Town & County News

Essex County Council Highlights for May 4, 2022

Warden Cheers Stellantis Announcement, Praises Chamber for Advocacy

Warden Gary McNamara lauded the announcement by Stellantis this week that it is investing $3.6 billion to retool its Windsor and Brampton assembly plants to build new electric vehicles.

Stellantis previously announced it is partnering with LG Energy Solution to build a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor.

“The thousands of new jobs, spinoff investments and business growth created by these multi-billion-dollar investments will benefit every municipality in Essex County,” McNamara said at the start of Wednesday’s county council meeting. “We are grateful to the federal and provincial governments for committing funding and working with the many partners in this region who made this happen.”

The warden also congratulated the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce for earning the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Advocacy Award. The Windsor-Essex chamber received the award for its tireless support of local businesses during and after the Ambassador Bridge blockade.

“The fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for businesses and residents alike. I want to recognize that this is Mental Health Week,” McNamara said. The Canadian Mental Health Association has made empathy the theme of the week.

“Let’s all take some time this week to step into someone else’s shoes and see the world from their perspective,” the warden said.

He also noted that May 1-7 is Emergency Preparedness Week.

Enbridge Gas Pipeline Expansion Project Supported

Council passed a resolution supporting a proposed pipeline expansion project by Enbridge Gas Inc.

Company representatives told council that, due to the demand for energy, Enbridge wants to increase the capacity of its Panhandle Transmission System, which serves residential, commercial, industrial, greenhouse and power generation customers in Windsor, Essex County and Chatham-Kent. An application is to be filed with the Ontario Energy Board in mid-June and will include the Essex County council resolution. If approved, construction would begin in early 2023.

The two-year project is expected to cost $300 million and create hundreds of temporary construction jobs. It includes a new, 19-kilometre gas line to be built next to an existing pipeline corridor between the Dover Transmission Station in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent and a yet-to-be-constructed station in the Municipality of Lakeshore near Richardson Side Road and Middle Line. It also includes a new 12-kilometre pipeline that will connect lines in Leamington and Kingsville.

Active School Travel Charter Endorsed

Council endorsed a regional document that commits to providing support, resources and education that encourages active transportation to and from schools.

The Active School Travel Charter is the result of a grant the region received in late 2020 from the Ontario Active School Travel fund, representatives of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit told council.

The Windsor-Essex County Active School Travel Committee was formed to develop and oversee initiatives that include the charter and a pilot project involving six schools. The committee includes representatives from local school boards, the City of Windsor, County of Essex, Windsor Police Services and Bike Windsor Essex.

The charter commits the endorsing parties to encouraging active transportation through the development of safe, healthy and sustainable routes to schools, as well as educating the school communities.

Provincial Offences Court Cleared Backlog and Increased Revenue in 2021

Windsor/Essex Provincial Offences court staff cleared pandemic-related backlogs and ramped up revenue collection in 2021 to end the year with a surplus of $594,933, says a report received by county council.

Of those revenues, $294,144 was allocated to the City of Windsor, $299,196 to the County of Essex and $1,593 to Pelee Island. Revenues increased over 2020 but were still below pre-pandemic levels, according to the report.

Approximately 71,800 records of unpaid fines valued at $43,612,203 remained uncollected at the end of 2021. The majority have been on record for more than a decade. Local Provincial Offences Act administrators plan to propose a write-off policy in 2022, since most of the fines are unlikely to be collected.

As well, the Provincial Offences courts and offices have moved into a new permanent location at 400 City Hall Square in Windsor.

New Mutual Aid Agreement for Ambulances with Chatham-Kent Approved

An agreement under which Essex County and Chatham-Kent billed each other for ambulance service is being replaced with a mutual aid agreement.

County council has agreed to adopt a new mutual aid by-law and rescind the by-law that governs the cross-border billing arrangement that has been in place since 2013. The arrangement is overly cumbersome and complex when taking into consideration the assistance the two ambulance services provide to each other is roughly equal, says a report to council by Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter.

In Chatham-Kent, the Tilbury EMS station normally services parts of Lakeshore and northern Leamington. In Essex County, the Leamington EMS station normally services the Village of Wheatley and the former Romney Township area in Chatham-Kent.

“Essex Windsor EMS and Chatham-Kent Emergency Services have an excellent working relationship since 2017,” says Krauter’s report. “A most recent example of the relationship and collaboration is the Wheatley explosion of August 2021.”

Under the proposed mutual aid agreement, neither ambulance service will charge the other for responding to emergencies. The only exception would be an emergency response that requires bringing in additional paramedics and ambulances for a prolonged period.

Visibility of Stop Signs on County Road 23 at County Road 20 to be Boosted

Additional measures will be taken to increase the visibility of stop signs on County Road 23 (Arner Townline) at its intersection with County Road 20.

Council endorsed a recommendation in a report from the Infrastructure and Planning Services department that suggests adding pavement markings, installing solar-powered flashing beacons above the stop signs and testing a coloured and/or textured road surface to alert drivers.

The report was written in response to resolution from the Town of Essex asking for the measures and another from the Town of Kingsville requesting that installing traffic lights at the intersection be made a top priority. The report to county council says traffic lights are not warranted based on the collision history and an inspection of the intersection.

The Infrastructure Services department will also examine the speed limit in that corridor.

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