City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello Jeff, can you hear us?

It was at the beginning.

This meeting is transcribed and summarized.

It's good.

I declare this ordinary meeting of the Municipal Council of August 20 open. And proceed with the call, please.

Present. Brad Berry. Present.

Present. Then again. Present.

Mayor Stevenson.

Present. Please rise for the sermon. Go ahead, Jean. To the flag of the United States of America, which is the republic it represents, a nation under the aegis of God, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all. Thank you. The municipal council of Kachikan respectfully pays tribute to the first traditional people of these lands of Kachikan, the Tlingit people. We have a public hearing concerning ordinance number 26-2033, modifying the subordinate H of section 2.72-030. of the municipal code of Kachikan entitled Consultative Council of Ports and Trees. Is there anyone here to express himself on this? No, we do not see any, we will close this public hearing. I would like to take this opportunity to move on to point A and read the resolution at this precise moment, then we will adopt it as point A and add it to the consent. City of Ketchikan, resolution number 26-3034, a resolution of the Council of the City of Ketchikan, Alaska, commemorating the second anniversary of the land slide of August 25, 2024, honoring the affected people and establishing a commemorative date. At this stage, I would like to ask A7 to come and say a few words.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the Council. Seth Bragge, Director of Public Works and Director of Engineering.

Thank you for presenting this resolution before you tonight.

It is difficult to believe that almost two years ago, on August 25, the second anniversary of an event that deeply affected Ketchikan, This resolution honors Sean Daffy's family and also honors Chris Riley, who was seriously injured during the landslide and who is present tonight with his wife, Wendy. Chris, Wendy, could you come here please? Chris is really a total example of perseverance and strength. We will never be able to thank him enough for coming back to work with the city for the city of Kachikan. He is a long-time employee for us and we really appreciate everything he has accomplished. This resolution is for him and the family of Sean Griffey.

Thank you for submitting tonight.

As expected, on August 25, 2024, two landslides, one on 3rd Avenue and the other on Copper Ridge Lane, occurred in the Ketchikan village and the borough of Ketchikan Gateway, tragically causing a death and several injuries. The important material damage affected houses, roads and infrastructure, deeply impacting the community. And considering that after this landslide, Sean Griffin has tragically lost his life. Employee devoted for 17 years in the service of public works in the city of Ketchikan. He was in service to clean the sewage mouths during the third avenue landslide and was a father, a husband, a member of his family and the exemplary community. And considering that following this slide, Chris Riley has been seriously injured, a 15-year-old employee in the public works service of the city of Ketchikan, he was also in service to clean the mouth and taste during the slide of 3rd Avenue, has shown incredible strength and determination to survive these injuries and is a remarkable example of recovery, dedication and perseverance, continuing to serve the community as an important member of the public works department. Considering that this anniversary offers the community an opportunity to reflect, to solemnly commemorate and to renew its commitment to public safety and risk prevention. And considering that the Council wishes to officially commemorate this anniversary, express its continued sympathy for the family and friends of Sean Ketchin, Chris Riley, his family and his friends, as well as all the people affected by this landslide, and recognize the resilience, the courage and mutual support demonstrated by the Ketchikan community on the eve of this tragedy. It is therefore resolved by the municipal council of the city of Ketchikan in Alaska, which follows. Section 1.

The council commemorates the second anniversary of the landslide of August 25, 2024 and honors the memory of those who have lost their lives, were injured or were otherwise affected by this tragedy. Section 2.

The Council reiterates its most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Sean Griffin, honoring his memory as a father, husband, member of the family and community devoted, and expresses his gratitude for his service to the city of Ketchikan and the community. Section 3. The Council expresses its gratitude to Chris Riley, honoring his strength to persevere despite his injuries, underlining his continuous recovery, his dedication to the service, and thanking him and his family for their contribution during the tragic events that followed. Section 4. The Council expresses its gratitude to the first interviewees, volunteers, community members, city and borough employees, as well as to the state and federal partners whose efforts have supported the response, the rehabilitation and the reconstruction of the community.

Section 5.

This resolution will take effect immediately after its adoption. Voted and approved by the Municipal Council of Le Mans, made up of the city of Ketchikan on August 20, 2026. So, you are here for the moment. And we will take this other course.

