Councillor Hipple thanked everyone who came out to the meeting and to the staff for their time and effort to get to Mt Brydges. The Councillor also wanted to give a shoutout and congratulations to Easton Cowan for being an MVP for the Ontario Hockey League as well as his OHL team, the London Knights named him the most outstanding player. Councillor Hipple noted that she has been contacted by various individuals who are having issues in Mount Brydges at Adelaide and Bowan and wanted to discuss further with Council about a crosswalk at this location and that this was in the budget. Director Dakin advised that there is nothing in the 2024 budget for crosswalks. The Councillor brought up the Southgrove Park assumption and would like to know an estimated date to provide residents with as to when this might be assumed. Director Huff added that the assumption is being delayed until there is some progress on the stormwater management issues and progress is made by way of the Strathroy Crossings Drain that needs to be constructed to provide an outlet to that subdivision as well as Saxton Road is going to be updated as well to help convey the water from that subdivision into the drain. Internally in that subdivision, they'll be a modification to the last phase of the development, which includes two of the lots is going to be turned into a storm pond. Once improvements are made internally, will be in a position to consider assumption.
Councillor Kennes noted that he attended the OGRA conference a couple weeks ago in Toronto and mentioned the infrastructure deficit, the number is $45 billion that seems to be travelling around the province so the premier was there with promises but no money, so we'll see what happens. The Councillor also mentioned that Nigel Bellchamber and Fred Dean were honored with honorary life memberships to OGRA for their work in assisting municipalities across the province and there was a lot of applause and recognition for the work they've done and just making councils better at what they do. Councillor Kennes commented on the number of municipalities, especially in the Toronto area mentioning they have tax increases of at least 10% for 2024 and that's far more prevalent than the 5% that we have, so every municipality if facing challenges when it comes to budget.
Councillor Willsie added that he had a great visit with the mayor and councillors when he was out in Alberta. Councillor Willsie visited a similar size municipality with a similar highway and same distance to a major city and they were able to develop enough. They started about 7 or 8 years ago with the right staff and the right planning and focused on planning, setting aside land, putting infrastructure where it could be serviced and they're putting up hundreds of millions of dollars to their assessment every year and we can do that, just need the proper staff and right direction and believes we can be there too.
Councillor Pelkman wanted to thank the recreation staff for fun event at Gemini for the baseball community and they did a great job.
Councillor Derbyshire thanked everyone for hosting in Mount Brydges. Also wanted to remind everyone that planting season has started so the tractors and slow moving vehicles are back out on the road and hopes everyone has a good season.
Councillor Pammer wanted to remind everyone that the downtown Strathroy market, the night market, is coming up on May 18th and that the roads will close at Frank and Front early to prepare and hopes to see everyone out.
Deputy Mayor McGuire was looking for assurance of the hiring policy and looking to ensure that it's followed until it's updated. Also wondered if there is a portal that all policies can be placed for easy access by Council. The Clerk confirmed that they can all be placed in eScribe.