Part 1: Climate Planning, Municipal Assets, and Operational Pressures — 03/13/2025
- PECConnect
- Mar 12, 2025
- 5 min read
The County’s Committee of the Whole met on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at Shire Hall in Picton for a working session focused on environmental planning, municipal land use, and internal operations. Chaired by Councillor John Hirsch (South Marysburgh), the meeting brought councillors and senior staff together to receive reports, hear presentations, and determine which issues should move forward to Council for formal consideration.
As noted during the meeting, any motions advanced would require approval at a subsequent Council meeting scheduled for March 25, 2025. The March 13 session was largely informational and procedural, setting direction on several complex files rather than resolving them.
View the entire PEC Council meeting, or continue to speaker comments and councillor votes.
Environmental Advisory Committee 2024 Annual Report
The meeting opened with a presentation from the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC). Councillor Kate MacNaughton (Picton), serving as EAC Chair, presented the committee’s 2024 Annual Report, joined by Angus Ross, Vice-Chair of the EAC.
MacNaughton outlined the committee’s mandate and structure, emphasizing its role in providing evidence-based advice aligned with the County’s strategic planning framework. She highlighted the work of several EAC working groups, including those focused on planning, communications, youth engagement, and climate action. MacNaughton also acknowledged staff support, including Albert Paschkowiak, Supervisor of Environmental Services and Sustainability, and Molly Langabeer, a municipal climate intern.
A significant portion of the presentation focused on climate-related risks facing the County. These included flooding, drought, coastal erosion, tree canopy loss, and the spread of new plant diseases. MacNaughton described these risks as increasingly visible across the region, particularly in relation to agriculture and infrastructure.
Ross expanded on the financial implications of climate impacts, drawing on his background in the insurance sector. He explained that water damage and flooding have become the dominant sources of insurance losses, surpassing fire, and warned that this shift could influence insurance costs and coverage terms for residents and municipalities alike.
Climate Action Plan and Community Emissions
Ross also provided an update on the Climate Action Plan Working Group, which is tasked with developing a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory. He explained that while municipal emissions are relatively straightforward to measure, community emissions require extensive data collection across transportation, buildings, agriculture, and waste.
The working group’s efforts are intended to support the County’s participation in the Partners for Climate Protection program. Ross noted that the County has adopted a goal of reducing municipal emissions by 20 percent from a 2019 baseline, while work continues to establish accurate community-level data.
Public consultation was described as a critical next step. Ross outlined a series of upcoming engagement sessions planned across the County, emphasizing that the Climate Action Plan is intended to reflect resident input rather than solely committee recommendations. Following questions from councillors on tracking, timelines, and accountability, the committee formally received the Environmental Advisory Committee’s 2024 Annual Report.
Evaluation of County Pits and Quarries
The meeting then moved to an Operational Services report on the evaluation of municipal pits and quarries, presented by Albert Paschkowiak with support from Troy Gilmour, Director of Operational Services.
Staff reviewed the status of several County-owned extraction sites, noting that some are depleted yet still hold active aggregate licences. The report examined whether retaining those licences continues to serve an operational purpose and whether certain sites should be rehabilitated, relinquished, or repurposed.
Discussion focused on declaring the Milford Pit surplus, completing rehabilitation at other sites, and exploring whether former pits and quarries could serve as excess soils receiving locations under provincial regulations. Councillors asked questions about regulatory requirements, cost implications, and whether receiving soil from external projects could provide operational or financial benefits.
The committee supported staff’s recommended direction, with amendments made to reflect current municipal land disposition policies.
Staff Accommodation and Municipal Properties
The final major item was a report from the Recreation and Community Facilities Department on staff accommodation and the potential surplus or repurposing of municipal properties, presented by Lisa Lindsay, Director of Recreation and Community Facilities.
Lindsay described the report as the result of extensive cross-departmental collaboration. Its purpose was to explore whether consolidating staff into County-owned buildings could reduce reliance on leased office space and allow certain properties to be sold or repurposed.
Councillors raised concerns about sequencing, cost, and operational impacts, particularly regarding facilities such as the Cherry Valley Pit and Equipment Depot, the Lake Street Garage, and the Sandy Hook operations site. Questions focused on where vehicles and equipment would be housed if properties were declared surplus and whether replacement facilities were adequately planned.
After extended discussion, the committee agreed to defer several recommendations related to declaring properties surplus and expanding operations facilities. These items were deferred to the first Committee of the Whole meeting in June 2025, allowing time for councillors to tour affected sites and gather additional context. Other elements of the report, including exploring shared use of Picton Town Hall and reallocating previously approved operating funds, continued to move forward.
The meeting concluded shortly after 4:00 p.m. With several items deferred and others advanced for Council consideration, the session reflected the Committee of the Whole’s role as a forum for testing ideas, clarifying risks, and setting the stage for future decisions rather than finalizing outcomes.
Key Takeaways
Climate risks are rising. Flooding, drought, and coastal erosion are increasingly affecting residents, infrastructure, and insurance costs across the County.
Climate action is underway. The County is measuring emissions and planning a Climate Action Plan with public input to guide future reductions and local strategies.
Municipal land and properties are being reviewed. Pits, quarries, and staff facilities may be consolidated, sold, or repurposed, which will influence operations and the use of County assets.
Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 3:03:30. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.
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