Warden Welcomes Summer Students and Applauds HR Team

Warden Hilda MacDonald in her opening remarks at Wednesday’s Essex County council meeting welcomed summer students who are joining various departments, as well as the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority and Essex-Windsor EMS.

“As well as helping us complete important work over the summer, they will be gaining valuable experience and perhaps deciding to pursue careers in the municipal sector,” the warden said.

She also noted road construction season is getting underway and asked drivers to slow down to keep road workers safe. Updates on Essex County construction and road closures are posted in the news section of the county’s website, where there is also an interactive map of all road construction locations in the region.

MacDonald closed her remarks by thanking the County of Essex human resources team for putting time and effort into highlighting mental health this week by providing staff with activities, information and inspiration. May is Mental Health Week and the beginning of Mental Health Month. Those looking for help and information can contact the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Windsor-Essex County branch.

“We can’t emphasize enough the importance of taking care of this aspect of well-being,” the warden said.

County Investments Weather Volatile Markets

County of Essex financial investments came out ahead in 2022, despite volatile markets, says an annual performance report to council.

The county realized gains of $10.2 million on short- and medium-term investments, while unrealized losses on long-term investments in bonds and equities totalled $6 million. The county held a significant number of cashable GICs that allowed it to take advantage of multiple interest rate hikes over the course of 2022.

Move to Cloud-based Records Management Service Approved

The County of Essex, along with five local municipalities, will move to a cloud-based electronic documents and records management system following council’s decision to authorize a three-year contract with a service provider.

For the last 23 years, the county has used Laserfiche Rio software, licensed through Canadian vendor ThinkDox, for storing and managing electronic records. The seven local municipalities also use the service.

Since 2010, the county and municipalities have reduced costs through a group enterprise licensing agreement. As well, the county has subsidized the cost for the local municipalities. The company is now migrating the service to Laserfiche Cloud, which provides advanced tools and the latest updates in technology.

Following an extensive review in 2021 and consultations with local municipalities, county administration recommended moving to the cloud-based service. Essex, Kingsville, Lakeshore, Leamington and Tecumseh are also planning to transition to Laserfiche Cloud in 2023, says a report to council. Amherstburg and LaSalle plan to continue using Laserfiche Rio for now.

County council approved a three-year contract with ThinkDox for Laserfiche Cloud and agreed to subsidize the cost to the local municipalities for the dissolution of the Laserfiche Rio licensing agreement for two years.

Council Supports Strengthening Municipal Codes of Conduct

County council is supporting a call by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario for the provincial government to introduce legislation to strengthen municipal codes of conduct.

The association’s recommendations include:

• Updating municipal codes of conduct to account for workplace safety and harassment;
• Creating a flexible administrative penalty regime that can be adapted to local economic and financial circumstances;
• Increasing training of municipal integrity commissioners to enhance consistency of investigations and recommendations across the province;
• Allowing municipalities to apply to a member of the judiciary to remove a sitting member if recommended by a municipal integrity commissioner; and
• Prohibiting a removed municipal council member from running for election during that term and the subsequent term.

Council made the decision after receiving a report with background about the county’s code of conduct policies and proposed Ontario Bill 5, also known as the Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act.

Visitor, Public Conduct and Trespassing Polices Adopted for Public and Staff Safety

Council has approved three policies aimed at ensuring everyone’s safety when members of the public attend county facilities and events or otherwise interact with staff and council members.

The Visitor Policy requires members of the public go through a security screening process and follow check-in procedures in place from time to time to gain access to County of Essex facilities, meetings and events. It also explains how those attending public meetings can prepare and what happens once the capacity limit of a meeting or event venue has been reached.

Similar to the county’s longstanding codes of conduct for employees and members of council, the Public Conduct Policy is intended address behaviour and actions that are “unreasonable, frivolous and/or vexatious, and that may be considered to be disruptive to a level that impedes the democratic process and/or the conduct of business of the County,” says a report to council.

The policy points out that while the county strives to respond to service requests and complaints from members of the public equitably, comprehensively and in a timely manner, it also promotes a respectful, tolerant and harassment-free workplace. The policy includes review and appeal processes.

The Trespass to Property Policy allows for the county to issue a notice of trespass to anyone who has been found in violation of the Public Conduct Policy.

County of Essex administration proposed the three policies following recent events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and overflow attendance at a public meeting, that revealed potential deficiencies in its public access practices and procedures.

Efforts to Reduce Ambulance Offload Delays Continue

Local hospitals and Essex-Windsor EMS have taken several significant steps aimed at reducing the times when there are two or fewer ambulances available to respond to calls, Chief Bruce Krauter said in an update to council.

Incidents of code red (fewer than two ambulances) and code black (no ambulances) dropped dramatically in December 2022, two months after the County of Essex declared a local emergency in response to offload delays at hospital emergency departments. However, the numbers started to creep up again in early 2023, says Krauter’s report.

Local hospitals and Essex-Windsor EMS have taken the following steps to address the issue:

• Paramedics with one ambulance crew can monitor up to four patients at a hospital emergency department.
• Low acuity patients can now be left in the ER waiting room for assessment and triage, freeing up ambulance stretchers sooner.
• Low acuity patients can be transported to another hospital ER with more capacity.
• An Essex-Windsor EMS paramedic manager has been placed at the Central Ambulance Communications dispatch centre in Windsor, allowing for ambulances to be deployed to where they are needed sooner.
• The Ontario Ministry of Health now allows some paramedic teams to treat, assess, and refer patients to the most appropriate care in the community – rather than taking them to an ER.

Essex-Windsor EMS responded to a record 61,000 calls in 2022. There is expected to be a slight decrease in 2023, but the average annual increase over the next five years is projected to be 0.5 per cent, says the report, which also notes that the health-care system remains under stress.

Contracts Awarded for Road Rehabilitation Projects

Contracts for rehabilitation of 22 kilometres of Essex County roads using processes that recycle the pavement were awarded to GIP Paving Inc.

The company submitted bids to provide cold in place recycling with expanded asphalt mix for $3.1 million plus taxes and hot mix resurfacing over cold in place recycling with expanded asphalt mix for $5.4 million plus taxes. The contracts include the pavement rehabilitation of North Malden Road on behalf of the Town of Essex. Town council has been asked to approve contributing $641,200 plus HST to cover the cost.

Purchase of Two Replacement Trucks Approved

Viking Cives Ltd. has been awarded the contract to provide the county with two tandem trucks outfitted with equipment used to clear roads in the winter for $759,040 plus taxes. The trucks will replace two older models in the county’s fleet of 17 trucks. The trucks being replaced will be sold and the funds put into the county’s capital reserves.

County Accepts Painting of Essex Scottish Marching through Dieppe

Don Waffle, whose father was a member of the Essex Scottish, has donated a painting of the celebrated local regiment to the County of Essex for display in the Civic Centre.

The painting shows members of the Essex Scottish with pipes and drums marching through Dieppe, France, on Sept. 3, 1944. The town was liberated by the 2nd Canadian Division, which included the Essex Scottish, a regiment that was decimated in the Dieppe Raid on Aug. 19, 1942. Amalgamated with the Kent Scottish in 1954, the regiment is now the Essex and Kent Scottish.

EMS Chief Bruce Krauter Announces Plan to Retire

Chief Bruce Krauter announced he plans to retire on Feb. 29, 2024, after leading Essex-Windsor EMS for 10 years. He made the announcement to county council and in an email to EMS staff, saying he wanted to provide ample time for the recruitment of a new chief and a smooth leadership transition.