Pontiac council report
Mo Laidlaw
Over ten members of the public attended the regular meeting of 12 October 2004.
Messy building sites
Joan Letourneau asked if building permits include deadlines for work to be carried out. “Does anyone check that the work is done?” She is concerned about messy building sites and residences that remain without proper siding for years, appearing as huge advertisements for a brand of plastic sheeting. Councillor Pierre Lafrance explained that property owners have to renew permits every year until the work is done. Councillor Roger Larose said that although institutions that issue mortgages may require a certain level of exterior finishing, the building inspector cannot force people to finish a building. They may have run out of money. However there is a bylaw that covers safety of stored materials and the appearance of lots. The inspector will investigate.
Bills to be paid - or not
Council decided not to pay Marchand et fils the September bill for $809,000 for the sewage plant, until the leaks in the “tank” (lagoon) have been fixed.
The second grader needs new hydraulics and has to be fixed - “We can’t manage with only one” said Councillor Jim Coyle. Mr Larose told Mayor Bruce Campbell, “You don’t have authority to approve work on the grader”. This item will be discussed at the next special meeting.
To assist local schools, the municipality will put ads in the Pontiac High School in Shawville’s yearbook for $75, and in St-Marie school in Quyon’s school calendar for $90.
A tender for $8500 from Michel Fortin was accepted for surveying Terry-Fox road. This will come out of the grant from the ministry of Transport to connect Terry-Fox to Townline. Mr Larose voted against this, saying, “it’s not going to happen, we should spend the money elsewhere”.
Council informed representatives of the association of Trappeurs and Clavelle roads that before the association is recognized, the road length has to be measured. This will be done this week.
Seasonal blue-collar workers laid off
Municipal blue collar workers will be given one week’s notice about layoffs. Assistant secretary-treasurer Isabelle Coté explained that every year these non-unionized workers are laid off, and rehired in April. Mr Coyle said that there is only 5% of the labour budget left for this year, which is not enough to retain workers.
Bicycle path, Wyman to Aylmer
Council received a preliminary budget for the bicycle path from the CLD des Collines. This shows work proceeding in three stages: In 2006 from Wyman to Kennedy road, in 2007 from Kennedy to Smith-Léonard and in 2008 from Smith-Léonard to Terry-Fox. The total cost of the project is $3.67 million, with the ministry of Transport paying 25% of this. The MRC Pontiac will provide $600,000 from “Volet II”, and the MRC des Collines and municipality of Pontiac combined will pay $565,000 from “taxes, Pacte rurale and Volet II”, in both cases spread over three years. $1.57 million of financing is not yet found, but may come from “infrastructure programs, CRÉO and DEC”.
The costs (from Génivar) are not described in detail, with “contingencies” being 25% of costs before taxes, land purchase and engineers’ fees, for a total of $457,700; and “engineer’s fees and studies” being 30% of all costs, for a total of $848,000.
Firefighters
Because the labour relations board has declared that the Pontiac local of the firefighters’ union represents “all firefighters of the municipality of Pontiac”, and because union dues must be deducted from wages according to the labour code, council resolved at a special meeting on September 28, by 3 votes to 2, to rescind an earlier resolution not to deduct dues from wages . Councillors Larose and Twolan voted against because “they would like firefighters to vote on union representation”.
CCU - urban planning committee
André Richard, chair of the CCU, says that the CCU is not functioning as it should, and has not met for over two months. “Council treats the CCU as just a formality,” he said. “They take no notice of our recommendations, so we are wasting our time. All municipalities are supposed to have a CCU to make recommendations on planning, zoning, subdivision and building and to give advice to council on minor derogations, PIIA and PAE.” (PIIA deals with architectural integration, including number of storeys, protection of views and natural areas, signs, lighting, noise and drainage impacts, while PAE deals with overall planning by a developer.)
Gatineau Park
The NCC will hold public consultations about its master plan for Gatineau Park for the next 10 years on October 28, mainly in English, at the Canadian Museum of Nature, 240 McLeod St, Ottawa; and on October 27, mainly in French, at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, 100 Laurier, Gatineau (Hull): open house, 5:30 pm; presentation, 7 pm; questions and comments, 7:30 to 9 pm.
The next regular council meeting is on 9 November 2004.
Earlier reports are archived at:
www3.sympatico.ca/molaidlaw/reports.htm