Media Release - County Council November 9th, 2023

For immediate release
Nov. 8, 2023

Here are the highlights from the Lanark County Council meeting held Nov. 8, 2023.

Climate Action Plan Approved: Lanark County Council approved its Climate Action Plan with a modification to specify it be reviewed every two years, including a review of target setting. The plan outlines how the county aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its corporate operations and from the community as a whole.

At the public works committee of the whole meeting last month, Climate Environmental Coordinator Elizabeth Gallant presented a summary of feedback received from the seven-week public consultation period over the summer and the resulting revisions to the plan. Seventy-one comments were received.

Gallant highlighted key comments, which included setting greater emissions reduction targets; adding timelines, funding and metrics/performance indicators to goals; having a more urgent/assertive approach; increasing focus and assessing decisions through the climate lens; and increasing the staff cap. Other comments focused on transportation and public transit, concerns about the capacity of the electric grid and electric vehicles, and developing adaptations and emergency plans to increase community resiliency.

The revised plan clarifies the role of local municipalities and adds key performance indicators and start times for each goal. “We updated the wording of goals to improve impact and clarity based on feedback from community members and municipalities,” Gallant said. As well, actions have been added that community members can take, the capacity of the electric grid was addressed and the monitoring and reporting process was clarified.

Two new themes were added to the corporate plan to improve consistency with the community plan. A natural heritage and resources theme includes goals related to increasing tree canopy, pollinator habitat and green infrastructure, while a planning theme includes goals related to addressing climate change in the asset management and emergency plans and creating an adaptation plan. In the community plan, a goal related to including active transportation in the Transportation Master Plan was added, as well as updated approaches to establishing a transportation working group related to public transit and updating emergency plans to include protocols for major natural disasters and weather events.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Gallant, Climate Environmental Coordinator, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 3114.

Application for Better Homes Lanark Program Underway: Lanark County Council received an update regarding a funding application to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for the proposed Better Homes Lanark program, which is a home energy financing program that ties into the Climate Action Plan.
At the public works committee meeting last month, Climate Environmental Coordinator Elizabeth Gallant
explained the program would cover the full, up-front cost of home-energy retrofits with a loan participants pay back over time, often using energy costs savings resulting from the improvements. There are different financing models available.

FCM’s Community Efficiency Financing (CEF) program provides funding to help municipalities create, launch and expand energy financing programs. Gallant explained that to apply and participate, the county needs to commit to funding at least 20 per cent of the program cost, have a plan for its launch and operation over four years, and eventually provide proof that Local Improvement Charge (LIC) by-laws have been established by local municipalities that want to participate.

Gallant said the feasibility study and program design for the program are currently underway. If the application is successful, the FCM-CEF could provide funding for up to 80 per cent of eligible costs, a loan of up to $10 million and a grant of up to 50 per cent of the loan amount.

The program is designed to focus on any home using fuel oil or propane, low-income households with a high energy cost burden (more than 6 per cent after-tax income spent on energy) and older homes (pre-1991) using electricity or natural gas that have the potential of reaching at least 40 per cent greenhouse gas/energy savings. Eligible retrofits can include improving energy efficiency through insulation, heating and cooling systems, windows and doors, etc.; renewable energy installations; fuel switching; and non-energy improvements, such as generators and battery storage systems, flood prevention measures, etc.

Loan repayment is arranged as an addition to individual property tax payments and homeowners have up to 20 years to repay it at a low interest rate.

A sample letter has been circulated to local municipalities outlining their support for the application for the FCM-CEF funding and their commitment to tabling an LIC by-law if the application is successful. Gallant indicated the county aims to submit the application by the end of this year. For more information, contact Elizabeth Gallant, Climate Environmental Coordinator, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 3114.

Nominations for Warden Received: Nominations for County Warden, which will be decided at the upcoming inaugural meeting, were received by council.

Clerk Jasmin Ralph outlined the procedures, which includes preparing a report on valid nominations for the position at the first council meeting in November.

This year’s nominees include:
• Councillor Stephen Fournier (Drummond/North Elmsley Reeve), nominated by Councillors John Matheson (Drummond/North Elmsley) and Ed McPherson (Perth)
• Councillor Christa Lowry (Mississippi Mills Mayor), nominated by Councillors Rickey Minnille (Mississippi Mills) and Karen Jennings (Montague)

The election takes place at 2 p.m. on Nov. 21. Nominations from the floor for committee chairs will be taken at that time. For more information, contact Jasmin Ralph, Clerk, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1502.

ROMA Delegation Requests to be Submitted: Council has approved a list of potential delegation requests with various ministers for the Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference to be held Jan. 21 to 23, 2024.

The requests include:
• To ask the Ministry of Education to consider, during the planned funding formula review in 2024, additional funding for child-care providers opted into the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program to address significant inflationary and recruitment costs.
• To ask the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to develop a province-wide homelessness and supportive housing strategy that incorporates funding for all Ontario municipalities. This will address growing and province-wide homelessness and encampment issues.
• To ask the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing amend the Development Charges Act to reinstate social housing as an allowable charge and for the province to provide compensation to Ontario municipalities affected by the changes to the Development Charge Act under Bill 23.
• In partnership with counties within the Ontario Highlands Tourism Organization (OHTO), to ask the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport to increase funding for OHTO, which is currently the lowest funded Regional Tourism Organization based on roofed accommodations.

The requests must be submitted this month, and the county will be informed of any successful requests prior to the conference. For more information, contact Jasmin Ralph, Clerk, at 1-888-9-LANARK, ext. 1502.

*Please note, a media release for the 2023 Awards of Excellence has been issued separately.

Upcoming Meetings: Inaugural Meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2 p.m. County Council, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 5 p.m.; Public Works, Nov. 22 (following County Council); Economic Development, Nov. 22 (following Public Works). County Council, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 5 p.m.; Community Services, Dec. 6 (following County Council); Corporate Services, Dec. 6 (following Community Services). 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!