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By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice

Chatham-Kent’s official population count is on the rise, according to Statistics Canada.

Data gleaned from the census in the five-year period between 2016 and 2021 shows C-K’s population went up 2.3 per cent to 103,988 – a reversal from the 2.2-per-cent drop experienced between 2011 and 2016.

Based on Stats Can estimates for the timeframe in between the census, Chatham-Kent’s population was 111,703 as of July 1, 2024 – a number not seen since 2006.

In a presentation to council recently, Jason Stubitz, outlined the various way C-K’s population is expanding, noting the benchmark is only 577 people shy from the highest recorded census number in 2001.

Dovetailing with a Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board initiative, Stubitz serves as the municipal co-ordinator for planning and research related to local labour needs.

According to Stubitz, up-to-date population information ensures employers, stakeholders and planners can adequately prepare for future workforce needs, including the drive to attracting and retaining talent to the community.

A few noticeable trends stand out, he explained, noting 24 per cent of C-K residents are over 65. However, in the last two years, the 25- to 44-year-old demographic grew 2.2 per cent. A total of 21 per cent of residents in the municipality are under the age of 20.

“This really highlights the importance of continued attraction and retention efforts, especially of younger residents to address future workforce shortages,” Stubitz told council.

The falling birth rate is another concern, he said. Beginning in 2014 the number of deaths began to outpace the number of births, and in 2024, there were 462 more deaths than births in the municipality.

Immigrants and non-permanent residents continue to play an important role in driving population and workforce growth, Stubitz stated, with 293 immigrants and 489 non-permanent residents arriving in Chatham-Kent between July 2023 to 2024, a trend that’s been moving upward since the pandemic.

Inter-provincial migration has been the main source of C-K’s recent growth, Stubitz said, noting the data suggesting that it’s young families who are moving to the municipality.

 

By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press

A Lake Crest Beach resident of Colchester who developed a pickleball court on town property – without permission to do so – will have to remove it at own expense.

At the July 21 meeting, Essex Council unanimously voted to have Town administration ask Lake Crest Beach homeowners to immediately stop using the pickleball court constructed on Town property, abutting Lake Crest Court, and that they remove the pickleball court and restore the property to the Town’s satisfaction.

That will need to be done within 30-days, at their cost, under the supervision of the Town’s Infrastructure Department.

Mayor Sherry Bondy made the motion, while also offering apologies for having to do so, after Council returned from having to retreat into a closed session meeting to further discuss the matter.

Kathryn Hengl and Rob Dimenna appeared as delegations to speak on behalf of Lake Crest Beach homeowners.

Hengl said Lake Crest Beach Road is a private beach road with 23 properties, all of which front along the water. Each property owns a piece of the road in front of their property. At one of the ends of Lake Crest Court, there is a town-owned land lot, which she said the Essex Region Conservation Authority reforested around 12-years ago through the planting of around 7000 trees.

Around those trees, there was a grass portion that runs along the road. That is where Hengl said Dimenna installed a pickleball court.

Hengl said the only access to the Town Property and the pickleball court is through two private roads.

“We have a very vibrant and active community among our residents, and as such the pickleball court was a very welcome addition,” Hengl said. “The court is used by many of the residents, both children and adults alike. It has become a great source of activity for our beach community, and many residents have taken up the sport since the spring.”

The pickleball court has become a significant tool for socializing and health for the community, she said.

“We would very much like to continue it,” Hengl said.

“We acknowledge that we did not follow the proper channels in having this court installed, but we are here tonight seeking your approval in principle to retain the pickleball court, subject to whatever terms and conditions that are required to address your concerns,” Hengl commented.

She said they were interested in preparing a formalized agreement that would allow them to keep the court.

When Dimenna built the pickleball court, he said there was nothing malicious about it. He said he has a great group of neighbours who had talked about pickleball, and he chose to put it in.

In answering Councillor Brad Allard’s question on if Dimenna had thought of any other places the court could have been installed, he said there were no other areas it would have fit on the beach.

Dimenna said the neighbours have been taking care of the piece of property for years.

David McBeth, Manager of Capital Works and Asset Management, explained the pickleball court was constructed over top of the Town’s sanitary trunk main, which feeds into the sanitary treatment plant, and the watermain that services all of the residents there.

The construction of this pickleball court never would have been given approval from the Town in that location because of the underground infrastructure, McBeth noted. He added there are various areas the pickleball court could have been added to on private property.

McBeth added this property will be the expansion lands for the Town’s sewer treatment plant. While access to that will not be coming directly off of Lake Crest Road, there will be additional potential infrastructure and expansion there.