Okay.

I wanted to mention, quickly, the numbers.

Monsieur le maire, si je puis me permettre, j'aimerais inviter tout le conseil et la communauté à une cérémonie de commémoration le mardi 25 août à 16h00 au site historique de Refuge Cove ou plutôt au site d'État. Il y aura une cérémonie pour une nouvelle plaque en l'honneur de Sean Griffin parrainé par la National Honor Society du lycée de Ketchan et nous apprécierions votre présence. Si vous pouvez vous y rendre, nous aimerions vraiment vous y voir. Merci.

Merci, Steph. Personne n'entend. Y a-t-il quelqu'un ici pour s'adresser au Conseil ce soir?

Oui, nous avons une personne. M. Manor?

Monsieur le maire, membre du Conseil, merci de me donner l'occasion de m'exprimer. Je m'appelle Doran Grossman. Nous nous sommes parlé il y a quelques semaines. I am one of the important employees of the board who submitted the letter to the board.

I want to be direct on the current situation.

The report of the director describes a situation that does not correspond to what has been documented. Submitted several times and now officially submitted to the board. I'm not here to discuss details today.

The file is public now. And he's talking to him.

Part of this investigation was carried out by the employees of the board.

The board has drawn its own conclusions on the type of result that this is. La solution proposée est que cela se résume à une meilleure communication dans les deux sens.

Ce n'est pas ce que montre le dossier. Chaque préoccupation a été communiquée oralement et par écrit à plusieurs reprises pendant 20 mois au chef de service, au RH et à la direction. Le problème n'a jamais été que nous n'avons rien dit, c'est que le dire n'a rien changé. Le rapport qualifie également la stabilité des effectifs de nos problèmes, puisqu'un seul employé est parti jusqu'à présent. Cela omet ce qui s'est réellement passé. On prévoyait déjà de partir en octobre. It is not the proof that the retention is going well. It is the proof that the atmosphere at the port or on board accelerates the exact result that the report claims has not yet been found. Briefly, for the rest, the elevator chariot has been repaired. I would like to underline that the fire truck has been repaired today to respond to the security concerns that I personally had concerning the entrance to the reservoir. The port coordinator, James, is in the reservoir. The director served as an assistant and finished the day like the second most dirty person on the field. I noticed it. I really appreciate that. But the other concerns I raised tonight remain valid and up-to-date.

The self-evaluation of HR is not an independent examination.

Qualifying a change of schedule for a simple divergence of opinion on efficiency and the flow of work. Ignore what employees have really reported regarding safety and the workload.

I can tell you what's happening. People don't all leave the same way. Some wait for the conclusion of trade negotiations.

Others are waiting for school admissions. Some have simply not yet found a job.

But among the employees who have already decided to leave, you lose at least 20 years of accumulated experience who will leave the company in the months to come. It's already decided. These are not easy decisions. Some give up thousands of dollars on their retirement account. Many give up a job they used to love. Some give up something they are good at because it is no longer worth fighting for. We have tried. We have really tried.

We have raised these problems, often at all levels, at our disposal, before even coming to this advice.

The responsibility of what will then happen to a service partner who has created these conditions and to all those who, in a position to act, have chosen not to do so.

It does not concern the employees who have spent 20 months trying to solve this in the right way. Thank you.

Thank you.

That's all, Your Honor. Thank you.

This brings us to the order of the day by consent. And if the Council agrees, I would like to advance the case in instance 6A or subsection 2026 concerning the Port Consultative Council. Then point 7A, resolution 263.4. This is a motion. I propose the order of the day by consent. Supposed. The motion has been proposed. Madam Secretary, you could say the points.

Approval of the verbal trial of the Ordinary Union of the Municipal Council of August 6, 2026. Establishment of Saturday, October 3, 2026 as a holiday day exonerated from the tax of sale. Amendment number 5, 6 and 7 to the contract number 20332, service of engineering related to the evaluation of the modeling of the emissary of the water purification station used in the city of Ashkan, Jacobs Engineering Group. budget transfer, travel and training for the mayor, the council and the electric division, examined by the council for the request for the transfer of the license of drinking debits for the restaurant of Tipsy Crab, examined by the council for the request for renewal of the license of cultural installation of standard marijuana in 995 rainforest cannabis cultivation and the ordinance number 26 2033 modifying the subsection h of articles 27 230 of the municipal code of Katcham, entitled Consultative Council of Ports and Alps.

