Pontiac council report - garbage contract goes to local firm
Mo Laidlaw
About twenty people attended the council meeting on December 13, 2005.
Tolerance roads
Joan Letourneau, president of FRAPP, reminded council that the federation represents 18 road associations of which only five have so far received special funds for bringing their tolerance roads up to standard. The remaining associations must not be forgotten when the budget is discussed.
Louise Bard, secretary of FRAPP, asked if anyone can request a street light. Mayor Eddie McCann explained that it is up to council to propose where street lights are needed.
Paul Chatillon lives on ch de la Fôret in Plage Baie-Noire: “Tests have shown that access for fire trucks is still a problem. What is council going to do about this?” Director-general Sylvain Bertrand explained that the municipality is awaiting legal advice about requiring owners to provide room for trucks to turn, and will act as soon as this is received.
Jean-Claude Carisse asked about the MRC scheme for inspecting and emptying septic tanks regularly. Mr McCann said that the decision to start this program will be part of the budget discussions. The sewage plant in Quyon is unable to process septic tank sludge.
Contract awarded for garbage collection
After defeating an amendment to continue with garbage collection using municipal employees and to borrow money to buy new trucks ($375,000), council approved a contract with Mountain View Turf for garbage pickup for the entire municipality, for $1.26 million over four years, by a vote of 4:3. This will start as soon as possible. The service should be unchanged with weekly pickup of garbage and occasional pickups of large items. Recycling pickup will be introduced when the bins are paid for and received from the MRC in 2 or 3 months.
After the meeting Rick Knox asked for more information. There was a lengthy discussion in which Mr McCann explained that there was little difference in the price estimates for in-house pickup or a contract, but the contract has the advantage of being a fixed price. The three municipal employees will be employed fixing roads, where they are sorely needed. In four years the decision can be revisited. “We contract out snowplowing. We can’t do it all, but we can concentrate on fixing roads.”
Councillor Jim Coyle said that if the company had been based outside the municipality, council would have made a different decision. “The whole fleet is in terrible shape, with two exceptions. We also need a new fire truck and a rescue van. This way we know the exact cost. Budgeting will be easier and not affected by increases in fuel prices or unexpected repair costs. New trucks would have to be bought outside the municipality,” and even for service or repair under warranty, getting a truck to a dealer in Maniwaki wastes employees’ time, and money.
Increase in councillors’ salaries?
The mayor gave notice that he will introduce a bylaw early in 2006 to increase councillors’ salaries which have been fixed at $470 per month since 1996. He feels that $750 per month ($9,000 pa) would be reasonable. However Mr McCann sees no need to increase the mayor’s salary from $16,920. Traditionally the mayor’s salary has been three times that of councillors. As MRC representative the mayor receives $13,004.81, for a total of $29,924.81, which Mr McCann thinks is adequate for the job.
Garry Dagenais was approved as substitute representative, when Mr McCann is unable to attend MRC meetings.
Highways
The ministry of Transport will be asked to install a turning lane on the north side of highway 148 at the west end of the four-lane section, to allow traffic to turn in to the Luskville commercial area safely.
MTQ will also be asked to take back responsibility for Mountain road through Pontiac, Chelsea and Gatineau, as it is a regional route like highway 148, with increasing traffic. Running along the base of the Eardley Escarpment from highway 148 to Pink road, Mountain road was handed over to the municipalities in 1992.
Other business
November bills for $39,129 and fixed expenses of $262,782 were approved.
Two backhoes (Case and JCB) and a 1976 Ford garbage truck will be advertised for sale in January.
The municipal road sweeper will be used to clean the Quyon ice rink.