Joe Malandruccolo, Director of Legal and legislative services, believes legally there are grave concerns in allowing something like this. Firstly, it would set a bad precedent for Council. There are also insurance concerns, and there are many things the Town does from a safety perspective that would have to try to be installed at this pickleball court.

In addition, in order to enter into a lease agreement with the parties, the parties would have to be determined. It would be hard to enter an agreement with a group of individuals. Residents moving, for instance, could impact that.

The Town, Malandruccolo added, would also need assurance the court could be demolished if it did need to access the underground infrastructure. That would require a deposit – likely between $10,000 to $15,000 – from the tenants.

“It would be a very, very complicated legal relationship with a group of residents to allow something that was done without Town permission,” he said.

Malandruccolo added the Town does not know how the court was created. There could be issues with drainage or other matters that may not have been inspected or done that would have through the Town.

Councillor Joe Garon spoke of how Council likely would not have allowed anything to be built on town property by private individuals. Pickleball seems to bring people together. This one was put in the wrong spot.

The main concern Councillor Rodney Hammond had was the potential negative impact it could have on the possible future sewer system.

Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley said what the residents put up was nice, and he struggled with the fact they did not approach the Town first. He said he met with the Town’s Legal Department to see if there were options. There were so many problems posed, he could not come to a solution that he could propose that would work.

Dimena said the court is located behind his property and would be willing to be the sole leaser. He wanted to find a solution.

By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice

Ahead of Monday’s special Chatham-Kent council meeting to deal encampments, two very different motions will be coming forward regarding the rules around so-called tent cities.

Mayor Darrin Canniff is expected to bring forward a nine-point motion that would alter the rules. The biggest change would require encampments to be at least 100 metres away from any private property, a substantial increase of the current guideline of 10 metres.

Other amendments proposed within Canniff’s motion include: only one tent per person; personal items (except for a bicycle) must be stored within the tent, as well as a provision that would allow the municipality to remove garbage.

Part of Canniff’s motion would see the creation of a new bylaw protocol governing encampments as soon as possible.

However, Chatham Coun. Michael Bondy is putting a very different motion forward.

He wants to see tents removed during the day, only allowing them to be erected on municipal lands from one hour before sunset to one hour after sunrise. It also directs designated enforcement officers to be able to “remove, seize, and impound or cause the removal, seizure or impoundment of any property of thing that unlawfully occupies, or has been unlawfully placed or left on municipal lands.”

According to C-K communications manager Eric Labadie, the mayor’s motion draws on best practices gleaned from neighbouring municipalities, as all are dealing with the same issue.

A furor has erupted in the last two weeks after people living in the downtown encampment near the Third Street Bridge in Chatham relocated to the green space at the Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission property on Grand Avenue West.

A petition has been started by residents angry the quiet area has been taken over by a homeless encampment.

By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press

The Corporation of the Town of Essex “is in a strong financial position,” Cynthia Swift, Lead Audit Engagement Partner of KPGM LLP, said of Essex’s 2024 financial statements.

Council adopted the 2024 audited financial statements and audited findings for the Town of Essex as presented at the July 21 meeting.

KPMG audited the consolidated financial statements of the Corporation of the Town of Essex, which comprised of the consolidated statements of financial position as at December 31, 2024, of operations and accumulated surplus for the year then ended, of changes in net financial assets for the year then ended, of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes and schedules to the consolidated financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.

KPMG issued its unmodified audit opinion. Its report indicated the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects.

She noted KPMG had the full cooperation of Essex’s management during the process.

There were no control deficiencies, which speaks highly of management and the good internal controls and processes at the Town, Swift said.

Essex’s financial assets were outlined in the report to be $106,359,710 as of December 31, up from $101,999,283 the year prior.

The only outstanding items to complete the audit was the representation letter that will be sent to her, and the final financial statements from Union Water Supply System.

There was one financial change in accounting policy this past year and that was in respect to the Union Water Supply System. That went from a government unit to a general business entity. The change, Swift said, includes instead of consolidating the Town’s proportionate share of the Union Water System, Essex is now just showing the investment in it.

Essex Free Press files show that is because in August of 2022, the four shareholder municipalities of Essex, Lakeshore, Leamington, and Kingsville approved the undertaking of the adoption of restructuring the business case into a municipal service corporation. That started in January of 2024 with the first approved budget and the transfer of operations of the system from the former board to the new municipal service corporation.

Essex CAO Kate Giurissevich thanked the Finance Department for putting this project together. She noted they spend a large amount of time on this year-end audit.

“It is no small task,” she said.

