Lanark County Council Highlights – June 26, 2024

Press Release – Lanark County

Here are the highlights from the Lanark County Council meeting held June 26, 2024.

Almonte Paramedic Base Expansion to Proceed: Lanark County Council has authorized moving forward with the expansion of the Almonte Paramedic Base with an upset limit of $750,000. Staff have been asked to bring forward information related to costing at an upcoming meeting.

The decision follows a presentation at the corporate services committee meeting earlier this month by Mississippi River Health Alliance President and CEO Brad Harrington, Vice President Corporate Support Services Randy Shaw and Lanark County Paramedic Chief Travis Mellema. The base was destroyed by fire in 2023, and discussions have focused on whether to expand the base when it was rebuilt or retain the current footprint. The proposed expansion would accommodate four ambulances instead of two.

Council had planned to defer an expansion until a 10-year Paramedic Capital Resource Plan is completed. Harrington explained the service is currently using three ambulances and the expanded base would accommodate all three, better protecting these expensive capital assets and optimizing response times, state of readiness and down-staffing of coverage. It would also minimize equipment loss due to extreme heat or cold.

He explained the current need already exceeds the infrastructure, and doing the expansion now would result in design and engineering cost savings while preventing the need for paramedics to be displaced again during a future construction.

For more information, contact Kurt Greaves, CAO, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1101.

2023 Auditor’s Report Accepted: Lanark County Council has approved the audited financial statements for 2023, presented by Lori Huber, Lead Audit Engagement Partner with KPMG on Wednesday evening. Huber began by extending thanks to the team at the county.

“It takes a lot of work and effort, and the team was exceptionally prepared. The report was done exceptionally well for 2023.”

Huber said the overall financial audit was based on group materiality of $2.25 million compared to $2 million in 2022. Assets have grown year over year. As well, new accounting standards were implemented in 2023, which affects components of the audit.

She noted the audit is a risk-based audit. “We try to identify where there is a greater degree of risk.”  Two items that were unique this year were asset retirement obligations, which are a new, and the other being management override of controls. The asset retirement obligation is required of governments in 2023.

“The team went through a comprehensive exercise to classify obligations,” she said. “Across the board, somewhere between 95 and 98 per cent are in respect to buildings that will need to be remediated. A lot of work went into this change this year. We are confident in the work that the team has done and have not flagged any items in that regard.”

As for management override of controls, Huber said this is not unique and has to be addressed in every financial statement regardless of sector. “It identifies fraud risk, and there is nothing significant to bring to the county’s attention.”

She added there is a lot of change in 2023 related to financial instruments, which will form part of financial statements going forward.

Overall, Huber said there was nothing significant to note this year. “The audit went really well.”

For more information, contact Kevin Wills, Treasurer, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1323.

Community Grants Policy Updated: Lanark County Council has approved a by-law that includes recommended updates to the Community Grants Policy. In addition, council has set two focus areas for the 2025 and 2026 community grants: tourism/economic development and equity diversity and inclusion.

At the recent community services committee meeting, Deputy Clerk Megan Beson explained staff were asked to commence a review of the policy, which had not been updated since it was approved in 2015.

The revised policy will include:

• Additional program and purpose details

• Clarified criteria guidelines that fall under three general categories: merit of funding, applicant profile supporting community service, and financial plan and need

• Categories that align with council priorities

• Council will set focus areas every two years, and 50 per cent of available funding be allocated to those, with the remainder open to applicants who meet the criteria outside of the focus areas

• Additional eligibility items related to how long organizations have been operating, as well as submission limitations, reporting requirements, and details around ineligible projects

• Clarity around the application process

• Additional information related to the review process and scoring

• Project reporting and processes related to changes in projects

Beson said the changes will ensure criteria, the review process and allocations are transparent and consistent, that funding has maximum benefit to the community and organizations have capacity to complete the work. The evaluation matrix will provide clarity about how applications are scored.

Some organizations receiving annual allocations will be removed from the community grants process and included in the budget process to provide a better picture of available funding for applicants.

The grant funding intake for 2025 will open in July.

For more information, contact Megan Beson, Deputy Clerk, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1102.

Sending Support for Family and Children’s Services: Lanark County Council has directed staff to send a letter to Children, Community and Social Services Minister Michael Parsa to advocate for a more equitable and sustainable funding formula to be established to support child welfare services.

This follows a presentation by Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Board Chair Mike Andrews and Executive Director Erin Lee Marcotte. They outlined several challenges faced by the agency, stating more than half of the province’s 50 children’s aid societies, including theirs, are in deficit as provincial funding decreases and demand increases.

