St. Thomas city council meets tonight, Monday, November 2nd, at 5 p.m. It is the first council meeting since the October 26th election, and it is still the outgoing council at the table.
That council is Mayor Joe Preston and Councillors Lori Baldwin-Sands, Gary Clarke, Rose Gibson, Jim Herbert, Jeff Kohler, Joan Rymal, Earl Taylor and Steve Wookey. Five of those nine will be back for the new term: Kohler was elected mayor, and Wookey, Baldwin-Sands, Clarke and Gibson were re-elected as councillors. Preston did not run again, and Herbert, Taylor and Rymal were not re-elected. Mike Brisson, Heather Jackson, Kyle Yates and Joe Docherty Jr. complete the new council.
Because fewer than three-quarters of its members are coming back, the outgoing council is working under limits set by Ontario’s Municipal Act. A City staff report from June worked out the number for St. Thomas: seven of the nine would have had to come back. Five did, so the limits apply. Until the new council takes over, the outgoing council cannot hire or fire staff or appoint or remove City officers. It also cannot sell or otherwise dispose of property worth more than $50,000, or spend or commit to more than $50,000, unless it was in the budget council passed before the August 21st nomination day. Emergencies are an exception.
Council prepared for this possibility before the election. In July, it passed By-law 86-2026, a by-law “to delegate certain authority during a restricted acts period.” The June report that led to it recommended giving the City Manager the power to dispose of property, make unbudgeted spending decisions, take on liabilities over $50,000, and hire or dismiss staff. It also recommended that the City Manager tell council in writing before using those powers, and report back on them in early 2027.
Here is what is on tonight’s agenda.
Memorials. Council is being asked to approve the City’s first Memorial and Commemorative Policy. The staff report says the City has never had a formal policy, which has made it hard to judge requests in a consistent way. Under the proposed policy, the Memory Garden in Pinafore Park, where families can buy bronze memorial leaves, becomes the City’s main way to remember someone. The Memorial Bench Program carries on. The City would no longer accept new memorial tree requests, though existing tree plaques can stay where practical. City parks would not be designated scattering gardens, and scattering ashes on City property would be banned unless the law allows it and the City approves. Flowers, candles and other temporary memorials may be allowed for a short time, but the City can remove them once they are weathered or get in the way.
Park land rules. Two by-laws on tonight’s list deal with park land. One sets new rules for how much land, or cash instead, builders must hand over to the City. The other makes the matching change to the City’s Official Plan. A public meeting on those rules was held October 13th.
Emslie Field. City staff are recommending council repair the 1938 grandstand at Emslie Field, with accessibility upgrades, instead of tearing it down and building a new one. If council agrees, staff would work out donor agreements and a detailed design, with the goal of finishing the work in 2027.
Yarmouth Yards. Council will receive a final report for this term on the industrial park around the PowerCo battery plant. The report says Yarmouth Yards grew “from a concept to a fully planned, designed, and built 1500 acre industrial subdivision during this term of Council,” and that about $1 billion of City infrastructure was managed “on time and on budget.” It also shows work carrying on past this term: the pedestrian bridge’s superstructure is to be put in place in spring 2027, and the Woodworth sewer pumping station is scheduled to start up in early 2028. A by-law tonight would approve a change to Vianode Canada’s land lease at Yarmouth Yards. Behind closed doors, council will discuss a sale of land and a land lease at Yarmouth Yards, plus five civic award nominations.
Council will also receive a letter from three PowerCo executives thanking Mayor Preston “for your leadership, partnership, and unwavering support” as he finishes his term.
The new council’s term runs from November 15th, 2026, to November 14th, 2030. The City’s events calendar lists two more council meetings this month, on Monday, November 9th, and Monday, November 16th. The June report gave November 16th as the date of the new council’s first meeting. Agendas for those two meetings have not been posted yet.
Tonight’s meeting is open to the public. To attend in person, enter City Hall at 545 Talbot Street through the northeast doors from the City Hall parking lot, and go to the public gallery on Level 4. The meeting is also streamed live, and the Zoom link is on the City’s Council Meetings page.
Earlier coverage: Official Results: Jeff Kohler Elected St. Thomas Mayor with 68.6% of the Vote · Proposed St. Thomas Rule Could Mean More Park Land From Dense Housing Projects
Sources: City of St. Thomas: November 2, 2026 Council Agenda · Report CC-11-26: Restricted Acts Period · Ontario Municipal Act, 2001 (section 275)
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