Thank you, Mr. Council. Discussion? Any objections? A question, sir. The point was included in this reading.

I ask you for the consent as well. I missed this. Resolution number 26-3034 commemorating the second anniversary of the land slide of August 25, 2024 and honoring the affected people. Thank you.

Nous avons entendu des points, des commentaires. Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

Le glissement de terrain. 16h. 16h.

Madame la directrice, pourriez-vous faire l'appel ?

Brabé.

À nouveau. Présent.

Casse. Pouce.

Zingui.

Peu. So we come to point 7b, acceptance of the full annual financial report of the city of Ketchikan, Alaska and the section of the additional compliance report for the closed exercise on December 31, 2025. I have a motion, Mr Mayor. I propose that the municipal council accept the full annual financial report of the city of Ketchikan, Alaska and the section of the additional compliance report for the closed exercise on December 31, 2025. is proposed to be supported.

Administrator, before we introduce you. Yes, Mr. Mayor-General, Monica Gardner is present at the meeting tonight with Tischer Walpole and her cabinet, who carried out this examination for us and prepared the report. So, if you wish, we can give her the floor so that she can present the document to you.

Please.

Très bien, merci. Nous venons tout juste de terminer cette audite et je tenais à vous informer qu'aucun ajustement n'a été nécessaire suite à nos procédures. We have been able to issue a favorable opinion, which is, in my opinion, a compliment for your financial team, for the work they do and for the rigor of their management. I just wanted to highlight this point. I know that our two teams, mine and yours, always try to start their work in the spring. It is really at this moment that we try to carry out the work on the field, to test and examine the figures to validate everything. Nous essayons de commencer vers mars si possible. La plupart du temps, cela est repoussé pour des raisons indépendantes de notre volonté et cette année ne fait pas exception. Nous n'avons pas pu commencer sérieusement avant le mois de juin. Cela a donc nécessité beaucoup de soirées et de week-ends de travail pour terminer l'audit d'ici la fin juin, le 30 juin, ce que nous avons réussi à faire grâce à notre équipe et à l'aide du département financier pour obtenir les informations nécessaires. But it was really a project. But fortunately, the files were clean and that made things a lot easier. So we generally carry out our control tests, starting probably in November, October, November, December. We coordinate a little, but I would say usually around November. I think we are planning to do the same for this next audit of 2026 as well. We generally carry out control tests before the end of the year to help minimize the further workload. This also allows the financial team to close accounts correctly, to obtain all the planning and to do everything that is necessary for the end of the year so that we can carry out the audit. Here is this little point to start with. Finally, overall, looking at things from a general point of view, the comparison between the budget and the real and the course of the year, it seems really very good from our point of view as well. It seems, by examining the general fund, that the revenues were in line with the budgetary forecasts, but that the expenses were much less, which is always a good thing. You know, as soon as we can control it or maintain the expenses below the budget, it's appreciable, which added a good 5 million to the fund's salary at the end of the year, just for the general fund. Almost all individual funds also had a positive flow, I think, which is always an excellent news to hear. I don't know if there's anything else in particular, if anyone has any questions for me, or if there are points that you would like me to address.

So thank you for the work that the organization has done to review all this. I would like to thank our financial services for all the information provided. And the work done for the city, because I know that these documents come back to its own year after year. And it is thanks to their dedication to ensure that everything is well recorded, well collected.

So I really appreciate that.

Is there a section in this report that deals with our financial situation in order to ensure that we cover our costs? Where are we regarding the sales tax rate? We have set up a fractioned rate according to the seasons and how it compares.

Are there sections where we formulate recommendations to the financial services on this subject?