Giurissevich also spoke of the tangible capital assets, which serve the community, increased $7M at $214,685,635 from $207,295,934 in 2023.

“So, there are investments being made in the Town assets and the replacements of such,” Giurissevich added.

In addition, the Town does have strong internal controls to ensure residents’ assets are safeguarded, she commented.

By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press

Essex County Council received a report outlining the departmental activities and performance – active and completed approvals – of the Planning Services Division over the past year for information.

It also provided some comparisons to activity over the past five-years, in addition to comments on the Planning Division actions toward achieving goals outlined in the County’s Strategic Plan and initiatives detailed in the Official Plan adopted in 2024, Rebecca Belanger, Manager of Planning, explained to County Council at the July 16 meeting.

The Planning Services Division – consisting of a manager, two senior planners, and a summer student – for the County of Essex facilitates the approval of planning applications on behalf of the province in conformity of all sections of the Planning Act, as well as other provincial and federal legislation.

“The Planning Services Administration continue to focus efforts on streamlining the development approvals process and to improve service delivery,” Belanger said.

On a few different occasions over the past couple of years, the staff members of this County department have received correspondence from the Windsor-Essex Home Builders’ Association, providing recommendations from their perspective on how the County could improve the experience in the developmental approvals process, Belanger explained.

“I’m in regular communication with the Home Builders Association representatives, working on these continuous improvements to remove red tape and continue making these improvements,” she said.

One of the improvements currently underway include the implementation of the Cloudpermit Planning module, which the County is in the process of building presently. This will provide a web-based platform for processing the subdivision and condominium applications County-wide.

“This web-based platform will allow developers, agencies, local municipalities, and the County to share application updates on a live basis,” Belanger said, noting this will ensure all users have the same information at the same time.

The implementation of Cloudpermit accomplishes one of the County’s Strategic Plan objectives, which encourages more regional collaboration through harmonizing planning approvals.

Kingsville Mayor Dennis Rogers was pleased to hear of this collaboration, noting what is heard at the local level is how much back-and-forth there is on Plans of Subdivision and Condominium.

The County’s Planning Services Division has noticed an increase in the number of applications that are processed.

In 2019, Belanger recalled reporting to County Council there were 30 development applications in process at that time, particularly relating to subdivisions.

Presently, this department has over 150 planning applications in process, Belanger added.

“In the last two-years, there has been a notable increase in the number of condominium applications submitted for approval. Many involve the redevelopment of lands within the urban centers in the County, which utilize existing municipal services and support healthy, sustainable communities.”

The processing of subdivision applications in particular involves a significant time-allocation of planning application and reviewing support studies – such as functional servicing, stormwater management, traffic and environmental impact assessments – in collaboration with agencies and local municipalities.

“The complexity in processing each application is unique, based on a series of circumstances,” she explained.

County Planning provides four-broad service areas: long-range planning, processing and approving planning applications, managing special projects, and responding to public and agency inquiries.

In terms of special projects, the Planning Department is currently working on the preparation of a large-scale Community Improvement Plan (CIP) program guideline, which should be presented to County Council later this summer. Staff is also working on including a new natural heritage compensation guideline in the County Environmental Impact Assessment, planned to be tabled this summer or early fall.

In addition, the Request for Proposal to retain a consultant to prepare the Specialty Crops Study is planned for procurement in the coming months, with the project ongoing this fall and winter.

Planning staff, Belanger added, is also heavily involved in the development of the Coastal Resilience Plan for the south-shore communities of the County. The outcome of this work is intended to be transferable to the other remaining communities in the County. Work will continue over the coming years, she added.

By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press

Administration for the County of Essex has been directed to prepare a letter and submit it to the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) in support of the Windsor to Lakeshore Transmission Project.

The ERO has requested feedback on the proposed Windsor to Lakeshore Transmission Project; a double-circuit 230-kilovolt transmission line from Lauzon Transformer Station (TS) in Windsor to Lakeshore TS in Lakeshore, and associated station facilities.

County CAO Sandra Zwiers spoke of the Longwood Project, which is providing a transmission corridor from Chatham into Lakeshore.

“This is the next phase of the development that takes that power source and moves it right across the northern-stretch of Essex County into the City of Windsor,” Zwiers explained. “Based on our experience in the Longwood to Lakeshore Transmission Line – and the Warden [Hilda MacDonald] and I have had a number of dedicated meetings with the Ministry and with Hydro One on this project – we are excited to continue that collaboration, consultation with the Ministry on this next important length of the transmission project.”

She sought County Council’s permission during the July 16 meeting to provide the letter of support to the ERO.

