Municipality of the District of Clare

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 7:00 pm

 

PRESENT: Council: Warden Ronnie LeBlanc, Deputy Warden Nil Doucet; Councillors, Carl Deveau, Brian Comeau, Eric Pothier, Yvon LeBlanc, Hector Thibault and Danny Hill
Staff: CAO Stéphane Cyr, Executive Assistant, Ashley Hanks and Communications Officer, Amy Paradis
Presenters: Blake Theriault, Gaétan Deveau, Nicole Thibodeau, Crystal Madden, Natalie Robichaud, Layla Abboud, Tristan MacAlpine and Evelyn LeBlanc Joyce.
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 that the following item be added to the agenda:
- 12.2 Acquisition and Sale of Municipal Property - Ecoparc

MOVED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc 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 Bilingual Stop Signs – Blake Theriault, Gaétan Deveau, Nicole Thibodeau, Crystal Madden
Blake Theriault, Gaétan Deveau, Nicole Thibodeau and Crystal Madden are grade nine students taking the civics course at École secondaire de Clare. This course is delivered in partnership with the Société acadienne de Clare as part of their “Engageons nos citoyens” project and focuses on youth civic engagement. These students have created a group called “Communauté bilingue.” which is working on a project with the goal of replacing the stop signs in Clare with bilingual signs. The group conducted two surveys, the results of which show that 69.3% of the public respondents and 78.9% of students at the High School are in favor of the bilingual signs. The group is currently researching the total cost of this project and once determined, they will approach Council for funding assistance. For now, the group is asking Council for a letter of support for their project. Council passed the following motion:

MOVED BY Councillor Eric Pothier and SECONDED BY Councillor Brian Comeau that the Municipality of the District of Clare write a letter supporting a proposal to introduce bilingual stop signs in the region of Clare, put forth by the group “Communauté bilingue” as part of the “Engageons nos citoyens” civic participation project.
MOTION CARRIED

3.2 Pleines voiles vers un avenir vert – Layla Abboud (President), Tristan MacAlpine, (Vice President) and Evelyn LeBlanc Joyce
Layla Abboud, Tristan MacAlpine, and Evelyn LeBlanc Joyce are students from the École secondaire de Clare who are part of a group focusing on environmental sustainability and mindfulness. To this end, they have eliminated water bottle machines in their school and have held events that promote the use of reusable bottles. The group would like to take this a step further and partner with the Municipality in green initiatives. In 2017, more balloons were found in the ocean than any other year. Balloons are a temporary indulgence that are harming the environment and animals. The group would like Council to consider eliminating balloons and single use plastics from all Municipal events. The CAO will pass this request along to Municipal staff for consideration and future discussion.

4.1 January 16, 2019 – Regular Council Meeting

MOVED BY Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that the minutes of January 16, 2019 be accepted as circulated.
MOTION CARRIED

4.2 January 23, 2019 – Special Council Meeting

MOVED BY Councillor Hector Thibault and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that the minutes of January 23, 2019 be accepted as circulated.
MOTION CARRIED

4.3 February 6, 2019 – Council in Committee Meeting

MOVED BY Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that the minutes of February 6, 2019 be accepted as circulated.
MOTION CARRIED

5) Business Arising from Previous Meetings
5.1 Funding Application – Lakeside Cemetery Fund
During the Council in Committee Meeting of October 3, 2018, Councillor Danny Hill presented a funding application for the Lakeside Cemetery Fund. At the time, the Warden and CAO were in discussions with a private resident regarding a possible cemetery fund. As such, a decision regarding the Lakeside Cemetery application was deferred until further details regarding the proposed fund were known. Since then, Council has learned that the resident in question was interested in one specific cemetery (with ties to his family) and not all the cemeteries within the Municipality. As such, Councillor Hill requested the Lakeside Cemetery Fund application be revisited.

Lakeside Cemetery is requesting $3,000 from Grants to Organizations for the upkeep of their two cemeteries. The Grants to Organizations fund covers one-time expenses and special projects. Ongoing operational expenses are not eligible. The larger policy issue at play is whether Council wants to provide assistance for the maintenance of cemeteries. Traditionally it has not. To this end, Council asked the CAO to consult with other municipal units regarding any applicable policies they may have and report his findings to Council, at which point Council will render its decision in response to this request.

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

January 18 – Attended a public session in Cornwallis organized by the Electoral Boundaries Commission to present the proposed changes to the electoral districts for the Municipality of the District of Digby and the Municipality of the County of Annapolis.

January 22 – Attended the Board of Directors meeting for Université Sainte-Anne.

January 24 – Attended the African Heritage Month opening ceremony for Southwest Nova Scotia.

January 25 – Attended a consultation organized by the Minister of Municipal Affairs regarding Municipal Planning Standards.

January 29 – Attended the Board of Directors meeting of the Harborside Lodge in Yarmouth.

January 30 – Attended the “What Lies Beneath” presentation in Annapolis Royal regarding the possible discovery on a previously unknown Acadian cemetery in the Garrison Graveyard.

February 2 - Attended the Board of Governors meeting for Université Sainte-Anne.

February 6 – Attended a meeting with Housing Nova Scotia and COMPAS to discuss the need for housing in the Municipality.

February 15 – Attended a presentation by Nokia regarding the future of 5G organized by i-Valley in the Municipality of Kings.

7) Official Statements from Members of Council
Deputy Warden Nil Doucet would like to congratulate Sarah Fortin, a student from Université Sainte-Anne, who will be representing the University at the Badminton Nationals in Truro from March 6 to 9, 2019. Council will send a letter congratulating Ms. Fortin.