No, in reality, we don't really do much of this kind of thing. This does not relate to our field, as far as auditing is concerned. What we do is examine things and say, hey, it's still historical, are they doing this correctly? Do they follow the accounting principles for government entities? So it is under this angle that we examine it. In fact, we do not make many projections for the future. This is not part of the audit. There are things that we could do, but this is not part of our mission. And I would also like to point out, so that you are aware of it, that our office is not the one that writes the annual financial report. It is your financial team that takes care of it, and as you can see, it is not an easy task. C'est assez volumineux, long et complexe, mais ils font un excellent travail. Et ce sont eux qui le rédigent et le créent. Lors de notre audite, nous examinons les chiffres pour nous assurer qu'ils sont dans les bonnes catégories, classés correctement et présentés dans les bons fonds. Ce genre de choses. Et c'est généralement historique.

Merci. Quelqu'un d'autre ? Sénat, nous apprécions votre présentation. Merci.

Merci.

Well, we have a motion in progress. It has been supported.

We have a brief explanation of the process and what has been examined.

Are there any other questions from the Board? In the absence of questions, could you make the call?

Finnegan.

Zinghi. Bradberry.

Thank you very much. Let's move on to point C, a work session concerning the initiative of the citizens of the Ketchikan Gateway Bureau aiming to adopt library powers at the scale of the area. Do I have a motion?

I propose to start a work session to discuss an update on the initiative of the citizens of the Ketchikan Gateway Bureau aiming to adopt library powers at the scale of the area.

Discussions? In the absence of a reaction, could you ask for a second?

Sorry, I did not hear a second.

Yes, you can make the nominative call.

Brad Berry? Good.

We are now in the work session. Abner, what do you have to say to us?

Yes, Mr. Mayor. I will quickly review the slides included in your file. Etienne is distributing the guide of the election update that the Borough Assembly published with its order of the day, and we will discuss it at the end for you. It's not me.

So, next slide.

What we have tonight for you is an update on the questions that were asked during the previous work session. We were able to find the answers to these topics. And so just one point on where we are. We talked about the calendar last time. We had our last work session on August 6th. The lawyer of the city wrote a note that was included in your file answering several of the questions asked. And so we are here tonight on August 20th. for this work session. The office has its conclusions and the reader's guide in its order of the day for Monday 24 and has been published since about 2 p.m. today on the office's website if you want to consult these complete documents. It was too late, of course, to include them in your file, but I will briefly talk about it at the end of the slides here for you and I will summarize their content. Next slide. So concerning the questions raised previously and during the previous work session on the analysis of the lawyer, its main conclusions include what follows. The transfer of power is carried out by a process negotiated or by the initiative of the voters as it currently presents itself. The process is really the same as for the law of Alaska. A negotiated transfer is not possible before October 6 and there is simply not enough time for this to happen before the election. Employees' obligations are transferred to the office and there is a precedent for this since the transfer of parks to the office in 1992. And the office assumes all contractual obligations of the city for the supply of this service, which includes the contract with the employees. La responsabilité PRS. De l'accord IBU double est transféré avec les postes. En ce qui concerne le PRS, peu leur importe qui est l'employeur tant que les postes demeurent. Et comme ceux-ci sont transférés au bureau lors de l'adoption ou du transfert du pouvoir, cela devient leur responsabilité. Il n'y a donc pas de responsabilité PRS s'il choisissait de ne pas conserver ses employés. Il n'y a pas de responsabilité PRS. The 2012 mandatory loan agreement did not require that the property be used at the end of the library, but it requires that it remain used for public purposes during the duration of the obligation. This raises the question of the use negotiated and to know if we can protect it as a library in one way or another. There are also precedents on this subject. In addition, during the transfer of parks in the 90s, the act of cession that was treated to transfer this property to the neighborhood included a clause stipulating that if they wanted to sell or transfer it one day, the city would be informed before any sale Le produit de la vente serait limité à des fins récréatives. Et si l'utilise à des fins non récréatives, un avis de mise en conformité sous 30 jours était également inclus. Il serait donc raisonnable de penser qu'une disposition similaire pourrait être incluse dans le transfert de la bibliothèque si l'initiative aboutissait. Question suivante. Question suivante. Diapositive suivante. As for the employees and the pension system, there are 11 full-time equivalents. Three of them are covered by the PRS, one director and two main librarians, and eight are under the IBUW contract. In addition, there are about five temporary employees who work part-time with temporary salaries. They are not syndicated and are not under the IBUW contract.

But they are budgeted and included.