“Administratively, we believe this is a really important continuation of work that is already being done in the region, but we will continue to unlock economic and growth potential and address some consistency and resiliency issues that we already see facing our hydro structure in the region,” Zwiers added.

Key benefits of the project she outlined included providing reliable power for residents and businesses, support for economic growth and agri-business, sustainability and climate leadership, improved quality of life, infrastructure readiness for the future, and stronger rural and agriculture resilience.

“We would be formulating those benefits – and any other County Council wishes to add this evening – to a letter of support.”

Considering this transmission project will pass through Lakeshore and Tecumseh, Zwiers said she did reach out to the CAOs of both of the municipalities. Feedback received was that the County’s letter of support also included a reminder to continue that dedicated collaboration and consultation with these two communities, in addition to the County of Essex.

“It is important that those lines [of communication] remain clear and open, considering their residents would be primarily most-affected as this project unfolds and gets things constructed. We are certainly willing to do that as well,” Zwiers added.

She also received correspondence from the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, Kate Burns-Gallagher, who expressed support on behalf of her organization for any letter the County may submit to the ERO.

Tecumseh Council is in full support Mayor Gary McNamara said.

“The region is in dire need, and if we are to expand our ability to attract new investment into the region – and even for our own sustainability in terms of housing and also to deal with climate change – it is very important for us to move forward.”

Lakeshore Mayor Tracey Bailey thanked Zwiers for her leadership on the project and connection with the communities most impacted. She was happy to support the motion.

There is no cost to the County of Essex to support this project.

By Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press

The Harrow Early Immigrant Research Society (HEIRS) volunteers have recently completed a scanning project in cooperation with the Town of Essex’s Clerk’s Department.

With a mission to promote and advocate for the preservation and study of genealogical and local history in the original Township of Colchester, in part, through the collection and preservation of print artifacts and written materials related to local history, HEIRS volunteers set out to scan and digitize as many of the handwritten minutes and by-laws that could be located.

To date, HEIRS has scanned and digitized 28,111 pages of handwritten records. That includes minutes and by-laws of Colchester North, minutes of Colchester South, minutes of Colchester Township, minutes and by-laws of the Village of Essex Centre, Essex Town by-laws and minutes, and Harrow minutes.

The range of years goes back to as early as 1859 to the most recent being 1964.

Laurie Brett, Secretary/Treasurer of HEIRS, explained she approached the Town’s Clerk’s Department around a year ago and received permission to undertake this large-scale project.

HEIRS scanned from three different record types, including large bound books into which the Clerks would write with pen, binders of quasi-official and looseleaf minutes and by-laws some of the clerks maintained, and microfilm reels of early Colchester South and Colchester North that were in the HEIRS resource collection.

Throughout the course of undertaking the scanning project, Brett said it was discovered many young people, including some of HEIRS’s volunteers, cannot read cursive writing, which was used in record keeping.

“Advances in handwriting technology have made it possible to scan these pages, transcribe them, and make them searchable,” Brett explained to Essex Council at the July 16 meeting when explaining the project.

Unfortunately, technology can’t always compensate for faded type, ink blots, or damage.

“A poor choice of a pen 100-years ago often means we are dealing with faded type today. More tragic than that is when pages start to decompose, due to adverse environmental factors,” Brett added.

The good news is that HEIRS has been able to make the vast majority of these records searchable.

Brett acknowledged the cooperation of the Town’s Clerk’s Department on this project. “They were critical to making this project successful,” Brett said, adding the books are heavy and not easily hauled-around. She also recognized the Board members and volunteers at HEIRS, who supported this project.

With this project complete, HEIRS has turned its sights on scanning a very large collection of photographs.

She also spoke of how the 130-years worth of Essex Free Press archives was recently transported to the Leddy Library Archives and Special Collections at the University of Windsor.

“Preserving the original print copies of our local newspapers has become a pressing issue in the face of significant challenges to the industry related to financial viability, ownership changes, and newsroom closures,” Brett said, who once served as Editor and Publisher of the Essex Free Press. Her family owned the newspaper from 1896 to 2011.

She credited her husband, Art Rhyno, for his interest in ensuring the local newspapers have been digitized. He also ran the Town’s minutes and by-laws through handwriting recognition software, making them searchable.

On behalf of the Town’s Clerk’s Department, Joe Malandruccolo, Director of Legal and Legislative Services, said they are thankful for the material and the efforts.

“We have already started using some of it, especially for drainage by-laws that were hard to find and not digitized. They were hard to get through,” Malandruccolo said.

Council received the delegation, with Mayor Sherry Bondy acknowledging HEIR’s efforts on this project.