This month, the Grand River Conservation Membership meeting falls on the last day of the month, so what have they saved the best for last? Well they’ve certainly saved their budget for last out of all the area shared services, so we will get that final vote at this meeting. In other news, there will be some new tenders award and a vey wintery report about the current conditions in the watershed. Let’s see what all’s on the agenda.
NOTE: This meeting will be in a hybrid format and broadcast from the GRCA Administration Centre on YouTube starting at 9:30 am.
Correspondence – There are two pieces of incoming mail this month. One is from a planning professional raising his concerns about delays in getting approvals to build a new office for a company in Wellesley, and another from the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture encouraging the GRCA to post a representative from the ag industry on the board per recent changes approved by the provincial government.
Report of the Chair – New chair means new changes, in this case a monthly one-page written report from the chair about the last month’s activities. Included among them is a survey to members about the aforementioned agricultural rep, an fyi about a future meeting with the special flood co-ordinator about potential flooding in the spring thaw, and an update coming to next month’s board meeting about the new Guelph Lake Nature Centre and its naming.
Conservation Services Update – Also new is this report, which covers the services offered under Category 2, which are managed through agreements with the participating municipalities. This report covers information about the Rural Water Quality Program, whose participants including Wellington and Dufferin, and the Clean Water Program in Oxford County.
Cash and Investment Status – As of the end of January, the GRCA had Notes Receivable in the amount of $59,576,152 with outstanding cheques written in the amount of $19,542.
Financial Summary – Given the next item on the agenda, and the fact that there’s only one month of business in 2025 so far, there’s not much to see here.
Budget 2025 – The proposed budget for the GRCA this year is just over $40 million, and out of that the total municipal apportionment is $13.7 million. Changes since the last draft budget? Increases in some conservation area expenses, increases in some expectation for revenue collection, and some increased expenses for special projects like the Guelph Lake Nature Centre and floodplain mapping. The report also says that the GRCA took in a surplus of nearly $500,000 for 2024, which is about four times more than expected.
Afforestation Services for Spring 2025 – Did you know that the GRCA has sponsored the planting of over 30 million trees in the last 50 years? This year will be no exception with two different companies being chosen for the 2025 afforestation project: Black River Tree Planing will be handling tall stock and Brinkman Reforestation will take seedlings. The budget is a little over $186,000.
Refuse Waste Collection and Recycling Request for Proposals: Agreement Extension – WasteCo was awarded a three-year contract with the GRCA to provide waste and recycling collection at the conservations areas. That contract had an option for a two-year exctension, and the GRCA would like to extend. The cost will be just over $230,000 for the next two years, which has already been accounted for in the GRCA’s budget. The average cost increase is 14.5 per cent not counting Byng Island and the Taquanyah Nature Centre.
Supply and Delivery of Gasoline and Diesel Fuel: Tender Award – The GRCA has secured a new agreement for the supply of fuel for vehicles and equipment with Suncor for five years for over $747,000. Until this new deal, there was a combination of procurement situations across the watershed area, which have all been more or less consolidated with this new deal, but there are exceptions. Pinehurst Lake and Burford Nursery are exceptions because of tank ownership or specialised equipment, but they could end up added at any future point during the contract period.
Septic Pumping and Disposal: Request for Proposal Award – Fun fact: The GRCA has 146 septic tanks across all its facilities including the administration centre itself, and that requires having someone collect all the waste from the tanks. For the job, the procurement process led staff to Egger Enviro Ltd. and Weber Environmental Services for a three-year contract for $223,213.21.
Supply and Delivery of Campfire Wood: Request for Quotations – If you’re camping, you need firewood, and if you’re camping at a GRCA ground, your firewood is still going to come from McWood Products as it has since 2019. Staff are asking for the membership’s approval of a new three-year contract for a little over $676,000.
Current Watershed Conditions – The average temperature of the watershed was over a whole degree colder than normal this year, and there was 37 per cent more precipitation than normal this past January. The Guelph and Conestogo Dams are within their normal operating ranges for this time of year, and Lake Erie is trending close to its long-term average. The forecast for the next three months? Above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation.
Report of the Audit Committee – If we’re laying out the financials for next year, then we should also look at the financials for last year. The Audit Committee met earlier this week to look at the audited financial statements and there were a couple of minor corrections. The committee also looked at an update to the terms of reference and are asking staff to prepare new policy for whistleblower protections.
Approval of Financial Statements and Report of the Auditor – Already approved at the Audit committee, the full board will have to approve the audited financial statements too, along with the auditor’s report.
Appointment of Auditors – Once the audited financial statements are approved then you approve the appointment of the auditor for the next financial year. The recommendation is to maintain KPMG for the job.
Presentation of Budget Estimates for the Current Year – As stated above, the budget for this year is $40,029, 965.
Provision for Borrowing (Pending Receipt of Municipal Apportionment) – Because there are so many different municipalities that are part of the GRCA, and they all have different budget schedules and fiscal years, not to mention the fact that the Government of Ontario doesn’t start their fiscal year till April, the GRCA might need to borrow to pay the bills until the apportionment for 2025 starts coming through. That requires membership approval.
Appointments to Committees – And finally, the membership will need to approve the appointments to the Audit Committee and the Conservation Ontario Council representatives.
SEE THE COMPLETE AGENDA ON THE GRCA WEBSITE HERE.
Source Protection Meeting: Submission of the amended Grand River Source Protection Plan and Assessment Report – The GRCA membership will also meet as the GRCA Source Protection Authority, and they will do that primarily in the interest of updating the Source Protection Plan which will mostly affect the Hamilton area.
Source Protection Meeting: Source Protection Committee Member Appointments – Before wrapping up, Rod Whitlow will be appointed to the Lake Erie Region Source Protection Committee as the Six Nations rep.
Guelph Politico 