Municipality of the District of Clare
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at 7:00 pm

PRESENT: Council: Warden Ronnie LeBlanc, Deputy Warden Nil Doucet; Councillors, Hector Thibault, Carl Deveau, Danny Hill, Brian Comeau, Eric Pothier and Yvon LeBlanc
Staff: CAO Stéphane Cyr, Communications Officer, Amy Paradis, and Executive Assistant, Ashley Hanks
Presenters:

ABSENT:

1) Call to Order
Warden Ronnie LeBlanc called the Council meeting to order at 7:00 pm.

2) (a) Approval of the Agenda
Warden Ronnie LeBlanc asked if there were any items to be added to the agenda.

MOVED BY Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Hector Thibault that the proposed agenda be approved as circulated.
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)Adoption of the Minutes from Previous Council Meetings

4.1 November 20, 2019 – Regular Council Meeting

MOVED BY Councillor Carl Deveau and SECONDED BY Councillor Danny Hill that the minutes of November 20, 2019 be accepted as circulated.
MOTION CARRIED

4.2 December 4, 2019 – Council-In-Committee Meeting

MOVED BY Councillor Carl Deveau and SECONDED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet that the minutes of December 4, 2019 be accepted as circulated.
MOTION CARRIED

5) Business Arising from Previous Meetings
5.1 Funding Request – Conseil Sigogne
Members of the Conseil Sigogne approached the CAO regarding their funding application under the Municipality’s Grants to Organizations program. Council had previously reviewed their application earlier in the year and recommended it be forwarded to the Government of Canada’s New Horizons Program for consideration. Once a response was received from the federal government, Council would then re-evaluate the group’s proposal. Unfortunately, the letter explaining Council’s decision was not received by the Conseil Sigogne and the deadline to apply to the New Horizons Program for fiscal 2019-20 has since passed. Furthermore, the project scope has significantly expanded from the time it was first submitted with the total project cost increasing from $8,335 to over $50,000.

In light of these changes, Council has decided to revisit this request at the January 2020 Council-in-Committee meeting. In the meantime, the CAO will speak with representatives of the Conseil Sigogne regarding their application, opportunities for leveraging with both the Federal and Provincial Government as well as the groups current financial position and plans moving forward.

6) Warden’s Activity Report – Warden Ronnie LeBlanc
The Warden provided a summary of the meetings and events the he attended since the last Council meeting.

November 29 – Attended a telephone meeting of the Société Édifice Sainte-Marie de la Pointe and
ATM Consultants to discuss the results of the survey to date and next steps for the
project.

December 4 – Attended the inauguration of the rainbow crosswalk at Université Sainte-Anne.

December 9 – Attended a meeting of the Société Édifice Sainte-Marie de la Pointe and ATM
Consultants at Université Sainte-Anne for an update on the project.

December 16 – Attended a Special meeting of the Board of Governors of Université Sainte-Anne.

7) Official Statements from Members of Council

Councillor Carl Deveau wished the residents of Clare a Merry Christmas.

8) Correspondence
8.1 Letter – Don Bureaux, President, NSCC
The CAO read a letter from Don Bureaux, President of NSCC. (See attached)

8.2 Letter – Kim MacNeil, Nova Innovation
The CAO read a letter from Kim MacNeil of Nova Innovation. (See attached)

Councillor Brian Comeau asked that Mr. MacNeil be invited to present to Council. The CAO has already spoken with Mr. MacNeil to this end and he would be happy to present to Council in the new year.

8.3 Letter – Melissa Merritt, Resident of East Ferry, Digby Neck, NS
The CAO read a letter from Melissa Merritt, a resident of East Ferry, Digby Neck, NS. (See attached)

8.4 Letter – Lionel d’Entremont, Clare Health Centre Foundation
The CAO read a letter from Lionel d’Entremont of the Clare Health Centre Foundation. (See attached)

9) CAO Report – Chief Administrative Officer - Stéphane Cyr
The CAO presented his report for the month of December 2019. (See attached)

Councillor Eric Pothier added that residents are very pleased with the work that has been done to clean the beach and create parking at the end of the Maxwellton Road. Furthermore, a local group, Friends of the Beach, is asking Council to consider adding garbage bins on site. Municipal staff has already discussed the possibility of adding garbage bins as well as other development ideas for the site which will be discussed with Council as part of the 2020-21 capital budgeting process.

10) Committee Reports
10.1 Building Permits Report – Councillor Danny Hill
Councillor Danny Hill read the building permit report for the month of November.