We have already talked about the passive, the PRS. As far as internal transfers are concerned, there is no automatic right to transfer to another municipal post. However, according to the contract, they have priority over external candidates if there are vacant posts within the city between the time when the transfer is negotiated and the time when it takes place. There are several municipal classifications that share the same salary scales as the library. It is therefore possible There is currently no vacant post in these scales that is comparable at the moment. This slide answers the question concerning the amounts in dollars associated with the rate of taxation for the operations of the library, about 1.11 billion, or 176 million. The service of the debt of the library is of about 0.32 thousand for 338 or 1000 dollars and a few parents in debt service. Conclusions on the capacity and the information guide of the voters. I communicated with the director of the arrondissement and the graphic designer. and the staff was able to examine the information guide of the voters in advance and it seems that all the information included was factual. As I mentioned earlier, the guide is in the order of the 24th for approval by the assembly of the district and we have provided you with a copy taken from their order of the day tonight so that you can examine it. However, I note that it does not include the estimated taxation rate necessary to finance this. This simply confirms that the Assembly would decide on operations, that it can set a tax to finance these operations, and that it can set a tax to pay the mandatory debt. And since we are here, I will briefly talk about the other information that then appears. on the day of the 24th. They therefore have a resolution concerning the conclusions of the office on the extended powers of the libraries. There are three conclusions on this subject. The first is that the office can collect or collect local taxes to finance the operations of the libraries. Secondly, they conclude that the office can collect or collect local taxes to ensure the service of the mandatory debt. And thirdly, the office has the capacity of management and personnel to exercise the powers of the libraries at the scale of the area. They should adopt this resolution during their meeting on the 24th. This point, in the order of the day, includes a note from their human resources manager, the director of the HR, concerning the costs, the effectives, the obligations of collective negotiations. And they mentioned the transfer of parks and recreation in the 90s, as well as a few questions in suspense to be resolved before finalizing any transfer. And again, all this is available at the time of the office day. The following slide. This slide is probably wrong, because it was probably talking about continuing to work with them on the conclusions. So the detailed mechanisms of the transition of employees are still under review. Part of this should be negotiated. As I said, the office should and the office has declared that it should negotiate with the employees the contract by determining what conditions are transferred and which are not transferred. But it would be transferred Other conditions relating to assets will have to be negotiated. So technically it's still open, but we think it could be negotiated. And we have already coordinated their conclusions with the office and the voter's guide. And at this stage, I do not foresee any need for additional updates for the council before the elections. But it's still an option. And if something new comes up, we will inform the council in more detail. And I think that's all I have to say on the subject of video-tech. I now open the session to questions or discussion as you wish.

Have we analyzed the tax rate and its distribution for people to understand what is the cost? Where will their tax go?

It will depend on what the Office of the Assembly will decide regarding the operations during the budget adoption. Then they will set the tax rate at the scale of the area for all the contributors on the basis of 2.

Is there a way, according to what we are currently doing, to give people an idea of the global cost?

The closest would be the initial letter of the lawyer from the district to the assembly, which indicated in 1.2. 1.2 billion dollars. With the functioning and the current staff, if nothing changes.

And how much does that represent?

That would represent about 1.2 million dollars.

No, I mean individually.

Oh, we haven't done this analysis.

It's just so people understand.

What is the cost per person?

Per person. Like per home. Because often people want to know. You know.

We could do a calculation of the cost by thousands of dollars of evaluated value. It's really difficult. And such a disparity in the value of the properties? It's difficult to give an average per home, but we could do the calculation and provide it to you. On what represents 1.2 thousandths per thousandth.

So, Abby, what is the current thousandth rate to run the library?

Think about it. The city does not specify to which operations our thousandth rate is affected. Instead, we do it through our budget process. We have our 6.6 thousandths that we evaluate, then it goes to all municipal operations.

But to answer that, you have a slide that indicates 1.431 megabytes.

The equivalent rate on the 6.6 thousandths goes to these exact numbers.

We just asked them. Yes, this 6.1 thousandth slide and the effective rate for the operation of the library and 0.32 would be the rate for the service of debt. So a total of 1.43. They seem strange.

A calculation of 1.4 for the residents of the city. If we can do it for 1.2, just with the residents of the city, you transfer. It just doesn't make any sense. Yes, we didn't do this analysis.

