Minutes of the November 26, 2020
MANITOULIN-SUDBURY DSB BOARD MEETING
Present: Arthur Hayden, David Santi, Maureen Van Alstine, Bruce Killah, Jim Rook, Paul Schoppmann, Michael Levesque, David Ham, Ted Lovelace and Richard Stephens
Regrets: Jill Beer
Staff: Fern Dominelli, Connie Morphet, Donna Stewart, Melody Ouellette, Paul Myre, Ehren Baldauf
Vice-Chair, Bruce Killah, called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.
There were no declarations of conflict of interest.
Resolution 20-82
Moved by: Michael Levesque Seconded by: Richard Stephens
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board move into closed session at 9:35 a.m.
Carried
Resolution 20-83
Moved by: Jim Rook Seconded by: David Santi
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board adjourn this closed session at 9:45 a.m. and move to the regular Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB Board meeting.
Carried
Minutes of the November 26, 2020
MANITOULIN-SUDBURY DSB BOARD MEETING
Present: Arthur Hayden, David Santi, Maureen Van Alstine, Bruce Killah, Paul Schoppmann, Jim Rook, Richard Stephens, Michael Levesque, David Ham and Ted Lovelace
Regrets: Jill Beer
Staff: Fern Dominelli, Connie Morphet, Donna Stewart, Melody Ouellette, Paul Myre
Media: Alicia McCutcheon, The Manitoulin Expositor Tom Sasvari, The Manitoulin Recorder
During its Closed Session, the Board discussed Human Resources Issues.
Resolution No. 20-84
Moved by: Edgar Lovelace Seconded by: David Ham
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Agenda be adopted.
Carried
Resolution No. 20-85
Moved by: Richard Stephens Seconded by: Maureen Van Alstine
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Minutes of the October 22, 2020 meeting be approved.
Carried
Finance Committee
Paul Schoppmann, Chair of the Finance Committee presented the items discussed at the November 5 Committee meeting.
After deliberating the budget on November 5, the Finance Committee asked staff to go back and find additional saving. The Finance Committee re-convened on November 17 and based on the revised budget agreed to recommend acceptance to the Board.
Connie Morphet, Director of Finance and Administration walked the Board through the 2021 Budget highlights, outlining the 0.5% increase to the Municipal share.
Resolution No. 20-86
Moved by: Paul Schoppmann Seconded by: Jim Rook
WHEREAS the Finance Committee met on November 5, 2020 to review the Finance Committee Terms of Reference, Annual Budget Guidelines, 2020 Annual Report on Reserves, 2021 Allocation of Program Support, and 2021 Budget estimates; and
WHEREAS the Finance Committee is recommending to the Board the approval of the 2021 Allocation of Program Support, and 2021 Budget estimates.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB accepts the Finance Committee’s recommendation and approves the 2021 Allocation of Program Support; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB accepts the recommendation of the Finance Committee and approves the 2021 Operating Budget in the amount of $40,252,248 gross and municipal share in the amount of $10,664,361 which represents an increase of $53,114 or 0.50% in the municipal share.
Carried
Fern Dominelli, CAO, walked the board through the CAO Quarterly Report. This report will be shared with member municipalities who are encouraged to add it to Council agenda packages.
Resolution No. 20-87
Moved by: Michael Levesque Seconded by: Vern Gorham
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the 2020 CAO Third Quarter Activity Report be approved as presented.
Carried
Connie Morphet, Director of Finance & Administration, walked the Board through the 2020 Third Quarter Unaudited Financial Report, which is forecasting a yearend surplus of $393,337.
Resolution No. 20-88
Moved by: Ned Whynott Seconded by: Paul Schoppmann
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the 2020 Third Quarter Unaudited Financial Report be approved as presented.
Carried
Donna Stewart, Director of Integrated Social Services, walked the Board through the Service Manager Business Case Approval.
This past summer, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced $362 million in new provincial and federal funding under a second phase of the Social Services Relief Fund (SSRF) to help protect vulnerable people from COVID-19. The SSRF has been effective in supporting Service Managers and Indigenous Program Administrators to respond quickly, adapt services, and address the housing and economic impacts of COVID-19 in their communities.
The additional investment of SSRF Phase Two will help Service Managers and Indigenous Program Administrators continue to protect homeless shelter staff and residents, expand rent support programming and create longer-term housing solutions.
This brings the government’s total SSRF investment provided to Service Managers and Indigenous Program Administrators to $510 million.
At the September board meeting, staff informed the board of the DSB’s plan for the SSRF Phase One funding opportunity and the plan to allocate those funds ($938,700). These funds have been depleted.
At the October board meeting, staff also informed the board that the DSB received additional funds in the SSRF Phase Two ($897,838).
Prior to receiving SSRF Phase 2 funds, staff were asked to submit a business case to the Ministry. The business case process provided an opportunity for the DSB to outline how our initial planning allocation would be used and assisted the Ministry in ensuring that funds were being directed to the communities most in need. The business cases were reviewed by the Ministry, as well as an inter-ministerial working group, which made recommendations on funding decisions.
The Ministry has now completed its review of the DSB business case, and staff are pleased to confirm that the Ministry has approved our plan with follow up direction in accordance with a total planning allocation of $897,838 for the fiscal year 2020/21.
Funding for capital projects will be dispersed based on project submissions and the funding schedule outlined in the Program Guidelines.
Staff are working with Manitoulin Family Resources and will keep the board updated.
Donna Stewart, Director of Integrated Social Services, walked the Board through the OPHI Revised Planning Allocation.
