Just like July’s late-nighter Council meeting, this Monday’s meeting looks to be a repeat performance with a lengthy agenda with items of substance. Highlights of the agenda include the deferred Integrity Commissioner reports and a “settlement agreement” for Century Condos downtown.

The agenda is comprised of some “leftovers” from the July meeting that were put off in order to prevent a Council meeting going until the wee hours of the morning and some new, well, older topics that have come back to the table.

Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities

There is a number of correspondence items from various Niagara municipalities in support of joining the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities. The agenda also contains a report on recommending Grimsby joining with it’s municipal counterparts to promote human rights and fostering equality for all citizens.

Integrity Commissioner Reports

This will be a hot-ticket item, having been deferred from the last meeting so that Council members could properly “digest” the findings of the Integrity Commissioner.

While only briefly discussed at the last meeting, it should be interesting to see any discussion about mediation and Councillors who might be “reaching across the aisle” and putting their best foot forward.

Grimsby Beach Land Use Study

As had been discussed previously, the bids coming in for this study were well in excess of the $100,000 initially budgeted. Bids were reportedly north of $250,000 but the information in the agenda appears that the preferred consultant is coming in at $161,395.14.

Given how long this area has been neglected by past Councils, this important study should bring the needed legal and planning clarity that is needed to protect it’s unique character. This and the Main Street East study are critical to the Town’s heritage preservation.

21 & 23 Main Street East/6 Doran AKA “Century Condos” – Homes By DeSantis

Speaking of Main Street East, the proposed Century Condos development resurfaces on the Council agenda with a “feel good” PowerPoint presentation from the Planning Department. For added fanfare, letters of support from various organizations who would benefit from the development are attached.

Given the contents of the PowerPoint and the closed session, it would appear some finality has been reached in terms of the laneway that has been the Achille’s heel from a legal standpoint of the application.

With public opinion largely not in support of the development in it’s current form, and with little changes to the previous design, it should be interesting to watch how any vote goes down on this one.

If you feel strongly for or against this development, it’s not too late to voice your opinion… you have until 12:00 PM on Monday to request to speak before Council (via Zoom) for this (or any other agenda) item in that meeting.

Resolutions

There are a couple resolutions up for discussions, raised as Notices of Motion at the last meeting. The items to be discussed include how Council meetings start, with O’Canada and/or an Indigenous Statement, request for Grimsby Energy Information and an Accessibility Mat for Grimsby Beach.

Meeting Time Note

While summer meetings are usually scheduled to start at 6:30 PM, Monday’s meeting will kick off at 5:30 PM to deal with the lengthy agenda and lengthy discussions that are sure to ensue.

You can find the agenda at this link here.

The livestream of the meeting can be found at: https://vimeo.com/grimsbycouncilchambers