It's just that we don't have a memo from the lawyer of the neighborhood. Someone else.

Just to add to that, I think that's what I feel. If more people pay, it should cost less for the same services. That's what I would like to see.

If we left everything as it is and that each inhabitant of the island paid a percentage of a thousandth, what would be the real cost per thousand?

But the office, the office also spends money on this operation at the moment. So it will remain a cost, because how much are they injecting into our operations annually now?

700,000 and some. That's their contribution. So this April 11 and this April 32 do not account for the borough? For the library.

Currently for the library.

But wouldn't that disappear to do?

Yes.

to evaluate 6,000 at the scale of the territory, what they use to get to this contribution of 700. And so when it becomes territorial, the estimate is that this rate, assuming that the operations are the same, that the Assembly approves all this and that it does not change anything. So the prices were exactly the same. They should increase the territorial rate by 1.2. So you would see an increase of 6,000 for areas outside the city. And you would see an evaluation of 1.2 thousand for residents of the city. In the city of Ketchikan and Saxman.

Thank you. I think we just have to wait now to see what the result of the vote will be and how it will move forward.

I'm still looking for the real thousand rate that we, the residents of the city, injectons dans la bibliothèque. Ce 1,4 a été évoqué mais comme vous venez de le dire ce 1,4 ne tient pas compte de l'argent. C'est donc ce qui vient d'être déclaré.

Alors je suppose que je suis juste confus.

Is 1.4 on the rate of 6.6 thousand for our citizens, our residents of the city, which goes to the operations, plus the amount that comes from the mill of the borough? You know, the borough side. Or does this 1.4 include what comes to us? I guess that's what I'm looking for, what our citizens are imposed on.

The 1.4 in total for debt and combined operations is the current cost of the city in the current budget for operation. of the library and the payment of the mandatory debt. In addition, we receive an additional contribution from the office at the scale of the territory of 700. So this is really what is currently imposed on our citizens.

Other questions?

I know that Mitch is not here and I'm almost sure that it's...

I would like to ask a question. The lawyer of the city, you were hiding there. Good job.

Oh, that's good.

They denounced you. I was going to let you go. It's by the mayor's intermediary. Is it possible for us, members of the council, to adopt an ordinance now, before the initiative is voted? to reduce our municipal tax rate if the initiative is adopted and comes into force or do we have to wait for us after the election?

I don't see how you could do that in your budget. It's not fixed. Can you repeat?

In the case of the budget.

How to determine that? before following the budgetary process and set the rate for the fiscal year.

I was thinking, for example, if it's 1,431, it's our current rate for operations. If the initiative was voted, we would reduce from 1.43. It's not setting a ceiling at this rate. That is to say, whatever the rate set by the council, the reduction is applied. I was wondering about the aspects of...

I don't think an ordinance is an appropriate way to do that. I think that... You know, the council would say that... The staff would be able to extract the figures. You know, make sure the public is informed. But you have a total variable because no one knows what the global rate will be for the year to come before the council.

In other words, it will be integrated into the budget deliberations global to set the rate.

You won't know before. Or if you want something more formal, if you have the facts, you could adopt a defining resolution. the current implications for contributors and tax rates.

For me, we almost have the impression of proceeding the other way around. What I think, and I think that Abby is probably agree, what I want to make sure is that if it goes with the financing of the library and more equally distributed on the entire island, the percentage paid by the residents of the city via the land tax will obviously go down.

It will not go down to zero.

It will be somewhere between 0 and 1.43 somewhere in the middle or somewhere else. So what I want to make sure of is that we take it into account during, as Mitch said, the budget period so that We are re-evaluating our need for a fund-raising tax because I think we would be in excess, which would mean that we could reduce the fund-raising tax of the city of Ketchikan by this amount. I want to make sure that we are ready and that the Finance Service analyzes the right figure so as not to bill people more than necessary. Consideration reasonable. That corresponds to what you were looking for.

Je voulais juste le faire maintenant pour traiter le sujet plutôt que d'attendre les conséquences plus tard.

Peut-être devrions.

Je ne sais pas si c'est. Ça n'a pas l'air d'être en fait.

