More than 400 residents participated in a virtual town hall meeting for Ward 7 Wednesday night.
Hosted by Mayor Drew Dilkens, he says the deficit the city is facing due to COVID-19, infrastructure projects, the new regional acute care hospital and the state of a Ward 7 by-election were front and centre in the back and forth with residents.
He says the hotly debated hospital location was put on the backburner by many who just wanted to know when it could be built.
"Especially in the middle of a global pandemic to see an important project like this hospital move forward," he says. "They expressed that tonight on the calls, but also the questions they asked really centred around how to help move the project forward and the timeline to see it move forward."
Windsor is currently facing a $30-million deficit due to the pandemic, that's after finding efficiencies to know that total down from $52-million.
Dilkens says residents wanted to know if things could still get worse for the city's pocket book.
"I explained to residents that the prime minister and the premier have come to an agreement and we expect that in short order money will start flowing down to municipalities that will help fill the deficits that we're all seeing," he added.
Many residents, including a candidate, were hoping for a timeline on the by-election.
Dilkens says it won't be possible until the city moves into Stage 3 of the recovery process.
He says the city clerk is already preparing in the hopes that will come soon.
"About seven weeks from the time that button is pushed, which will likely put the election sometime in September, which means you'll have a new Ward 7 councillor sometime in September of 2020," he says.
Dilkens stepped in to hear resident concerns for the position vacated by Irek Kusmierczyk, which hasn't been filled since he was elected as MP for Windsor-Tecumseh in last year's Federal Election.
He is encouraging Ward 7 residents to contact his office with concerns so he can have a broader conversation on topics that may need council's attention.