protective services committee received a communication from Lifespin entitled property standards and tenant support and heard a delegation. Closing the vote, the motion carries five to zero. Okay, thank you.

That moves us two items for direction. I have one item that was on the agenda and we did poll 2.1 after that. So I will look to Councillor Palosa and Deputy Mayor Lewis, Councillor Palosa. Thank you, Mr.

Chair. I’ll be moving this. Deputy Mayor will also speak to it though unable to second it. So there is an opportunity for a seconder here.

Just realizing as the rest of colleagues wouldn’t have been here through this. Just throughout the pandemic, operations of concession stands changed to evolve some service providers fell off. And we believe it’s a good time to go back and review what facilities have for offerings of food services and technology has also changed. And hopefully rejuvenate and open up these offerings again for adequate hours waiting to serve not only Londoners, but visitors coming from abroad as well to use our amazing city facilities.

We have worked on crafting this motion in conjunction with the clerks and staff. So the motion reads that civic administration be directed to initiate a review of current arena concession operations and repart back in Q1 2025 on the current operations across city arenas pertaining to food and beverage concessions, including revenue, current vendors, and weekly hours of operation. Thank you, Budget Chair. Looking for a seconder.

Seconded by Councillor Pribble. Let’s look to committee. I have Councillor Trussello first. My question is for the maker, mover of the motion.

Would this be an appropriate time to talk about the desirability of having healthier options and saying that explicit? I know there was a discussion about the different methods of making, I don’t know what you’re gonna put in the air fryer, but sounds meaty and it sounds crispy. Is there some possibility of discussing vegetarian vegan healthy options here? Thank you, Councillor.

I will look to the mover. Yeah, I believe that was also on staff’s radar, just as they went out to the industry and looked to see who is operating, who’s interested in partnering with us to bring that information back of what offerings they might have, and if we were able to change or enhance something in the city arena concessions, what it might open up as well of potential, realizing some of them are aged. But perhaps Ms. Smith could also chime in on that to help inform the Councillor’s decision.

Thank you, Councillor. I did not mark that as your time for your answer. I’ll go to Ms. Smith.

Thank you. Chair, we’d be happy to take that in consideration. It’s similar what we do on our vending machines over the years. We look to a number of alternatives, healthy, sugar-free alternatives, for example.

So there’s a wider range of variety of food and beverages for individuals. So for sure, we’ll take that into consideration. Thank you, Councillor. Yeah, thank you, thank you for that.

I’m wondering, would it be just for the record and for clarity and for public consumption, if you get the, could we specifically add just a little clause saying, including, including healthy and sugar-free options? Thank you, Councillor. I’ll look to the mover for guidance on that. If the Councillor wants it in, perhaps it’s easiest way just to be adding in what kind of a variety of offerings.

If you had specific wording, that’s fine. Like, I know, staff’s gonna look at it anyways once they come back with what vendors might even be interested in partnering with us. Deputy Mayor, if you had a— Hold on, before I go to the Deputy Mayor, I just, if there is going to be a change, I do wanna look at the seconder before anything, just to see if the seconder is okay. I’m fine, if you wanted to add it in and are looking at current operations across city, arenas pertain to food and beverage concessions.

If person wanna put, you know, including food offerings, of like type of food offerings. Councillor, I’ll recognize you when I, I’m looking for a speaker, I’m gonna go to Ms. Smith. Through the chair, thank you.

And perhaps we, helpful, perhaps we could say that current operations across city arenas pertaining to food and beverage and just in bracket, including healthy options concessions are, including revenue, current vendors, and weekly hours of operation. So if we look at including healthy options, that would look at a variety of food items, sugar, sugar-free, vegan, et cetera. Thank you, Ms. Smith.

I’m fine with that. Seconder, are you okay with those amendments? Yeah? Okay.

I will look to Councillor Palosa ‘cause you are still speaking. And then, okay, I’m gonna look to the deputy mayor. Thank you chair. And yes, I’m okay if we have in brackets, healthy options.