Donner instruction au personnel de commencer à analyser cela pour que nous soyons préparés. Je ne sais pas si l'élection est imminente. Il faut absolument que le personnel soit prêt pour ça. I think that through this discussion, Abner has enough information to deal with finances on this subject.

Do you confirm? I noted it. And circles.

And... How is it?

Asterisks and all the rest. Anything else?

Well, just for me. There are potentially, I think, two aspects. to those, a part of which I think was under the comments of Councilor Bradbury, and a part with MGAS. This is obviously something you should take care of when you establish the global tax rate. The other aspect, if it is not yet clear, would seem useful to a certain extent for the public. It is based on a set of hypotheses

Thank you, Mitch. Any other questions or comments?

Seeing none, do I have a motion to close this work session of the Council?

Mr Mayor, I propose that the Municipal Council end the work session.

Appuyez, motion proposée, appuyez.

Des discussions ? Non, n'entend pas aucune, veuillez faire appel nominal.

Zingui ?

Pouille ?

Frédéric ?

Cela nous amène aux bons de paiement. Avons-nous des bons de paiement à examiner ce soir ? Rapport du directeur. Qu'avez-vous pour nous ce soir ?

The only thing I wanted to add, Mr. Mayor, is that I just wanted to highlight that it did not appear in my report, but that it was sent to the council by email. I hired Sean Hart as permanent deputy director and I wanted to congratulate him for this selection and to thank him for his help during my integration.

Are there any questions? I have one for you on your report on the water service, where you mentioned the fact that we are heading towards water accounting for all our commercial entities. But when will we start working on the tariff structure?

C'est en perspective. Je n'ai pas de calendrier précis pour cela. Nous avons vraiment besoin que les compteurs soient en place pour pouvoir affiner cela davantage. J'ai été en discussion avec Wattroff pour voir comment nous pourrions utiliser cet outil pour nous aider à déterminer cela et rapporter des informations au Conseil. Je pense qu'à un moment donné, nous devons aussi examiner les comptes résidentiels. and find out how we can also equip them with counters because it will be the best way to guarantee a fair treatment for our users and that the residents do not subsidize our other users.

Can we? Are we allowed to obtain more information on the recommendation for the administrative examination of ports and harbors? Or are we not able to obtain a little more detail on this subject?

For everything beyond the report you received tonight, we should hold an executive session. Would you like to organize one?

Am I allowed to ask questions about the investigation process?

Not the who, what, when? But for example, did the municipal director conduct this investigation or not? I suppose I'm just trying to understand the procedure.

I mean, I agree that this may require an executive session, but for the moment, I'm just looking for... Abney for my process.

Yes, Mr. Mayor. So, we received the complaint letter from the employee. I sent to the council a note explaining that I was going to examine it through a structured process. And what I did is that I selected personnel who had not been involved in the facts that made up the complaint. Par exemple, j'ai demandé au directeur des travaux publics de mener des entretiens avec le personnel du port. J'ai demandé au RH. Je ne me souviens plus de son titre exact. J'ai demandé à Kelly des RH d'examiner le processus suivi pour les évaluations et pour l'appel de ces évaluations. It would be a mistake to say that there was an investigation on a certain employee. We examined the process to ensure that we had followed our procedures. And that's what she was in charge of doing. And in this process, the human resources officer and her superior, she contacted me directly during this examination process and her conclusions came to me directly. It was the process used during the interviews. The security agent went to check the equipment and we asked the finances to examine the subsidies and the associated procedures. How many subsidies were asked and all kinds of information, these questions? So all these people were independent of the claims or allegations in the letter of the employees of Port Harbour. They made me part of their return and I then summarized their conclusions for the council.

And if it was another department than the RH? Would you never use a neutral part to examine our HR processes? Would you ask yourself or your assistant to examine it, as their superior would? If, for example, the directors are reported, should their superior or someone above them be involved in this examination process, rather than technically a subordinate of one of the departments?

I would say that if it was an allegation of misconduct, yes probably. But in this specific case, the allegation was that the process had not been respected. It was therefore simply a matter of verifying whether the procedure had been followed and documented.

So I think that the concern of the council, in any case mine, is the fact that a person who is talking to us tonight about the exodus of employees from Port d'Arbor and the culture that reigns there and the... I don't know, it's chaos, call it what you want, but the working environment is not healthy. And I don't have anything to do with it, but it worries us. The department explains to us the characteristics. It's your job to examine it, not ours. It's worrying for us when we hear someone, our manager.

