Municipality of the District of Clare

COUNCIL-IN-COMMITTEE MEETING

Wednesday, December 7th, 2016 at 7:00 pm

 

 

PRESENT:  Council: Warden Ronnie LeBlanc, Deputy Warden Nil Doucet, Councillors, Carl Deveau, Brian Comeau, Eric Pothier and Yvon LeBlanc.

Staff: CAO, Stéphane Cyr; Administrative Assistant to the CAO, Alain Poirier, Director of Finance, Connie Saulnier, Director of Community Development, Pam Doucet, Tourism Manager, Larry Peach and Interim Recreation Manager, Réanne Titus

Public:

ABSENT:     Councillors: Hector Thibault and Danny Hill


1) Call to order

Warden Ronnie LeBlanc called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.

 

2) (a) Approval of the agenda

The CAO asked that the following items be added to the Agenda.

 5.2 – Upstairs renovation at the Clare Veteran’s Centre, under “Business Arising”

 6.9 – Clare Legion Branch 52 under “New Business”

Councillor Brian Comeau asked that the following item be added to the Agenda.

 8.5 – Villa acadienne, under “Closed Session”

MOVED BY Councillor Eric Pothier and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau

that the proposed agenda be approved with the above noted additions.

MOTION CARRIED   

     

(b) Declaration of conflict of interest

Warden Ronnie LeBlanc asked for any declarations of conflict of interest.

None declared

3) Presentations

None.

 

4) Staff reports

4.1 Financial Update – Director of Finance, Connie Saulnier

The Director of Finance updated Council as to the Municipality’s financial position. (File's too large - available at Municipal Office)

4.2 Community Development Report - Pam Doucet

The Director of Community Development provided Council with an update on her Department’s activities. (See attached)

Mrs. Doucet presented the Municipality’s Active Living Coordinator, Réanne Titus. Mrs. Titus will also be assuming the role of Interim Recreation Manager for a period of 7 months, during Andrea Gaudet’s leave of absence. In her new capacity as interim manager, Mrs. Titus informed Council as to the impacts of the current NSTU Work to Rule decision on the Municipality’s various after school programs.

Mr. Larry Peach, Tourism Manager, presented his activities for the next fiscal year, with a particular emphasis on the Gran Fondo.

4.3 Cape St. Mary Lighthouse - Larry Peach

The Tourism Manager provided Council with an update on the Cape St. Mary Lighthouse project. (File's too large - available at Municipal Office) Council provided feedback as to the proposed elements of the project. Work on the application for funding to ACOA is currently underway.

 

5) Business arising from previous meetings

5.1 Rural Internet - Municipal Working Group

The CAO mentioned to Council that they received a package outlining the efforts made thus far on the rural Internet file. However, just prior to this meeting, he received separate emails from the Municipalities of both Shelburne and Annapolis Royal, each stating they were opting out of the municipal working group, preferring rather to advance this file on their own.  Word of this seemed to cause others to question the future of the group and/or its ability to move forward.

Having heard these news, the WREN contacted the municipal units within its mandated service area to see if there was common interest in collaborating on this file. This collaboration would essentially mirror the previous model proposed by the aforementioned municipal working group but would be limited to a smaller geographic area.

Considering these new developments, the CAO recommended deferring this topic to a later meeting so as to gather additional information on the new proposed course of action.

5.2 Clare Veteran`s Centre, Renovation of the upstairs washrooms.

The CAO mentioned that the Municipality has only received one tender for the renovation of the upstairs washrooms at the Clare Veterans Centre. The tender was submitted by Kevin Comeau Construction Ltd. in the amount of $50,944.52 plus HST, with an estimated start date of January 2016. Council passed the following motion

PROPOSED BY Councillor Eric Pothier and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend awarding the tender for the Clare Veteran’s Center upstairs bathroom renovations to Kevin Comeau Construction Ltd. in the amount of $50,944.52 plus HST

MOTION CARRIED

6) New business

6.1 Municipal loans for new wells and cisterns

The CAO highlighted a recent provincial announcement regarding wells and cisterns. Per said announcement, municipalities may now (if they so wish) issue loans to residents for the construction of wells and cisterns. Doing so would require the Municipality to enact a new by-law to this effect. The Municipality’s Building Inspector was consulted and believes this to be a good program. In light of this announcement, the CAO asked Council for direction on how it wished to proceed. Council was in favor of the idea and passed the following motion.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare, in keeping with recent changes to the Municipal Government Act, recommend that the By-law Committee draft a by-law outlining possible loan program criteria to allow the Municipality to lend money to residents for new wells and cisterns.

MOTION CARRIED

 6.2 Citizen Appointment Policy

The CAO informed Council that the Municipality did not currently have a formal Citizen Appointment Policy. In order to address this shortcoming, a draft policy was prepared and distributed to Council for its review and consideration. Council passed the following motion.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Brian Comeau and SECONDED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend adopting the new Citizen Appointment Policy as presented.

MOTION CARRIED

6.3 Policy regarding Roadside Placement of Green Carts

Councillor Brian Comeau mentioned that a few weeks ago, a resident was driving along Highway 1 and hit a green cart that was too close to the road, subsequently causing over $3,000 of damage to the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle approached Councillor Comeau to enquire about any policies regarding curbside placement of green carts.

