Municipality of the District of Clare

COUNCIL-IN-COMMITTEE MEETING

Wednesday, January 11th, 2017 at 7:00 pm

PRESENT: Council: Warden Ronnie LeBlanc, Deputy Warden Nil Doucet, Councillors,
                 Danny Hill, Hector Thibault, Carl Deveau, Brian Comeau, Eric Pothier and Yvon LeBlanc.
                 Staff:CAO, Stéphane Cyr; Administrative Assistant to the CAO, Alain Poirier, Director of Community Development, Pam Doucet, Tourism Manager, Larry   Peach.
                 Public: Gerard Pothier, Peter Evans, Natalie Robichaud, Elaine Thimot
ABSENT:  Director of Finance, Connie Saulnier


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.

• Under New Business - Item 6.3: Request for WREN membership – Municipality of Barrington

MOVED BY Councillor Brian Comeau and SECONDED BY Councillor Danny Hill that the proposed agenda be approved with the above noted addition.
MOTION CARRIED

(b) Declaration of conflict of interest
Warden Ronnie LeBlanc asked for any declarations of conflict of interest.
None declared

3) Presentations
3.1 Major Point Road - Gérard Pothier / Peter Evans
Mr. Gerard Pothier and Mr. Peter Evans presented regarding Major Point Road, ongoing efforts to see the Municipality takeover the road and impediments to these efforts caused by the current by-law (#29) (See attached). Council suggested that the case be sent to the By-Law Committee for further review.

Mr. Pothier thanked Council for their time and publicly acknowledged the efforts of the CAO on this file.

4) Staff reports

4.1 Financial Update – Stéphane Cyr
In the absence of the Director of Finance, the CAO gave an update to Council as to the Municipality’s financial position. (Copy available at the Municipal Office). The CAO concluded his report by stating that the Municipality’s financial position remains sound.

4.2 Clare 250th - Pam Doucet & Natalie Robichaud
The Director of Community Development and Natalie Robichaud (CDENE) presented the proposed Clare 250th project to Council. Council was invited to provide input regarding project elements however, given the pending program deadline of January 31st, 2017, the need to quickly move to application was emphasized. Council was supportive of the Committee’s efforts and passed the following motion to recommend.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Eric Pothier and SECONDED BY Councillor Danny Hill that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend a contribution of $25,000 towards the proposed Clare 250th project.
MOTION CARRIED

4.3 Tourism Budget 2017 - Larry Peach
The Tourism Manager provided Council with his proposed Tourism Budget for 2017-18, in support of his previous request to increase both the salary and the length of term for the VIC Manager position at the Rendez-Vous de la Baie. After reviewing the budget, Council passed the following motion to recommend.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Brian Comeau and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend to accept the proposed revisions to the salary and term of the VIC Manager position at the Rendez-Vous de la Baie.
MOTION CARRIED

It should be noted that despite these revisions, the overall tourism budget has not increased
and remains at par with 2016-17 levels.

5) Business arising from previous meetings


5.1 Watershed Planning - Budget Amendment
PAC met on Dec. 14th for a final debrief on their watershed protection piece before taking it to the public. This session was also open to members of Council who wished to attend. It was recommended at this meeting by both PAC and Council members that before going to a public session, the Municipality should map out the other watersheds in Clare and not just the Belliveau Watershed. The reason being the proposed amendments will eventually be rolled out to include these other watersheds and it was felt that residents with lands on these lakes (i.e. outside the Belliveau Watershed) should be made aware of how or if this will affect them. It was understood that this was outside WSP’s present scope of work and that additional time and resources would be required. A price quote of $6,640 + HST was subsequently received from WSP for this work. Although no allowances had been made in the current budget for additional mapping, this is believed paramount to the success of PAC’s watershed protection efforts. As such, Council passed the following motion to recommend.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Hector Thibault and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend approval of $6,640 + HST in additional cost for the mapping of the four remaining watersheds within the Municipality, namely Meteghan, Tusket, Bonaventure and Salmon River.
MOTION CARRIED

6) New business


6.1 Code of Conduct - Municipal Council
The CAO provided Council with a proposed code of conduct for their consideration. Council agreed with the importance of such a policy and suggested certain minor revisions to the code of conduct prior to its adoption. The CAO will complete the recommended policy revisions and resubmit the code of conduct for consideration at the February 1st Council in Committee meeting.

6.2 Liaison and Oversight Committee - Alternate Member
Municipalities belonging to the WREN are asked to appoint a representative (as well as an alternate) to the Liaison and Oversight Committee. Council is currently represented by the Warden on said committee however, since the October 2016 municipal election, it no longer has an alternate member. As such, the CAO is requesting Council appoint an alternate member who will attend these meeting in the Warden’s absence. Council passed the following motion to recommend.

PROPOSED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet and SECONDED BY Councillor Hector Thibault that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend appointing Councillor Yvon LeBlanc as the alternate on the Western Regional Enterprise Network's Liaison & Oversight Committee.
MOTION CARRIED

6.3 Request for WREN membership – Municipality of Barrington
The CAO mentioned that the Municipality of Barrington has confirmed its interest in joining the WREN. As per the current inter-municipal agreement, acceptance of a new member requires that each current municipal member pass a motion by their respective Council approving the membership request. Council passed the following motion to recommend.

PROPOSED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc and SECONDED BY Councillor Danny Hill that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend to accept the Municipality of Barrington's request for WREN membership.
MOTION CARRIED

7) Question and comments from the public
None.

8) Closed Session
None

9) Date and time of next Council-in-Committee Meeting
The next Council-in-Committee Meeting will be held on February 1st 2017 at 7:00 PM.

10) Adjournment
PROPOSED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet to adjourn the meeting at 8:41 PM.

Submitted by

Alain Poirier,
Administrative Assistant of the CAO