Member of Essex County council questions meeting procedure

A bit of an unexpected curve ball came down on Essex County Council last week and it was one which Lakeshore Mayor Tracey Bailey hopes does not happen again.

During its regular meeting, Brent Klundert and Norbert Bolger, representing the Windsor-Essex Home Builders’ Association were welcomed as delegates to speak on a notice of motion put forth by Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers.

Rogers’ notice of motion was requesting county administration to bring back a report on to whom developers should be paying their fees to – the county, or the individual municipalities.

In an unprecedented move, Klundert asked that Rogers be able to speak as part of the delegation.

“We’ve had some good conversations this week. The goal is, how do we move forward? The spirit of this motion is to get conversation going and the goal is to eliminate layers,” said Rogers.

The association was before council, opposing the motion by Rogers which would have resulted in the individual municipalities having the authority to authorize subdivision agreements instead of the current way in which the county has that responsibility.

“What we have done historically isn’t how we should move forward,” said Rogers.

Prior to addressing council as part of the association’s delegation, Warden Hilda MacDonald asked clerk Katherine Hebert if the request to have Rogers speak on his motion was in fact, procedurally acceptable.

At the conclusion of his remarks, Rogers withdrew his notice of motion which came as a surprise to Bailey who called what had transpired, “a bumpy approach.”

“I think it’s ill practicing. It’s an inappropriate process,” said Bailey. 

Bailey wanted the process to be more streamlined in the future and council meetings to run better.

“The negotiation that just occurred in public is bumpy and odd.” 

While no other county councillors addressed what had occurred, Klundert did indicate that the Association was against Rogers ‘motion of having the responsibility of development being taken out of the hands of the county and give to the lower tier municipalities.

“We are looking for a consistent approach from all the municipalities and the county included. We want to work together at the county level,” said Klundert.

In their written presentation to council, which was not spoken about, the Windsor-Essex Home Builders’ Association noted that by delegating approval authority for development to individual municipalities, it could create inconsistencies in process and timelines which would slow down development and increase administrative burdens.

MacDonald was relieved that the association and Rogers had come to an agreement.

“It’s good to get things resolved without fireworks and explosions,” she said.

Member of Essex County council questions meeting procedure

By Fred Groves