Council Meeting Agenda
Regular Council Meeting

THAT Report PFRS 2022-024 be received for information purposes; and further,

THAT the Agreement between Kitchener Wilmot Hydro Inc. and the Corporation of the Township of Wilmot be endorsed.

THAT Report PFRS 2022-025, Sir Adam Beck Park Tennis Court Reconstruction Contract Award be received for information purposes; and

THAT RFP 2022-011 be awarded to 39 Seven Inc. for a value of $109,991.00 plus HST.

THAT Report 2022-24 be received for information;

AND THAT the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to enter into a Municipal Access Agreement (MAA) with North Frontenac Telephone Corporation Limited (NFTC).

THAT staff be authorized to enter a Contribution Agreement with the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, for the Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) Grant in the amount of $200,000; and further

THAT the CCRF grant allocation be utilized towards the Nith River Promenade Pathway project.

THAT Report DS 2022-013 be received for information; and further,

THAT Council advise the Region of Waterloo of the following:

That Wilmot Township requests all scenarios for growth to 2051 for Wilmot Township be modified as necessary to plan for the full utilization of the unallocated capacity of the New Hamburg Wastewater Treatment Plant (NHWWTP) – estimated by the Region in May of 2021 to be 10,400 persons;

That Wilmot Township requests that all scenarios for growth to 2051 for Wilmot Township utilize the existing Wilmot intensification target of 30% - recognizing that this target is both significantly greater than the historical rate of intensification for Wilmot Township and the intensification rate being proposed for other rural Townships; and,

That Wilmot Township requests consideration of increased minimum density requirements for developments, within any required expansions to Township Urban Areas, to further minimize the size of required expansions.

THAT Report PFRS 2022-023 be received for information; and further,

THAT Council endorse the proposed Wilmot Smart Commute Program locations, namely four (4) spaces at the Wilmot Recreation Complex, two (2) spaces at the Kirkpatrick Park parking lot, and two (2) spaces at the Wilmot Administration Complex upon completion of the parking lot expansion project and two (2) spaces at the New Dundee Community Centre.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Wilmot Council urges The Province Ontario to work with the Lieutenant Governor to expedite the proclamation of section 75.1 of the Highway Traffic Act (Better for People, Smarter for Businesses Act, 2019, S.O. 2019, c. 14, Sched. 16, s. 11); 

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Minister of Transportation be requested to set a maximum decibel count for exhaust systems to ensure the exhaust system with the capability of exceeding 80 decibels will not be available for sale and will be not permitted in the Province of Ontario;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Minister of Transportation consider reviewing the increasing associated penalties for non-compliance; 

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the province of Ontario be requested to provide funding for police services in Ontario to be equipped with the appropriate decibel monitor device to aid in effective enforcement efforts; and finally,

THEEFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT a copy of this motion be sent to the Hon. Caroline Mulroney, Minister Transportation; the Hon. Rod Phillips, Minister of Long-Term Care and local MPP; and the Region of Waterloo and all Regional Municipalities; and the Waterloo Regional Police Service. 

WHEREAS Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) are being misused and overused by Ontario Provincial government in a way that damages the environment, threatens our safety, and saddles municipalities with ill-considered sprawl that will drag us down for decades to come;

WHEREAS there are very rare emergencies that warrant speeding up the approval process and the Ontario Provincial government has changed the law to let the Minister issue MZOs that would otherwise be unlawful because they violate fundamental planning rules or even create floods and landslide risk;

WHEREAS municipalities cannot wait and fight sprawl MZOs on a case-by-case basis because there is no transparent MZO process;

WHEREAS an MZO could be requested and issued arbitrarily by the Minister before a municipality and Council even hear about it;

WHEREAS Council must be proactive in protecting our community from these dangerous MZOs by passing a motion which (1) tells developers in advance that they will not request or endorse any request for a MZO that does not meet strict and transparent criteria, (2) preemptively asks the Province not to issue any MZO that fails to meet those criteria, and (3) asks the Ontario Legislature to legally prohibit MZOs that do not meet those criteria;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED That the Township of Wilmot will not make a request for or indicate its approval of any Minister’s Zoning Order applicable to land within the Township of Wilmot, excepting Orders:

1. which are limited to addressing an extraordinary and emergent circumstance that is a matter of provincial interest, and,
2. which are limited to measures which the Township of Wilmot could not otherwise bring into force in time to adequately address the relevant extraordinary and emergent circumstance, and,
3. which are consistent with the Official Plan, Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, and Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and s. s. 24, s. 2, s. 3 of the Planning Act, and,
4. which do not authorize urbanization outside of settlement area boundaries, and,
5. which do not authorize development that would destroy or displace a Provincially Significant Wetland, Provincially Significant Woodland, Provincially Significant Valley Lands, Provincially Significant Wildlife Habitat, Coastal Wetlands, Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest or farmland, and,
6. which are framed geographically or in their wording so as to not to limit any power that a Conservation Authority would otherwise have, and
   which are supported by the Minister’s comprehensive, written, and publicly-disclosed reasons for determining that the above criteria have been met;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That the Township of Wilmot request the Government of Ontario, including the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing place an immediate and permanent moratorium on the issuance of Minister’s Zoning Orders applicable to land within the Township of Wilmot, excepting Orders:

