Municipality of Port Hope Council Meeting - November 3, 2020

For Immediate Release

Thursday, November 5, 2020 - Port Hope, ON

Below is a summary of key items discussed at the Municipality of Port Hope regular Council Meeting held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The full agenda and staff reports are available on the Council Portal. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting was held electronically via video conference.

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Hearing Submissions

Council authorized Mayor Sanderson to provide a written submission to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in support of Cameco Corporation and the Vision in Motion project. Additionally, Council authorized a written submission in support of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories for the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) Project. These submissions will be provided to the CNSC for the CNSC meeting to take place in December 2020.

The Municipality of Port Hope, as a key stakeholder in both the Cameco Vision in Motion project and the PHAI, has routinely offered submissions of support to the CNSC during regulatory proceedings. The Municipality remains optimistic that the project timelines, scheduling, and remediation efforts that are being undertaken by both Cameco and the PHAI are done in a proactive, responsible, and collaborative manner and delivery will be consistent with regulatory requirements.

Transfer of Waste from Port Granby to Port Hope

Council authorized the request of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited regarding an amendment to the Legal Agreement to allow for the transfer of a limited portion of waste from the Port Granby Project to the Port Hope Long Term Waste Management facility. Council has requested the support of the Municipality of Clarington in order to amend the Legal Agreement between the parties.

Standards of Conduct Policy

Council authorized the Standards of Conduct Policy for staff. The policy is a consolidation of the pre-existing Code of Conduct Policy and other related Human Resources policies. The consolidated Policy outlines workplace behaviour expectations and current workplace environment expectations. The recommended Policy change aligns with the Corporate Efficiencies Strategic Plan objective.

COVID-19 Impact on 2020 Budget

At the Committee of the Whole meeting, the Finance Committee reported its third update on the Municipality’s financial position as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, where there are known variances to the 2020 budget.

The report notes that the actual financial impact of COVID-19 is a budget shortfall of $385K up to September 30, 2020. That shortfall is projected to rise to $399K if the emergency extends to December 31, 2020.

The most significant impact is related to the loss of revenues, offset by some savings in expenditures due to reduced levels of service and temporary layoffs.

The Municipality has received $451,400 from phase one of the Provincial Government’s Safe Restart Program. It is anticipated that the full funding from phase one will be used to help offset the financial difficulties encountered from COVID-19. Additional funding under phase two is not anticipated to be required and will not be pursued.

This report was received by Council for information purposes.

Minutes from the Council meeting will be available pending approval at the next Council meeting on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, at which point they will become the official record of the meeting.

Recordings of the November 3, 2020 Regular Council meeting and Committee of the Whole meeting are available on the Council page.