November 2019
Year     Permits     Construction Value      Year to Date
2018     14             $289,380                     $ 10,248,579
2019     11             $848,531                     $ 8,309,535

11) New Business
11.1 Motion to Award Tender – Metal Roofing at 7578 Highway 1, Meteghan
A tender was issued for a new metal roof for the office building at the Ecoparc, located at 7578 Highway 1 in Meteghan. The tender closed on December 6, 2019. Two bids were received. Upon review of the bids, the CAO and staff are recommending that Council accept the bid from Shep-Com Construction Ltd. in the amount of $27,896 plus HST. Council agreed and passed the following motion:

MOVED BY Councillor Hector Thibault and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare award the tender for the installation of metal roofing at 7578 Highway 1 Meteghan, to Shep-Com Construction Ltd. in the amount of $27,896 plus HST.
MOTION CARRIED

11.2 Motion to Award Tender – Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-Marie Jersey / T-shirts 2020-2022
The Municipality of Clare issued a tender for the event jersey. The tender was for three years (2020-2022). Eight bids were received. Following a review of the bids, the CAO and staff are recommending Council accept the bid from Logica Sport (Corsino Sport) in the amount of $26.95 plus HST per jersey. Logica Sport was the second lowest bidder. The low bid was deemed ineligible as it did not meet all the requirements of the tender document. Logica Sport is known to the Municipality, having supplied the jerseys for this year’s Gran Fondo, the quality of which was well appreciated by event organizers and participants alike. Council agreed and passed the following motion:

MOVED BY Councillor Carl Deveau and SECONDED BY Councillor Danny Hill that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare award the three-year tender for the Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-Marie Jersey / T-shirts (2020-2022) to Logica Sport (Corsino Sport) in the amount of $26.95 plus HST per jersey.
MOTION CARRIED

11.3 Motion to Name Road – Heron Lake Road
The residents of Heron Lake are requesting their private road be named as follows:

In English: Heron Lake Road
In French: chemin du Lac Héron

The request is compliant with the Municipality’s Road Naming Policy in that the chosen name is bilingual and has approval from 66.6% or more of those property owners whose land abuts the road in question. In this particular case, support for the proposed name change was received from all (100%) affected property owners. Council passed the following motion:

MOVED BY Deputy Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Eric Pothier that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare name the road shared by the properties PID (Property Identification Number) 30079651, 30272033, 30079719, 30079768, 30079776, 30079784, 30079800 and 30080337 as follows:

In English: Heron Lake Road
In French: chemin du Lac Héron
MOTION CARRIED

11.4 Motion to Approve Revised Project Proposal – Clare Veterans Centre
The CAO and staff have proposed a renovation project (with Council’s support) for the Clare Veterans Centre (CVC) with the intention of submitting it for consideration to the Rural and Northern Communities stream of the Government of Canada’s Investing in Canada Plan. Unfortunately, the launch of this program has been delayed for well over a year and no date has been given by either the federal or provincial government as to when applications will be accepted. This being the case, the CAO has contacted representatives of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) who have expressed interest in this project. Of particular interest to ACOA are the green or environmentally friendly elements of this project as well as the possibility of cash flowing some of these funds within this fiscal year. The funding split discussed was 66.6% ACOA and 33.3% municipal. At the Council meeting of November 13, 2019, Council asked the CAO to present a revised project with a budget between $400,000-$500,000. The proposal has since been revised. Core elements of the earlier proposal were retained with a focus on reducing operational costs while improving the buildings overall functionality. The total cost of the new proposal is estimated at $494,235. Council agreed with the revised proposal and made the following motion:

MOVED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc and SECONDED BY Councillor Nil Doucet that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare approve the revised proposal for the Clare Veterans Centre, in the amount of $494,235, that its previously approved contribution of $218,700 be reduced to $163,098 and that this amount be taken from the Municipality’s Capital Fund.
MOTION CARRIED

12) In Camera 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:
12.1 Contract Negotiations
12.2 Human Resources

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

12.1 Contract Negotiations

MOVED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc and SECONDED BY Councillor Danny Hill that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare proceed with the divestiture of the lands and premises commonly referred to as the Ecoparc, including all buildings, fixtures and equipment (with the exception of those fixtures and equipment previously sold to Delco Forest Products Ltd.), to 3327401 Nova Scotia Limited subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement of purchase and sale presented to Council on December 18, 2019.
MOTION CARRIED

13) Date and time of the next Regular Council Meeting
The next Regular Council Meeting will be held on January 15, 2020 at 7:00 pm.

14) Adjournment
MOVED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 pm.

Submitted by:

Ashley Hanks
Executive Assistant