But I think we need to be cautious about getting overly prescriptive at this stage. The staff review may actually come back and just say that it’s not feasible to reopen some of these spaces. I, as somebody, well, Councillor Palose and I both frequent a lot of our city arenas ‘cause we have hockey obligations outside of our chambers here. A number of these places have been shuttered since, or even in a couple of cases, I think, before COVID, because there was a lack of interest from operators to even move forward.

Now, granted, and the reference to air fryers was included because in some cases, a facility that lacked a deep fryer and so couldn’t do french fries, was just no longer viable for an operator to run the vending machines became a better option. It was just easier because there were no personnel costs. So I’m not sure even in a review of this coming back, there will be an option to move forward with some of them. I would love, and I’ve had this discussion with staff too, I’d love for us to be able to include the opportunity to work with community organizations.

But unfortunately, as folks move through a system and kids age out of a sport or a leadership change at a board level happens and the interest wanes in terms of spending Saturdays at an arena selling apples and hot dogs for the scouts, then the space becomes dead and inactive again. And so the chain of continuity matters here too. And so I wanna give staff the opportunity to just be very flexible. Come back to us with where things are right now, what might be possible.

But also I hope, and I’ll say this publicly, I know I’ve shared it with Mr. McDonald privately, I also want them to be blunt that if it’s not viable, tell us it’s not viable. But we do have, as the season starts, lots of visitors coming into town, and I’m happy to have, you know, we had a game against Kitchener yesterday, my team, I’m happy to have Kitchener family spend some of their money at City of London facilities while they’re here, where the opportunity presents itself. But I know that that’s not going to be in every space and place.

And so I do want staff to have the flexibility to also tell us this won’t work at this site. So just wanted to get that out there on the record. Thank you Deputy Mayor. Would you like me to look to staff to answer that question?

Smith? Thank you. And this motion is actually very good timing because currently we are just in the process of developing an expression of interest because as the Deputy Mayor articulated, one of the key is, are there actually individuals, organizations or services out there even interested in the concession business at City Arena? So we will do the review of what’s outlined in the motion, but at the same time, we have to look out and see, is there anybody actually interested in overseeing any of our concessions?

Thank you. Thank you. Deputy Mayor, are you good? Okay, I have Councilor Pribble next.

Just a comment, of course, as a seconder, I already said, including the healthy options to be included there, to be there. I do think this is a great initiative and as Ms. Smith said, it’s gonna be actually, I think that potentially the health options is gonna be kind of, we gotta have first people who are interested to run it and then we can actually talk to the details such those. But thank you and I think this is a great initiative and I’ll be supporting it now and at the Council as well.

Thank you. Thank you, Councilor, looking to committee for any further questions or comments? Visiting members, okay, let’s call the question. Supposing the vote, the motion carries five to zero.

Okay, that leaves us with the pulled item from consent. That’s 2.1 from the 10th report of the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee. I pulled this, I guess maybe I should, should I hand this over to the chair or, okay, or sorry, vice chair, you mind taking this chair? Yeah, as we have now resulted back to consent, item 2.1 being the 10th report of the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee, Councilor for ask for the speak pulled and has alternate wording that he has prepared.

I will go to him first to introduce his motion and then he’ll be with the first speaker. Thank you, Councilor. So sorry, I didn’t submit this earlier. I was just speaking with the clerk on it this morning.

This is with regards to the $400 tablecloth. I did start asking to see if there is other possibilities that may be available instead of the $400 purchase. And I did hear from staff that there could be tablecloths borrowed from comms or there are some other possibilities there. So I’m not saying no to this.

I just would like maybe the community advisory committee to look into options that they were unaware of. So this motion, I guess if the clerk can put it up is basically asking the advisory committee to consult with staff to see other options for tablecloths and visit them. So if you just check your eScribe screen like that, I would be looking for a seconder. I’m not sure if it would help be helpful as well.

If staff knew what was so unique about this tablecloth that was $400 or if it’s just really a bunch of tablecloths, if staff know or councilor, if you know, just to help run out the conversation, then we can go to the other speakers in the seconder. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I did reach out to the community advisory committee and I asked them about what would be unique about the tablecloth. I did hear that there would be some logos printed on it.