Councillor Brian Comeau attended the NHL All Stars game for the Acadiens de Clare – Peewee C Hockey Team. The team made the top ten list for the Chevrolet Good Deeds Cup. Councillor Comeau congratulated the team on their hard work and their time spent volunteering throughout the community.

8) Correspondence
8.1 Letter – Honourable Derek Mombourquette, Minister, Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines
The CAO read a letter from the Honourable Derek Mombourquette, Minister, Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines. (See attached)

8.2 Letter – Glenda Doucet-Boudreau, President, Association Madeleine LeBlanc
The CAO read a letter from Glenda Doucet-Boudreau, President, Association Madeleine LeBlanc. (See attached)

8.3 Letter – Jack Murphy
The CAO read a letter from Jack Murphy. (See attached)

8.4 Letter – Honorable Lloyd Hines, Minister, Nova Scotia Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal
The CAO read a letter from the Honorable Lloyd Hines, Minister, Nova Scotia Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. (See attached)

Councillor Brian Comeau mentioned that concerns regarding a stretch of road in Meteghan were brought to his attention. Councillor Comeau will follow up with the resident and report back to Council.

8.5 Letter – Tracey Taweel, Deputy Minister, Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage
The CAO read a letter from Tracey Taweel, Deputy Minister, Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage. (See attached)

Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage has suggested a blended formula to increase funding to the libraries across the province. This new formula would see the municipal share of library funding increase significantly (22%-30%) and was put forward without consulting the affected municipalities. Furthermore, this new formula does not capture the additional municipal funding contributions made to libraries. Case and point, the proposed formula identifies the Municipality of Clare’s contribution as $53,377 per year and suggests this be increased by $16,000 or 30%. In actuality, the Municipality of Clare’s budgeted contribution for 2018-19 was $53,377 plus $31,300 for a total of $84,677.

8.6 Letter – Roger MacKay, Mayor, Town of Westville
The CAO read a letter from Roger MacKay, Mayor, Town of Westville. (See attached)

Council agreed with Mayor MacKay that proper consultation with municipal units on the subject of library funding was required. A letter to that effect will be sent to the Deputy Minister of Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage.

9) CAO Report – Chief Administrative Officer - Stéphane Cyr
The CAO presented his report for the month of January 2018. (See attached)

10) Committee Reports
10.1 Building Permits – Councillor Danny Hill
Councillor Danny Hill read the building permits report for the month of January 2019.

January 2019
Year     Permits     Construction Value     Year to Date
2018    11              $ 765,200                   $ 765,200
2019    11              $ 860,000                   $ 860,000

11) New Business
11.1 Motion to Enact By-law No. 37 – A By-law respecting Subdivisions, First Reading

MOVED BY Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Eric Pothier that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare read By-Law No. 37, a By-Law Respecting Subdivisions and that the By-Law be read for the first time by title only.
MOTION CARRIED

Councillor Danny Hill read the following:

BY-LAW NO. 37
A BY-LAW RESPECTING SUBDIVISIONS

11.2 Motion to Write Letter of Support – Upper Clements Park Society

MOVED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet and SECONDED BY Councillor Hector Thibault that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare write a letter in support of the Upper Clements Parks Society’s request for provincial funding for the operation of and improvements to the Parks.
MOTION CARRIED

11.3 Motion to Approve Funding Request – École secondaire de Clare

MOVED BY Councillor Carl Deveau and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare award a grant in the amount of $1,500 to l’École secondaire de Clare for the purchase of a Badminton Training System (BK Knight Trainer Pro).
MOTION CARRIED

11.4 Motion to Approve Funding Request – Weymouth Amateur Athletic Association
Council requested clarification in the amount requested from the Weymouth Amateur Athletic Association. The CAO confirmed that the amount requested from the Municipality of Clare is $5,000. Council made the following motion:

MOVED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet and SECONDED BY Councillor Danny Hill that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare award a grant in the amount of $5,000 to the Weymouth Amateur Athletic Association for the construction of wheelchair accessible washrooms, a small meeting room and extra storage for equipment at Cricket Field.
MOTION CARRIED

11.5 Motion to Release Funds – Gran Fondo Baie Sainte Marie

MOVED BY Councillor Eric Pothier and SECONDED BY Councillor Hector Thibault that in keeping with its deliberations of April 9, 2018, which concluded that any contribution request exceeding $10,000 would be subject to Council approval, the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare release an incremental amount of $ 1,237.64 for the 2018 Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-Marie.
MOTION CARRIED

11.6 Motion to Approve Sponsorship – 2019 Woodland Conferences

MOVED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare award a sponsorship in the amount of $500 to the 2019 Woodland Conferences (Western Conference).
MOTION CARIED

11.7 Motion to Accept Proposal – Environmental Site Assessment – Ecoparc
In light of new information brought forward since the Council in Committee Meeting of February 6, 2019, Council decided to move this discussion to the In-Camera session.

12) In Camera Session

PROPOSED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that Council proceed to an in-camera session.
MOTION CARRIED

Topics Discussed
12.1 Acquisition and Sale of Municipal Property – Former Saint-Albert Elementary School
12.2 Acquisition and Sale of Municipal Property – Ecoparc

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

13) Date and time of the next Regular Council Meeting
The next Regular Council Meeting will be held on March 20, 2019 at 7:00 pm.

14) Adjournment
MOVED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 pm.

Submitted by:

Ashley Hanks,
Executive Assistant