1. which are limited to addressing an extraordinary and emergent circumstance that is a matter of provincial interest, and,
2. which are limited to measures which the Township of Wilmot could not otherwise bring into force in time to adequately address the relevant extraordinary and emergent circumstance, and,
3. which are consistent with the Official Plan, Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, and Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and s. s. 24, s. 2, s. 3 of the Planning Act, and,
4. which do not authorize urbanization outside of settlement area boundaries, and,
5. which do not authorize development that would destroy or displace a Provincially Significant Wetland, Provincially Significant Woodland, Provincially Significant Valley Lands, Provincially Significant Wildlife Habitat, Coastal Wetlands, Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest or farmland, and,
6. which are supported by the Minister’s comprehensive, written, and publicly-disclosed reasons for determining that the above criteria have been met, and
7. whose issuance is expressly requested through a lawfully adopted motion of the Township of Wilmot;

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED That the Township of Wilmot request the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Legislative Assembly to amend the Planning Act to prohibit the issuance of Minister’s Zoning Orders applicable to land within the boundaries of any municipality, excepting Orders:

1. which are limited to addressing an extraordinary and emergent circumstance that is a matter of provincial interest, and,
2. which are limited to measures which the municipality could not otherwise bring into force in time to adequately address the relevant extraordinary and emergent circumstance, and,
3. which are consistent with the Official Plan, Provincial Policy Statement, 2020, and Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and s. s. 24, s. 2, s. 3 of the Planning Act, and,
4. which do not authorize urbanization outside of settlement area boundaries, and,
5. which do not authorize development that would destroy or displace a Provincially Significant Wetland, Provincially Significant Woodland, Provincially Significant Valley Lands, Provincially Significant Wildlife Habitat, Coastal Wetlands, Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest or farmland, and,
6. which are framed geographically or in their wording so as to not to limit any power that a Conservation Authority would otherwise have, and,
7. which are supported by the Minister’s comprehensive, written, and publicly-disclosed reasons for determining that the above criteria have been met, and,
8. whose issuance is expressly requested through a lawfully adopted motion of the municipal government(s) to whose territory the Order pertains.

WHEREAS the Province of Ontario adopted greenhouse gas reduction targets of 30% by 2030, and emissions from buildings represented 22% of the province’s 2017 emissions;

WHEREAS all Waterloo Region municipalities, including the Township of Wilmot, adopted greenhouse gas reduction targets of 80% below 2012 levels by 2050 and endorsed in principle a 50% reduction by 2030, an interim target that requires the support of bold and immediate provincial and federal actions;

WHEREAS greenhouse gas emissions from buildings represent 45% of all emissions in Waterloo Region, and an important strategy in the ClimateActionWR’s, TransformWR Community Climate Action Strategy, adopted by all Councils in Waterloo Region, targets new buildings to be net-zero carbon or able to transition to net-zero carbon using region-wide building standards and building capacity and expertise of building operators, property managers, and in the design and construction sector;

WHEREAS the draft National Model Building Code proposes energy performance tiers for new buildings and a pathway to requiring net zero ready construction in new buildings, allowing the building industry, skilled trades, and suppliers to adapt on a predictable and reasonable timeline while encouraging innovation;

WHEREAS the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is consulting on changes for the next edition of the Ontario Building Code (ERO #: 019-4974) that generally aligns with the draft National Model Building Code except it does not propose adopting energy performance tiers, it does not propose timelines for increasing minimum energy performance standards step-by-step to the highest energy performance tier, and, according to Efficiency Canada and The Atmospheric Fund, it proposes adopting minimum energy performance standards that do not materially improve on the requirements in the current Ontario Building code;

WHEREAS buildings with better energy performance provide owners and occupants with lower energy bills, improved building comfort, and resilience from power disruptions that are expected to be more common in a changing climate, tackling both inequality and energy poverty;

WHEREAS municipalities are already leading the way in adopting or developing energy performance tiers as part of Green Development Standards, including Toronto and Whitby with adopted standards and Ottawa, Pickering, and others with standards in development;

WHEREAS Green Development Standards are being developed by local municipalities in partnership with the Region of Waterloo, and all local electricity and gas utilities through WR Community Energy;

WHEREAS while expensive retrofits of the current building stock to achieve future net-zero requirements could be aligned with end-of-life replacement cycles to be more cost-efficient, new buildings that are not constructed to be net-zero will require substantial retrofits before end-of-life replacement cycles at significantly more cost, making it more cost-efficient to build it right the first time.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council request the Province of Ontario immediately adopt a more ambitious energy performance tier of the draft National Model Building Code as the minimum requirement for the Ontario Building Code and the necessity for bold and immediate provincial action on climate change; and,

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT Council request the Province of Ontario encourage and provide authority to municipalities to adopt higher energy performance tiers and Green Development Standards than the Ontario Building Code; and,

THEREFORE BE IT FUTHER RESOLVED THAT Council request the Province of Ontario to facilitate capacity, education and training in the implementation of the National Model Building Code for municipal planning and building inspection staff, developers, and homebuilders to help build capacity; and,

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT this resolution be provided to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, to area MPPs, and to all area Municipalities who participate in the Waterloo Region Chief Building Officials group.