Owen Sound Council Agenda: Monday Jan 29, 2024

See what's on the agenda and read up on the issues ahead of Monday's meeting

Owen Sound City Council meets Monday, January 29, with open session beginning at 5:30pm in council chambers. You can view the meeting via Rogers TV or the City’s Council and Committees webpage.

Community engagement and consultation have been hot-button issues for the City. We ran a poll ahead of the Jan 15 council meeting, and here’s what you said:

There are three opportunities to provide input at this week’s council meeting:

1. The ‘Comments from the Public’ portion of the 2024 Budget Public Meeting, which is happening inside the regular meeting.

2. Public Question Period. Your question can include a brief introductory statement for background, and questions are limited to a time period of five (5) minutes. You must give your name and the municipality you reside in before speaking.

3. If you cannot attend the meeting and ask a question in person, you can submit it to the City Clerk a minimum of 24 hours before the meeting.

Highlights:

Keep reading for an in-depth look at what’s on the agenda, with links to reports and correspondence so you can learn more about the issues that matter to you.

• The City has given notice of its Public Meeting on January 29, 2024, and intent to pass a by-law to adopt the 2024 Budget on February 26, 2024. If you want to have your say on the budget, this is your chance.

• Interestingly, the Director of Corporate Services has included a note in her Budget Presentation that “the City practices zero-based budgeting principles in developing the annual operating budget.” The City has not responded to Jim Hutton’s repeated calls for zero-based budgeting (nor have they discussed his detailed research report in open session) – but someone’s clearly read his report.

• The City will replace the 17th Street East sanitary sewer from 16th Avenue East to 18th Avenue East after two recent collapses. The lowest compliant bid was awarded the tender for $377,387.14.

• The Grey Sauble Conservation Authority approved a levy of $1,724,165.59 and a budget of $4,247,593 for 2024.

• Miller Waste has asked the City for $21,000 to help cover operating costs after negotiations between Miller Waste and Circular Materials failed. Miller Waste must now transport recycling collected in Owen Sound to its Pickering facilities monthly, which they say has significantly increased costs. City staff intend to approach Meaford and Georgian Bluffs to discuss cost-sharing.

• Councilor Jon Farmer will ask the rest of council to approve a Townhall Meeting to be held in October 2024.