Municipality of the District of Clare

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

Wednesday, February 15th, 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
                  Public:
ABSENT: None

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

2) (a) Approval of the Agenda

The Warden asked that the following changes be made to the Agenda

• 8.5 – Purple Day Awareness added under “Correspondence”
• 10.6 – South West Nova Biosphere Reserve Association added under “Committee
Reports”
• 12.4 – Personnel added under “Closed Session”

MOVED BY Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that the proposed agenda be approved with the above noted changes.
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 January 18th, 2017: Regular Council Meeting
MOVED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet and SECONDED BY Councillor Hector Thibault that the Minutes of January 18th, 2017 be accepted as circulated.
MOTION CARRIED

4.2 February 1st, 2017: Council-in-Committee Meeting
MOVED BY Councillor Carl Deveau and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that the Minutes of February 1st, 2017 be accepted as circulated.
MOTION CARRIED

5) Business Arising from Previous Meetings

5.1 Duck Hunting
The CAO provided an update regarding duck hunting complaints in Church Point. MLA Gordon Wilson was made aware of the situation and in turn contacted Mr. Hugh Macgilvery, the Conservation Officer for the District of Digby. According to Mr. Macgilvery, the hunters in question are respecting the mandatory distances from both residences and commercial buildings. Although no laws are being broken, this remains an issue for neighboring residents and businesses. As such, the CAO has asked his administrative assistant to conduct further research on the issue, particularly on the subject of mandatory distances from schools and/or universities.

Council mentioned that they will continue to liaise with MLA Gordon Wilson in an effort to resolve this issue.

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 23 Meeting with the Board of Governors of Université Sainte-Anne.
January 24 Participated on a conference call with the “Réseau des villes Francophones et Francophile d’Amérique”.
January 30 Meeting with the Board of Directors of the Harbourside Lodge in Yarmouth.
February 4 Meeting with the Board of Governors at Université Sainte-Anne.
February 7 Participated in a discussion session regarding the role of Natalie Robichaud in the RDEE as the economic development agent and community agent, about the projects she is currently working on as well as the projects she may be working on in the future.
February 9 Meeting with the Liaison & Oversight Committee to approve the addition of the Municipality of Barrington as a new member of the WREN and to review the necessary changes to the Intermunicipal agreement to accommodate this addition.
February 15 The Deputy Warden attended, on behalf of the Warden, the opening ceremony of the Canada 150 celebrations that took place at Ecole secondaire de Clare.

7) Official Statements from Members of Council
Councillor Brian Comeau would like to congratulate Mrs. Denise Comeau-Desautels for her career with the Courrier de la Nouvelle-Écosse. Mrs. Comeau-Desautels has worked very hard to offer Acadians and francophones throughout Nova Scotia a quality newspaper in French.

Council will send a letter of congratulations to Mrs. Comeau-Desautels.

8) Correspondence

8.1 Thank You Letter – Katherine Pettipas
The CAO read a letter received from Katherine Pettipas. (See attached)

The Warden explained that every year, in October, the Doctor Recruitment Committee sends a small care package to medical students from the region.

8.2 Letter from la Société des Jeux de l’Acadie – 41st “Finale des Jeux de l’Acadie”
The CAO read a letter from la Société des Jeux de l’Acadie (See attached).

Currently, the Municipality doesn’t have the required infrastructure to accommodate this type of event. However, for planning purposes and the future possibility of hosting these finales, the CAO has asked the Interim Recreation Manager, Reanne Titus, to both highlight the specific infrastructure requirements to host the games and identify where the Municipality is currently lacking.

8.3 Letter from Nova Scotia Department of Justice
The CAO read a letter from Nova Scotia Department of Justice (See attached)

8.4 Letter from Mr. Russel Titus
The CAO read a letter from Mr. Russel Titus (See attached).

The Municipality is currently conducting a review of the state of its sidewalks. Mr. Jody Comeau, Public Work Supervisor, is conducting the review.

8.5 Purple Day Awareness
The CAO read a letter from Galia Mohamad regarding Purple Day Awareness (See attached). Council mentioned that they are in favor of this initiative.

The Administrative Assistant to the CAO will contact Mrs. Mohamad to arrange for the proper number of ribbons needed for the March 15th regular meeting of Council.

9) CAO Report – Chief Administrative Officer - Stéphane Cyr
The CAO read his report. (See attached)

10) Committee Reports

10.1 Building Permits Report: Councillor Danny Hill
Councillor Danny Hill read his report for the month of January.

January
Year Permits Construction Value
2016 5 $212,000
2017 7 $121,400

10.2 Planning Advisory Committee:
No report

10.3 Police Advisory: Deputy Warden Nil Doucet
No report

10.4 Villa Acadienne: Councillor Brian Comeau
No report

10.5 Waste Check: Councillor Carl Deveau
Due to inclement weather, the Waste Check meeting scheduled for February 13th was cancelled.

10.6 South West Nova Biosphere Reserve Association
Councillor Carl Deveau mentioned that he attended a conference call with the South West Nova Biosphere Reserve Association where they discussed the possibility of filming in the South West Nova region. The proposed project is funded by Parks Canada. Filming would commence later this Spring.

11) New Business

11.1 Motion to approve Code of Conduct

MOVED BY Councillor Carl Deveau and SECONDED BY Councillor Hector Thibault that the Municipality of the District of Clare adopt the new “Code of Conduct for Municipal Council” as presented.
MOTION CARRIED

11.2 Motion to approve Road Naming Policy

MOVED BY Councillor Eric Pothier and SECONDED BY Councillor Carl Deveau that the Municipality of the District of Clare adopt the new Road Naming Policy as presented.
MOTION CARRIED

11.3 Motion to approve lifeguards at Mavillette Beach

MOVED BY Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Yvon LeBlanc that Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare approve the expenses budgeted by the Recreation Department in the amount of $9,661.03 including HST to provide Lifeguard Service at Mavillette Beach during Summer 2017, on weekends only, from July 1st to August 27th.
MOTION CARRIED

11.4 WREN – Intermunicipal Agreement
The CAO mentioned that the WREN Intermunicipal Agreement needed to be amended to include the Municipality of Barrington. With the addition of Barrington, the annual membership dues paid to the WREN by the Municipality of Clare will be reduced. Case and point, the amount paid by the Municipality to the WREN in 2016-2017 was $52,990. With Barrington now joining as a member, the Municipality’s contribution for 2017-2018 has been reduced to $45,621.

12) 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:
12.1 John Thibodeau Road
12.2 Cultural Hub Project
12.3 Scotia Recycling Ltd.
12.4 Personnel

PROPOSED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet and SECONDED BY Councillor Brian Comeau 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 15th, 2017 at 7:00 pm.

14) Adjournment
MOVED BY Deputy Warden Nil Doucet to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 pm.

Submitted by:
Alain Poirier,
Administrative Assistant of the CAO