Yes, since we're opening up the debate, I'm just going to intervene cautiously, but I think... It seems that we have problems that shouldn't be in this situation. I'm not in a position to identify the cause, I suppose, necessarily. I mean, I am, but... It's frustrating that there can't be a resolution or that there can't be, I mean, I'm quite old-fashioned.

I don't usually give a lot of credit to people who complain about their boss, but I think it's an extraordinary circumstance.

The fact that the people who have manifested themselves have really done it, including high-ranking members. and that they presented the whole process that they followed and it gives the impression that it's just become a rowing battle and it's very regrettable. So very concerned about it. I do not have the impression that people really feel that it has improved.

And I know that we must be very careful in what we say, but I would just like this head of the service

working a little with the team and maybe you know sometimes these things tend to become personal or the egos get involved or something else and it's just very frustrating. So I don't know. I still don't feel comfortable with the situation.

Je ne me sens pas non plus à l'aise avec la situation.

Mais je ne perds pas de vue le fait qu'il s'agit du deuxième chef de service avec lequel il y a des problèmes. Donc, pour moi, les problèmes sont plus profonds. Peut-être que les gens ne comprennent pas les procédures. Vous savez, je ne sais pas. Les gars sont venus me voir. Ils nous ont demandé à ce que ce soit mis à l'ordre du jour. Je vous l'ai envoyé. Je crois que les employés doivent être entendus. Et s'il y a un problème, nous devons le traiter. Mais je pense que... We really have to take... I mean, I'm convinced that... the way it was managed and the examination of the processes was appropriate. I don't know if... Personally, as a personnel manager, I wouldn't ask a department officer to go and manage something if their boss was involved. Like, I think that could be a problem. I don't know if it happened to others, but I just say that it doesn't seem right. But I trust the fact that you examined it, but I think the problem is even deeper than that now. I think it's become personal and I don't know how we solved it. But I think we could end up losing good people because of that. And I really don't know. I'm happy not to be in your shoes. I mean, it's true. I mean, this situation is difficult and... I don't know how we're going to deal with this, but I hope we'll find a solution somewhere, because I would hate to see these people leave.

Thank you.

Anything else? Director's report. Council committees' report. I don't see anything here. Municipal registry file.

I just wanted to remind everyone that the candidacy period ends on Tuesday the 25th at 5 p.m. If other people would like to present themselves, thank you for sending us your information of preference before this date so that we can treat them.

Lawyer's file of the city. Thank you. Points to the order of the day. Commentary of the council member.

S'il vous plaît, lancez-vous et déposez votre candidature.

J'aime toujours voir de nouveaux visages et il semble que nous en ayons quelques-uns. Je suis ravie de voir ça. Mais vraiment, si vous avez des questions ou autres, n'hésitez pas à nous contacter. Nous serions ravis. Je serais ravie d'y répondre et de prendre le temps pour le faire.

Donc, à part ça, bonne chance à tous ceux qui sont sur le bulletin. Nothing, Mr. Mayor, but my condolences to the family of Sean Griffin.

I don't have anything to add.

Nothing, Mr. Mayor. I had the opportunity this afternoon to meet a part of the museum staff and a certain number of other people from various fields to discuss the next celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Heritage Center and the museum. And it was an excellent discussion, really enthusiastic to hear what awaits us. But I also had the opportunity to visit the underground installations of the Heritage Center with the director of the Samantha Forsco Museum. And we talked a little about some of the visits that the museum offers this season and those planned for the years to come. It's an absolutely amazing treasure that we have here. I mean the Totem Heritage Center itself, but the objects kept underneath that people begin to discover thanks to some of these visits are really stunning. And I would encourage the public to participate in this visit and the Council members to contact the museum staff to visit these facilities and see what we have. Thank you Jack. Did you have anything else? So yes, this council is doing an excellent job. We finished in an hour. I have the impression that we are doing something wrong. But I want to make sure that the public understands that it ends in an hour. And it is gratifying to see that you are involved with other people of various horizons to advance the city and take care of its businesses.

And I sincerely appreciate each member of the council who participates in this effort.