OPHI is modelled after similar, previous affordable housing programs, with the most recent being the Investment in Affordable Housing Program Extension. There are several additional features in this program, including the addition of a support services component and the eligibility of social housing under Ontario Renovates.
The Province has allocated $656,700 in OPHI funding to this DSB, over the 3 Year period. (Year 1 - $282,500, Year 2 - $146,400, Year 3 - $227,800)
The DSB has long awaited the opportunity to pool program funding to create a larger pool of funding and to participate in the rental program component. In order to pool all three years of funding into one year, the DSB was required to seek swaps with other service managers in Ontario.
The DSB is in the process selling 3 vacant lots in Espanola. The DSB has sold all 3 family dwellings in Espanola. The DSB will be reinvesting the net proceeds of these transactions together with OPHI funding to create new affordable rental units to service areas within the district most in need of new housing options.
On November 13, staff received a letter from the Assistant Deputy Minister, Josh Paul advising that our final swap was approved and the entire OPHI allocation of $656,700 was moved to year three 2021-22. With $656,700 of OPHI funding and the net proceeds of our sales, the DSB will have over $1.1M to reinvest into affordable housing in the District.
The DSB is now searching for property to build in the area where our waitlist shows most need. Staff will keep the board apprised of our findings.
Donna Stewart, Director of Integrated Social Services, walked the Board through the Rapid Housing Initiative. The Rapid Housing Initiative provides funding to expedite the delivery of affordable housing units to vulnerable people and populations targeted under the National Housing Strategy, especially those affected by COVID-19.
Funding is available through two separate streams. For the first stream, Rapid Housing Initiative will expedite funds to municipalities with highest need. For the second stream, an application portal will be open to governments, Indigenous governing bodies and organizations, and non-profit organizations where applications will be prioritized based on the strength of the application. The initiative targets rapid housing and delivery of units within 12 months.
The initiative provides:
Support for immediate housing needs with the goal:
Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation (CMHC) will fund up to 100% of funding to cover eligible residential construction costs. (CMHC will not fund non-residential costs). Eligible recipients will receive funding for one of three eligible forms of housing:
Funding will be committed under two separate streams of $500M in allocated contributions (Major Cities Stream and Projects Stream).
Major Cities Stream: Immediate Support for Identified Municipalities
Identified municipalities will receive a pre-determined allocation based on the severity of the housing need in the subject market. Municipalities will be expected to create a minimum number of units with the allocated funding related to local market costs. Municipalities will be encouraged to take a community benefits approach and push for projects targeting women, and the urban Indigenous population.
Projects Stream: Application-Based Process
Provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous governing bodies and organizations, as well as non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for funding. CMHC will accept applications starting October 27 and ending December 31, 2020. CMHC will review the applications and will prioritize applications based on program criteria. CMHC reserves the right to prioritize strong applications prior to the closing of the intake window. Additional windows will take place if needed.
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Website Compliance.
Donna Stewart, Director of Integrated Social Services, walked the Board through the AODA Website Compliance.
Organizations across Ontario are required to comply with accessibility standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and its Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation.
The DSB staff received a memo on October 5, 2020 containing important information about filing our accessibility compliance report to self-certify and verify that the DSB is in compliance with accessibility standards.
The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility recognizes that the COVID-19 outbreak has created challenges for many businesses and non-profit organizations. For that reason, the director authorized by the AODA, announced an extension to the accessibility compliance reporting deadline from December 31, 2020 to June 30, 2021. This adjusted deadline applies to private sector organizations (i.e. businesses and non-profit), subject to the AODA, that have 20 or more employees in Ontario.
The extension did not apply to website, they must be compliant by January 1, 2021.
Staff did add an AODA compatibility tool to our website but that only makes the website approximately 80% compliant.
Staff did look at converting the entire existing website to ensure it was AODA compliant, but the costs would be extensive. Instead staff have determined that creating a new website with only the current year content and one additional year of history would be more fiscally prudent. This will keep our conversion costs way down and the DSB will ensure all new content to the website is AODA compliant which will have an ongoing cost.
Staff are also obtaining a quote to convert the entire new site to French, but this would come along with ongoing translation costs and AODA compliance costs for all content posted on the web.
Paul Myre, Acting Chief of Paramedic Services, walked the Board through the Harm Reduction Services Collaboration.
Every 10 hours in Ontario, someone dies of an opioid overdose. Our DSB Paramedic Services have partnered with Public Health Sudbury and Districts to collaborate for the delivery of a Naloxone Harm Reduction Program.
Harm reduction can be defined as an evidence-based, client-centered approach that seeks to reduce the health and social harms associated with substance use, without necessarily requiring people who use substances from abstaining or stopping.
Our proposed program will target high risk opioid users in our communities and through a referral to our Community Paramedicine Program, will see our Paramedics delivery Naloxone kits and education to these populations. Naloxone is a medication that acts as an opioid antagonist that temporarily reverses an opioid overdose and can save lives.
Paramedics are already trained in the administration of this life saving medication and are a perfect fit to deliver this kits and public education.
Our proposal is still with the Ministry of Health awaiting approval, but staff look forward to deploying this important program to hopefully reduce harm in our communities.
Resolution 20-89
Moved by: Arthur Hayden Seconded by: Michael Levesque
BE IT RESOLVED THAT we do now adjourn at 10:40 a.m. until the next regular meeting to be held on January 28, 2021.
Carried
Original Signed by Chair and CAO