“Children and youth receiving child welfare services are arguably some of the most vulnerable in our communities,” Marcotte said.

Marcotte highlighted the need for more foster families, citing a lack of placements and the extraordinary costs for complex special needs children. “They are not necessarily in need of protection, but end up in child welfare due to lack of other community support.”

The agency is also seeking more volunteers, including board directors and drivers.

Andrews said funding has been reduced in each of the last eight years by a total of 14 per cent, with more cuts expected. In addition to staff cuts, locations in Kemptville and Prescott have been closed, and Perth properties are being sold. Since 2016, staff have been reduced by 27 per cent or 41 full-time workers. He said this affects workload, staff morale, labour relations and service quality.

Andrews urged advocacy to increase funding for the child welfare sector, develop a funding formula that truly reflects the need for service in the community, and for additional community supports to keep children at home or in kinship and family-based care.

For more information, contact Jasmin Ralph, Clerk, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1502.

Expressing Support for Bill 173: Lanark County Council has endorsed a letter sent by Warden Steve Fournier (Drummond/North Elmsley Reeve) in support of the immediate passing of Bill 173 (Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act, 2024).

The bill received second reading this spring and was referred to standing committee. The letter was part of a campaign urging the provincial government to send the bill for third reading before the Legislature rose for the summer.

“In 2022, the County of Lanark led municipalities in Ontario in declaring intimate partner violence (IPV) as an epidemic in Ontario, leading to a wave of support across Ontario,” Fournier stated in the letter. “Gender-based violence is a public health emergency and it doesn’t take the summer off!”

Recommendations from the Corner’s Inquest into the deaths of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam included one for Ontario to declare IPV an epidemic, which Bill 173 does. Despite the campaign’s efforts, the legislature rose earlier than expected and is not anticipated to return until mid-October.

For more information, contact Jasmin Ralph, Clerk, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1502.

Access to County Roads Policy Approved: Lanark County Council has approved a by-law to adopt the Access to County Roads Policy, which regulates construction or alteration of entrances or access to county roads. The by-law includes updates to previous policies and by-laws.

Public Works Manager Sean Derouin explained the updates include:

• Defining in-filling in built-up/concentrated development areas

• Director approval of minor exemptions that do not include safety issues

• Updates to fees, certain entrance types, spacing requirement exemptions, and administration items

• Information about the current practice of not denying access to an existing lot

• No changes to sight distance requirements.

The draft policy was circulated to local municipalities for comment. The clerk’s office is working on a county-wide fee policy that includes the access to roads policy, which will come back to council. The updated policy will be posted on the county’s website.

For more information, contact Sean Derouin, Public Works Manager, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 3194.

New Tactical Channel Approved: Lanark County Council has approved the installation and integration of an additional tactical channel in the fire dispatch communications system. The cost of $352,780 plus HST is to be funded from the fire communications development charges reserves and the rescue and fire communications reserve.

At the corporate services committee meeting earlier this month, Clerk Jasmin Ralph explained the county owns and maintains the physical infrastructure that supports the fire dispatch communications system for all fire departments across Lanark County. Currently there is a wide-band simulcast channel, which serves to page and dispatch firefighters, and a narrow-band tactical channel, which accommodates on-scene communications.

“After several significant weather events, it became evident the capacity of just two channels must be expanded,” Ralph explained. “When multi-station responses are required, the capacity for communication on only two channels is limited, resulting in some confusion and difficulty in communication.”

After review with the current maintenance services provider (BEARCOM), the recommendation to add another tactical channel was supported by the Lanark County Fire Chiefs. BEARCOM has applied on behalf of the County to the approval authority for radio channel frequency assignments, as it can take almost a year to process. A condition of gaining the new frequency involves transitioning the existing wide-band channel to a narrow-band frequency.

Ralph explained testing has confirmed there will be little to no loss in coverage with the conversion.

For more information, contact Jasmin Ralph, Clerk, at 1-888- 9-LANARK, ext. 1502.

Upcoming Meetings: No regular meetings scheduled in July. County Council, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 5 p.m.; Community Services, Aug. 14 (following County Council); Corporate Services, Aug. 14 (following Community Services). County Council, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 5 p.m.; Public Works, Aug. 28 (following County Council); Economic Development, Aug. 28 (following Public Works). Watch for details about public access to meetings on agendas and through online notifications.

For more information, contact 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1502. Like "LanarkCounty1" on Facebook and follow "@LanarkCounty1" on X!