And I believe maybe the logo for the Animal Welfare Community Advisory Committee itself. But just because we do have those options available staff, I figured we should probably explore those options before commencing with the purchase. If that answers your question. Councilor Pribble, was that a second or a question?

I should know, I have a comment towards this. I should attend this meeting and there was a concern from other committee members as well. But in terms of the quality and the way it is done, supposedly this price, unless our staff knows otherwise, is the price going, it is within their budget, by the way. And I was gonna mention one more thing and I forgot.

And because of the quality, they truly believe that this is gonna last over many, many, many years. And they wanted to look professional with the logos, not just kind of, not just looking really presentable to all the fairs they go to. And I just wanna make sure it is within their budget. They actually have quite a bit of more budget in their committee.

And as far as I know, it’s not that they should be wasting the money, don’t get me wrong. But this money is for this year’s budget as well. And they really felt the committee that this will represent them very well when they go to all the fairs, et cetera. So this is for the feedback from the committee, advisory committee, thank you.

So Farrah. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I just wanted to respond to that. This motion is not saying no to that.

I was just made aware that they were unaware of the alternate options that they may have for a tablecloth. So I just wanted to send this back to the committee, make them aware that there are other options. And then just to have all of, I guess, the options on the table to weigh out on how to progress. So that’s what this motion is doing.

Okay, just a question, verbiage-wise, ‘cause it was just part B that you changed, such as borrowing from the communication department. Maybe our communications department could even give them one that they had. I’m not sure I’m actually a table, okay. I am just tracking everyone’s time since we go.

Councilor Tross, I was next in the speaker’s list. I have no objection to these changes, but I just wanna make sure that this will go to council, and then it’ll get reported back to the committee, and the committee will have to have another meeting and look at this, which will have to come into this committee, which will then have to come to council, and they are looking at a hard deadline, advisory committees look at a hard deadline of December 31st for expenditures, and the clerk can correct me if I’m wrong. Will there be time to fix this? Yeah, this would go to the November 5th committee meeting, which would then, any direction, would go to the animal welfare community advisory committee.

Along the way, I’m sure they’re very aware of our comments here, but to the committee clerk. Through the acting chair, this would go to council November 5th, and a resolution letter would be sent out the following day on November 6th, and that is also the added deadline for the next animal welfare advisory committee, so there would be notification for their November meeting that they needed to look into this, in which case they would have time to work on it in November and December. Okay, so time-wise, it does sound like they would have notification in time to still have any action in response to us in regards to their year-end deadline for budgetary considerations and spending. To the committee clerk, I assume they’re on the same annual spending we are as December 31st as their annual year-end budget before it recommences.

Through the acting chair, the advisory committees need to be in possession of their purchased materials by the end of the year, so it would be required that they would actually have the tablecloth by the end of the year. Through you to staff for anyone in this room, do we know what the turnaround of printing and delivery time is of a custom-made tablecloth that might already be too late? I’m just, like if we give them the approval November 5th, like I know they have extra money, which is great, sounds like they might have extra money and extra and they could start with this. I don’t know if staff may or may not know, I don’t know what the turnaround time is.

I don’t know if it makes a conversation any different of germane information, Councilor Ferra. Thank you, Presiding Officer, that was good information. I don’t want to, I don’t feel like that turnaround time would work, I feel like that would be too tight. I don’t know for sure, though.

In that case, I may be withdrawing this motion. I don’t want to take away the advisory committee’s ability to get the tablecloth, but I will look to committee to see what discussion is. Okay, I will note that even if we approve this spending on November 4th, or second committee, November 5th, that depend on the turnaround time it might already be too late for this year, but I did see visiting Councilor Dipping-Mary Lewis with his hand up. Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer.

So I’m gonna be straight up about it from the start. I will not be supporting $400 for a tablecloth. Logos change over time. So whether the tablecloth lasts two years or 10 years, the logo could change in six months.

I certainly don’t recall as a council ever approving advisory committees creating their own logos, frankly. And so I’m not sure where the logo’s even come from, which raises a whole other question for me. But colleagues can see these pull up banners behind us here in chambers. You can get one of these made for 300 bucks in two weeks.