Councillor Carl Deveau mentioned that Wastecheck is currently working on new policies (nearly complete) which would encompass this issue. Once complete, these policies will be circulated to member municipal units for review and in the hopes that individual councils see fit to adopt them.

6.4 Posting of Councillors travel expenses

During the UNSM Fall Conference, the subject of transparency and posting of councillor expenses was referenced on several occasions. The Minister of Municipal Affairs, the Honourable Zach Churchill, highlighted this topic on several occasions while addressing those in attendance; suggesting this was indeed a priority for his department. Rather than wait for direction from the Province on this matter, some municipal units have already taken it upon themselves to begin posting councillor expenses. The CAO inquired if Council wished to do the same. While Council is certainly supportive of increased transparency, it felt it best to wait for further direction from the Province on this matter so as ensure consistency in reporting and adherence to provincial standards.

 6.5 Naming of Road - Bucking Horse Road

The Municipality has received a request to officially name a private road in Meteghan. The CAO confirmed that all the necessary paperwork has been submitted to the Assistant Building Inspector, Gary Sullivan, and residents with properties on this road are in favor of the proposed name. As such, Council passed the following motion.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Brian Comeau and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend that the road shared by the properties PID (Property Identification Number) 30257364, 30285688, 30065569, 30257349, 30257174 and 30257141 be officially named “Bucking Horse Road”

MOTION CARRIED

 Once the motion was passed, it was suggested by Council that staff look into drafting a road naming policy which would safeguard the Municipality’s Acadian heritage by requiring proposed names be fully bilingual.

6.6 Tax account write-off

The CAO read a memo from the Tax Clerk regarding property PID 00864188. (See attached) Considering the unfortunate circumstances detailed in the memo, Council agreed with the Tax Clerk’s recommendation and passed the following motion.

 PROPOSED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet and SECONDED BY Councillor Eric Pothier that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend the taxes for the homeowners of assessment account 00864188 be reduced by half of the assessed value of the house for 2016 (excluding land, sewer and septic), in light of the July 10, 2016 housefire which destroyed their home.

MOTION CARRIED

Under the same item, the CAO referenced other tax accounts (i.e. belonging to fire departments, cancelled by the registry of deeds, etc.) which staff recommended be written off. Council passed the following motion.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend writing off the following three tax accounts: 08517401, 02486903 and 00878979.

MOTION CARRIED

 6.7 Grants available for “Communautés amies des aînés”

The Warden mentioned that Carmen d’Entremont from the Centre acadien had emailed him regarding the availability of grants from the aforementioned program. Given the rapidly approaching program deadline (i.e. less than a week), it was felt that staff would not have sufficient time to properly develop a project application. As such, Council opted not to apply this year.   

 6.8 Letter of Support for the Cedar Lake Wireless Cooperative Inc.

The CAO mentioned that Mr. Marcel Saulnier has requested a letter of support for the Cedar Lake Wireless Cooperative Inc. The Cooperative is preparing a funding application to the Province in the hopes of improving access to Internet around Cedar Lake. Having a letter of support from the Municipality would bolster the group’s application. A similar request was made to the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth who in turn has already issued a letter of support. Council passed the following.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc and SECONDED BY Councillor Brian Comeau that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend writing a letter of support for the Cedar Lake Wireless Cooperative Inc.

MOTION CARRIED

 6.9 Clare Legion Branch 52

The CAO met with Mr. Russell Comeau from the Clare Legion Branch 52. The Clare Legion Branch 52 has recently lost its charter over its refusal to forward 10% of the money raised through its annual poppy campaign to the Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of the Royal Canadian Legion. Under its current lease with the Municipality, the Legion Branch 52 has access to the space as long as it maintains its charter. Having now lost its charter, the group is now looking to establish the Clare Veterans Association and is asking the Municipality for continued access to the space previously occupied by the Clare Legion Branch 52. It should be noted that all services / activities previously offered to local veterans by the Clare Legion Branch 52 will continue under the Clare Veterans Association. Furthermore, members of the Clare Veterans Association will remain members at large of the Legion.  Council passed the following motion.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Eric Pothier and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend amending the current lease for the Clare Legion Branch 52 to reflect the organization’s new name, the Clare Veterans Association.

MOTION CARRIED

7) Question and comments from the public

     None.

    

8) Closed Session

PROPOSED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that Council proceed to an In-Camera Session.

MOTION CARRIED

Topics discussed:

 8.1       Eco-Park

 8.2       Personnel

 8.3       Animal Control

 8.4       Holiday Hours

 8.5       Villa acadienne

PROPOSED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that Council proceed to the Regular Council Meeting

MOTION CARRIED

PROPOSED BY Councillor Eric Pothier and SECONDED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend issuing cellular phones to both the Animal Control Officer and Assistant Animal Control Officer and that the Municipality also approve the cost of rabies vaccinations for both Officers.

MOTION CARRIED

9) Date and time of next Council-in-Committee Meeting

The next Council-in-Committee Meeting will be held on January 11th, 2017 at 7:00 PM.

10) Adjournment

PROPOSED BY Councillor Nil Doucet to adjourn the meeting at 10:38PM