And we want to spend $400 on a tablecloth. That is actually, to me, the exact kind of approach, because we have a budget, we need to spend it, that frustrates members of the public at budget time, and I will absolutely not be supporting $400 for a tablecloth. Thank you, Councillor Pribble was next in the speakers list, and you’ve used up one minute so far. Thank you, one thing is that I want to mention, and I think that we should be then clear to the advisory committees, because there are some, and I tend some other ones that they make within their budget, their decisions, and we actually don’t even see it.

So I just wanna, we should clarify this with advisory committees. If it’s within their budget, if it needs to come, because potentially from other advisory committees, we wouldn’t even see this, and they would just make that decision. So I think that we should be again, when we are talking about, and I know we talked about it in the government’s working group, if this is the approach we are gonna take, which I’m not saying it’s right wrong, but again, we should be very clear to the advisory committees, what is our expectations, even if it’s within their budgets. Thank you.

Thank you, I took those more as comments, unless you were verifying with staff that there is money available. So that was just comments. So it was just common because it is within their budget, this amount is within their budget. That’s, thank you.

Thank you, the clerk has also noted that there’s no seconder right now for this, which is okay. Just it was a different unique one, so I was allowing more of a conversation to get to where we need to go. Councilor Troso, there was a hand, there wasn’t a hand, would you like the floor? Just to say that the advisory committees are aware, very well aware of what the rules are, and what’s within their budget, and what they’re allowed to do.

And yes, even if the amount is within their budget, it still needs to come through council for approval. And I think what typically happens is, we see this sort of backup at the end of the year. This is not something that is unique to this committee. But it is within their budget, but it does have to come to council for approval, and they have to have the material in hand by the end of the year, and they are not allowed to carry over budgets from one year to the next.

So essentially, those are, that’s what the committee is dealing with. That’s what every committee is dealing with. Hey, so this was moved by Councilor Ferreira. I will second it, since we’ve already discussed it, we might as well have it as part of the record going forward to council.

Looking to see if there’s other speakers in chambers, I don’t see any, and I’m not sure if anyone’s online, I can’t see that, there’s nobody online. Are we fine voting this on a block, or did someone want it separated out? Just before I call the question, making sure it’s organized, Councilor Travsau? I’m just very confused now.

If I want to revert back to the original recommendation, would I vote this down? Okay, thank you. Yeah, we can certainly call A and C together, and then do B separate, and then if it fails, you can put the original recommendation back on the floor. So I will ask the committee clerk to call A and C together.

Okay, we’ll leave it as a chunk, and if you don’t like it, you can vote it all down and then come up with another recommendation of the original one. Is the clerk ready? Okay, so calling the question on A, B and C as one block, building the vote, the motion carries three to two. Okay, that concludes our consent items.

I will return the chair to Councilor Ferrer, recognizing I believe we do have one confidential item. Thank you, Vice Chair. That is it for items for direction. We are next to this deferred matters of the traditional business I have done, and then confidential items.

We have one, it’s a matter for land acquisition, disposition, solicitor client privilege, trade secret scientific, technical, commercial financial information of the corporation with monetary or potential monetary value, position, plan, procedure, criteria, or instruction for negotiation. It’s a matter pertaining to the proposed or pending lease of land by the municipality, including communications necessary for that purpose, advice that is subject to solicitor client privilege, commercial and financial information that belongs to the municipality, and has monetary value or potential monetary value, and a position, plan, procedure, criteria, or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on, or to be carried on by, or on behalf of the municipality. So I’ll look to committee to move into confidential session, moved by Councillor McCallister, seconded by Councillor Palosa, and we’ll call the vote. Councillor Palose, yes, thank you.

Supposing the vote, the motion carries five to zero. Okay, we are back from closed session. I will look to the vice chair to report out. Thank you, Mr.

Chair, reporting out from confidential session. In regards to item 6.1 on the public agenda, a matter pertaining to the proposed or pending lease of land by the municipality, that progress was made. Thank you, vice chair. Okay, that leaves us with adjournment.

So, motion to adjourn. Moved by Councillor Pribbles, seconded by Councillor McCallister. This is a hand vote, all those in favor? All those opposed?

We’re adjourned.